Read by John GBENAGNON, RFLD Senior Officer in charge of Partnership and Resource Mobilization
Honourable Chairperson and Commissioners of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
Honourable State Party Delegates,
RFLD (Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement) and the West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network, more commonly known as WADEMOS, are honoured to convene again before the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights on the holding of its 83rd Ordinary Session here in Banjul, in the Republic of the Gambia.
In the time since our presence here last year, the continent has seen an escalation of tensions and unrest within and among countries in various regions of the continent. And these have taken an adverse toll on human rights and denied millions access to a life of decency and dignity. We are plagued by brutal conflicts in the DRC, Ethiopia and Sudan and mounting tensions between the ECOWAS and the AES that threaten regional integration amid a raging terrorist insurgency. Through it all, RFLD maintains commitment to its agenda of gender equality, personal safety and opportunity for all women and girls across the Sahel, West, Central, and Southern Africa. And in diverse and increasing ways, its mission and its interventions continue to bank on the leverage and support of national and regional-level pro-democracy civil society organizations of WADEMOS bound in solidarity against the tide of democratic backsliding across the West African subregion.
In the wake of the growing instability and uncertainty across the West African subregion, RLFD and other distinguished members of the WADEMOS value highly the goodwill and the cooperation of the African Commission in safeguarding democracy and championing the entitlements of ordinary citizens and the freedoms of human rights defenders.
However, we do take cognizance of how in recent times, these invaluable freedoms have increasingly come under attack and other avenues of power across the West African subregion. The Sahel suffers severe climate change over a terrain that is struggling to contain what counts among the world’s worst humanitarian crises. And while the situation is aggravated by terrorist insurgencies, any hopes of redemption or rescue for many ordinary citizens are diminished as they are massacred by terrorist groups.
While the terrorist violence and attendant refugee crisis increasingly spreads towards the coast, the increasing spate of military coups and the sustained efforts by some leaders to extend their stay in power beyond their constitutional limits continues to pose significant threats to human rights across the West African subregion. In a hostile response to opposition and repeated calls for constitutionalism and the rule of law, there are government-sanctioned violent crackdowns on protesters by government security forces, illegal arrests and detentions of government critics and clampdown on the media. Some countries have witnessed the authority and functions of their media regulators disrupted and undermined, while in others, there have been attempts by presidents to undo the separation of powers with manipulation of the constitution, and in some instances, even the use of force against parliaments, state governments and the judiciary. These have not just merely compromised the integrity of the states in question but have more importantly adversely affected their capacity to protect and ensure the rights of citizens.
At a time when the little political and economic security that was cobbled together for citizens across the subregion is fast being dismantled with the growing tensions between the ECOWAS and the AES, it is unsettling to observe the subregion increasingly divisive political, ethnocentric and religious sentiments that instigate tensions and division, facilitating chaos and human rights violations, including gender-based violence and violence against children.
We call on the African Commission to take decisive action:
● Conduct country finding missions in relation to human rights abuses in the region, particularly in countries under military regimes and conflict zones where civil and political liberties remain suppressed.
● Call on member states to respect human rights, uphold democratic principles, and release political prisoners.
We remain hopeful that, with the Commission’s leadership and the collective efforts of civil society, we can reunite West Africa, turn the tide against authoritarianism, protect human rights, and build a brighter future for all in the region.
CLICK BELOW TO WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION
