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Democracy and Human Rights Democratic governance and respect for human rights are the foundations for political and social stability and economic progress. They are also intrinsic to the goal of human development. Today, the struggle of Africa's people for democracy and human rights continues. As in the past, international support can play an important role. African victories in recent decades in overcoming colonial rule, apartheid, and other Cold War era forms of dictatorship (notably military dictatorships and one-party political systems) have marked important progress and empowered Africa's people. While democratic advances have been made across the continent, serious challenges still remain. As is the case everywhere, democracy in Africa is a work in progress. Constitutional reform movements now seek to advance the democratic process in many countries. African civil society organizations continue to struggle for women's rights and workers' rights, and for government accountability to the needs of Africa's poor majority. To encourage democratic governance, African leaders introduced the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). Launched in 2003 as part of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), the APRM is a pan-African initiative to provide mutual oversight on good governance and to promote development. Since the APRM is a voluntary process, a participating country conducts its own national consultations and assessment and drafts a program of action. The Peer Review Mechanism's Panel of Eminent Persons then sends a team of experts to dialogue with government officials, members of political parties, parliamentarians and representatives from civil society. So far, twenty-six countries have signed on to the process. Most recently, Sao Tome and Principe joined in early 2007, as well as Sudan and Zambia in 2006. Countries that have finalized the review report process are Kenya in May 2006, Ghana in June 2005 and Rwanda in November of 2005. U.S. support for democracy and human rights in Africa should focus on promoting the full spectrum of human rights and encouraging mechanisms to ensure government accountability. In this way, the U.S. can offer real support and partnership to Africa's people. A consistently positive U.S. contribution in this area can do much to advance the shared goal of international stability. It is also an essential prerequisite to economic growth and social progress. However, U.S. policy on democracy and human rights in Africa has tended instead to be quite selective, guided very much by the United States' own perceived strategic interests. The Bush Administration has been openly critical of the human rights violations perpetrated under the government of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, but has been less quick to criticize other countries, like Nigeria, Morocco or Ethiopia, which are considered strategically important to the U.S. Similarly, the U.S. has failed to take the necessary steps to end the genocide in Darfur, partly as a result of the importance of the Sudanese government to the U.S. in terms of intelligence gathering on terrorism as well as oil. This dynamic is reminiscent of relations during the Cold War, when geopolitical considerations were placed far above human rights concerns. This failure to prioritize action to end the genocide in Darfur has resulted in an international political deadlock, where the imperative to protect civilians has been neglected and the violence continues unabated. Several key African countries now find themselves at important political junctures, and strategic U.S. engagement could be instrumental in boosting democratic forces and averting de-stabilizing crises. These countries include Nigeria, Kenya and Liberia, among others. In 2007, Nigeria avoided a constiutitonal amendment that would have allowed former President Olusegun Obasanja to exceed the constitutionally mandated two-term limit. However, the April 2007 elections that brought Umaru yar-Adua of the People's Democratic Party to power were widely criticized as corrupt by both Nigerian civil society and international observers. In Kenya, continuing efforts to reform the constitution and combat corruption have faltered in recent months, and a critical election approaches. Liberia's presidential elections in 2005 marked an end to decades of civil war in that country and brough President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf into office as Africa's first female head of state. In Sudan, a new government of national unity was inaugurated in July 2005, ending the longest civil war in Africa. Recent months have seen serious fractures in Sudan's unity government, and it is critical that the U.S. support the democratic processes and governance mechanisms outlined in Sudan's 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). In all of the above cases, U.S. and international support for human rights and the rule of law must be unequivocal. Although it faces daunting challenges in its missions, the African Union (AU) has played a key role in promoting democracy and human rights in Africa, as illustrated by its engagement in the Darfur peace process and its efforts to provide security for Darfuri civilians. There is an urgent need for international financial, political, and logistical support for AU efforts to promote democracy and human rights on the continent. The commitment of the U.S. to promoting democracy and good governance
in Africa must extend beyond support for the electoral process, to encourage
increased citizen participation and acccountability on the part of both
national and multinational institutions. It should involve the promotion
of not only political and civil rights but also of economic and social
rights as critical expressions of healthy societies. U.S. policies toward
Africa must also include support for the rights of workers to organize.
Additionally, the empowerment of women is essential to the establishment
of democracy, and the U.S. should support women's organizations in Africa,
especially those working to increase women's political participation. LinksZimbabwe Power Sharing Deal: A Historic Moment of Possibilities and Challenges
A Dream Deferred: The 2008 Zimbabwe Elections
Democracy in Zimbabwe Demands Urgent International Support
The Zimbabwe Elections: A Dream Deferred Africa Action Condemns Escalating Human Rights Abuses in Zimbabwe and Calls for Immediate Intervention
Africa Action Releases Statement on Escalating Human Rights Abuses in Zimbabwe
U.S. Unilateralism Bolsters Mugabe as Zimbabweans Struggle for Democracy
Unilateral U.S. Intervention in Zimbabwe Hurts, Not Helps, Democracy
Africa Action Statement on the Upcoming Elections in Zimbabwe
AFRICOM: The Militarization of U.S.-Africa Policy Revealed
Africa Action Calls for U.S. Leadership to Support Kenyan Democracy
U.S. Must Support Full Spectrum of Human Rights in Africa
Africa Action Statement on the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Latest News on Women and Women’s Rights in Africa
Latest News on the Media & Press Freedom in Africa
Hopes on the Horizon: Africa in the 1990s
Democracy in Africa
Electoral Institute of Southern Africa
Protocol of the Court of Justice of the African Union
The Center for Democracy & Development
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
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