25 May 2011 – Africa Day
THE SUSPENSION OF THE SADC TRIBUNAL HAS SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE REGION
SADC Tribunal Rights Watch is deeply shocked at the decision taken at the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of SADC in Namibia on May 20 to dissolve the region’s internationally respected human rights court, the SADC Tribunal, for another year.
This is in flagrant disregard of the findings of the independent review commissioned by the SADC Heads of State, which confirmed that the Tribunal had the legal authority to deal with individual human rights petitions and that its rulings should be binding over member states.
Furthermore, the consultants, WTI Advisors Ltd, Geneva, an affiliate of the World Trade Institute, reported that the Tribunal was properly established and that its protocol entered into force in accordance with international law.
Instead of upholding the review findings, the Summit took the decision to dissolve the Tribunal. This deals a devastating blow to the rule of law in the region because it denies individual people access to justice when they have no legal recourse in their own countries.
The Summit’s decisions were:
1. Not to reappoint Tribunal judges whose terms expired on August 31, 2010.
2. Not to replace Tribunal judges whose term of office will expire on October 31, 2011.
3. That the Ministers of Justice/Attorneys General would be mandated to initiate a process aimed at amending the relevant SADC legal instruments and would only be required to submit their final report to the Summit scheduled for August 2012.
4. That the Tribunal should not take on any new cases or have hearings of any cases until the SADC Protocol on the Tribunal has been reviewed and approved by the SADC Heads of State at the August 2012 Summit.
As a result, the urgent case lodged in March 2011 by Zimbabwean commercial farmers Mike Campbell (78) - who passed away in April as a result of injuries sustained during his abduction and torture in 2008 - and Luke Tembani (74), will not be heard by the Tribunal.
Their application asks for an order that ensures “the [SADC] Tribunal continues to function in all respects as established by Article 16 of the Treaty.” It also takes to task the SADC Heads of State for not abiding by the SADC Treaty signed on behalf of the people of SADC in 1992 for their development and protection.
The suspension of the region’s highest court serves no purpose but to allow corruption, the abuse of power and the erosion of human rights in southern Africa to become entrenched.
As the region celebrates Africa Day, SADC Tribunal Rights Watch calls upon the Southern African Development Community to initiate an urgent, wide-reaching consultation among civil society groups, legal experts and individuals to resolve this crisis and enable them to continue seeking legitimate legal redress at a regional level.
Ben Freeth
SADC Tribunal Rights Watch
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