Amnesty paints bleak picture
2004-05-27 10:24
Abidjan - Rights watchdog Amnesty International painted a bleak picture on Wednesday in a report detailing the litany of human rights abuses committed against west Africans last year.
From violence against women to harassment of journalists, the restive sub-region, which includes a handful of the world's poorest countries, was pummelled by conflict, disease and economic insecurity, according to the annual report.
No country faced greater human rights violations in 2003 than Liberia, which in August emerged from 14 years of war that engaged the entire sub-region, Amnesty said.
"Those responsible for human rights abuses enjoyed almost total impunity," the report said, citing acute shortages of food, water and sanitation, forced recruitment of children into fighting forces, rape and the intentional displacement of thousands of people as fighting raged.
Sierra Leone a "bright spot"
Neighbouring Ivory Coast, which has tumbled deeper into crisis since January of this year, is facing similar problems with impunity on both sides of the conflict spawned by a failed rebellion to oust President Laurent Gbagbo in September 2002 that boiled over into civil war.
"Human rights abuses continued to be perpetrated by all parties to the conflict, resulting in tens of thousands of civilians fleeing" Amnesty said.
"Despite commitments by all parties to the conflict to accept an international inquiry into human rights abuses since the September 2002 uprising, impunity remained the rule and fuelled further human rights abuses."
One bright spot in the region was "improvements in the human rights situation" registered in Sierra Leone, which in 2002 finally declared an official end to a decade of rebel war considered among the most brutal in modern history.
In consolidating the peace process, watched over by what at its peak was the largest UN peacekeeping mission ever, Sierra Leone made strides toward increasing state control over its lucrative diamond industry and in addressing the wrongs committed during the war.
A truth and reconciliation commission has been established but has not yet released its report due to lack of funds, while a UN-backed war crimes court to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for the war is to begin trials on June 3.
Even Ghana and Senegal, lauded by the international community for their stable governments, economic growth and attention to human rights, came in for criticism in the report.
Ghana was rapped for continuing to impose the death penalty while Senegal elicited concern for the tension and insecurities that prevail in the southern Casamance region and for the harassment and intimidation suffered by journalists.