The African Union has condemned a recent “wave” of military coups that has seen an unprecedented number of member states suspended from the bloc, a senior official said Sunday, the last day of its annual summit.

The putsches were among the main issues expected to be discussed at the summit, along with the AU’s ties to Israel and its response to a grinding war in the north of host country Ethiopia.

Less than two weeks before the summit began Saturday, Burkina Faso became the fourth country to be suspended by the AU after disgruntled soldiers toppled President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Guinea, Mali and Sudan are also currently suspended.

“Every African leader in the assembly has condemned unequivocally… the wave of unconstitutional changes of government,” Bankole Adeoye, head of the AU’s Peace and Security Council, told a press conference Sunday.

“Do your research: At no time in the history of the African Union have we had four countries in one calendar year, in 12 months, been suspended,” Adeoye said.

Addressing African foreign ministers ahead of the summit, Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission, denounced a “worrying resurgence” of such military coups.

But the AU has been accused of an inconsistent response, notably by not suspending Chad after a military council took over following the death of longtime President Idriss Deby Itno on the battlefield last April.

And while Adeoye touted the AU’s use of suspensions to punish coup leaders, analysts say the body must be more proactive to prevent putsches.

“It is only when crisis hits that we say, ‘Gosh, how come this country is falling apart like this so quickly?'” Solomon Dersso, founder of the AU-focused Amani Africa think-tank, told AFP this week.

Israel debate paused

Also on Sunday, leaders agreed to suspend debate on Faki’s controversial decision to accept the accreditation of Israel, postponing a potentially divisive vote.

Faki’s move last July drew protest from influential members including South Africa and Algeria which argued that it flew in the face of AU statements supporting the Palestinian Territories.

Both countries pushed to have the issue put on the summit agenda.

As the summit opened Saturday, Faki defended Israel’s accreditation, saying it could be “an instrument in the service of peace” while calling for “a serene debate”.

He also said the AU’s commitment to the Palestinian push for independence was “unchanging and can only continue to grow stronger”.

Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Saturday called for Israel’s accreditation to be revoked, saying it “should never be rewarded” for its “apartheid regime”.

The AU normally prizes consensus, but it was unclear how a vote would have fared, with a two-thirds majority required to overrule Faki.

Instead a six-country committee will study the issue, diplomats told AFP Sunday.

Along with South Africa and Algeria, the committee will include Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, who supported Faki’s move, as well as Cameroon and Nigeria, the diplomats said.

Israel’s foreign ministry said the AU had “rejected attempts by Algeria and South Africa to revoke” its accreditation.

“The committee’s conclusions will be presented at the African Union Summit in 2023,” the ministry said in a statement.

Ethiopia peace push

It was unclear whether the summit, most of which took place behind closed doors, substantively addressed the 15-month war in Ethiopia, which pits Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government against fighters from the northern Tigray region.

The fact that Ethiopia hosts the AU makes any intervention by the bloc especially delicate, and Faki waited until last August — nine months after fighting began — to appoint Olusegun Obasanjo as a special envoy tasked with trying to broker a ceasefire.

Ethiopia has also held a seat on the Peace and Security Council throughout the conflict, though it failed in its bid to stay on the 15-member body for the next term, diplomats said.

Adeoye said Sunday it was “not true” that the AU had been slow to respond to a war that has left thousands dead and, according to the United Nations, driven hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation.

“There was no way the AU would not engage on such a situation given its exact location in Ethiopia,” he said. Obasanjo will head to war-hit areas this week, and the AU will provide “experts from the African continent” to back up his push for dialogue, Adeoye said.

Source: AFP

Tunisian President Kais Saied on Sunday dissolved a top independent judicial watchdog accusing it of bias, the latest controversial move since he sacked the government last year.

Saied has broadened his grip on power since July 25, when he sacked the government and froze parliament before moving to rule by decree in Tunisia — the cradle of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that ousted a series of autocratic leaders.

Many Tunisians welcomed his moves against a political system described as corrupt and ineffective, in the only democracy to have emerged from the revolts.

But political figures and rights groups have warned of a slide towards authoritarianism, and world leaders have expressed deep concern.

In a move expected to spark further unease, Saied early Sunday announced he was dissolving the Supreme Judicial Council (CSM) during a meeting with government ministers.

The council “is a thing of the past”, he said according to video footage released by the Tunisian presidency.

He accused the CSM, an independent constitutional body set up in 2016 to guarantee the good functioning and independence of the judiciary, of serving political interests.

“In this council, positions and appointments are sold and made according to affiliations,” said the head of state.

“You cannot imagine the money that certain judges have been able to receive, billions and billions,” he added.

Observers say the government is seeking to clamp down on the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, which has controlled parliament and the various governments since the 2011 revolution toppled veteran leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

‘Red line’

The president accused the CSM of corruption and of delaying politically sensitive investigations into the 2013 assassinations of left-wing opposition figures Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi.

The Islamic State group claimed both killings, while Ennahdha, which has denounced Saied’s power grab as a “coup”, has been accused by many of blocking the investigations.

“Unfortunately, in this country, some judges in the courts have manipulated the Chokri Belaid case,” said Saied in the video.

Belaid was shot three times outside his home in February 2013, and Brahmi was killed in similar circumstances in July the same year.

The “July 25 movement” — composed of Saied supporters — on Saturday called on the president to dissolve the CSM in order to “purge” the judiciary of “corrupt magistrates”.

Saied has called on supporters to “protest freely” later Sunday, when a demonstration is also due to be held to mark the ninth anniversary of Belaid’s murder.

Protesters are expected to rally outside the Tunis headquarters of the CSM.

Saied — who has also already called for a July referendum on constitutional reforms — said on Sunday he was working “on a provisional decree” to reorganise the judicial watchdog.

“One of the key rights of Tunisians is to know the truth,” he said in a statement.

Tunisians, he said, are entitled “to have a just judicial system whose conduct is overseen by judges who only implement the law”.

The CSM had been already targeted last month by Saied, when he stripped its members of social and financial benefits, including fuel subsidies, transport and living allowances.

Created in 2016, the watchdog has 45 members, two thirds of whom are judges elected by parliament, who in turn chose the remaining third.

Raoudha Karafi, honorary president of the Tunisian association of judges, has been among critics of Saied’s power grab.

She has criticised Saied in recent press remarks of seeking to undermine the independence of the judiciary, saying: “Justice is a red line.”

Source: AFP