Africa: Parliament must recognise the importance of human rights

As the African Union's (AU) Pan African Parliament (Parliament) is inaugurated, it is essential for African parliamentarians and leaders to recognize the centrality of human rights and the need to incorporate them in all parliamentary activities, Amnesty International said at the beginning of the historic first session of the Parliament, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. "The inauguration of the Parliament is another chance for African governments to demonstrate their expressed commitment to the full realization of human rights in the continent. The Parliament must seek to safeguard the fundamental human rights of African peoples and the principles on which the AU is founded," Amnesty said.