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Saturday, 22 April 2017

[haguruka.com] Re: Rwanda: Triste anniversaire : les massacres de Kibeho

 

Merci JB.
L'image est plutot la photo des victimes de l'explosion de la citerne de carburant au Congo...!
http://fr.africacheck.org/reports/limage-du-massacre-de-boko-haram-est-fausse/

###
"Hate Cannot Drive Out Hate. Only Love Can Do That", Dr. Martin Luther King.
###

On Apr 22, 2017, at 9:49 AM, Jean Bosco Sibomana sibomanaxyz999@gmail.com [fondationbanyarwanda] <fondationbanyarwanda@yahoogroupes.fr> wrote:

 

Correction suggérée: cette photo intitulée Kibeho provient d'un massacre en Côte-d'Ivoire. Elle est très utilisée dans Google dont voici le lien:

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=fr-CA&q=massacre+en+cote+d+ivoire&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSlQEJaj-5JTWFp6MaiQELEKjU2AQaAggDDAsQsIynCBpiCmAIAxIo2B6dHrgV1x66Cv8dgx7gFZwe5heVP5o_1kD-bONQrmz-cOJQ_1kj-QOBowXmy3IGFDKgdAmAPANUnrlqMlT0bNk0_1jZFSii61tcnNR7jK2PQm7v1pPpjZbtFhPIAQMCxCOrv4IGgoKCAgBEgRkpd3XDA&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXpMDOmLjTAhWp5oMKHd83A30Qwg4IISgA&biw=802&bih=371#spf=1


Le samedi 22 avril 2017, Nzi Nink nzinink@yahoo.com [Democracy_Human_Rights] <Democracy_Human_Rights@yahoogroupes.fr> a écrit :
>  
>
> http://www.musabyimana.net/20170422-rwanda-triste-anniversaire-les-massacres-de-kibeho/
> RWANDA : TRISTE ANNIVERSAIRE : LES MASSACRES DE KIBEHO 
> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjwTNibyS7P31jjQG3GC-bJFq5_zu-wUHNcrZnNUu-HM1gdmVAgW19BB6Q7L4g_h8e9Dxwh2CLw9nf_QsKjhqoY4nPpTh4JEYrrwBtYWoRXPV1qDxLon7MLqXqBWs1pxS1TFCu273AJdNXfIWG3q2lH45rqFrJxi847IgSCFAkFAT7vkO1YuOrG=s0-d-e1-ft>+
> Rubrique : Actualité 
> Mot-clés : Claudine Vidal, Combat Medic, général Fred Ibingira, Kibeho tragedy, massacres de Kibeho, Terry Pickard 
>
> Publié le 22 Avr 2017 par  Gaspard Musabyimana
>
> Ce 22 avril 2017 est un triste anniversaire. En effet, c'est à cette date que plus de 8'000 réfugiés du camp de Kibeho furent tués à l'arme lourde et aux lance-roquettes par des soldats du Front Patriotique Rwandais. Des dizaines de milliers de rescapés du camp qui ont tenté de s'échapper ont été froidement abattus sur leur chemin de retour, les uns, jetés dans des fosses communes, d'autres, jonchés tout le long des routes, d'autres enfin, tout simplement disparus, sans la moindre trace.
>
> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiyNYt-QsgUDxeiJv45vJzQbu_vj-D8D4gPsTCVAJpY2housaFfoexcNVnD9rbEiWWY659uXognaNXrbEyQCxvgCddi5BcbOWXbSspy2j7tg6AQcowA_tIdyqIrtFlTxEVl4IaG3hx1qtsxTB_d8IpqCCUBQmcgZWn3L7GNrlZbnzQ=s0-d-e1-ft>
>
> Les massacres de Kibeho sont contés dans le livre de l'australien Terry Pickard[1]. L'auteur est militaire et faisait partie d'une équipe médicale australienne de 32 personnes, venues au Rwanda dans le cadre d'une mission de maintien de la paix de l'ONU. Terry Pickard a assisté aux scènes horribles où des civils sans défense furent objet de bombardements de la part des militaires du Front Patriotique Rwandais (FPR). Les victimes étaient regroupées dans le camp de Kibeho, au sud-ouest du Rwanda, dans l'ancienne préfecture de Gikongoro. Le livre de Terry Pickard est un témoignage de plus sur les odieux massacres de Kibeho commis entre le 18 et le 22 avril 1995. En effet, avant le livre, l'historienne sociologue Claudine Vidal[2] avait publié un long article sur le sujet, fait notamment de synthèse de rapports des Médecins Sans Frontières qui étaient eux aussi sur place lors de ce carnage.
>
> Genèse des massacres
>
> Le scénario macabre fut le suivant : depuis le 17 avril, le camp de Kibeho fut encerclé par plus 2500 soldats de l'APR (Armée du FPR) pour empêcher tout approvisionnement des 
> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgVX6U3LllDyBghFJID9wjnf9kCcr-x79nEZlvw9M1gc2Z-DixnHthHhYOGxPby7SH9biAYbfch2rJrXECErwLk_mrkQlIk0JOCSsDmnG9_h3NTPqNGzdsK8uC2FOC2sXFV4uS8gOcI96i4Zb61CBm0YrUXtTaghn4qkOhkPCWsGZs=s0-d-e1-ft>
> réfugiés. Ainsi jusqu'au bombardement du camp, les réfugiés furent privés d'eau, de nourriture ; l'accès aux latrines leur fut interdit. Quiconque voulaient échapper à cette torture collective était abattu. Le 22 avril 1995, en début d'après-midi, le général Fred Ibingira, qui dirigeait l'opération, donna l'ordre aux militaires du FPR de tirer dans la foule : des armes lourdes, des lance-roquettes, des grenades et des kalachnikovs furent utilisés. Très vite, des cadavres d'hommes, de femmes et d'enfants jonchèrent le sol et des camions préalablement prévus étaient là pour  ramasser les cadavres et les emmener dans des fours crématoires de la forêt naturelle de Nyungwe, à quelques kilomètres de là. Ce transport macabre a duré toute la nuit. Les victimes dénombrées furent de 8000 cadavres éparpillés sur le site.
>
> Les Casques Bleus ont assisté en spectateur à ce massacre de masse car ils avaient reçu de leur supérieur de l'ONU l'ordre de ne pas intervenir.
>
> Les rescapés ont été tués sur leur chemin de retour
>
> Le journal français « Libération » du 23/06/1995 a parlé de 60.000 déplacés disparus au Rwanda : « Deux mois après la tuerie du camp hutu de Kibeho, des milliers de réfugiés 
> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgyU9pl8PjJKFa2OCueg58j_-tLnK6pzBKZhL_Q0NA9s_TZXENvVfLuAr7ZwlG_uyJb5PMHV5iVBjVdhp9-0G4pOr5QymdyyUiYjD-Y162jvT6xOTDrHp6dl7OT6O_H_7DRcXsdfAGfYy54eBqbWtmT6ku96Bk75VHVdr-aqGiv30o=s0-d-e1-ft>
