Human Rights Watch (Washington, DC)
By Daniel Bekele, 12 October 2013
When African Union (AU) heads of state gathered in Addis Ababa this weekend
for an extraordinary summit, Africans might have expected that their leaders
would have extraordinary issues to discuss. They might have asked: would the
poverty that maintains a stranglehold on millions of people across the
continent, for instance, killing scores of children who lack access to clean
water, nutrition, and health care, be on the agenda?
Or maybe the ongoing conflicts in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and
Somalia that have left tens of thousands dead, injured, and traumatized and
millions displaced would take center stage? Or how about Central African
Republic, where a predatory militia has taken control of much of the
country, fostering sectarian tensions that are displacing scores of
villagers every day?
Some might have speculated that the loss of hundreds of Eritrean, Somali,
and other African lives fleeing from conflict, repression, and poverty, in a
recent boat capsizing off Lampedusa, Italy, would move the human rights
crises in Eritrea and Somalia and the desperate need for development to stem
economic and political migration onto the agenda.
Any or all of these issues certainly warrant extraordinary attention - and
measures from African heads of state.
But no, the depressing truth is that the main issue on the agenda in Addis
Ababa was how to protect a handful of Africa's most powerful people.
AU leaders concluded that instead of addrA Look At Human Rights in the News
Todayessing any of the urgent human rights disasters that threaten Africans,
displacing millions and forcing tens of thousands to flee abroad, the most
urgent issue was to unite their voices to obstruct the work of the
International Criminal Court (ICC), which has become the last, best hope for
many of those Africans who have been victims of atrocities implicating some
of these very same leaders.
Let's be candid. The ICC is not beyond criticism. Like all other
international institutions, starting with the United Nations and the
Security Council, the ICC has its problems, and the cases that reach it are
vulnerable to international double standards. It cannot yet ensure that
justice reaches the gravest crimes regardless of where they are committed.
Nonetheless, it remains the most significant institution and achievement of
the world community to fight impunity for the most serious crimes and
against the most powerful people. Over the past few years, significant
progress has been made to hold even heads of states to account - such as
former Liberian president Charles Taylor and former Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic. A key step forward has been the recognition that
official status is not a bar to prosecution for the gravest crimes.
Yet despite paying lip service to ending impunity, the central proposal out
of Addis was that sitting heads of state or anybody acting or entitled to
act in such a capacity should have immunity from prosecution. That means
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir should be not be required to appear for
trial for genocide and crimes against humanity, or Kenyan President Uhuru
Kenyatta for crimes against humanity. (Let's not forget that Bashir is
currently the only head of state aside from Syria's Bashar al-Assad who is
implicated in bombing his own people on a daily basis.)
There doesn't seem to have been much support for the much-rumored mass
withdrawal from the ICC. However, the notion that sitting heads of state
should have immunity for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity
is not just appallingly self-serving, it's repugnant given the kind of
disincentive it would create for anyone to leave power, as well as the
incentive it creates for the unscrupulous to gain or maintain power at
whatever cost-by murder, coup, or fraudulent elections, just to name a few.
The proposal also directly undermines the AU's own Charter and principles
that proclaim support for the rule of law, respect for human rights, and an
end to impunity. But most of all, the AU's message from Addis is a
profoundly disturbing message to Africans that their leaders' biggest
priority is not development, good governance, or respecting basic rights;
it's ensuring that the leaders themselves are insulated from justice, at
whatever price.
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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