Three major pan-African institutions in 2004

Three major pan-African institutions will come into force in early 2004, the African Union announced on Tuesday. They include a much-heralded Peace and Security Council, modelled on the UN Security Council, as well as a Pan-African Parliament and an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, both of which will be in force by the end of January, AU officials told IRIN. “These three institutions are the cornerstones of the African Union and vital for the continent,” AU spokesman Desmond Orjiako told IRIN. “The Pan African Parliament will give everyone a voice to be heard on the continent. The Peace and Security Council empowers us to prevent, manage and resolve conflict and the African court will help us arbitrate. "The Peace and Security Council is what we need to have peace, to be able to address the many conflicts ravaging the continent,” he added. The Council is seen as a crucial weapon in Africa’s peacekeeping arsenal and has been welcomed by the international community. “It empowers us in many ways,” said Orjiako. “It will provide us with a more active, comprehensive and robust framework for ensuring peace.” It will have new powers that allow the AU to intervene in conflicts and could soon be matched with an African peacekeeping force, the official added. The Union would be able to intervene in a member state’s affairs if it committed war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity. The Peace and Security Council could also take action if a country allowed its territory to be used as a base for “subversion” against another African nation. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was replaced by the AU in July 2002, was often criticised for failing to condemn or take action against rogue states. By setting up the council, which can call for a peace force to be sent in, the AU can apply additional pressure on factions or leaders bent on war, officials said. Although the international community has provided funding for the Peace and Security Council question marks still remain over who will foot the bill. Financial hurdles have already been blamed for a six-month delay in sending African peacekeepers to Burundi to help restore order after a decade-long civil war.