• DISPLACEMENT: Protracted Refugee Situations and Peacebuilding • GENDER: Sexual Violence by Rebels and Pro-Government Forces in Côte d’Ivoire • GOVERNANCE: Ungoverned Territories: Understanding and Reducing Terrorism Risks • INTERNATIONAL LAW: Making Peace Our Own: Victims Perceptions of Accountability • PEACE OPERATIONS: Negotiation in the New Strategic Environment: Lessons from Iraq • POST-CONFLICT: Post-Conflict Borders and UN Peace Operations • TERRORISM: Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat • CONFLICT RESOLUTION: Burundi: Finalising Peace with the FNL • PEACE OPERATIONS: Maximum or Minimum? Options for Democratisation in Peace Operations • CHILDREN: Forum on Armed Groups and the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict • DISPLACEMENT: Security, Displacement and Iraq: A Deadly Combination • CRIMINAL VIOLENCE: Afghanistan Opium Survey 2007 DISPLACEMENT: Protracted Refugee Situations and Peacebuilding United Nations University Despite the need for a multifaceted approach to protracted refugee situations, the overall response of policy makers remains compartmentalised. Security, development and humanitarian issues tend to be discussed in different forums, each with their own institutional arrangements and independent policy approaches. Meaningful comprehensive solutions for protracted refugee situations must overcome these divisions and instead incorporate the recent policy initiatives of a wide range of actors. This type of broader engagement—with a catalytic role by UNHCR—cannot occur without the sustained engagement of all branches of the UN system. In this way, the establishment of the UN Peacebuilding Commission provides both a timely opportunity and a possible institutional context for this type of cross-sectoral approach. It is increasingly recognized that refugees can make a significant contribution to peacebuilding in their country of origin. In a statement to the UN Security Council on 24 January 2006, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees noted that “refugees return with schooling and new skills… Over and over, we see that their participation is necessary for the consolidation of both peace and post-confl ict economic recovery”. Continue Reading More on Displacement GENDER: “My Heart Is Cut”: Sexual Violence by Rebels and Pro-Government Forces in Côte d’Ivoire Human Rights Watch Pro-government and rebel forces in Côte d’Ivoire have subjected thousands of women and girls to rape and other brutal sexual assaults with impunity, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. Despite recent progress in the peace process, the latest accord fails to address this widespread sexual violence or the need for accountability. The 135-page report, “My Heart is Cut": Sexual Violence by Rebels and Pro-Government Forces in Côte d’Ivoire, details the widespread nature of sexual violence throughout the five-year military-political crisis. The report, which is based on interviews with more than 180 victims and witnesses, documents how women and girls have been subjected to individual and gang rape, sexual slavery, forced incest and other egregious sexual assaults. Determining the full extent of the problem of sexual violence is complicated by difficulties in documentation arising from the fear of perpetrator reprisals, the authorities’ lack of concern, and tremendous security risks associated with reporting or investigating crimes. Underreporting poses an additional problem, and partly reflects the low status of women and girls in Côte d’Ivoire, the cultural taboos around the issue of sexual violence, and women’s fear of rejection by family or communities. Continue reading More on Gender GOVERNANCE: Ungoverned Territories: Understanding and Reducing Terrorism Risks RAND Corporation Ungoverned territories — failed or failing states or ungoverned areas within otherwise viable states — generate all manner of security problems and can become terrorist sanctuaries. Using a two-tiered framework areas applied to eight case studies from around the globe, the authors seek to understand the conditions that give rise to ungoverned territories and what makes some ungoverned territories more conducive to a terrorist or insurgent presence than others. On the basis of this ground-breaking analytical work, they identify three types of ungoverned territories and their effects on U.S. security interests and develop strategies to improve the U.S. ability to mitigate these effects. To examine these cases, the authors identified two dimensions that provide the basic framework for the analysis. They refer to these dimensions as ungovernability and conduciveness to terrorist or insurgent presence. Ungovernability means that, in these regions, the state is unable or unwilling to perform its functions. This is not to say that these territories are devoid of governance. Rather, the structures of authority that do exist are not related to the formal institutions of the state. Continue reading More on Governance INTERNATIONAL LAW: Making Peace Our Own: Victims Perceptions of Accountability United Nations High Commissioners for Human Rights The purpose of this research study is to explore perceptions among northern Ugandans on themes of accountability, reconciliation and transitional justice. After a more than 20-year conflict between the Ugandan Government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), current negotiations in Juba, southern Sudan, represent the best-ever opportunity for a lasting peace. Central to the talks are questions of the most appropriate accountability and reconciliation processes to address crimes committed during the conflict and to help reconstruct the fabric of Ugandan society. This research study is designed to contribute to discussions on these themes in Juba, in Ugandan society and internationally. Underlying the study is a belief that the Ugandan population’s views – and especially those of victims of the conflict – have often been overlooked in debates about accountability, reconciliation and transitional justice. Consequently, many discussions have become disconnected from the needs and perspectives of the people most affected by the conflict, who are also likely