The
parliamentary delegation of the Canadian Branch, which attended a meeting of
the Policy Committee of the Assemblée parlementaire de la
Francophonie (APF), held in Pré-Saint-Didier (Valle
d’Aosta, Italy) from February 28 to March 3, 2007, has the honour to
present its report. Composed of Vivian Barbot, MP and rapporteur to the
Committee, the delegation was accompanied by Jean Michel Roy,
Executive Secretary of the Branch.
The
following branches were represented: Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central Africa, Chad, France, French Community of
Belgium/Wallonie-Brussels, Jura, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Ontario, Quebec, Romania, Switzerland, Togo and Valle D'Aosta.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Before the
start of the proceedings, the President of the Valle d’Aosta Council and
President of the Branch, Ego Perron, welcomed the participants, recalling
that Valle D’Aosta is the only autonomous region of Italy.
The
following reports were then presented.
International and regional human rights
conventions
Ms. Barbot
presented the report on behalf of the Canadian Branch. The report includes a
list of the main conventions and other treaties relating to human rights and
their ratification status by countries belonging to the Francophonie. The
President of the Committee invited each branch to follow up with their
respective government to promote the ratification of these conventions and
treaties.
In
addition, a recommendation was adopted to the effect that one or more experts
from the Délégation à la paix, à la démocratie et aux droits de
l’Homme (DPDDH)
or other organizations should address the Committee at the next meeting. The
DPDDH, which is part of the Organisation internationale de la
Francophonie, was established to follow up on ratification
and national reports. These experts would be invited to speak to the Committee
on such issues as standard-setting instruments on human rights and their
incorporation into the domestic laws of Francophone states and governments,
United Nations human rights initiatives and their impact on the
Francophonie (e.g. the newly formed Human Rights Council), the role of
parliamentarians in promoting human rights, and raising public awareness
locally, regionally or nationally.
Follow-up on the ten-year strategic
framework
The Quebec
Branch presented this report. In the introduction, the rapporteur recalled that
at the Summit in Ouagadougou, in 2004, the Francophonie adopted a ten-year
strategic framework setting out the Organization’s broad priorities. The report
presents and comments in general terms on the budget and program for 2006-2009
adopted by the Conseil permanent de la Francophonie in December 2006.
Follow-up on the application of the Bamako Declaration
The French
Community of Belgium/Wallonie-Brussels Branch presented this follow-up report
on the declaration adopted in Bamako on November 3, 2000, at the Symposium
international sur le bilan des pratiques de la démocratie, des droits et des
libertés dans l’espace francophone, attended by ministers and heads of delegation of States and
Governments of countries using French as a common language. This report
pertains primarily to the ongoing observation and evaluation process of
practices relating to democracy, rights and liberties (l’Observatoire) and the early warning mechanism for situations with a great
potential for conflict.
The report
ends with a comparative analysis of the answers obtained from a questionnaire
on the operation of parliaments, to which the Canadian Branch responded. This
questionnaire pertained specifically to the financial and administrative
management of parliaments, parliamentary prerogatives, transparency, training
and information.
Political situations in the
Francophonie
The Burkina
Faso Branch presented this report. It pertained to the suspended branches of
the APF (Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and Mauritania); the branches under APF supervision following the lifting of a suspension (Haiti and the Central African Republic) and alerts regarding certain political situations (Guinea and Lebanon). As to the situation in Central Africa, the report also provided an overview of
the crisis in Darfur and the situation in Chad.
With
respect to Haiti, the rapporteur mentioned the high-level APF parliamentary
delegation that travelled to Port-au-Prince in early September 2006, led by APF
President Bernard Patry.
After the
presentation of the reports, the following topic was discussed:
Migration policies
The Central
African branch was designated as rapporteur on this issue.
Friday, March 2, 2007
On Friday,
March 2, 2007, the Commission continued its consideration of the following
report:
Political situations in the
Francophonie
The
following resolutions on the current situations in a number of countries were
adopted:
Ivory Coast: resolution calling for free, open and transparent elections to be
held by October 31, 2007.
Guinea:
resolution calling upon Guinean authorities to negotiate a peaceful and lasting
way to resolve crises while respecting human rights.
Lebanon: resolution to resume political dialogue.
Mauritania: resolution to complete the transition process.
Central
African Republic – Chad – Darfur: resolution to begin
a regional political dialogue.
Democratic Republic of Congo: resolution supporting the consolidation of democratic institutions.
In addition
to adopting these resolutions, the Committee adopted a message applauding the
appointment of Lasana Kouyaté as head of the Guinean government. The
Committee sees this appointment as recognition of the Francophonie’s role in
resolving crises and of Kouyaté’s work to restore order in his country.
The
Executive Secretary General of the APF also presented a report on his mission
to Mauritania from February 6 to 10, 2007, as part of a broader OIF
mission designed to evaluate the needs of the local parliament. This mission,
authorized by the APF Bureau, identified the needs of the Mauritian parliament
as regards the parliamentary public service and its training; information and
training of parliamentarians; revision of the rules of procedure of its two
assemblies, establishment of a parliamentary information system; and the
rehabilitation of the parliamentary precincts.
With
respect to Darfur, the meeting held in Cannes on February 15, 2007,
pertaining to the regional aspects of the crisis in Darfur was mentioned; it
was attended by the presidents of Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Gabon and Congo. Chaired by the President of Ghana and President of the African Union, this
meeting was held on the initiative of the President of France.
As to Haiti, it was noted that three Committee members will attend a parliamentary information and
discussion seminar to be held in Port‑au‑Prince from March 8
to 10, 2007. The topic will be democracy and good governance. The
Committee members who will attend have been invited to report on the seminar at
the next meeting.
Finally,
the Committee addressed the last item on the agenda:
Date, location and topics for the next
meeting
The Committee’s next meeting
will be held on July 4, 2007, in conjunction with the proceedings of the
XXXIIIth ession of the APF, in Libreville, Gabon. The Committee’s next
intersession meeting will be held in 2008 in Bujumbura, Burundi.
Respectfully
submitted,
Rose-Marie
Losier-Cool, Senator,
Member of the Canadian Branch of the APF