Towards a Critique of the Concept of the Right to Self-Determination in Africa : A Conceptual Examination and the Cases of Western Sahara, Southern Sudan and Eritrea

This thesis examines the right to self-determination which is a norm used for numerous purposes by multiple actors in the field of international relations, with relatively little clarity or agreement on the actual and potential meaning of the right. In international practice, however, the main focus in applying the right has been in the context of decolonization as set by the United Nations in its early decades. Thus, in Africa the right to self-determination has traditionally implied that the colonial territories, and particularly the populations within these territories, were to constitute the people who were entitled to the right. That is, self-determination by decolonization provided a framework for the construction of independent nation-states in Africa whilst other dimensions of the right remained largely or totally neglected. With the objective of assessing the scope, content, developments and interpretations of the right to self-determination in Africa, particularly with regard to the relevance of the right today, the thesis proceeds on two fundamental hypotheses. The first is that Mervyn Frost s theory of settled norms, among which he lists the right to self-determination, assumes too much. Even if the right to self-determination is a human right belonging to all peoples stipulated, inter alia, in the first Article of the 1966 International Human Rights Covenants, it is a highly politicized and context-bound right instead of being settled and observed in a way that its denial would need special justification. Still, the suggested inconsistency or non-compliance with the norm of self-determination is not intended to prove the uselessness or inappropriateness of the norm, but, on the contrary, to invite and encourage debate on the potential use and coverage of the right to self-determination. The second hypothesis is that within the concept of self-determination there are two normative dimensions. One is to do with the idea and practice of statehood, the nation and collectivity that may decide to conduct itself as an independent state. The other one is to do with self-determination as a human right, as a normative condition, to be enjoyed by people and peoples within states that supersedes state authority. These external and internal dimensions need to be seen as complementary and co-terminous, not as mutually exclusive alternatives. The thesis proceeds on the assumption that the internal dimension of the right, with human rights and democracy at its core, has not been considered as important as the external. In turn, this unbalanced and selective interpretation has managed to put the true normative purpose of the right making the world better and bringing more just polity models into a somewhat peculiar light. The right to self-determination in the African context is assessed through case studies of Western Sahara, Southern Sudan and Eritrea. The study asks what these cases say about the right to self-determination in Africa and what their lessons learnt could contribute to the understanding and relevance of the right in today s Africa. The study demonstrates that even in the context of decolonization, the application of the right to self-determination has been far from the consistent approach supposedly followed by the international community: in many respects similar colonial histories have easily led to rather different destinies. While Eritrea secured internationally recognized right to self-determination in the form of retroactive independence in 1993, international recognition of distinct Western Sahara and Southern Sudan entities is contingent on complex and problematic conditions being satisfied. Overall, it is a considerable challenge for international legality to meet empirical political reality in a meaningful way, so that the universal values attached to the norm of self-determination are not overlooked or compromised but rather reinforced in the process of implementing the right. Consequently, this thesis seeks a more comprehensive understanding of the right to self-determination with particular reference to post-colonial Africa and with an emphasis on the internal, human rights and democracy dimensions of the norm. It is considered that the right to self-determination cannot be perceived only as an inter-state issue as it is also very much an intra-state issue, including the possibility of different sub-state arrangements exercised under the right, for example, in the form of autonomy. At the same time, the option of independent statehood achieved through secession remains a mode of exercising and part of the right to self-determination. But in whatever form or way applied, the right to self-determination, as a normative instrument, should constitute and work as a norm that comprehensively brings more added value in terms of the objectives of human rights and democracy. From a normative perspective, a peoples right should not be allowed to transform and convert itself into a right of states. Finally, in light of the case studies of Western Sahara, Southern Sudan and Eritrea, the thesis suggests that our understanding of the right to self-determination should now reach beyond the post-colonial context in Africa. It appears that both the questions and answers to the most pertinent issues of self-determination in the cases studied must be increasingly sought within the postcolonial African state rather than solely in colonial history. In this vein, the right to self-determination can be seen not only as a tool for creating states but also as a way to transform the state itself from within. Any such genuinely post-colonial approach may imply a judicious reconsideration, adaptation or up-dating of the right and our understanding of it in order to render it meaningful in Africa today.

