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AU rejects Zimbabwe report
Beauregard Tromp, Sunday Argus (SA)
July 02, 2006

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=14690

As UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised African leaders gathered in Banjul, Gambia, for their positive steps towards human rights and democracy, they again rejected a report by one of their own agencies which criticised gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The African Commission on Human and People's Rights report on Zimbabwe was presented to a ministerial meeting of the AU held ahead of the organisation's summit of leaders which began in Banjul yesterday. But the ministers rejected the report in a vote and it will not be presented to the presidents for possible adoption. This setback for human rights on the continent followed an earlier decision by the AU ministers not to adopt a charter of democracy and good governance which would have punished African presidents who doctor their constitutions purely to cling to power. The ministers sent this report back for consideration by a special committee of officials after objections from several governments, most notably that of Uganda. Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni recently amended his country's constitution to do away with the two-term limits for presidents.

The proposed charter, strongly backed by AU Commissioner Alpha Konare, would have allowed the AU to suspend member governments who manipulate their constitutions to cling to power in this way. This would have considerably extended the frontiers of the AU's efforts to entrench democracy on the continent. At present the organisation only has powers to suspend member governments which come to power by "unconstitutional means" - mainly military coups. Yet, increasingly, African leaders, many who have seized power by coups, entrench and consolidate their power through fraudulent elections or through manipulating constitutions to extend their terms in office. The Zimbabwe report by the African Commission on Human and People's Rights was first presented to the AU summit in Abuja in 2004, but was not considered then because the AU accepted Zimbabwe's argument that it had not been given an opportunity to respond. A year later the AU again failed to adopt it on the grounds that it had not been translated into all the organisation's official languages. Human rights activists regard these moves as evasive tactics by the AU to avoid confronting human rights abuses by President Robert Mugabe's government.

The moves cast an ironic light on the praise which Annan bestowed on the AU in his address to the summit yesterday. He pointed to the view by African leaders just nine years ago that human rights were "an imposition, if not a plot by the industrialised West". "Since then, I believe African leaders have demonstrated that human rights are African rights. The rejection of those who sieze power through coups is now accepted as a founding principle of this union," said Annan. "I believe that Africa is close to establishing a norm that will make it no more legitimate to cling to power by unconstitutional means than it is to come to power by them, and which will rule out ad hoc constitutional amendments to prolong the power of a particular ruler," he added. He was referring to the proposed charter, which has now been put on hold. Annan hopes to meet Mugabe on the periphery of the meeting this weekend to discuss humanitarian problems in Zimbabwe and the need for political and economic reforms, including a bail-out package. Last year Annan's special envoy Annan Tibaijuka published a highly critical report on Mugabe's campaign to eliminate shacks and informal settlements. Annan has been trying to arrange a follow-up meeting since then but Mugabe has been keeping him at bay.

It has been 10 years since Annan addressed the summit of the then Organisation for African Unity for the first time in Harare. At that time Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of southern Africa. Ten years later Annan is trying to broker a deal with a very different country, one which suffers from chronic poverty and is infamous for having the highest inflation in the world. Annan lauded Africa for its advances in increasing primary school enrolment, especially of girls. He also praised the drop in Aids prevalence in several African countries due to the implementation of prevention and treatment strategies. Annan singled out South Africa for praise in economic growth, it being the third largest investor in Africa after the UK and China. Annan also cautioned about a new scramble for Africa taking place - a reference to the drive by China and others for Africa's oil and mineral resources. Annan said he hoped this would benefit men and women of Africa and that agreements signed with investors would be equitable.

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