Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect Occasional Paper Series No. 6, September 2015 Preventing Mass Atrocities in West Africa Jaclyn D. Streitfeld-Hall The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect was established in February 2008 as a catalyst to promote and apply the norm of the “Responsibility to Protect” populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Through its programs and publications, the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect is a resource for governments, international institutions and civil society on prevention and early action to halt mass atrocity crimes. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Occasional Paper was produced with the generous support of Humanity United. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jaclyn D. Streitfeld-Hall is the Research and Publications Officer at the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, overseeing the R2P Monitor and all of the Global Centre’s major publications. For the past five years she has conducted research on populations at risk of mass atrocities, focusing primarily on West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as civilians affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Prior to joining the Global Centre, Ms. Streitfeld-Hall was a Research Assistant at the Cline Center for Democracy and taught International Relations and Comparative Politics at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. She received her M.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois, where she is currently a Doctoral student studying International Organizations. COVER PHOTO: Peacekeepers from the UN Mission in Côte d’Ivoire prepare weapons surrendered by ex-fighters for destruction in Abidjan, during a July 2012 disarmament campaign following the 2010-2011 post-election crisis. (Photo by SIA KAMBOU/AFP/GettyImages) © Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, 2015. All Rights Reserved CONTENTS 3 Executive Summary 5 Introduction 6 National Mechanisms for Mass Atrocity Prevention 6 Liberia's Decade of Reform 7 Ghana's National Architecture for Peace 8 The Role of Regional and Sub-regional Organizations 8 African Union 9 Economic Community of West African States 10 International Preventive Capacity and Support 11 Sierra Leone's Reconciliation and Rehabilitation 12 Post-Crisis Structural Reform Case Studies: 12 Côte d’Ivoire 17 Guinea 21 Lessons Learned in West Africa 22 Conclusion PREVENTING MASS ATROCITIES IN WEST AFRICA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY During the late 1990s and early 2000s populations across In the case of Côte d’Ivoire, following a 2011 post-election crisis several West African countries endured civil war, violence that that resulted in more than 3,000 deaths, the new government spilled over borders and mass atrocities perpetrated by both promised wide-ranging reforms to ensure that the country did armed rebels and governments. The repercussions of identity- not relapse into conflict. While many of these reforms have had based conflict ensured that inter-communal divisions, socio- positive results, an incomplete accountability and reconciliation economic instability and weak or corrupt governance remained process threatens the long-term stability of the country. pervasive throughout the region even after the conflicts had ended. Today, however, actions taken at all levels are changing In Guinea, long-delayed parliamentary elections, a history the pattern of conflict and governance in West Africa and of violent conflict and previous atrocities committed by the countries that previously experienced mass atrocity crimes are security forces created serious risks ahead of the 2013 legislative now implementing structural reforms to ensure that violent elections. While many worried that the government had not conflict does not recur. undertaken sufficient reforms, the elections that took place in September 2013 were relatively peaceful. As the country This occasional paper from the Global Centre for the approaches a crucial presidential ballot, the case study Responsibility to Protect assesses institutions that play a examines the role of sustained engagement at the regional and role in mass atrocity prevention at the national, regional and international level in aiding Guinea in its preventive efforts. international level in West Africa. From Ghana’s National Peace Council to the Early Warning Response Network of Together these cases show that prevention, which is at the core the Economic Community of West African States, diverse of the Responsibility to Protect, has been embraced by a variety actors throughout the region are taking critical steps towards of West African states. While not all prevention and protection safeguarding populations from mass atrocity crimes. needs have been resolved, the paper argues that