A3-0170/94

Resolution on the democratization of Africa

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motions for resolutions by:

-(a)Mr Glinne on democratization movements in Africa (B3-1123/90),

-(b)Mr Vecchi on the democratization process in the Maghreb countries (B3-1074/91),

-having regard to Article 5 of the Fourth Lomé Convention (15 December 1989) on respect for fundamental human rights and liberties (Doc. ACP-EEC 2107/90 of March 1990),

-having regard to the resolution of the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly of 31 March 1993 on democracy, human rights and development in the ACP countries,

-having regard to its resolutions of 12 March 1993 on human rights in the world and Community human rights policy for the years 1991/92 and 13 July 1993 on human rights, democracy and development,

-having regard to the resolution of the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly of 7 October 1993 on democratization,

-having regard to the provisions of the Treaty on European Union on a common foreign and security policy, with express reference to development cooperation,

-having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security and the opinion of the Committee on Development and Cooperation (A3-0170/94),

A.whereas 53 sovereign states coexist in Africa, which are at times very different for geographical, historical, religious, linguistic, ethnic, political, economic and social reasons, many of them governed by authoritarian regimes that rely on the armed forces and single parties,

B.mindful of the desire to change that situation by democratizing its political systems - a desire repeatedly expressed by the people of Africa, often at personal risk, and which has led to significant progress being made on the road to political freedom in a number of African states,

C.whereas the collapse of the Soviet Union, the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon, the defeat of totalitarian ideologies and the end of the East-West bipolarity have provided African countries with an incentive to seek solutions to their socio-economic problems based on liberty and participation,

D.mindful of the difficulty in achieving this desire for democratization because of certain economic factors which have an undeniable social impact, such as the deterioration of the terms of trade, which is harmful to the developing countries, the external debt of these countries (which in sub-Saharan Africa is equivalent to 106% of GDP), the fact that the current GATT agreements are weighted against them and the anomalous flow of capital from certain countries of the South to certain international financial centres,

E.mindful of the strength of the autocratic regimes of many countries, which ever since their independence have inherited the worst aspects of colonial policy, concentrating power in the hands of dictators and single parties supported by military and bureaucratic minorities,

F.whereas greater or lesser progress towards democratic pluralism has, despite these obstacles, occurred in various countries, in addition to countries with a tradition of democracy,

G.whereas civil wars, political assassinations and military coups have destroyed fledgling peace processes and democratic governments which were peacefully installed by popular vote, and whereas other countries are grappling with high levels of terrorist activity and are tempted to curtail civil liberties severely and repress attempts to establish democracy,

H.mindful of the support given to the desire for democratization by the European Community in the documents cited above and the basic agreement with that support expressed by the African representatives in the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly, in particular as regards its negotiations on human rights and through steps taken by its Bureau and Co-Presidents,

I.mindful of the growing demands among many circles of opinion for an in-depth examination to be made of the concept of non-intervention, with a view to making the public aware of the suffering undergone by many peoples at the hands of the autocratic regimes referred to above, whilst the international community remains indifferent,

I.Considers that:

1.The people and governments of Africa must find appropriate ways of establishing legal, democratic institutions based on their history, their cultural identity and open participation by the people in decision-making processes which must be characterized by the principle of the separation of powers; maintains that the peoples of Africa are entitled to fully democratic and participatory systems of government;

2.Economic development and political democracy are closely linked and that support for democracy in Africa should also take the form of economic instruments for the benefit of its peoples;

3.That right is supported by the will of the African people, repeatedly given popular expression since the beginning of the present decade because 'the forces of liberty and democracy are contagious' (Charter of Arusha, 12 to 16 February 1990);

4.Those African peoples which have recently initiated processes of democratization in the face of numerous difficulties therefore deserve to be congratulated and supported; and the setbacks which have sometimes occurred in some of these processes are to be regretted;

5.As in the rest of the world, democracy will give the people the power to elect their rulers and to reelect or replace them under the protection of representative institutions and under the rule of law;

6.The primary expression of democracy is the protection of human rights. Regional instruments designed to protect human rights in Africa must be perfected in order to guarantee personal liberties against the risk of any improper or arbitrary state action;

7.Democracy is a task that requires constant attention; what is essential is a guarantee that conventions for the protection of human rights and democracy - such as those drawn up by the UN, the ILO, the OAU and the Fourth Lomé Convention - will be implemented and not just signed;

