African Union Should Spotlight Human Rights

(New York, July 10, 2002) -- The African Union must strengthen the
region's human rights institutions if its promise is to become reality,
Human Rights Watch said today. The new regional grouping is being
launched this week in Durban.

The African Union's Constitutive Act pledges respect for human rights
and rejects the widespread impunity that has characterized armed
conflict and political repression in many African countries. In "grave
circumstances" such as occurred during the Rwandan genocide, the
Constitutive Act authorizes the African Union to intervene. But the
existing regional human rights institutions the African Union will
inherit have been crippled by a lack of resources and political will.

Leading African states in the African Union have also adopted a New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), a program to lift Africa
out of poverty that explicitly recognizes the importance of democracy,
human rights, and the rule of law for economic development. NEPAD has
also developed its own code of governance and system for "peer review,"
but its pledges on human rights remain vague.

"The African Union will only succeed if it replaces the culture of
impunity with the culture of accountability," said Peter Takirambudde,
director of Human Rights Watch's Africa division. "That means making
sure the nice words of its Constitutive Act and of NEPAD come to life
and that there are consequences if states don't live up to what they say
they will do."

Human Rights Watch called on African Union members to follow through on
human rights pledges they have already made. For a start, they should:

· urgently finalize a strong protocol to the African Charter on women's
rights, negotiations on which have been stalled for months;
· ratify the protocol establishing an African Court on Human and
People's Rights, which could award judgments against states for human
rights abuse;
· give Africa's existing human rights body, the African Commission on
Human and People's Rights, the resources and political backing needed to
carry out its mandate.

At the G8 summit last month in Kananaskis, G8 leaders committed support
for the NEPAD initiative, but adopted a wait-and-see approach to the
system of peer review. The G8 leaders said they would make their own
assessments in deciding whether to develop partnerships with particular
countries.

"Peer review is a positive step, but only if the process is transparent
and given teeth," said Takirambudde. "It must be backed up by
institutions that can ensure proper scrutiny and enforcement of human
rights."

South Africa will be the first chair of the African Union, and Human
Rights Watch urged President Thabo Mbeki to take a lead in ensuring
human rights are at the core of the new body's activities over the next
year.

For further information, please contact:
In London, Bronwen Manby: +44-20-7713-2789
In New York, Rory Mungoven: +1-212-216-1276
Peter Takirambudde: +1-212-216-1834

--
Jeff Scott
Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
Phone: +1-212-216-1834
Fax: +1-212-736-1300
http://www.hrw.org/africa/index.php [2]
en français, http://www.hrw.org/french/africa/ [3]