> manquent à l'appel ». Le journaliste Philippe Ceppi, citant les sources de l'Integrated Operation Centre (IOC), la Centrale humanitaire des Nations-Unies a écrit : « La banque de données de l'IOC a beau faire et refaire ses comptes, son total reste sempiternellement le même : 60.000 déplacés se sont volatilisés dans la nature ». Randolph Kent, Directeur du Bureau de coordination humanitaire des Nations Unies au Rwanda (UNREO), cité par le même journal, précise : « Quels que soient les chiffres de départ, il reste que plusieurs dizaines de milliers de gens ont disparu ». Les rescapés des massacres de Kibeho ont été interceptés par les hommes de Fred Ibingira et tués sur leur chemin de retour.
>
> Les massacres de Kibeho ont été dirigés par le général Ibingira qui a bénéficié d'une totale impunité. Des voix se sont élevées et Ibingira fut jugé le 19/12/1996 dans un procès que les organisations de défense des droits de l'Homme Human Right Watch/Africa et la Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme ont qualifié de simulacre dans leur déclaration du 30/12/96. Cet officier n'a jamais été inquiété.
>
> Quelques extraits du livre de Terry Pickard
>
> – Des personnes partaient pour des interrogatoires et n'étaient plus revus. (…) Les réfugiés étaient battus sur les points de contrôle ; les militaires du FPR venaient même chercher des malades dans le centre médical (CCP : Casuality Collection Point):
> « Some were taken for questioning by RPA and were never seen again…(p.57) ; the RPA was forcing refugees through the checkpoint , beating them with stick (…); the RPA occasionally came into CCP and removed all patients because we were taking too long (p.62) ».
>
> – L'Armée du FPR avait coupé l'approvisionnement en vivres et en eau cinq jours plus tôt. Les réfugiés étaient dans la survie:
> « The RPA had cut off all food and water supplies to the camp five days earlier. Now the refugees were showing their sheer desperation to survive (p.63) ».
>
> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEi8fhyphenhyphenqMnf7hsKfIMUhFyMvOwFIpCIVBbGL7Y37apeyvQfkCkIq07ZJ4uEtd2kBGA_y-LUUDXnEuXiy4XztZA5RTEFvW89O82nAsDBmNrbCgECQ4xRDslFaVcTFsc4MbwBDbCMIUnu0MkWBnqPEEqsntmOCMDpw27pODD2aYR0tSfVymfB6VA=s0-d-e1-ft>
>
> – La solution pour les militaires du FPR étaient de tuer tout déplacé (IDPs : Internally displaced persons) qui voulait s'échapper de la ceinture du camp faite par les soldats. Les réfugiés ayant paniqué, ils ont voulu s'enfuir et les soldats ont ouvert le feu avec leur kalachnikov et des armes lourdes postés sur les montagnes environnantes. Les soldats de l'ONU observaient l'horreur l'ONU leur ayant empêché d'intervenir:
> « The RPA's solution was to kill any IDPs trying to break through the ring of soldiers. Back at our bunker all hell was breaking loose around us. Some of the refugees had panicked and started running towards the checkpoint to try and get out. That was when the RPA opened fire with AK47s and rocket-propelled grenades. They also had a 50-calibre machinegun pumping away on the nearby hill overlooking the checkpoint. We could see the RPGs wobbling through the air as they headed for their target and landing among groups of refugees, killing up to half. The survivors were then mown down with rifle and machinegun fire. We could only sit and watch in horror. The restrictions placed on us by the UN charter meant we weren't allowed to react in any way with our own weapons. Under our rules of engagement, we couldn't act because our own lives were not being directly threatened. The UN had ordered us not to intervene; this was a local matter that needed to be sorted out by the Rwandan people themselves. It was all very well for them to give those orders (p.74) ».
>
> – Les réfugiés qui ont voulu chercher refuge chez les soldats de l'ONU n'avaient pas de chances car ces Casques Bleus évitaient de devenir la cible des militaires du FPR.
> « A minute or so later, three refugees came running over the hill directly to the front of our bunker. No more than 20 metres away, they had the widest, panic-stricken eyes I have ever seen. They were trying to get to the apparent safety of the UN compound. They knew they would be killed if they couldn't find protection. But there was none. They were close to us when I said to the others that we had better get our heads below the level of the sandbags because I knew they would make attractive targets to the RPA. We all ducked down and within a few seconds a massive amount of automatic machinegun and rifle fire was directed into the area. When the shooting died down and we looked up, all three were dead. It was a man, woman and child; most likely a family. The look of pure desperation and animal-like fear in the father's dark, wide eyes will be burned into my memory forever (p.75) ».
