allAfrica.com: Mozambique: Renamo Opposes Non-Aggression Pact (Page 1 of 1)

The Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, on Tuesday ratified the African Union's Non-Aggression and Common Defence Pact, against objections from the opposition Renamo-Electoral Union coalition.

The Pact states that its objectives are to promote cooperation among African countries in the areas of non-aggression and defence, to promote peaceful co-existence, to prevent conflicts and to ensure that disputes are resolved by peaceful means.

It warns that "any aggression or threat of aggression against any of the Member States shall be deemed to constitute a threat or aggression against all Member States of the Union", and that "no consideration whatsoever, be it political, economic, military, religious or racial shall justify aggression".

Parties to the pact also undertake "to prohibit and prevent genocide, other forms of mass murder as well as crimes against humanity".

They promise to "provide mutual assistance towards their common defence and security vis-à-vis any aggression or threats of aggression"; and "undertake, individually and collectively, to respond by all available means to aggression or threats of aggression against any Member State". Parties to the agreement must not "recognize any territorial acquisition or special advantage, resulting from the use of aggression".

Other articles in the Pact deal with the threat of terrorism. Signatories agree "to intensify collaboration and cooperation in all aspects related to combating international terrorism and any other form of organized trans-national crime or destabilization of any Member State".

Furthermore, parties to the pact undertake to prevent their territory "from being used for encouraging or committing acts of subversion, hostility, aggression and other harmful practices that might threaten the territorial integrity and sovereignty of a Member State or regional peace and security", and to extend assistance to states that are threatened by "terrorist attack or other organised international crimes".

. In addition, parties to the Pact "undertake to arrest and prosecute any irregular armed group(s), mercenaries or terrorist(s) that pose a threat to any Member State".

These clauses are exactly what one would expect from a non-aggression treaty, yet Renamo denounced it as a threat to democracy. The Renamo group on the Assembly's Defence and Public Order Commission claimed that "the spirit of the pact is anti-democratic", and that "it will not promote cooperation in defence of the member states but of their regimes, because the governments of the few counties that have ratified the Pact depend on dictatorship to remain in power".

Renamo deputies repeatedly claimed that only a minority of African countries had signed the Pact, and just four had ratified it. They claimed that these four - Libya, Gabon, Senegal and Congo - "do not cherish democracy in their countries". Clearly Renamo is unaware that Senegal holds regular democratic elections, and that the Senegalese Socialist Party ceded power to the Democratic Party of the current President, Abdoulaye Wade, in 2000 in a completely peaceful transition.

Foreign Minister Oldemiro Baloi tried to set the Renamo deputies straight on their facts, pointing out that the pact was unanimously approved at the African Union summit in Abuja in January 2005. It is perfectly normal for signatures and ratifications of international treaties to take some time, he said, particularly since ratification methods vary from state to state. Furthermore, the document Renamo relied on was out of date, and the number of ratifications had subsequently risen to nine.

Baloi pointed out that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has its own Mutual Defence Pact, adopted in 2002 "which rests on the same principles and objectives". Seven SADC member states had ratified this regional pact, which will take effect when two thirds of the SADC members (nine) have ratified.

Baloi believed that the existence of the regional defence pact, plus the fact that southern Africa is the most stable part of the continent, was probably why SADC members had not prioritized the AU Pact. (Renamo had complained that the only SADC states to sign the Pact were South Africa and Mozambique - which shows that the opposition is blissfully unaware that another signatory, Madagascar, is also a member of SADC).

As for the supposedly undemocratic nature of the Pact, Baloi pointed out that in its preamble the treaty declares that the promotion of a strong democratic culture through organization of honest and regular elections, respect for human rights and the rule of law, combating corruption and impunity and formulation of sustainable development policies are vital to collective security, peace and stability".

Renamo deputy Maria Ines Martins suggested that Mozambique should hold off ratifying the pact until other countries had signed and ratified. "Why not mobilise more countries to accede to the Pact, instead of rushing to ratification ourselves ?", she added.

Baloi could see no virtue in this proposal. "Mozambique should be a leader in ratifying the Pact, instead of going from country to country mobilizing support for it", he declared.

Another Renamo deputy, Anastacia Xavier, claimed that the Pact was designed "to suppress demonstrations", though in reality no clause in the document deals with demonstrations. She attacked the Mozambican police for shooting protestors during recent riots in Maputo and the central city of Chimoio, and denounced the "passivity of Africa" faced with the misrule of the Zimbabwean regime of Robert Mugabe - two issues which have nothing to do with the non-aggression pact.

Rosalia Lumbala, of the ruling Frelimo Party, suggested that it was the clause on "irregular armed groups" that really worried Renamo, "because you are still keeping men under arms. Why don't you learn to live as free citizens!" She was referring to Renamo's "Presidential Guard", a unit of perhaps a couple of hundred armed men who were never demobilized at the end of the war of destabilisation but continueS to haunt old Renamo bases in the central districts of Maringue and Cheringoma.

On its first reading, the ratification proposal passed by 149 votes to 74 with one abstention. The Assembly chairman, Eduardo Mulembue, then moved straight into the second reading, going through the resolution paragraph by paragraph.

Renamo deputy Luis Boavida immediately moved a wrecking amendment, which sought to replace the phrase "approves ratification" by "rejects ratification". Although this move should have been thrown out on the grounds that ratification had already been approved in principle, Mulembue allowed it to be put to the vote, and it was thrown out by the same majority.

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