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31. Towards an African Approach to Transitional Justice: Report on the Second African Transitional Justice Forum

Author:
Jasmina Brankovic
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Abstract:
Inaugurated in 2017, the annual African Transitional Justice Forum provides a multi-stakeholder platform for identifying solutions to common problems in a manner that is rooted in collective and national experiences, sharing best practices to advance an African transitional justice discourse and practice, and generating new ideas on how to support transitional justice processes on the continent. It aims to facilitate cooperation between various stakeholders to aid in the effective implementation of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy, adopted in 2019. This report outlines the discussions and recommendations of the Second African Transitional Justice Forums, held on 16–18 October 2018 in Khartoum, Sudan.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Transitional Justice, Peace, Reconciliation, and African Union
Political Geography:
Africa

32. Transitional Justice and Silencing the Guns in Africa in the Context of COVID-19: Report on the Fourth African Transitional Justice Forum

Author:
Jasmina Brankovic
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Abstract:
The Fourth African Transitional Justice Forum, held 0n 26–28 October 2020, addressed the state of transitional justice on the continent, specifically its contribution to the African Union's 2020 theme of the year, "Silencing the Guns," amid the challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Forum panels focused on development, violent extremism, victims' experiences and fundraising in relation to African-led transitional justice.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Violent Extremism, Transitional Justice, Peace, Reconciliation, Pandemic, African Union, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa

33. Charting the Course for Transitional Justice in Africa: Recommendations of the 2017–2020 African Transitional Justice Forums

Author:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Abstract:
From 2017 through 2020, the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation organised annual African Transitional Justice Forums—multistakeholder platforms for identifying solutions rooted in collective and national experiences, sharing best practices to advance an African transitional justice discourse and practice, and generating new ideas on how to support transitional justice processes on the continent, while facilitating cooperation. The ideas and experiences shared at these Forums have contributed to the development, dissemination and implementation of the 2019 African Union Transitional Justice Policy, in addition to critical reflection on how to elaborate its provisions. This policy brief presents the main recommendations of the four African Transitional Justice Forums.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Transitional Justice, Peace, and African Union
Political Geography:
Africa

34. COVID-19, Transitional Justice and Victims' Experiences in Africa

Author:
Olivier Kambala
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Abstract:
This policy paper explores the situation of victims vis-à-vis transitional justice processes in selected African countries when COVID-19 appeared. It looks at the performance of these transitional justice processes and attempts to ascertain the prospects for the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) to improve remedies for victims. It also suggests ways to orient the AUTJP's scope to alleviate victims' plight, including through synchronisation with other regional processes, during and beyond COVID-19.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Transitional Justice, Public Health, Pandemic, African Union, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa

35. Transitional Justice in Crisis Situations: Addressing Violent Extremism, Beyond a Militarised Approach

Author:
Hafsa Maalim and Melvis Ndiloseh
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Abstract:
This policy paper draws from the discussions of the Fourth African Transitional Justice Forum, held on 26–28 October 2020 under the theme "Silencing the Guns in the Context of COVID-19: Progress, Problems and Prospects." Following an overview of the growing threat posed by violent extremism in Africa, the paper highlights limitations of militarised approaches. It further builds a case for mobilising transitional justices measures to address violent extremism, and proposes the tools enshrined in the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) as a viable option.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Transitional Justice, Peace, Reconciliation, and African Union
Political Geography:
Africa

36. Enlivening Transitional Justice within the African Union's Agenda of Silencing the Guns: Looking Beyond 2020

Author:
Andrew Songa
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Abstract:
The African Union (AU) declared 2020 the year of "Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa's Development." The motivation for this theme was to provide impetus for activities to advance the 2013 Solemn Declaration to realise a conflict-free Africa by 2020. This policy paper argues that the AU and its member states must maintain fidelity to the noble objectives of the Solemn Declaration and utilise the extended 10-year period for the AU Master Roadmap on Practical Steps to Silence the Guns by the Year 2020 to ensure that actionable programmes which further peace, security and justice are achieved. A lot of normative progress has been achieved in the last decade, as the 2019 adoption of the AU Transitional Justice Policy indicates, yet the persistent challenge lies in the effective implementation of these instruments at the regional, national and local levels.
Topic:
Development, International Cooperation, Peace, Reconciliation, and African Union
Political Geography:
Africa