to be key actors in any future accountability and reconciliation processes. This study aims to amplify victims’ voices and to interpret the social, cultural and political significance of popular perceptions. Continue reading More on International Law, Justice, and Accountability PEACE OPERATIONS: Negotiation in the New Strategic Environment: Lessons from Iraq U.S. Army War College In stability, security, transition, and reconstruction (SSTR) operations like the U.S. mission in Iraq, negotiation is a common activity. By training its leaders, especially junior ones, to negotiate effectively, the U.S. military will be better prepared to succeed in the increasingly complex operations it is conducting—in Iraq as well as the ones it will face in the new strategic environment of the 21st century. This monograph analyzes the U.S. Army’s current predeployment negotiation training and compares it with the negotiating experience of U.S. Army and Marine Corps officers deployed to Iraq. The author argues that successfully adapting to the nature of the contemporary operating environment requires changes that include increased training in negotiation. Based on interviews with U.S. officers, the author identifies three key elements of negotiation in SSTR operations and offers recommendations for U.S. soldiers to consider when negotiating with local Iraqi leaders; for U.S. military trainers to consider when reviewing their predeployment negotiation training curriculum; and for the Army and Marine Corps training and doctrine commands to consider when planning and structuring predeployment training. Continue reading More on Peace Operations POST-CONFLICT: Post-Conflict Borders and UN Peace Operations Henry L. Stimson Center Post-Conflict Borders and UN Peace Operations examines current gaps in and new opportunities for improving UN peace operations' approach to border security in their mission areas, supporting higher priority for border management in future peace operations mandates and recommending better coordination in border and customs assistance programs. This study is in two parts: part one stresses that planning for UN operations continues to underappreciate the need to address total border management in peacekeeping mandates. Part one outlines the key issues, surveys global border security and customs/export control assistance programs, addresses training needs, and outlines critical challenges ahead for efforts to improve border management in post-conflict environments and in particular, those where UN peace operations have the job of keeping the peace ad interim. Although some current operations patrol the borders of their host state, only the operations in Kosovo and Timor-Leste went beyond basic security to assist post-conflict states in collecting revenue from duties on cross-border trade - a key early source of self-funding for such states. Continue reading More on Post-Conflict Reconstruction TERRORISM: Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat New York City Police Department While terrorism has been with us for centuries, the destructive power and global reach of modern terrorism is unprecedented. This study is an attempt to look at how that intention forms, hardens and leads to an attack or attempted attack using real world case studies. While the threat from overseas remains, many of the terrorist attacks or thwarted plots against cities in Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States have been conceptualized and planned by local residents/citizens who sought to attack their country of residence. The majority of these individuals began as "unremarkable" - they had "unremarkable" jobs, had lived "unremarkable" lives and had little, if any criminal history. The recently thwarted plot by homegrown jihadists, in May 2007, against Fort Dix in New Jersey, only underscores the seriousness of this emerging threat. Understanding this trend and the radicalization process in the West that drives "unremarkable" people to become terrorists is vital for developing effective counterstrategies. The aim of this report is to assist policymakers and law enforcement officials, both in Washington and throughout the country, by providing a thorough understanding of this threat. Continue reading More on Terrorism CONFLICT RESOLUTION: Burundi: Finalising Peace with the FNL International Crisis Group Burundi has made relatively rapid, substantial progress in democracy and easing of inter-ethnic tensions, due to its citizens desire to embrace national unity and compromise, as well as the international community's heavy involvement in the Arusha peace process. Integration of former government security forces and CNDD-FDD rebels in a new national defence force contributed significantly to consolidating peace. However, the peace process remains fragile. To move beyond the long civil war, strengthen democratic institutions and ensure respect for the rule of law, a genuine peace agreement is needed with the PALIPEHUTU-FNL, the last active rebel group, which is not strong enough to fight a new war but remains a power in most western provinces. This requires a new commitment by the government to a negotiated solution, not a military one, and a revived facilitation effort especially by regional states. The country needs a genuine peace agreement to put the conflict behind it. If not addressed before the end of this year, the lack of peace could become a destabilising factor in preparations for the 2010 elections and serve as a pretext for limitations on political freedoms during the campaign. The international community should mobilise immediately to prevent further deterioration. Continue reading More on Conflict Resolution PEACE OPERATIONS: Maximum or Minimum? Policy Options for Democratisation Initiatives in UN Peace Operations Norwegian Institute of International Affairs This report aims at a preliminary stocktaking of UN efforts in the sphere of democratisation, while also highlighting two policy options or 'ideal type' strategies related to democratisation. One - a minimum policy option - holds that the UN should give priority to security in peace operations. Apart from ensuring the formation of a national government through a