Open session on Prevention of the Ideology of Hate, Genocide and Hate Crimes in Africa
Amani Africa
Date | 03 April, 2019
Tomorrow (3 April) the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) will hold its 836th meeting. In this first open session of the month, the focus will be on prevention of the ideology of hate, genocide and hate crimes in Africa.
The Department of Political Affairs of the AU is expected to brief the PSC through its director Khabele Matlosa. The UNOAU is also expected to deliver a briefing. Apart from the opening statement the PSC Chair of the month, Ambassador Bankole Adeoye of Nigeria is expected to deliver a statement.
The open session is taking place following the 678th PSC session on 11 April 2017,which made a decision ‘to convene, annually in April, a PSC open meeting on hate crimes and fighting genocide ideology in Africa’. Unlike the previous 678th and the 761st meetings, tomorrow’s session will be open and is expected to allow the participation a wide range of stakeholders.
The session, as indicated in the concept note has two objectives: to debate and identify the means to collectively prevent the ideology of hate, genocide and hate crimes in Africa and to learn from Rwanda’s experience of reconciliation, nation building as well as best practices on preventing the ideology of hate, genocide and hate crimes in Africa. Hence, the session beyond serving as an act of remembrance and expression of the pledge of ‘never again’, it seeks to shed light on the root causes and drivers of hate speech and ideology that evolve into ethnic cleansing and genocide.
In terms of denial of the genocide against the Tutsi, it is expected that the briefing from Khabele is expected to highlight the forms and manifestations of the denial of genocide and the need for fighting denial in all its forms including the propagation of information questioning or creating doubt about the target group, the number of victims and the legal validity of designating the well organized and systematically executed mass murder of the Tutsi as genocide.
It was against this background that the 761st session of the PSC held on 5 April 2018 emphasized the importance of the use of appropriate terminology and accurate analysis in order to avoid the risk of genocide denial and revisionism. The Assembly of the AU Summit held in Nouakchott, Mauritania in July 2018 in its decision Assembly/ AU / Dec.695 endorsed the decision of the PSC that corrected the nomenclature of the Genocide that happened in Rwanda to be: “The 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda”. Moreover the Assembly endorsed the decision of the same PSC session to designate 7th April of each year as the African Union day of Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
The terminology of the event and the commemorative day has also been corrected globally. Since April 7 2004, the UN General Assembly has recognized the atrocities committed in Rwanda as an “International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda”. On 26 January 2018, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a decision on the “International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda”, correcting ambiguities in previous resolution by naming the Tutsis as the main target group for extermination.
Another key issue that is expected to be highlightedduring this session is the need to combat impunity in relation to the genocide against the Tutsi. As indicated in the concept note for the session, 980 indictments and international arrest warrants have been issued for suspects residing in more than 30 countries in the world. In this context the Council may reiterate the appeal made in previous session for member states ‘to investigate, arrest, prosecute or extradite those fugitives accused as genocide perpetrators currently residing in their territories’.
With respect to the ideology of genocide and hate crimes, the session is expected to emphasize the need to strengthening early warning mechanisms and prevention measures both at the continental and national level. The Council members may highlight the need to strengthen AU’s early warning mechanism to anticipate and monitor early signs of situations, which could lead to violent conflicts and genocide, if not prevented through early action. Members may also recall the decisions of the 761st session which called on member states to ‘enact laws and put in place legal frameworks that penalize hate speeches, ideologies of extremism among religious groups, as well as marginalization and discrimination of ethnic and tribal groups’.
The open session may also build on previous year’s PSC meeting, which broadened the scope of possible instigating factors for hate crimes and ideology of genocide by particularly focusing on hate speeches, identity-based conflicts, hatred, exacerbation of ethnic division and racist tendencies. Unchecked religious extremism was also recognized in fostering new grounds for hate speeches. In this regard, the council made commitments to promote religious tolerance, as a means to prevent hate crimes and ideologies of genocide in the continent.The importance of awareness creation and educational measures in fighting hate crimes and the risks of violence targeting particular ethnic groups or religious groups is worth mentioning.
