***At present the UN, according to its Charter, cannot intervene in the internal affairs of any of its member-countries. But it can enforce peace only under the Security Council mandate. This has complicated the process and suggestions have been made to amend the charter in the following manner that except in case where genocide becomes part of a country's policy towards its citizens or minorities.' There is a danger that the UN would stagnate if it did not find a way of reforming easily. It was clear from the situation in Kosovo that it was being bypassed by regional organisation that could claim they were frustrated by its lack of action.***

***To maintain peace, it is important that killers are punished in a way that would create examples for others to follow. But in reality, very few has been persecuted. Instances of war criminals getting away with crimes encourage others to follow their path. Recent photocopy actions of the international criminals would establish that assertion. So the peace enforcers should be equipped with adequate machinery to persecute the brutaliser.***

***For years, Sierra Leone, a country little known in international politics, has been drawing international attention due to its prolonged civil war. Civil war and subsequent events have somewhat necessitated UN intervention in that country. But after the incident of rebels taking UN Peacekeepers hostage, the question about the effectiveness or the legitimacy of UN military intervention in the internal affairs of its member states have arisen once again, writes ABM Ziaur Rahman***

TO some, large parts of Africa are still uncivilised. This perception is largely due to their Ignorance about that continent and because of chronic instability. emanating from both natural and manmade sources Ever since the de-colonisatlon process of the continent began In the 1960s. most of the African countries have been marred by either natural disasters like famine, drought, flood and so on or by manmade disaster like civil war. violence and the never-ending power struggle. Such Instability has retarded and, at times, .destroyed the continent's development. In the age ot globalisation, such instability hardly limits’ itself within a •country's given territorial boundary'. Such situations call for international involvement.

> The conflict in Sierra Leone dates roughly from March 1991. wheji fighters of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) launched a war from the east of the country near the border with Liberia to overthrow the government. With the support of the Military Observer Group (ECOMOG) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Sierra Leone s army at first tried to defend the government but. the following year, the army itself overthrew the government. Despite the change of power, the RUF continued its attacks.

Parliamentary and presidential elections were held in February' 1996. and the army relinquished power to the winner, Dr Ahmed Tejan Kabbah. The RUF. however, did not participate in the elections and did not recognise the results. Thus the conflict continued.

In November 1996. a peace agreement, known as the Abidjan Accord, was negotiated between the government and the RUF. The agreement was derailed by another military coup in May" 1997. This time the army Joined forces with the RUF and formed a ruling Junta. President Kabbah and his government went into exile in neighbouring Guinea.

On 23 October 1997. a peace plan calling for a cease-fire was signed between the rebels and the government. President Kab-bah issued a statement indicating his acceptance of the agreement. and stated his government's willingness to co-operate with the International ob-servers in the implementation of their respective roles Although ihe juhta ’publicly committed itself tb Implement- ’ ing the agreement, it subsequently criticised key provisions and raised a number of issues. with the result that the agreement was never implemented In February 1998. ECOMOG. responding to an attack by rebel/army junta forces, launched a military attack that led to the collapse of the junta and its expulsion from Freetown. Thereby. President Kabbah returned to office.

On June 1998, the Security Council established the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) for an initial period of six months. The mission monitored and advised efforts to disarm combatants and restructure the nation's security forces.

Fighting continued with the rebel alliance gaining control of more than half the country. In December 1998, the alliance began an offensive to retake Freetown and in January overran most of the city. Later the same month. ECOMOG troops retook the capital and again installed the civilian government. After much diplomacy, the RUF signed an accord with President Ahmed Kabbah in Lome last July. As part of the deal. Mr. Shankoh was not only provided with indemnity but was brought into the government as Vice-President and was given the responsibility of mining. Thus he had the chance to regroup his almost-shattered armed forces. Subsequently, the UN sent an 1 l.OOO-strong force In. Its biggest peace keeping operations for years to oversee the disarmament of government and rebel forces.

Various forces loyal to President Kabbah have largely gone along with the peace plan, giving up some 13.000 of their weapons. The rebels have been less co-operative and in fact, they have been refusing to surrender arms, ostensibly with the view to perpetuating their control over the diamond mines in the eastern part of Sierra Leone. By the end of April only 4.000 RUF weapons - had been handed over to the UN. ’while an estimated 15.000 rebel gunmen remained at large. There have been several confrontations with troops under the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, culminating in recent days in the killing of four Kenyan peacekeepers and abduction of 300. Mr Shankoh blamed tiie flare-up on the UN for trying to forcibly disarm RUF troops.

