Assembly/AU/3(XIV) Annex III Page 25 i. coups d’état are illegal and totally unacceptable; ii. perpetrators of coups d’état shall be liable for prosecution before the African Court of Justice and Human Rights; iii. perpetrators of coups d’état shall not stand for elections conducted for return to constitutional order; iv. perpetrators of coups d’état shall not constitute obstacles by negatively influencing the conduct of a transition towards the return to constitutional order; v. constitutions shall not be manipulated in order to hold on to power against the will of the people; vi. constitution-making or constitutional review processes shall not be driven by personal interests and efforts aimed at undermining popular aspirations; vii. military/security forces shall not interfere in the transition towards the return to constitutional order; viii. fostering of conditions conducive for a return to constitutional order; ix. sanctions shall apply in a graduated manner from the moment that an unconstitutional change of government takes place. 5. With the determination to strengthen Africa’s capacity to prevent and combat unconstitutional changes of Government, there is need to: i. shorten the period of up to six months (180 days) of suspension period, as provided for in the Lomé Declaration to perpetrators of unconstitutional change to restore constitutional order to a period of three months (ninety (90) days); ii. review the reference in the Lomé Declaration to a regime that “stubbornly” refuses to restore constitutional order, in order to make every unconstitutional regime/de facto authority, without any qualification, fully accountable within the framework of AU instruments for combating and preventing unconstitutional changes of government; iii. create conditions for imposition and full implementation of targeted sanctions without any dilution or erosion, whenever they are applied to deal with an unconstitutional change of Government; iv. conduct political engagements of the transition towards the return to constitutional order in a constructive and non-competitive manner or in such a manner as not to compromise the machinery of targeted sanctions;