11 March 2010

George Ayittey of Ghana on the U.S. Human Rights Reports

In conjunction with the release of the 2010 annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on March 11, America.gov asked international human rights advocates for their opinions on how the reports are used in their countries and regions to raise civic and official awareness.

Ghanaian-born George Ayittey is an economist and human rights activist who has written and lectured extensively on the problems of democracy and development in Africa. Below are his views on the Human Rights Report. Your thoughts are welcome in the comment box below.

The U.S. reports are comprehensive and the information is meticulously gathered. They certainly do have a favorable impact on individual human rights activists and organizational advocates. The reports validate their claims, providing them with the information that they otherwise lack the resources to gather themselves. The reports have also impacted my own work. They have allowed me to document cases upon cases of human rights abuses.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and George Ayittey of Ghana.

However, in my view, the reports have an inherent weakness. The attempt at comprehensiveness weakens or diminishes its utility. Human rights is a very broad term, and I believe the reports would be more useful if they focus on those aspects of human rights that are connected or related to government: government abuse of human rights by denying its citizens freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of movement, fair trial, function of law courts, security forces, etc. Prostitution and child trafficking, for example, are world-wide problems and have little to do with “government.” Neither are chieftaincy disputes, extensively covered in Ghana’s 2008 Country Report. Chieftaincy disputes and inter-ethnic tribal rivalries erupt at the local level. In Africa, such disputes and rivalries may have ancient roots. Certainly, they can be violent and deadly but they have little to do with the central government, unless the government deliberately stokes them to maintain its grip on power.

A too expansive report also reduces its ability to influence government policies, as the government could — rightly in some cases — deny responsibility. Or more dangerously, the report may be used as a pretext by the government to expand its powers to deal with a “human rights issue.” For example, to thwart child trafficking, the government may require all parents to register the names of their children in a national registry.

The four key institutions I would like the reports to focus on are:

1. An independent and free media.
2. An independent judiciary.
3. An independent electoral commission.
4. A neutral and professional security force.

Only eight African countries have an independent and free media. As a result, flagrant violations cannot be exposed internally. An independent judiciary does not exist in many African countries; the bench is packed with government cronies. As a result, the rule of law is a farce. Bandits are in charge, their victims in jail. The two most effective antidotes against corruption are an independent and free media to expose it and an independent judiciary to enforce the rule of law and punish the corrupt for all to see.

Voluminous reports can be written about mass street protests and violence following an election. But these reports are of little value. Africa’s post-colonial experience shows that the destruction of an African country, regardless of the professed ideology or religion of its leader, always begins with a dispute over the electoral process. Elections are seldom free and fair in Africa and there is no point talking about free and fair elections when the electoral commission is not independent.

In sum, the reports should focus more on those institutions that protect and uphold human rights rather than a documentation of a litany of human rights abuses.

George Ayittey is a former Hudson Institute and Heritage Foundation fellow who established the Free Africa Foundation in 1993 while teaching at American University. He has authored many books including the most recent: “Africa Unchained: A Blueprint for Development.”

In conjunction with the release of the 2010 annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on March 11, America.gov asked international human rights advocates for their opinions on how the reports are used in their countries and regions to raise civic and official awareness.

Ghanaian-born George Ayittey is an economist and human rights activist who has written and lectured extensively on the problems of democracy and development in Africa. Below are his views on the Human Rights Report. Your thoughts are welcome in the comment box below.

The U.S. reports are comprehensive and the information is meticulously gathered. They certainly do have a favorable impact on individual human rights activists and organizational advocates. The reports validate their claims, providing them with the information that they otherwise lack the resources to gather themselves. The reports have also impacted my own work. They have allowed me to document cases upon cases of human rights abuses.

However, in my view, the reports have an inherent weakness. The attempt at comprehensiveness weakens or diminishes its utility. Human rights is a very broad term, and I believe the reports would be more useful if they focus on those aspects of human rights that are connected or related to government: government abuse of human rights by denying its citizens freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of movement, fair trial, function of law courts, security forces, etc. Prostitution and child trafficking, for example, are world-wide problems and have little to do with “government.” Neither are chieftaincy disputes, extensively covered in Ghana’s 2008 Country Report. Chieftaincy disputes and inter-ethnic tribal rivalries erupt at the local level. In Africa, such disputes and rivalries may have ancient roots. Certainly, they can be violent and deadly but they have little to do with the central government, unless the government deliberately stokes them to maintain its grip on power.

A too expansive report also reduces its ability to influence government policies, as the government could — rightly in some cases — deny responsibility. Or more dangerously, the report may be used as a pretext by the government to expand its powers to deal with a “human rights issue.” For example, to thwart child trafficking, the government may require all parents to register the names of their children in a national registry.

The four key institutions I would like the reports to focus on are:

1. An independent and free media.
2. An independent judiciary.
3. An independent electoral commission.
4. A neutral and professional security force.

Only eight African countries have an independent and free media. As a result, flagrant violations cannot be exposed internally. An independent judiciary does not exist in many African countries; the bench is packed with government cronies. As a result, the rule of law is a farce. Bandits are in charge, their victims in jail. The two most effective antidotes against corruption are an independent and free media to expose it and an independent judiciary to enforce the rule of law and punish the corrupt for all to see.

Voluminous reports can be written about mass street protests and violence following an election. But these reports are of little value. Africa’s post-colonial experience shows that the destruction of an African country, regardless of the professed ideology or religion of its leader, always begins with a dispute over the electoral process. Elections are seldom free and fair in Africa and there is no point talking about free and fair elections when the electoral commission is not independent.

In sum, the reports should focus more on those institutions that protect and uphold human rights rather than a documentation of a litany of human rights abuses.

George Ayittey is a former Hudson Institute and Heritage Foundation fellow who established the Free Africa Foundation in 1993 while teaching at American University. He has authored many books including the most recent: “Africa Unchained: A Blueprint for Development.”

Reference: http://www.america.gov/st/democracyhr-english/2010/March/20100310182243ajesrom0.7861139.html