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African CSO Concerns on Exclusion from AU Summits
Petition to the Commission of the African Union
Pambazuka News
May 17, 2006H.E. Professor Alpha Oumar Konare,
Chairperson of The Commission
Of The African Union,
African Union Headquarters,
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia17 May 2006
Your Excellency
African Civil Society Participation in the African Union
We write as representatives of African Civil Society to draw your attention to our serious concerns about the exclusion of organised and independent civil society organisations from last two Summit meetings of the African Union, and the non-organisation of the AU pre-summit CSO meetings. Like the 2005 Tripoli Summit before it, the last Khartoum Summit of the African Union in January 2006 excluded organised civil society presence and involvement.
We are dismayed at these developments, which appear to contradict the lofty promise of the preamble to the AU’s Constitutive Act in which the Heads of State of Africa professed a “common vision of a united and strong Africa energised by partnership between governments and all segments of civil society…”.
Towards seeking clarifications, redressing this and avoiding similar exclusions at the next and future summits, we humbly request for urgent consultations with the AU under your leadership. We shall be delighted if you are able to expedite consideration of our request and ensure that this situation is redressed before the forthcoming June-July 2006 Summit of the AU in The Gambia, in order to ensure CSO involvement the next and future summits.
We appreciate that The Commission, other structures of the AU and their officials maintain largely good relations with civil society, and that some member states are more welcoming than others. However, as independent and cohesive civil society we believe we must speak up on these developments as further exclusions by any future summit host countries will not only contradict Article 3g of the AU’s stated objective, in its Constitutive Acts to “promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance”, it could also shatter any hopes of ever realising the common vision of government-civil society partnership promised by the AU.
In addition to our concern that many civil society advocates were not able to secure entry clearance to Tripoli and Khartoum, and that the AU pre-summit CSO meetings did not hold, we are even more deeply concerned about the hostility displayed towards even minimum civil society presence.
On 21 January, just as the meeting of the Executive (Ministerial) Council of the AU was drawing to an end, security operatives of Sudan’s government arrested en masse, 35 representatives of African and international civil society and media organisations who had lawfully entered Khartoum while in a meeting to discuss mechanisms of effective partnership with the African Union. Also “arrested” were all lap top computers, note pads, papers and all instruments of record keeping in the possession of the civil society advocates. The arresting operatives reportedly assaulted some of the participants. Several hours later, the government of Sudan released their human prisoners. Till date, however, it retains indefinite custody of the computers and records.
This is all the more shocking because we believe that the establishment of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOC) of the AU as one of the organisation’s principal organs nearly two years ago was supposed to end this kind of drama and, place civil society’s partnership with the African Union and African governments on a sound and secure footing.
AU Summits are the major venue for regional policy making. Representatives of international and multi-lateral actors are always to be found at these Summits. The exclusion of, or harassment of African civil society at Summits could be seen as reverse discrimination against African voices in our own continent at a time when the continent deserves to enlist all the support it can muster from Africans and people of goodwill around the world.
We therefore fear that continuing exclusions of African CSO’s will worsen rather than accelerate the resolution of Africa’s numerous development problems. To avert such a scenario, we propose that the AU should:
(a) Affirm the entitlement of African civil society to attend, hold meetings and participate in the coming summit to be hosted by Gambia, and future AU Summits; other AU meetings/events; or otherwise engage the AU as partners with our governments in the important and urgent task of ensuring the full social and economic development of Africa.
(b) Institute transparent standards and access requirements to be met by all subsequent hosts of its Summits; and liaise with host countries to ensure that CSO delegates do not suffer harassment. (c) Ensure adequate consultation with a view to urgent completion of the pending review of the 1993 rules on civil society consultation with the AU; and (d) Encourage the speedy establishment of independent structures for AU’s ECOSOC
We reaffirm our believe that the development challenges facing our continent especially around key issues such as: Democracy and Good Governance; Human Rights; Gender Equality and Women’s Rights; Academic and Intellectual freedom; Economic and Social rights; Freedom of Expression and the Media; Human Security, Peace and Conflict issues; Food security; Health and in particular HIV/AIDS and other Public Health issues; Education, Science and Technology and ICT; Historical and Cultural Rights, Youth Development and many more cannot be resolved without the involvement of civil society.
