ACHPR calls for re-dedication to fight dictatorships in Africa

The Acting Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) Commissioner Bahame Tom Nyanduga has urged Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) to re-dedicate themselves to the fight against dictatorships, bad governance and other human rights challenges in Africa.

Commissioner Nyanduga made the call in Banjul, The Gambia, during the ongoing Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 46th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR which will be held in the Gambian capital on 11 - 25 November 2009. The three-day NGO-Forum which precedes the 46th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR kicked off in Banjul on 7 November 2009.
 
He emphasised the need for collective re-strategising by NGOs to deal with serious issues affecting democracy and the rule of law in Africa.  “We are witnessing a redefinition of the electoral processes and democracy on the continent whereby the will of the first families is becoming the determinant of governance rather than the will of the people,” said Nyanduga.
 
Several speakers including the Acting Chairperson and Mrs Hannah Foster the Executive Director of the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS), singled Zimbabwe among the countries facing a number of human rights violations and in need of special attention. Violations against human rights defenders and freedom of expression as well as torture were highlighted as some of the major violations against human rights in Africa.  
 
Commission Nyanduga expressed  concern on the lack of goodwill to implement the Global Political Agreement (GPA) in Zimbabwe especially by Zanu PF, saying  “the GPA which offered a promise to end the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe is likely to unravel unless Zanu PF implements its part of the bargain in good faith.”
 
NGO’s and participants at this forum were also called upon to lobby their governments to ratify the protocol on the African Court which currently has no jurisdiction over countries such as Zimbabwe which have not yet ratified the protocol. It was argued that ratification would enhance implementation and enjoyment of human rights in Africa.

Reagan Malumo
Programme Officer: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
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