| Paris,
25 October 2002
The 32nd
Session of the African Commission of Human and Peoples' Rights,
held from 17 to 23 October 2002 in Banjul, Gambia, did not come
up to the expectations of the African and international civil
society.
While the
FIDH welcomes the adoption by the Commission of the Guidelines
and the Measures of prohibition and prevention of torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in
Africa (the Robben Island guidelines), and the draft Declaration
on the principles of freedom of expression in Africa, it however
deplores the fact that the Commissioners adopted no resolution,
despite repeated appeals by the African or international NGOs,
in particular on the Human Rights situation in Côte d'Ivoire
and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or on the situation
of Human Rights defenders and the New Partnership for African
Development (NEPAD).
And yet
the mandate of the Commission is to promote and protect Human
Rights, under the conditions laid down by the African Charter
of Human and Peoples' Rights, which came into force in 1996.
The role of the Commission is of particular importance in view
if the massive violations of Human Rights perpetrated on the
continent, and the fact that few African States have acceded
to the regional and international instruments for the protection
of Human Rights: 20 countries have ratified the Statute of the
International Criminal Court, but only 6 have ratified the additional
Protocol to the African Charter establishing the African Court
of Human and Peoples' Rights (15 ratifications being necessary
for it to enter into force). Out of the 53 States parties to
the African Commission, 44 are behindhand with their periodical
reports, and 20 have never sent in a report.
The FIDH
and many of its African member leagues present at the session
as observers noted that the proceedings opened in the midst
of considerable confusion. The news that the session was only
going to last one week instead of two, and the initial absence
of a quorum - only three commissioners were present out of eleven
- seriously disrupted the agenda and the public sessions.
The main
consequence of the confusion was the postponement to the next
session of the only report on the agenda, that of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), whereas the Human Rights situation
is extremely disturbing, both in the territories under government
control and those administered by the rebels.
The Commission
did indeed stress in the final communiqué the concern
expressed by the NGOs regarding the Human Rights situation in
Côte d'Ivoire, following the 19 September 2002 mutiny,
but no resolution was adopted on the subject. And yet recommendations
had been addressed to the Commissioners, in particular by the
FIDH and the LIDHO, its member organisation in Côte d'Ivoire.
The FIDH
had also hoped that the Commission would at last tackle the
question of the protection of Human Rights defenders in Africa.
In numerous interventions the NGOs recalled that defenders are
still too often subjected to harassment, threats, unlawful arrest,
detention, even torture, under various pretexts of belonging
to the political opposition, or, since the 11 September 2001,
to terrorist groups. The FIDH, in the framework of its joint
programme with the OMCT, the Observatory for the protection
of Human Rights defenders, called once again on the African
Commission, for the seventh time in succession, to establish
a mechanism - a "focus point" or a special rapporteur
- on the question of defenders. There is no valid argument to
justify the hesitations and the prevarication of the Commission
in this respect. And yet once again the mechanism was refused
by the Commissioners.
As for NEPAD,
the question was postponed, under the pretext that it was too
early for the Commission to take a stand on the place of Human
Rights in the economic development policies of the African continent.
The silence
of the Commission on such essential issues that fall within
its mandate is disturbing. Its apathy is in striking contrast
with the evident and exemplary development in Africa of the
civil society and the independent Human Rights movement.
FIDH wishes
to sound the alarm regarding the scanty achievements of the
Commission, and expresses surprise at the fact that the Commissioners
responded to none of the concerns of the NGOs. In that they
defaulted on their task, as they should in all circumstances
abide by the principles of integrity and impartiality specified
in article 31 of the African Charter. The FIDH calls on this
regional mechanism for the protection of Human Rights to effectively
meet the expectations of the civil society, and to respond positively
to its mobilisation. The FIDH reiterates that it is prepared
to support any effort in that direction on the part of the African
Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights.
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