• INTERNATIONAL LAW: The Gacaca Process: Eradicating the Culture of Impunity in Rwanda? • ARMED CONFLICT: The Colombian Conflict: Regional Impact and Policy Responses • GOVERNANCE: Zimbabwe's Operation Murambatsvina: The Tipping Point? • CONFLICT RESOLUTION: No More Hills Ahead? The Sudan’s Tortuous Ascent to Heights of Peace • TERRORISM: Global Jihad, Sectarianism and the Madrassahs in Pakistan • NATURAL RESOURCES: The Impact of Water Conflicts on Pastoral Livelihoods in Kenya • HUMAN RIGHTS: Genocide in West Papua • SMALL ARMS: SALW and Private Security Companies in South Eastern Europe • PEACE OPERATIONS: "Rehatting" ECOWAS Forces as UN Peacekeepers: Lessons Learned • HEALTH AND SECURITY: Nothing New in Ituri: The Violence Continues INTERNATIONAL LAW The Gacaca Process: Eradicating the Culture of Impunity in Rwanda? Institute for Security Studies Eleven years have passed since as many as one million people were killed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. During that time several initiatives aimed at bringing the perpetrators of the genocide to justice have been under way. These include the efforts of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) headquartered in Arusha, as well as the efforts of Rwanda’s own justice system. The latter began prosecuting genocide-related crimes in 1996, and it soon became apparent that the Rwandan judicial system was incapable of handling the volume of cases involved. Faced with this stark reality, the Rwandan government began to look for other ways of bringing to justice the perpetrators of the genocide. These efforts culminated in the promulgation on 26 January 2001 of the law creating the gacaca jurisdictions tasked with investigating and prosecuting crimes committed between 1 October 1990 and 31 December 1994. Implicit in the concept of eradicating the culture of impunity in Rwanda in order to eliminate the possibility of another genocide, is the fear that it may happen again. Certainly the competing needs for justice and reconciliation present a serious challenge to nation building in the post-genocide era, and raise questions surrounding the definition of ‘justice’ itself. Yet, if justice is perceived as one-sided, or as being influenced by the political considerations of one group, past resentments will fester and grow. Reconciliation must be inclusive in order to achieve the aim of lasting national reconciliation. Continue Reading More on International Law, Justice and Accountability ARMED CONFLICT The Colombian Conflict: Regional Impact and Policy Responses Washington Office on Latin America Colombia’s internal armed conflict is nearly fifty years old. It has outlasted the cold war and persisted in spite of repeated attempts to negotiate peace, some of which succeeded in decommissioning insurgent groups. The conflict has co-existed with formally democratic institutions, but political exclusion has been a major cause of the violence. Colombia is a middle-income country with a wealth of natural resources, yet nearly 60 percent of the population lives in poverty. The country has one of the most progressive constitutions and one of the most innovative constitutional courts in Latin America, and has ratified virtually every international and regional human rights treaty. Yet drug trafficking and corruption are pervasive, and the Colombian government’s human rights record remains among the worst in the western hemisphere. Continue reading More on Armed Conflict GOVERNANCE Zimbabwe's Operation Murambatsvina: The Tipping Point? Crisis Group With its brutal slum and street clearance campaign "Murambatsvina", Zimbabwe's governance has reached a low point which it is now almost impossible for its neighbours to ignore, despite the reluctance until now of African governments and institutions to be openly critical. The recent UN report has exposed the regime's brutality and confronted the international community, not least elsewhere in Africa, with its responsibility to protect the people of Zimbabwe. International action is essential, not only urgent measures to help deal with the humanitarian consequences of the mass evictions and forced displacement, but also longer range ones to deal with the fundamental governance problem. Real reform requires efforts on three parallel tracks: maintenance of overt international pressure, support for building internal political capacity and, above all, active regional diplomacy to facilitate political transition. Continue reading More on Governance and Security CONFLICT RESOLUTION No More Hills Ahead? The Sudan’s Tortuous Ascent to Heights of Peace Clingendael Institute This paper provides a thorough narrative and analysis of the Sudan peace process with a special focus on the role and effectiveness of third-party actors. The first chapter provides a historical overview of the causes, dynamics and key stakeholders of the Sudan’s civil wars. The second chapter examines the various peace initiatives on the Sudan, from the failed regional attempts of the 1990s to renewed US engagement in the aftermath of '9/11'. The third chapter is devoted to the 30-month negotiation process and analyses in particular the impact of the crisis in Darfur. The fourth chapter provides a detailed commentary of the provisions, but also the loopholes and limitations of the peace agreement. To conclude, this paper draws key lessons in the realm of contemporary peacemaking, and sheds light on a number of peace implementation challenges that international actors interested in the Sudan will soon face. Continue reading More on Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking TERRORISM Global Jihad, Sectarianism and the Madrassahs in Pakistan Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies In the wake of terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, discussions on ties between Islamic religious educational instituteions, namely Madrassahs, and radical militant groups have featured prominently in the western media. However, in the frenzied coverage of events, a vital quesiton has been overlooked; why have Islamic education Insitutions whose traditions date back thousands of years been transformed so drastically? This Paper attempts to seek an answer to this question through an examination of Madrassahs in Pakistan. Pakistan has seen a phenomenal increas in Islamic relgious schools since its independence. The paper argues that while encouragements from successive regimes, an unremitting flow of foreing funds (especially from Saudi Arabia), and the absence of governmental oversight are the principal factors in the dramatic rise in the nubmers, the transformation of Madrassahs