El papel de la Comunidad Internacional representada por la Organización de Naciones Unidas, la Unión Africana de Naciones, Estados Unidos y Ruanda en la guerra y postguerra entre Eritrea y Etiopía 1998 – 2008”

La presente monografía trata sobre la Gestión de Conflictos empleada en la guerra entre Eritrea y Etiopía por parte de la Comunidad Internacional en dos fases: guerra (1998 y 2000) y postguerra (2001-2008). También muestra la evolución del conflicto desde la independencia eritrea.

Análisis crítico del concepto de seguridad humana en relación con la actuación de la MINUEE (Misión de Naciones Unidas Para Etiopía y Eritrea). Período 1998-2008

La monografía buscó realizar un análisis crítico del concepto de Seguridad Humana en relación con la actuación de la MINUEE en el período de guerra(1998-2000) y luego del retiro de la Misión (Julio de 2008), para establecer una crítica constructiva al funcionamiento de las OMP de la ONU, determinar los aciertos y desaciertos de la Misión en el uso del concepto de Seguridad Humana y sus múltiples dimensiones definidas en el PNUD(Seguridad: de la comunidad, de la salud, política, alimentaria, ambiental y personal) y comprender por qué la Misión fracasó en su intento de dirimir la crisis humanitaria y dar fin al conflicto.

L'Aquila 2010 : valle Pretara : Riqualificazione del quartiere Eritrea

Il sisma del 6 aprile ha palesato delle criticità già presenti nel territorio aquilano. Dopo l'emergenza ci si chiede quindi quale debba essere il futuro della città. Quello che risulta più evidente è sicuramente la scomparsa di un'interdipendenza tra città e territorio circostante che era invece alla base della nascita stessa del nucleo storico. Questo era infatti concepito inizialmente come una serie di entità eterogenee separate, 99 rioni che avrebbero ospitato la popolazione di altrettanti villaggi e castelli, ed arriva nel corso dei secoli ad inglobare un territorio molto più ampio di centri minori che si riconoscono nel capoluogo. Anche con la successiva crescita non si è mai sentita la necessità di provvedere ad uno sviluppo organizzato attraverso la realizzazione di servizi, ma si è sempre cercato di mantenere il centro storico come unico contenitore, non solo per la città ma per l'intero territorio. Così lo sviluppo fuori le mura è avvenuto soprattutto per mano privata generando una periferia caotica e disorganizzata come risposta alla domanda di alloggi, a cui non è mai stato dato l'onere, se non in fase progettuale, di sopperire alle necessità urbane di servizi e infrastrutture e soprattutto ad una totale mancanza di pianificazione di sviluppo futuro. Con la completa distruzione del centro storico è scomparso il cuore pulsante del territorio aquilano, a cui è subito seguito anche lo spegnimento della periferia, che gravitava e si appoggiava su di esso per la sua sopravvivenza. A questo punto la scelta di agire sulla prima periferia, in una zona di cerniera con il centro storico, diventa una scelta fondamentale, poiché questa diventa una possibilità per dare luogo ad una rinascita non solo della città dentro le mura ma dell'Aquila moderna. Poiché questo sia possibile è chiaro come l'attenzione maggiore debba rivolgersi non solo alla risposta della domanda abitativa, ma anche alla progettazione di spazi per la collettività, servizi a diversa scala e sedi per il piccolo e medio commercio per rendere possibili nuove opportunità sociali ed economiche. In quest'ottica risulta indispensabile mantenere un collegamento, fisico e visivo, con il centro storico, attraverso la riqualificazione della fascia verde a ridosso delle mura e la sua naturale prosecuzione al di là della strada nell'area di progetto. Una delle problematiche principali è stata inoltre la definizione o meno di un confine. La scelta è stata quella di una struttura aperta: una maglia senza un limite preciso ma con una chiara direzionalità che si rifà a quella del centro storico e che risulta la più adatta ad accogliere gli sviluppi futuri della città. Il progetto cerca quindi di interfacciarsi sempre con quelle che sono le preesistenze (come nel caso della Chiesa di S. Maria Mediatrice), per cui si perde una lettura chiusa del quartiere, a favore di un intervento che vuole essere una ricucitura piuttosto che un'imposizione al luogo. Diretta conseguenza è stata quindi la scelta di lavorare sugli spazi aperti, diversificandoli e caratterizzandoli a seconda delle situazioni, intesi come elementi di relazione, generatori di una fluida sequenza di luoghi, in cui l'edificio che vi trova sede non può essere scisso dal contesto circostante, ma ne diventa elemento complementare. Lo spazio assume così diverse declinazioni nel passaggio dal pubblico al privato, privo di cesure nette, alla ricerca di un abitare collettivo senza rinunce alla propria individualità. Alla varietà dei luoghi, si affianca anche la progettazione diversificata degli alloggi, per rispondere alle contemporanee esigenze dell'abitare.

