Higgins and African Union agree culture no cover for rights abuse

The use of traditional culture as a cover for abuse of human rights was rejected by members of the African Union Commission at a meeting with President Michael D Higgins in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa today.

The meeting at African Union headquarters was attended by representatives of the African states and chaired by Dr Nikosazana Diamini Zuma.

She, as President Higgins recalled afterwards was clear “in not accepting culture as cover for the abuse of a right. That was very, very clear and there wasn’t any dissent from that. Of course we’ve a long way to go. I’m very familiar with the journey.”

He said that culture is very frequently used as cover for forms of non-delivery of rights or abuse, which in turn are violations of rights, and he and Dr Zuma were completely in agreement on that. “I’m very happy with a discussion which was very comprehensive and led by Dr Zuma in the presence of rather significant African leaders.”

Other matters discussed included the crisis situation in South Sudan and the peace talks which began today; the Ebola situation in West Africa, position of women and opportunities for Africa to move beyond the point of sufficiency.

Dr Carlos Lopez, executive secretary at the UN Economic Commission for Africa, praised President Higgins's keynote address to the commission yesterday as having "fulfilled expectations" beyond what people would have expected.

Dr Lopez said the President captured key debates taking place in Africa on the transformation of governance in the world, alternative economic thinking and identity.

People also felt the President’s speech was “a very humble way of putting the Irish experience at the disposal of others . . . because that sense of history resonates with Africans,” he said.

In that keynote address delivered at Africa Hall in Addis Ababa President Higgins said that Ireland’s history chimed with that of many African countries. “In your recollections, we hear echoes of our own past,” he said. “We too experienced the scourges of colonisation and hunger.”

President Higgins recalled how the Irish people “also had to struggle for independence . . . And we know, too, how difficult it is to secure the values that motivated the struggle for independence in the post-independence experience.”

He suggested that then "it might seem superficially odd that a country like Ireland, which spent centuries struggling for independence, would pool its sovereignty in a broader union within a matter of decades."

However, he believed that the decision to do so was "a choice which, ultimately, enhanced our sovereignty". It opened up new horizons brought a new maturity to our relations with the United Kingdom, our former colonial power, he added.