robert mc bride
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DISARMAMENT, DISMANTLING AND DISBANDMENT
LESSONS FROM THE SOUTH AFR ICAN PROCESS
ROBERT MCBRIDE
THE BEGINNING
• 50 years of peaceful resistance• 30 years of armed struggle• Prison talks, July 1986• Secret Channels• Harare Declaration• Unbanning , Feb 1990
RELEASE OF MANDELA
• Temporary Indemnity for ANC Negotiators returning to South Africa
• Temporary firearm permits to protectors of ANC Leaders
• Return of Exiles
GROOTE SCHUUR MINUTE 4TH MAY 1990
• First direct public negotiations between Government and ANC (“talk about talks”) – setting the rules
• Common commitment towards ending a climate of violence and intimidation as well as a commitment to stability and to a peaceful process of negotiations
• Definition of Political Offences• Establish effective channels of
communication
PRETORIA MINUTE, AUG 6TH 1990
• Establishment of Working Groups• Prisoners• Violence• Review of Security Legislation• Paragraph 3 • Unilateral Suspension of armed activity• Establishment of Working Group to deal with above
decision
PARAGRAPH 3 WORKING GROUP REPORT
• The Working Group agreed on the following
• No armed attacks, no infiltration of men or materials, no creation of underground structures, no incitement of violence, no threats of armed action and no training in South Africa• Agreed on the principal that no political party or movement
should have a private army• Recognise that MK is no longer an unlawful organization• Noted the historical fact that MK had weapons and cadres in the
country• Agreed that control over such cadres and arms be excercised• Move towards legalisation and normalisation of arms issues• Security forces must take cognisance of the suspension of armed
action and related activities
SOUTHERN AFRICA: ANC BASES AND WEAPONS
EXTERNAL DISARMAMENT AND VERIFICATION• 1991 process of decommissioning
MKs external arms caches• Weapons surrendered to host
countries• This involved description of
weapons, numbers, and working condition
• Verification by MK Commanders and host Governments
• All external weapons surrendered• Joint secret working groups, MK
and Government
EXTERNAL DISARMAMENT AND VERIFICATION
COPY OF ACTUAL VERIFICATION DOCUMENT
EXTERNAL DISARMAMENT AND VERIFICATION
COPY OF ACTUAL WEAPONS VERIFICATION RECEIPT
NEGOTIATIONS, FRUSTRATION & BREAKDOWN• CODESA I
• Government political point-scoring & Mandela’s response… “Now he is attacking us because we have not dissolved Umkhonto. He is not even telling you, … that we agreed, …at the beginning of this year on Umkhonto we Sizwe. We then had an agreement in terms of which we had to hand over our weapons for joint control by the Government and ourselves, but we linked that to the development of the political process. You are asking us to commit suicide, because when your Government is not prepared to intervene to stop the violence; when the perception amongst our people is that it is elements in the Security Forces that are killing our people; when our people demand to be armed, what political organisation would had over its weapons to the same man who is regarded by people as killing innocent people.”
• Violence, Prisoners, harassment of ANC &MK
• BREAKDOWN
BREAKTHROUGH
• Record of Understanding, Sept 1992
• CODESA II
• November ‘93 Election date
• December 16•Disbanding of MK
• April 27, 1994•First Democratic Elections
ARMS & AMNESTIES
August ‘94•Main stockpile of ANC arms surrendered , 40 trucks worth
October ’94First post-apartheid amnesty to cover activists who had possession of weapons
A number of subsequent amnesties were declared
Integration of armed forces. New Defence Force
Non-Statutory
Demobilisation and Normalisation
LESSONS FROM SOUTH AFRICA
• Peace making is a process fraught with risk and frustration
• Acknowledgement that alternative means, other than armed conflict, need to be pursued
• Political will for a just and equitable solution. Free political activity
• Arms must be removed from the equation, equally so, repression
• Disarmament and decommissioning is a significant part of the process. Directly liked to building confidence in the process
• Must be formalised and verified. Independent/ neutral honest broker