July 7, 2011
Peacebuild // Paix Durable

Abstract:

Peacebuild, in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) convened the third in a series of six workshops on peacebuilding and conflict prevention policy issues on 31st May 2011 in the CANADEM conference room in Ottawa. The purpose of the workshop series is to exchange current information and analysis among expert civil society practitioners, academics and Government of Canada officials aimed at developing policy and programming options to respond to new developments and emerging trends.

This workshop examined the dynamics of peace and conflict, including drug violence and crime, in Latin America. This policy brief provides a synopsis of the findings and analysis from discussion and the papers presented during the event, highlighting key recommendations to improve prevention and responses to conflict and crime that emerged from the workshop....

June 30, 2011
International Crisis Group

Abstract:

A year and a half after the Western Hemisphere’s deadliest earthquake devastated Haiti, 650,000 victims still wait for permanent housing in more than 1,000 unstable emergency camps dotting Port-au-Prince. The first storms of the 2011 hurricane season have flooded 30 camps, forcing tent dwellers to flee and killing 28 persons nationally. Michel Martelly, who replaced René Préval as president on 14 May, faces an immediate crisis in the growing frustrations of the victims in the camps and those with near identical unmet basic needs who remain in the urban slums. Forced evictions, some violent, along with the reappearance of criminal gangs in those camps and slums, add to the volatile mix. Adopting, communicating and setting in motion a comprehensive resettlement strategy, with full input from the victims and local communities, is the first critical reconstruction challenge he must meet in order to restore stability. It will also test the capacity for common international action beyond emergency relief after a year of disturbing divisions within the UN country team and among donors over resettlement strategy....

June 7, 2011
Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces

Abstract:

The Examples from the Ground are concrete illustrations of ways in which a gender perspective has been integrated in different security sector institutions around the world. They range from measures to counter human trafficking in Kosovo, to women’s organisations’ involvement with security institutions in Nepal, to female parliamentarians’ contribution to post-conflict reconstruction in Rwanda. These examples can help policymakers, trainers and educators better understand and demonstrate the linkages between gender and SSR.

The examples are organised around the following nine themes, for which a short introduction is provided:

• Police Reform and Gender
• Defence Reform and Gender
• Justice Reform and Gender
• Penal Reform and Gender
• Border Management and Gender
• Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector and Gender
• National Security Policy-Making and Gender
• Civil Society Oversight of the Security Sector and Gender
• SSR Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation and Gender

Individual examples can also be downloaded individually, in English or in French, at:
http://gssrtraining.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view;=article&id;=4&Itemid;=131⟨=en...

May 24, 2011
Amnesty International

Abstract:

On 23 May 2010, the Governor-General of Jamaica declared a State of Public Emergency in the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew. Within two days, at least 74 people, including one member of the security forces, had been killed in Tivoli Gardens in West Kingston, scene of much of the violence. At least 54 others, more than half of them members of the security forces, were injured during police operations.

More than 40 of those killed in Tivoli Gardens are alleged to have been the victims of extrajudicial execution by the security forces. Unlawful killings were also reported in other operations conducted during the state of emergency. More than 4,000 people were detained under emergency powers, without charge or trial or access to an effective means of challenging the lawfulness of their detention before a court. Two people reportedly taken into custody remain unaccounted for and may have been victims of enforced disappearance.

The May 2010 violence has been described as “the worst in Jamaican post-independence history”. Despite the scale of the loss of life and compelling testimonies of grave human rights violations – including possible extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests – investigations into the violence have yet to establish the facts and the responsibilities conclusively. Independent organizations and institutions in Jamaica continue to call for a full public inquiry into the security forces operation. One year on, the demand for justice by many survivors and victims’ families has yet to be answered....

May 19, 2011
Cuba Archive

Abstract:

Cuba Archive is developing a comprehensive registry of disappearances and fatalities of a political nature resulting from the Cuban Revolution. This information is gathered and disseminated for educational purposes and to advance human rights.

