The APSA evolved in the late 1990s , when the African continent was confronted with severe crises such as the civil war in Somalia , which was ongoing since 1991 , and the genocide in Rwanda 1994 . At the same time , the statutes of the Organisation of African Unity ( OAU ) did not allow an intervention in the inner affairs of another state . In order to be able to intervene in situations of severe human rights violations , the member states of the OAU decided to establish the African Union ( AU ) in 2002 . Two years later , the decision to establish the APSA was taken . The signature of the constitutive act of the AU marked a turning point of inner-African relations . Article 4 ( h ) and ( j ) of the constitutive act allows AU member states to intervene in a third state even against the will of the respective government in case of crimes against humanity , such as war crimes and genocide . Therefore , the AU constitutive act is the first treaty under international law , which includes the right to militarily intervene in a third state based on humanitarian reasons , which is today often called a humanitarian intervention . This normative shift increased when the founding protocol of the Peace and Security Council ( PSC ) of the AU came into effect December 26 , 2003 . The protocol defines a broad agenda for peace and security , including central elements such as conflict prevention , early warning , preventive diplomacy , conflict management , peacemaking and peacebuilding as well as support for and development of democratic policies , humanitarian actions and conflict management . Consequently , the PSC founding protocol can be seen as the basis for the APSA . It is the aim of the APSA to provide the AU , the RECs and the RMs with all the instruments necessary to fulfil the tasks and mandate relating from the constitutive act of the AU and the founding protocol of the PSC
genocide in Rwanda
Rwandan genocide
African Peace and Security Architecture