The Africa Liberal Network,
- Having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948;
- Having regard to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- Having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, adopted on 27 June 1981 and entered into force on 21 October 1986;
- Having regard to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted on 30 January 2007;
- Having regard to ECOWAS Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance additional to the Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security of 2001;
- Having regard to the Pan-African Liberal Manifesto adopted in 2012;
Noting that Africa has known and continues to experience multiple conflicts during the last three decades, notably in Rwanda, Algeria, Liberia, Somalia, DRC in Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, in Niger, in the Central African Republic in Burkina Faso, etc. Noting that in Burkina Faso, more than 226 incidents of insecurity have caused the death of more than 500 people including more than 200 defense and security forces and have caused the internal displacement of more than 765,517 people to date of February 12, 2020, according to the Permanent Secretariat of the National Committee for Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation (SP CONASUR), Indignant at the increasing attacks and kidnappings by extremist groups continue to exacerbate security risks in the West African sub-region, Affirming that the security concerns in West Africa remain more worrying than ever, considering the intensification of inter-community violence in several countries, in recent months, such as Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, Attesting that the current security responses of the region must be accompanied by development strategies, given that political, inter-community conflicts, jihadist attacks, violent extremism, organized crime, terrorism in all its forms which generate huge expenses in security and defense, have a crowding-out effect on the funding of development projects and programs in fragile countries, Makes recommendations below, to ensure peace and stability for sustainable and balanced economic and social development of States:
- Bring together traditional, religious and political leaders in each country in order to deeply identify the causes of internal conflicts;
- Establish an inclusive, frank and permanent dialogue between the living forces of the nation on questions of national interest concerning elections, living together, etc. in order to prevent and mitigate electoral disputes, pre- and post-election violence;
- Promote inter-religious, inter-ethnic and inter-community dialogue at the base and sanction any case of extremism, however slight, in order to prevent and mitigate inter-community, inter-religious, inter-ethnic conflicts;
- Mobilize and involve all internal human resources for effective and less costly management of the consequences of conflicts and promote traditional and endogenous mechanisms for managing the consequences of conflicts;
- Improve governance in our young states to assert the authority of the state without violence;
- Respect individual and collective freedoms with a view to accepting differences and building strong nations;
- Identify areas of complementarity in terms of conflict prevention and the sustainability of peace in the region with a view to pooling efforts for greater efficiency;
- Identify the mechanisms, indicators and actors for the effective implementation of preventive diplomacy by the early warning system;
- Promote a new model of economic development, based on a dynamic private sector, independent of the ruling system but rather supported by innovation and by sustainable, decent employment for young people and women;
- Know how to count on your own strength. This requires an effort to mobilize internal resources by finding specific mechanisms for financing development projects and programs in crisis countries aimed at promoting the collective interest while relying on private actors and market instruments and in working for solidarity between African countries;
- Promote economic integration through intra-Africa trade and the creation of optimal monetary zones.
The Africa Liberal Network,
- Having regard to its previous resolution on the Republic of Guinea of 30 December 2019;
- Having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948;
- Having regard to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- Having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, adopted on 27 June 1981 and entered into force on 21 October 1986;
- Having regard to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted on 30 January 2007;
- Having regard to ECOWAS Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance additional to the Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security of 2001;
- Having regard to the Constitution of the Republic of Guinea, approved by the National Transitional Council on 19 April 2010 and adopted on 7 May 2010;
- Having regard to the Pan-African Liberal Manifesto adopted in 2012;
- Having regard to the Johannesburg Declaration;
- Considering the recent developments of the political crisis in Guinea, which arose from the desire of the President of the Republic, Alpha Condé, to change the Constitution in order to grant himself a third term of office;
- Considering that this initiative of the Guinean President is a source of violence and constitutes a threat to democracy, peace and stability;
- Recalling its attachment to the limitation of presidential terms, as indicated in the Pan-African Liberal Manifesto adopted at its General Assembly in Abidjan in 2012;
- Convinced that the constitutional limitation of presidential terms of office promotes democratic alternation and avoids the holding of supreme power by one person for an extended period;
- Disapproving of any attempt to undermine such a provision once it is adopted by a State;
- Condemning the obstinacy of the Guinean President to change the Constitution of his country eight months before the end of his second and last term of office with the sole aim of being able to run for a third term at the age of 83 years;
The Africa Liberal Network supports and encourages the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC) – a coalition of opposition political parties, trade unions and civil society organizations – which is fighting with courage and determination against President Alpha Condé’s third term project, despite the ruthless repression to which its supporters are subjected to.