investments that result in incremental changes have significant value in Case studies of Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone helping societies become more resilient to mass atrocities. review preventive mechanisms undertaken after mass atrocities Finally, the persistence of West African countries in pursuing have occurred, addressing the gaps between the need and decades-long reforms demonstrates that while prevention is desire to rebuild and the reality of post-conflict government neither an easy nor a fast process, sustained commitment is capacity. This paper is being published at a moment that will essential to addressing the root causes of conflict and protecting serve as a critical test for preventive efforts undertaken by vulnerable populations from mass atrocity crimes. Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire as both countries prepare for October 2015 elections. OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES | 3 Canary Is. (SPAIN) MOROCCO ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF ECOWAS member WESTERN AFRICAN STATES ECOWAS area ALGERIA HQ UN Misson HQ LIBYA Western Sahara MAURITANIA CAPE HQ UNOWA / CNMC VERDE MALI NIGER Praia Dakar SENEGAL CHAD Niamey GAMBIA Bamako Lake Chad Banjul BURKINA FASO Bissau GUINEA-BISSAU Ouagadougou GUINEA HQ ECOWAS HQ UNIOGBIS B E G T Conakry H N O A I Abuja SIERRA N Freetown CÔTE - N G LEONE D'IVOIRE A O HQ UNIPSIL NIGERIA Monrovia Yamoussoukro Accra CENTRAL Members: LIBERIA Abidjan e Porto AFRICAN m Novo Benin Ghana Niger Lo REPUBLIC Burkina Faso Guinea Nigeria CAMEROON Cape Verde Guinea Bissau Senegal HQ UNMIL HQ UNOCI Cote d’Ivôire Liberia Sierra Leone Gambia Mali Togo EQUATORIAL GUINEA SAO TOME AND 0 500 1000 1500 km PRINCIPE 0 500 1000 mi ATLANTIC GABON CONGO The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance OCEAN by the United Nations. Annobón Map No. 4350 Rev. 2 UNITED NATIONS Department of Field Support August 2012 Cartographic Section 4 | GLOBAL CENTRE FOR THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT PREVENTING MASS ATROCITIES IN WEST AFRICA INTRODUCTION hen United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban responsibility (Pillar II) – are primarily preventive. In order for WKi-moon delivered his Five-Year Plan on 25 January a state to uphold its sovereign responsibilities it must possess 2012, outlining five “generational imperatives” that the UN the capacity to prevent mass atrocities, and in upholding needed to address, conflict prevention was prioritized.1 The Pillar II responsibilities the international community agrees Secretary-General particularly emphasized early warning and to provide the support necessary to ensure that national expeditious action aimed at preventing violent conflict and preventive mechanisms are effective. Only the final pillar of violations of human rights, including through advancing the R2P explicitly addresses coercive measures when preventive Responsibility to Protect (R2P). efforts have failed. The Secretary-General’s "imperatives" reflected two significant The heightened emphasis on prevention is possibly the trends in international politics – the widening dialogue on most critical element in ensuring that R2P changes the R2P and a commitment to take prevention of mass atrocity way the world confronts mass atrocities. By contrast with crimes seriously. Unlike conflict resolution and crisis response, the idea of “humanitarian intervention,” R2P was never which have more easily measurable indicators of success, states envisioned solely as an international military response to and international organizations have historically struggled to ongoing crises or as simply a new means of raising public evaluate successful preventive action. Nevertheless, political awareness of mass atrocities. Pillars I and II emphasize actors at the national, sub-regional, regional and global level are that above all else, states can and should be developing and now implementing targeted measures to prevent the occurrence strengthening mechanisms that prevent atrocities before - or recurrence - of widespread and systematic violations of they occur. human rights. The prevention of mass atrocities involves a synergistic During the 2005 UN World Summit, when member states relationship between conflict prevention and human rights adopted the Responsibility to Protect concept, they accepted protection, whereby all sectors of government, the security three important principles, which were later explicated as apparatus and society more broadly, need to be sensitized R2P’s three “Pillars” in the Secretary-General’s 2009 report, to respect human rights and eliminate discrimination. Implementing the Responsibility to Protect.2 The first two Governments must ensure that if conflict prevention fails principles – every state has the primary responsibility to and violence results, there