Durban: One South Africa (OSA), a human rights movement founded and led by Mmusi Maimane, said on Wednesday that President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as chairman of the AU, had failed to implement the union’s mandate of promoting and upholding the rights of people of the African continent.
Maimane’s sentiments came against the backdrop of a recent spate of alleged human rights violations across the continent.
Maimane has called on the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to decisively act against the crisis.
The movement’s leader said the ACPHR should step in before more innocent lives are lost through the “sheer abuse of power”.
“Just yesterday it has emerged that a presidential candidate for the semi-autonomous Zanzibar region in Tanzania, Seif Sharif Hamad, was arrested just hours before the general elections in an attempt to suppress opposition efforts,” Maimane said on Wednesday.
Maimane said the ACHPR was tasked with holding African governments accountable for violating human rights and has moved to hold a meeting to address the myriad violations across the continent.
“While there has been concern in recent years about attempts by the African Union to weaken its powers, this is the ACPHR’s chance to show its mettle and stand up on behalf of the rights of millions of Africans,” Maimane said.
“Until this point, current African Union chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa has failed in implementing that AU’s mandate to ‘promote and protect human rights on the continent’ as per Article 3(h) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union.”
African News Agency (ANA)