The restoration of peace and stability in Somalia: the critical role of the United Nations and Amisom

Abstract

The research is basically trying to find out the role of United Nations in the restoration peace and stability in Somalia by examining the two previous UN mandated operations, namely United Nations Operations I (UNOSOM I), United Nations Operations II as well as the current African Union Mission In Somalia (AMISOM) as regional arrangement. The main focus is on the legality of those interventions by relying on UN materials such as Resolutions, documents, legally academic articles, among others. The UN interference in the civil war of Somalia in1992 is one of the examples which interpreted internal conflicts as threat to international peace and Security since the word “threat “is not exhaustively defined in the UN Charter. As a result, United Nations Operations in Somalia I (Resolution 751) and United Nations Operations II (Resolution 814) were introduced by the United Nations Security Council under the leadership of the UN unlike US led-Task Force (Resolution 794) which by United States. Unfortunately, the UN Missions in Somalia between 1992 and 1995 had not improved the political situation in Somalia due to a number of reasons discussed in the research but much was achieved in terms of humanitarian aspect. Since then, UN has been politically involved in Somalia through the United Nations Office for Somalia (UNPOS) established in Nairobi (Kenya) 1995 soon after the withdrawal of UN peacekeeping operations from the country. However, 2007 was another turning point in the Somali situation due to deterioration of the security which brought African Union’s attention to interfere in Somalia under the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) (Resolution 1744) which is currently operating in Somalia. Later, it obtained the approval of UN Security Council as required by Chapter VIII of the UN Charter pertaining to regional arrangement. The AMISOM’s Mandate is to protect Transitional Federal Government and promote dialogue among Somali warring factions but so far nothing concrete has been achieved since its inception in 2007. Maintenance of peace is also acknowledged by Islam through the number of Qur,Énic verses and traditions of Prophet MoÍammad (peace be upon him), with regard to treaties like Øul-hudaibiyyah and the peaceful living of Muslims and non-Muslims in MadÊnah as practical aspects of materialising Islamic peace. The research concludes that Somalis must resolve their problem in a way that international community including UN can help them. Having said that, underlying issue is whether there is a possibility for Muslim states to interfere militarily in Somalia in order to maintain peace in the country with the cooperation of UN and other international organizations.