We place ourselves at the disposal of the Commission of the AU for the purpose of clarifying and resolving the above concerns.
Kindly accept, Your Excellency, warm assurances of our profound esteem.
Yours Sincerely
Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Women Advocates Research & Documentation Center (WARDC) Nigeria
Ahmed C Motala,Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, South Africa
Amie Joof, FAMEDEV , Senegal
Antonio Muagerene, OLIPA-ODES, Nampula, Mozambique
Aurelia Nicole Nguejo, Tuberculosis National League, Cameroon
Auwal I.Musa Rafsanjani, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) Nigeria
Babatunde Oluajo, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Nigeria
Benjamin Castello, Coalition Jubilee 2000, Angola
Bertha Chiroro, Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, EISA , South Africa
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, African Women's Development Fund, Ghana
Chacha Benedict Wambura, Foundation HELP, Tanzania
Constantino Mendes JEA - The Ecological Youth of Angola, Angola
Corlett Letlojane, Human Rights Institute of South Africa HURISA, South Africa
Daniel Acheson, Civil Society Movement of Libera (CSM-L), Liberia
David Barnard, Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT), South Africa
David Mafabi, Pan African Movement, Uganda
Dismas Nkunda, Darfur Consortium, Uganda
Dr SOW Thierno Maadjou, OGDH ( Organisation Guinéenne de Defense des Droits de l'Homme), Republique de Guinée ( Conakry)
Dr.Rama Naidu, Democracy Development Programme, South Africa
Edetan Ojo, Media Righjts Agenda (MRA) Nigeria
Elizabeth Eilor, AWEPON, Uganda
Ezra Limiri Mbogori, MWENGO, Zimbabwe
Firoze Manji, Fahamu, UK/Diaspora & South Africa
Gabriel Baglo, Africa Affiliates, International Federation of Journalists, IFJ Senegal
Gibril Faal - African Foundation for Developemnt (AFFORD) – UK/Diaspora
Gillian Ameck Ayong, Action for Conflict Transformation, South Africa
Iheoma Obibi, Alliances for Africa, Nigeria, UK/Diaspora
Innocent Chukwuma, CLEEN Foundation, Nigeria
Ibrahim Kasozi, Youth Development Forum (YODEFO) Uganda
John B. Wabire, SUSTAINABILITY WATCH NETWORK-Kenya
Joseph Chilengi, Africa Internally Displaced Persons Voice, Zambia
Kaitira E. Kandjii, Media Institute Of Southern Africa, (MISA), NAMIBIA
Kwame Karikari, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA),Ghana
Lavina Banduah, National Accountability Group, Sierra Leone
Lois Chingandu, SAfAIDS , Zimbabwe
Mario Morais, FOPROI - Forum de ONG's da Provincia de Inhambane, MOZAMBIQUE
Marren Akatsa-Bukachi, The East African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI), Uganda
MAWULI DAKE, WISE- Ghana
Ndika Charles Akong, School of Governance ,Germany/Diaspora
Network of African Free Expression Organisations (NAFEO), Accra, Ghana
Olivia Bueno, The International Refugee Rights Initiative Omololu Falobi, Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria
Opportune SANTOS AIFF/ECHOPPE Togo
Ozo Marome, SADC Youth Movement, South Africa
Patrick Mpedzisi, African Youth Parliament, Kenya
Paul Graham, IDASA, South Africa
Richard Koranteng twum Barimah, Volta Basin Development Foundation/African Rivers Network, Ghana
Ronke Adekunle, African Coalition for the Establishment of an Effective African Court on Human & People’s Rights
Roselynn Musa, FEMNET, Kenya
Rotimi Sankore, CREDO, Nigeria, UK/Diaspora
Sainabou Jaye, African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, Gambia
Silvestre Baessa, Mozambican Debt Group, Mozambique
Sudanese Organization Against Torture
Victor Kawanga, Commonwealth Forestry Association, Zambian Branch
YAV KATSHUNG JOSEPH, CERDH (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche en Droits de l'Homme, Démocratie et Justice Transitionnelle, DRC
Wangari Kinoti, WOMEN DIRECT Service Centre, Kenya
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