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Fields of Bitterness (I): Land Reform in Burundi

Unless the government revives land governance reform in Burundi, long-term peacebuilding efforts will remain compromised.




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Semaine critique pour Bangui

Depuis jeudi et l’attaque de Bangui par les groupes anti-balaka qui viennent de province et sont composés de villageois et d’anciens militaires constitués en milices d’autodéfense, un calme précaire est revenu dans la capitale centrafricaine grâce au déploiement des militaires français.




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Central African Republic: Better Late than Never

As the Central African Republic (CAR) stares into an abyss of potentially appalling proportions, the international community must focus on the quickest, most decisive means of restoring security to its population.




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Africa's Crumbling Center

The Central African Republic is often called a forgotten country, but that isn’t quite right. It has had a long and substantial international presence and sizable foreign investment. It’s just that those efforts haven’t made much difference. As the country rapidly descends into greater violence, the difficult truth is that more — and much better — international and regional involvement is its only hope.




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Imaginación para salvar República Centroafricana. Cómo actuar con rapidez y eficacia para evitar la somalización del país.

Los conflictos en los países pequeños suelen agravarse debido a la indiferencia internacional. Sin embargo, en el caso de la República Centroafricana (RCA), el problema es ligeramente distinto. Hay una importante presencia internacional en este Estado, pero los actores principales han decidido mantenerse al margen y esperar en vez de intervenir activamente en la crisis.




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Central African Republic is descending into anarchy

Since the March 24 coup by the Seleka, a loose coalition of Muslim rebels, the Central African Republic has been in free fall. There are about 400,000 internally displaced people, 64,000 refugees, and burned villages, largely in the western part of the country. Banditry, the rise of self-defense militias and clashes between Christian and Muslim communities are now part of daily life for this mineral-rich country in the heart of Africa. The expanding insecurity makes the delivery of humanitarian assistance difficult, and the United Nations has even warned of the risk of genocide.




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Centrafrique: Sortir des sentiers battus pour sauver la Centrafrique

L’indifférence internationale est un facteur aggravant pour les conflits dans les petits pays. Cependant, en ce qui concerne la République centrafricaine (RCA), le contexte est paradoxalement différent.




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Central African Republic: Thinking Out of the Box to Save the CAR

All this foreign involvement has failed to prevent the recent coup or stabilize its aftermath. BINUCA has not been able to implement a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration program, and it failed to convince Bozizé’s regime to reform the security sector or consolidate the peace. ECCAS has been unable to restore order in one of the smallest capitals of Africa, and troop-contributing countries have proved unable to deliver the 600 extra soldiers they committed to provide in April. Paradoxically, France, while securing Bangui’s airport, is also hosting ousted president Bozizé, who declared from exile in Paris his wish to retake power by force with the “support” of private actors.




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Understanding Conflict in Eastern Congo (I): The Ruzizi Plain

The Framework Agreement signed by the UN, African organisations and eleven countries and the deployment of an intervention brigade in North Kivu are positive steps, but conflicts in the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo also require a bottom-up approach aimed at improving intercommunal relations and restoring peace at the local level.




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The DRC is a Hornet’s Nest South Africa Should not Kick

South Africa’s efforts to foster peace and security have placed it centre stage in some of the continent’s most intractable conflicts. This is an inevitable result of the quest to promote “African solutions for African problems”.




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Central African Republic: Priorities of the Transition

The collapse of the state and the disappearance of security forces from a large part of the territory may turn the Central African Republic (CAR) into a source of instability in the heart of Africa.
Please note the full report is only available in French.




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Restart

The Central African Republic has a long history of crises, but the way the most recent one was managed indicates that a new security constellation may be emerging in the region.




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Neustart

Die Zentralafrikanische Republik kennzeichnet eine lange Geschichte der Instabilität. Wie die jüngste Krise gehandhabt wurde, deutet indessen auf eine neue sicherheitspolitische Konstellation hin.