into schools of militancy and the recruiting grounds of global 'Jihadists' is intrinsically linked to the setarianism prevalent in Pakistan. Continue reading More on Terrorism NATURAL RESOURCES The Impact of Water Conflicts on Pastoral Livelihoods: The Case of Wajir District in Kenya International Institute for Sustainable Development Conflicts over water are not new to pastoralists’ communities. Traditionally, the various pastoral communities and clans conducted raids and counter raids as an organized and governed survival mechanism, especially during periods of severe drought. Once conflicts occurred, there were socially defined and acceptable ways of negotiating or fighting. But of late, the use of modern weaponry and a growing lack of respect for the traditional rules have greatly increased the intensity, fatality and extent of these conflicts. This report describes and analyzes relationships between natural resource-based conflicts and pastoral livelihoods in Wajir District, Kenya. The main question that the research set out to answer is “what livelihood opportunities are lost to people when they spend their time and resources managing waterrelated conflicts?” To answer the research question, the study aimed to understand the socio-economic characteristics of the study area; governance of water resources; water-related conflicts and their management; and to analyze relationships between the limited water resources, arising conflicts and their impact on the people’s assets and capabilities to earn a livelihood. Continue reading More on Natural Resources and Armed Conflict HUMAN RIGHTS Genocide in West Papua Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney The report details a series of concerns which, if not acted upon, may pose serious threats to the survival of the indigenous people of the Indonesian province of Papua. It covers the threats posed by the Indonesian military to the province’s stability, the recent increase in large scale military campaigns which are decimating highland tribal communities, the HIV/AIDS explosion and persistent Papuan underdevelopment in the face of a rapid and threatening demographic transition in which the Papuans face becoming a minority in their own land. Military operations have led to thousands of deaths in Papua and continue to costs lives, yet the Republic’s armed forces act as a law unto themselves with no real accountability for crimes against the Papuan population. The report discusses a number of areas of Indonesian security forces involvement, including: illegal logging and corrupt infrastructure and construction work; destabilization and manipulation of local politics, and orchestration of attacks blamed on pro-Papuan independence groups; the introduction of illegal arms and militia training and recruitment; and prostitution and the spread of HIV/AIDS. Continue reading More on Human Rights SMALL ARMS SALW and Private Security Companies in South Eastern Europe: A Cause or Effect of Insecurity? South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons // International Alert This report surveys the development, conduct and regulation of the private security industry in the eight countries currently party to the European Union’s Stability Pact for South East Europe. The privatization of security in the region that followed the end of Communism in the early 1990s mirrors a global trend in which security roles that traditionally fell exclusively within the realm of the state have been gradually outsourced to private actors. This report surveys the development, conduct and regulation of the private security industry in the eight countries currently party to the European Union’s Stability Pact for South East Europe. The privatization of security in the region that followed the end of Communism in the early 1990s mirrors a global trend in which security roles that traditionally fell exclusively within the realm of the state have been gradually outsourced to private actors. Continue reading More on Small Arms, Light Weapons and Landmines PEACE OPERATIONS "Rehatting" ECOWAS Forces as UN Peacekeepers: Lessons Learned United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations This paper reviews the “re-hatting” experiences of ECOWAS forces to UN forces in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. Though the re-hatting of ECOWAS forces has greatly enhanced the peace processes in the three Western African countries, a number of challenges have been encountered related to the preparedness, the transformation and the command and control of the forces. The paper concludes that in all three cases where the UN took over from ECOWAS, the UN was unprepared for an orderly transformation of ECOWAS forces into UN forces. In addition, the absence of true joint planning meant that the planning process was aimed at solving specific short term issues of deployment, sustainment or capability rather than taking a broader approach that linked the transition to longer term objectives. Continue reading More on Peace Operations and Post-Conflict Reconstruction HEALTH AND SECURITY Nothing New in Ituri: The Violence Continues Médecins Sans Frontières In Ituri District in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the violence carried out by the large number of different armed groups is felt mainly by the civilian population. Direct confrontations between rival factions are not the most common type of clashes. Quite the contrary. Looting, murder, massacre, kidnapping, rape, torture, and humiliation are the kinds of violence inflicted by armed fighters on all sides. The violence also has indirect consequences that clearly threaten the survival of civilians: being forcibly displaced, having their belongings searched, being kept from farming or fishing, and being forced to flee into the forest and live there in unimaginably precarious conditions. Other civilians have sought refuge in gathering areas that are often overpopulated, have unacceptable living conditions, lack food supplies, and have seen the outbreak of epidemics such as cholera and measles. MSF teams have witnessed this violence every day since their return to Bunia town in 2003. Recently, in June 2005, two MSF employees were kidnapped and subjected to direct physical and psychological violence for ten days. Following this incident, MSF had no other choice but to withdraw its teams from the outskirts of Bunia, thus leaving 100’000 displaced people as well as the resident population in a precarious situation. Continue reading More on Health and Security 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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