Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey. Dialogue instead of conflict

Transcription

1 Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA Speech by Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Dialogue instead of conflict Given at the Annual Conference of Political Affairs Division IV of the FDFA Bern Tuesday, 14 th October 2008 Check against delivery!

2 Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, It is a pleasure for me to welcome you to the annual conference of Political Affairs Division IV of my department. To listen to what our African guests have to say : this is what we want. This is the reason we are here today. And I am pleased that we have been provided with such an opportunity because Mr Bassolé and the majority of the panel members come from Africa. They have a wealth of experience in the mediation of peace negotiations. One of the main reasons for choosing "Mediation in Africa as the topic of this conference is that the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been involved in peace negotiations in Africa for several years and has contributed to the resolution of several conflicts. Ladies and gentlemen, Genuine dialogue is possible only if we speak freely and frankly, if we truthfully describe events and developments and point out the causes and the effects of conflicts in Africa. We should express our concern and frustration when the efforts of many years of development cooperation and the stability of an entire region are endangered. Rwanda is the best-known example of this problem. This year, Chad, Zimbabwe and Kenya have shown how the struggle for political power can lead to dangerous developments, where conflicting parties were willing to risk violence and bloodshed and civil wars were only narrowly avoided thanks to foreign intervention. Dialogue therefore also means persuading our partners in Africa that war is never an option, that they need to negotiate and to respect democratic decisions. We need to look very carefully at developments in Africa. In many regions, human security is extremely precarious. Although civil wars have been brought to an end in many African countries, the resultant peace remains very fragile. 2/8

3 Ceasefires may have been agreed, but peace negotiations are stagnating or the parties are arguing about the implementation of major elements of the peace agreements. Rebel groups refuse to hand in their weapons, or else governments fulfil the demands of the former rebels either hesitantly or not at all. Genuine conflict transformation leading to lasting peace is possible only if we regard the signing of a peace agreement as the beginning rather than the end of a process. Without the implementation of a peace agreement, it is impossible to build up viable state institutions and to create political stability. Setbacks and new victims are then inevitable. Mediation is also necessary to prevent the outbreak of new conflicts. The poorest countries and fragile states are in the greatest danger. Zimbabwe is a current example where the outbreak of a civil war was only able to be prevented thanks to mediation by various eminent Africans and by the South African president Thabo Mbeki. Unfortunately, even relatively stable African countries do not appear to be immune to conflict. The outbreak of violence in the model African country Kenya at the beginning of the year took the world by surprise. But was this explosion of violence after the elections really so surprising? Would a critical analysis of political developments in Kenya and of the political power struggle with the opposition in which ethno-political arguments have been used for years and tribes and clans have been incited against one another have not led to a better assessment of the situation? When two elephants fight, the grass gets trampled" the African proverb certainly applies to this case. Fortunately, developments in Kenya turned out positively. The united efforts of African personalities combined with the strong commitment of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan led to an agreement which will be difficult to implement, but which testifies to the intention to tackle the causes of the conflict in Kenya. The Independent Review Commission has already investigated the circumstances of the elections and listed a number of abuses. These include bribery, electoral fraud and voter intimidation so massive that it is no longer possible to determine who actually won the election. 3/8

4 However, I would like to stress that the Commission certainly did not state that the Kenyan people were not ready for elections. I say this because some people in our country claim that elections are one of the main causes of conflict in Africa. The elections in Kenya, Togo and Zimbabwe probably exacerbated existing conflicts, but they are definitely not the cause of these conflicts. The reasons for this lie deeper. We hope to hear more about these underlying causes in the course of this conference. Ladies and gentlemen, You would probably like to know why Switzerland is committed to supporting peace processes in Africa, what it has done so far and how it intends to tackle conflict mediation in Africa in future. As for the question why, the main reason for our activity is Switzerland's humanitarian tradition, of which we are proud and which we wish to continue. This tradition includes the moral duty to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population. Switzerland is also involved in development cooperation in Africa, and we have had partnerships with various African countries for many years. We do not want these successes to be destroyed and their people to become victims again as a result of civil war. As an exporting nation, Switzerland is also interested in stability and economic growth. Global interdependence means that wars often affect us directly in the form of forced migration, organised crime and rising prices for raw materials. Switzerland also has a reputation as a neutral mediator, as we have no colonial past and no hidden political agenda. This means that we are trusted and our expertise is in demand, because our experts are highly competent in mediation processes and in subjects such as federalism, which play an important part in many negotiation processes. It means that they can support African mediators and contribute typical Swiss "power sharing" know-how. These are the reasons that have prompted us to step up our mediation activities in Africa. 4/8

