From Africa Recovery, Vol.11#3 (February 1998), page 23

Forging peace in Central Africa

Parliamentarians stress military reorganization and ethnic reconciliation

By John Nyamu

Military reorganization, arms control and reformed election systems to ensure representation for both majority and minority ethnic groups were among a series of ambitious measures proposed by African legislators as crucial steps towards a solution to the escalating crisis in the Great Lakes region. The proposals, highlighted as priority areas for action, were put forward by African lawmakers participating in a working session on the Great Lakes region during the 19th annual UN parliamentary forum of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) held at UN headquarters on 9-10 October last year.

Criticizing exclusionary policies that led to disaster in both Burundi and Rwanda, Mr. Manuel Pinto of Uganda, who chaired the session, said that the existing machinery must continue to be used to bring warring parties to the negotiating table. He expressed concern over the actions of President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo in awarding himself wider powers, ruling by decree and postponing promised elections.

Mr. Adrien Sibomana of Burundi said that the situation in the region is coloured by great passions born of ethnicity which need to be calmed. He noted that although neighbouring countries claim they want to help Burundi, none of them have diplomatic ties with Bujumbura.

But Mr. Jean Minani, also of Burundi, said the regional sanctions against that country are the only means of putting pressure on the regime. He called for an arms embargo to avoid a repetition of the Rwanda genocide.

Multiple trouble spots

In a paper produced by the working session, the African parliamentarians noted that the deepening conflict in Burundi and the rising level of violence and insecurity in Rwanda have been overshadowed by the international media's focus on the stand-off between the UN and the Democratic Republic of Congo over alleged massacres and human rights violations in the east of that country. Meanwhile, each of the other countries of the region -- Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia -- has its own trouble spots and instability factors.

Military reorganization, the paper said, is imperative for a sustainable regional peace. It emphasized the need for national populations to have a sense of being protected by their armed and police forces and for governments to ensure proper representation of various ethnic groups in the armed services' leadership. Military reform should also include a programme for reintegrating former soldiers into society.

To achieve arms control, the paper proposed a "buy-back" programme, developed and administered multilaterally, to end the growing black market in small and light conventional weapons. This proliferation and stockpiling of deadly arsenals in the region has been facilitated by the end of long wars in such countries as Mozambique and Angola, the parliamentarians noted. They stressed that peace agreements should always incorporate a comprehensive demobilization and disarmament component. This key factor for building peace should be monitored by the UN or by another multilateral agency, they added, provided that it has the capacity to monitor and regulate disarmament and the arms trade.

While the parliamentarians argued that simple majority rule is an unsuitable system for the Great Lakes countries, their paper stressed that this is not a rejection of democracy. Instead, they called for exploration of other models of democratic governance which could better address the needs of all citizens, regardless of majority or minority status. The paper also proposed a PGA-convened regional conference to examine various election systems.

The working session felt that conflict in Burundi had significantly reduced the window of opportunity for national reconciliation through conventional power-sharing. It suggested a confederation, along the lines of the Dayton Agreement for Bosnia-Herzegovina, as an example of innovative frameworks that should be explored in the Great Lakes context.

The working session argued that in Rwanda, where the trials of genocide suspects are "plagued by political manipulation, inadequate resources and an unacceptable level of abuse," the provision of magistrates, judges and defence lawyers would facilitate fairer trials in the short term. But in the long run, fundamental reforms are key to eliminating political bias. The paper also urged the active training of under-represented ethnic groups to take their place in the legal system.

Government efforts to create common economic interests among different groups would better promote national reconciliation than the "seemingly endless quest to redress past wrongs," the parliamentarians said. They urged governments to foster inter-ethnic business ventures, with parliaments taking the lead in establishing national economic committees comprising business and local leaders to ensure that economic imbalances are not exacerbated and that new private enterprises improve the existing inequitable distribution of resources.

Enhanced regional economic cooperation, along the lines of the revived East African Community grouping Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, can also help reduce regional tensions and conflicts, the paper said.

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