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Commonwealth leaders accused on Zimbabwe
Commonwealth leaders gathering in Trinidad for next Friday’s summit have surrendered their “moral leadership” by failing to act on the crisis in Zimbabwe, according to a report published on Monday.
Commonwealth leaders gathering in Trinidad for next Friday’s summit have surrendered their “moral leadership” by failing to act on the crisis in Zimbabwe, according to a report published on Monday.
It also accuses the Commonwealth of ignoring conflicts between member states, backtracking on a pledge to encourage democratic principles set out at a summit in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1991, and of failing to defend good government.
The 53-member organisation, linked by past colonial ties to Britain, has been criticised in the past, but the 110-page analysis is expected to make a significant impact in Trinidad.
Although commissioned by the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit and Electoral Reform International Services, both based in London, the report will have the status of an in-house document. It was partly funded by the Commonwealth itself and represents the most thorough and trenchant review of the organisation in its history.
It was conducted with the co-operation of staff at the London secretariat, and written by three experts whose findings have been endorsed by Amartya Sen, the Nobel prize winner for economics. “It is time to move from affirmation [of the Harare principles] to full implementation,” Prof Sen writes in a forward.
It proposes regular, obligatory democracy “health checks” among other reforms. “Every member country should be required to submit an annual or bi-annual report on the state of its compliance with the Harare declaration, drawn up in consultation with civil society, prepared by a small group of academics appointed in consultation with the Commonwealth secretariat.”
The authors suggest Commonwealth observer missions be given the right to monitor member state elections, a process that currently requires a formal invitation from the host government. They also call for the strengthening of the mandate of the Commonwealth ministerial action group.
CMAG, which was intended to be the cutting edge of policy formulation and implementation, is singled out for criticism. “The failure to take any initiative on Zimbabwe ... undermined the Commonwealth claim to moral leadership,” the report says.
It cites “a number of conflicts” where the Commonwealth has failed to respond. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are the “most egregious” and Kashmir “is always studiously avoided, as was the UK’s trouble in Northern Ireland”, it says.
“The involvement of Namibia, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe in the Democratic Republic of Congo tragedy would seem to merit attention – even more so if and when Rwanda is accepted as a member.” Rwanda’s membership is due to be considered at the summit.
The Financial Times
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