African states launch security body
ADDIS ABABA, May 25, 2004 (dpa) — Launching the African Peace and Security Council Tuesday, the African Union said it sends a strong signal to the continent’s people and the international community about Africa’s commitment to put and end to conflicts on the continent.
“Conflicts and wars have ravaged the continent for too long, and the establishment of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) heralds the resolve of Africans to build their union based on democracy, the rule of law, good governance and the observance of human rights”, African Union (AU) head Alpha Oumar Konare said at the launch in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
The PSC will have the power to intervene in AU member states to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity, and monitor progress member states make in the promotion of democratic practices and observance of the International Humanitarian Law.
The Council has 15 members, of which five are elected to serve for three years and the other ten for two years.
Unlike the U.N. Security Council, there will be no veto power within the PSC.
Experts believe the PSC could make a real difference on the African continent.
“I think the PSC will make a difference in terms of crisis response, where the U.N is quite slow”, said Kathryn Sturman of the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS).
“If the standby force can get to a crisis spot quicker than the U.N. and hold the situation until the U.N. gets there, they could really make a difference. African governments care more about what is happening in their own back yard. When the genocide in Rwanda unfolded, for example, there was no international outcry. It was too remote “, said Sturman.
However, Sturman, along with Peter Kagwanja of the think-tank International Crisis Group (ICG), said the success of the PSC will depend on the African leaders and their willingness to translate words into action.
Leaders on the continent traditionally refrain from meddling in each other’s affairs. Presidents and prime ministers have often been able to treat their own populations as they please without being worried about interference from other African states.
“If they (the African leaders) continue to pat each other’s backs, nothing will happen”, said Kagwanja.
AU head Konare said the African Peace Security Council is intended to works closely with the U.N. Security Council, which is the supreme body on global matters on peace and security, and with other important regional bodies as the European Union.
As a gesture to African traditions, the PSC will include what is called a “Panel of the Wise”, an early warning and mediation panel manned by five prominent Africans.
“It is recognition of the role people like Nelson Mandela can play. He has been very active in conflict mediation even after his presidency”, commented Kathryn Sturman.
The PSC will start its work by reviewing the situation in Sudan’s western Darfur region, where, said Konare, the AU would need to do more than it had done so far.
The PSC discussions following the launch would also focus on northern Uganda, the Great Lakes region, Ivory Coast and Somalia.
The AU said it welcomes the planned deployment in June of U.N. troops in Burundi, which will take over from the African Mission which has troops from South Africa, Ethiopia and Mozambique.