POLITICS-AFRICA: Duplicity Surfaces at Paris Summit

By Julio Godoy Reprint | | Print |

Julio Godoy

PARIS, Feb 24 2003 (IPS) - The principled declarations made by leaders of 42 African states in Paris last week stand undermined by what many are doing in their own backyards.

The leaders who were in Paris for the 22nd French-African conference made declarations against war, and agreed that the rule of law and respect for democratic rules should govern political life in Africa.

The leaders who signed these declarations include many accused of corruption and continuing violation of human rights, such as presidents Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Denis Sassou N’Guesso of Congo Brazzaville, Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo, Omar Bongo of Gabon, Ange-Félix Patassé of the Central African Republic and Ely Ould Dah of Mauritania.

The leaders agreed a statement on Iraq saying that "the United Nations provides the only legitimate framework for the disarmament of Iraq." They said "inspections should continue and be substantially reinforced, both technically and in personnel, as to comply with UN resolution 1441."

The leaders said in a joint statement: "The use of force against Iraq, which would entail serious destabilisation risks for the Middle East, for Africa, and for the rest of the world, can only be a last resort. There always is an alternative to war."

The principles they agreed do not work in many African countries. Burundi and Rwanda, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Angola, the Sudan, Algeria, and the C- te d’Ivoire all witness wars and contempt for human dignity and human rights.

The journalists’ organisation Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) says the African heads of state and government who came to the French-African conference include "23 oppressors of press freedom and human rights."

In Eritrea in East Africa, 18 journalists are incarcerated right now, making the country "the world’s biggest prison of journalists," says RSF director Robert Ménard.

Human rights organisations have launched court proceedings against several African leaders. The International Federation of Human Rights has accused Ange-Félix Patassé of crimes against humanity before the International Court of Justice.

Denis Sassou N’Guesso faces accusations of war crimes and summary executions by his troops during the civil war that brought him to power in 1997.

Former prime minister of Congo Bernard Kolelas who now lives in exile in the Côte d’Ivoire says "my country continues to be a stage to the worst human rights violations."

Mauritanian leader Ely Ould Dah is likely be sentenced in absentia by a tribunal in the southern French city Nimes. He is accused of torturing opposition leaders.

"The African state and its leadership is dominated by contested legitimacy, religious animosities, archaic political manners, corruption in public affairs, and an internationalisation of conflicts," says Stephen Smith, Africa expert with the daily Le Monde.

The crisis in the Côte d’Ivoire continues despite a political agreement sanctioned by the UN reached in Paris last month. It calls for installation of a reconciliation government to include representatives of rebels fighting the government of Laurent Gbagbo. The accord also calls for elimination of racist clauses in the constitution.

Gbagbo signed the agreement but later called it "propositions". He rejects the inclusion of rebels in the cabinet. Government-backed death squads continue meanwhile to hound the few opposition leaders still living in the Côte d’Ivoire.

French President Jacques Chirac said at the conference that this cannot continue and that "the end of impunity has come." That led to questions about the duplicity of French, not just of African leadership. Chirac has faced several prosecutions on corruption charges, but is protected by the immunity the French constitution guarantees a President.

France has also been accused of military intervention in Africa, particularly in oil-rich countries such as Angola, Congo Brazzaville and Gabon to secure access to cheap energy resources and to maintain political influence.

Critics say declarations at the French-African conference last week seem to have been made for the gallery.

At the very time the African leaders were saying use of force in Iraq should be only a last resort, the three African temporary members of the UN Security Council, Angola, Guinea and Cameroon, were being targeted by the U.S. government to back military action.

U.S. deputy secretary of state for African affairs Walter Kansteiner visited all three countries last week to seek support for a second UN resolution that would sanction war.