Protection of the Right to Seek and Obtain Asylum under the African Human Rights System(2013) Human Rights Standards and the Free Movement of People within States(2000)
His analysis and arguments on the protection of the human rights of IDPs have become highly influential in shaping state policies on the protection of IDPs,especially in Africa.[11]
Early life and education
Beyani was born in Chalimbana and grew up in Sinakoba,Zambia in 1959.
His D.Phil. thesis was entitled “Restrictions on internal freedom of movement and residence in international law”. A revised version was later published by Oxford University Press.[14] It is considered a “ground-breaking monograph”.[11]
Beyani was among a team of experts appointed by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) to formulate the 'responsibility to protect'. His role was to examine 'state sovereignty' and 'intervention' in international law. His findings were reflected in the eventual wording of the Responsibility to Protect,[25] which was endorsed by the UN's World Summit of 2005.[26]
He was an official mediator between the Government of Mozambique and the armed opposition rebel group RENAMO during the peace process that led to the peace agreement in Mozambique in 2019.[23] He drafted amendments to the Constitution of Mozambique to incorporate the agreement on devolution.[10]
In 2005,Beyani was appointed African Union Expert to draft and negotiate the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (the Kampala Convention),[10][26][11][1] which was adopted in 2009 and came into force in 2012.[32][33]
In 2018,the South Sudan government requested Beyani to provide guidance on key tasks related to the Kampala Convention:assisting in the ratification process,drafting necessary national legislation for implementation,creating a framework for the protection and assistance of IDPs and establishing provisions for sustainable solutions.[37] In June 2019,South Sudan adopted this draft legislation as the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons Act 2019.[11]
In 2019,Beyani was invited by the UN and the government of Ethiopia to engage in similar work there.[11]
Beyani was appointed in 2019 as a member of the Expert Advisory Group[38] for the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement.[10][11]
In 2020 Beyani was appointed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as a member of the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya,to document alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by all parties in Libya since the start of 2016.[39][40] The group presented a number of reports,from 2021 to 2023.[41] In 2024,the International Criminal Court announced six arrest warrants based on the work Beyani and the investigative team had done.[42]
Beyani is a member of the UNHCR's IDP Protection Expert Group (IPEG).[43][44]
Beyani conducted UNHCR-sponsored IDP-related national consultations in Armenia in December 2024 to assist Armenia’s efforts to draft laws to protect and assist IDPs in accordance with international standards and best practices.[45]
In 2024,the African Union Commission’s Department of Political Affairs,Peace and Security (AUC-DPAPS),with the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) and supported by the European Union,appointed a Reference Group on Transitional Justice in Africa. Beyani was appointed a member of the Reference Group for the period 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2027.[46][47]
He has been a member of the UK Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Group on Human Rights since 2010.[48][49][10][1]
Collected Essays on the Use of International Law (Cameron May Publishing, 2013) ISBN9781907174124
African Exodus: Refugee Crisis, Human Rights, & the 1969 OAU Convention (with Chris Stringer) (Human Rights First, 1995) ISBN9780934143738
Human Rights Standards and the Free Movement of People within States (Oxford University Press, 2000) ISBN9780198268215
Blackstone’s Guide to the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 (with Leonard Leigh) (Blackstone Press, 1996) ISBN9781854315915
Journal articles
'Conceptual Challenges and Practical Solutions in Situations of Internal Displacement' (with Natalia Krynsky Baal and Martina Caterina), Vol. 52 (2016), Forced Migration Review, pp. 39-42 ISSN1460-9819[50]
'The Politics of International Law: Transformation of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement from Soft Law into Hard Law, Vol. 102 (2008), Proceedings of the ASIL Annual Meeting, pp. 194-198 ISSN0272-5037[51]
'Recent Developments in the African Human Rights System 2004-2006', Vol. 7, Issue 3 (2007), Human Rights Law Review, pp. 582-608 ISSN1461-7781[52]
'Recent Developments: The Elaboration of a Legal Framework for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa' Vol. 50, Issue 2 (2006), Journal of African Law, pp. 187-197 ISSN0021-8553[53]
'Governance and Human Rights in the SADC Region', Vol. 3, No. 1 (2004), Journal of African Elections, pp. 62-80 ISSN1609-4700[54]
'International Legal Criteria for the Separation of Members of Armed Forces, Armed Bands and Militia from Refugees in the Territories of Host States', Vol. 12, Issue suppl. 1 (2000), International Journal of Refugee Law, pp. 251-271 ISSN0953-8186[55]
'State Responsibility for the Prevention and Resolution of Forced Population Displacements in International Law', Vol. 7, Special Issue, Summer (1995), International Journal of Refugee Law, pp. 130-147 ISSN0953-8186[56]
'The Needs of Refugee Women: A Human-Rights Perspective', Vol. 3, No. 2 (1995), Gender and Development, pp. 29-35 ISSN1355-2074[57]
Chapters in books
'Reconstituting the universal: human rights as a regional idea', in Conor Gearty and Costas Douzinas (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Human Rights Law (Cambridge University Press, 2012) ISBN9781107016248
'The Role of Human Rights Bodies in Protecting Refugees', in Anne Bayefsky (ed.), Human Rights and Refuges, Internally Displaced Persons and Migrant Workers (Kluwer, 2006) ISBN9789004144835
'The Legal Premises for the International Protection of Human Rights', in Guy S. Goodwin-Gill and Stefan Talmon (eds.), The Reality of International Law: Essays in Honour of Ian Brownlie (Oxford University Press, 1999) ISBN9780198268376
'Toward a More Effective Guarantee of Women’s Rights in the African Human Rights System', in Rebecca J. Cook (ed.), Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994) ISBN9780812215380
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