Assembly/AU/11 (XIII)
Page 1
PROGRESS REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE ASSEMBLY DECISION ON THE ABUSE OF THE PRINCIPLE OF
UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION
I. INTRODUCTION
1.
The 11th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government
of the African Union, held in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt in July 2008, in its decision
Assembly/AU/Dec.199 (XI), expressed concern on the abusive application of the
principle of universal jurisdiction by some non-African States and resolved, inter alia,
as follows:
“ 6. REQUESTS the Chairperson of the African Union to table the matter
before the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the UN General
Assembly for consideration;
7. FURTHER REQUESTS the Chairperson of the AU Commission to urgently
cause a meeting between the AU and European Union (EU) to discuss the
matter with a view to finding a lasting solution to this problem and in
particular to ensure that those warrants are withdrawn and are not
executable in any country. ”
2.
A Progress Report on the implementation of the above Decision was
submitted to the Assembly in February 2009, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
3.
Following due consideration of the Progress Report of the Commission, the
Assembly adopted Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.213 (XII) and requested, inter alia, the
Commission to follow up on this matter with a view to ensuring that a definitive
solution to this problem is reached and to report to the next ordinary session of the
Assembly through the Executive Council in July 2009. Paragraph 10 of the said
decision states as follows:
“ ALSO REQUESTS the Commission to follow up on this matter with a view
to ensuring that a definitive solution to this problem is reached and to report
to the next ordinary session of the Assembly through the Executive Council
in July 2009.”
4.
This report presents a summary of the actions taken to implement the above
mentioned Assembly decisions vis-a-vis the European Union and the United Nations
during the reporting period.
III. ACTIONS TAKEN TO IMPLEMENT DECISION ASSEMBLY /AU/Dec.199 (VIII)
a) Actions undertaken in respect of the European Union
5.
It is to be recalled that during the 11th AU/EU Ministerial Troika meeting held
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 20 to 21 November 2008, the two parties recognized
that the issue had negative consequences for the relationship between the AU and
the EU. With a view to addressing the matter, the Troika agreed to set up a Joint