Monograph 83: Sustaining the Peace in Angola. An Overview of Current Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration, Joao Gomes and Imogen Parsons
Demilitarisation of conflict and society is crucial to building
sustainable peace in countries emerging from the scourge of civil war.
As longstanding conflicts come to an end, a variety of approaches are
adopted by international agencies and national governments aimed at
supporting processes that facilitate this potentially volatile
transition from formal peace to social peace. At the heart of the
exercise is the necessity of transforming the instruments of war—and in
particular combatants themselves—from soldiers to citizens as well as
ridding the wider society of armaments. Thus the process of
demilitarisation involves not only a political commitment from the
leadership to end hostilities but, if it is to lead to sustained peace, a
deeper commitment at a social level amongst individuals (perpetrators
of conflict) and communities (supporters or victims of conflict) to move
beyond the identities and emblems which serve to perpetuate
hostilities. The emergence of a new social contract in post-conflict
societies is a vital step towards to re-legitimising the institutions of
governance through democratic elections.
However, demilitarisation and democratisation are only possible
when constituent elements of society are able to function fully as
citizens. Ex-soldiers and their families, while numerically small
relative to other vulnerable groups such as IDPs, are not only
potentially disruptive elements in the aftermath of war but their
reintegration back into society can serve as a litmus test of degree of
reconciliation in a post-conflict situation. Social acceptance and
economic activity form part of the basis for this reconciliation but
these factors must be accompanied by some form of political
participation for reintegration to be considered complete. The
sublimation of the instinctive resort to arms when conflict rears its
head and its substitution by the ‘cut and thrust’ of parliamentary
debate and judicial appeals is the key indicator that a democratic peace
has been achieved.
The challenges of demilitarisation are most starkly evident in
the case of Angola. No other ‘post-conflict’ situation has been host to
all the complexities of reintegration and the variety of experiences,
ranging from the UN-inspired programme to joint foreign-national efforts
(and most recently outright neglect), which accompany that volatile
process. In the wake of the death of UNITA’s leader, Jonas Savimbi, in
February 2002 and the signing of a cease-fire agreement two months
later, formal peace has been established at last in Angola. The first
step towards demilitarisation, cantonment, disarmament and
demobilisation of combatants, was completed by October 2002. Social
peace, however, remains an elusive objective. In particular the failure
to follow up demobilisation with the adoption of reintegration
strategies that facilitate the insertion of individual ex-combatants
(and their families) back into local communities is deeply troubling.
Given the brutal nature of the civil war in its waning days, which
involved FAA military operations pursuing a ‘scorched earth’ policy to
wrench guerrillas from their support base while the increasingly
isolated UNITA forces engaged in savage responses, local communities
were further alienated from Angolan combatants. Thus, the reintegration
of hundreds of thousands of UNITA and FAA ex-combatants back into
society without the benefit of substantive support for individual
soldiers or host communities is highly problematic and, potentially,
seriously disruptive of the long terms aims of achieving social
stability.
João Porto and Imogen Parsons have provided a vital ‘road map’ to
current efforts aimed at achieving peaceful demilitarisation in Angola.
Through their carefully considered study of the dynamics involved in a
complex phenomena—made doubly so by institutional density, shifting
agendas on the part of various agents and the difficulties of conducting
field research in such a vast setting—the authors have presented as
complete a picture as is possible of the ongoing demobilisation and
reintegration process. For those practitioners and scholars (and I count
myself amongst them) concerned with deepening of the peace process in
Angola, this study gives us the requisite data, tools and insights to
begin to understand the contemporary situation and sets the stage for
analysis of the next steps needed to rid Angola of the bitter legacy of
war. The authors should be highly commended for this fine study and
their work will make compulsive reading for all those engaged in
understanding the role of demilitarisation in securing peace.
Dr Chris Alden
London School of Economics
17 February 2003
