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111. Central African Republic: Untangling the Political Dialogue

Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
A aucun moment depuis le coup d'Etat du 15 mars 2003, qui a porté au pouvoir l'actuel président François Bozizé, le risque d'une généralisation de la violence en Centrafrique n'a été aussi grand qu'aujourd'hui. Alors que l'ouverture d'un dialogue politique inclusif le 8 décembre – initialement prévue pour juin 2008 – continue de se négocier pied à pied, tant le régime en place que les principales forces d'opposition prépa- rent, en fait, le recours à la lutte armée comme ultima ratio d'une sortie de crise. Une réelle démocratisation et une réforme de l'Etat semblent possibles si les acteurs centrafricains arrivent à surmonter leurs désaccords d'une manière consensuelle et s'abstiennent de recourir à la violence pour accéder au pouvoir ou pour le garder. Le dialogue politique incl usif doit impérativement être recentré sur l'organisation des élections en 2010 et la négociation d'un mécanisme crédible de justice transitionnelle. Afin d'éviter une nouvelle prise de pouvoir par la force, le gouvernement centrafricain doit conduire à terme la réfo rme du secteur de sécurité et permettre un processus équitable d'intégration des forces rebelles dans les services de sécurité.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Conflict Prevention
Political Geography:
Africa

112. Ending Zimbabwe's Nightmare: A Possible Way Forward - Africa Briefing No. 56

Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The inter-party negotiations that have sought to end Zimbabwe's political, economic and now full-blown humanitarian crisis following the fraudulent June 2008 presidential election run-off are hopelessly deadlocked. Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF will not accept genuine power sharing, and Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are unwilling to join a ZANU-PF dominated administration as a junior partner, responsible for ending international isolation but without authority to implement needed reforms and emergency humanitarian relief.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Government, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa and Zimbabwe

113. Zimbabwe: Prospects from a Flawed Election

Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The regional mediation offering the most realistic chance to resolve Zimbabwe's eight-year crisis has failed. South African President Thabo Mbeki's stated objective in talks between the ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was to secure conditions for free and fair elections that would produce an undisputed outcome. But on 29 March 2008, Zimbabwe will hold elections already flawed by pre-poll misbehaviour, notwithstanding what may occur on polling day and thereafter. The results are likely to be heatedly disputed. Though the playing field is far from even, and efforts to create a united opposition have failed, ex-ZANU-PF politburo member Simba Makoni is seriously challenging Robert Mugabe's re-election. The 84-year-old president probably has the means to manipulate the process sufficiently to retain his office, though possibly only after a violent run-off, but there is little prospect of a government emerging that is capable of ending the crisis. If the situation deteriorates, the African Union (AU) needs to be ready to offer prompt mediation for a power-sharing agreement between presidential contenders and creation of a transitional government with a reform agenda.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Africa, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

114. Kenya in Crisis

Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Since the announcement of the contested presidential election results on 30 December 2007 giving a second term to Mwai Kibaki, Kenya has been in its worst political crisis since independence. Over 1,000 people have died and 300,000 have been displaced in violence with a serious ethnic character. As former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan conducts negotiations for a political settlement, calm has partly returned, but the situation remains highly volatile. To address the causes of the crisis, it will not be enough for the Annan team to broker a deal on the mechanics of a transitional arrangement between political opponents and schedule negotiations on a reform agenda. A sustainable settlement must address in detail a program of power sharing, constitutional and legal reform and economic policies that convinces the drivers of violence to disarm. For negotiations to succeed, the international community must enhance its pressure, including aid conditionality and threats and application of targeted sanctions against spoilers.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Democratization, and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, and United Nations

115. Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement: Beyond the Crisis

Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
On 11 October 2007, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) announced it was suspending participation in the Government of National Unity because the National Congress Party (NCP) was not implementing key aspects of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the generation-long, primarily North-South conflict. After months of highlevel meetings, military posturing and increasingly aggressive rhetoric, the parties agreed on a series of measures and drew back from the brink. The SPLM rejoined the government, which includes a reorganised cabinet, on 27 December. The immediate crisis has been defused, but underlying difficulties remain, and the risk of significant new fighting is growing in the Abyei area. Both parties must re-commit to full CPA implementation if peace is to hold, and the international community must re-engage robustly in support of the still shaky peace deal and recognise that CPA implementation would create the best environment for peace in Darfur and beyond.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Africa, Sudan, and Darfur

