African justice ministers and attorneys general have amended the draft protocol of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights to include immunity for incumbent top government officials. The court will merge the existing African Court on Human and Peoples Rights with the Court of Justice of the African Union (which the AU proposed in 2003). It is being expanded to have criminal jurisdiction over international crimes and to act as an alternative to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The amendments will shield serving senior state officials from prosecution as well as heads of states. “No charges shall be commenced or continued before the Court against any serving AU Head of State or Government, or anybody acting or entitled to act in such capacity, or other senior state officials, during their term of office,” the draft amendment reads. African justice ministers and AGs were initially only divided over whether or not to include senior state officials, but eventually decided that they should be covered by the amendment. However, there is no definition in the amendment of who a senior official is. The amendments to Article 46 of the draft protocol were made during a meeting at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa on May 15 and 16. The AU technical committee on justice and legal affairs had worked on the protocol for the preceding two weeks. African presidents are likely to endorse the amendments at the 23rd AU Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, between June 20 and 27. “It is a disgrace that, in the 21st century, AU is amplifying to the entire world that they will perpetuate and protect impunity. They are saying that those who want a safe haven should come to Africa,” said Ndungu Wainaina of the International Centre for Policy and Conflict. On May 5 over 40 civil society organizations wrote to African AGs, saying immunity for heads of state and high-level officials for serious crimes would represent a major retreat from the objectives of the AU Constitutive Act. The Act calls for respect for the sanctity of human life, condemns impunity and rejects political assassination, terrorism and subversive activities. “The irrelevance of official capacity is at the core of making accountability for the gravest crimes meaningful. The alternative would carve out a sphere of impunity for high-level perpetrators, and create an incentive for such perpetrators to hold on to power indefinitely. Such impunity is further inconsistent with the needs of victims and ensuring justice for the gravest crimes,” the NGOs said. From Kenya, Amnesty International, the Kenya Human Rights Commission , Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice and the International Federation for Human Rights-Kenya signed the letter. They argued that the AU was increasing existing protection for presidents. “Kenya’s constitution provides that the immunity of the President…shall not extend to a crime for which the President may be prosecuted under any treaty to which Kenya is party and which prohibits such immunity,” they pointed out. To suggest that heads of state and senior officials cannot be prosecuted for serious crimes is to take the wind out of the sails of the search for justice for victims of gross human rights violations, commented Njonjo Mue, a programme advisor for Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice. - The Star
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 03:20:47 +0000
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