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Reimagining the African Union: a More People-Centered Approach

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Reimagining the African Union: a More People-Centered Approach Reimagining the African Union: A More People-Centered Approach Laïssa Christelle Alexis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Prerequisite for Honors in Peace and Justice Studies under the advisement of Professor Craig Murphy May 2020 © 2020 Laïssa Christelle Alexis ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my gratitude to the countless number of people who have supported me throughout this process. Thank you to my advisor Craig Murphy for his support during this project. I would not have been able to complete this without your help. I would like to thank my Peace and Justice major advisor Catia Confortini for encouraging my academic growth since my first year. Your classes opened a new world for me. I would also love to thank professors Nadya Hajj, and Corinne Gartner for being a part of my thesis committee. And for being wonderful professors. Thank you to all my professors and my mentors at Wellesley. Special thank you to Professors Nikki Greene, Margaret Cezair-Thompson, and Anjali Prabhu. All of you have fostered both my academic, creative, political, and personal growth. I am grateful for your help and hope to show you my appreciation in the future. I would also like to thank Dr. Tracey Cameron and Dean Rebecca Garcia for being supportive of me since the minute I got to Wellesley. I could not have made it through my first year without your advice and support. I am eternally grateful to the friendships I have made at Wellesley, that carried me through this institution and will continue to carry me beyond. I cannot wait to see what adventures we come up with next. I would also love to recognize my family and ancestors for investing in me and praying for me in every step of my journey. Thank you to my family for supporting my dreams and ideas, no matter how wild they may seem. I could not be here without you. Lastly, I want to recognize the continued struggle of oppressed people’s around the world. A Luta Continua! TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Acronyms………………………………………………………………………………….i Introduction: The African Union and Human Rights…………………………………………....ii Chapter One: A (Brief) History on the Origins of Human Rights………………………………..1 Chapter Two: A United Africa………………………………………………………………….17 Chapter Three: Oppressive Regimes in Africa: Explaining the Existence of ‘Weak’ African States………………………………………………………………………………….………….34 Chapter Four: The African Union and the World………………………….…………………...48 Chapter Five: Reimagining a New African Union……………….………………….………….61 Bibliography……………….………………….………………….………………….………….74 Alexis i LIST OF ACRONYMS — ACJHPR African Court of Justice and Human and People’s Rights — AU African Union — EAC Extraordinary African Chambers — ECOWAS Economy Community of West African States — ICC International Criminal Court — ICJ International Court of Justice — IFI International Financial Institutions — IHRL International Human Rights Law — IMF International Monetary Fund — OAU Organization of African Unity — PAP Pan-African Parliament — UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights — UNSC United Nations Security Council Alexis ii Introduction: The African Union and Human RiGhts The theme of the 33rd annual African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, which took place this year on the 9th and 10th of February, was “Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa’s Development”1. The African Union gathered to discuss making peace a reality for Africa. The Summit’s topic is part of the AU’s Agenda 2063, “The Africa We Want”. Agenda 2063 is the African Union’s plan to transform Africa into a “global powerhouse”2 by the year 2063, the one-hundredth anniversary of the Organization of African Unity. The agenda’s goal is to create more sustainable development for the future of the continent and its people. The leaders of African states are increasingly thinking about peace; as it relates to their development goals, but they are thinking of it. The African Union itself has increasingly become involved in conflict resolution efforts and promotion of human rights on the continent; a contrast to its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Established in 2002, the African Union replaced the Organization of African Unity as the foremost uniting body of African states. The OAU/AU serves to further solidarity for the African continent. However, the organization has been the subject of criticism for its lack of efficiency in protecting Africans from human rights abuses by their leaders. In the past, the OAU was reluctant to intervene in domestic affairs. The OAU’s non-intervention norm meant that it did not get involved in the many human rights crises in Africa in the late 20th century. 1 African Union “African Union Strives to ensure a Conflict-Free Africa in line with the theme on “Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa’s Development”, African Union, accessed April 24, 2020 https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20200210/african-union-strives-ensure-conflict-free-africa-line-theme-silencing-guns 2 African Union “Africa 2063: The Africa We Want”, African Union, accessed April 24, 2020 https://au.int/en/agenda2063/overview Alexis iii Part of the impetus for the creation of the AU was a new focus on human rights. African leaders realized the OAU’s mistakes and believed that they needed to change the focus of the organization. Since then, the AU has come to center human rights. “Silencing the Guns” is evident of that. On its website, the AU describes the genesis of Agenda 2063 as the: …realisation by African leaders that there was a need to refocus and reprioritise Africa’s agenda from the struggle against apartheid and the attainment of political independence for the continent which had been the focus of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the precursor of the African Union; and instead to prioritise inclusive social and economic development, continental and regional integration, democratic governance and peace and security amongst other issues aimed at repositioning Africa to becoming a dominant player in the global arena.3 The original organization, the OAU, focused on sovereignty for African states. This focus on gaining and supporting self-determination for Africans is not as pertinent to the twenty-first century AU. The need for “inclusive social and economic development” takes precedent. This also means that the AU wants to ensure that leaders respect human rights on the continent. The organization realizes that development cannot happen with continued conflicts and human rights abuses. The AU has shown greater efforts to providing “African solutions to African problems” amid controversies about bias against African states in international organizations liKe the International Criminal Court (ICC). For example, in 2016, the Extraordinary African Chambers convicted Chadian dictator Hissène Habré of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to life in prison. The court, an agreement between Senegal and the African Union, was created precisely to bring justice to victims of the Habré dictatorship. People in Africa and abroad praised the trial as a wonderful step forward in holding leaders accountable for their actions. Despite recent efforts, the AU has still not done enough to prevent conflict and protect people. During human rights crisis, the organization has been unable to find the best ways of intervening. 3 Ibid. Alexis iv While non-African states have no problem intervening in an African state’s affairs, the OAU/AU has historically been very hesitant to do so. When an AU intervention does happen, it is usually in the form of joint peacekeeping missions with the UN, (the largest of these being in Somalia), or a military intervention. This thesis’s purpose is to reimagine how the AU can work to prevent harm, and when harm happens, to establish accountability practices. How best can the current African Union create strong provisions for intervention against member states that abuse the human rights of their citizens? This thesis will not be an in-depth review of the mechanisms of the institutions of the African Union, though some mechanisms will be reviewed. Rather, its aim is to help in reimagining a new African Union, one that executes its basic duties of providing peace and security. As an exercise in “worldmaking”4, this thesis will use peace and justice frameworks and theories as part of its analysis. To understand the human rights mechanisms in Africa by the African Union, it is important to understand a bit of the history of human rights and the current debates. The first chapter seeks to explore the history of human rights globally and in Africa, the language around them, and how African revolutionary leaders used them during the post-colonial era. This chapter outlines the different definitions of human rights and the philosophical arguments on which they rest. Some scholars, peace practitioners and activists see human rights as a tool of continued Western domination in countries in the Global South, therefore, understanding some of the origins of human rights helps to illuminate this position. This chapter will primarily argue 4 Adom Getachew, Worldmaking after Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2019). In her booK, Getachew discusses the way that decolonization remade the international order. Through this process of worldmaKing, Pan-African revolutionaries sought not only to liberate their nations but to remaKe the world. Alexis v that the current internationally held human rights framework does not sufficiently tackle structural violence and will explore the implications of this. The second chapter begins to answer the questions around the formation of the Organization of African Unity and the African Union and human rights. It focuses on the OAU/AU and the rise of Pan-Africanism, anti-colonial struggles, and human rights. The chapter primarily looks at the establishment of the Organization of African Unity and uses the works of leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah and other early Pan-Africanist thinkers to get a sense of what the considerations were.
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