Sierra leone News

Extraordinary Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government Final Communique

Written by ECOWAS Department of Communication

Monday, 19 October 2009 17:26

ABUJA, 17 OCTOBER 2009

1. At the invitation of H.E. Umar Musa Yar’Adua, President of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria, Chairman of the Authority, an extraordinary session of the Authority of
Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) was held on 17 October 2009 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Federal
Republic of Nigeria.

2. The Summit was convened to examine the latest developments in Guinea and
Niger following the massacre of demonstrators on 28 September 2009 in Conakry and
the violation of the National Constitution and the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on
Democracy and Good Governance by the Nigerien authorities. The Summit observed a
minute’s silence in memory of the victims who died in the massacre of 28 September
2009 in Conakry.

3. The following Heads of State and Government attended the Summit:

 His Excellency Dr. Thomas Boni Yayi
President of the Republic of Benin

 His Excellency Blaise Compaore
President of Burkina Faso

 His Excellency Malam Bacai Sanha
Republic of Guinea Bissau

 Her Excellency Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
President of the Republic of Liberia

 His Excellency Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, GCFR
President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria

 His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma
President of the Republic of Sierra Leone

 His Excellency Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé
President of the Togolese Republic

The following duly accredited representatives of Heads of State and Government
also attended the Summit:

 Her Excellency Aja Dr. Isatou Njie Saidy
Vice President of the Republic of the Gambia

 His Excellency Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ghana

 His Excellency Amidou Diarra
Ambassador of Côte d’Ivoire to Nigeria

 His Excellency Jorge Borges
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Community,
Republic of Cape Verde

 His Excellency Boubacar K. Coulibaly
Ambassador of Mali to the Federal Republic of Nigeria

 His Excellency Madické Niang
Foreign Minister of Senegal

4. The meeting was also attended by the following high ranking officials:

 Mr. Jean Ping
Chairman of the AU Commission

 His Excellency Saïd Djinnit
United Nations’ Secretary General’s Special Representative for West Africa

5. The opening speech was delivered by His Excellency, Umar Musa Yar’Adua,
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman of The Authority of Heads of
State and Government.

6. The Summit went into closed session to deliberate on the ECOWAS memoranda
on the situation in Guinea and Niger as well as the reports of the Special Delegation of
the Community Parliament, on the visit of the Facilitator, President Blaise Compaoré, to
Guinea and the meeting of the Mediation and Security Council on 24 August 2009. After
careful consideration of the memoranda, reports and recommendations, the Authority
decided as follows:

On Democracy and Good Governance

7. The Summit reiterated the unflinching commitment of Member States to the
principles of democracy and the rule of law, and its rejection of unconstitutional
accession to or maintenance of power in line with ECOWAS Protocols and relevant AU
instruments.

8. Towards this end, the Summit called for more effective measures at regional and
continental levels to combat the violation of and the temptation to violate national,
regional and continental instruments, principles and norms on Democracy and Good
Governance.

On the situation in Guinea

9. The Summit expressed deep concern over the mass violation of human rights
and humanitarian law in Guinea and roundly condemned the brutal acts of massacre,
rape and other atrocities perpetrated by the security forces under the authority of the
CNDD against unarmed women and civilians on 28 September 2009. It characterized the
acts of impunity and the rapidly deteriorating political, security and human rights
situation in Guinea as seriously damaging to the democratic process in the country and a
real threat to the peace, security and stability of the region.

10. In light of the above, the Authority of Heads of State and Government commended
President Blaise Compaore for accepting to be a facilitator in the Guinea crisis. They
expressed strong support for his mediation efforts and urged him to take all appropriate
steps to reestablish dialogue among the Guinean political actors with the aim of:

a. establishing a new transitional authority to ensure a short and peaceful
transition to constitutional order through credible, free and fair elections;

b. ensuring that the Chairman and members of the CNDD, the Prime
Minister and those who hold high offices in the new transitional authority
will not be candidates in the forthcoming presidential elections;

c. setting up benchmarks in the transition chronogram already agreed and
ensuring a timely achievement of the set benchmarks.

11. The Summit welcomes the decision of the Secretary General of the United Nations
to establish the Commission of Enquiry to investigate the 28 September 2009 violence
and calls on all concerned Guinean parties and other stakeholders to fully cooperate
with the Commission.

12. The Authority directed the President of the ECOWAS Commission to:

a. work with the UNSG, the Chairperson of the AU to create a conducive
and enabling environment, including the provision of a security cover, to
allow the Commission of Enquiry to undertake its mission.

b. work with the African Union on a regime of targeted sanctions against
individuals who would pose a threat to the implementation of the
transitional agenda.

c. work with the new transitional authority and subsequently the new
Government at the end of the transition, in designing a program for
Security Sector Reform, with the support of the AU, UN and other
partners.

13. In view of the atrocities that have been committed, and the steps taken by the
CNDD authorities to acquire new weapons, the Authority decides to impose an arms
embargo on Guinea under the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons,
their Ammunitions and related Materials, and directs the President of the ECOWAS
Commission to take all necessary measures to obtain the support of the African Union,
the European Union and the United nations in the implementation and enforcement of
the embargo.

On the situation In Niger:

14. The Authority of Heads of State and Government considered the holding of the
Referendum of 4 August 2009 and the circumstances of its organization as against the
letter and spirit of the Constitution of Niger and a violation of the ECOWAS
Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and called on the
authorities in Niger to desist from further acts that may deepen divisions within the
country and exacerbate the political atmosphere. In light of the foregoing, the Authority
took the following decisions:

a) Impose sanctions stipulated under Article 45 paragraph 2 (first and second bullet
points) of the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, by “the
refusal to support candidates presented by the Member State concerned for elective
posts in the international organisations; and Refusal to organise ECOWAS meetings
in the Member State concerned’’

b) Urgently request President Mamadou Tandja and the Niger authorities to
suspend indefinitely the holding of the legislative elections scheduled for 20 October
2009 in favour of dialogue with the other leading political parties on resolving the
political crisis in the country.

c) Dispatch a high level mission comprising Her Excellency Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf,
President of Republic of Liberia, and H.E. General (Rtd) Abdulsalami A. Abubakar,
Former Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the President of
ECOWAS Commission to Niamey to meet President Tandja on Sunday, 18 October
2009, to present the message of the Summit and facilitate the restoration of
dialogue between the stakeholders.

15. The Summit decided that failure by President Tandja to comply with the
decisions of the Authority would lead to the automatic and immediate imposition of full
sanctions as stipulated under Article 45 of the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy
and Good Governance and a referral of the Niger file to the AU for similar action.

16. The Heads of State and Government appointed General (Rtd) Abdulsalami A.
Abubakar, Former Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as ECOWAS Mediator
for Niger and urged him to convene immediately a meeting of Nigeriens stakeholders in
Abuja to re-establish political dialogue aimed at creating national consensus on the way
forward.

17. The Summit requested the President of the ECOWAS Commission to transmit the
present decision to the Chairman of the AU Commission and to the AU Peace and
Security Council for appropriate action.

18. The Authority expressed its gratitude to the Chairman for the warm and
brotherly welcome and hospitality extended to the Heads of State and all delegations,
as well as the excellent facilities placed at their disposal to ensure a smooth and
successful meeting.

Done at Abuja this 17th Day of October 2009