Reasons that prompted UN intervention

In the ongoing conflict, it is important to find out the rationale for UN Involvement. The reasons can be roughly summed up as follows.

L The region's law and order

situation has deteriorated in nearh a decade-old civil war. Living condition of the citizens is going from bad to worse ev-eryday and Is creating a large number of refugees. Fighting in Sierra Leone has been dubbed as Africa's First World War because of the involvement of neighbouring countries. It has show'n all signs to spill over. In addition, the conflict was getting protracted and despite the presence of the UN peacekeepers. the rebels were making and simultaneously violating the peace treaties. One might see that these symptoms are more 7or less' vq^unoii in many

African countries, but they do not have UN troops stationed there.

The reasons for UN's pro-active presence, as explained by some, as the mission's prestige issue because the UN itself brokered the peace deal and the same was violated in the presence of United Nations troops. Moreover, if the UN mission in Sierra Leone unravels, it will be another black eye for the organisation. reeling under reverses in Rwanda, Angola and Bosnia. However, the factor that triggered the incident was abduction and killing of the UN troops.

Problems in peacekeeping

Abduction and killing of the UN peacekeepers has once again raised the question of restructuring the UN. Some point out that the vulnerability and lack of proper knowledge about the situation on the ground among peacekeepers has lured the warmongers and the recent incident in Sierra Leone has strengthened that allegation. The efficiency of the UN troops in protecting themselves and

their weapons has also come under question. The point cropped up when a large number of peacekeepers were taken hostage in Sierra Leone and the RUF forces seized several armoured personal carriers, adding considerably to their capability. Moreover the reluctance of the permanent members of the Security Council to contribute or to risk their troops has contributed doubly to the ineffectiveness of the peacekeepers.

Regarding conflict prevention. the UN-brokered and hastily done Lome Accord has come’tMtdd^.jCrtnr’isni from the huuufti tights groups *oh the ground that impunity of Foday Shankoh from past atrocities encouraged further abuses. In other words, they view the UN pokered treaty has been made only to be broken. So the rebels wasted no time in regrouping (hemselves and in obstructing UN peace efforts in that country. Thus the Inadequate and imprudent UN involvement allowed the situation to rot. In this connection, role of the world powers also came under criticism.

Many conflicts have been resolved through external intervention. But some argues that crises like those in Somalia. Rwanda. Congo or Sierra Leone are not like that. These are fundamentally internal wars, which can only be resolved internally: either by one combatant securing supremacy, or through a compromise in which each party recognises a settlement It has been found that bodged settlements only delay, and often prevent this resolution. Either the force brought into monitor them packs up at the first sign of trouble, or it

gets dragged into a long-term commitment, in which its own role Is compromised, and its costs escalate - not least in lives.

At present the UN. according to its Charter, cannot intervene in the internal affairs of any of its member-countries. But it can enforce peace only under the Security Council mandate. This has complicated the process and suggestions have been made to amend the charter in the following manner that 'except In case where genocide becomes part of a country's policy towards its citizens or minorities. There is? a danger (hal the UN would stagnate if It did not find a way of reforming easily. It was clear from the situation in Kosovo that it was being by-passed by regional organisation that could claim they were frustrated by its lack of action.

An ECOWAS communique has asked that the mandate of the United Nations mission In Sierra Leone be toughened from peacekeeping' to peace enforcement'. and that Its command should be given to a West African officer. There seems to be a convergence between the US and the ECOWAS on that point. The US was in favour of a peace enforcement group under the Nigerian leadership. This was not a new idea put front but in fact it was the continuation of the ongoing trend, hi East Timor Australia as the regional power took the lead and in case of Kosovo it was NATO, the regional organisation. Supporters of this idea argue that regional powers are more familiar and are better equipped to undertake the task. But critics have pointed out that the regional power(s). though work-

Ing under UN resolution might pursue their own mandate. There Is a dark suspicion that the Nigerian forces supplied the force's Indian commander with misinformation, exaggerating the imminence of danger to Freetown. In addition, there are Indications that the Nigerians functioned beyond the UN mandate. Moreover critics are suspicious of the hegemonic attitude of the regional powers.

There are criticisms, even in Nigeria itself, on the West's continual emphasis on empowering the Nigerian army to intervene in the Sierra Leonean affairs. “There is an underlying racism to what Is going on." said one Nigerian with close ties to the military. “The impression we get is that a white man will not sacrifice himself for a black cause."