July 7, 2011
Peacebuild // Paix Durable

Abstract:

Peacebuild, in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) convened the third in a series of six workshops on peacebuilding and conflict prevention policy issues on 31st May 2011 in the CANADEM conference room in Ottawa. The purpose of the workshop series is to exchange current information and analysis among expert civil society practitioners, academics and Government of Canada officials aimed at developing policy and programming options to respond to new developments and emerging trends.

This workshop examined the dynamics of peace and conflict, including drug violence and crime, in Latin America. This policy brief provides a synopsis of the findings and analysis from discussion and the papers presented during the event, highlighting key recommendations to improve prevention and responses to conflict and crime that emerged from the workshop....

June 16, 2011
International Crisis Group

Abstract:

Guatemalans go to the polls in September 2011 to elect a president, the Congress and local officials. The vote itself is likely to be reasonably free, but violence and unregulated campaign finance imperil the country’s political institutions. Deteriorated security, drug traffickers’ brutality and polarised politics leave candidates especially vulnerable to attacks. An exorbitant campaign, meanwhile, threatens to indebt office-holders to powerful financial interests, including organised crime, deepening corruption and widening the gulf between citizens and their politicians. State security agencies should redouble efforts to prevent bloodshed, especially in the most dangerous municipalities; politicians and parties must fully reveal who funds them, and the Public Prosecutor’s office, electoral authorities and donors should press them to do so....

June 16, 2011
RAND Corporation

Abstract:

Colombia currently accounts for the vast bulk of cocaine produced in Latin America. In 2009, the country produced 270 metric tons (MT) of cocaine, making it the principal supplier for both the United States and the worldwide market. Besides Colombia, Peru and Bolivia constitute two additional important sources of cocaine in Latin America. In 2009, these two countries generated enough base material to respectively yield 225 and 195 MT of refined product.

Between 60 and 65 percent of all Latin American cocaine is trafficked to the United States, the bulk of which is smuggled via the eastern Pacific/Central American corridor. The remainder is sent through the Caribbean island chain, with the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Haiti acting as the main transshipment hubs. In both cases, Mexico serves as the main point of entry to mainland America, presently accounting for the vast majority of all illicit drug imports to the United States....

June 7, 2011
Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces

Abstract:

The Examples from the Ground are concrete illustrations of ways in which a gender perspective has been integrated in different security sector institutions around the world. They range from measures to counter human trafficking in Kosovo, to women’s organisations’ involvement with security institutions in Nepal, to female parliamentarians’ contribution to post-conflict reconstruction in Rwanda. These examples can help policymakers, trainers and educators better understand and demonstrate the linkages between gender and SSR.

The examples are organised around the following nine themes, for which a short introduction is provided:

• Police Reform and Gender
• Defence Reform and Gender
• Justice Reform and Gender
• Penal Reform and Gender
• Border Management and Gender
• Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector and Gender
• National Security Policy-Making and Gender
• Civil Society Oversight of the Security Sector and Gender
• SSR Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation and Gender

Individual examples can also be downloaded individually, in English or in French, at:
http://gssrtraining.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view;=article&id;=4&Itemid;=131⟨=en...

June 2, 2011
International Crisis Group

Abstract:

Crisis Watch summarises briefly developments during the previous month in some 70 situations of current or potential conflict, listed alphabetically by region, providing references and links to more detailed information sources (all references mentioned are hyperlinked in the electronic version of this bulletin); ƒƒassesses whether the overall situation in each case has, during the previous month, significantly deteriorated, significantly improved, or on balance remained more or less unchanged; ƒƒalerts readers to situations where, in the coming month, there is a particular risk of new or significantly escalated conflict, or a particular conflict resolution opportunity (noting that in some instances there may in fact be both); and ƒƒsummarises Crisis Group’s reports and briefing papers that have been published in the last month.

