Libreville, 22/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - At the workshop on conflict prevention and resolution in Central Africa (chaired by Mr Rawiri, President of the Gabon Senate), organised by the ACP/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly currently in progress in Libreville, Aldo Ajello, European Union envoy to the African Great Lakes region, deplored the fact that conflict prevention is a "non-event" because it does not interest the media, and that a military response is generally given to political problems when "there is no military solution to political problems". Aldo Ajello denounced the "brilliant display of errors by the international community" which, in full knowledge of the facts, allowed genocide to take place in Rwanda and between the Interhamwes in Zaire. Speaking of the post-conflict situation, he stressed that "genocide is not civil war like the others, as the perpetrators cannot be reintegrated". He insisted on the need to resolve the security question worrying Rwanda. "When the chapter of overcrowded prisons is closed, we shall be able to start discussing reconciliation in this country", he added. Regarding the question of "democratisation that everyone is talking about, there is no ready-made recipe", said Mr Ajello. In his view, it is necessary to establish the basic rules that separate democracy from dictatorship, by offering the people the possibility to change their political leaders and by guaranteeing respect of freedoms and human rights. "The rest if of no concern of ours", he added.
During a press conference, Aldo Ajello spoke of his constructive meetings with the President of Gabon, Omar Bongo, and his Foreign Minister, Jean Ping, on the subject of mediation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
Speaking of the DRC, Mr Ajello paid tribute to the "remarkable work accomplished by the highly involved President Bongo". He welcomed his readiness to "give a hand" to the facilitator in DRC, Keutmile Masire (former President of Botswana: see EUROPE of 21 March, p.14). Speaking to a journalist who asked him whether he shared the general optimism caused by Joseph Kabila's gestures of openness, Mr Ajello said that, given his function, he was "optimistic by definition". He recognised the qualities of the new DRC president. "However, problems are not as simple as all that", he added, specifying that he would be very surprised were the conflict to be resolved in just a few weeks. There is much to be done, he said. President Kabila must "take his political place and define basic things such as the fundamental objectives of inter-Congo dialogue and the identification of discussion partners for viable dialogue". Mr Ajello expressed the hope that the rebellion would respond with gestures of openness similar to those of Joseph Kabila. "We have learnt from experience that, when one of the parties begins to behave better, the other goes off the rails, but there is no indication of this", he added.
Concerning Burundi, Mr Ajello specified that his talks covered the way to pursue dialogue in order to "reach at least suspension of hostilities" during this period now that the Arusha peace process has broken down. "Nelson Mandela, facilitator in this country, greatly appreciates the role of the President of Gabon. I have a similar analysis to that of President Bongo and I have assured him of the European Union's full support. In both cases, Libreville will be the central capital for mediation", he concluded.
Glenys Kinnock appeals for prevention culture - Jean Ping stresses role played by Gabon
Opening the workshop, British Labour member Glenys Kinnock, Rapporteur, had stressed that the EU must tackle the matter of conflict resolution and prevention, if it hopes to guarantee the effectiveness of its development policy. In Europe, the response to conflicts depends greatly on the national interests defended, she said. The gravity of the conflict is of less importance, she explained. Speaking of the limits of solutions generally given by the Union - the sending of troops to reestablish order, the promotion of elections, or financing to relaunch the economy - Ms Kinnock stressed the need to learn to better anticipate conflicts in order to tackle the root causes, as one should not forget, she said, that peace costs less than war. She went on to add that we should move away from a conflict management culture to move on to a prevention culture, by examining all the relevant components, such as the implications for trade (which can be a cause of division), the structural adjustment constraints, the Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the means to let the civil society take part in peace-keeping. "There is no magic solution ", she said, adding that prevention involves a large number of strategies, and that none of the conflicts that have arisen since 1990 have been sufficiently dealt with. Jean Ping (Gabon) stressed the extent to which this question is of capital importance for Africa, a continent torn apart by contradictory influences: on one hand there is "multiplication of regional and sub-
regional unions" and, on the other, "forces of division marked by the worrying rise in micro-nationalism and the exacerbation, at a level never before reached, of inter-ethnic tension and regional and national particularities". Except for the classical kind of clashes between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the many conflicts that have broken out in Africa have the characteristic of being intra-State conflicts, notes the minister. In this context, he stressed the merits and the successes of the discreet diplomacy carried out by Gabon - the only country not to have known any war - to defuse the tension, and work towards national reconciliation and the reestablishment of peace or peace-keeping in Angola, Chad, Congo Brazaville, Central Africa, Burundi and DRC. Stressing that the conflicts in Africa often take on dramatic proportions because of the uncertainty of the humanitarian assistance structures which are themselves the reflection of the weak economic capacity of most of the countries affected, Mr Ping appealed to the European Union and to the international financial institutions for "fair debt servicing in developing countries".
Summarising the results of the workshop before the press, Ms Kinnock stressed that it was appropriate to translate good intentions into actions, by tackling poverty, socio-economic inequalities and democratic deficit, "the absence of democratic pillars" and the inequitable distribution of resources that are often at the origin of the conflicts in Africa, "even when they are of an ethnic nature, as in Rwanda". The Union's development policy must take conflict prevention in all areas into account, said Ms Kinnock, who suggested, by way of example, that an analysis should be made of the impact of Europe's protectionism which can create problems in the agricultural sector of partner countries. She also recommended an analysis of the possible repercussions of sanctions imposed by the Union on certain countries (sanctions imposed on Haiti, for example, have entailed a massive flow of Haitian economic refugees into the Dominican Republic, and has generated tension, she stressed), as well as integration in programmes intended to promote equality between men and women, and the need to involve women in the peace process, as soon as ceasefire agreement negotiations start. The stricter control of arms sales to developing countries will, says the rapporteur, be the essential corollary to effective conflict prevention.