• ARMED CONFLICT: Peace and Conflict 2005: A Global Survey of Armed Conflicts • HUMAN RIGHTS: Human Rights in the OSCE Region Report 2005 • UN REFORM: American Interests and UN Reform: Report of the Task Force on the UN • DISPLACEMENT: 2004 Global Refugee Trends: Overview of Refugee Populations • GENDER: Women's Bodies as a Battleground: Sexual Violence in the DR Congo • NATURAL RESOURCES: Democratic Republic of Congo: The Curse of Gold • NATURAL RESOURCES: Timber, Taylor, Soldier, Spy • DEVELOPMENT: Crime and Development in Africa • TERRORISM: When Wars Collide: The War on Drugs and the Global War on Terror • PEACE OPERATIONS: Mapping the Security Environment • POST-CONFLICT: African Post-Conflict Reconstruction Policy Framework • SMALL ARMS : The G8: Failing to Prevent Irresponsible Arms Transfers ARMED CONFLICT Peace and Conflict 2005: A Global Survey of Armed Conflicts, Self-Determination Movements, and Democracy Center for International Development and Conflict Management Peace and Conflict 2005 is the third edition in the Integrated Network for Societal Conflict Research (INSCR) Program's biennial global report series. This full-color, 100-page global report details major trends in armed conflict, self-determination movements, and democracy through the contemporary era, 1946-2004, and provides a "conflict ledger" assessing each country's "peace-building capacity" in early 2005. The 2005 edition of the report complements the earlier editions by updating the trends and issues raised in the earlier reports, updating its descriptions of the status of major armed conflicts and self-determination movements, and expanding its analysis to include four new issues: trends in ethnic discrimination, 1950-2003; political instability in Africa (including an Africa Instability Ledger); genocides and politicides since 1955; and the social roots of, and general trends, in global terrorism. Continue Reading More on Armed Conflict HUMAN RIGHTS Human Rights in the OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2005 International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights This report, entitled Human Rights in the OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2005 (Events of 2004), publishes the results of research carried out by the member and cooperating committees of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) and by the IHF Secretariat on human rights developments in the majority of the participating states of the Organization on Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In addition, a number of other human rights NGOs and experts have contributed to this report. The aim of this report is to shed light on the OSCE governments’ compliance with their OSCE and other international human rights commitments particularly in the field of civil and political rights. Continue reading More on Human Rights UN REFORM American Interests and UN Reform: Report of the Task Force on the United Nations United States Institute of Peace In December 2004, Congress directed the United States Institute of Peace to establish a Task Force on the United Nations. The 12-member bipartisan Task Force cooperated with the support of leading public policy organizations to assess reforms that would enable the UN to better meet the goals of its 1945 charter and offer Congress an actionable agenda to strengthen the UN. Report recommendations include: (1) Addressing urgently needed internal UN management reform by: establishing a single, very senior official in charge of daily operations and filling the role of Chief Operating Officer; empowering the Secretary General to replace his or her top officials; creating an Independent Oversight Board that has the audit powers to prevent another scandal like Oil-for-Food; (2) Action by the U.S. government to call upon the UN and its members to "affirm a responsibility of every sovereign government to protect its own citizenry and those within its borders from genocide, mass killing, and massive and sustained human rights violations; (3) Abolition of the current UN Human Rights Commission, and establishment of a new Human Rights Council, ideally composed of democracies and dedicated to monitoring, promoting, and enforcing human rights. Continue reading More on International and Regional Organizations DISPLACEMENT 2004 Global Refugee Trends: Overview of Refugee Populations, New Arrivals, Durable Solutions, Asylum-Seekers, Stateless and Other Persons of Concern to UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees This report summarizes global levels and trends in the population of concern to UNHCR: refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless, and others of concern. The data, reported by UNHCR country offices, generally reflect the view of the host country. The total population of concern to UNHCR increased from 17.0 million persons at the end of 2003 to 19.2 million by the end of 2004. Refugees constitute 48 per cent of the total population of concern to UNHCR, down from 56 per cent by end-2003. This is the fourth consecutive year in which the global refugee population has dropped, although not as sharp as in the two previous years. Over the four-year period, the global refugee population has fallen by 24 per cent. In 2004, the Islamic Republic of Iran became the main asylum country, accounting for 11 per cent of all refugees under UNHCR’s mandate. Afghanistan continues to be by far the largest country of origin of refugees under UNHCR care. By the end of 2004, 2.1 million Afghan refugees were reported by 78 asylum countries, constituting 23 per cent of the global refugee population. Continue reading More on Refugees and Internally Displaced People SEXUAL VIOLENCE Women's Bodies as a