5 And now, let s review what Switzerland has done to date. In recent years, Switzerland has taken part in very different ways in a wide variety of processes. With the exception of the peace negotiations on the Nuba Mountains held on the Bürgenstock in January 2002, Switzerland has not led any mediations. What it has done is to provide expertise - which was greatly in demand in the negotiations on Burundi, which led to the Arusha peace agreement, in the negotiations on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan, in the peace process between the Ugandan government and the Lord Resistance Army, and in the unsuccessful Darfur negotiations in Abuja in Switzerland is also trying to follow innovative paths, for example in Darfur. I would like to stress this example for two reasons. One is that our guest speaker, Mr Bassolé, is the African Union and the UN mediator for Darfur. The other reason is that I was deeply shocked by the desperate condition of the population, the atrocities, and the unbelievable brutality of the civil war when I visited Darfur two years ago. At that time I hoped that the joint mediation activities of the African Union and the UN would bring about a peaceful resolution. But the complexity of the conflict, the numerous conflicting parties with widely diverging goals, and the fragmentation of the rebel movements blocked the peace process. In the search for new ways, we intend to offer the various rebel movements in consultation with the African Union and the UN capacity building in the areas of human rights, international humanitarian law, state institutions, peace processes, and especially in conducting negotiations. The first workshop for about 40 members of a rebel movement was held in July in Entebbe, with members of the South Sudanese government also taking part. Further workshops are planned. The government of Sudan has been informed about these activities and endorses them, because a negotiating partner who masters negotiation techniques, knows his limits, and respects international law, is a better negotiating partner. 5/8

6 The organisation and running of a workshop for members of the government, opposition parties, the civilian population and rebel movements in the Central African Republic is a similar example. In this case, the delegates sat together and, by playing different roles, conducted exercises in conflict resolution. The experience of working out joint solutions with the "enemy" is enriching for all concerned and creates the pre-conditions for peaceful conflict resolution. We are often praised by our African partners and by the international community, and our services are in demand even though I am often attacked for this in Switzerland. Some politicians and representatives of the media have criticised me because in the peace process between the Ugandan government and the Lord Resistance Army, a Swiss mediator spoke to the alleged war criminal Joseph Kony, who is being tried before the International Criminal Court. As is our usual practice in such cases, we first examined all the options and consequences before reaching the conclusion that anyone wanting to make peace has to sit down and talk to all the conflicting parties, even with the commanders of a rebel movement that may have committed war crimes. But this does not mean that we excuse such crimes. We spoke out loud and clear against an amnesty for the rebel leader and his commanders. We have contacted the International Criminal Court and have regularly informed it about the progress of negotiations. The results of this delicate negotiation process have proved us right. Our expert Julian Hottinger, who by the way will take part in the Plenary Panel, made a major contribution to the negotiation process by preparing the draft ceasefire agreement that was signed by the government and the rebels after only two months. Since then, peace has reigned in the north of Uganda, and many of the 1.4 million displaced Acholis, who only survived in their camps thanks to international food aid, have been able to return to their villages. The international community, the UN and other states have joined us in supporting the process since the ceasefire agreement was signed. The core message I would like to convey is that Switzerland and the international community should first and foremost provide African mediators, African regional organisations and the African Union with their expertise. 6/8

7 In the area of development cooperation we have also come to the conclusion that local know-how is important. This is why I welcome enquiries from African regional organisations such as that received from the Economic Community of West African States. Its Executive Secretary our guest Mohamed Ibn Chambas has expressed the wish that Switzerland support the Secretariat as a partner in the training of its experts. I could also envisage Switzerland facilitating an exchange of experience between African regional organisations so that African mediators can learn from one another and find out what works in one part of the country but perhaps not in another. They could also launch joint projects and programmes. The cooperation in the Swiss-supported "Peacekeeping School" in Bamako, where military and civilian personnel are trained in peace promotion, is a good example of this approach. Ladies and gentlemen, Please allow me to call your attention to the interesting results of the short study on mediation processes in Africa that you have in your documents. Almost all the mediations were led by African statesmen. This also applies to the special envoys and the representatives of the UN Secretary General in Africa. With few exceptions, they are all experienced African personalities. I was surprised by the diversity of mediation methods, which corresponds to the diversity of Africa itself. In contrast to the many negative headlines about Africa in the media, the success rate in these peace processes is very high. It is also true that the security situation in Africa in recent years has improved considerably. The number of armed conflicts taking place south of the Sahara has been halved. Fatalities among the civil population are said to have fallen by 80%. These figures are based on the 2007 Human Security Report. Nevertheless, even if the situation has improved and peace agreements have been signed, too many transformation processes in Africa still remain very unstable. 7/8

8 This is where my department has its part to play. Humanitarian aid in postconflict phases cannot concentrate solely on emergency aid and reconstruction, but must tackle more radically the causes of conflict and must deal with problems that arise in the implementation of peace agreements in its strategies. On the other hand, particularly in fragile states, development cooperation must analyse developments carefully so that, if necessary, it can intervene at an early stage and offer measures to prevent the escalation of conflicts. In this connection, I would like to mention an example that greatly impressed me and that ties in with what I have just said. In Kenya, there is a nationwide network of women, policemen, mediators and generals that tries to intervene in conflicts as early as possible in order to prevent the escalation of violence. This network, the Concerned Citizens for Peace (CCP), was founded by Kenyans who are involved in peace processes. Although the network was unable to prevent the explosion of violence following last December's elections, their members analysed the escalation of violence in various locations and intervened rapidly, thus helping to halt the spread of violence. We would be delighted if such networks could grow and flourish across borders throughout Africa. Switzerland wishes to continue and to expand its commitment according to these guidelines. We are here to share our experiences, to learn from our guests and to discuss current examples of mediation frankly and critically. Today's conference is also about listening. It is only by listening attentively that we can find out what kinds of mediation work, where our partners require our support, and where they would like us to be active. Let us use this day for a constructive dialogue to reflect on ways in which Switzerland and Africa can work together most effectively and create peace together. I am looking forward to listening to your contributions. Thank you. 8/8