In internal conflicts, often, if not always, helping civilian populations that live in the territory controlled by the adversaries almost automatically seen as assisting the enemy. The longer the conflict lasts, the more difficult it becomes for humanitarian agencies and Indeed for peacekeeping operations to preserve their impartiality and to be seen to be operating in an impartial manner. So, besides peace enforcement UN is now focusing on conflict prevention, the software side of conflict resolution. Though criticised, some of UN's best achievements have been through preventive action.

The New World order has been termed as an environment without Ideologies and the circumstances of war are far more driven by self-interest or the perception of self-interest. In this changed situation the UN would find it difficult to enforce/maintain peace which hampers the interests of the Powers. In case of Sierra Leone, despite the pro-active Involvement of UK, UN is unable to stop the neighbouring Liberian leader Charles Tailor from selling diamonds of the Sierra Leonean rebel's mines, partly because the US was not interested to alienate its black American preserve'. Thus the use of peacekeepers is likely to be futile without a proper embargo enforcement system.

The war in Sierra Leone has been described as a war to make money' . while some goes to the extent of describing the war free of ideologies and at this point, all about making money. It has been pointed out that making money and making war have long been related activities. Rebels, governments and even peacekeepers have fought for diamonds, minerals and timber In recent wars in Sierra Leone. Prolonged internal violence in countries with rich natural resources but corrupt or weak governments may best be understood as battles for money or resources, suggests a report published by Internationa^ Committee of Red Cross . The war in Sierra Leone is caused a large part by corruption and banditry. Violence provides a cover for the extraction of and smuggling of resources. and armies, either private or national, give the means to control workers, transport and territory. Such participants may continue to exploit a war rather than to win it and end it. UN needs more international support in curbing such 'war for money'.

Some fear that the long-term commitment by the international community would involve the Imposition of a new colonialism enforced by the armies of industrial states. They fear all this is almost a recolonisation of Sierra Leone by Britain. One person who certainly does not object is Mr. Kabbah, who has been regarded by most Sierra Leoneans as a weak leader dependent on International support to stay in power. This leads to a second doubt.

To maintain peace, It is important that killers are punished in a way that would create examples for others to follow. But In reality, very few has been persecuted. Instances of war criminals getting away with crimes encourage others to follow their path. Recent photocopy actions of the International criminals would establish that assertion. So the peace enforcers should be equipped with adequate machinery to persecute the brutaliser.

Notice

Owing to unavoidable reasons, there will be no Entertainment page today.

— Management.

Over half of ail (he professional staffs in the UN's peacekeeping department are 'seconded' military personnel. There are widespread concerns these 'gratis officers, aided by and answerable to their own armed forces, not to the UN. may at times press national agendas rather than the International one. Their frequent rotation means (hat the indispensable linkages in peacekeeping missions between military staff and civilian programs have to be constantly relearned. Annan will have to generate enough administrative savings elsewhere if he is to be able to recruit military advisers on a genuinely “international” basis.

After Sierra Leone

Alter the Sierra Leone experience. It is thought that no one would want to send the United Nations into war zone alone any time soon. The debate of the

last few weeks was a horrifying picture of a series of post-cold-war United Nations peacekeeping disasters dating back to Bosnia in 1993. None of these was entirely United Nations' fault. As already mentioned, the world body has few resources and no mandate to form its own combat force. It has been argued that the UN Security Council members, especially the US, do not want to beef up the UN because they fear It might Infringe on their sovereignty. Nor do they want to risk their own soldiers' lives In United Nations efforts far from home.

Peace processes are delicate, dynamic and risky. It Is difficult Io persuade the International community to prepare effective contingencies until it was too late Meanwhile, people continued to live in misery while the international community prevaricates. The responsibility lies with the

United Nations member states, particularly those In the Security Council, to provide operations with sufficient resources to reduce the risks, including strengthening of the peace agreement in the first place.

From the above discussion, it seems evident that the whole process of UN peacekeeping operations and the Charter needs a rethinking. But the apparent failure of the UN in some operations does not call for the disbandment of the operation. The changing nature of war can be seen as a consequence of some success In the UN's original raison d'etre. The problems that It is experiencing with internal conflict are a reason to make stronger efforts in a reformed manner - with active support from its member states, especially the Security Council members - rather than to disengage.

The writer is Research Associate, BUSS