Battleground: Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls During the War in the Democratic Republic of Congo International Alert History has shown that there is a link between war and the control of women’s sexuality and of their productive and reproductive capacities through rape, sexual harassment and prostitution.1 This is particularly true of the war that has raged since 1996 in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where sexual violence and abuse against women and girls has been, and continues to be, committed on a large scale. This report shows how women and girls have been exploited as producers and reproducers both in order to maintain the fighters and ensure their day-to-day survival as well as to provide them with sexual services. Acts of sexual violence have been committed by combatants on all sides. Despite the considerable progress made on the political front in the DRC since the end of 2002, with the ratification of various peace accords and the establishment of a transitional government in June 2003, political and administrative reunification has not been fully achieved. The security situation remains worrying in the east of the country, where acts of sexual violence are still taking place. There have been reports of many cases of rape following the brutal events that shook South Kivu in May–June 2004. Continue reading More on Gender and Security NATURAL RESOURCES Democratic Republic of Congo: The Curse of Gold Human Rights Watch The northeast corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is home to one of Africa’s richest goldfields. Competition to control the gold mines and trading routes has spurred the bloody conflict that has gripped this area since the start of the Congolese war in 1998 and continues to the present. Soldiers and armed group leaders, seeing control of the gold mines as a way to money, guns, and power, have fought each other ruthlessly, often targeting civilians in the process. Combatants under their command carried out widespread ethnic slaughter, executions, torture, rape and arbitrary arrest, all grave human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. More than sixty thousand people have died due to direct violence in this part of Congo alone. Rather than bringing prosperity to the people of northeastern Congo, gold has been a curse to those who have the misfortune to live there. This report documents human rights abuses linked to efforts to control two key gold mining areas, Mongbwalu (Ituri District) and Durba (Haut Uélé District), both bordering Uganda. Continue reading More on Natural Resources and Armed Conflict NATURAL RESOURCES Timber, Taylor, Soldier, Spy Global Witness Insufficient reform of Liberia’s diamond and timber industries and failure to adequately control areas rich in natural resources have resulted in their continued exploitation and threat to regional peace and security. Recently there has been an explosion of diamond mining with little or no oversight; the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) lacks the capacity to enforce domestic forestry laws, enabling virtually uncontrolled logging by ex-combatants and businessmen; and numerous rubber plantations, which have been occupied by armed ex-combatants for some time, continue to tap and sell rubber. The failure of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and National Transitional Government (NTGL) government to adequately assume control of Liberia’s interior and border regions has allowed for the continued cross-border movement of such resources in violation of UN sanctions, as well as the trafficking of weapons and mercenaries that is undermining an already tenuous regional peace. While the forestry and diamond industry reform programmes have progressed, the requirements set forth Security Council Resolution 1521 (S/2003/1521) have clearly not been fulfilled and as such timber and diamond sanctions should remain in place. Continue reading More on Natural Resources and Armed Conflict DEVELOPMENT AND CRIMINAL VIOLENCE Crime and Development in Africa United Nations Office and Drugs and Crime This report focuses on establishing two simple points: (1) All available evidence suggests that Africa has a serious crime problem; and (2) there is good reason to believe that this crime problem is undermining development efforts. The intent of this Report is to make the case for including crime prevention in development planning, as discussed in Chapter Three. While it appears that Africa may have one of the most serious crime problems in the world, it is the crime problem about which the least is known. Crime figures, especially survey-based statistics, need to be seen as important development indicators, both in themselves and as possible impediments to economic progress. Once the crime situation in Africa is better understood, good practices that have worked in preventing crime in other areas can be appropriately adapted to the continent. Understanding the dynamics between conflict, crime, corruption and development constitutes an important part of this process, with a view to addressing what appears to be an under-appreciated source of suffering in Africa. Continue reading More on Development and Security and Criminal Violence TERRORISM When Wars Collide: The War on Drugs and the Global War on Terror Center for Contemporary Conflict The United States currently finds itself in two such “wars”—the War on Drugs declared by President Nixon and the much more recent Global War on Terror declared by President Bush. These two wars are connected in that in some cases illegal drugs are being used to fund terrorist activities—a problem that is likely to grow over time. Indeed, in some cases these two wars