The authors said leaders at the EU-AU summit in Lisbon this weekend were shying away from “two of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.”
“What can we say of this political cowardice? We expect our leaders to lead, and lead with moral courage,” they said in an open letter to be published in newspapers across Europe and Africa.
“When they fail to do so they leave all of us morally impoverished.”
Copies have also been sent to every leader attending the summit, which is the first to be held since 2000, said non-governmental organisation Crisis Action, which publicised the letter in advance.
The writers argue that it is impossible to usher in a new era of co-operation between the two continents when strife in the western Sudanese region and repression in Zimbabwe are ignored.
“Why should we listen to the mighty when the mighty are deaf to the cries of the afflicted?” the letter adds. “Millions of Africans and Europeans would expect Zimbabwe and Darfur to be at the very top of the agenda. It is not too late.”
One of the signatories, the Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian author Wole Soyinka, said separately: “The EU-Africa summit presents an opportunity to address the biggest issues affecting our people. However our leaders – by putting their own desire to avoid a confrontation ahead of the suffering of millions – are squandering this opportunity and doing us all a disservice.”
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed she will not stay silent on the situation in Zimbabwe. – Allen Muzhingi
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