The media’s role both as an instrument to create social cohesion but also the adverse effects of its misuse to incite hatred may be of interest for Council members and participants. In this period of fake news and right wing populism, the role of media in general and that of such social media in particular deserves particular attention.The new media platforms in particular are increasingly shaping political narratives and the potential threats associated with it. Beyond and above, the media reforms, the strengthening of adherence to principles and ethics of journalism identified in the concept note as some of the mitigating factors, there is also the need to develop monitoring mechanisms and effective regulatory frameworks.
As an open session, the expected outcome is ordinarily a press statement, although the PSC may decide otherwise. Apart from reiterating its previous call for AU member states and other states that host individuals suspected of being involved in the 1994 genocide to take concrete steps by investigating and prosecuting or by extraditing the suspects, the PSC may urge all stakeholders to implement measures that promote tolerance, cohesion and respect for diversity including through school curricula and media policy and interventions. Building on the outcome of its previous session particularly the 761st session and in the light of the risks arising from the abuse or misuse of the new media platforms and the need for strengthening the existing legal and institutional framework, the PSC may call for the elaboration a consolidated normative standard including a model law on the ideology of genocide and hate crimes, which the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is able to deliver.
PSC program of work for April 2019
Amani Africa
Date | April 2019
The Peace and Security Council’s (PSC) provisional program of work for the month of April, under the chairmanship of Nigeria, envisages some eleven sessions. There will be nine closed briefings (including two country specific updates) and two open sessions.
On 2 April, the monthly PSC program of work starts with a session where the Military Staff Committee considers the report of the Office of the Legal Counsel on the review of all legal frameworks between African Union Commission and African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC). This will be followed by the first open session of the month, which will convene on 3 April with focus on prevention of the ideology of hate, genocide and hate crimes in Africa. It is to be recalled that as part of the annual commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the PSC held a session on this thematic issue exactly a year earlier in April 2018 during its 761st session. On 4 April the PSC will hold a sensitisation session on international disarmament with focus on the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (Ottawa Treaty) and Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The following week, on 9 April the Council will meet to discuss on two agenda items. The first agenda will be on counter terrorism and violent extremism in the Lake Chad and the Sahel regions. This will have a focus on strengthening AU support to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) and G5 Sahel Joint Force. The second session will consider the renewal of the mandate of the G5 Sahel Joint Force.
The second open session of the month is scheduled to take place on April 16 with a focus on children
affected by armed conflicts in Africa. This is in line with the decision of the 21st Ordinary Executive Council Session held in Addis Ababa in June 2012, EX.CL/Dec.712 (XXI) in which it requested the PSC to take into consideration the rights of the child in its agenda and to actively work with the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
On 17 April, the PSC will have a session on a proposal towards the practical utilization of the AU Peace Fund (in support of conflict prevention and mediation; capacity building and AU Peace Support Operation). This follows the launch of the revitalized Peace Fund on 17 November 2018 to which AU member States have contributed $89 million as at January 2019. On the same session, the PSC is expected to adopt the provisional program of work for the month of May.
The following day on 18 April, the PSC will have a briefing session on durable solutions to internal displacement in Africa with a specific focus on humanitarian action through the incoming African Union Humanitarian Agency (AUHA). This thematic focus resonates with the rising challenge of displacement and falls under the AU theme of the year.
On April 23, the PSC will have a session on the evolution of the working methods of the PSC and next steps on the reform of the PSC as an AU organ. The second session aims to finalize and adopt the draft conclusion of the PSC retreat focusing on the reform of the PSC and African Peace and Security Architecture study held in Cairo, Egypt, October 2018. The other event that is anticipated to take place on this day is an informal lunch meeting hosted by the chairperson of the month, Nigeria, to have a discussion on the enhanced role of the PSC subsidiary committees. At various times, the PSC provided for the establishment of various subcommittees including the committee of experts, the military staff committee, the sub-committee on terrorism, the sanctions committee and the committee on post-conflict reconstruction and development.
On April 25, the Council is expected to receive a joint briefing on transnational organized crime, peace and security in Africa by the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services in Africa (CISSA), AU Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPOL), International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC). The second session of the day is expected to provide the regular briefing on the update on the operationalization of the African Standby Force (ASF) Harmonization of ACIRC and legal framework/doctrine.
