Should Canada do battle to keep peace in Africa?

By: KENNEDY JAWOKO, Toronto Star

The number of Canadian Forces troops and rules of engagement matter a great deal to the protection of civilians.

On June 6, 2014, a few hours after sunset, armed men opened fire on an outdoor church ceremony in Mutarule, a small village in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The assailants attacked the village with rifles and grenade launchers, shooting civilians at close range and then burning them alive.

An offensive use of force by Canada during its UN peacekeeping mission in Africa should reduce violence against civilians, writes Kennedy Jawoko. (ED JONES / ED JONES/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

A survivor described the experience to Human Rights Watch: “We heard bullets coming from all sides. We all got down on the ground. They came in by the door and were in camouflage military uniforms. There were many of them. The first one said: ‘Exterminate them.’ Then they started shooting.”

All told, the attackers killed 38 villagers in a few hours, including at least nine children. Many more were injured, stabbed with bayonets or burned past recognition.

That’s the picture Canadian peacekeepers are likely to come face-to-face with when Canada returns to peacekeeping in an era where the rules of engagement are non-existent.

The tragedy in Mutarule could have been avoided. A United Nations peacekeeping base, located just an eight-minute drive away, received frantic phone calls from villagers asking for help as the massacre began. Although the peacekeeping mission in the DRC has the authority to use force to protect civilians, UN soldiers stayed in their barracks.

This week the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sacked the commander of a peacekeeping force in South Sudan following a damning report that accused the blue helmets of failing to protect civilians during an outbreak of violence in July that killed dozens of people. Investigators concluded peacekeepers abandoned their posts and failed to respond to pleas for help from aid workers under attack.

These reports illustrate how peacekeepers’ choices — in particular the choice to use force — matter a great deal to the protection of civilians. For the past 15 years, UN peacekeepers have had robust mandates that require them to protect civilians and authorize them to use force beyond self-defence to achieve that goal. Despite these changes, long-standing debates on the offensive use of force in peacekeeping continue.

A Nanos Research survey conducted for CTV News last month found that nearly 70 per cent of Canadians support deploying Canadian Forces on UN peacekeeping missions in active fighting areas. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has committed to deploying 600 Canadian troops on UN peacekeeping missions. If Canadian peacekeepers were to use force beyond self-defence, then I believe four key factors should be taken into consideration.

First, the deployment of a large number of peacekeepers will likely amplify the deterrent effect of the use of force. When they intervened, blue helmets in Congo simultaneously launched offensives and deployed in greater numbers to war-affected regions. This combination probably did more to change the calculus of rebels than the offensive use of force alone, which failed to quell rebel violence against civilians in other cases.

Second, Canadian Forces should also weigh the capacity of rebel groups, compared to peacekeepers and their allies, when contemplating the use of force. UN peacekeepers and the Congolese army failed to change the behaviour of sophisticated rebel groups. These large and well-trained forces, with external financial or military support, continued to target civilians during and after the offensive use of force.

Third, Canadian peacekeepers might not be able to protect civilians through the use of force when the national government allies with a rebel group that commits atrocities. In these situations, Canada might have to turn to other tools to persuade the government to reconsider the alliance or to otherwise protect civilians. These tools might include diplomatic pressure, use of media, or threatening to suspend certain forms of co-operation with the government.

Lastly, rebel groups that operate out of a vast and remote forest, employ hit-and-run tactics, and disappear into the local population might not often respond to the offensive use of force. These guerrilla tactics mean offensive use of force might not bring about a decrease in rebel violence against civilians.

Research shows that deploying large numbers of peacekeepers does reduce violence against civilians. I believe the offensive use of force amplifies that effect. When Canada takes the initiative, it should do so with a sufficient number of troops — both civilian and military — not just 600 pairs of boots on the ground.

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Kennedy Jawoko is a professor at Seneca College. He has conducted research on media and conflict in South Sudan.

Canada's military plan for Africa will be for a 'long duration,' says Sajjan

Terry Pedwell, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- The federal government will soon announce a plan to bolster United Nations peace efforts in Africa, including trans-border operations, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Monday, as he wrapped up a five-country, fact-finding mission to the continent.

