23 01 13 HRW – AU Summit: Rights Key for Addressing Crises

(Addis Ababa,
January 21, 2013) – The African Union (AU) should make human rights central to
its discussions about crises situations in Africa at its summit meeting this
week in Ethiopia, Human Rights Watch said
today in an open letter to the AU chairperson,
Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The Ordinary Summit begins on January 21, 2013, and
AU heads of state are due to meet on January 27 and 28 in Addis
Ababa.

The AU summit should address the human rights crises in Mali, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Sudan, and Somalia as well as the human rights
challenges around upcoming elections in Kenya and Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch said.
Of particular concern are the human rights implications of the deployment of an
African Union/United Nations-supported international military force in Mali and
the need to ensure proper safeguards for protecting civilians and a human rights
monitoring capability. Potential abuses not only by the Malian security forces
but also by the armed forces of countries potentially taking part in the
operation bring particular urgency to the situation, with the recent resumption
of hostilities in Mali.

“The AU summit is an important regional
forum for ensuring that human rights considerations are injected into every
crisis response,” said Tiseke Kasambala, Africa
advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “The AU has a crucial role to play in
ensuring that the military intervention in Mali does not contribute to further
human rights violations in already insecure environments. That means abiding by
international law and making civilian protection a priority.”

In
eastern Congo, concerted regional and international action is required to help
end the cycle of abuses, Human Rights Watch said. Over the past nine months, M23
rebels in eastern Congo have committed widespread abuses amounting to war crimes, including deliberate killings of civilians,
summary executions, rapes, and recruitment of child soldiers. The rebels have
received significant logistical
and military support from neighboring Rwanda.

Talks between
the M23 and the Congolese government, which began in December 2012 and resumed
in January, appear to be faltering and so far, have made little
progress.

“The violence in eastern Congo continues to lead to
appalling loss of civilian life,” Kasambala said. “Rwanda should immediately
stop supporting the abusive rebel group M23 and the AU should insist that M23
commanders implicated in war crimes are brought to
justice.”

Ongoing talks over the deployment of an African-led
intervention brigade as part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo should
consider mandating this force to support arrest operations of suspects sought on
international and national warrants for war crimes
and crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said.

In Sudan, the human rights and humanitarian situation has
deteriorated, particularly in the conflict-affected areas of Southern Kordofan,
Blue Nile, and Darfur. The fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the
rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army-North (SPLA-North)
in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states has affected nearly one million
people, forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands from both states since
mid-2011. The Sudanese military has used indiscriminate aerial bombardments in
populated areas of both states. 

Government forces along with
government-affiliated militia are also responsible for other serious abuses
against civilians in both states, such as ground attacks on villages,
destruction of grain and water sources that are critical to the survival of the
population, arbitrary detention, and sexual violence against women and girls.
Sudan has blocked humanitarian aid groups from the areas outside
government-controlled towns where civilians are in dire need of food
aid.

In Darfur, armed conflict between the government forces and
militias and the rebel groups continues, in addition to inter-ethnic clashes
over resources. Scores of people have been killed in the fighting and the AU/UN
Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) peacekeepers have repeatedly come under attack. The
Sudanese government restricts the movement of AU/UN peacekeepers and
nongovernmental organizations, preventing access to large parts of the region.
The AU should press the government of Sudan to grant immediate and unfettered
access to humanitarian agencies in the conflict-affected areas of Darfur, and
Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan, Human Rights Watch said.

“An
urgent response is required to resolve the humanitarian and human rights crisis
in Sudan,” Kasambala said. “The AU should demand that the Sudanese government
immediately stop the indiscriminate aerial bombardments and other violations of
international human rights and humanitarian law in Southern Kordofan and Blue
Nile states.”

During the past year, a new government replaced the
transitional authority in Somalia, and AMISOM troops made significant military
advances into territory held by the Islamist armed group Al-Shabaab. The human
rights situation in Somalia nonetheless remains poor, Human Rights Watch said.
State security forces have been implicated in serious violations of fundamental
rights that contribute to the insecurity of the population. These include
killings of journalists in government-controlled areas, rape, and severe
restrictions on access to food and shelter for displaced people. 

Foreign forces including Kenyan forces under AMISOM command, as
well as Ethiopian forces, have also committed abuses in south-central Somalia
during military operations, including indiscriminate
shelling.

“The AU should urge the Somali authorities to end abuses
by state security forces,” Kasambala said. “The AU should also ensure that
respect for humanitarian law and accountability for abuses during military
operations by AMISOM are a priority.”

The deployment of a
long-term AU election observer mission to Kenya this coming March is an
important contribution to free and fair elections, but the possibility of
election-related violence is a growing concern, Human Rights Watch said. In the
past year, 400 people have been killed and over 200,000 people displaced in
incidents of ethnic, resource-based, and politically motivated violence in the
coast region of Northern Kenya and parts of Nairobi. The pre-election violence
has been among the worst in Kenya since 1992.

Few of those
responsible for the violence that followed the 2007 elections in Kenya have been
brought to justice, raising fears that those responsible for the violence during
the 2007 elections could carry out further acts of violence in
2013.

“The ongoing violence and lack of justice for victims of
human rights abuses during the 2007 elections makes it vital for the AU to send
a strong message to the Kenyan authorities that grave abuses should not go
unpunished,” Kasambala said.

The AU should provide for early
deployment and sufficient numbers of Southern Africa Development Community
(SADC) and AU election observers to Zimbabwe, where a lack of institutional and
legal reform has raised the specter of violence and other rights abuses during
elections to be held in 2013. The AU should keep the monitors on the ground
after the elections, long enough to deter violence and
intimidation.

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Mali, please
visit:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/mali

For more Human
Rights Watch reporting on the Democratic Republic of Congo, please
visit:
http://www.hrw.org/drc

For more Human
Rights Watch reporting on Sudan, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/sudan

For
more Human Rights Watch reporting on Somalia, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/somalia