The African Union and the Darfur crisis: Stakes, results and prospects

Résumé du document

Since the independence of Sudan in 1956, Darfur, situated in the western part of the country, has been confronted with numerous and violent conflicts. The actual crisis in the region began in February 2003 and opposed originally the non-Arab rebels of Darfur against the forces of the Sudanese government and the Arab militias it sustains, the Janjawids. Since then, it has become a heavy civil war in Africa – and featured even on an international scale. This conflict in Darfur is today considered as one of the major humanitarian crisis of the last decades: since the beginning of the civil war in 2003, more than five hundred thousands inhabitants of Darfur have been killed and more than two millions have been displaced. Although the crisis quickly took a great importance, the international media became interested in Darfur only one year after the beginning of the conflict, especially once the American government had spoken of ‘genocide'.

If the media put the emphasis essentially on this humanitarian disaster, the political and diplomatic solving of the crisis which aims at resolving the conflicts in the African continent the African Union, has been the leader of the peacemaking process from 2004. Darfur constitutes in fact its first large-scale intervention of peacemaking, and, therefore, it represents an important stake for the credibility of the young organization in the international scene.

Extraits

[...] It will be the occasion to see if the African Union has taken into account the lessons of its first large-scale mission of peacekeeping in Darfur. Bibliography Books Gérard Prunier, Le Darfour, un genocide ambigu, ed. De La table ronde, Paris Articles Elodie Riche, Darfour : quelle gestion des crises africaines in Annuaire français des relations internationales vol Delphine Lecoutre, Le marché de la paix du Darfour Géopolitique africaine, Janvier 2006, n°21 Elodie Riche, Premier bilan de l'Amis et de la coopération UA/Union européenne dans la crise du Darfour Défense nationale et sécurité collective, Janvier 2007, Delphine Lecoutre, Darfour : de l'Amis à l'Unmis ? [...]

[...] Insufficiency of the African Union and its replacement by UN: what prospects for the regional organization? 1. Acknowledgement of the African Union insufficiency As we have seen before, in a first time, the African Union, even it presented several difficulties, played an essential role of intermediary in the conflict on Darfur. Indeed, with the two ceasefires signed in 2005, the decrease of the armed conflicts, the situation in Darfur became more peaceful. Thus, the African Union mission appeared quite effective and useful in its attempts to solve the crisis in Darfur. [...]

[...] This institution was responsible for evaluating the needs of the African Union and communicating with the Partners Technical Support Group, composed with the representatives of the donator states. What is more, the African Union experienced also logistic and material difficulties. Its troops were unprepared, not enough equipped and unable to be transported quickly from a place to another.[8] The capacity of practical organization appeared very insufficient to the situation: there was clearly a lack of coordination between the different levels of the organization, they had no system of communication and information, etc. [...]

[...] That way, the United Nations have given to the African organization a central and legitimate role in the solving of the crisis in Darfur. This decision may be seen as an illustration and an application of a global strategy of the UN. Indeed, the international organization wants to create an international organization of collective security, based on several regional organizations able to intervene quickly and with more legitimacy, in which the United Nations would be at the top. The organization promoting peace in the world would be therefore founded on the principle of subsidiarity and would be consequently more efficient that the actual one.[4] The role of the African Union as major peacemaker in the crisis of Darfur has also been promoted by the occidental countries in so far as it was in a way in accordance with their own interests. [...]

[...] A major interest in Darfur's problems appeared in the first months of 2004, that is to say almost one year after the beginning of the armed struggle. Furthermore, an international solution was made difficult by important divergences within the international community. There have been first dissensions between the occidental countries. The United States as well as the European countries implicated in Southern Sudan conflict, such as United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy, have demonstrated immediately their hostility to the Sudanese government of Khartoum and taken the defense of the rebels of Darfur. [...]