Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2005

Abstract

This article seeks to examine the sum and substance of the evolving intervention regime in Africa. I employ a structural approach to highlight the normative framework governing humanitarian intervention in Africa at the sub-regional and regional levels. The article is meant to be a snapshot rather than a comprehensive treatment of the law of intervention in Africa. Space constraints preclude examination of the legality of the various post-Cold War, unilateral African interventions (i.e., those that took place without prior Security Council authorisation or valid state consent). These include the interventions by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Cote d' Ivoire; that in the Central African Republic by the Mission for the Implementation of the Bangui Agreement; and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) operation in Lesotho. I will nonetheless discuss the efficacy of the regional practice, law and frameworks that gave these interventions impetus. The discussion that follows will also include an analysis of the peace and security framework of the new African Union that replaced the Organisation of African Unity as the premier continental organisation in Africa in March 2001.

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