116. Sudan's Southern Kordofan Problem: The Next Darfur?

Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended Sudan's generation-long North-South civil war in 2005 is at risk in Southern Kordofan state, where many of the same ingredients exist that produced the vicious Darfur conflict. Both parties to that agreement, the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), who together form the Government of National Unity in Khartoum, have been guilty of mistakes and misjudgements there as they manoeuvre for partisan advantage in advance of national elections scheduled for 2009. Any strategy for addressing the problems must recognise that time is short. Concrete progress on integration and reform is essential to address the prospect of what could be a devastating new conflict. Rapid interventions are needed, well before the national elections.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Africa and Sudan

117. Nigeria: Ending Unrest in the Niger Delta

Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The Niger Delta is again at risk of sliding into chaos. The 29 May 2007 inauguration of new federal and state governments offered an opportunity to resolve longstanding conflicts afflicting the oil-rich, deeply impoverished region. Six months later, the opportunity is unravelling amid new violence and criminality. Decisive action is necessary to stop militant violence and criminal hostage-taking, initiate quick-impact development projects that can build public confidence in President Umaru Yar'Adua's administration and tackle constitutional and legal issues that have fuelled unrest in the region.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and Development
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

118. Darfur's New Security Reality

Publication Date:
11-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The Darfur conflict has changed radically in the past year and not for the better. While there are many fewer deaths than during the high period of fighting in 2003-2004, it has mutated, the parties have splintered, and the confrontations have multiplied. Violence is again increasing, access for humanitarian agencies is decreasing, international peacekeeping is not yet effective and a political settlement remains far off. The strategy the African Union (AU)/UN mediation has been following cannot cope with this new reality and needs to be revised. After a highly publicised opening ceremony in Sirte, Libya, on 27 October 2007, the new peace talks have been put on hold. The mediation should use this opportunity to reformulate the process, broadening participation and addressing all the conflict's root causes.
Topic:
Security, Genocide, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Africa and Libya

119. Zimbabwe: A Regional Solution?

Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Six months before scheduled elections, Zimbabwe is closer than ever to complete collapse. Inflation is between 7,600 per cent (government figures) and 13,000 per cent (independent estimates). Four out of five of the country's twelve million people live below the poverty line and a quarter have fled, mainly to neighbouring countries. A military-led campaign to slash prices has produced acute food and fuel shortages, and conducting any business is becoming almost impossible. An initiative launched by the regional intergovernmental organisation, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to facilitate a negotiated political solution offers the only realistic chance to escape a crisis that increasingly threatens to destabilise the region. But SADC must resolve internal differences about how hard to press into retirement Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's 83-year-old president and liberation hero, and the wider international community needs to give it full support.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Security
Political Geography:
Africa and Zimbabwe

120. Burundi: Finalising Peace with the FNL

Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
En quelques années à peine, le Burundi a accompli des progrès substantiels en matière d'apaisement des relations interethniques et de démocratisation de son espace politique. Ces avancées ont été rendues possibles grâce à la volonté des Burundais eux-mêmes, qui ont su agir dans un esprit d'unité et de compromis mais aussi grâce à un fort investissement de la communauté internationale dans le processus d'Arusha. L'intégration au sein des nouvelles forces nationales de défense et de sécurité des troupes de l'ancien gouvernement et des anciens rebelles du Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie- Forces pour la défense de la démocratie (CNDD-FDD) a contribué, de manière significative, à consolider la paix. Toutefois, le processus de paix reste fragile. Pour tourner la page des années de guerre civile, renforcer les institutions démocratiques et poser les bases d'un véritable État de droit, il est nécessaire de conclure un véritable accord de paix avec le dernier mouvement rebelle encore actif sur le territoire, le Parti pour la libération du peuple hutu – Forces nationales de libération (PALIPEHUTU-FNL) d'Agathon Rwasa. Ce mouvement n'est plus en mesure de relancer une guerre dans le pays mais il reste une source d'insécurité dans plusieurs provinces de l'Ouest où il est fortement implanté.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Africa and Burundi