PEACE and SECURITY COUNCIL 76Th MEETING 10 April 2007 ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA PSC/PR/2(LXXVI) Original: French REPORT of the CHAIR
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AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE UNIÃO AFRICANA P.O. Box: 3243, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Tel.:(251-11) 551 38 22 Fax: (251-11) 551 93 21 Email: [email protected], [email protected] PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL 76th MEETING 10 April 2007 ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA PSC/PR/2(LXXVI) Original: French REPORT OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMISSION ON THE EVOLVING DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA PSC/PR/2(LXXV) Page 1 REPORT ON THE EVOLVING DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA I. INTRODUCTION 1. At the end of a nineteen months transition following the coup d’état in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, which took place on 3 August 2005, the electoral process paving the way for the return to constitutional order has been concluded with the holding of the first and the second round of the presidential election, on 11 and 25 March 2007, respectively, which led to the establishment of democratic institutions. 2. This report dwells on the evolving developments in Mauritania since 3 August 2005 and on the efforts deployed by the Commission to implement the relevant decisions of the Council with a view to accompanying the process of return to constitutional order in Mauritania. II. REACTIONS TO THE COUP D’ETAT OF 3 AUGUST 2005 AND SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS 3. In the absence of President Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya, who was away in Riyad, Saudi Arabia, attending the funeral of King Fahd, soldiers of the presidential guard took control of strategic areas in the capital, Nouakchott, in the early hours of Wednesday 3 August 2005. Later in the afternoon, it was confirmed that a coup d’état had taken place. In a communiqué issued by the armed and security forces relayed by the Mauritanian news agency, the new leaders announced the establishment of a Military Council for Justice and Democracy (CMJD), comprising 17 members and chaired by Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall who was, until then, Director of National Security. In another communiqué, the CMJD made a commitment to “create conducive conditions for open and transparent democratic process” for a “period of two years deemed necessary to prepare and establish genuine and viable democratic institutions”. a) Reaction of the African Union (AU) 4. Council was informed of the situation in Mauritania at its 36th meeting at the level of Heads of State and Government held in Addis Ababa, on 4 August 2005. After recalling the Algiers decisions of July 1999 on unconstitutional changes of government, the Lome Declaration of July 2000 on Unconstitutional Changes of Government, and the pertinent principles enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union, Council strongly condemned the coup d’état and demanded the rapid return to constitutional order. Pursuant to the Lomé Declaration and Article 30 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, Council decided to suspend Mauritania’s participation in the activities of the Union, pending the return to constitutional legality in the country. Council further decided to dispatch a ministerial delegation to Mauritania to reaffirm to the coup leaders AU’s position and engage them on the modalities of an early return to constitutional legality. PSC/PR/2(LXXV) Page 2 b) International reactions 5. The coup d’état generated a number of reactions in the international community. The United Nations Secretary-General stated that political differences should be settled peacefully through the democratic process. The European Union Commission condemned the coup d’état and suspended cooperation with Mauritania. The same was the case with the International Organization of the Francophonie which, however, indicated its willingness to accompany the electoral process. The United States of America called for the “peaceful reestablishment of order and respect for the Constitution and the government in place”. Its position subsequently took a rather flexible tone, just like the positions of many other countries which, in their communiqués, confined themselves to principled condemnation of the coup. The League of Arab States (LAS), the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which had earlier dispatched delegations to Nouakchott, noted that peace was prevailing in the country and commended the CMJD for its commitment to reestablish constitutional legality. c. Mission of the AU Ministerial Delegation 6. The AU ministerial delegation led by Oluyemi Adeniji, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on behalf of the then current Chairperson of the African Union, and comprising Mr. C. Nqakula, Minister of Safety and Security of South Africa, on behalf of Council Chair for August 2005, and an officer of the Peace and Security Department of the AU Commission, proceeded to Nouakchott on 9 August 2005. During talks with the President of the CMJD, Minister Adeniji explained that his delegation had been mandated by the African Union to officially present Council’s decision and to reiterate AU’s position, not with any punitive intention but rather with a view to establishing dialogue in order to agree with the new Mauritanian authorities on modalities for a return to constitutional order as soon as possible. 7. For his part, while describing the political situation in Mauritania during the preceeding 15 years, Colonel Mohamed Vall highlighted the inconsistency between the democratic option adopted by the country in the early 90s and the autocratic exercise of power by the previous regime. He referred to the monotonous nature of the parliament whose support for the Head of State was, at the same time, a convenient reason for him to remain indefinitely in power. According to Colonel Vall, this situation not only generated cumulative dissatisfaction and frustration but also resulted in the fragmentation of the political parties and the formation of small illegal groupings whose only objective was to destabilize the State. The result was the advent of successive coup attempts which presaged the danger that was to engulf the country. Given this impasse, there was only one alternative: allow the authoritarian excesses to take root and then move headlong towards civil war or opt for change. The Armed and Security Forces unanimously decided to go for change, with the conviction that such choice was the expectation of the people of Mauritania. For Colonel Mohamed Vall and his compatriots therefore, it was a question of adopting a proactive strategy to prevent a seemingly inevitable explosion in the country. PSC/PR/2(LXXV) Page 3 8. The President of CMJD further explained that the transition would be organized in two stages. The first, which should not extend beyond a maximum duration of 12 months, would be devoted to making amendments to some provisions of the Constitution. Once finalized, the amendments would be incorporated into the Constitution, which would subsequently be submitted to a national referendum. The second stage, which was also to last for 12 months, was to see the preparation for elections. 9. Nonetheless, Colonel Mohamed Vall pointed out that the maximum period of 24 months was only indicative and that the timeframe could be shortened. At the end of this process, the CMJD, he said, would be dissolved and would handover power to the newly elected authorities. By so doing, it would have spared the country the ravages of the crisis and inculcated in the collective memory the rejection of any future change of government by force. Concluding his remarks, the President of CMJD called for the understanding of the African Union and urged it to accompany Mauritania in this process. 10. After series of lengthy talks with all the Mauritanian parties, especially the representatives of the national association of lawyers, all the political parties, the civil society, labour unions and associations of employers, as well as with the diplomatic corps, the AU delegation came to the following conclusions: • there was broad consensus on the need for change in the country. As a matter of fact, the coup d’état apparently had the support of the entire political class and of the people. • all the Mauritanian parties were involved in the management of the transition; • the CMJD was willing to honor its commitments, including the commitment to reduce the transition period and to promote confidence-building measures; • there was need to examine the issues raised by the Mauritanian parties, especially those relating to the return of the refugees, granting of amnesty to all the Mauritanians, the establishing mechanisms to guarantee civil liberties and the adoption of measures to improve the public image of Mauritania; and • there was also need to establish an independent electoral commission and draw up credible electoral lists with the support of international experts, as well as for the participation of international observers in the various elections. d) Measures taken by the CMJD PSC/PR/2(LXXV) Page 4 i) Preliminary measures 11. Following assumption of office on 10 August 2005 by the new government, composed mainly of technocrats, and pursuant to the commitments made by the CMJD, a number of measures were taken with the aim of creating the requisite conditions for establishing meaningful democratic institutions. In this instance, it is noteworthy to mention, among other things, the adoption, on 26 August 2005, of Decrees establishing, within the Office of the Prime Minister, three Inter-Ministerial Committees, for justice, democratic transition process and good governance, respectively. 12. According to the