have become almost merged, as in the South American state of Colombia. In others, like Afghanistan, the long-term linkages are difficult to ignore. The purpose of this article is to examine the intersection of these two “wars” by looking at two cases which fall into both: Colombia and Afghanistan. The purpose of this comparison is to detail the degree to which lessons can be learned about the current state of both politics and policy vis-à-vis these two exceptionally important areas of U.S. foreign policy. This study examines the difficulty of dealing with the terms “terrorism” in the first main section and then moves to case-specific discussions of Colombia and Afghanistan. From there the implications of the confluence of drugs and terrorism are discussed in broader terms. Continue reading More on Terrorism and Criminal Violence PEACE OPERATIONS Mapping the Security Environment: Understanding the Perceptions of Local Communities, Peace Support Operations, and Assistance Agencies Feinstein International Famine Center This report examines perceptions of security amoung three sets of actors: peace support operations (PSOs), assistance agencies (AAs), and local populations in or recovering from crisis. The research made three major findings. First, perceptions of security differ significantly among the three sets of actors. The second finding is that perceptions of security differ signficantly within the three sets of actors. Third, perceptions evolve significantly over time. The report proposes the concepts of physical and human security and of negative and postive peace as a framework for understanding the differing perceptions of security encountered. Physical security is understood to involve protection from harm and abuse, while human security encompasses a broader range of 'quality of life' elements. Negative peace is understood to mean the absence of outright conflict, whereas positive peace connotes a situation in which the root causes of conflict are being effectively addressed. Local populations in each of the three settings articulated a strong sense that such security and peace as has achieved could evaporate quickly if peace were not consolidated and the institutions of civil society not promptly nututred. Continue reading More on Peace Operations and Post-Confict Reconstruction POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION African Post-Conflict Reconstruction Policy Framework New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) The African Post-Conflict Reconstruction Policy Framework was developed through a braod consultative process facilitated by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Secretariat. The Policy framework sets out an agenda for post-conflict reconstruction which aims to, among other things, address the nexus between peace, security, humanitarian and development dimensions of post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding. The framework intends to encourage an overall state of mutual consistency among the policies and programmes of, on the one hand, the African Union/NEPAD, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Member States, civil society and the financial and private sector in Africa, and on the other hand, the various international institutions, agencies, governments, NGOs and private contractors that constitute the external actors in the post-conflict reconstruction system. This policy framework provides a common platform for the diverse range of actors involved in post-conflict reconstruction systems to conceptualise, organise and prioritise policy responses. Continue reading More on Peace Operations and Post-Conflict Reconstruction SMALL ARMS The G8: Global Arms Exporters - Failing to Prevent Irresponsible Arms Transfers Control Arms Campaign The international arms trade lacks effective control. Irresponsible arms transfers continue to fuel armed violence. They contribute to violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and they undermine development. The uncontrolled proliferation of conventional arms, particularly small arms and light weapons, has taken a terrible toll on communities worldwide. The cost in lost lives, lost livelihoods and lost opportunities to escape poverty is incalculable. Arms deliveries were worth some US$28.7 billion worldwide in 2003 – a paltry sum compared to the human, security and development costs. Yet, contrary to their responsibilities and legal obligations, the G8 countries - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the UK and the USA - are still supplying weapons and munitions to irresponsible end users. Six of the eight G8 countries are among the top 10 largest global arms exporters, and all of the eight export large amounts of major conventional weapons or small arms. So the G8 has a particular responsibility to help create an effective system of global control of arms transfers. Continue reading More on Small Arms, Light Weapons and Landmines Compiled by Robert Hartfiel Human Security Research is produced by the Human Security Centre at the Liu Institute for Global Issues at UBC. The Human Security Centre produces the annual Human Security Report and is funded by the governments of Canada, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. For more information on human security visit the Human Security Gateway, an online research and information database that contains a broad range of human security-related resources. To subscribe to Human Security Research , send an email to hsc.list@ubc.ca with 'subscribe HS Research' in the subject field or click here. To unsubscribe, please reply to this message with 'unsubscribe HS Research' in the subject heading. |
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