On the last week of the month on April 29 there will be a briefing on the progress of the Security Sector Reform in the Gambia. The second agenda of the day will emphasize on updating the Council on the situation in Guinea Bissau. As the last session of the month, on April 30, the Council is expected to discuss the preparation for the 13thAnnual Joint Consultative Meeting (AJCM) with the UNSC and the 12th AJCM with the EUPSC.
In addition to these agenda items, the provisional program of the month also envisions to have two additional items in the course of the month. The first will be a presentation of the report on the visit by the Military Staff Committee of the AU to Continental Logistics Base in Douala, Cameroon. The second item aims to focus on a briefing on AU Country Structural Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment (CSVRA)- Consolidating conflict prevention in Africa.
Briefing on the nexus between maritime security, safety and development of the blue economy in Africa
Amani Africa
Date | 21 March, 2019
Tomorrow (21 March) the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) is scheduled to receive a briefing on the nexus between maritime security, safety and development of the blue economy in Africa.
Deputy foreign minister of Kenya is expected to brief the Council. AU Commission Peace and Security Department will also make a statement. Additionally, statements are also expected from invited participants including Seychelles as the Champion for the Development of the Blue Economy in Africa, representatives of Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms (RECs), Norway, Canada, the European Union and United Nations.
The briefing will take place in two parts. The first part is open to both PSC members and the representatives of invited countries and organizations. The second part involves only PSC members.
As indicated in the concept note Kenya circulated for the session, the main objective of the session will be to examine trends, progress and challenges of maritime security and safety in Africa. It also seeks to formulate steps in addressing the security threats and risks and to collectively work towards realizing the commitments of developing the blue economy.
The intervention by Kenya is anticipated to provide an overview and update on the major outcomes of the Global Sustainable Blue Economy Conference held in Nairobi from 26-28 November 2018. The first ever such global event on the blue economy, the conference highlighted the necessity of multilateral cooperation as a pre-requisite for the realization of the development potentials of the blue economy. Such multilateral cooperation, among others, provides the platform for the creation of a secure maritime domain as the foundation for value addition to the sustainable development of the blue economy in terms of trade, tourism, fishing industry and transport. Accordingly, the issues raised at the conference in these respects include maritime security and safety and regulatory enforcement. The outcome report underlined the importance of regional cooperation and the role of multi-stakeholder approach to effectively respond to maritime issues. The report explicitly discusses the need for strengthened implementation of and compliance with regional and international regulatory frameworks.
This session seeks to build on and takes forward these various themes highlighted in the Blue Economy Conference. In terms of regional cooperation on the Blue Economy, it is worth noting that the blue economy is recognized as the next frontier for the economic transformation of the continent in Agenda 2063. If one considers the fact that 38 of the 55 African countries are coastal states covering vast ocean territories of an estimated 13 million km² and having a maritime industry worth over USD $ 1 trillion per year (as pointed out in the concept note for this session), the potential for growth in an atmosphere of effective international and regional cooperation and regulation and secure maritime domain is very high. As this continental framework put it ‘Africa’s Blue economy, which is three times the size of its landmass, shall be a major contributor to continental transformation and growth’.
While this is not an area on which the AU been engaged in for a long time, it has established key legal and policy instruments in recent. The first continental instrument is the 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIMS) adopted in 2014. The strategy provides further guidance on the nexus between security and development within the maritime domain. The framework is also developed to complement the PSC protocol article 3 in developing a common defense policy and to address the maritime security challenges. With its focus on addressing threats to maritime security, the strategy is more defensive in its orientation than developmental.
In a development that underscored the heightened policy interest with increased attention to the development of the maritime domain for socio-economic benefits, the AU in October 2016 convened an Extraordinary Summit on Maritime Security and Safety and Development in Africa in October 2016 in Togo. The Summit sought to strategize on mechanisms for strengthened protection of seas and oceans and to utilize maritime space for the development and transformation of the continent. As its major outcome, the Summit adopted the Charter on Maritime Safety and Security and Development in Africa (Lomé Charter).
Going beyond these normative instruments, provisions are made in AU plans for putting in place a dedicated structure within the AU institutional setup. The10-year implementation plan of Agenda 2063 envisages the establishment of African Centre for Blue Economy by 2025. Under the reformed structure of the AU Commission, from 2021 for the first time, there will be a dedicated maritime component in the agriculture, rural development, blue economy and sustainable development department of the AU Commission.