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Eastern Congo: The ADF-NALU’s Lost Rebellion

The fight against entrenched armed groups in eastern Congo such as the ADF-Nalu needs to switch from a military to an intelligence-based approach.




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The Gulf of Guinea: The New Danger Zone

Rising piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, which supplies around 40 per cent of Europe’s oil and 29 per cent of the U.S.’s, demands effective regional security cooperation and better economic governance to prevent the region becoming another Gulf of Aden.




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Burundi: Bye-bye Arusha?

Since the 2010 boycotted elections, Burundi is steadily drifting away from what was initially regarded as a peacemaking model, and violence from both the ruling party and the opposition is threatening stability.




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Eastern Congo: Why Stabilisation Failed

The Kivus region of eastern Congo again faces escalating violence, including by a rebel force acting as a proxy of neighbouring Rwanda. To stop the repetitive cycle of rebellion and avoid large-scale killing, donors and African mediators need to move from crisis management to conflict resolution with the right set of pressures on Kigali and Kinshasa.




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Black Gold in the Congo: Threat to Stability or Development Opportunity?

Renewed oil interest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) could nurture communal resentments, exacerbate deep-rooted conflict dynamics and weaken national cohesion.




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Francophonie : aller ou ne pas aller à Kinshasa

François Hollande semble hésiter à se rendre à Kinshasa en octobre pour le sommet de la francophonie. Il serait bien inspiré de ne pas offrir au président, Joseph Kabila, une telle occasion de s’afficher réconcilié avec les démocraties après les élections présidentielle et législative calamiteuses en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) qui privent le régime d’une véritable légitimité démocratique. En se rendant à Kinshasa, François Hollande enverrait un message plus que trouble aux pays d’Afrique où la démocratisation est encore une lutte quotidienne que l’on paie au prix du sang.




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Afrique centrale : la corruption - l'obstacle majeur à la consolidation de la paix

La rechute est le risque majeur des pays post-conflit et l'une des principales raisons de cette rechute s'appelle la corruption.




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Burundi: A Deepening Corruption Crisis

Despite the establishment of anti-corruption agencies, Burundi is facing a deepening corruption crisis that jeopardises prospects for lasting peace and stability.




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RDC : Les leçons du scrutin présidentiel

Trois semaines après la réélection contestée de Joseph Kabila en République démocratique du Congo (RDC), Thierry Vircoulon, responsable de l'Afrique centrale à l'International Crisis Group dresse un premier bilan des élections congolaises.




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Au Burundi, les symptômes de la rechute

Quel est le lien entre Houellebecq et le Burundi? Apparemment aucun, sauf que la possibilité d'une île de l'écrivain pourrait s'intituler "la possibilité d'une rébellion" à propos de ce pays de l'Afrique des Grands Lacs.




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Rohstoffdiplomatie kann dem Kongo helfen

Der Abbau seltener Mineralien ist ein Grund für die Gewalt im Kongo. Die EU könnte hier eine wirkungsvolle Regelung durchsetzen.




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Préparer le Cameroun à l'après-Biya pour une stabilité durable

Le président sortant vient d'entamer un sixième mandat au Cameroun. Aujourd'hui, le pays est résolument tourné vers l'avenir et pense à l'après-Biya.




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The Lord’s Resistance Army: End Game?

Insufficient political will has thwarted regional efforts to stop the murderous Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) but vigorous diplomacy led by the African Union (AU), an immediate military push and complementary civilian initiatives could end the misery of thousands.




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Implementing Peace and Security Architecture (I): Central Africa

More than a decade after the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) was requested by the African Union (AU) to give life to a new peace and security architecture, political and security cooperation on the continent is still in need of reinforcement.




