Th e AU and the search for Peace and Reconciliation in Burundi and Comoros The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD Centre) is an independent mediation organisation dedicated to helping improve the global response to armed confl ict. It attempts to achieve this by mediating between warring parties and providing support to the broader mediation community. The HD Centre is driven by humanitarian values and its ultimate goal to reduce the consequences of violent confl ict, improve security, and contribute to the peaceful resolution of confl ict. It maintains a neutral stance towards the warring parties that it mediates between and, in order to maintain its impartiality it is funded by a variety of governments, private foundations and philanthropists. © Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, 2011 Reproduction of all or part of this publication may be authorised only with written consent and acknowledgement of the source. Front cover photography: © African Union, 78th PSC Meeting on Comoros, 9 June 2007 | © Lt. TMN Turyamumanya / Afrian Union, TFG Soldiers in Somalia queue for their fi rst organised payment exercise supervised by AMISOM troops in Mogadishu | © African Union, Water provision to neighbouring villagers in Mogadishu Th e AU and the search for Peace and Reconciliation in Burundi and Comoros Table of contents Part I Foreword 02 Acknowledgements 04 — Burundi case study Introduction 05 Part I: Burundi case study 09 Part II Executive summary 09 1.1 Context 10 case study — Comoros 1.2 OAU/AU intervention in the Burundi crisis 12 Part II: Comoros case study 34 Executive summary 34 Part III 2.1 Context 35 2.2 Phase One (1995–2007): processes and tools 37 — Lessons identifi ed — Lessons identifi 2.3 Phase Two (October 2007 – March 2009): processes and tools 52 Part III: Lessons identifi ed 59 Part IV 3.1 General lessons 59 3.2 Process-specifi c issues in Burundi 64 — Recommendations 3.3 Process-specifi c issues in Comoros 66 Part IV: Recommendations 68 4.1 Building capacity for managing knowledge 68 4.2 Professionalised support mechanisms 70 References 73 List of Acronyms and Abbreviations 76 Appendix – Chronology of events 77 Annexe – AU documents relating to the processes in Burundi and Comoros 83 02 The AU and the search for Peace and Reconciliation in Burundi and Comoros Foreword The promotion of peace and security in the continent is one of the key objectives of the African Union. Indeed, the AU was borne out of the collective will of Member States to work unrelentingly to deepen and consolidate peace, security and development in African countries, taking into account their historical and cultural conditions, as well as their level of economic and social development. In this respect, African states realized that the issues of peace and security have to be addressed holistically. Hence, in the prevention of confl ict, there is need to address poverty and underdevelopment, as well as promote democracy, good governance and respect for human rights. It was on this very basis that the OAU Mechanism for Confl ict Prevention, Management and Resolution was established in Cairo in 1993 to provide the Organization with instruments to enable it to deal with the scourge of confl icts on the continent. More specifi cally, the aim was not only to develop an institutional mechanism of collective African action in matters of confl ict management in relation to the hitherto ad hoc ways of solving confl ict, but also to effectively take on board the changes that have taken place as far as the crises facing the continent are concerned. The essential element here is linked to the signifi cant increase in intra-state confl icts compared to inter-State confl icts, which have decreased considerably with the end of the cold war. Nevertheless, the scope and gravity of the confl icts, as well as their complex nature, soon revealed the limitations of the mechanism, which, among other things, did not provide for the deployment of peacekeeping operations (a responsibility left exclusively to the United Nations) and conferred only very limited powers on the OAU. It was necessary, therefore, to adapt the structures and resources of the continent to the situation then prevailing on the ground and to the new challenges resulting from the changes that had taken place in the international system. The efforts deployed in this regard also formed part of the plans to transform the OAU into the African Union. It is against this background that the inaugural Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union adopted the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council in Durban in 2002, on the basis of which the AU Peace and Security Council was established. Most signifi cantly, the Protocol embodies the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) that is designed to provide a framework for responding to the challenges facing the continent. The Architecture has the Peace and Security Council (PSC) as