THE CRUSADING GUIDE - mercredi 26 mai 2004
POLITICO-MILITARY SEMINAR UNDERWAY IN ACCRA
By Mavis Kumi
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Akwasi
Osei-Adjei, has stated that African countries that are members of the
United Nations need to be guided in their peacekeeping operations by
both the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) and the
provisions in the UN Charter, which deal with peaceful resolution of
conflicts.
He added that from the perception of International Humanitarian and
International criminal Law, it was crucial for peacekeepers to
measure their actions in line with what is reasonably accepted in the
eyes of the international community, which is the acid test of
whether or not one was infringing on the rights of the very people
one was supposed to protect.
Hon. Osei-Adjei said this is at the launch of RECAMP 4 2004
cycle : Politico-Military Seminar , which is collectively
organized by the French and Ghanaian Armed Forces under the theme, "
Enhancement of African Peacekeeping Capabilities "
in Accra.
Recamp 4, a French acronym for " the Reinforcement of
African Peacekeeping Capabilities " is under the auspices of
the UN and has as objectives, to assist the African Union (AU) to
maintain the security of the African continent, as well as allowing
the African regional organizations to arrange sufficient military
capabilities to conceive and lead peace operations on their
continent.
This year's cycle is dedicated to the ECOWAS, which plays a major
role in the stabilization of the countries of the region in
crisis.
According to the Deputy Minister, out of a total of 52,000 UN
Peacekeepers, 40,000 are deployed to Africa in recent times. This
dangerous trend, he said, had given way for the world community to
adopt a more innovative approach of handling peacekeeping than over
reliance on the UN system for conflict resolution.
He therefore welcomed the French Government's effort of empowering
national security systems as well as regional and sub-regional
grouping in enhancing their capacity to handle peacekeeping at their
own levels, especially at a time that countries in the sub-region
were emerging from military regimes to multi party democracy.
Hon. Osei-Adjei named a host of players in the area of peacekeeping,
including civilian police, military personnel, UN system of
preventive diplomacy, governments, through their Foreign Affairs
Ministries, and NGOs and reiterate the importance of these players in
carrying out their functions within the framework of International
Law.
He stated that as the political authorities, they have a
responsibility in ensuring that the issue of good governance in
brought to bear on the management of their economies in averting
conflict situations, which threaten their survival.
Attending are Diplomats and Senior Military Personnel from about 40
countries, representatives of the main international organizations,
including the member countries of the European Union and Security
Council and representatives of International NGOs.