This session is also an opportunity for a follow up on the PSC’s first session on maritime security. The PSC at its 682nd meeting, held in 2017 at a ministerial level underscored the important role of RECs/RMs, the need to put in place appropriate follow up mechanism, the finalization of the draft annexes to the Lomé Charter.
The consideration of maritime security together with or in relation to the blue economy has the advantage not only of shifting the focus from security threats and defensive policy approaches to immense economic growth potentials of the marine resources. The interest in the exploitation of the potential of the blue economy will help mobilize the necessary investment and development of capacities for maritime security and safety.
There are however a number of issues that would be of interest to the PSC session’s deliberations. One of the issues is the mapping of the major threats to maritime security and safety and their manifestations for designing responses tailored to the specific nature and form of the threats in the various maritime zones of Africa. The threats in the maritime domain that the PSC identified at its 682nd include piracy, illegal,unreported and unregulated activities including fishing, drug and human trafficking, and terrorism. Maritime governance and environmental protection also constitute important issues for the development of the blue economy.
Additionally, security challenges that are encountered are mainly supranational, requiring regional efforts and responses. The Lomé Charter remains a critical instrument of such strategic efforts. The PSC refers to it as an ‘instrument to promote peace and address the safety and security threats in Africa’s maritime domain’. However, to date only Togo has ratified the Charter. Indeed, Togo as Champion of maritime security has interest as a PSC member on this issue of ratification of the Lomé Charter and finalization of the annexes to the Charter.
As noted above, sustained development of the blue economy necessitates a secure maritime domain. However, the report of the Nairobi conference pointed out that the ‘inadequate collaboration among stakeholders in maritime security sector compounded by overlapping or uncoordinated institutional mandates and lack of or weak law enforcement capacities’ are critical challenges to ocean governance.
Other issues for the PSC to address during this session include the articulation of the approach that best suits the mandate of the PSC in continuing its engagement on this theme and the norm-to-implementation gap. In these respects, the implementation of the 2050 strategy may in particular be one of the key areas of discussion during the briefing. As it was indicated in the outcome of the Nairobi conference, partnership and regulatory measures as well as implementation frameworks are among the top ten commitment priorities identified by the participants.
The form that the outcome of the session was unknown when this ‘Insight’ was finalized, but is expected to be a communiqué. The Council may underline the importance of addressing existing and imminent threats in the maritime domain to ensure the realization of Africa’s blue economy development. To this end the PSC may call on the implementation of international and regional instruments including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2016 Lome Charter and 2050 AIMS in order to address maritime threats and crimes and to enhance regulatory enforcement. It may provide concrete steps in securing maritime areas for economic development by strengthening monitoring and control systems through regional and international cooperation. The PSC could also articulate the approach that best suits its mandate for it to carve out meaningful role in pursuing this theme further.
Open Session on the Role of Women in Conflict Prevention and Post Conflict Peace building
Amani Africa
Date | 19 March, 2019
Tomorrow (19 March) the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) will have an open session on‘The Role of Women in Conflict Prevention and Post Conflict Peace Building: the Contributions of Women Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons and Returnees’.
During this session, it is expected that Bineta Diop, the AU Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security will brief the PSC. The PSC Chair of the month, Catherine Mwangi Ambassador of Kenya and Smail Chergui, the Commissioner for Peace and Security, are also expected to make a statement. UNHCR representative will also makean intervention. Refugees are expected to share their experiences as well.
The main focus as indicated in the concept note is to highlight the role of women’s participation in prevention, mediation and peace building efforts by particularly focusing on the experiences of displaced and refugee women. The session makes linkage to the annual 2019 AU theme on Refugees, IDPs and Returnees. Over a third of the world’s forcibly displaced persons are found in Africa, including some 6.3 million refugees and 14.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). Conflicts account for more than two-third of the humanitarian crises inducing internal displacement and refugee flows.