Amid mounting tensions between North and South Sudan over the disputed border area of Abyei, clashes broke out between the two sides at the beginning of the month. Northern Sudanese forces invaded Abyei on 20 May and asserted control in breach of existing peace agreements. Tens of thousands are reported to have fled south. The attacks threaten renewed conflict and weaken confidence between North and South as critical post-referendum arrangements remain unresolved. Tensions also increased over military control and the presence of armed forces in the transitional areas of Blue Nile and South Kordofan, and CrisisWatch identifies a conflict risk alert for North Sudan for the coming month. Violence escalated further in Yemen, where military forces loyal to President Saleh battled on several fronts, renewing fears that the continued political stalemate could erupt into civil war.

President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria continued to use troops and tanks to violently suppress the ongoing revolt, with hundreds of protesters feared killed, thousands detained, and widespread reports of torture.

In Pakistan, the U.S. killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad at the beginning of the month again raised questions about the military's possible involvement with jihadist groups.

Local elections in Albania on 8 May proved even more troubled than anticipated as the race for the Tirana mayor's seat ended deep within the margin of error.

In Guatemala, the Mexican Los Zetas cartel killed and decapitated 27 farm workers in the northern Petén department.

In Serbia, war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military leader accused of commanding the Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, was arrested after 16 years on the run. He was extradited to The Hague, where he will stand trial for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity....

July 8, 2011
Human Rights First

Abstract:

Mass atrocities are organized crimes. Those who commit genocide and crimes against humanity depend on third parties for the goods and services—money, matériel, political support, and a host of other resources—that sustain large-scale violence against civilians. Third parties have supplied military aircraft used by the Sudan Armed Forces against civilians, refined gold and other minerals coming out of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and ensured a steady flow of arms into Rwanda. Governments seeking to prevent atrocities cannot afford a narrow and uncoordinated focus on the perpetrators of such violence. Rather, an effective strategy must include identifying and pressuring third-party enablers— individuals, commercial entities, and countries—in order to interrupt the supply chains that fuel mass violence against civilians.

The first-ever Director of War Crimes, Atrocities, and Civilian Protection on the National Security Staff recently convened a meeting that appears to initiate an interagency structure to coordinate atrocities-prevention initiatives across the government. The Administration has an opportunity in the newly initiated structure to activate all of the U.S. government’s resources to institute an atrocities-prevention policy that goes beyond responding to individual crises. This structure should incorporate a systematic approach to disrupting enablers and should ensure that all possible tools are developed and used to counter these complex crimes. The intelligence community and the Department of the Treasury, along with the Departments of State and Defense, are key to successfully tackling third-party enablers of atrocities....

July 8, 2011
Center for Strategic and International Studies

Abstract:

This report, Ethiopia: Assessing Risks to Stability, is part of a series examining the risks of instability in 10 African countries over the next decade. The 10 papers are designed to be complementary but can also be read individually as self-standing country studies. An overview paper draws on common themes and explains the methodology underpinning the research. The project was commissioned by the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). The papers in this study are not meant to offer hard and fast predictions about the future. While they sketch out some potential scenarios for the next 10 years, these efforts should be treated as thought experiments that look at how different dynamics might converge to create the conditions for instability. The intention is not to single out countries believed to be at risk of impending disaster and make judgments about how they will collapse. Few, if any, of the countries in this series are at imminent risk of breakdown. All of them have coping mechanisms that militate against conflict, and discussions of potential “worst-case scenarios” have to be viewed with this qualification in mind....

