60 years after the UN Convention - Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation

294 development dialogue december 2008 – revisiting the heart of darkness
confi ned to one world region or one historical period. We see it pop
up in Sierra Leone as well as in Rwanda. He also asked, ‘What can we
do to prevent it?’ And he off ered an answer: A plausible response has
to be even across the board. It is also important to recall that confl icts
in Africa are essentially not tribal confl icts. There is accommodation
between the thousands of tribes in Africa; there is little confl ict
– unless you have some external factors coming in. Jallow pointed
to the UN action plan to combat genocide, launched in April 2004
that looks at the causes and context in which genocide occurs, and
lists steps that need to be taken to deal with it, like good governance,
rule of law and human rights, early warning mechanisms, prevention,
intervention once the genocide is underway, but we should also
remember that intervention should not be unilateral, and should take
place within the context of the UN Charter. Finally it is required to
look at the issue of post-genocide justice and the need to bring those
responsible to account. He was concerned that international criminal
justice system has its limitations, and concentrates only on the ‘big
fi sh’. That’s why the ICTR had embarked on a process to transfer
cases to Rwanda, because Rwanda has now fulfi lled the conditions
for fair trials: it has abolished the death penalty, built up the capacity
of its legal systems, and included the relevant legal codes. Legal justice
is expected to have a deterrent eff ect. The UN has developed a development
and action plan. But we should not leave it to them alone. As
individuals and organisations we should engage ourselves in the implementation
of it, including in monitoring that implementation.
Emily Sikazwe, director of Women for Change, Zambia, reminded
us of Chenjerai Hove’s phrase, ‘To name is to own.’ As for the concept
of genocide, those who refuse to broaden the defi nition, they named
it and they own the concept. They continue to be selective as to what
crimes are the worst. On the lack of African criticism of Mugabe, she
asked ‘Why does Mugabe get so much attention, in contrast to Ethiopia,
for example? Could it have to do with the fact that Zimbabwe
was one of the African countries with most white settlers?’
Henning Melber, director of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, remarked
that an estimated four million Zimbabweans are today living in
exile. The fi gure has never been higher before. ‘If that is what liberation
movements have achieved, they haven’t achieved anything,’ he stated.
Among comments from the fl oor the Swedish ambassador to Norway,
Michael Sahlin, asked Alejandro Bendaña whether he was suspicious
of the EU altogether: ‘Is the EU a positive element, or is it just
representing a new phase of (French-led) colonialism? ‘ he asked.