United States (U.S.) delegation to the African Union (AU) Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, including Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield; Ambassador Reuben Brigety, Representative of the United States to the AU and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission of Africa; and U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan Ambassador Donald Booth, briefed reporters on the battle against insurgency and others.
With the renewed commitment of Nigeria and its neighbours to combat Boko Haram, what specific assistance is the U.S. offering?
We have been working with Nigeria, as well as other countries in the region, to address their concerns about Boko Haram, because we don’t see this as just a Nigerian problem. And with the new government, we are having discussions with them on how we might bolster our support. That said, we have already been working with them on providing information, providing some training and support, and we look to, with this new administration, to see how we might increase the level of support that we are providing to Nigeria.
At the same time, we have just announced since I have been here at the AU, a $5 million contribution to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF). This is funding going to the AU. We are also providing some equipment and support, and we had a number of meetings with the countries who are members of the Multinational Task Force to look at other areas that we might support.
How does Washington view President Buhari’s statement at the AU that Africa is under siege?
Africa has faced some really horrific terrorist acts over the past few years. The Westgate attacks that took place in Kenya; the recent attack in Garissa in Kenya; the Boko Haram attacks that led to the kidnapping of almost three hundred young girls and Boko Haram’s continued attacks, including the most recent one in Chad, today (Monday). So, while I will not say that Africa is under siege, Africa has some major security challenges that requires a very strong and very concerted strategic efforts by African countries and their partners to address the security concerns of the people of Africa.
The contributions of the U.S. in helping to ensure security in Africa
One of our largest and most important priorities on the continent of Africa is security. We have three. We look for promoting security, peace, and prosperity. But we also look for development and opportunity on the continent and they are all related to each other. But we have worked very closely with our partners across the continent to support their efforts on security assistance. We have supported peacekeeping. We have provided training to more than 200,000 African peacekeepers. I think the exact figure is about 250,000 African peacekeepers have received some form of training or support by the U.S. government. We are also supporting the AU’s efforts in the security area. So, we have been a strong supporter of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). We have supported the efforts of both the AU and the UN in Central African Republic (CAR). We are working very, very closely with the Lake Chad Basin countries of Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, to address the issues of Boko Haram. So, we do have a strong partnership with the continent on security.
U.S. cooperation with Africa in terms of fighting terrorism
We actually have a very strong partnership with the government of Chad. We have been working with the Chadian government and the Chadian military, particularly in their efforts against Boko Haram. We have supported them, as well, as they have fought against those who have attacked Mali, and we will continue to engage with this government, because they have been a good partner on fighting terrorism in the region. And again, I want to express my condolences to those families who lost family members in this most recent attack.
Illegal armed groups.
There is no one who works in Africa today who would say that Africa has no hope. Yes, there are armed groups, there continues to be conflict, there is poverty, but there are also amazing opportunities that are being presented on the continent as we look at what young people across the continent are doing. We look at opportunities for business; we look at what Africans are doing in their efforts to find peace; we look at what young women and some older women are doing to promote peace and to look for prosperity and opportunities on the continent. So, there is no way that anyone in this room, or elsewhere in Africa, who would say that Africa is hopeless. That does not mean there are not problems to solve and resolve, but we are resolved to solve those problems, and are committed to assisting the AU and member states of the AU in addressing the problems that we are facing across the continent.
The South Sudan problem and the Peace and Security Council
I think the progress that has been made at this summit is the bringing together of Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the five AU countries that were selected to represent each of the regions in the continent, to work with IGAD to try to move the peace process forward. At the end of the last round of negotiations in early March, the chairman of IGAD indicated that there would need to be a reinforcement of the mediation effort, given the lack of willingness of the South Sudanese parties to make the compromises needed for peace.
And so, the addition of the AU Five and the endorsement of the IGAD Plus process, which involves the AU five, as well as other key international partners, to work together and to present a common front will help, I think, move the peace process, which has for the last two months not been making progress, and has resulted in an opening where the South Sudanese have returned to fighting.
So, I would say that the procedural basis for this IGAD Plus has been laid here at the summit, and I think the statement, the PSC communique, was a very strong communique, and a very strong signal to the South Sudanese that this is the time to stop the fighting, and to move forward on a peace agreement and a transitional process that will give South Sudan an opportunity for a new start.
The U.S. and Kenya’s efforts against al-Shabaab
Let me just say, fighting terrorism is not easy. We have been fighting terrorism since 2001, and we continue our efforts to stop their efforts to foment insecurity across the world. So, the Kenyans have done the absolute best they can, but they are getting assistance from their neighbours, and they are getting assistance from the U.S. in fighting terrorism that is not just Kenya’s problem. It is a problem that all of the region face, and it is a problem that requires the support of the entire region to fight terrorism. So, we are there to support the Kenyan efforts. We have continued to work with them, as well as other partners in the region. Kenya has done an extraordinary job in assisting us as a troop contributor to AMISOM in Somalia, and they, at the same time, are trying to fight terrorism inside their own borders.
President Obama’s visit to Kenya
This will be President Obama’s fourth trip to Africa since becoming president and each of those trips have built on what has been a strong partnership that we have with the countries of Africa. So, this trip will highlight that partnership, but it will go even further, because it will highlight the relationship that we have with the government of Kenya as they fight terrorism, related to your first question, but also as they build prosperity for their own people.