The ecological and socio-economic role of Prosopis juliflora in Eritrea

In Eritrea findet eine rasche Verbreitung von Prosopis (juliflora) statt, die sich negativ auf die Naturresourcen als auch die sozio-ökonomische Lage der ländlichen Bevölkerung auswirkt. Die Landbevölkerung Eritrea's ist davon überzeugt, dass die Pflanze vor allem die Ernährungssicherung beeinträchtigt und will deshalb, dass sie ausgerottet wird. Die vorliegende Dissertation beschreibt die Auswirkung von Posopis auf lokale Öko- und Wirtschaftssysteme und zieht Vergleiche mit der diesbezüglichen Situation in anderen Ländern. Im Weiteren stellt sie einen Prosopis Management-Plan vor, dessen Ziel es ist, die zunehmende Verbreitung zu verhindern. Auch liefert sie eine Gegenüberstellung der Ansichten von wissenschaftlichen Experten einerseits und Bauern und Nomaden andrerseits. Sie zeigt auf, dass die weit verbreitete Annahme der Experten das Problem Prosopis durch ökonomische Nutzung ("eradication by utilisation") in Schach halten zu können, fraglich ist.

Calibration of River Gauge at Afdeyu Research Station, Eritrea: A study conducted by MOA NARI and SLM

Afdeyu Station is one of the few river gauging stations in the highlands of Eritrea where daily measurements are taken. As a result of damages, the station was refurbished, and the cross section of the gauge was changed to have better control of minimal runoff. The gauge therefore had to be re-calibrated. This publication documents this process and also provides the new calibration curve, based on extensive field work carried out in the rainy season 2009

Land Management in the Central Highlands of Eritrea: A Participatory Appraisal of Conservation Measures and Soils in Afdeyu and its Vicinity

A comprehensive inventory of local and introduced soil and water conservation (SWC) measures presented in standardized fact sheets and completed with a special focus on the underlying reasons (problems) of acceptance / rejection. Different approaches are analysed and measures identified which are adapted to the specific local context. Second part of the study: soil assessment resulting in a consistent local classification of soil types and soil fertility, comparison with scientific classifications. Different topical maps show the spatial distribution of SWC measures, their condition, degradation hotspots, soil types, soil fertility and interrelations between these parameters. Based on the conclusions and the outcome of a stakeholder workshop recommendations are given for further activities in research and implementation of SWC in the Central Highlands of Eritrea.

Participatory on-farm appraisal of improved pearl millet varieties in Eritrea

Pearl millet is Eritrea’s second most important cereal crop. Embedded in Eritrea’s millet improvement programme, this study summarizes the results of an on-farm appraisal of millet varieties at 3 study sites in western Eritrea. The participating communities were asked to rank improved and traditional varieties. Men generally preferred the improved varieties for their higher yields, while women preferred the traditional landraces owing to taste and food quality.