The AU and collective security
The AU considers peace, stability and security as preconditions for development on the
continent (AU Constitutive Act, 2000: 3). Furthermore, African countries consider their
defence and security linked to each other and the continent as a whole (CADSP 2004: par
12(i), p 7). The AU views sustainable development as important for collective security,
peace and stability (AU Non-aggression and Common Defence Pact 2005: 1). In this sense,
development is viewed as a way to prevent insecurity, instability and war. The AU,
therefore, follows a 'positive peace' perspective rather than a 'negative peace' perspective.
The latter refers to the mere absence of war and personal violence, while 'positive peace'
also includes social justice, the integration of human society, as well as development
(Galtung 1969: 183).
The AU has rectified the legal framework for conducting peace operations in accordance
with the UN Charter. The AU has accepted the provisions of the UN Charter and bestowed
upon the UN Security Council "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international
peace and security, as well as the provisions of the Charter on the role of regional
arrangements ... in the maintenance of international peace AU, therefore, recognises the
authority of the UN Security Council in overseeing collective security among UN member states.
The AU, thus, provided the legal framework for connecting the AU and relevant subregional
organisations in Africa to the international security architecture and collective security system
of the UN.
Collective security features prominently in the AU's principles regarding defence and
security. In the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of
the AU, the AU supports the promotion of collective security, together with the prevention
of conflicts (AU Protocol 2002: 3). Article 2 of this Protocol makes provision for the
establishment of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the AU, as a collective security
and early-warning arrangement to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts (AU Protocol
2002: 4). The AU's commitment to collective security is reinforced in the AU Non-
Aggression and Common Defence Pact (AU Defence Pact 2005: Article 2c: 7) which
specifies that any aggression or threat of aggression against any of the Member States
shall be deemed to constitute a threat or aggression against all Member States of the
Union" (AU Defence Pact 2005: Article E means available against aggression or threats
thereof (AU Defence Pact 2005: Article 4b). The AU member states have, therefore, made a
clear commitment to collective security.
The AU makes provision for collective responses to both interstate (or external threats) and
intrastate/internal threats (CADSP 2004: par 13(a), p 8). African states have committed
themselves towards collaboration and mutual assistance between member states to improve
their security and intelligence capacities, as well as to combat transnational threats such as
terrorism, organised crime and subversion (AU Defence Pact 2005: Article 5a, p 8). In Article
5 of the AU Defence Pact, African states undertook to prohibit the use of their territory as
springboards for insurgency, terrorism or mercenary activities — into other states (AU
Defence Pact 2005: Article 5). The AU Protocol also makes provision for a common African
defence policy and African Standby Force (AU Protocol 2002: 4-5).
Operationalising collective security in Africa
Previously, it was highlighted that within the context of collective security, the AU has the
authority to intervene in a member state in the following instances: to protect a member
state against military aggression, on request of a member state, as well as in cases of
genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. This section pays attention to the
extent to which the AU applied collective security principles with specific reference to the
use of coercion. How the AU deals with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity
in terms of state actors will be covered first.
Genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity
The last genocide in Africa was the Rwandan genocide. Although Darfur is a controversial
case following allegations of genocide, the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to
the UN SecretaryGeneral concluded that the government of Sudan did not follow a policy of
genocide, but that Sudanese government forces and militias committed crimes against
humanity (United Nations 2005: 4). This Commission recommended that the matter be
referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), by the UN Security Council, which the
latter did in 2005 (UN Security Council resolution 1593).
Protection against military aggression
Since interstate war is generally not a prominent phenomenon in Africa, the protection of
AU member states against acts of military aggression by other member states, is not a priority
in Africa. Besides state interventions in civil wars (for example, Rwanda and Uganda in the
Democratic Republic of Congo), the last interstate war between African countries, was between
Ethiopia and Eritrea from 1998 to 2000 (Marshall 2016a). After the end of the Cold War, the
OAU did not conduct any peace enforcement operations until 2002 and mostly conducted
observer missions (Williams 2014: 68-73). Subregional organisations in Africa did, however,
conduct several peace enforcement operations between 1990 and 2003. These included
ECOMOG 1 (Economic Community Cease- Bissau from 1998 to 1999 which was both a
peacebuilding and peace enforcement operation. Operation sovereign legitimacy was an
operation by SADC states (Angole, Zambia and Namibia) in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) from August 1998-2002.African states and especially subregional powers have,
due to limited capacity, become reluctant to conduct large-scale and drawn-out peace
operations or interventions, such as those conducted by the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) in Liberia (1990-1997) and Sierra Leone from 1997 to 1999 (Coleman
2011: 525). Nigeria for example declined involvement in the ECOWAS mission in Côte d'Ivoire
(ECOMICI) from 2002 to 2004 (Coleman 2011: 522).
Unconstitutional changes in government
n, the AU in principle rejects unconstitutional changes in government, within member
states (AU Constitutive Act 2000: Article 4: 7). On 30 January 2007, the AU adopted the
African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (African Union 2007), which
defined unconstitutional changes in government in terms of the following actions against
a democratically elected government:” amendment or revision of the constitution or legal
instruments, which is an infringement on the principles of democratic change of
government". The African Charter's definition, however, did not make provision for
democratic uprisings, which later became problematic when the AU
had to decide on a course of action following democratic up-rising in Egypt
against the regime of Hosni Mubarak, during the Arab Spring.
