The African Union and the Reform of the Security Council: Some Matters Arising

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-292
Author(s):  
Kofi Oteng Kufuor
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
African Union

scholarly journals When Elephants Collide it is the Grass that Suffers: Cooperation and the Security Council in the Context of the au/icc Dynamic

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dire Tladi
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
African Union ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Conflictual Relationship

Much has been written about the tension between the African Union and the icc. Equally, the relationship between the icc and the Security Council has received a significant amount of attention. Very often, the discourse has presented the debate a stand-off between the protagonist fighting the good fight and antagonists intent on wanton destruction. This article is concerned with the relationships between the icc, au and the Security Council. It argues that the relationships can be characterised as triangular conflictual relationship in which all three sides of the triangle are straddled by cooperation. The paper argues that all three entities, the icc, the au and Security Council are culpable in the use and abuse of cooperation against each other in the pursuit of narrow interests.

scholarly journals The African Union, the United Nations Security Council and the Politicisation of International Justice in Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benson Chinedu Olugbuo
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
African Union ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Relationship

There are two questions with multiple answers regarding the relationship between Africa and the International Criminal Court. The first is whether the International Criminal Court is targeting Africa and the second is if politics plays any role in the decision to investigate and prosecute crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. For the African Union, the International Criminal Court has become a western court targeting weak African countries and ignoring the atrocities committed by big powers including permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The accusation by the African Union against the International Criminal Court leads to the argument that the International Criminal Court is currently politised. This is a charge consistently denied by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship between the United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court and the African Union. It articulates the role of the three institutions in the fight against impunity and the maintenance of international peace and security with reference to the African continent. The paper argues that complementarity should be applied to regional organisations and that the relationship between the African Union and the International Criminal Court should be guided by the application of positive complementarity and a nuanced approach to the interests of justice. This offers the International Criminal Court and the African Union an opportunity to develop mutual trust and result-oriented strategies to confront the impunity on the continent. The paper further argues that the power of the United Nations Security Council to refer situations to the International Criminal Court and defer cases before the Court is a primary source of the disagreement between the prosecutor and the African Union and recommends a division of labour between the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Security Council.

The African Union, the Security Council, and the International Criminal Court

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Chernor Jalloh
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Security Council ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
African Union ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
History Of

This chapter analyses the controversies surrounding the work of the African Union, the Security Council, and the International Criminal Court. It examines whether the legal justifications offered for the Security Council’s involvement in matters of international criminal justice, as administered by the ICC, match the emerging practice. The chapter reviews the drafting history of the Rome Statute to identify the initial benchmark against which to assess the Chapter VII referral and deferral resolutions and their impacts, if any, on the world’s only permanent international penal tribunal. The chapter situates the ICC within a new post-Cold War global paradigm that is not only concerned with ensuring the collective peace, which is the classical responsibility of the UN, but also ensures that international criminal justice is meted out to at least some of the leaders who foment the world’s worst atrocities.

Western Saharan frustration may trigger local violence

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
African Union ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Western Sahara ◽  
Regional Conflict ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Legal Battle

Subject Progress on the Western Saharan conflict Significance The UN Security Council (UNSC) voted on April 28 to extend for another year the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). The force observes a ceasefire (since 1991) between Morocco and the Polisario Front in the Western Sahara (the organisation recognised by the UN as representing Sahrawis). African Union (AU) demands to upgrade MINURSO's mandate to include human rights monitoring in the contested territory were rejected. Instead the watered down resolution calls on Morocco and the Polisario Front to "enter a more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations" in order to reach a political solution. Impacts Sahrawi activists backed by Algeria will wage a legal battle against international companies cooperating with Morocco in Western Sahara. Diplomatic tension and competition between Morocco and Algeria will intensify and complicate regional conflict resolution efforts. However, a direct military confrontation between Morocco and Algeria is unlikely. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR) may become more active in monitoring human rights in Western Sahara. This could create tension between OHCR and Rabat, and raise scrutiny on firms seeking to invest in Western Sahara or import goods.

UNAMID withdrawal raises Darfur relapse risk

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
African Union ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relapse Risk ◽  
Liberation Movement ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Displaced People ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Government

Subject Peacekeeping in Darfur Significance The UN Security Council in July authorised a major drawdown and reconfiguration of the United Nations-African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). The downsizing was expected. Nevertheless, the mission’s exit does not mark an end to Darfur’s 15-year-old conflict; rather, it increases the potential for a serious deterioration. Impacts The government will persist with efforts to dismantle camps that still play host to 1.8 million displaced people, despite fierce resistance. The weapons collection campaign will deepen tensions between government militias and non-Arab communities, potentially sparking fighting. The army will focus on combatting Sudan Liberation Movement/Abdel Wahid rebels and loyalists of recently arrested militia chief Musa Hilal.

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union: evaluating an embryonic international institution

2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 603-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul D. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
International Security ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
African Union ◽  
International Institution ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Five Elements ◽  
Efficiency And Productivity

ABSTRACTHow has the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union helped promote peace, security and stability on the African continent? This article assesses the PSC's activities in light of insights generated by the literature on international security institutions. After providing an overview of the immediate origins of the PSC, it discusses five elements of the Council's institutional design. It then evaluates the PSC's activities during its first five years (2004–9), by examining the Council's political relevance, its efficiency and productivity, and whether it is the institution best placed to deal with the continent's security problems. It concludes that the PSC's future will hinge on whether more of the African Union's members can be persuaded to devote more serious levels of resources (human and financial) to it.

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