III Africa
| Date | 01 March 2001 |
| Published date | 01 March 2001 |
| Author | Rachel Murray |
| DOI | 10.1177/092405190101900107 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
NQHR 112001
avoid making reference to the human rights situation in specific Member States. For
instance, the events following the participation
of
the FPO in the Austrian Government are
not addressed at all. The absence
of
any reference to the situation in Austria is especially
apparent in one
of
the annexes which provides an overview
of
visits to Member States by
representatives
of
human rights mechanisms. It would have been appropriate
if
reference
would have been made to the fact that the Committee
of
'wise persons' paid a visit to
Austria in order to gather information for the preparation
of
their report on Austria's
commitment to the common European values (see supra under B). Part three
of
the EU
Report on Human Rights focuses on the European Union's external action in the field of
human rights. It provides an overview
of
the instruments available to the European Union
to engage in external human rights activities, and ED action undertaken within the
framework
of
other international organisations.
III
AFRICA
Rachel Murray
A.
The
African Commission on
Human
and
Peoples' Rights
The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights held its 28th Ordinary session in
Cotonou, Benin from 23 October - 6 November 2000. Commissioner Rezzag-Bara was
elected as the new Vice-Chair
of
the Commission. Throughout the course
of
the session
contributions were heard from State delegates, representatives
of
NGOs and national
human rights commissions.
National human rights institutions from Senegal, Niger and Sierra Leone were granted
affiliated status with the Commission. The Commission continued to defer the application
from the Nigerian commission due to concerns with its independence. After hearing from
the interference by the Niger Government with the national human rights commission in
that country the Chair stated that the Commission should recommend that all governments
desist from such action.
Observer status was granted to eleven NGOs. The application
of
the Bangladesh
National Human Rights Commission was postponed to enable reflection on whether it
should be accorded observer or affiliated status,
if
any. Some applications were postponed
until further information was obtained and a recently established organisation's application
was deferred until the following year to enable it to carry out some activities.
During the session the Commission was urged by NGOs to respond to events in Cote
d'Ivoire where General Robert Guei had declared himself winner
of
the presidential
election and then later fled to Cotonou after popular protests. Discussions were held during
the session and the Commission adopted a resolution Iwhere it urged the OAU to set up a
Commission
of
Inquiry to investigate the events, to involve the African Commission in
this inquiry and for the government to comply with human rights. It also released a press
statement in which it condemned the unconstitutional methods
of
power and urged respect
for the democratic process. It suggested sending several
of
its members on an emergency
mission to the country but it is not clear
if
this actually took place.
The reports
of
Egypt and Benin were examined by the Commission with
representatives
of
those countries. Although scheduled, the representatives
of
Namibia and
Ghana did not attend and their reports were postponed until the next session.
Resolution on Cote d
'Ivoire,
no reference.
94
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