Launching of SADC Brigade

The security of African Nations remains subject to a variety of military and non-military risks that are multi-dimensional and often difficult to predict. Whilst the potential for inter-state disputes have not diminished, the last ten years have seen the appearance of complex new risks to peace and stability, including oppression, ethnic conflict, economic distress, the collapse of political order, the proliferation of small arms and organised international crime.

When crises arise they are increasingly involving many factions and contain conflict elements which may be inter and intra and/or trans national in nature and involve the cross border movement of refugees, internally displaced people, migrants and wide spread human rights abuses. Such intra state conflicts and trans-national activities are generally perpetrated by sub state actors or ‘war lords’, non-state actors, militias, criminal elements and armed civilians and not solely by regular armies. As a result social cohesion and state institutions collapse, law and order breaks down, banditry and chaos prevail and the civilian population flees the conflict region or the country.

The international community is compelled to respond to complex emergencies by deploying assets that have multiple functions to crisis zones. Such crisis induced operations are generally described as peace support operations (PSO) and may be co-ordinated under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), or African regional organisations such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), etc.

Initial engagement with the host nation may be limited to socio-economic and political development as part of international conflict prevention efforts and relief agencies. Such development and relief agencies may be UN bodies, such as United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHRC) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) or independent non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as Save the Children and CARE or international and intergovernmental organisations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). However, should the crisis develop and further political engagement becomes necessary, the situation may demand military and civilian components intervention.

Military intervention may be conducted by a regional or sub-regional organisation or, in the case of more complex operations requiring a robust command and control infrastructure by a UN commanded force, military alliance or a coalition of willing member states operating under an internationally recognised mandate.

Efforts by the international community to respond to such crises aimed at restoring law and order and to create a self-sustaining peace must address both the underlying causes, as well as the symptoms of the crisis or conflict related disaster. A crisis instigated response or peace support operation will therefore generally include political, diplomatic, military, and civilian (including police, rule of law and civilian administration) and humanitarian efforts to control any conflict and this culminate in the promotion of reconciliation, the re-establishment of effective government and a self-sustaining peace.

Complex governance crises involving conflict and a humanitarian disaster tend to engage a wide range of political bodies. Recent operations have involved not only the UN, but also organisations such as the European Union, NATO, AU, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and others, and international financial institutions like the World Bank and other regional and ad hoc political bodies. It is at this political level that the mandate for an operation is developed with advice from member states.

The UN remains the prime International Organisation and the only body which can endorse the existence of such regional or sub-regional organizations in accordance with Chapter VIII of the UN Charter. The UN Charter provides the terms of reference for the various elements of the UN, and for regional arrangements and agencies in fulfilling this responsibility. Although the Charter makes no specific reference to PSO, the three chapters which most relate to PSO are; Chapter VI, that deals with the pacific settlement of disputes, Chapter VII, that refers to such actions by air, sea or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security, and Chapter VIII, that deals with regional arrangements.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AFRICAN STANDBY FORCE

The African leaders have stood firm in a bid to resist conflicts and are keen to develop the necessary structures to respond to continental problems. They were guided by a common vision of a united and strong Africa and took up the multifaceted challenges that confront the continent and peoples in the light of the social, economic and political changes taking place in the world. They realised that the scourge of conflicts in Africa constitutes a major impediment to the socio-economic development of the continent and that they need to promote peace, security and stability as a prerequisite for Africa’s development and integration. The African leaders decided among other things to establish an African Union, in conformity with the UN Charter and the ultimate objectives of the OAU Charter. The hitherto conflict management mechanism that was developed in 1993 was replaced by a new mechanism in 2002. The mechanism consists of five organs prominent amongst which are the Peace and Security Council (PSC), the African Standby Force (ASF) and the Military Staff Committee (MSC).

The concept of shared responsibility between the UN and some regional organisations is one of the most important innovations in the management of international security in the post-Cold War era for the effective management of conflicts within the regions of the world. Africa is at the forefront of efforts to formalise the relationship between the UN and a regional organisation, in this case the AU, with the specific objective of enhancing the management of conflicts. At the same time, the deterioration of security in Africa, especially the rise in the number and intensity of internal conflicts, led to a re-opening of the debate on the need for a continental security agenda and ultimately led to the creation of the AU in 2002.

The Policy Framework Document for the Establishment of the ASF and MSC was approved by the African Heads of State in Addis Ababa in July 2004. The establishment of the force has been given legal backing in Article 4(d) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union and Article 13 of the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union. The concept is that once fully established the ASF will consist of standby multidisciplinary contingents, with civilian and military components located in their countries of origin and ready for rapid deployment anywhere in Africa at appropriate notice. The Framework Document called for the establishment of the ASF in two phases, Phase One ended on 30 June 2005, Phase Two will end by 30 June 2010.

CURRENT OPERATIONALISATION STAGE OF THE SADCBRIG

The purpose of SADCBRIG is to participate in Missions as envisaged in Article 13 section “Mandate” of the Protocol Establishing the PSC of the AU that includes performing the functions which are: (1) observation and monitoring missions; (2) other types of peace support missions; (3) intervention in a Member State in respect of grave circumstances or at the request of a Member State in order to restore peace and security, in accordance with Article 4(h) and (j) of the Constitutive Act; (4) preventive deployment in order to prevent 9 a dispute or a conflict from escalating, [ii] an ongoing violent conflict from spreading to neighbouring areas or States, and [iii] the resurgence of violence after parties to a conflict have reached an agreement; (5) peace-building, including post-conflict disarmament and demobilisation; (6) humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of civilian population in conflict areas and support efforts to address major natural disasters; and (7) any other functions as may be mandated by the PSC or Assembly.