on matriarchy, women receive considerable advantages that men never had before, in the time of our forefathers, and will not have tomorrow. I am fundamentally of {he opinion that the identity of Africa is in its ancestral traditions and ancient values that it would benefit from safeguarding. To erect the corpus Juris of human rights as a censor and corrector of African customs seemed to me to be an insurmountable red line, but one that has been crossed all the same, in favor of the conclusions of this communication. Who will prevent the Commission tomorrow from examining the conventionality of certain rules and traditions such as for example "the rule of the request of the hand" (proposal of marriage), of customary or religious origin, devolved to men in the vast majority of African societies? 6. I was not followed by my colleagues, whose opinion I also respect, when reading the preparatory work df the Charter, I recalled the following: the preliminary draft is built around a k~y iqea, namely that the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights must reflect the African conception of human rights. Consequently, it is not a question of copying outright what has been done in other regions or even at universal level. The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights must be inspired by the African philosophy of law and must respond to the needs of Africa. 72 7. This decision seems to me to be very far from the African conception of human rights and seems, to me, to be a push of feminist militant ideas and issues. I wondered if it was not due to _the current configuration of the Commission (six women and five men). My fear now (legitimate?) is that other feminist causes will prevail through the play of simple arithmetic rules and this will be a pity for the balance that must be maintained between religious and customary values on the one hand, and the principles of human rights on the other.