"I do have a number that we will be announcing shortly that we can sustain for a long duration," Sajjan said during a teleconference from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

And while no final decisions have been made yet on numbers, timing or location, Canada's contribution to a UN mission on the continent will involve more than the military and go beyond what would be considered a traditional peacekeeping role, Sajjan said.

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Whatever form the mission takes, it will also operate beyond the borders of individual countries, said the minister.

"We need to look at the area by regions," Sajjan explained.

"It's all interconnected. If we ended up looking at problems only within the confines of borders, then we are not going to have a true impact."

Establishing trans-border peace operations in Africa may prove difficult for the United Nations, which is already having difficulties manoeuvring through the politics of individual nations.

On Friday, the UN Security Council authorized an extra 4,000 troops to curb the latest violence plaguing South Sudan, a move that was almost immediately rejected by government officials there. That opposition was later softened by President Salva Kiir, who said he would consider the plan under certain conditions.

There has been fierce fighting in South Sudan in recent days, raising concerns that the country, which gained its independence in 2011, may slide back into civil war.

Canadian defence and foreign affairs officials have been assessing the possibility of Canada joining UN peacekeeping operations in Mali or the Central African Republic.

A mission in Mali would be fraught with risk. There are roughly 13,000 blue helmets in the country and more than 100 have been killed in ambushes and attacks since the mission was established in April to support a ceasefire between the government in the south and armed groups in the north.

As part of an effort to finalize Canada's commitment to boost the UN's numbers in Africa, Sajjan visited Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda before making his final stop in the Congo. He was accompanied by former Supreme Court of Canada justice Louise Arbour, who is also a former UN high commissioner for human rights, and retired lieutenant-general Romeo Dallaire, who once commanded a UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda.

Defence analysts have questioned whether Canada is stretching itself too thin by contemplating multi-country commitments of military resources to Africa. Canadian Forces personnel are already involved in or preparing for training and other missions in Latvia, Iraq and Ukraine.

But Ottawa won't task the military with anything that commanders believe they can't handle, Sajjan said.

Minister Sajjan to Visit Congo on Fact Finding Mission

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo next week as part of a trip to Africa to collect information for a potential future Canadian peacekeeping mission on the continent.

Officials have warned against jumping to any conclusions that Canada is preparing to send hundreds of troops to the DRC, where the United Nations has a major peacekeeping operation.

"This is an opportunity for him to go into a country that does have an ongoing peacekeeping mission and see what that looks like," said Sajjan's spokeswoman, Jordan Owens. "It's to see what an ongoing mission looks like."

But Walter Dorn, a peacekeeping expert at the Canadian Forces College, says despite its challenges, the DRC would be a "great mission" for Canada.

"There is the possibility of a major role there," he said. "And we could be looking at a force-commander position."

Former UN high commissioner for human rights Louise Arbour and retired general Romeo Dallaire, who commanded a peacekeeping mission during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, will accompany Sajjan as he visits the DRC as well as Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda during the week-long, fact-finding mission.

The Liberals promised during last year's election campaign to return Canada to peacekeeping and Sajjan and defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance both said last month that could involve a mission to Africa.

Owens said the defence minister undertook a similar fact-finding trip to Iraq before the Liberal government revamped Canada's military mission against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in February.

"It's a good way for him to see exactly when the African Union says it has this support, what does that actually look like?" Owens said. "When the UN says 'We're doing this,' what does that mean? So we're gathering information."

There had been speculation that the Liberal government was eyeing a role in the west African country of Mali, where a UN peacekeeping mission has been in place since April 2013. Hundreds of German and Dutch troops are among the roughly 13,000 blue helmets in the country.

But that mission, which is intended to assist a ceasefire between the government in the south and armed groups in the north, has been fraught with risk. Eighty-six peacekeepers have been killed as insurgents, some linked to terrorist groups, have launched ambushes and attacks.