consultative process or national elections, the UN should postpone wider democratisation efforts. The other - a maximum policy option - encourages the UN to seize the momentum that a UN peacebuilding intervention may generate and take comprehensive steps to facilitate democratisation through, among other things: conducting national and local elections; encouraging the introduction of good governance, democratic practices and rule of law in government institutions at central and local levels; and, importantly, invigorating the formal and informal elements of civil society. Both policy options carry significant risks. This report presents findings from two recent peace operations: East Timor and Afghanistan. While both operations produced significant achievements, they also represent important failures. Strategic clarity, prioritisation and better sequencing of efforts will need to be improved if the UN is to achieve its ambitious peacebuilding and democracy agenda. Continue reading More on Peace Operations CHILDREN: International Forum on Armed Groups and the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict: Summary of Themes and Discussions Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers This report contains an overview of the thematic discussions, working groups and other reflections which occurred during the forum on children's involvement in armed groups held in Chateau de Bossey, Celigny, Switzerland in July 2006 by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (the Coalition). Four key themes emerged from the forum (the legal framework that applies to armed groups and accountability; the challenges of engaging with armed groups; community engagement and mobilization; and international advocacy) and this report provides their overview, reflecting on some of the key points raised by speakers and participants and the ways in which this has informed the Coalition's own thinking on approaches to armed groups. It includes selected examples of specific initiatives that participants have taken to approach armed groups on the issue of child soldiers. In addition to these thematic issues, participants agreed that a more coordinated approach to addressing armed groups was necessary. At a minimum, a greater degree of information sharing between different actors is needed both about the general situation and the armed group itself, but also about the mandates, objectives and working methods of organizations, institutions or other actors engaging with the armed groups. Locally-based groups, in particular, appealed for international actors to consult more closely with them when designing and implementing strategies in the field. Continue reading More on Children and Armed Conflict DISPLACEMENT: Security, Displacement and Iraq: A Deadly Combination Brookings Institution This study examines the relationship between security and displacement in Iraq by first exploring implications of the large-scale displacement on Iraq's domestic security. It then considers the impact of the external displacement on the security of two of Iraq's neighbors: Jordan and Syria. For Iraq, national security is compromised by both refugee flows and internal displacement. The exodus of Iraq's professionals has led to severe brain drain, hitting the health, education, and government sectors particularly hard. This will have serious implications for Iraq's ability to rebuild the country when the violence decreases. Internal displacement is resulting in ethnic and sectarian homogenization of the country, and displaced communities are increasingly vulnerable to violence, kidnappings, and control by militias. Displacement is both a consequence and a cause of sectarian polarization in the country. Jordan and Syria now face internal security threats related to the immense economic burden of hosting the Iraqi populations, new sectarian demographics, tension among host and refugee populations as well as across sectarian divides, the potential of increased regime opposition, and the possibility that refugees will be recruited into armed militias if humanitarian assistance isn't sufficient to meet their needs. Continue reading More on Displacement CRIMINAL VIOLENCE: Afghanistan Opium Survey 2007 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Opium production in Afghanistan soared to frightening record levels in 2007, concentrated mainly in the troubled south of the country, according to this United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report. However, the number of opium-free provinces in the centre and north of Afghanistan more than doubled compared to 2006. UNODC's 2007 Annual Opium Survey showed the area under opium cultivation rose to 193,000 hectares from 165,000 in 2006. The total opium harvest will be 8,200 tonnes, up from 6,100 tonnes last year. The amount of Afghan land used for growing opium is now larger than the combined total under coca cultivation in Latin America. No other country has produced narcotics on such a deadly scale since China in the 19th century. Behind the headline numbers, the markedly divergent trends between the north and south of the country have intensified. In the centre and north of Afghanistan, where the government has increased its authority and presence, opium cultivation is diminishing. However, the opposite trend was seen in southern Afghanistan. Some 80 percent of opium poppies were grown in a handful of provinces along the border with Pakistan, where instability is greatest. The UN's drug chief called for a more determined effort by the Afghan government and the international community to combat the twin threats of drugs and insurgency by building upon the promising developments in the north and reacting to the dismal failures in the south. Continue reading More on Criminal Violence Compiled by Robert Hartfiel and Christopher Rusko Human Security Research is produced by the Human Security Report Project at the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University. The Human Security Report Project 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 hsilist@sfu.ca with 'subscribe HS Research' in the subject field, or click here. 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