Communiqué of the 368th PSC Meeting on the Situation in Madagascar

AFRICAN UNION

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Email: situationroom@africa-union.org

PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL

368™ MEETING AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL

22 APRIL 2013

DAR-ES-SALAAM, UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

PSC/MIN/COMM.(CCCLXVIII)

COMMUNIQUE

CW PEACE

HAPPEN

COMMUNIQUE

The Peace and Security of the African Union (AU), at its 368^th meeting held at ministerial level, in Dar-es-Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, on 22 April 2013, adopted the following decision on the situation in Madagascar:

Council,

1. Takes note of the report of the Chairperson of the Commission on the situation in Madagascar [PSC/PR/MIN.3 (CCCLXVIII)]. Council also takes note of the important statement delivered by Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania and Chair of the Organ on Politics, Defense and Security Cooperation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Council further takes note of the briefings provided by the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, as well as by the representative of Mozambique, as Chair of SADC, and the SADC Mediator, former Mozambican President Joachim Alberto Chissano. Council further takes note of the statements made by the representatives of the European Union (EU), the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), the AU Member States sitting in the United Nations Security Council (Rwanda and Togo) and permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, United Kingdom and United States). Council finally takes note of the statements made by the representatives of President Andry Rajoelina and former President Marc Ravalomanana;

2. Recalls its previous communiques and press statements on the situation in Madagascar, as well as paragraph 3 of decision Assembly/Dec.472 (XX) on the report of the Peace and Security Council on its Activities and the State of Peace and Security in Africa, adopted by the 20^th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, held in Addis Ababa from 27 to 28 January 2013, as well as the SADC Declaration on Madagascar adopted in Dar-es-Salaam, on 16 January 2013;

3. Reiterates its commitment to the 17 September 2011 Roadmap for ending the crisis in Madagascar, which constitutes the appropriate framework for the restoration of constitutional order and the comprehensive settlement of the crisis in Madagascar;

4. Welcomes the progress made in the implementation process of the Roadmap, including the establishment of the key transitional institutions and the smooth preparations for the upcoming presidential and legislative elections, scheduled to take place between July and September 2013. Council expresses its appreciation to the SADC Mediation for its sustained efforts towards the resolution of the crisis in Madagascar. Council also expresses AU's gratitude to the organizations and countries that have extended support for the electoral process, namely the EU, the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Japan, Norway and Switzerland, and urges the other members of the international community that made pledges to urgently concretize them before the elections;

5. Notes that some provisions of the Roadmap have not yet been fully implemented, in particular those relating to the neutral, inclusive and consensual nature of the transition process, confidence-building measures and national reconciliation, including respect for fundamental freedoms, the granting of amnesty, the enacting of the statute of former Presidents, the de-freezing of all assets belonging to all former Presidents, and the unconditional return to the country of all political exiles;

6. Urges the Malagasy political stakeholders to redouble their efforts to hasten the resolution of the crisis. In this respect, Council calls on the transitional authorities to urgently take the required measures to promote confidence among the political actors and defuse tension in the country, including by releasing jailed military personnel and scrupulously respecting the freedom of expression, including in the public and private media, and that of demonstration;

7. Underlines the AU's determination to reject any attempt to temper with or undermine

the Roadmap and the electoral calendar, as already determined by the Independent National Electoral Commission of the Transition (CENI-T), with the support of SADC, the AU and the United Nations, as well as to take action against all those undermining the ongoing efforts;

8. Expresses its intention, as soon as significant advances have been made with respect to the issues mentioned in paragraphs 5 and 6 above, to consider lifting of the targeted sanctions against 109 Malagasy political actors, in pursuance of its communiques PSC/PR/COMM.l (CCXVI) and PSC/PR/COMM.l (CCXXI), adopted at its 216^th meeting held on 19 February and 17 March 2010. In the meantime, Council requests the Commission to submit to it, within 45 days, a comprehensive report on the implementation status of these sanctions and other measures decided by the Peace and Security Council;

9. Urges the transitional institutions of Madagascar and the Malagasy political stakeholders, in dealing with the issue of admission of candidatures and within the framework of national reconciliation, appeasement and promotion of democracy, to refrain from taking any action or decision that may jeopardize the electoral process and prevent broad participation of political stakeholders in the forthcoming elections, and to ensure the holding of free, fair, transparent and credible elections in Madagascar;

10. Expresses its intention to invite Madagascar to resume its place in the AU and to participate in its activities, once the presidential election is held in the required conditions of freedom, fairness and transparency and the new President of the Republic has taken office;

11. Encourages the Chairperson of the Commission to take the necessary steps to strengthen AU's support to the crisis exit process. In this respect, Council stresses the importance of the strengthening of the AU/SADC Liaison Office in Antananarivo and the urgent appointment, by the AU, of the Head of the Office, in accordance with the principles underpinning the African Peace and Security Architecture, as well as the early dispatching, by