 ADDIS ABABA - The African Union will damage its credibility if it elects Sudan as its chair this week, rights group Amnesty International said on Monday.
| The AU has credibility? Who knew? |
African leaders meeting in Addis Ababa on Monday and Tuesday will decide on a new chairman and a diplomatic deadlock is expected over the candidacy of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who was promised the position a year ago.
”Electing Sudan as chair of the African Union while it defies the decisions of the AU and UN to send peacekeepers to Darfur would undermine the credibility of the AU as well as its own commitment to uphold human rights in Africa,” Tawanda Hondora, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Africa programme, said in a statement. “Sudan is a key party to the conflict that AU forces are monitoring in Darfur and is responsible for committing grave human rights abuses. Thousands of people have been killed by government-backed militias. AU forces would be put in an untenable position if Sudan is given the leadership of the AU.”
| Which explains why Bashir will take the post. |
Darfur rebels say they will boycott AU-mediated peace talks if Bashir becomes chairman and would consider AU peacekeepers in Darfur as part of the conflict, putting them in danger of attack. |