Can the crime of displacement be accounted and paid for?

When the African Union (AU) Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) was promulgated in Kampala in October 2009, it was welcomed as a new era for the protection of IDPs and other forced migrants generally. Today, it is uncertain to what extent its promises have been fulfilled almost two years after. This begs the question, are we there yet? Can the crime of displacement be accounted for and paid for? The process which started in Ouagadougou culminated in the Kampala Declaration and the birth of the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons, the first such legal instrument for IDPs in the world. As called for by the special summit, the African Union Commission (AUC) formulated a plan of action (2010–2012) to implement the outcomes of the special summit. The plan of action was subsequently adopted by the 16th Ordinary Session of Executive Council under Decision EX.CL/Dec558 (XVII) and EX.CL/591(XVII). The EXCOM called on ‘… Member States, the AU Commission and other relevant AU Organs, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Partners, to work closely in the implementation of various activities and to report on the implementation of the Plan of Action, in July 2011’.

In light of the current slow response to the ratification of the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, vis-à-vis the appalling conditions of forced displacement on the continent, the Refugee Law Project organised a roundtable debate at the 13th International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) that was just concluded in Kampala, Uganda, from 3 to 6 July 2011. The roundtable brought together eminent and experienced personalities on the continent to critically debate the AU Kampala convention in light of progress so far made, as well as challenges. The roundtable grappled with the following critical questions:

- (a) Are there any practical steps the AUC has taken with regards to engaging member states in undertaking implementation of the action plan?
- (b) Are there any practical steps the AUC has taken to create awareness, and promote the speed of signature, ratification and domestication of the AU convention with regards to IDPs?
- (c) Has the AUC involved CSOs (civil society organisations) towards the popularisation and implementation of the convention?
-(d) What implementation gaps exist with regards to those member states that ratified the convention?

How would the implementation of this plan of action complement the AU systems that promote peaceful resolutions to conflicts and instances that displace millions of people? What steps have been taken to strengthen humanitarian actions, protection of the most vulnerable and paving the way for durable solutions to their problems? At the special summit on ‘Refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons in Africa’ held from 19 to 23 October 2009 in Kampala, Uganda, government experts on forced displacement issues noted that forced population displacement is a symptom of underlying crises that afflict many societies in Africa. Having considered the root causes of forced displacement, they came up with 52 recommendations, among which included: reaffirmation of the Ouagadougou Declaration and recommendations on the African Union ministerial meeting on ‘Refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons in Africa’ unanimously adopted on 2 June 2006, and endorsed by the 9th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union held in July 2006, in Banjul, Gambia, and; urged member states to sign and ratify, as soon as possible, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance as well as other African Union, United Nations and other international treaties, conventions and covenants relating to human rights, the prevention of arbitrary population displacement and their implementation.

The Kampala Convention is the first legally binding regional instrument in the world to impose on states the obligation to protect and assist IDPs through all stages of displacement. However, to enter into force and become legally binding, the convention has to be ratified by 15 countries. Since it was endorsed in Kampala, a growing number of states have shown their determination to refrain from acts that would defeat the object and purpose of the convention by signing it, but the numbers of ratifications remain insufficient. It has been signed by 31 of the 53 AU member states, but only ratified by nine – Uganda, Sierra Leone, CAR (Central African Republic), Zambia, Gabon, Somalia, Djibouti, Gambia and Togo. This therefore begs further questions of whether ‘the crime of displacement can be accounted and paid for? And if so, at what cost?’

The roundtable debate unearthed glaring gaps in the implementation of the Kampala Convention, among which included the snail’s pace at which member states are ratifying the convention, the lack of involvement of civil society organisations to popularise the convention among states, as well as the logistical and financial challenges of domestication of such conventions.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Levis Onegi is African Transitional Justice Network (ATJN) regional coordinator, Great Lakes, and coordinator of the Institute for African Transitional Justice (IATJ), Refugee Law Project, Faculty of Law, Makerere University.
* This article forms part of the 'IASFM13: Governing migration' special issue, produced in collaboration with the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) and the Refugee Law Project, Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala.
* Please send comments to editor[at]pambazuka[dot]org or comment online at Pambazuka News.