The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)
By Dagnachew Teklu
22 October 2004
Addis Ababa — African human rights activists have criticized "human rights violation" at the ongoing international fight against terrorism.
The activists, who gathered in Addis Ababa on the first of a four day National human rights institutions forum at the African Union (AU), said that various international and national human rights have been violated in many countries since the war against terrorism was launched a few years ago.
They said that a good number of innocent people have been detained in many prisons in the name of terrorist suspect.
"These people have been denied their rights to justice for many years. It is a human rights violation being undertaken in the name of fighting terrorism, which the international community is still unable to reach any consensus on the meaning itself," it was said.
The activists indicated that different anti human rights regulation and legislations have been proposed and ratified in many countries, including Africa to strengthen the fight against terrorism.
These African human rights institutions also issued on Thursday a communiqué where they call upon the African Union to convene bi-annually a conference of national human rights institutions.
The communiqué further calls on national human rights institutions to press their governments to prevent the erosion of human rights in the fight against terrorism.
The communiqué also expressed its deep concern by the continuous violation of the rights of Children, Women and displaced persons and reiterate the need for National institutions to address issues of democratic governance, peace and security and the rights to development.
The communiqué further calls on all member states of the AU who have not yet establish national human rights institutions to do so with out further delay and ensure that national human rights institutions are created by constitutional legislation are fully independent and are adequately funded.
Currently, out of the 52 AU member states not more than 20 countries are said to have a national human right institutions in their respective countries.
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