July 8, 2011
Peacebuild // Paix Durable

Abstract:

On June 2, 2011, Peacebuild, with the financial support of the International Development Research Centre, convened a day-long discussion on the tumultuous changes taking place in the Middle East and North Africa. Objectives for the roundtable were to share up-to-date information on current and longer-term political issues and dynamics, to assess areas for possible support for democratic transitions in the region, identify areas of relevant Canadian expertise – diaspora, NGO, academic, business sector, governmental -- and, based on the discussion, generate a set of policy options and/or recommendations for people-to-people support, NGOs, academics and the Government of Canada. Participants in Cairo, Ottawa and Montreal were linked into a wide-ranging discussion, which first focused on hearing activist and expert views from the epicentre of regional change – Egypt. Among the questions explored with human rights activist Hossam Baghat, strategic analyst Mustafa El-Labbad, activist author May Telmissany and IDRC regional expert Roula El-Rifai were the makeup of the reform movements in the region and their objectives, what is the real extent of political Islam’s influence in the Middle East and what has been the role of the armed forces in the transitions?...

July 7, 2011
Peacebuild // Paix Durable

Abstract:

Peacebuild, in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) convened the third in a series of six workshops on peacebuilding and conflict prevention policy issues on 31st May 2011 in the CANADEM conference room in Ottawa. The purpose of the workshop series is to exchange current information and analysis among expert civil society practitioners, academics and Government of Canada officials aimed at developing policy and programming options to respond to new developments and emerging trends.

This workshop examined the dynamics of peace and conflict, including drug violence and crime, in Latin America. This policy brief provides a synopsis of the findings and analysis from discussion and the papers presented during the event, highlighting key recommendations to improve prevention and responses to conflict and crime that emerged from the workshop....

July 7, 2011
Peacebuild // Paix Durable

Abstract:

Femicide, the killing of women by men because they are women, is a worldwide phenomenon. Victims of femicide are often mutilated, raped and tortured before their deaths. These acts of extreme violence are most likely to occur in environments where every day forms of violence are accepted, and impunity is facilitated by the government’s refusal to deal with the problem. Femicide is considered to be the most extreme form of misogynistic violence, one which stems from the violation of human rights of women in the public and private sphere. In Mexico, particularly on the Mexico-US border, the killing of women first made international headlines in 1993, as a growing number of female bodies started to emerge at the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez. Since then, the number of femicides continues to rise despite international pressure and government-led initiatives. In 2007, for example, the federal government promulgated a law that sought to prevent all forms of violence against women, La Ley General de Acceso a las Mujeres a una Vida Libre de Violence. Four years after the passing of the law, the levels of gender-based violence remain the same, while the number of femicides continues to increase, rendering the law inoperable. From 1993 to 2005, approximately 370 women were killed in Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua City....

July 7, 2011
Peacebuild // Paix Durable

Abstract:

Peacebuild, in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) convened the third in a series of six workshops on peacebuilding and conflict prevention policy issues on 31st May 2011 in the CANADEM conference room in Ottawa. The purpose of the workshop series is to exchange current information and analysis among expert civil society practitioners, academics and Government of Canada officials aimed at developing policy and programming options to respond to new developments and emerging trends.

This workshop examined the dynamics of peace and conflict, including drug violence and crime, in Latin America. This policy brief provides a synopsis of the findings and analysis from discussion and the papers presented during the event, highlighting key recommendations to improve prevention and responses to conflict and crime that emerged from the workshop....

July 7, 2011
Peacebuild // Paix Durable

Abstract:

This paper seeks to do three things. First, it provides an analysis of the current economic dynamics of the armed conflict in Colombia, with a special focus on the drug trade and extractive industries. Secondly, it examines theories of political economies of war and free trade, and considers the implications of the new economic dynamics of the armed conflict in Colombia for peacebuilding initiatives. Thirdly, the paper makes some preliminary recommendations for further Canadian involvement in Colombia and relates them to Canadian foreign policy objectives in the region, particularly the advancement of human rights and greater economic engagement through bilateral trade agreements. Ultimately, this paper argues that an unbalanced agenda favouring trade and economic development over human and social development initiatives will not create the conditions for peacebuilding in Colombia.

