African parliament speaks out on Libya

By Sylvia Nankya.

The Pan African Parliament has demanded that western forces in Libya stick to the principles of the UN Resolution on Libya in order to avoid escalation of violence, confrontation and further bloodshed.

The second vice president of the Pan African Parliament Mary Mugyenyi told Journalists in Kampala yesterday that the US-Led allied forces must refrain from using their presence in Libya as a mission to influence change of leadership.

She said the decision of change must come as a will of the people and not as a result of foreign pressure.

“In line with UN Resolution 1970 of 26th February 2011, we strongly condemn all forms of violence and the resulting loss of innocent lives but we also need to watch the situation and ensure that foreign forces remain on track,” She said.

In the Resolution, the UN Security Council decided to establish a ban on all flights in the airspace of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in order to help protect civilians. It also authorized Member States to take all necessary measures to enforce compliance with the ban on flights imposed.

On the basis of the resolution, a coalition of American and European forces launched an operation, bombing Libyan targets by air and sea since Saturday in the first phase of a military campaign to drive Muammar Gadhafi from power.

Mugyenyi said that The Pan African Parliament had made a resolution calling upon all parties to immediately end violence and put the highest interest of Libya before any other in order to overcome the current crisis.

She added; “The Pan African Parliament equally condemns the gross and systematic violation of human rights, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and torture and summary executions in Libya.”

Yesterday the Parliament’s secretariat in Midrand, South Africa passed a resolution to task Libya to honor its commitments under the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, which it had signed and ratified.

In the same document, they challenged all African Union Member States to sign and ratify the African Charter on Democracy Elections and Governance adopted by the African Union in 2007.

Mugyenyi also questioned the urgency used by Western countries in addressing the crisis in Libya . She said “why have they taken more interest in Libya and not in another country where things have gone wrong for example Somalia? Ends