PSC/PR/BR.(CDXXXII) Page 1 PRESS STATEMENT The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), at its 432nd meeting, held an open session, on 29 April 2014, devoted to the theme: “Unconstitutional changes of Governments and popular uprisings in Africa – challenges and lessons learnt”. Council welcomed the active participation in the debate of many AU Member States, bilateral and multilateral partners, as well as representatives of civil society organizations, and acknowledged their contributions to the overall efforts of deepening democracy and the rule of law in Africa. Participants and Council recalled the various instruments adopted by the Organization of African Unity (OAU)/AU to address systematically and consistently the problem of unconstitutional changes of government. In this respect, they recalled in particular Decisions AHG/Dec.141(XXXV) and AHG/Dec.142 (XXXV), adopted by the 35th Ordinary Session of the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held in Algiers, Algeria, from 12 to 14 July 1999; the Declaration on the Framework for an OAU Response to Unconstitutional Changes of Government, adopted by the 36th Ordinary Session of the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held in Lomé, Togo, from 10 to 12 July 2000 (the Lomé Declaration); the relevant provisions of the July 2000 AU Constitutive Act and the July 2002 Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union; as well as the Conclusions of the Peace and Security Council Retreat held in Ezulwini, Swaziland, from 17 to 19 December 2009. Participants and Council further recalled the other instruments adopted by the OAU/AU aimed at deepening and consolidating democracy, as well as respect for human rights on the continent, including the July 2000 Solemn Declaration of the Conference on Security, Stability, Cooperation and Development (CSSDCA) and its July 2002 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU); the various instruments adopted within the framework of the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), including the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM); the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its various Protocols; and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, as well as the OAU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa. They emphasized that these instruments provide a framework of norms and principles, whose strict observance would significantly reduce the risk of unconstitutional changes of governments and popular uprisings on the continent. Participants and Council noted that unconstitutional changes of government and popular uprisings were deeply rooted in governance deficiencies. They stressed that in situations of greed, selfishness, mismanagement of diversity, mismanagement of opportunity, marginalization, abuse of human rights, refusal to accept electoral defeat, manipulation of constitution, as well as unconstitutional review of constitution to serve narrow interest and corruption, among other factors, are potent triggers for unconstitutional changes of government and popular uprisings. In this context, they stressed the need for AU Member States to deepen the culture of democracy, accountability, inclusiveness, participation, reconciliation and good governance to foster peace and stability on the continent.