7.1 Evaluating resolutions and Counter Terrorism frameworks
7.1.2 The African Union Counter-Terrorism Framework
The recent upsurge in bloodletting by terrorist groups in Africa has invoked questions surrounding the role of the African Union and its capabilities in dealing with the ever- growing threat of terrorism. The continuous inability of African states to combat or even contain the proliferation of terror groups in their region cast doubt over the intent and willingness of the AU to seriously deal with the issue of terrorism. This further overshadows the concerting effort of the AU in its formulation and implementation of legal counter- terrorism frameworks such as the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Convention of 1999 or the Algiers convention, the 2002 AU Plan of Action on the Prevention and Combatting Terrorism and the Protocol in 2004.
In July 1999 in Algiers, the OAU Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism or the Algiers Convention was adopted by the 35th Ordinary Session of the OAU Head of States but was only effectuated in December 2002 after 30 states had ratified it (Ford, 2011:
29). In addition to providing a definition of terrorism, the Algiers convention elucidated on the importance of promoting areas of cooperation among member states, the institution of state jurisdiction over acts of terror and as well as initiating a system for extradition, inter- state investigation and mutual legal assistance. The Algiers convention also required that member states adhere to a fourfold commitment towards countering terrorism.
Firstly, as Article 2 (c) of the Algiers convention noted, states must ‘implement the actions, including enactment of legislation and the establishment as criminal offences of certain acts as required in terms of the international instruments’ (OAU, 1999). As such, these states should ratify these international instruments and apply them within their domestic statutes.
An example of an international instrument that states should implement is the International Convention against the Taking of Hostages of 1979. The second commitment emphasises the importance of establishing and supporting inter-agency cooperation at a national level (OAU, 1999: Article 4) prior to an inter-state level (Article 5). The third commitment follows from the second, as it requires that states improve cross-border policing and surveillance so as
‘develop and strengthen methods of controlling and monitoring land, sea and air borders and customs and immigration check points’ (Article 4 (2c)).
Additionally, this also includes sharing of information amongst member states as Article 5 (5) stresses that ‘States Parties shall co-operate among themselves in conducting and exchanging
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studies and researches on how to combat terrorist acts and to exchange expertise relating to control of terrorist acts’. Lastly, the fourth commitment pertains to states not providing any type of support to terrorist groups such as ‘providing safe sanctuaries both directly or indirectly, financing groups, committing or inciting to commit terrorist acts through provisions of weapons or issuing of travel documents and visas’ (Article 4(1)). Although the Algiers convention predated the establishment of the African Union, it remained the foundation for subsequent counter-terrorism frameworks and as at 2013, only 41 out of 52 African states had ratified the convention.
After its inauguration in July 2002 from the amalgamation of the OAU and the African Economic Community (AEC), the African Union (AU) set out to align itself with the global fight against terror, with particular focus on Africa. The Algiers Convention coupled with the reality of international terrorism in the wake of the 9/11 attacks propelled the aspect of counter-terrorism to become a major part within the formation of the AU’s peace and security framework (Ford, 2015: 30). In continuing to concretize the commitments and strategies as stated in the Algiers Convention, the AU’s Plan of Action on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism was adopted in September 2002. In addition to calling on member states to ratify and implement the Algiers Convention, this plan sought to adopt practical counter- terrorism measures to address challenges that included police and border control, legislative and judicial measures, financing of terrorism and exchange of information (Moki, 2007:115).
To this end, the Plan of Action initiated the establishment of the AU’s Peace and Security Council whose objective is to ‘harmonize and coordinate continental efforts in the prevention and combating of terrorism’ (African Union, 2002: Article 4 ).
Moreover, as part of a practical implementation of its Plan of Action of 2002, the AU established within the Peace and Security Council the African Centre for the Study and Research of Terrorism (ACSRT or CAERT in French). The objectives of this centre include researching all aspects of terrorism, developing counter-terrorism capacity building programs and provide advice to member states based on recommendations on a needs basis (African Union, 2004: Article 5 (2 a-f)). In its 7th Annual Focal Points Meeting in December 2013, the ACSRT presented its plan for the implementation of the Plan of Action for the following four years which consisted of four pillars. These included 1) ‘enhance information sharing and dissemination through the ACSRT CT-Situation-Room and the CT Early Warning System (CTEWS)’; 2) augment the rate of publications while at the same time improving its quality;
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3) implement national and regional capacity building programmes; and 4) improving the relationship and cooperation of the research centre with the regional and international partners (AU PSC, 2014: Paragraph 41).
In July 2004, the AU adopted the 2004 Protocol of the Algiers Convention which recognised the ‘linkages between terrorism and mercenarism, weapons of mass destruction, drug trafficking, corruption, transnational organized crimes, money laundering, and the illicit proliferation of small arms’ as increasing prevalent risks associated with terrorism (African Union, 2004: Preamble). The purpose of this protocol was to rectify a significant weakness of the OAU Convention in that the latter did not have an implementation mechanism per se. To this end, the protocol mandated the AU PSC to monitor and facilitate implementation in addition to harmonizing and coordinating efforts and also encouraged Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to play a more active role (Allison, 2015:5). Although the protocol was adopted in 2004, it only entered into force on the 26th of February 2014 after 15 countries ratified the Protocol on the Algiers convention of 2004. The reason behind the delay was that the African Union required 15 countries to ratify the protocol before it could be effectuated and it only attained that number a decade later (AU, 2004: Article 10). Thus far, states that are in the foreground in the war on terror such as Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, Mauritania and Chad have not ratified the protocol yet (Allison, 2015: 5; AU, 2014).
In an effort to continue implementing counter-terrorism measures in Africa in accordance with the relevant regional and international mechanisms, the AU has developed the African Model Anti-Terrorism Law as a comprehensive legal instrument that member states can adopt to ‘strengthen their criminal justice system and effectively prevent and combat terrorism’ (AU PSC, 2014: Par. 46). However, according to the AU PSC report 2014, only three member states (Ghana, Mauritius and Burkina Faso) have approached the AU for assistance in implementing the new model into their national legislation. From these preceding paragraphs, it can be argued that there has been progress in terms of formulating continental counter-terrorism frameworks from the time of the OAU until its evolution into the AU despite the accusations levelled against the continental organisation for its futile effort in reducing the threat of terrorism.
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