Conflict of June 7, 1998
Map of Guinea-Bissau
| date | June 7, 1998 to May 8, 1999 |
|---|---|
| place | Guinea-Bissau |
| output | Victory of the rebels |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
President of Guinea-Bissau |
Junta Militar led by Ansumané Mané |
| Commander | |
|
|
|
The conflict of June 7, 1998 was a civil war in Guinea-Bissau that was sparked by an attempted coup by Chief of Staff Ansumané Mané against President João Bernardo Vieira . Troops from the two neighboring countries Senegal and Guinea were also involved in the resulting civil war . The clashes took place in several phases, between which there were several ceasefire agreements and periods of relative calm. The civil war ended with the fall of President Vieira on May 8, 1999.
background
The outbreak of the civil war in Guinea-Bissau is to be seen in direct connection with the long-running conflict in the Casamance in southern Senegal. The relationship between Guinea-Bissau and Senegal had been fraught with conflict since independence. On the Guinea-Bissau side, the accusation was that the neighboring country Senegal had not received enough support during the long struggle for independence, while Senegal accused Guinea-Bissau of supporting the Mouvement des forces démocratiques de la Casamance (MFDC). The MFDC rebels traditionally had their refuge in Guinea-Bissau. Due to ethnic and political relationships, which are partly based on mutual support during the Guinean War of Independence, the MFDC rebels were supported by some Guinean groups, including through a lively arms trade. More than 10,000 Senegalese refugees found refuge in northern Guinea-Bissau. From the end of December 1997, Guinea-Bissau stationed over 3,000 soldiers on the border with Senegal, where the MFDC rebels had refuge areas.
The deeper causes must, however, be seen in domestic political disputes, which for their part originate from the time of the struggle for independence or the first phase after independence. Since independence in 1973, the Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) was in power; President Vieira has ruled the country increasingly authoritarian since a coup in 1980. The introduction of a multi-party system in the early 1990s and the first democratic elections in 1994 did not change that. President Vieira had so consolidated his position that he was the undisputed ruler behind a democratic-liberal facade. After independence from Portugal , an urban elite had established itself which knew how to control donations from international donors.
In terms of domestic politics, the preparations for the second parliamentary and presidential elections were on the agenda. As early as 1997, the country suffered from a generally poor social and economic situation. The ruling PAIGC party suffered from internal power struggles, but President Vieira was confirmed as party chairman and candidate for the presidency at the PAIGC's sixth party congress.
In January 1998 the Chief of Staff Ansumane Mané was suspended from office by President Vieira for trading arms with the MFDC. Thereupon Mané raised allegations of corruption against President Vieira. A commission of inquiry should help to clarify. Vieira and Mané were former comrades in arms from the Guinean War of Independence and enjoyed a correspondingly high reputation among the population. Just a few days before Mané's hearing in Parliament, President Vieira installed Humberto Gomes as the new Chief of Staff.
course
Beginning of the fighting and interventions of the neighboring countries Senegal and Guinea
One day after the appointment of Humberto Gomes as the new Chief of Staff, parts of the military attempted a coup on June 7, 1998 under the leadership of Ansumane Mané. He proclaimed himself head of a junta militar demanding Vieira's resignation and free elections. Mané was able to unite more than 90 percent of the 6500 armed forces of Guinea-Bissau , the leading opposition politicians and the absolute majority of the population. On the basis of a military assistance agreement with Senegal and Guinea from 1975, President Vieira requested assistance from them. Just two days later, on June 9, 1998, troops from Senegal and Guinea intervened on behalf of President Vieira, who would not have been able to maintain power without this help. The troop strength from Senegal was given as 1200 to 2500, those from Guinea with 150 to 1000 men.
In the first phase after the outbreak of war, the rebels fought mainly against the Senegalese troops and the presidential guard in the capital Bissau . The rebels had occupied the international airport and the nearby military camp Brá as main bases. After a short time, the rebels controlled over 90 percent of the country.
