The leaders of the world’s most industrialised nations declared their intention to impose sanctions on "individuals responsible for violence" in Zimbabwe, adding that they did not recognise the legitimacy of President Mugabe’s government and calling on the appointment of a United Nations (UN) special envoy to complement an expanded mediation team. However, China, Russia and three other countries opposed the resolution in the UN Security Council proposed by the United States saying that ‘the situation in Zimbabwe did not meet the standards for sanctions’ and that the move would be ‘counter-productive’ to African-led talks to resolve the crisis. In the meantime, the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, is scheduled to meet the Chairman of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, to brief him on the developments of the mediation process in Zimbabwe. While Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade has criticised the AU decision on Zimbabwe describing it as ‘irresponsible’ and criticising the lack of protective measure to avoid a deterioration of the situation. Indeed, the ‘inability for the SADC [Southern African Development Community] or the AU to censure Zimbabwe has dealt a heavy blow to the AU’s stated objective of fostering and supporting democracy in Africa’, according to some commentators, yet, the AU has at its disposal its own mechanisms that can help bolster a negotiated settlement and restore democracy to Zimbabwe. Others, however, note the ‘hypocrisy and double standards’ of Western governments ‘reneging as always on solemn pledges to Africa, now demanding that African governments get serious about Robert Mugabe, blithely ignoring the West’s complicity in Africa’s woes and confident no one will reveal the real story’.
At the closing session of the AU summit in Egypt, the Libyan president Muammar Kadhafi praised the ‘the formation of the African federal government towards the establishment of the United States of Africa’. Following the AU decision, a donor conference was organised in Tunis to build the capacity of Regional Economic Communities (RECs), said to be the ‘building blocks’ to regional integration. In the East African Community (EAC), Burundi’s request to pay only $1 million instead of $4.5 million to the EAC 2008/2009 budget has been granted. Meanwhile in Southern Africa, SADC justice ministers met to consider the regional draft Protocol on Gender and Development before it is presented to Heads of State and Government at their Summit in August. The Protocol ‘is expected to speed up the process of achieving gender equality and equity, and improve the status of women in the region as well as addressing emerging gender issues and concerns’. In addition, civil society representatives under the umbrella of “Gender Is My Agenda Campaign” issued a formal statement and recommendations on peace and security, human rights, education, health, and economic empowerment, among others, to the AU heads of state and government during a meeting convened by Femmes Africa Solidarité ahead of the AU summit in Egypt.
In environmental news, African ministers of environment launched the "Africa: Atlas of Our Changing Environment" at the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) conference. Meanwhile, at the Community of Sahel–Saharan States (Cen-Sad) summit on rural development and food security, a proposed plan for the project involving a belt of trees 7,000 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide to slow the southward spread of the Sahara desert was formally adopted. The project will be monitored from Tripoli by Cen-Sad, while Senegal will provide ‘close technical cooperation’ because of its success in fighting desertification. In related news, the African Economic Research Consortium is calling for papers on Climate Change and Economic Development and on Natural Resource Management and Economic Development for the International Conference on Natural Resource Management, Climate Change and Economic Development in Africa: Issues, Opportunities and Challenges in September this year.
In transitional justice news, African leaders at the recently concluded AU summit in Egypt expressed their solidarity with Rwanda regarding foreign indictments that were filed against senior officers of the Rwanda Defence Forces by two European judges. Indeed, commentators note that Zimbabwe is the latest example in Africa where the balance between peace and justice has remained elusive, stating that ‘once again, the long arm of international law had reached into the heart of an African conflict and extinguished the possibility of a quick and peaceful resolution. Zimbabwe provides the latest evidence that a concept heralded as a way to bring justice to ordinary Africans, but driven by a largely Western-based hunger for prosecution, can instead prolong their misery.’ Meanwhile, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, requested an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir based on evidence collected related to 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. The evidence is said to demonstrate that ‘Al Bashir masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups, on account of their ethnicity.’ With the peace process still stalled, the AU Chairperson and the UN Secretary-General have appointed Mr. Djibril Yipènè Bassolé as joint AU-UN chief mediator for Darfur. UN and AU Special Envoys for Darfur, Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim, will remain available for advice and engagement as required. Also in peace and security news, the Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad asserted that Iran is prepared to help resolve regional disputes in Africa and willing to share its experiences and achievements in many sectors.
While civil society expected the G8 summit to ‘reflect the gravity and urgency of the situation globally’, no ‘practical, measurable and tangible commitments with set timelines’ on critical issues such as food security and climate change were decided upon. Lastly, though Russia announced last year that products from least developed countries would be exempted from import tariffs, there is little commercial activity between Russia and Africa especially as compared to other emerging markets such as Brazil, India and China.
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