Report from the 3rd Consultative Meeting of Experts of the AUHRM April 26th, 2013
Summary Report from the 3rd Meeting of the African Union Human Rights Memorial On the 11th and 12th of April 2013 the third Consultative meeting of the African Union Human Rights Memorial (AUHRM) project was convened at the African Union Commission Headquarters. The meeting symbolically took place on the site of the former Kerchele Prison. Under the banner of “More than Just Remembering” the meeting brought together representatives of survivors groups and centres of memory, civil society, the African Union and governments. Its aims were to: •gather suggestions for the development of a permanent AUHRM; •promote the establishment of an AUHRM network; •design a participatory memorialization process to be launched in a series of African Union Human Rights Memorial Forums to be convened in the next year Previous consultative meetings of the AUHRM project were held in November 2010 and November 2011; canvassing ideas, they set in motion the process of memorialization. The 3rd Meeting explored the nature of the memorialization process by coordinating the focus of six working groups upon The Red Terror in Ethiopia, the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, Apartheid in South Africa, the Abu Saleem prison massacre in Libya and other human rights violations in Northern Africa, the civil war in South Sudan and Slavery throughout Africa. Recommendations emerging from the discussions concluded that the AUHRM should be founded upon the Kerchele site in recognition of it significance to Ethiopians and to African history, underlining and entrenching the responsibilities of the AU. The memorial would be in recognition of the gross human rights violations committed throughout Africa’s past and serve as a tribute to the freedom of its future. Commemorative meetings would be held across Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal, Libya and South Sudan throughout 2013 to continue this process; their findings being delivered to the highest levels of governance within the AU, with a final report deliverable to the Chairperson of the AU Commission in January 2014 Among the participants were seven Ethiopians and two Eritreans, all formerly imprisoned at the site or relatives of those who had been killed whilst under sentence. For some, the meeting represented their first return to Kerchele following their release. The insights of the former inmates immensely enriched the discussions and contributed to tangibly understanding the significance of memorialisation. A special occasion was upheld at the Foundation Stone on the evening of 11 April. Candles were lit and flowers wreaths laid down in honour of those who died on the site. Testimonies by several former prisoners as well as readings from the Rwandan genocide cradled a solemn and moving event for all in attendance. Testimonies were delivered by W/o Original WoldeGiorgis, Ato Tamrat Kebede, W/o Hirut Abebe, Ato Mekonnen Wolde and Ubaldo Rafiki. Notable locutions were given by Prince Beedemariam Mekonen; grandson of Emperor Haile Sellasie who was imprisoned for 15 years and 8 months, and Amb. Tadelech Hailemichael, who suffered 13 years of captivity in Kachele, during which time she gave birth to her daughter; raising her within the prison. The ceremony at the Foundation Stone served as the centrepiece of the consultative meeting, constituting an unprecedented opportunity for survivors of the prison to recount their experiences at the site. For the non-Ethiopians, it was a learning experience of enormous significance; serving as a reminder of the importance of the project. This experience was added to by the subsequent visit to the Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum. The meeting concluded with recommendations about the significance of the location of the memorial, plans for six additional memory forum meetings and regional meetings to further develop each individual country and atrocity component of the memorial in greater depth. Lastly, it was concluded that a final report from the meeting would be forwarded to the Chair of the AUC and circulated to all participants and stakeholders. This entry was posted on Friday, April 26th, 2013 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Justice Africa News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