Around 200,000 to 300,000 civilians, around a quarter of the total population, became refugees in their own country. In the capital Bissau only about 10-15 percent of the otherwise approx. 300,000 inhabitants remained. Most of the refugees found shelter in the nearby provincial capitals or with relatives in the countryside - 73,000 were registered in Cacheu , 72,000 in Bafatá and 30,000 in Gabú . Around 100,000 people are said to have fled near the village of Quinhámel near Bissau. Several thousand people also fled across the border into Guinea. At the beginning of the fighting, the urban elite mainly moved to other European countries. Around 6,000 foreigners, mostly Portuguese, were evacuated abroad.
The members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) discussed on July 3 in Abidjan the deployment of a reaction force of the Economic Community of West African States Cease-Fire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), which, however, will not become active without the support of the UN Security Council wanted to.
A first ceasefire agreement was reached on July 26th with the mediation of Portugal and the Community of Portuguese- Speaking Countries (CPLP) and signed on August 26th in Praia , Cape Verde , in the presence of the CPLP and ECOWAS contact groups. The international airport in Bissau was subsequently opened, making humanitarian aid for the refugees possible. About 2,000 people were killed in the first two months of the war.
Second phase of the fighting
Heavy fighting broke out again in the capital Bissau on October 14th. On October 21, Senegal sent another 1,000 soldiers to Guinea-Bissau; a total of around 3500 Senegalese soldiers were now deployed. The residents, who had already returned during the period of relative calm, had to flee again into the area. Furthermore, the rebels took the second and third largest cities Bafatá and Gabú .
Abuja Peace Accords
With the mediation efforts of ECOWAS, a peace agreement was concluded in Abuja on November 1st , in which a "government of national unity" was agreed for a transitional period. The troops from Senegal and Guinea were to be replaced by units from ECOMOG. Parliamentary and presidential elections were to take place in March 1999.
The implementation of the peace agreement was subsequently delayed. At the end of November, the National People's Assembly of Guinea-Bissau voted unanimously for the resignation of President João Bernardo Vieira; he was accused of involving foreign troops and obstructing humanitarian aid for the refugees. Francisco Fadul , who is close to the junta leader Ansumane Mané, was appointed prime minister on December 3. Although an agreement was reached in December on the distribution of ministries in the transitional government, the swearing-in of the cabinet, which was actually planned for January, was delayed. The deployment of the ECOMOG troops only began shortly before the end of the year with an initial contingent of 80 soldiers from Togo . On January 12, 1999, Prime Minister Fadul formed a "Government of National Unity". As agreed in the Abuja Agreement, the troop withdrawal of the first contingents from Senegal and Guinea began on January 14, 1999.
New struggles are hindering the implementation of the peace agreement
From January 31, 1999, there was renewed fighting between junta loyal and Senegalese troops. These again claimed more than a hundred victims. On February 3, President João Bernardo Vieira and junta leader Ansumane Mané signed another ceasefire agreement in Bissau, but the day after this, serious clashes broke out again between the conflicting parties. Further troop contingents of the ECOMOG were stationed on February 4 with around 300 men from Benin and Niger. The interim government under Prime Minister Francisco Fadul was sworn in on February 20. The withdrawal of the Senegalese and Guinean troops was not completed until the last possible agreed date, March 5th. Senegal had delayed the withdrawal for so long, presumably in order to cut off the MFDC rebels from their areas of retreat. As a result, 5000 rebels in and around Bissau were called to demobilize on March 5 . The ECOMOG troops had been increased to around 600 men by mid-March. The units came mainly from Francophone countries - Vieira had successfully prevented the deployment of troops from the CPLP because he feared that they might shift the conflict settlement to Portugal, which supposedly would have supported General Mané.
On April 16, parliament voted in favor of a criminal case against President Vieira for having been accused of knowing about the arms deals with the MFDC and of not doing anything about them. More serious, however, were the allegations of treason due to the calling of foreign armed forces in an internal conflict, as well as corruption and abuse of power. The parliamentary and presidential elections on May 3rd were set for November 28th, 1999.