Four prominent aspects of the Colombian context inform the recommendations of this paper:

• The Colombian armed conflict is changing, it is not necessarily improving;

• The drug economy is fuelling a significant portion of the violence that ravages the country today, although it is not the only element prolonging the armed conflict. Licit economic activities also play an important role in direct and indirect participation in the violence;

• Without directed investment in social infrastructure greater trade liberalizationand lack of market protection may drive more small-scale farmers towards coca production or participation in armed groups, which enables and fuels armed violence.

• Human security is currently one of the greatest challenges facing Colombia, given the continuing armed conflict, the humanitarian crisis of internal displacement, and ongoing structural violence....

July 5, 2011
International Crisis Group

Abstract:

Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) moved into North Sudan's South Kordofan state capital Kadugli at the start of the month, triggering large-scale fighting with Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) units from the region. The UN reported heavy bombardment of villages by the SAF, widespread civilian casualties and at least 73,000 people forced to flee. It also accused the government of blocking aid deliveries and intimidating peacekeepers.

Violence spilled over into South Sudan, with several villages bombed by the North. On 28 June the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (North) signed an agreement on political and security arrangements for South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

In Afghanistan, a standoff between parliament and President Hamid Karzai threatens to deepen the country's political crisis.

Proposals by Senegal's ruling party to amend the constitution were condemned by opposition politicians as undemocratic and sparked unprecedented violent protests. Myanmar/Burma saw its worst clashes since 2009, as fighting broke out between government forces and the Kachin ceasefire group. Tens of thousands have been displaced and some 20 reportedly killed.

In Mexico, a number of incidents highlighted the deterioration in security around Monterrey, the country's second city, industrial hub and capital of Nuevo León state.

In Venezuela, speculation about President Hugo Chávez's health intensified, leading to infighting within his ruling PSUV party and highlighting the country's lack of alternative leadership.

...

June 30, 2011
MiningWatch Canada // CENSAT-Agua Viva for Inter Pares

Abstract:

Canadian foreign direct investment in Colombia has grown consistently since the 1990s, particularly in telecommunications, mining, and fossil fuel extraction. Canadian mining and oil companies are major players in Colombia.

Despite a concerted public relations campaign by the Colombian government, Colombia continues to suffer widespread human rights abuses, including extrajudicial executions, disappearances, extortion, and threats. Control over land, labour, and natural resources are integral to the war and violence in Colombia, and the past few decades have seen massive displacement and murder for political and economic ends. Striking correlations have been observed between where investment – both domestic and foreign – takes place and rights abuses, ranging from murder and massacres and related massive land and property theft to violations of the rights to freedom of movement and to a healthy environment.

Human rights violations are linked to efforts by those behind Colombia’s murderous paramilitaries to create conditions for investment from which they are positioned to benefit. There are also ongoing relations between the paramilitary forces and all levels of government and the armed forces, up to the highest officials, and there are clear indications that political cover for such human rights abuses and crimes will continue....

June 27, 2011
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre // The Brookings Institution // London School of Economics Project on Internal Displacement

Abstract:

While the world’s attention often gravitates to the latest emergency situation, we are acutely aware that most of the world’s internally displaced persons (IDPs) live in protracted displacement. Displacement drags on, sometimes for years or decades, because of continuing conflict, because peace processes are stalled, or because political settlements fail to provide the necessary security and support for the displaced to find solutions.

The 2nd Expert Seminar on Protracted Internal Displacement was held in Geneva from 19-20 January 2011 on the theme of “IDPs in protracted displacement: Is local integration a solution?” Around 100 participants discussed challenges and possibilities of local integration in diverse protracted displacement situations over the course of the two days.

This publication includes the six case studies commissioned for the seminar as well as an introductory essay which explores the common themes emerging from the studies on protracted displacement and local integration. By focusing on the possibilities and challenges of local integration in protracted displacement, we hope that these six case studies lead to better understanding—and to concrete actions—which will bring an end to internal displacement which has gone on for far too long in these six countries and in many others....