The London-based Amnesty said the culture of impunity was worsening across Africa, with the alleged perpetrators often shielded from international condemnation by the AU which has remained silent while member states trample on the rights of their people.
The AU should lead by example, but in certain situations it has become part of the problem, the rights group said in a report titled Amnesty International Report 2010: The State of the Worlds Human Rights.
It said the lack of accountability in Africa was highlighted in the reluctance of many states to investigate and prosecute those
responsible for crimes under international law or to collaborate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
The only sitting head of state wanted for war crimes by the ICC, al-Bashir was sworn-in last Thursday for a new term as Sudanese president at a ceremony attended by several African leaders, including current AU chairman, Malawis President Bingu wa Mutharika.
Bashir is accused of ordering mass murder, rape and torture in western Darfur but, save for Botswana President Ian Khama, most of his AU colleagues have refused to honour the ICC arrest warrant for the Sudanese dictator.
Amnesty said the AU has done little to stop arbitrary arrests of political opponents in many member states, including Cameroon, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Niger and Zimbabwe.
The Amnesty report comes a few weeks after Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai accused African leaders of being guilty of complicit in a conspiracy of silence that has perpetuated repressive rule by dictators on the continent.
Speaking in Washington DC early this month where he had gone to receive a human right award, Tsvangirai said African leaders should acknowledge and respect the fundamentals of good governance and respect for the rule of law and property rights.
Human rights groups and major Western governments accuse the majority of African leaders of closing ranks with Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe and defending him to the hilt whenever he faces charges of oppressing his own people.
The AU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have successfully shielded President Robert Mugabe from international censure even as the Zimbabwean strongman openly condoned the harassment and ill-treatment of opponents.
SADC and the AU have refused to pressure Mugabe to honour a September 2008 power-sharing agreement he signed with Tsvangirai who heads the main Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) wing and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, leader of a breakaway MDC faction
Post published in: Politics