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Contributions from
the Column
Facts and trends
Bilateral programmes outperform multilateral ones
No consensus on withdrawal from oil
Sustainable development committee for
the German Parliament
Peaceworkers wanted
New institutions for
the African Union
Rwanda: “It’s impossible to
reappraise the genocide completely”
Tense situation in Eastern Congo
4/2004
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New institutions for the African Union
The African Union (AU) has some ambitious plans this year for creating new institutions. At its summit at the end of February in Sirte in Libya, the heads of state and government agreed to create an African Standby Force to secure peace and to stop and prevent war crimes or crimes against humanity. It still has to be settled, however, which countries are going to commit troops to the 15,000-strong force, how big the national contingents will be and who will be in command. The issues are on the agenda for the upcoming AU summit in July. The African intervention force will operate under the direction of the AU Peace and Security Council, although that body itself first needs to be set up. The protocol establishing the Council came into effect in December 2003 when Nigeria became the 26th country to ratify it.
Protocols have also been ratified for the establishment of an African Court of Human Rights and a Pan-African Parliament. According to Amnesty International, the AU summit in July will decide where the court should sit, agree of a budget for it and elect the eleven judges. The constituent sitting of the Pan-African Parliament has already taken place – on March 18 – 20 in Addis Abeba. In mid-March, however, only 30 or so of the AU‘s 53 members had responded to the call to appoint five parliamentarians as members of the supranational assembly. Initially, the Pan-African Parliament will act as an advisory body and be vested with legislative powers only after five years. (ell)
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