Amnesty Blames OAU Over Human Rights

Amnesty International (AI), the world's leading human rights watchdog, says it is concerned that the agenda of 33rd Organisation of African Unity (OAU) heads of state and government summit, opening here on Monday, does adequately cover the issue of human rights violations in African countries.

And OAU Council of Ministers chairman, Stan Mudenge of Zimbabwe said on Thursday there would be no specific agenda on human rights or refugees, adding that the leaders would address the issues as part of their discussions on conflict resolution.

However, AI legal expert Nicholas Howen, who is an observer at the summit, said human rights violations should be discussed separately as they were the main cause of conflicts that have beset the continent in the last century.

The conflicts in Africa are a long term result of injustices perpetrated mostly by government institutions like the police, said Howen.

He suggested that as part of its efforts to solve the numerous conflicts that have reduced africa to the world's killing ground, the OAU should seek to democratise its member states' governing systems and respect the rule of law.

What we are saying is that in the long term, OAU heads should make sure the continent's judiciary system is strong and independent and police forces are trained to recognise and respect human rights so that they could defend the people against violation of their rights, said Howen.

Of particular interest to AI is the growing number of refugees and other displaced people in Africa, who constitute more than half the world's estimated 15 million refugees. PANA