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Amnesty International Urges
African Leaders' Summit to Turn Attention to Kenya Violence and
Reject Sudan's Latest Bid for African Union Presidency
January 31, 2008
Amnesty International today urged African heads of state gathered
in Ethiopia for the African Union (AU) Assembly to address the
escalating violence in Kenya, including finding and prosecuting
those responsible, and to reject Sudan's bid to become president
of the AU because of continuing human rights abuses Darfur.
"As the heads of state gather, they must keep at the forefront of
their minds the massive human rights problems ordinary Africans
are facing -- and do whatever they can to tackle these problems
and work towards finding solutions," said Kolawole Olaniyan,
Amnesty International's legal advisor on Africa.
The organization issued a list of recommended actions to the AU,
focused in particular on the ongoing human rights violations in
Sudan and Kenya.
Amnesty International called on the AU Assembly to reject Sudan's
bid to become president of the AU. The presidency will be
determined during the three-day summit.
"The government of Sudan has consistently failed to live up to its
commitments in Darfur and has continually constructed barriers to
the full and speedy deployment of the United Nations peacekeepers,"
said Scott Edwards, Sudan country specialist for AIUSA.
"Khartoum has made the work of humanitarian aid providers more
difficult through administrative harassment; it has refused to
disarm proxy militia responsible for the suffering in Darfur and
it has refused to cooperate with the international community in
bringing perpetrators to justice," said Edwards.
Sudan failed in its bids for the AU presidency in 2006 and 2007
following public backlash for the government's continued targeting
of civilians and for blocking peacekeeping operations necessary to
protect civilians and ensure the delivery of desperately needed
basic assistance.
Amnesty International also called on the Assembly to urgently
establish an AU Commission of Inquiry into unlawful killings and
other grave human rights abuses in Kenya, and insist that those
found responsible are brought to justice in line with
international standards for fair trial.
The organization was informed of serious death threats being made
against prominent human rights defenders and activists in Kenya
and called on the Kenyan government to ensure their safety and
protection.
"African heads of state must press the Kenyan government and
political leaders to take all lawful measures to ensure an
immediate halt to the violence and publicly declare their
commitment to respecting and protecting the human rights of all
Kenyan citizens," said Olaniyan.
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