22 Aug 2007: ISS Today: Africa`s Darfur Bombshell

22 August 2007: Africa`s Darfur Bombshell

 

The chairman of the African Union Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, dropped something of a bombshell after holding talks with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Darfur is the African Union`s first peacekeeping mission. Speaking to the media, he insisted that the 26,000-strong hybrid United Nations-African Union force would be drawn entirely from Africa, and that it would be under African command. The initial response to the statement was one of surprise. The Americans, among others, had argued that Africa does not have enough trained soldiers to make up a credible and effective force. And last week the UN issued a list of Asian countries it said had offered to send troops for the Darfur force, whose composition must be determined by the end of this month.

 

On the face of it, this contradicts UN Security Council resolution 1769, adopted on 31 July. This authorised a UN peacekeeping force of 19,555 military personnel, together with about 6,000 police. It stated clearly that the hybrid force would come under UN command and control. "There will be unity of command and control which, in accordance with basic principles of peacekeeping, means a single chain of command ... command and control structures and backstopping will be provided by the United Nations," it reads.

 

- So is Mr Konare`s statement a challenge to the authority of the UN? - BBC News, UK

 

Commentary

 

Those close to the AU argue that the chairman of the African Union Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, is not in fact challenging the authority of the UN but that his statement should instead be seen as an attempt to reassert Africa`s authority on the continent and to reassure the Sudanese leadership that they will not be over-run by foreign troops.

 

It is however important to know what the UN Security Council Resolution 1769 dated 31 July 2007 says. The mission was given a Chapter 7 mandate. The mandate reads as follows:

 

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations:

• Decides that UNAMID is authorised to take the necessary action, in the areas of deployment of its forces and as it deems within its capabilities in order to:
• protect its personnel, facilities, installations and equipment, and to ensure the security and freedom of movement of its own personnel and humanitarian workers,
• support early and effective implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement, and prevent the disruption of its implementation and armed attacks, and thus to protect civilians, without prejudice to the responsibility of the Government of Sudan.

 

The Resolution provide for the following force package:

• The United Nations and African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) will incorporate the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) personnel and the UN Heavy and Light Support Packages to AMIS, and shall consist of up to 19,555 military personnel, including 360 military observers and liaison officers, and an appropriate civilian component including up to 3,772 police personnel and 19 formed police units comprising up to 140 personnel each.
• The UN Heavy Support Package includes 2,250 military personnel to be deployed in the areas of transport, engineering, signals and logistics, surveillance, aviation and medical services; 301 police personnel and three formed police units; as well as 1,136 civilian personnel, including 74 substantive and 78 support staff dedicated to supporting AMIS.
• Provision is also made for 984 mission support staff to support the military and police deployment.
• The Light Support Package includes 42 military, 32 police and 25 civilian personnel to support AMIS.
• The AMIS   strength at this stage is 7,000 personnel, including 5,197 protection force personnel, 946 military observers and 1,360 civilian police.

 

This means that the newly announced UNAMID is still in need of a further 12,000 soldiers to ensure that it reaches its full complement. Mr Konare has announced that Africa will be able to provide all the forces needed for the mission after Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Egypt, Senegal and Malawi have promised to provide these forces.

 

A UN spokesperson responded that is not about the numbers but about the right “mix” and the capabilities of force. This is an important consideration.  During the planning phase of the mission different options for possible capabilities were discussed. As approved, the mission is based on the following operational requirements:

• The operation’s military force must be capable and ready to deter violence, including having the capability to act in a pre-emptive manner where necessary.
• The force will possess surveillance capabilities, an assessment capability to steer operations, and the air and response forces necessary to address threats to security.
• Reserves will also be needed to deal with any sudden deterioration in the security situation. In addition to the infantry battalions which will provide the main forces in each sector, a force reserve company and one infantry company per sector as sector reserve will provide the Force Commander and sector commanders with adequate capabilities to respond to threats or security incidents.

 

Based on these requirements, a joint military concept of operations is currently being finalised by the African Union and the United Nations, one designed to perform three core complementary functions: protection, liaison, and monitoring and verification. The military component of the operation will be deployed throughout Darfur and will be organised into three sectors: North, South and West.

 

While all force elements have a role to play in protection, the core of the protection element will be a framework of mobile infantry battalions. The main priorities will be to provide security to internally displaced persons camps, to ensure area and route security, demilitarisation and patrolling of humanitarian supply routes and nomadic migration routes and, where necessary, escort for humanitarian convoys. The force will also need to protect United Nations and African Union personnel, installations and property, including logistics locations and supplies in transit. Another priority is to gradually extend wider area security to create conditions conducive to a return to normal community life. Company-level operations on the ground will be fundamental to the achievement of early stabilisation. Infantry companies will conduct proactive patrol programmes using both high mobility vehicle patrols for greater area coverage and foot patrols around towns and villages to reassure the local population. Armoured personnel carriers will be required to protect troops in high-threat areas. Elsewhere robust patrolling techniques without armour will be used to restore confidence. Patrolling at night will be especially important, using basic night patrolling skills and specialized night observation equipment. Given the vast size of Darfur, even a large force could not have a presence in all parts of the territory. However, airmobile patrols by military aviation could deliver infantry quickly to more remote areas in order to improve security.

 

It is thus clear that building this force is not simply about finding troops, but is crucially about finding forces with the appropriate capabilities. Given the AU`s recent track record in Darfur and Somalia, there is real doubt that the AU will be able to provide the required capabilities for the UN Mission in Darfur. It is therefore essential that the AU takes a realistic view of the troops on offer, and is willing to accept support from the international community where capability gaps are identified.

 

Henri Boshoff, Military Analyst: African Security Analysis Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)