>
> – Les militaires tuaient les rescapés des bombardements avec des baïonnettes pour épargner leurs balles. Dans ce massacre, personne n'était épargné. Même des bébés sur le dos de leurs mères étaient tués. D'autres avaient la gorge coupée. C'est la première fois où Terry Pickard, dans sa vie de militaire, a vu des hommes devenir des cibles de tir à l'arme comme dans des exercices militaires. Il a demandé à un soldat zambien ce qu'il pense, comme africain, de ce que l'armée du FPR a fait pour ces réfugiés. Le soldat zambien lui a expliqué que les soldats du FPR ne sont pas des hommes, mais des animaux qui savent se 
> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhNGVQhqCVLSYoe8YFXZE2XGJtyISE7cQcjgzbCjRdd6wq63r-FanWfCcDOJUCAdxKLDulM4WAG3bRfkkVV5KuL-boTq3i5P2l5AbI1NZjkWbW56OnexMe1ccwjLPn3g8bB3G9ONWhQ9ueC6MGjFdHtCW3N6fT2Jwatb8nfgngw3Wk=s0-d-e1-ft>
> servir des armes à feu.
> « Meanwhile, the killing just went on and on right in front of us. Those who were unfortunate enough not to be killed outright lay injured in the field until they were hunted down and shot at close range. Some were simply bayoneted were they lay, so the RPA could conserve ammunition. None were spared, not even the babies on their mother's backs. Many had their throats cut. The things I saw through my Steyr's telescopic sight were almost impossible to comprehend. When a machinegun is fired it tends to leave a pattern where the rounds land called the « beaten zone ». Rounds do not land in exactly the same spot and have a spray effect. I had seen this many times on the range in Australia. I had never seen the effect when humans were the target. I had a close-up view of people dropping to the ground as they were hit. As shocking as it sounds, it went on for so long a kind of boredom set in. After a white I got talking to the Zambian soldier crouching next to me. I asked him what he thought of the RPA and what they were doing to the refugees. I wanted to know his opinion as someone from Africa. He explained to me that he thought the RPA were not people but animals with the ability to use weapons. He also reminded me that these two tribes, the Hutu and the Tutsi, had been at each other's throats for many, many generations. The only difference now was they used AK47s and machineguns instead of spears and shields (p.76) ».
>
> – Les soldats du FPR se sont opposés à ce que les Casques Bleus comptent les morts. Ils venaient d'arriver au nombre de 4000 victimes. Des mères étaient mortes les enfants sur le dos dont certains étaient encore vivants. Partout où ces Casques Bleus regardaient, le spectacle était horrifiant. Il y avait des cadavres partout et des blessés graves.
> « Jordo and Scotty, each accompanied by an infantry section, were tasked to walk up the sides of the road to do a body count using pace counters. Jordo and Scotty had already counted about 4,000 dead and 650 wounded when they were stopped halfway along the road. The RPA had forced them to stop when they realized what was going on. There were bodies lying all over the place even though the RPA had tried to get rid of many of them during the night. White counting in the compound, Jordo and his section found a large number of dead women who still had young children tied to their backs in the African way. Jordo had to go around and cut the children and babies free. Some were already dead. Others had been forced to spend the whole night nestled against their dead mothers. The children who were still alive were carefully collected by the Zambatt soldiers and taken to the water point to be registered before being loaded onto trucks bound for orphanages around the country. The dead were thrown into mass graves. (…) The sheer number of injured and dead seemed overwhelming. We walked the whole area to find out what we were up against. Everywhere we Iooked, in every room and area, there were horrifically injured people. With some of the infantry soldiers acting as stretcher-bearers, we began to sift through the human tragedy, selecting only priority three patients who we knew could be treated quickly at the CCP (pp.81-82) ».
