September 10, 2010
Small Wars Journal

Abstract:

Hezbollah, Lebanon‘s Iran-sponsored Shi‘i Muslim terrorist organization, has established global networks in at least 40 countries. Its growing presence in South America is increasingly troublesome to U.S. policymakers, yet there are few experts on Hezbollah and fewer still on Hezbollah Latino America. Hezbollah‘s operatives have infiltrated the Western Hemisphere from Canada to Argentina, and its activity is increasing, particularly in the lawless Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. This research was conducted to expose the actions and objectives of Hezbollah in the TBA. The majority of US officials and operators believe that Hezbollah‘s terrorist wing is separate from its political wing, but these are misconceptions from people who "mirror-image" the American experience when assessing Hezbollah. Unfamiliarity with the organization makes these assessors vulnerable to its propaganda, which is a severe problem that permeates the US government and its operatives. People who think Hezbollah is or could be compartmentalized or disunited are not familiar with the organization and perceive Hezbollah through the lens of the organization‘s extensive propaganda effort. Hezbollah has a large operational network in the TBA, which generates funds for the party, but its primary mission is to plan attacks and lie dormant, awaiting instructions to execute operations against Western targets. The following is a look at Hezbollah‘s modus operandi, an analysis of how operational its networks in the Tri-Border Area are, as well as some possible solutions to this threat. First, is an examination of how Hezbollah traditionally operates to establish the context....

March 15, 2010
Congressional Research Service

Abstract:

This report updates the topic of Iran’s Growing Relations with Latin America [page 5]. Over the past several years, U.S. officials and other observers have expressed concerns about Iran’s increasing activities in Latin America, particularly under the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. For example, in January 2009 congressional testimony, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates maintained that he was concerned about the level of “subversive activity that the Iranians are carrying on in a number of places in Latin America, particularly South America and Central America.” There has been some contention, however, over the level and significance of Iran’s linkages with the region. One view emphasizes that Iran’s relations with several Latin American leaders who have employed strong anti-U.S. rhetoric and its past support for terrorist activities in the region are reasons why its presence should be considered a potential destabilizing threat to the region. Another school of thought emphasizes that Iran’s domestic politics and strategic orientation toward the Middle East and Persian Gulf region will preclude the country from sustaining a focus on Latin America. Adherents of this view assert that Iran’s promised aid and investment to Latin America have not materialized. Some observers holding both of these views contend that while Iran’s activities in Latin America do not currently constitute a major threat to U.S. national security, there is enough to be concerned about to keep a watchful eye on developments in case it becomes a more serious threat. On October 27, 2009, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere held a hearing on “Iran in the Western Hemisphere” that reflected these range of views....

February 17, 2010
Committee to Protect Journalists

Abstract:

At least 71 journalists were killed across the globe in 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced Tuesday, the largest annual toll in the 30 years the group has been keeping track. Twenty-nine of those deaths came in a single, politically motivated massacre of reporters and others in the Philippines last November, the worst known episode for journalists, the committee said. But there were other worrisome trends. The two nations with the highest number of journalists incarcerated — China had 24 journalists imprisoned at the end of 2009 and Iran had 23 — were particularly harsh in taking aim at bloggers and others using the Internet. The number jailed in Iran has since jumped to 47, the committee said. Of the 71 confirmed deaths, 51 were murders, the committee said. The report noted that 24 additional deaths of journalists remained under investigation to determine if they were related to the journalists’ work. Previously, the highest number of journalists killed in a single year was 67, in 2007, when violence in Iraq was raging....

November 20, 2009
International Center for Transitional Justice

Abstract:

During the 1970’s, political violence in Argentina resulted in massive violations of human rights that included thousands of deaths, prolonged and arbitrary arrests, disappearances, unfair trials, pervasive torture, in addition to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. Since the restoration of democracy in 1983, there have been various obstacles to prosecution of such crimes committed by security forces and paramilitary groups. Such obstacles were eventually overcome, and Argentina currently offers an important example of the positive results of both domestic efforts and international advocacy to achieve justice for past crimes against humanity. Due to its recent and ongoing success in the prosecution of human rights criminals, it is arguable that Argentina has one of the best records of transitional justice in the world. It has fostered transitional justice developments in the region, and offers critical insights for other communities struggling with the past which are following Argentina’s efforts with deep interest. The repressive campaign that resulted in massive human rights violations peaked in March 1976, as the commanders-in-chief of Argentina’s three armed forces ousted democratically elected President Isabel Perón and proclaimed a de facto regime. During the seven years of military rule, the military fought what was referred to as a Marxist subversive threat. The most notorious feature of repression by the military dictatorship was the practice of disappearances: possibly up to 30,000 people were abducted by security forces. They were sent to hundreds of secret detention centers, where they were interrogated under barbaric methods. Ultimately, the vast majority of the desaparecidos were systematically, but secretly, murdered. In 1983, before democracy was restored, the military granted itself immunity from prosecution and issued a decree ordering the destruction of all documents relating to military repression....