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إفريقيا بعد هلاك 'ملك ملوكها': الحالة التشادية

فتحت النهاية الدموية لعهد القذافي الباب أمام التحول الديمقراطي في ليبيا، بيد أن سقوطه خلف العديد من المشاكل المحتملة الجديدة ليس في ليبيا فحسب، وإنما في البلدان المجاورة أيضا، مما قد يهدد استقرار المنطقة برمتها. تمثل تشاد مثال توضيحياً على ذلك حيث اضطلع القذافي بدور، إيجابياً كان أم سلبياً، في كافة نزاعات هذا البلد، وانتهج سياسة التقرب من رئيسه الحالي إدريس ديبي. كما أن الدعم السياسي الذي قدمه هذا الأخير لولي نعمته الذي كان محكوماً عليه بالفشل منذ اندلاع الثورة، واصطفافه المتأخر جداً مع المجلس الوطني الانتقالي، لا يبشر خيرا حول الحقبة الجديدة للعلاقات بين تشاد والسلطات الليبية الجديدة. إذ أن اتهامات المجلس الانتقالي بأن مقاتلين تشاديين قد دعموا القذافي عسكريا، بالإضافة إلى الاعتداءات العنصرية ضد الأفارقة السود وقضايا اللاجئين والنازحين، والوضع المتفجرعلى الحدود، كل ذلك يقوم بتعقيد العلاقة بين البلدين الجارين.




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Africa without Qaddafi: The Case of Chad

The fall of Qaddafi’s regime, followed by his death on 20 October, could pave the way to promises of democracy in Libya but left neighbouring countries facing new potential problems that could threaten stability in the region.




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Congo: The Electoral Process Seen from the East

The technical preparations for the presidential and legislative elections scheduled on 28 November and the beginning of the electoral campaign in the East of Congo have generated suspicion that risks developing into a crisis of confidence in the whole electoral process.




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Will Burundi Miss Out on Democratic Consolidation?

5 mois après la publication du rapport Burundi : du boycott électoral à l’impasse politique, la dynamique de régression que nous décrivions en détails dans ce texte produit ses effets dévastateurs. La fin du consensus d’Arusha et le pourrissement du climat politique consécutif au boycott électoral de 2010 ont conduit à une violence qui, en dépit du lénifiant discours officiel, ne cesse de prendre de l’ampleur.




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DR Congo's Electoral Law for 2011: Choosing Continuity

On 15 June 2011 the Congolese Parliament adopted, after nearly three months of de-bate, the new electoral law. The Senate, or upper house, controlled by the opposition, and the National Assembly, or lower house, controlled by the ruling coalition, both voted for an electoral law which ultimately remains very similar to that governing the 2006 elections. Parliament took three months of debate to reject most of the amend-ments proposed by the ruling party (PPRD). In doing so it demonstrated that the ex-ecutive could not simply trump its interests.




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The Libyan crisis as seen from N’Djamena

Of the three political upheavals that have hit the Maghreb since the beginning of 2011, the Libyan crisis seems to be the most dangerous. First of all for Libya, because the popular uprising has taken the form of an armed rebellion that has cut the country in two; second, for the West, now that NATO, under the cover of United Nations Resolution 1973 (2011) and in order to protect the civilian population, has entered the conflict on the side of the rebels, rashly gambling on a speedy war; and finally, for the region as a whole, because the conflict recently "overflowed" into Tunisia, and neighbouring countries are beginning to feel its humanitarian consequences.




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Congo: The Electoral Dilemma

Faced with the dilemma of respecting the constitutional deadline and organising botched elections, or ignoring that deadline and sliding into a situation of unconstitutional power, the Congolese authorities have chosen the first option.




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Behind the Problem of Conflict Minerals in DR Congo: Governance

As legislation requiring large U.S. companies to disclose the origins of the minerals they use is meant to come into force this year, Crisis Group sent a mission to North Kivu to assess the different strategies used to fight conflict minerals and their impact in the field.




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Derrière le problème des minerais des conflits, la gouvernance du Congo

A la veille de l’entrée en vigueur le 15 avril de l’obligation de rendre publique l’origine des minerais pour les grandes compagnies basées aux Etats-Unis, ICG a effectué une mission au Nord Kivu afin d’évaluer les différentes stratégies de lutte contre les minerais des conflits et leur impact sur le terrain.