>
> ________________________________
>
> Visionnez toutes les photos de l'horreur
> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgfTQaSRWVD7Gi_eVnmO_wfcqvnNnxoKxUITh1AG0ylt9t37UMBLsHhtsun_0M-3HgclNG5JzWwL-QZbCQkdXQE8ytuN11Qh9mcr8xXp54u40wdKNADz6gfalRQrLVL3TKq4MmT7ek_q-vJGrnobDvZh1slsM6k_dvlhnjc5MrB0mCIBQbbDIMYZL0neQ=s0-d-e1-ft>
>
> ________________________________
>
> – Les militaires du FPR étaient occupés à précipiter ces cadavres dans des fosses communes, d'autres devaient dégager la route jonchée de cadavres pour que les véhicules puissant passer :
> « While this was going on, the RPA were quietly retrieving the dead and burying them in mass graves. We believed it was to lower the body count, and they had been at it since the night before. To regain control of their area, the Zambians were doing the same. They collected hundreds of dead just to clear the road so vehicles could access the area. All of these bodies went into mass graves as well. Even our own infantry had to do it. I have no doubt it was the worst thing they have ever done-picking up the putrefying, horrifically damaged bodies of men, women and children and throwing them into a large pit already hall full of other dead. It was like something out of a black-and-white Nazi concentration camp film, except it was very real and in vivid, awful color. The process was filthy, disgusting and degrading to the dead, and would scar many of the soldiers for the rest of their lives (pp.84-85) ».
>
> – Les militaires du FPR essayaient de minimiser les dégâts alors qu'environ 8000 hommes, femmes et enfants sans défense avaient été tués à Kibeho. (…) CNN a estimé à 25000 personnes les victimes des massacres de Kibeho :
> « An RPA captain had been invited to lay a wreath. I was fuming. I could not believe it was happening after the events at Kibeho. The RPA had just murdered about 8,000 helpless men, women and children in cold blood and here was one of their captains laying a wreath as if nothing had happened (p.112) ».
>
> « The CNN reporter estimated that as many as 25,000 people had been killed on April 22 (p.113) ».
>
> Gaspard Musabyimana
>
> ________________________________
>
> [1] Terry Pickard, Combat Medic. An Australian's eyewitness account of the Kibeho Massacre, Big Sky Publishing, 2008.
> [2] Article publié dans Les Temps Modernes n°627 de avril-juin 2004 pages 92 à 108.
>
> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEipjZ1sVZHxBCuWkIyFT0Dqvn9dpZkhZMuR8Ni8gnx-5ifdB3Dlxz_MI6fhxfrzBVs3iVFiNYUHo2zHzRyHx9sxwhuUgUED5Rd3UxN1dUM_vbQ60n9nkTSdfmEj4ZQsHzggwrCbAnQQOzhrdAnqTX5oTvo0I9GCnbovHb0k1M5LiNpGYlmLkf6IUf_7CaYI4qWA3IE3j-yfNWMhVeYhOcafFn_A6H0=s0-d-e1-ft>0<https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjTKXAK6c4XC3BEjxp6-inDgMlAQyuJAdonlHJLCH7tNAV8veaj46EeTviP02kfyrBn8a6xszY_o_D_RJKBnmYhl8H8_IdQfC1sTuid4aYWwC_oM0VIyYQZXHq53U9swRei7roaPhnannSkaUdRcOs8Rb-Q7dowOtJ7H5KnwD1uDBwyhdyRcSbPxrErvzilNiQHXNC9nabfGl7vRFWE4ughlOPFIw=s0-d-e1-ft>0<https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhe9LnHlXML_kbscV4iLGt5EhzR_-Hzcsm6CLA4FiniHQ9t7jxjrA9ERMPoM_A6gUNIvP_tvtgKjv8tENjFMQEmZYdP8gQD8bVE0-Fx03V9Uih2wtS0QkU3j0PYYe6H_1dRtyl0cCpRroQSfC7TZlA7EfvRVnxX5ro02hnn6uwztgy6B5Ea8UO5HULVspFUNrOoyIL1TXmL9Ng-XpIzkbd_i_1zF3U=s0-d-e1-ft>0<https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjwvR9k6RiJEsvLYRCJxJJrtB2rou7MktV6-9-wleMMUVO2L7FgsWAjPiYtJZO-TWUFoIDUenVCJ0ewcbAEsoIOtXp__HoUVMae6LlAWuNIuRPKsXQ4g1zBt1QvdPF-fHfR7GjVMfNffsasaOAzO8l2XoeEx-mJ1Esr9UgtRuQ4FNfN_6mmIg1uIFdmO1yhqXqI1IVtdVOyhPUyZesWhjh7HOt7=s0-d-e1-ft>0<https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjQd3Joc1A_WkZ8xEs4_kK4HubSVx1n-Kz0n8fPMGOvnh4M3qCtkZMqLpdpQOjJwkGpOoRhOdpuUwWvrvY-Dm8XEh6EajaxA44Dq8BsMZu2Xpt1r9tObipMnFonO_bfIXMm6pfUsS5SZQ8Ozkc2gFtc03-_47xqOCcD4x1OpLEys4ezsPjSajOp0pQyLReGHJm8ZR2yp7ewz5cpSUlMw3rh_cMEZQ8N=s0-d-e1-ft>0<https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEi6-lEgrQCrZySb6Yfa-S-Zb7NBlbbPFsxUgCbYnsyx39AJW9tAKk5byRqF2ld8ruraH4Pf4xr_2DWAj8EZ67pRJwffcxDSU5Z2WXMJNf0KfZuQG__yaYUNGTUWR5QvlhLXHDwclmzcqIEW28uNv8VaYLeTeQwTn06aYmF6n0lW0oA0RfNWXx2vlcjqy1_z5id3at4kJFjJ455-wUG05ShyLxs=s0-d-e1-ft>
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[haguruka.com] With global democracy in retreat, what are the implications for Africa?