The Africa Liberal Network is deeply repulsed by the recurrent use of lethal weapons in Guinea during political or trade union demonstrations. These practices, encouraged by the impunity enjoyed by agents of the defense and security forces, have to date resulted in the death of 134 innocent civilian demonstrators who are opposed to the Constitution amendment and the Guinean statutory laws amendment.
The Africa Liberal Network condemns these violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms which are contrary to the Guinean Constitution and laws, but also to the international commitments of the Republic of Guinea.
Due to the risks and threats to democracy, peace and stability in the country and the sub-region, possible in the event of a constitutional amendment entails, to avoid another episode of electoral violence in Guinea, and in accordance with the principles on political reform and civil rights of the Liberal Manifesto for Africa, the Africa Liberal Network calls upon ECOWAS, the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations to refer to their statutory obligations and action appropriate measures applicable to President Alpha Condé and intervene to:
- Stop the massacre of Guinean compatriots;
- Respect the Constitution of the Republic by renouncing the illegal and conflict-generating third term project;
- Complete the local elections in accordance with the Electoral Code and the Supreme Court judgment delivered on December 26, 2019;
- Organize free, transparent and inclusive elections based on a Consensual Electoral Register, faithfully reflecting the reality of the electoral body;
- Open a dialogue in good faith with the Opposition to resolve differences and organize free, transparent and inclusive elections for both the legislative and presidential elections of 2020;
- Conduct serious investigations to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the crimes during demonstrations against the third term.
The Africa Liberal Network,
- Having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948;
- Having regard to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- Having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, adopted on 27 June 1981 and entered into force on 21 October 1986;
- Having regard to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted on 30 January 2007;
- Having regard to ECOWAS Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance additional to the Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security of 2001;
- Having regard to the Pan-African Liberal Manifesto adopted in 2012;
Noting that Africa has known and continues to experience multiple conflicts during the last three decades, notably in Rwanda, Algeria, Liberia, Somalia, DRC in Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, in Niger, in the Central African Republic in Burkina Faso, etc. Noting that in Burkina Faso, more than 226 incidents of insecurity have caused the death of more than 500 people including more than 200 defense and security forces and have caused the internal displacement of more than 765,517 people to date of February 12, 2020, according to the Permanent Secretariat of the National Committee for Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation (SP CONASUR), Indignant at the increasing attacks and kidnappings by extremist groups continue to exacerbate security risks in the West African sub-region, Affirming that the security concerns in West Africa remain more worrying than ever, considering the intensification of inter-community violence in several countries, in recent months, such as Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, Attesting that the current security responses of the region must be accompanied by development strategies, given that political, inter-community conflicts, jihadist attacks, violent extremism, organized crime, terrorism in all its forms which generate huge expenses in security and defense, have a crowding-out effect on the funding of development projects and programs in fragile countries, Makes recommendations below, to ensure peace and stability for sustainable and balanced economic and social development of States:
- Bring together traditional, religious and political leaders in each country in order to deeply identify the causes of internal conflicts;
- Establish an inclusive, frank and permanent dialogue between the living forces of the nation on questions of national interest concerning elections, living together, etc. in order to prevent and mitigate electoral disputes, pre- and post-election violence;
- Promote inter-religious, inter-ethnic and inter-community dialogue at the base and sanction any case of extremism, however slight, in order to prevent and mitigate inter-community, inter-religious, inter-ethnic conflicts;
- Mobilize and involve all internal human resources for effective and less costly management of the consequences of conflicts and promote traditional and endogenous mechanisms for managing the consequences of conflicts;
- Improve governance in our young states to assert the authority of the state without violence;
- Respect individual and collective freedoms with a view to accepting differences and building strong nations;
- Identify areas of complementarity in terms of conflict prevention and the sustainability of peace in the region with a view to pooling efforts for greater efficiency;
- Identify the mechanisms, indicators and actors for the effective implementation of preventive diplomacy by the early warning system;
- Promote a new model of economic development, based on a dynamic private sector, independent of the ruling system but rather supported by innovation and by sustainable, decent employment for young people and women;
- Know how to count on your own strength. This requires an effort to mobilize internal resources by finding specific mechanisms for financing development projects and programs in crisis countries aimed at promoting the collective interest while relying on private actors and market instruments and in working for solidarity between African countries;
- Promote economic integration through intra-Africa trade and the creation of optimal monetary zones.