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Centrafrique: Les élections de l'instabilité

Le processus électoral hors délai constitutionnel qui se déroule depuis le 23 janvier en Centrafrique n'est pas seulement une nouvelle opportunité manquée pour la démocratisation du pays mais c'est aussi un risque sérieux pour la paix.




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Central African Republic: The Dark Side of Diamonds

The international watchdog which seeks to prevent diamonds from fuelling conflict, the Kimberley Process, should take a very close look at the situation in the Central African Republic




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Chad’s North West: <br> The Next High-risk Area?

Chad’s North West may become the next stage for insurgency, drug-running and religious extremism in the Sahel if the government continues to actively neglect the poorest of the violence-plagued country’s poor regions.




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Burundi: From Electoral Boycott to Political Impasse

Burundi risks reversing the decade of progress it has enjoyed since its civil war ended unless the government resumes political dialogue with the opposition.




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Dangerous Little Stones: Diamonds in the Central African Republic

Extreme poverty and armed conflict in the diamond-rich areas of the Central African Republic (CAR) put thousands of lives in danger and demand urgent reform of the mining sector.




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DR Congo: Why is there still a Kivu problem?

Despite three agreements between the rebels and the government, peace is still elusive in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Kivus need regional dialogue and a clear, fair repatriation plan, argues Thierry Vircoulon at the International Crisis Group.




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Congo: No Stability in Kivu despite Rapprochement with Rwanda

The attempt by Congo and Rwanda to end the deadly conflict in eastern Congo by a secret presidential deal and military force is failing and must be changed fundamentally by the Kinshasa government and the international community.




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Kongo muss jetzt Verbrechen aufarbeiten

Es ist eine einmalige Chance, die sich dieser Tage bietet: Die Veröffentlichung eines lang erwarteten Berichts der Vereinten Nationen über Verbrechen in der Demokratischen Republik Kongo (DRK) ist die Gelegenheit für eine Wiederaufarbeitung der Geschichte der massiven Gewalt im Kongo zwischen 1993 und 2003.




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Congo Crimes Should Be on the Agenda of the UN Security Council

The UN's release of a long awaited report on crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1993-2003 is not only an opportunity to re-examine the historical record of mass violence in DRC -- the scale and nature of which was often overlooked in the wake of the genocide in neighboring Rwanda -- but is also a chance to correct the terms of the deceptive and fragile peace some leaders wish to proclaim in the resource-rich Great Lakes region of Africa.




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Oil in Chad: The Fragile State’s Easy Victory over International Institutions

In numerous countries, the exploitation of oil has generated debate about its economic, social and geopolitical consequences.




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Tchad : La victoire facile d'un Etat fragile contre les institutions internationales

Dans de nombreux pays, le pétrole suscite des débats controversés sur son rôle de moteur de changements économiques, sociaux et géopolitiques. Depuis quelques années, les réflexions sur la question du pétrole ont démontré une corrélation négative entre son exploitation, le développement socioéconomique, la gouvernance et le regain des conflits dans les pays producteurs.




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Chad: Beyond Superficial Stability

The approaching elections could be important steps toward reviving democracy in Chad, but only if President Idriss Déby opens political space for the opposition beforehand.




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Camerún: conflicto y elecciones en 2011

Después de 28 años bajo el gobierno de Paul Biya, Camerún se encuentra en una situación de inestabilidad grave que no sólo podría echar a perder las próximas elecciones presidenciales en 2011, sino que también pone en riesgo su papel como principal pilar de estabilidad en África Central.




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Afrique centrale : cachez ces 50 ans...

Vu du centre de l’Afrique – Tchad, République centrafricaine (RCA) et RD Congo –, le cinquantenaire des indépendances est un anniversaire à l’envers : on en parle davantage à Paris et Bruxelles qu’à N’Djamena, Bangui et Kinshasa. Sans doute parce que, en Europe, il s’agit avant tout de gérer des diasporas turbulentes et une relation bilatérale devenue épineuse tandis que, dans les capitales africaines, il s’agit d’éviter à tout prix le droit d’inventaire.