 


Op-Ed: With global democracy in retreat, what are the implications for Africa?

  • JOHN FILITZ
  •  
  • AFRICA
  • 2 Reactions
Photo: Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe (L) reacts next to South Africa's President Jacob Zuma during the opening of the 25th African Union summit in Johannesburg, June 14, 2015. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko  - RTX1GG85

This year by all accounts will be defined as a watershed year. In the aftermath of the recent global recession, populism, protectionism and corruption are on the rise globally. A series of populist electoral and referenda victories have swept the world, most recently in Turkey. What does this seeming retreat of democracy mean for Africa? By JOHN FILITZ.

According to The Economists Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, 2016 is noted as the year of global democratic recession. Not a single region in the world registered an improvement. Since 2011, Sub-Saharan Africa has stagnated. 

What does this seeming retreat of democracy mean for Africa?

At the crux of the matter is the degree to which democracy has been institutionalised. Of the 51 countries classified as authoritarian regimes by the EIU Democracy Index, 24 are from Africa. Francis Fukuyama's notion that liberal democracy was the only alternative in a post-Soviet era seems more in jeopardy than in any moment in recent history.

Strongmen such as Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Uganda's Yoweri Museveni and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe have been in power for over 30 years. They have also amended their constitutions to stay in power. Of more recent concern is the Democratic Republic of Congo's Joseph Kabila's reluctance to step down

All belong to the infamous club of among the most corrupt countries, characterised by a history of human rights violations. 

Barriers to democratisation

Corruption is not a uniquely African challenge, but it is pervasive in African countries. 

Over two-thirds of Transparency International's 176 countries surveyed for the annual Corruption Perceptions Index (2016), fall below the midpoint with 0=highly corrupt and 100=very clean, with the global score at 43. Of the bottom 18 countries with a score of 20 and under, 11 are from Africa. None of these countries are according to the EIU Democracy Index classified as democracies. Sub-Saharan Africa registers the lowest average score out of all regions with a score of 31.

It is no coincidence that autocratic regimes are riddled with corruption. In fact, evidence shows that corruptionhas a significant deleterious effect on institutional stability and accountability.

For Chabal and Daloz (1999), Africa's governance challenges are attributed to the high degree to which political order has been personalised. The state in Africa according to this view is not only weak, but vacuous. This is as a result of central political power not having been "emancipated from the overriding dominance of localised and personalised political contests". It is within this context that state weakness "has been profitable to African elites".

