PREFACE

Published in Monograph No 83, April 2003

Sustaining the Peace in Angola
An Overview of Current Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration

João Gomes and Imogen Parsons

Demilitarisation of conflict and society is crucial to building sustainable peace in countries emerging from the scourge of civil war. As longstanding conflicts come to an end, a variety of approaches are adopted by international agencies and national governments aimed at supporting processes that facilitate this potentially volatile transition from formal peace to social peace. At the heart of the exercise is the necessity of transforming the instruments of war—and in particular combatants themselves—from soldiers to citizens as well as ridding the wider society of armaments. Thus the process of demilitarisation involves not only a political commitment from the leadership to end hostilities but, if it is to lead to sustained peace, a deeper commitment at a social level amongst individuals (perpetrators of conflict) and communities (supporters or victims of conflict) to move beyond the identities and emblems which serve to perpetuate hostilities. The emergence of a new social contract in post-conflict societies is a vital step towards to re-legitimising the institutions of governance through democratic elections.

However, demilitarisation and democratisation are only possible when constituent elements of society are able to function fully as citizens. Ex-soldiers and their families, while numerically small relative to other vulnerable groups such as IDPs, are not only potentially disruptive elements in the aftermath of war but their reintegration back into society can serve as a litmus test of degree of reconciliation in a post-conflict situation. Social acceptance and economic activity form part of the basis for this reconciliation but these factors must be accompanied by some form of political participation for reintegration to be considered complete. The sublimation of the instinctive resort to arms when conflict rears its head and its substitution by the ‘cut and thrust’ of parliamentary debate and judicial appeals is the key indicator that a democratic peace has been achieved.

The challenges of demilitarisation are most starkly evident in the case of Angola. No other ‘post-conflict’ situation has been host to all the complexities of reintegration and the variety of experiences, ranging from the UN-inspired programme to joint foreign-national efforts (and most recently outright neglect), which accompany that volatile process. In the wake of the death of UNITA’s leader, Jonas Savimbi, in February 2002 and the signing of a cease-fire agreement two months later, formal peace has been established at last in Angola. The first step towards demilitarisation, cantonment, disarmament and demobilisation of combatants, was completed by October 2002. Social peace, however, remains an elusive objective. In particular the failure to follow up demobilisation with the adoption of reintegration strategies that facilitate the insertion of individual ex-combatants (and their families) back into local communities is deeply troubling. Given the brutal nature of the civil war in its waning days, which involved FAA military operations pursuing a ‘scorched earth’ policy to wrench guerrillas from their support base while the increasingly isolated UNITA forces engaged in savage responses, local communities were further alienated from Angolan combatants. Thus, the reintegration of hundreds of thousands of UNITA and FAA ex-combatants back into society without the benefit of substantive support for individual soldiers or host communities is highly problematic and, potentially, seriously disruptive of the long terms aims of achieving social stability.

João Porto and Imogen Parsons have provided a vital ‘road map’ to current efforts aimed at achieving peaceful demilitarisation in Angola. Through their carefully considered study of the dynamics involved in a complex phenomena—made doubly so by institutional density, shifting agendas on the part of various agents and the difficulties of conducting field research in such a vast setting—the authors have presented as complete a picture as is possible of the ongoing demobilisation and reintegration process. For those practitioners and scholars (and I count myself amongst them) concerned with deepening of the peace process in Angola, this study gives us the requisite data, tools and insights to begin to understand the contemporary situation and sets the stage for analysis of the next steps needed to rid Angola of the bitter legacy of war. The authors should be highly commended for this fine study and their work will make compulsive reading for all those engaged in understanding the role of demilitarisation in securing peace.

Dr Chris Alden
London School of Economics
17 February 2003