PSC/PR/BR.(CDXXXII) Page 2 In circumstances where governments fail to fulfill their responsibilities, are oppressive and systematically abuse human rights or commit other grave acts and citizens are denied lawful options, Participants and Council expressed understanding, and recalled the 50 th Anniversary Solemn Declaration, of 25 May 2013 adopted by the Assembly of the Union, in which the Assembly re-affirmed its rejection of unconstitutional changes of government, including through any attempts to seize power by force but recognized the right of the people to peacefully express their will against oppressive systems. In order to strengthen the efforts towards silencing of the guns aimed at achieving the pledge not to bequeath the burden of conflicts to the next generation of Africa and to end all wars in the continent by 2020, Participants and Council stressed the importance of putting in place adequate social, political and economic policies, that are responsive to the needs of the people, as well as clear mechanisms and arrangements of recourse in extreme circumstances of uprisings, and for the AU to have clear points of entry to assist a concerned member state and its citizens. Participants and Council noted the sustained efforts deployed by the AU, in collaboration with the Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, towards restoring constitutional order in countries where unconstitutional changes of government have taken place. They underlined the relevance of the measures taken in response to these phenomena, notably the suspension of the concerned countries from participation in the activities of the AU; the imposition of sanctions as necessary; sustained interaction with all concerned with a view to finding a consensual solution consistent with the relevant AU instruments; and mobilization of international support to African-led efforts, through the establishment of International Contact Groups and other similar structures. Participants and Council, acknowledged that in spite of the efforts deployed, the continent continues to face the challenge of unconstitutional changes of government. They noted that the popular uprisings which took place in North Africa, in 2010-2011, represented the expression of the free will of the people of the concerned countries. They however noted the weaknesses and gaps in the existing AU normative framework which impacted the response of the Union to the uprisings. In this regard, they acknowledged that there was a lacuna on how to treat the uprisings in the context of existing AU instruments on unconstitutional changes of government. They therefore underlined that the flexibility and inconsistency in the interpretation and application of the relevant instruments created a credibility problem for the AU. Participants and Council therefore stressed that in order to ensure a predictable, consistent and coherent response to any future unconstitutional changes of government or popular uprisings, it was necessary for AU Member States to deploy all preventive tools to address conflicts. To this end, they called for an effective and enhanced response to unconstitutional changes of government in accordance with relevant AU instruments and also re-affirmed the necessity of a zero tolerance to policies and actions that have the potential to lead to unconstitutional means of overthrowing oppressive systems. Council reiterated Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.269(XIV) on the prevention of unconstitutional changes of government and strengthening the capacities of the AU to manage such situations, adopted by the Assembly of the Union at its 14 th ordinary session held in Addis Ababa, from 31st January to 2 February 2010, as well as communiqué