The Africa Liberal Network,
- Having regard to its previous resolution on the Republic of Guinea of 30 December 2019;
- Having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948;
- Having regard to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- Having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, adopted on 27 June 1981 and entered into force on 21 October 1986;
- Having regard to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted on 30 January 2007;
- Having regard to ECOWAS Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance additional to the Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security of 2001;
- Having regard to the Constitution of the Republic of Guinea, approved by the National Transitional Council on 19 April 2010 and adopted on 7 May 2010;
- Having regard to the Pan-African Liberal Manifesto adopted in 2012;
- Having regard to the Johannesburg Declaration;
- Considering the recent developments of the political crisis in Guinea, which arose from the desire of the President of the Republic, Alpha Condé, to change the Constitution in order to grant himself a third term of office;
- Considering that this initiative of the Guinean President is a source of violence and constitutes a threat to democracy, peace and stability;
- Recalling its attachment to the limitation of presidential terms, as indicated in the Pan-African Liberal Manifesto adopted at its General Assembly in Abidjan in 2012;
- Convinced that the constitutional limitation of presidential terms of office promotes democratic alternation and avoids the holding of supreme power by one person for an extended period;
- Disapproving of any attempt to undermine such a provision once it is adopted by a State;
- Condemning the obstinacy of the Guinean President to change the Constitution of his country eight months before the end of his second and last term of office with the sole aim of being able to run for a third term at the age of 83 years;
The Africa Liberal Network supports and encourages the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC) – a coalition of opposition political parties, trade unions and civil society organizations – which is fighting with courage and determination against President Alpha Condé’s third term project, despite the ruthless repression to which its supporters are subjected to.
The Africa Liberal Network is deeply repulsed by the recurrent use of lethal weapons in Guinea during political or trade union demonstrations. These practices, encouraged by the impunity enjoyed by agents of the defense and security forces, have to date resulted in the death of 134 innocent civilian demonstrators who are opposed to the Constitution amendment and the Guinean statutory laws amendment.
The Africa Liberal Network condemns these violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms which are contrary to the Guinean Constitution and laws, but also to the international commitments of the Republic of Guinea.
Due to the risks and threats to democracy, peace and stability in the country and the sub-region, possible in the event of a constitutional amendment entails, to avoid another episode of electoral violence in Guinea, and in accordance with the principles on political reform and civil rights of the Liberal Manifesto for Africa, the Africa Liberal Network calls upon ECOWAS, the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations to refer to their statutory obligations and action appropriate measures applicable to President Alpha Condé and intervene to:
- Stop the massacre of Guinean compatriots;
- Respect the Constitution of the Republic by renouncing the illegal and conflict-generating third term project;
- Complete the local elections in accordance with the Electoral Code and the Supreme Court judgment delivered on December 26, 2019;
- Organize free, transparent and inclusive elections based on a Consensual Electoral Register, faithfully reflecting the reality of the electoral body;
- Open a dialogue in good faith with the Opposition to resolve differences and organize free, transparent and inclusive elections for both the legislative and presidential elections of 2020;
- Conduct serious investigations to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the crimes during demonstrations against the third term.
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