AU’s Darfur troops in abuse probe

The African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in Sudan says it will look into claims that its troops committed sexual abuse in the western region of Darfur.

The UK’s More Four TV channel last week aired allegations that AU soldiers paid women, some as young as 11, for sex.

The AU said the claims were disturbing, but added there had recently been many allegations against its mission - all of which had been found to be baseless.

The AU has 7,000 troops guarding some of Darfur’s 2 million displaced people.

This news troubles me, not so much because of the allegations – although yes, soliciting children is quite bad – but simply because it is the African Union garnering negative press.

The AU is an organization similar in intent and scope to the European Union. In fact, much of the AU is modeled around the EU. The AU’s predecessor was the Organisation of African Unity, which was founded in 1963. The OAU solved little and was heavily criticized for being an inert body. In 1999, the heads of state who comprised the OAU met, and decided upon the established of an African Union. This body was created in 2002, and the OAU was subsequently dissolved.

The AU has many bodies which are analogous to the EU’s – parliament, commission, permanent representatives’ committee, central bank and monetary institutions. The AU has 53 member states – all of Africa, with the exception of Morocco. For more info, I invite you to continue on to the AU wikipedia entry, a decent primer.

To me, a supranational, pan-African body like the AU has the best chance of remedying Africa’s ills. Individually, the nations of Africa have a hard time tackling their problems, which include, among other things, corruption, AIDS, sectarian conflicts, and a gross lack of infrastructure. But by creating a supranational institution, these problems can be solved jointly, with the leadership and support of dominant nations like South Africa.

The Darfur conflict is a glowing example here. The US and Europe are wary of sending in troops. Another Somalia? No thanks. The UN and the West proved their effectiveness a decade ago, in Rwanda. AU troops have a higher chance of success, since they’re more involved in the situation. They have a real reason and understanding to what’s going on and why it needs to be fixed.

At this point in time, the AU is still a fledgling supranational body. It needs the support, both economic and political, of the West. The last thing it needs is bad press. The fact that they’re launching an investigation is promising. We can only hope that it is done swiftly and accurately, addressing the issue and putting it to rest.