Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Southern Africa: SADC "Sabotaged" Tribunal

The southern African Development Community (SADC) has been described as "sabotage:.  The summit that ended on Friday decided that a process aimedat the relevant SADC legal instruments pertaining to the Tribunal be considered in August.  In the meantime, members of the Tribunal whose term of office expired in August 2010 should not be reappointed, and that there will be no freplacement of those whose term of office will expire on October 31, 2011.  The summit further place a moratorium on receiving any new cases or hearings of any cases by the Tribunal until the SADC Protocol on the Tribunal has been received and approved.

The director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), Nicole Fritz, says "by sabataging the Tribunal, SADC leaders have shown exactly where their loyalities lie.  Protecting theuir friend, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, from the consequence his regime's illegal activities rather than defending the rights of the SADC's 200 million citizens.  SALC said the suspension of the Tribunal for a further 12 months could spell a fatal blow to the rule of law within the region.

http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/201105231144.html

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