Amnesty recommends human rights measures for West Africa

Amnesty International has recommended that the incoming chairman of West Africa's largest economic grouping ensure human rights are respected by all 16 governments in the subregion. Amnesty's secretary-general, Pierre Sane, made the recommendation on Friday in a meeting with Malian President Alpha Oumar Konare, the incoming chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Sane recommended that Mali make sure the ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group, ECOMOG, adhere to international humanitarian and human rights laws whenever it is deployed. Amnesty wants ECOWAS to guarantee the freedom of human rights defenders and set up a human rights unit to monitor and review rights violations. Amnesty also suggested that ECOWAS, the Organisation of African Unity and the UN Security Council support impartial investigations into rights abuses and to try perpetrators. It cited Sierra Leone and Niger as two ECOWAS countries where such investigations should be held. Other calls were for a halt to the flow of small arms to those who may use them to commit human rights abuses, for Mali to take the lead in ensuring that female genital mutilation is ended in all ECOWAS countries, and in promoting the establishment of the International Criminal Court.