8.Human rights are universal and indivisible; those rights of a political nature, including the freedom of information and speech, cannot be infringed on the pretext of defending economic or social rights; however, they can undoubtedly be more easily safeguarded by ensuring that basic needs such as food, housing, education, medical care and properly paid employment are met;

9.Considers that the current international economic system which marginalizes the countries of the South is not in accordance with the principles of international democracy and that such a situation serves only to aggravate the political and economic difficulties of developing countries;

10.Regrettably, a number of authoritarian regimes in Africa helped to prevent acceptance, at the recent Vienna Conference on Human Rights, of the objectives set by the Council in its Declaration of 25 May 1993; nevertheless, tribute should be paid to the support given by other African states to the defence of democracy and human rights;

11.Specifically African forms of democratic co-existence, which sometimes sprang up in villages and tribes, are rooted in their history and cultural identity and frequently have a federal or confederal political form, deserve to be fully respected; those democratic forms must evolve and mature so as to enable modern democratic institutions (parliament, government, public administration, courts) to function smoothly in accordance with the general principles of law and the specific traditions and values of each people; in order to prevent corruption and manipulation, the essential goal is for all citizens, without distinction of race, sex or social class to participate freely in the expression of political will within the framework of a state governed by the rule of law and based on the principle of separation of powers;

12.Democracy may be introduced through direct elections or elections prepared for by national conferences; in both cases, those who already hold power must be scrupulous in exercising it in order to guarantee that the popular will is freely expressed; one way or another, it is also essential that the majority emerging from that process in turn guarantees and safeguards the rights of political, ethnic, religious or cultural minorities; for all concerned, rights go hand in hand with duties;

13.Democracy admits of various forms of state and government; it always requires, however, a spirit of mutual and abiding tolerance of the differences that exist within every country; in particular, it is necessary to combat racism of any kind without past abuses being used to justify future abuses or leading to inter-ethnic fighting;

14.It is necessary to persevere in promoting the full integration of African women into the political action and civil life of democratic states, in accordance with the burden which each African country bears and in order to prevent the discrimination they frequently suffer; it is therefore satisfactory that their right to vote and stand for election has not been questioned in those countries which have initiated processes of democratization;

15.Great importance attaches to the political function of civil society, which finds expression in political parties, local authorities, churches and religious groups, trade unions and professional and employers' associations, educational centres, many NGOs and in other agents of a social fabric that is crucial for the consolidation of democracy;

16.Any form of entrenched traditionalism, radicalism or fundamentalism as well as the confusion of religious creeds and political opinions or the rise of extreme nationalism undermines the necessary democratic pluralism and threatens basic human rights; when such principles also favour terrorism, condemnation of them must be all the more emphatic and unequivocal;

17.In cases of systematic infringement of human rights and democratic freedoms, in Africa as in any other part of the world, the European Union must apply firmly and without hesitation the doctrine formulated by the Council, the Member States, the Commission, the European Parliament and the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly in the documents cited above; to this end, the Commission should draw up transparent, homogeneous and non-discriminatory criteria for its application; the European Union should cooperate in the adoption and application of United Nations decisions aimed at protecting human rights and the will of the people;

18.Funds to assist the democratization of Africa must be increased and be incorporated into a coordinated multi-annual policy that prevents the wastage of resources which occurs at present and contributes to the proper monitoring of the use of those resources; the role of monitoring falls to the Commission, through its services, which must keep the Council and Parliament regularly informed;

19.The funds to assist the democratization of Africa should be earmarked mainly for:

(a)training in human rights and civil liberties for election administrators and inspectors, officials of various organs of sovereign bodies, officers in the armed forces and police and members of the judiciary,

(b)the infrastructure for electoral processes: electoral rolls, campaigns, defining constituency boundaries, setting up electoral boards and colleges, vote counting, etc.,

(c)funds for the launching of the institutions that are features of a democratic state under the rule of law, especially the houses of parliament, the courts of justice and auditors and the associated technical services which are usually lacking in many states that become democratic,

(d)the carrying out of legal studies of a constitutional nature in order to consolidate the state under the rule of law,

(e)the establishment of an independent judiciary subject to the rule of law,

(f)the demobilization of combatants and the rehabilitation of refugees and displaced persons,

(g)the social integration of those who have taken risks in the fight to establish democracy, so that they can participate fully in the institutions which represent the will of the people,

(h)the strengthening or creation of media which are truly dedicated to truth, pluralism and general respect for human rights, the will of the people and the protection of minorities;

