East African Community (EAC)
Website: http://www.eac.int
Formation and Structure
The EAC is a regional intergovernmental organization aimed at promoting cooperation in political, economic, and social sectors. Although Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania have engaged in numerous cooperation agreements over the course of the 20th century, the current EAC was formally established in a treaty signed in Arusha on November 30, 1999.
Member States
The EAC consists of 5 member states: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda.
Counterterrorism Mandate
Although the founding treaty makes no specific mention of counterterrorism as an area of cooperation among its members, the three founding heads’ of state (Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda) did agree in a 1999 memorandum of understanding to set up a mechanism to deal with terrorism in the region.
Intergovernmental Counterterrorism Committee or Working Group
The EAC created a terrorism and counterterrorism task force to study the national, regional, and international legal framework relating to counterterrorism and the protection of human rights. Given the divergence of laws and policies in this area among EAC partner states, the task force has proposed the development of a framework that would seek their harmonization.
Secretariat Resources
Currently, the EAC Secretariat’s counterterrorism portfolio is split between the Peace and Security and the Defense Sectors in the secretariat. According to a senior EAC Secretariat official, the EAC will soon establish a Directorate of Peace and Security, which will include a “fully-fledged unit to deal with issues of counterterrorism in the region.” Email correspondence with the EAC Secretariat, 20 November 2007.
Achievements
While a specific counterterrorism mechanism has not yet been put into place, the EAC has developed a number of counterterrorism programs under the aegis of cooperation on “political matters, and legal and judicial affairs” and devised an “East African Community Strategy on Combating Terrorism in East Africa.” The strategy calls on member states to exchange information on terrorism, enhance border security, and establish a regional forensic center.
In addition, the EAC has developed a number of programs that are relevant to the implementation of the UN Strategy, including an Operational Programme for Combating Terrorism under the auspices of the EAC Chiefs of Police Meetings.
Recent/Planned Activity
In September 2007, EAC member states signed a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation, which has resulted in activities aimed at countering the trafficking and proliferation of small arms and light weapons in addition to improving regional police cooperation in combating cross-border crime.
In February 2008, the first regional meeting of the Heads of National Human Rights Commissions of the EAC Partner States was held in Arusha. The meeting aimed to promote and protect human rights within the region and put forth a strategic 3-year plan of action that included an EAC Bill of Rights with mechanisms for enforcement and a call for greater capacity-building efforts for national institutions. While the priority issue of the organization remains economic integration, efforts to address human rights or other security related issues work to combat some of the conditions conducive to terrorism.