While Owens insisted no decision on a new Canadian peacekeeping mission has been made, the fact Sajjan is heading to East and Central Africa suggests the government is considering a deployment to that part of the continent and not Mali.

Canada has contributed a handful of peacekeepers to the UN mission in the DRC for several years. However, the Conservative government rejected a request in 2010 for Canada to have then-lieutenant-general Andrew Leslie command the force. Leslie is now a Liberal MP and chief government whip.

Dorn says for that reason, there would be some important symbolism if the Liberal government agreed to dramatically increase its involvement in the DRC mission. Canada also has a national interest in the country, he said, with large investments in mining.

The UN mission in the DRC has been sharply criticized for not doing enough to protect civilians from the country's various armed groups. The political situation is also uncertain due to upcoming elections. But Dorn said Canada could make a significant contribution to peace and stability in that part of the world.

Another possibility is the UN mission in South Sudan.

Owens said one of Sajjan's objectives is to determine where a Canadian contribution would be most effective. "He's focused on the meaningful impact part," she said. "If we were to deploy a peacekeeping mission to Africa, is it one that's meaningful?"

Arthur Boutellis, director of the New York-based Center for Peace Operations, said that describes the mission in South Sudan, where peacekeepers have been tasked with protecting civilians from opposing forces loyal to the president and vice-president.

"Really there's a need there," he said. "And if you want to make a difference and prevent mass atrocities, they definitely need qualified troops."

UN Planning on Deploying Peacekeepers to Burundi

One of Justin Trudeau's promises during the election was that he would return Canada to the Peacekeeping table. There has been no indication that Western Nations will be asked to contribute to the proposed mission in Burundi, but will Canada volunteer to be part of one? It would mean returning to the region where Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Romeo Dallaire commanded the UN Mission in Rwanda during the 1994-95 genocide; to help prevent another possible genocide. One that could include the same ethic groups from the 1994-95 conflict.

Below written by AFP; 

UN officials are making plans to rush peacekeepers from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Burundi if violence spirals out of control there, diplomats said Wednesday.

The deployment is one of several options being drawn up by the United Nations peacekeeping department to prevent Burundi from descending into Rwanda-style mass killings.

"One option is to get MONUSCO troops from the DRC across the border into Burundi," said a Security Council diplomat, who asked not to be identified.

The 20,000-strong MONUSCO force in the Democratic Republic of Congo is backed up by a rapid-reaction brigade made up of elite troops from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania that could also be deployed, he said.

The plans are being drawn up as the UN Security Council is poised to vote, possibly as early as Thursday, on a French-drafted resolution condemning the violence and threatening sanctions against leaders who incite attacks.

The draft resolution requests that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon present options to the council within 15 days on actions that could be taken to thwart the violence.

Burundi has been rocked by killings, torture and illegal detentions since President Pierre Nkurunziza launched a controversial bid to prolong his term in office in April.

At least 240 people have been killed and more than 200,000 Burundians have fled the country.

THE USE OF FORCE

The deployment of a UN force in Burundi would require the approval of Bujumbura authorities or a decision from the Security Council under a chapter 7 resolution, which authorizes the use of force.

Another option under consideration is the deployment of an African Union force made up of troops from regional countries.

"The use of MONUSCO assets and personnel has been mentioned as one possible option," said a UN spokesman for peacekeeping.

"While this is ultimately a matter for the Security Council to decide, a regional coalition would be well-placed to provide a rapid and credible response if the situation in Burundi worsens," he added.

International alarm over the crisis in Burundi has been mounting after repeated appeals to Nkurunziza to enter into a dialogue with the opposition fell on deaf ears.

Diplomats have also raised concerns about Rwanda becoming embroiled in the conflict after President Paul Kagame accused Burundi's leaders of carrying out "massacres" on their people.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, whose country holds the council presidency this month, said negotiations on the draft resolution were progressing "very rapidly" and that a vote was likely soon.

"The Security Council has come together in the course of this week to ensure we do everything possible to increase the pressure on the authorities in Bujumbura and warn against the dangers of mass atrocities," Rycroft told reporters.