20.In serving the cause of African democratization, the European Union will always seek to ensure the greatest possible coherence between its own action and that of its Member States so that the above objective is served by a genuine common foreign and security policy, in which multilateral action predominates over the interests which play a part in any bilateral aid;

21.Within this multilateral framework, particular support should be granted by means of specific budget lines to those African countries which have achieved a genuine democratic transition, bearing in mind the problems associated with a lack of financial liquidity arising from the earlier dictatorship;

22.The European Parliament must reinforce its participation in the democratic processes in Africa by increasing its cooperation both bilaterally and within the framework of the Lomé Conventions and the agreements with the Maghreb and Mashreq countries, in the regular revisions of which it wishes to be involved;

23.In particular, the European Parliament will analyse the benefits obtained by the peoples of Africa from the successive Lomé conventions, paying special attention to the regular revisions carried out by the Joint Assembly; in its own conclusions, the European Parliament will seek to make that Assembly fully democratically representative and to strengthen the link between cooperation and democracy outlined in Article 5 of the said Convention;

24.When the European Union has to suspend its cooperation with governments that infringe human rights and hinder democratic life, it will endeavour not to cause the African peoples more suffering than that already inflicted upon them by internal oppression; it will therefore seek to maintain, and even increase, humanitarian aid through independent channels, including local NGOs which are in a position to distribute it efficiently;

25.Corruption, sometimes linked to the export of unlawfully acquired African capital, may endanger democratic institutions; in this regard, some European States have experienced situations which prevent them from lecturing others on matters of ethics; for that very reason, the European Union and its Member States must prevent any possible irregularity in the use of Community funds earmarked for development and democratization, being especially vigilant in ensuring that banking secrecy does not shield the exploitation of African capital; in order to prevent subsequent disillusionment, the European Union will help the new political parties in Africa to profit from European experiences and to remain free of the corruption occasionally found in the West;

26.The lack of popular participation in public affairs makes a crucial contribution to the African crisis, as it did, in particular, to the economic recession observed during the 'lost decade' of the eighties; without that popular participation it is not possible to build a nation, as the Charter of Arusha (12 to 16 February 1990) points out; the European Union must encourage such popular participation, including non-governmental and decentralized forms thereof;

27.The consolidation of African democracy is without a doubt bound up with a drastic reduction in military expenditure, which currently exceeds the total aid received by African states; such a reduction will make it possible to strengthen the fight against hunger, depopulation and environmental damage and improve the living conditions of refugees and displaced persons; developed countries contribute to excessive military spending with their sales of arms that often sustain authoritarian governments; one objective of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) should therefore be to promote the international control of excessive arms sales to Africa, which may favour anarchy and despotism, as seen in Somalia;

28.Although the crisis cannot be an excuse for not introducing democracy, it is clear that the latter will become better established - in Africa too - if it is built on the firm ground of economic development; in view of the current worrying tendency for official development aid (ODA) to be reduced, the EC will endeavour to maintain its own contribution, with the aim of earmarking 0.7% of Community GDP, as well as to compensate for the damage caused in Africa by civil or tribal conflicts, corruption or the dictatorial abuse of power;

29.While bearing in mind that African development must chiefly be brought about by the efforts of its inhabitants, the European Union will, nevertheless, give them the benefit of its own experiences in order to help them construct sound market-based economic structures which are self-sufficient in food and take account of basic social needs; at the same time, it will promote a European and world trade policy which favours Africa's incorporation into a market which is open to its products and protected against excessive downward trends, as attempted by means of systems such as STABEX;

30.Democracy in Africa will probably promote integration in various supra-national - continental or sub-regional - forms of unity that will encourage states and peoples to come together; the necessary revision of the OAU charter could cater for that objective and facilitate integration; while being fully conscious of the differences between the two processes, the institutions of the European Union should nevertheless set out their own experiences if so requested;

31.The objective importance of Africa for Europe as well as its historic links and its geographic proximity mean that the latter must launch a serious and sustained initiative within the framework of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) to break the silence surrounding Africa; Africans must not become increasingly the orphans of the post-cold war era; the European Union must help to ensure that Africa receives fair treatment and that its collective voice and that of its democratic peoples and states are respected and listened to in the concert of continents and nations;

II.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the co-Presidents of the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly, the Organization of African Unity and the governments and parliaments of the 53 sovereign states in Africa.