African Union or dictators' trade union? The African Union has really reached a crossroads. Will it be an institution capable of solving Africa's problems, or will it degenerate into just a dictators' trade union the way the Organization of African Unity did?
The current summit meeting in Khartoum may prove decisive. Let's see what kind of news we can get out of Sudan today.
BBC notes that the Sudan was the only country to put its name up to chair the AU next. However, having Sudan chair the AU may result in some bad publicity for the Organization: "A meeting of human rights delegates in Khartoum was broken up on Sunday by Sudanese police, who detained them and took their photographs, reports said." Not to mention ongoing genocide: "More than 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur in the past three years and two million people have been forced from their homes." (sounds like Bosnia all over again, n'est pas?) "Africa is split down the middle over Sudan's candidacy, says the BBC's Adam Mynott in Khartoum."
The Beeb says that Nigeria's president Obasanjo is leading the opposition to Sudan's taking the chair. According to the Nigerian "This Day" the process for electing judges to the African Court on Human and People's Rights is also fatally flawed: "South African lawyer, Nobuntu Mbelle, Regional Coordinator of the Coalition for an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights and a principal author of the report said: 16 countries have nominated 21 candidates, of whom only five are women, and barely one-third have experience in human rights. We can do better."
Human Rights Watch has a press release about it.
And the latest from the Sudan Tribune:
Sudanese police raid human rights groups' meeting
Darfur crisis, a destructive force against the Sudan peace deal
West falls for Sudan's tricks
Sudan: Hosting the African Union Summit
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment