Tag: African Union

How Relevant Is the International Criminal Court to the 21st Century Africa and Beyond?

How Relevant Is the International Criminal Court to the 21st Century Africa and Beyond?

Posted by | Jun 8, 2026 |

Although the International Criminal Court (ICC) was examining some non-African situations by 2013, most of the Court’s indictees happened to come from African conflict situations. As will be discussed later, this state of affairs was worsened by the arrest warrant on President Omar Al-Bashir while he was then a sitting president. This made the African Union (AU) feel unfairly targeted and, therefore, contemplate withdrawal from the ICC. Some African leaders have also maintained slanderous charges against the ICC describing it in uncharitable identities and questioning its modus operandi. However, given that the Court was established to dispense international justice for the commission of core crimes, the AU’s contemplation of withdrawal evokes some pertinent questions regarding the future of justice on the continent should the AU eventually withdraw from membership of the Court. How justifiable is the AU withdrawal contemplation? Is this the best of options? What are the possible alternatives for the AU? How does the AU contemplation of withdrawal represent a conflict of interest? In which ways could the Court be strengthened to dispense the international justice for which it was established? In the wake of the aforementioned questions, this paper seeks to address the issue of how relevant the ICC is to the 21st century Africa and beyond. Dwelling on critical discourse analysis as a methodology, the paper employs interdisciplinary perspectives featuring reflections on research in human rights, international law, political science and other relevant areas of interest and speaks to such probing concerns. This paper concludes that though the challenges the AU raises against the ICC are reasonably admissible, they are not compelling enough to justify an AU withdrawal since they are not of the magnitude that deprives the Court of its capacity to dispense justice. This means that the Court remains relevant to the 21st century Africa and beyond. The paper ends by proposing a framework within which the AU could contribute towards making the Court more functional.

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African Union ‘Robust’ Peace Support Operations: Rules of Engagement and Attribution of Conduct

African Union ‘Robust’ Peace Support Operations: Rules of Engagement and Attribution of Conduct

Posted by | Apr 7, 2019 |

The development of ‘robust’ peace support operations in the framework of the African Union is a complex process that revolves around two primary propositions. Firstly, the consent of the host State, factor of the initial legality of the missions. Secondly, the use of force determined by the commanding authority, which ensures the continuance of the legality in terms of respect of the rules of international law.

The participation of the African organization and the States that contribute with their military contingents makes the establishment of the command and control authority over the operation, and the related operational documents, a crucial passage. In this context, there is an operative document of utmost importance for the outcome of the missions, the rules of engagement. As combination between political, legal and military considerations, their construction contributes to the compliance with international law, in particular international humanitarian law.

If and when a potential violation occurs, the assessment of the responsibility of the international organizations and the participant States have to start from the determination of the attributability of the impugned conducts, on the basis of the ‘effective control’ test. And it is at this stage that the rules of engagement become decisive factors, due to their connection with the command and control structure of the missions.

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A Critical Analysis of the Requirements for Full Operationalization of the African Standby Force: Lessons Learned from the Eastern Africa Standby Force

A Critical Analysis of the Requirements for Full Operationalization of the African Standby Force: Lessons Learned from the Eastern Africa Standby Force

Posted by | Apr 6, 2019 |

It is evident from attempted coups d’état, contested elections, violent protests and riots, constitutional amendments to extend of terms of presidents, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, foreign interventions and other structural problems in Africa, which threaten the political equilibrium, that there are a various types of conflicts that need to be dealt with (See Institute for Security Studies, October 2017:10-21). This calls for a strengthened, enhanced and effective regional collective security arrangement. The African Union (AU) established the African Standby Force (ASF) for peacekeeping purposes as well as possible interventions when conflicts degenerate, and implement its motto of “African solutions to African problems”. This continental Force is being developed in five multi-dimensional regional brigades with military, police and civilian components but its operationalization took much longer than planned. The question is why? What are the hurdles? What needs to be done to fully operationalize it? This paper critically analyzes these issues and develops a ten-step procedure on what needs to be done to fully operationalize the ASF based on experience gained from the Eastern Africa Standby Force, one of the regional components, which declared full operational capability ahead of schedule in 2014.

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The Rationale for AfSol in Peace and Security: The Global, National and Regional Precipitants

The Rationale for AfSol in Peace and Security: The Global, National and Regional Precipitants

Posted by | Apr 5, 2019 |

Since the establishment of the African Union in 2001, there has been a heightened activism for African Solutions (AfSol) in peace and security as opposed to the reality of external impositions and interventions. This article contends that while international factors play a role in Africa’s insecurities, the continent suffers largely from the ineptitude and myopic interests of Africa’s leadership at the state and regional levels. The clamour for AfSol by political leaders often serves to mask the complicity of local actors in Africa’s crises especially in peace and security. To ensure sustainable peace and stability on the continent, the AfSol concept should be underpinned with good governance and reliable attempts at context-specific solutions alongside mainstream development and security paradigms.

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