its key pillar. The PSC is to be supported in its work by the African Standby Force (ASF), the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS), the Panel of the Wise, and a Peace Fund. The African Regional Mechanisms for Confl ict Prevention, Management and Resolution are also a part of the Architecture. In addition to these, the APSA is also continuously being enhanced to address the prevention of confl ict through the development of tools for structural confl ict prevention, as well as Post-Confl ict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) and the African Union Border Programme. A joint report by the African Union and the HD Centre 03 There is no gain saying that a lot more remains to be done if the ambitious agenda which the African Union has set for itself is to achieve some degree of success. Africa continues to be torn asunder by many confl icts with far reaching humanitarian consequences; the continent is the least developed in the world, with particularly low social indicators; the democratic processes set in motion at the end of the 1980s remain fragile and have suffered serious setbacks; and the continent only plays a marginal role in world trade. Since the organisation began its work as the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) in 1963, and throughout the evolution of the AU to becoming the organisation it is today, peacemaking has remained a key priority and responsibility for the organization. Due to its vast involvement in confl icts across the continent, the organisation has, in the past 15 years, accumulated wide ranging experiences in confl ict prevention, management and resolution, most of which have remained largely un-documented. With the adoption of the Peace and Security Council Protocol, the AU member States have entrusted the AU with important roles in confl ict prevention, assisting parties to fi nd peaceful solutions to confl icts and post- confl ict peacebuilding and development. The AU Commission has an obligation to continue these positive developments. We believe in the value of learning from past peacemaking efforts in order to benefi t from the work of AU’s envoys and staff, enrich our thinking and analysis, and provide us with ideas on how to resolve key peace and security challenges when they occur on the continent. For this reason, the AU Commission decided, in 2008, to begin recording and analysing the AU’s peacemaking efforts – beginning with Burundi and the Comoros. These cases illustrate two key efforts in the AU’s history of confl ict prevention, management and resolution, which lasted for several years and whose lessons need to be heeded. As the report ‘The peacemaking efforts of the African Union in Burundi and the Comoros’ points out, the OAU/AU has been able to adopt diverse tools in its work, including shuttle diplomacy, facilitation and mediation; coercive diplomacy; economic sanctions; observer missions and military intervention, among others. It has deployed Special Envoys for both Burundi and the Comoros, established Liaison Offi ces in the two countries, participated in regional initiatives such as the Great Lakes Regional Initiative for Peace in Burundi (GLRIPB), complemented Political Missions with Observer Missions, deployed Peace Support Operations, and coordinated with other actors such as the United Nations, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), and member States. This report highlights the AU’s role in deploying and supporting these mechanisms. At the beginning of both efforts, the OAU/AU faced tremendous diffi culties in implementing its policy due to its administrative and logistical weaknesses. However, as the report also points out, this has improved signifi cantly in the past several years, and efforts for further improvements are ongoing. The report also underlines the usefulness of the availability of multiple tools. Peace processes are challenging and long-term, and the OAU/AU has had to be creative and to devise various mechanisms in order to keep the processes going. Learning how to deploy these tools, which are at our disposal, and doing so more and more effectively, is an important focus of the Commission’s current work. Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra AU Commissioner for Peace and Security 04 The AU and the search for Peace and Reconciliation in Burundi and Comoros Acknowledgements This paper is prepared by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue’s Mediation Support Programme, based on research and writing by Professors David Francis and Thomas Kwasi Tieku. It is also based on comments received at an AU case studies validation workshop held in Addis, 11–12 March 2009 as well as additional very helpful comments provided to the HD Centre by El-Ghassim Wane, Ntolé Kazadi and Joyce Neu on the Comoros case study. Also, subsequent interviews were conducted by Stine Lehmann-Larsen with Ambassadors Said Djinnit, Francisco Madeira and Taiati Mourad on the Comoros case.