While it is known that displacement and refugee flows in Africa disproportionately affect women and children, it remains unclear how far policy and humanitarian responses are informed by this fact. Additionally, despite being the primary victims of combined effects of political and humanitarian crises, women continue to be excluded from having effective role in the policy and humanitarian response decision-making processes and in the peace agreement negotiations and mediations.This session offers the opportunity for the effective integration of women in the AU activities on the theme of the year.
The PSC at its 600 meeting highlighted the violence experienced by women and their exclusion from peace efforts by particularly making reference to the ‘low levels of participation of women in a variety of official roles in formal peace processes and political settlements, weak support to women’s economic recovery and empowerment in post-conflict settings’. Hence finding long-term solutions to conflicts requires addressing the multiple obstacles faced by women and facilitating their meaningful participation at all levels of peace processes.
This open session will build on the previous PSC session on women, peace and security held in October 2018. It is to be recalled that at that session the PSC underscored ‘the importance of including women in decision-making positions and in all stages of peace processes.’ There is also the need for supporting grassroots and community centered peacebuilding processes informed by the perspectives and needs of the primary affected populations, which improve ownership and effectiveness of peace processes. Ensuring that voices of displaced populations are considered in decision making will contribute towards a more responsive and sustainable peace process as well as post-conflict reconstruction.
The 2019 focus of the AU theme of the year has presented the opportunity to renew efforts to advocate for the increased respect of displaced women’s rights. Most particularly, it serves as the occasion to raise critical issues around the experience of women and to systematically enhance their participation in peacebuilding processes and in efforts to address the plight of IDPs and refugees.
As indicated in the AUC report ‘Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Africa’, published by the office of the Special Envoy in 2016, the continent has demonstrated leadership by establishing extensive body of instruments and policies which are relevant to the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda including the Protocol to the African Union Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA). And more specifically the AU Commission has put efforts towards opertionalizing the UN Security Council resolution 1325. There is however poor implementation of these standards. To date only 25 countries have developed national action plans of the UNSC resolution 1325. Women’s representation in the legislature, the security sector and peacekeeping keeping forces and mediation remains low.
With the aim of enhancing implementation and monitoring the office of the Special Envoy has developed the Continental Results Framework (CRF) for Monitoring and Reporting on the Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. The CRF was adopted in May 2018 by the PSC and was launched last month.The intervention by the Special Envoy may provide an overview of the framework in line with the pillars of the UNSCR 1325 namely prevention, protection, participation, relief and recovery focusing on the conditions of displaced and refugee women.
The concept note indicates that the outcome of the session is to mainstream the experiences of refugee and IDP women and girls in AU’s relevant policy process. In line with this objective the session may examine how the experiences of refugees and IDPs can be used to inform policy making in the AU, including the PSC. In terms of the return or local integration or resettlement of IDPs or refugees, the issues that this session could address include the safety, dignity and consent of displaced women, which should be at the core of any intervention towards durable solutions. The efforts towards sustainable peace and recovery cannot be disassociated from programs geared towards addressing the specific violations experienced by displaced women.
In humanitarian context particularly in protracted crises, displacement is often times cyclical. This exposes the overwhelming majority of displaced women to a continuous state of vulnerability. Hence, prolonged crises necessitate long term intervention that enhances displaced women’s resilience and their role in decision making processes. In line with the objectives of durable solutions, lifesaving assistance and protection should be further complemented by a support that is more empowering and that increases displaced women’s self-sufficiency, which will positively enhance their decision making role.
It is anticipated that the session makes reference to the ongoing commemorative events of the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention and the 2009 AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (the Kampala Convention). The discussion may elaborate on how the two instruments and the WPS agenda can mutually reinforce one another in ensuring that peace processes are informed by the needs of refugee and displaced women and explicitly aim at addressing their plights.
The expected outcome is a press statement. The Council may welcome the recently launched CRF and may call on member states and RECs to provide the necessary data and information for the completion of the annual report produced by the office of the Special Envoy. The statement may underscore the importance of UNSCR 1325 national and regional action plans. It may also address issues related to the systematic integration ofthe needs and perspectives of women refugees and IDPs in conflict management and peacebuilding processes as well as humanitarian action. The PSC may call for the use of indicators that ensure the inclusion of women in all these efforts and underscore the need for renewed efforts in removing the obstacles that impede women’s full participation in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
