Human Rights: ECOWAS, AU Collaborate On Peace Operations

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU)have set up a strategic steering committee to partner on a project  for the enhancement  of compliance and accountability framework  for the AU  Peace support operations.

The high-level strategic meeting in Abuja on Monday, which also has the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) as partners, was aimed at ensuring that peace support operations are conducted within the framework of international human rights standards in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism and insurgency in the African continent.

Speaking during the meeting, the ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musa, said accountability and compliance to human rights is at the core of ECOWAS activities because it is within this framework that the region has the ECOWAS Standby force.

He said that one of the conditions of support by multilateral organizations is to comply with international human rights law.

“That is at the core of the establishment of ECOWAS and we have the 1999 protocol, the mechanism for conflict prevention, management, resolution, peace keeping and security which is accountability and compliance.”

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He said it was imperative on the region to degrade and defeat terrorism without which there will be no development or governance.

He pointed that the region and its collaborators are in the process of raising this force, adding that the Ministers of finance of member countries will meet shortly to determine the modalities to raise that brigade of ECOWAS in order to take the fight to the terrorists.

Also speaking to reporters during the meeting, the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, said human rights remains a critical component of  ‘AU agenda 2063’.

He said “mainstreaming of human rights is central in the fight against terrorism, it is central to fight against violent extremism, it will be central in the fight against the ideology of hate perpetrated   by terrorist groups, it will be central to the fight against rebellious groups and insurrections in our continent. Indeed, it will be central to the fight against unconstitutional changes in the continent.

“It is part of our natural space to build a new Africa and in doing so we have to ensure that peace operations remain at the highest level of compliance of accountability and respect for all in fighting the bad guys to save our continent from the scourge of terrorism.”

The head of the EU Delegation to the AU, Ambassador Nino Perez, who was represented by the Head of Policy and Cooperation, Thomas Huygheraert, said the EU effort is to support prevention of conflict, which he said “is by far the best investment.”