Nic Cheeseman argues that, together with a weak institutional environment, barriers to democratic institutionalisation in Africa often arise due to sharply divided societies, usually along ethnic lines. And in cases of natural resource-rich countries, incumbents are disincentivised to embark on reform. Instead, they have the necessary resources to "meet the costs of repression".

In spite of the current poor state of democracy on the continent, citizens of many African countries have demonstrated a strong demand for deeper democracy. 

How will respective African countries realise this demand?

A regional or continental approach?

The regional co-operation and leadership as demonstrated in the Gambia offers cautious optimism and is of immense demonstrative and symbolic value for the continent. The history of African-led interventionism has however been patchy and has delivered mixed results.

The importance of regional bodies such as Ecowas aside, there is a larger role to be played by the African Union (AU).

If the AU is to play a meaningful role in governance on the continent, it will need to address contradictory positions such as its mixed record on human rights and it's condoning of autocratic leaders, including Sudan's President Omar al-Bahir, accused of war crimes. 

After the lack-lustre leadership of the AU by South Africa's Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, all eyes will be on new AU chair, Chad's Moussa Faki Mahamat, on whether he can deliver on much-needed reform. 

The intention signalled by AU member states to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, except for Nigeria, Senegal, Cape Verde, the Gambia and a reluctant South African government, is a step in the wrong direction.

The urgency for democracy from below

Given the myriad of challenges facing respective African countries, including the threats of poverty, inequality, terrorism, transnational crime, climate change and governance-exacerbated-famine as witnessed in South Sudan, there is no time to wait. 

The single greatest threat to fledgling and established democracies is the complacency by citizens to hold elected leaders to account. If corruption is unchecked, it corrodesthe very fabric of the state, including its institutions. 

And once corruption becomes endemic, the road to autocracy is all but guaranteed. 

Only in full democracies, premised on citizen-led accountability of office bearers, can the corrosive effect be reversed. Safeguarding democratic norms and institutions requires continuous grassroots-led participation in the political process, and not only during elections. 

Recent lessons from the continent should be heeded

Tunisia demonstrated the power of civil society in catalysing change against a corrupt regime. Similarly, South Africa's transition from the heinous, corrupt apartheid regime to democracy was in a large part catalysed by civil society. This included grassroots mobilisation and protest action by unions, churches and NGOs under the United Democratic Front

Attaining democracy however is not an endgame. 

At the current moment, South Africa's young democracy faces an unprecedented test. A battle is currently under way for control over the state and its key institutions, including control over lucrative public procurement and expenditure programmes. The long-standing tolerance for the country's corruption tainted president, Jacob Zuma, has resulted in the fraying of this nascent democratic state. 

At stake is democracy itself.

In South Africa, and elsewhere in Africa, the urgency for a sustained democratic mobilisation from below is ever more present. DM

Photo: Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe (L) reacts next to South Africa's President Jacob Zuma during the opening of the 25th African Union summit in Johannesburg, June 14, 2015. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko - RTX1GG85

John Filitz is a researcher on African Security at the One Earth Future Foundation based in Broomfield, Colorado.



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"Hate Cannot Drive Out Hate. Only Love Can Do That", Dr. Martin Luther King.
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-Ce dont jai le plus peur, cest des gens qui croient que, du jour  au lendemain, on peut prendre une société, lui tordre le cou et en faire une autre.
-The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
-I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.
-The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.
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-“The root cause of the Rwandan tragedy of 1994 is the long and past historical ethnic dominance of one minority ethnic group to the other majority ethnic group. Ignoring this reality is giving a black cheque for the Rwandan people’s future and deepening resentment, hostility and hatred between the two groups.”

-« Ce dont j’ai le plus peur, c’est des gens qui croient que, du jour au lendemain, on peut prendre une société, lui tordre le cou et en faire une autre ».

-“The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.”

-“I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.

-“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

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