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Fighting broke out again and President Vieira was overthrown
After President João Bernardo Vieira did not demobilize his Presidential Guard as agreed, there were renewed clashes between soldiers of the military junta and the Presidential Guard around the presidential palace in the city center between May 6 and 9. President Vieira was overthrown on May 8th and fled to the Portuguese embassy, where he signed the unconditional surrender on May 12th. Vieira later traveled to Portugal via Gambia and France , where he was granted asylum. The military junta, led by Ansumane Mané, also formally took power for a few days. On May 12th, the President of Parliament, Malam Bacai Sanhá, was appointed Interim President. Ansumane Mané was acquitted on May 14th by the parliamentary commission of inquiry of the allegation of arms trafficking with the MFDC.
consequences
The socio-economic consequences of the civil war were devastating. Of the 1.1 million inhabitants of Guinea-Bissau, over 400,000 had become internal refugees. In addition, over 8500 people left the country. Tens of thousands were housed in camps in the vicinity of Bissau. The country's already weak infrastructure was largely destroyed by the war. 5,000 houses were damaged in the capital, the production of industry and services collapsed by 40 percent in 1998, the gross national product fell by almost a third. The national research institute INEP became a symbol of the destruction in the war - the Senegalese troops had chosen it as their main base. Historical holdings in the library and the National Archives were used as fuel, buildings were destroyed and exposed to tropical rain. In addition, other public facilities and hospitals were destroyed - the capital was looted by soldiers from both camps after the residents had fled. Portuguese daily newspapers spoke of around 5,000 dead.
The Guinea-Bissau economy recovered slowly from the civil war and only reached pre-war levels years later. The following years were marked by domestic political unrest; Governments changed and there were several coup attempts. In 2003 and 2009 these were also successful. Free and democratic elections were successfully held in 1999/2000, 2004/2005, 2008 and 2009, but they hardly stabilized the domestic political situation. The UN Security Council installed a Post-Conflict Peace-Building Support Office (UNOGBIS), which is still active in the country today. A reform of the armed forces supported by the European Union between 2008 and 2010 failed. In April 2012 there was another military coup. The country is still in a difficult overall situation in 2015, sixteen years after the end of the civil war.
See also
literature
- Rodrigues, Alexander Reis and Américo Silva Santos: Bissau em Chamas - Junho de 1998 , Casa das Letras 2007, ISBN 978-972-46-1745-9 (Portuguese)
- Augel, Johannes: A new beginning in Guinea-Bissau? , in: Afrika Spectrum 35, 2000, No. 1, pp. 31-40 (PDF; 374 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Cf. Wolfgang Schreiber: Civil War Guinea-Bissau ( Memento from June 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b c d e f Cf. Ute Gebhard: Guinea-Bissau 1998. (PDF; 373 kB) In: R. Hofmeier (Ed.): Afrika Jahrbuch 1998. Leske u. Budrich, Opladen 1999, pp. 109-112.
- ↑ a b John Augel: national crisis, ethnicity and resource conflicts in Guinea-Bissau. ( Memento of the original from December 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 135 kB) Working Paper N ° 309, Bielefeld University, Faculty of Sociology, Bielefeld 1998, ISSN 0936-3408 , p. 3f.
- ^ Temudo, Marina Padrão and Ulrich Schiefer; On the resilience of African agrarian societies in times of war. A case study of the reception of urban refugees in southern Guinea-Bissau; in Peripherie No. 84, 2001, pp. 83–84 ( Memento from December 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 3.9 MB)
- ↑ a b c See Ute Gebhard: Guinea-Bissau 1999. (PDF; 373 kB) In: R. Hofmeier (Hrsg.): Afrika Jahrbuch 1999. Leske u. Budrich, Opladen 2000, pp. 121-123.
