Africa: AU must Stem Conflicts by Ensuring Rights Protection, says Human Rights Watch

For immediate release:

African Union: Stem Conflicts by Ensuring Rights Protection
At Summit, AU Member States Should Take Urgent Steps on Darfur, Cote
d'Ivoire, DRC

(New York, July 3, 2004) The African Union should make protecting
civilians and fighting impunity for human rights abuses central to its
initiatives against conflicts in the region, Human Rights Watch said in
a briefing paper released today ahead of the AU summit on July 6-8.

"The African Union should take strong proactive measures to prevent and
intervene in conflicts across the continent," said Peter Takirambudde,
director of the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "By taking
constructive steps to ensure protection for civilians and human rights,
the AU can play a key role in stemming conflicts in the region."

In their deliberations at this week's Assembly meeting in Addis Ababa,
AU member states have an opportunity to act on their stated commitment
to peace and security by addressing three crises: Sudan's western Darfur
region, Cote d'Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Each of the
conflicts, which are marked by widespread abuses against civilians,
threatens to escalate rapidly unless the African Union and the broader
international community take decisive action now, Human Rights Watch
said.

In Darfur, the Sudanese military and their allied Janjaweed militias
have committed crimes against humanity, "ethnic cleansing" and war
crimes including rape. Tens of thousands of civilians have died, and
more than one million persons have been displaced. International aid
agencies estimate that hundreds of thousands will die of starvation and
disease in the coming months unless the Sudanese government allows
unimpeded humanitarian access immediately. The most egregious conflict
in Africa today, Darfur demands prompt and effective AU action.

Human Rights Watch called on the African Union to increase its ceasefire
monitoring force in Darfur, include human rights monitoring in the
mandate of the ceasefire commission, gather evidence of war crimes and
other violations. The African Union should impose sanctions on Khartoum
if it does not cooperate with the AU mission and the ceasefire
agreement. Working with the United Nations, the African Union should
take steps to reverse the effects of ethnic cleansing in Darfur,
compensate victims, and provide for the safe and voluntary return of
displaced persons and refugees.

In Cote d'Ivoire, the government's military and security forces and
government-backed militias continue to commit serious human rights
abuses with total impunity. Political opposition supporters are
intimidated and abused, along with persons who are believed to oppose
the government by virtue of their religion, ethnicity or nationality.
The country is split in half, with the government holding areas in the
south and rebels controlling territory in the north. Civilians endure
abuses at the hands of both sides and their associated militias, and
suffer from the economic hardship engendered by the conflict. Cote
d'Ivoire requires AU attention, without which the situation threatens to
draw in roving combatants from neighboring countries. In the event of a
return to armed conflict, the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire would jeopardize
regional stability.

Human Rights Watch urged the African Union to condemn the abuses in Cote
d'Ivoire and call on government and rebel forces to end them. The
African Union should insist that the government disarm and disband
pro-government militias and investigate abuses and hold accountable
those responsible, including those committed since the 1999 military
coup-The African Union should also insist that West African governments
comply with the ECOWAS moratorium on small arms trade to Cote d'Ivoire.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), recent fighting in Bukavu is
the latest event in a pattern of deteriorating security and massive
violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
Rebellious factions of former rebel groups and other armed groups that
have not joined the transitional process use violence to oppose
integration into the new Congolese army and to challenge the authority
of the transitional government in Kinshasa. Former rebel group leaders,
even while taking part in the transitional government, have apparently
encouraged or tolerated these challenges.

The transitional government has been unable to meet these challenges and
has failed to stop the violence. The complex power-sharing agreement and
distrust among participants in the transition and outsiders are factors
likely to result in future violence and abuses. A new crisis in the
country and a return to conflict may result in the destabilization of
Central Africa unless an increased and consistent commitment emerges
from the international community and the African Union.

Human Rights Watch called on the African Union to denounce and demand an
end to the abuses in the DRC and insist that commanders responsible be
held accountable. The African Union should insist that all new members
of the Congolese armed forces be screened for past abuses, and it should
conclude its Bukavu investigation and make public the findings. Human
Rights Watch also urged the African Union to assist the DRC and the
International Criminal Court in bringing perpetrators of grave abuses to
justice, and it should call on the U.N. Secretary General to establish a
Group of Experts to recommend justice mechanisms for war crimes
committed before the ICC Statute.

"These three hotspots have a common need for immediate attention and
substantive action by the AU" said Takirambudde. "Protecting civilians,
upholding human rights and preventing impunity should be integrated into
all AU initiatives to address conflicts in the region."

The briefing paper is available online at:
http://hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/africanunion/

For more information on Cote d'Ivoire, please go to our website at:
http://hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=cotedi
For more information on the Democratic Republic of Congo, please go our
website at: http://hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=congo
For more information on the Sudan, please go to our website at:
http://hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=sudan

For more information, please contact:

In Brussels, Stephan Van Praet: +32.2.732.2009, x28
In Washington, D.C., Jemera Rone: +1.202.368.5414
In Toronto, Georgette Gagnon: +1.416.762.0364