African Dialogue II promises concrete results

A conference on human rights has identified increased levels of cooperation in African-led initiatives and the promotion of human rights for good governance as essential factors for achieving justice and reconciliation on the continent.

The African Dialogue II, which ended on 24 May in Arusha, Tanzania, dealt five main themes: clarification of concepts; justice and reconciliation as tools of national reconstruction; the role of the regional and the subregional organisations in strengthening judicial systems; the role of the international community in promoting justice and reconciliation in Africa; and balancing economic development and accountability - impact on human rights.

Recommendations

The participants, from 30 African countries, identified the major issues impeding justice and reconciliation in Africa, and recommended measures to overcome these difficulties. Among its recommendations, participants said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the conference organiser, should each year review implementation of the proposals put forward at the Arusha meeting.

The conference urged sovereign states to tackle the root causes of conflicts, corruption, to promote decentralisation, ratify international and regional human rights instruments, strengthen national judiciaries and recognise traditional institutions and mechanisms of justice and reconciliation.

Participants also called for development programmes based on the needs Africans, noting that the success of such projects would depend on African ownership.

These recommendations are aimed at stakeholders such as sovereign states, regional economic blocs, the steering committee of New Partnership for African Development, or NePAD; civil society, OHCHR, the United Nations Development Fund and the international community.

Appeal

Opening the three-day conference, Tanzania's minister of justice and constitutional affairs, Bakari Mwapachu, highlighted the need for cooperation at the national, regional and international levels in matters of justice in Africa.

The OHCHR director, Bacre Ndiaye, told the 100 human rights experts, policy makers, judges, parliamentarians and civil society representatives present at the meeting that peace, stability and development would be difficult to achieve without justice and respect for human rights.

In addition, the keynote speaker, Conmany Wesseh, said the struggle for human rights involved the empowerment of people to govern their own destiny. Wesseh, a rights activist and the executive director of the Center for Democratic Empowerment, fled his native Liberia and now lives in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

Reactions

Reactions to the outcome of the meeting were positive, a consultant at the meeting, Ayo Atsenuwa, said. There were guarantees that meetings would be held at national level meetings, she added, "to ensure that some of the recommendations were passed on and local strategies are designed in response to the challenges". By targeting specific groups and including some provisions for follow-ups, she said, the recommendations were more likely to be implemented.

"We believe that something concrete will come out of this meeting and it won't just be a case of recommendations remaining on the shelf," she told IRIN on Tuesday.