PREAMBLE

We, Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region,

Referring to the Dar-es-Salaam Declaration on Peace, Security, Democracy and Development in the Great Lakes Region adopted and signed in Dar-es-Salaam (United Republic of Tanzania) on 20 November 2004;

Deeply concerned of the endemic conflicts and the persistent insecurity aggravated by the massive violations of human rights, the policies of exclusion and ma rginalisation, impunity with respect to the crime of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity;

Mindful of the obligations arising from the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and that the United Nations’ General Assembly, by its resolution 96

• dated 11 December 1946, declared that genocide is a crime against people’s rights, in contradiction with the spirit and ends of the United Nations, and that the civilised world condemns genocide that, in all periods of h istory, has inflicted great losses on humanity and that, to free it of such an odious scourge, international cooperation is necessary;

Reaffirming the obligations from United Nations principles and directives under the terms of which all parties to an armed conflict are obliged to fully observe the international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and young girls, in particular as civil persons; noting the obligations under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the related Additional Protocols of 1977, the Convention of 1951 Relating to the Status of Refugees and its Protocol of 1967, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of 1965, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 and its Optional Protocol of 1999, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 and its two Optional Protocols of 25 May 2000 , the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child of 1990 as well as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa 2003 , and taking into account the relevant provisions of the Statute of Rome of the International Criminal Court 1998 ;

Reaffirming, in accordance with the Statute of the International Criminal Court, that the most serious crimes which affect the whole international community should not remain unpunished and that their punishment must be effectively ensured by legislative and constitutional measures at the national level and by strengthening regional and international cooperation;

Mindful that it is each Member State’s duty to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over the perpetrators of the crime of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity;

Considering that Article 3 of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda affirms that rape is a crime against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civilian population on national, political, ethnic, racial or religious grounds;

Referring to, the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, Resolution 1325 of the United Nations Security Council, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa , the Solemn Declaration of the African Union on Equality between Men and Women in Africa which condemns rape and any other form of sexual violence;

Determined to put an end to the recruitment of children in national armed forces or in any other armed group or to their participation in any way in hostilities especially as reinforcements, to fight illegal labour, trafficking in women and children and the prostitution of women and children in the conflict zones of the Great Lakes Region;

Determined to promote and enshrine good governance and the rule of law and strengthen the protection of human and peoples’ rights, and to consolidate democratic institutions and culture in order to combat all forms of discrimination;

Determined to put an end to such crimes in the Great Lakes Region and take effective measures to prosecute their perpetrators;

Download PDF