37. Pivoting to African Conflict Prevention? An Analysis of Continental and Regional Early Warning Systems

Author:
Amandine Gnanguênon
Publication Date:
02-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
Early warning systems (EWS) are at the heart of conflict prevention strategies, particularly as a component of operational prevention. EWS support decision-makers with timely information, analysis and response options. Although the first generation of EWS have been around since the 1970s and 1980s, they did not come to prominence until the 1990s. In the aftermath of the war trauma in Somalia and the Mano River region (Liberia and Sierra Leone) and the 1994 Rwanda genocide, African EWS – in particular those of the Organisation of African Unity, its successor, the African Union (AU), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – were developed to address threats to human security. These EWS have served as a strong foundation for early warning and early action (EWEA) in the continent. Many lessons have been learned in particular from West Africa’s experience, namely from the ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN), launched in 2003. ECOWARN has the capability to reform institutions from within the organisation and take grassroots perspectives into account, positioning it as the most advanced regional EWEA system in Africa. Creating the AU in 2002 marked a shift from non-intervention to non-indifference at the continental level. The African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) was an opportunity for African states to display strong political will to develop conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms, by establishing the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS) as one of the APSA’s five components. Over the years, multiple reinforcements have provided African institutions and member states with human, logistical and financial capacities to monitor, analyse and develop tailored and timely responses and policy options to address security challenges. Yet the EWEA gap, at both continental (CEWS) and regional (ECOWARN) levels, remains substantial and affects the full operationalisation of the prevention agenda. Why have political decision-makers not implemented those preventive tools adequately? How can closer relationships between regional and continental EWS in Africa bridge the EWEA gap? To answer these questions, this Conflict Series Brief investigates the challenges and opportunities of cooperation between ECOWARN, the most sophisticated African regional EWEA system, and CEWS, a continental hub for data collection and analysis. It begins by analysing the impact of a lack of clear and systematic collaboration between regional and continental organisations on the development of the overall African EWS. While challenges remain in the institutional division of labour between the AU and ECOWAS, there has been progress in designing their EWS and implementing data collection and analysis. The second part of this Brief argues that the persistent EWEA gap lies in three main challenges on which CEWS and ECOWARN have focused their efforts: the lack of regular interaction between early warning (EW) officials and decision-makers, the unpredictability of conflict dynamics and the political dimensions of conflict responses. The Brief concludes by presenting some lessons learned for Africa’s prevention agenda.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Reform, Conflict, and African Union
Political Geography:
Africa

38. Decolonising Human Rights Protection in Africa: Impunity Rhetorically Repackaged?

Author:
Stef Vandeginste
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:
Pointing out the need to decolonise human rights protection in Africa, authorities at the level of the African Union (AU) and its member states have initiated a number of institutional reforms. Purportedly aimed at enhancing accountability for human rights violations, in reality these continental mechanisms offer very little prospect to victims. In terms of the individual criminal responsibility of perpetrators, the 2014 Malabo Protocol is no more than an empty shell. In the area of state responsibility, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is facing an existential threat because of AU member states withdrawing their declarations to allow individual victims and NGOs to directly access the Court. Ultimately, the rhetorical hijacking and political misuse of the decolonisation paradigm is leaving African victims of human rights violations worse off.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Cooperation, Decolonization, Humanitarian Crisis, and African Union
Political Geography:
Africa

39. New African Union Commission (2021-2025) Challenges and Issues After the Reform Initiated by Paul Kagamé

Author:
Benjamin Augé and Félicité Djilo
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI)
Abstract:
The election of the Commission to run the African Union (AU) on February 6 and 7, 2021 was an important step towards implementing its institutional reform. The Commission is the institution’s real government, setting the pan-African organization’s objectives under the leadership of the Heads of State who meet once a year at the Assembly. The Chadian Moussa Faki, who was re-elected as AU Commission (AUC) Chairperson, has the onerous task of undertaking this reform, initiated by the former AU Chair, Rwandan president Paul Kagamé, between 2016 and 2018. The African Union (AU) has been led for the past year by a new Commission whose results will be closely scrutinized by the organization's member countries. The Covid-19 pandemic has largely contributed to slowing down the institutions in Addis Ababa, handicapping the South African and Congolese presidencies. The Senegalese presidency is eagerly awaited to exit the AU from the theme that has dominated debates for 24 months into Covid-19. The reform of the African Union initiated by Rwandan President Paul Kagame is beginning to be implemented, but its results will have to be assessed in the long term. The AU's Peace and Security Council (PSC) is in the hands of Nigerian Bankole Adeoye after 18 years of Algeria's stranglehold. The PSC is facing a multitude of a multitude of crises - civil war in Ethiopia, Cabo Delgado in Mozambique, English-speaking provinces of Cameroon, coups d'état in Mali, Guinea and transition in Chad - the management of which remains particularly politicized.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Reform, and African Union
Political Geography:
Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

40. Europe and Africa. The Long Search for Common Ground

Author:
Giovanni Carbone
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
Ayear and a half after the new Strategy with Africa proposed by the European Commission was made public, the new partnership between the two continents is still being defined. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic with Africa’s first economic recession in 25 years and a sharp rise in poverty and debt has created new challenges for the two continents’ agenda, highlighting new gaps to address on the way forward. With the European Union-African Union summit scheduled for February 2022, the definition of the new partnership is once again gathering momentum, while both sides are still trying to define common positions. Will these two “natural partners” be able to tackle the most urgent challenges and turn them into opportunities for collaboration and engagement? What are the priority issues, and which ones are potentially most divisive?
Topic:
European Union, Partnerships, African Union, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa and Europe