By David Blair
The Daily Telegraph; with files from Agence France-Presse
LISBON – Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe pledged to uphold “democracy and the rule of law” yesterday when a raft of African autocrats signed a declaration supposedly heralding a new era of open politics.
Their solemn pledge came at the end of the Lisbon summit of European and African leaders.
President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, who seized power in a coup and is waging a brutal war in Darfur, also signed the “Lisbon declaration.” Other signatories included Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian dictator prime minister, who jailed the entire opposition leadership after staging a widely condemned election in 2005, and President Umaru Yar’Adua of Nigeria, who won an election denounced by every independent observer group for ballot-rigging and violence.
In all, 13 African leaders seized power by force and two inherited their positions from their fathers. None had any reticence about endorsing the declaration.
“We are resolved to build a new strategic political partnership for the future, overcoming the traditional donor-recipient relationship and building on common values and goals in our pursuit of peace and stability, democracy and the rule of law, progress and development,” read the document they signed along with 26 EU leaders.
Observers were skeptical about the sincerity of African leaders. “They commit to democracy and human rights, but do nothing about Zimbabwe,” said Reed Brody, of Human Rights Watch.
“They commit to joint action to protect civilians while the people of Darfur and Somalia are allowed to die. They commit to combat corruption while European banks stash away the ill-gotten gains of African dictators. The question is what difference these wonderful promises are going to make on the ground?”
But Jose Socrates, the Portuguese prime minister who hosted the gathering, said the summit had been an “extraordinary event,” worthy of being “remembered as a milestone in the relations between Europe and Africa.”
During a closed session yesterday, Mr. Mugabe responded to the attack on his human rights record delivered on Saturday by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“Why was the prime minister of Great Britain not here?” asked Mr. Mugabe. “Because he had his spokesman here from Germany.”
The Zimbabwean leader added that Europe was “arrogant” and convinced of its “superiority over Africans.”
He said Zimbabwe had endured a long struggle for “democracy” after suffering almost a century of colonial oppression. Accusations that his regime abused human rights were “trumped up.”
Mr. Mugabe’s brief speech was his only intervention during the two-day summit. The 83-year-old leader looked tired and repeatedly stumbled over his prepared text.
Baroness Valerie Amos, a member of Britain’s House of Lords, represented Britain after Gordon Brown decided he would not attend in protest of Mr. Mugabe’s presence. With Mr. Mugabe listening, she told the summit that life expectancy for Zimbabwe’s women had fallen to 34 and that one third of the country’s people now depended on food aid — much of it provided by Britain.
Meanwhile, European leaders admitted at the end of the summit that efforts to conclude new trade agreements with Africa were struggling.
“The African countries are more and more afraid to be in some way pushed down by sudden competition, so they are asking for guarantees,” said Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, a former head of the European Commission.
Current European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also conceded the Economic Partnership Agreements negotiations were “difficult,” while acknowledging the concerns of African countries.
The EU is seeking new trade deals with African, Caribbean and Pacific nations to replace the current preferential system that has been ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization.