The African Union's Response In Addressing Unconstitutional Changes Of Government In Africa Between 2000 And 2012

Abstract

Public International Law may be defined as the body of mles which are legally binding on States in their intercourse with each other. .. that govern the relations of States. But, States are not the only subjects of international law. International organizations and to some extent also individuals may be subjects .... 1 One of and perhaps the most impmtant functions of the United Nations is to maintain intemational peace and secm·it/ among the Nations of the world. As such, this duty may involve collective measures to prevent and remove threats to peace, suppression of acts of aggression or other attempted breaches of peace and the settlement of international disputes by pea::eful means and through promotion of the respect for the rules of International Humanitarian Law during hostilities. In suppmt of these essentials, State Pmties to the U.N are admonis!led to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State or in any other manner inconsistent with the purpose of the U.N3 . It is thus safe to conclude thnt the use of force is impermissible. However, it is accepted that rhere are a number of situations in which the use of force subject to IHL mles may be allowed. These include individual and collective self defensc4 , meas.ures adopted by the U.N Security Council5 as well as acceptance of the use of necessary force by States for humanitarian reasons, that is, for the protection of their nationals and properties under attack in a particular State or territory. Therefore, PIL does not recognize the use of force for the unconstitutional change of government despite the theory that where a force takes over a government and replaces the laws of that regime with its own laws receives acknowledgement by the people of that State and even intemational recognition then it can be said that there has been 1 Jennings Rand Watts A, Oppenheim's International Law Vol. 1: Peace. 9th Edition, page 4. 2 United Nations Charter, 1945 A. I. 3 A. 2( 4) ibid 4 A. 51 ibid 5 Chapter VII ibid 1 a successful change of govemment6 • As such it is a settled fact that regrmes that unconstitutionally grab power do not receive recognition and especially from the U.N. Despite this, there are still coups d'etat all over the world and especially in Africa and all the while the search continues for a lasting solution to the victims of these unconstitutional changes of government.