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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth Ministers to Review Developments in Nigeria and Sierra Leone

8 July 1997

The eight-member Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration (CMAG) will meet in London on Thursday and Friday (10-11 July 1997) to review developments in Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

CMAG will address the situation created by the military coup of 25 May 1997 which resulted in the overthrow of Sierra Leone's elected government. The coup has met with condemnation from the international community, which has called for the reinstatement of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah and his government. CMAG will take into account the fact that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS),  met at the level of Foreign Ministers on 26 June 1997 and agreed to work for the reinstatement of the legitimate Government of Sierra Leone through dialogue, sanctions, the enforcement of an embargo, and the use of force.

The Commonwealth, which suspended Nigeria from its membership in November 1995, has been pressing for Nigeria's adherence to the principles of the Harare Commonwealth Declaration, and CMAG has twice engaged in discussions with the Nigerian Government, in June 1996 in London and in November 1996 in Abuja. At this week's meeting, CMAG will for the first time hear representations from Nigerian, Commonwealth and other international non-governmental organisations on the situation in Nigeria. The objective of these meetings is to enable the Group to have access to the widest possible cross-section of views from interested parties before CMAG reports to Commonwealth Heads of Government at Edinburgh.


The Nigerian organisations invited to appear before CMAG are the National Democratic Coalition of Nigeria (NADECO), the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), the Democratic Alliance of Women of Nigeria (DAWN) and the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO). Commonwealth organisations invited are the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) and the Commonwealth Trade Union Council (CTUC). Finally, Amnesty International, Article 19, Human Rights Watch/Africa and the International Crisis Group are the other international groups invited to meet CMAG.

 


Note to Editors:

CMAG was established by Commonwealth leaders when they last met in New Zealand in November 1995 to deal with serious or persistent violations of the Harare Declaration, the statement of Commonwealth principles drawn up in 1991. These include a commitment to democracy, good governance, human rights and the rule of law.

CMAG comprises Ministers from Britain, Canada, Ghana, Jamaica, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is chaired by the Hon. Dr Stan Mudenge, Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe.

The Group has met six times since its establishment in November 1995.

 

97/30 8 July 1997

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