Group Indicts Govt Failures to Act on Rights Violations

Cape Town — The failure of African states to hold violators of human rights accountable for their actions has been pin-pointed as a major problem across the continent by the respected advocacy group, Amnesty International.

In its annual report, released on Thursday, Amnesty said that “the lack of accountability for … abuses – by local and central authorities, law enforcement agencies, armed groups and corporate actors – continued to be a systemic problem …

“Unless it is addressed, there will be no lasting improvement in the realization of all human rights.”

Amnesty welcomed the issue by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of a warrant for the arrest of Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir for crimes against humanity, but said the reaction had demonstrated “the stark contrast from many leaders in Africa between their human rights rhetoric and the absence of concrete action to respect, protect and promote human rights…”

The African Union should lead by example, the report said, “but in certain situations it has become part of the problem.”

The Africa regional section of the annual report – entitled “The State of the World’s Human Rights” – catalogued a range of abuses, including the effects of conflict on thousands of African civilians, extra-judicial killings by police in some countries, the forced evictions of people from their homes, and the discrimination and violence faced by women and gays and lesbians.

Among the abuses it highlighted in areas of conflict:

Somalia: “Thousands of civilian casualties due to the indiscriminate and disproportionate nature of many of the military operations conducted by all parties to the conflict, especially around the capital Mogadishu.”

Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: “Sexual violence, attacks against civilians, looting and recruitment and use of child soldiers continued unabated.”

DR Congo: “The government… refused to arrest former rebel commander Bosco Ntaganda and surrender him to the ICC, even though the government is legally obliged to do so as an arrest warrant has been issued.”

Sudan: “Conflict between various communities in Southern Sudan increased, specifically in Jonglei, leading to thousands of people being displaced and numerous others killed and wounded, including civilians.”

The amnesty report also focussed on killings by state servants:

Madagascar: “On 7 February, the Presidential Guard … fired live ammunition at unarmed demonstrators marching on the Presidential Palace in Antananarivo, killing at least 31 people. No independent and impartial investigation was conducted into the unlawful killings despite requests from the family members and human rights organizations.”

Nigeria: “Hundreds of people are unlawfully killed every year by the police … These unlawful killings, many of which may be extrajudicial executions, and which occur in police stations, at road blocks or in the street, are hardly ever investigated.”

Cameroon: “There was no indication that the government … had initiated investigations into the unlawful killings of about 100 people in 2008 when security forces cracked down on violent demonstrations …”

Amnesty said there had been “mass forced evictions” in Angola, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.

Also, “refugees and asylum-seekers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda were forcibly returned, or were at risk of being so, to their countries of origin where they still faced persecution or other risks.

“In South Africa the police response to xenophobic attacks against migrants and refugees, and destruction of their property, was often inadequate.

“In Mauritania, migrants continued to be arbitrarily arrested and detained before being expelled, a policy put in place by the authorities as a result of pressure from European states to control migration.”

The report detailed examples of discrimination against gays and lesbians, or the discussion of new laws penalizing them, in Burundi, Cameroon, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda.

“Discrimination and violence against women and girls prevailed in many societies and in different forms,” it added.

“Women and girls continued to be raped, particularly in situations of armed conflict such as in Chad, the DRC and Sudan.

“Some countries also recorded high levels of domestic violence although in most no proper reporting or investigating system was in place. Most women and girls faced numerous obstacles to obtain access to justice …”

Among positive developments highlighted by the report were Africa’s response to the killings of more than 150 demonstrators in Guinea, the arrest in Germany of a Rwandan leader and the work of an AU panel on Darfur led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Amnesty International/UNHCR/E. Hockstein

Children play in Ifo camp as the sun goes down, Dadaab, Kenya, December 2008.

About the Guinea massacre, Amnesty said, “At least here there was political will among the United Nations, AU and the Economic Community of West African States to act swiftly to determine the facts and identify those responsible.”

On Darfur, “The report of the Mbeki panel… contained a wide range of recommendations to obtain justice, establish the truth about past and ongoing human rights abuses and seek reparations for those affected by human rights abuses or their relatives. The Mbeki panel recognized the role the ICC plays in addressing impunity.”