Part of the president’s trip will be to participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which will bring about a thousand individuals to Kenya to look at opportunities for bringing partnerships to promote development, and to promote prosperity, and to look for opportunities for entrepreneurs in Africa. And we think Kenya is the perfect location for that, as they have indicated their desires to increase the amount of investments from across the U.S. as well as the world, to Kenya.
U.S. government’s position on some African leaders’ decision to change their country’s constitution in order to cling on to power
Our position on extending term limits is very clear. We do not support that, we think that it does everything to defeat the purposes of democracy, which is one that supports countries having the ability to change governments and have a free and open society. So, where countries are attempting, or presidents are attempting to change constitutions in order to extend their own term and power, we have expressed our disagreement with that, and we have encouraged them not to do that. And I think African people across the continent are also standing up. Because we have seen…there was a recent poll done in which some thirty-four African countries indicated that they wanted term limits. They want to see changes of power. And for those countries that don’t have term limits, we think they should also have a change of power, as well. So, our position, again, has been very clear, and our policy has been supported in our engagements with countries on the continent.
Omar al-Bashir and diplomatic relations with South Africa
Look, we continue to engage with all of the countries across the continent, but also globally, to encourage them to honour the requests for Bashir to be turned over to the International Criminal Court (ICC). There is a warrant out for his arrest. We have engaged with our colleagues here in South Africa on that issue. But we will continue to have relations with the South African government. This is not going to be an issue that is going to change the nature of our relationship, but we certainly have expressed our views on this particular issue.
Third term syndrome
The AU has been extraordinarily strong in its efforts to press Nkurunziza, and other countries on the continent on the issue of third term. This has been an issue that has been taken up by the sub-regional organisation, the East Africa Community, but I will note that the Chairman of the AU made a very, very strong statement that indicates her position, and the position of the AU, that Nkurunziza should not be seeking a third term, and expressing concerns about the deteriorating security situation in the country.
AGOA trade deal
The significance of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is that it provides opportunities for jobs. It is a trade programme that gives benefits to South African companies to send goods produced in South Africa, including vehicles that are produced here, tax free, into the U.S. So, AGOA is a trade preference that is sought by many countries, and it is a one-way trade preference. It is a trade preference that we give to African countries to encourage them to trade with the U.S.
The issue related to poultry was a consequence of the view by American poultry producers that they were being disadvantaged in the South African market, and so, the negotiations that took place was an effort to address that. But I do…I would argue very, very strongly that the benefits of AGOA, and the job creation that comes out of AGOA, those benefits will far outweigh any possible negative benefits that the poultry industry thinks that they might experience here in South Africa.
United States and fight against HIV/AIDS and other diseases
Because of PEPFAR and our HIV/AIDS programmes across the continent, we have seen and experienced a change in the whole trajectory of negative impacts that HIV/AIDS could have had on the continent of Africa.
I was traveling with Secretary Kerry a few months ago in Addis Ababa and we visited an HIV/AIDS center where we saw babies who were born AIDS-free. And we have the opportunity to see a whole generation of children born in Africa who are AIDS-free because of the programmes that the U.S. government has been a part of, in supporting efforts against HIV.
The U.S. position is on that IGAD blueprint
My understanding is that there will be a meeting of all of the IGAD Plus partners in the very near future to discuss the substance of the way forward. IGAD mediation has also given to the South Sudanese parties an outline of what they believe is a possible peace agreement, and we understand that both the government and opposition are taking a serious look at that. Inevitably, both sides will have some concerns, but what is needed, and what has been stressed repeatedly, is that in order to achieve peace, there needs to be the leadership demonstrated to make the compromises for peace.
The people of South Sudan continue to suffer. In the past two months, because of the uptick in fighting, over another roughly 150,000 South Sudanese have been displaced, and the UN estimate is that as of early July, close to 4.6 million South Sudanese will be on the verge of life-threatening hunger. That’s 40 per cent of the population.
So, the idea that fighting is only in small pockets of the country is definitely not an accurate reflection of the situation. South Sudanese in many parts of the country are facing severe hunger issues, needing emergency assistance. They have been displaced in numbers that go up to, roughly, 1.5 to two million, between those that are in internally displaced camps, and in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. So, this is a very serious humanitarian situation and the only way to begin to turn this around is through a peace agreement and getting all South Sudanese to begin to work together.
With the U.S. not being part of the ICC, isn’t there a bit of hypocrisy to say that countries which Omar al-Bishir visits should look at executing the warrant of this criminal court?
Well, as we said in the press statement that was issued yesterday (Sunday) in Washington, that while the U.S. is not a party to the Rome Statute, that we strongly support international efforts to hold accountable those responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. And so, those indicted by the ICC, we believe there should be cooperation of all countries to ensure that they can have their day in court.
African leaders showing a resistance to international justice and the powers of the ICC
This has been a subject of discussion with Africa, the view that African countries are being somewhat targeted by the ICC. We don’t subscribe to that view. The vast majority of individuals, who have been turned over to the ICC, who are from Africa, have been turned over by their own countries, or have been turned over by other countries where they have been caught.
So, this is not a battle about holding Africans to a different standard. We think Africans, as broadly as possible, that they deserve justice. And if justice can be done on the continent, well be it. If it can’t be, there are organs outside of the continent that will provide opportunities to find justice for the people of Africa. So, that is our goal in supporting these efforts, and I think it is the goal of many African countries that have also supported and participated in the ICC—Rome Convention.