October 7, 2009
Small Arms Survey // Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva // Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Abstract:

The data in this report is derived from country submissions when possible, and estimates when necessary. Estimates are extrapolated from each country’s identified procurement, highest modern personnel totals, and strategic doctrine. Except where noted, the military small arms and light weapons data presented here is not official, comprehensive, or conclusive; it is for general evaluation and comparison only. The complete methodology used here is described in Chapter 2 of the Small Arms Survey 2006. Small arms are state-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, shotguns, and light and medium machine guns. Firearms are civilian-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, and shotguns. Long at the forefront of international small arms issues, public debate and activism in South America have largely focused on matters surrounding civilian firearms, estimated here to total between 21.7 and 26.8 million. The reasons for this civilian preoccupation are principally linked to chronic gun violence. South America has 14 per cent of the global population, and roughly 3.5 to 4 per cent of the world’s civilian firearms, but it suffers from roughly 40 per cent of all homicides committed with firearms. Military small arms are rarely part of public debate, largely because of a strong culture of national security secrecy in South America. But military small arms policy has attracted much closer scrutiny in recent years, especially as military small arms and light weapons are diverted to criminals and guerrillas, fuelling insurgencies and civil violence. This report focuses primarily on issues surrounding surplus military small arms and light weapons in the region. Law enforcement and civilian firearms inventories and issues are recognized here as well, to ensure a balanced overall perspective. The region’s military establishments do not have a strong record of identifying or eliminating their surplus small arms, light weapons, or ammunition. South America holds some of the world’s largest military small arms and light weapons surpluses. Military inventories are not exceptionally large in absolute terms, but they are a major element in global surplus problems. Among the 12 independent countries of South America, there are an estimated 3.6 million military small arms as of 2007, 1.5 per cent of the global total. Of these, approximately 1.3 million, more than one-third, are surplus....

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....

August 20, 2010
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development // Development Co-operation Directorate

Abstract:

In recent years, there has been increased interest in understanding how donor interventions in situations of fragility and conflict can contribute tot he processes of statebuilding. While external actors cannot determine the outcome of those processes, they can target their assistance to support positive statebuilding dynamics. Donors must ensure that they "do no harm" and consider both the intended and unintended consequences of their interventions. This publication fills an important knowledge gap by addressing two fundamental questions: what are the negative impacts that donor interventions can have on statebuilding; and what measures should donors adopt to avoid negative impacts on statebuilding processes? Do No Harm argues that the challenges of statebuilding are such that donors must develop a sophisticated understanding of political processes, patterns of state-society relations and sources of legitimacy in the countries where they are oeprating. Based on an extensive literature review and on six country case-studies (Afghanistan, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC], Nepal, Rwanda and Sierra Leon), Do No Harm offers a valuable addition to our knowledge on statebuilding in situations of fragility and conflict....

July 15, 2010
Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity

Abstract:

This Overview summarises the key findings and policy challenges identified by the CRISE research programme in its evaluation of three Latin American countries. The case studies selected were the three countries with the largest indigenous populations in proportionate terms: Bolivia, Guatemala and Peru. The underlying research challenge was to understand the role of horizontal or group inequality in overall acute inequality in the countries studied, and the relevance of group inequality to political violence. The paper shows that horizontal inequalities (HIs)—political, social, economic and cultural— are deeply embedded in two of these countries, Guatemala and Peru, and have played a significant role in terrible political violence. They remain severe; indeed, political HIs have worsened in some respects with the legacy of violence and repression. In Guatemala and Peru, the pervasiveness of embedded prejudice and ways of thinking make even good policy initiatives non-functional. In Bolivia, meanwhile, an exceptional set of political and geographical circumstances has, over many decades, resulted in political accommodation mechanisms that have avoided widespread violence and led to a genuine improvement in political HIs....

March 16, 2010
Governance and Social Development Resource Centre

Abstract:

This study is concerned with analysing the routes in and out of political violence in selected countries – Bolivia and Peru, Tajikistan and Yemen - within Latin America, the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EMAD) regions. The study explores the following key issues: the importance of multiple and hybrid identities as the basis of claims, forms of empowerment and supporting citizenship; the extent to which tendencies to violence around these claims are rooted in processes of exclusion and identity with deepening economic, social and political inequalities; pathways to dialogue and the political space within which both political violence and ways forward emerge; and the links between social cohesion, identity politics and pathways out of political violence. The study cautions against the tendency to identify particular identity groups with extremist or terrorist violence....

March 11, 2010
Department for International Development

Abstract:

Addressing discrimination, inequality and human rights is a core challenge of the state-building and peace-building process. It is at the centre of the negotiation of state–society relations and is a process rife with contradictions and tensions. Donors thus have a responsibility to address discrimination within their support to peacebuilding and state-building. The first section of this paper sets out what we understand by discrimination, drawing on human rights principles and DFID’s conceptualisation of social exclusion as systematic disadvantage which results from discrimination. The second section explores why discrimination matters in contexts of fragility, conflict and violence. The third section sets out how DFID and other donors can address discrimination as part of efforts to support peace-building and state-building. The paper concludes with a summary of key lessons....

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 1, 2011
The Committee to Protect Journalists

Abstract:

Russia and Mexico, two of the world’s most murderous countries for the press, are heading in different directions in combating deadly anti-press violence, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found in its newly updated Impunity Index. The index, which calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country’s population, found improvement in Russia as journalist murders ebbed and prosecutors obtained two high-profile convictions. But deadly anti-press violence continued to climb in Mexico, where authorities appear powerless in bringing killers to justice.

Colombia continued a years-long pattern of improvement, CPJ’s index found, while conditions in Bangladesh reflected a slight upturn. But the countries at the top of the index—Iraq, Somalia, and the Philippines—showed either no improvement or even worsening records. Iraq, with an impunity rating three times worse than that of any other nation, is ranked first for the fourth straight year. Although crossfire and other conflict-related deaths have dropped in Iraq in recent years, the targeted killings of journalists spiked in 2010.

“The findings of the 2011 Impunity Index lay bare the stark choices that governments face: Either address the issue of violence against journalists head-on or see murders continue and self-censorship spread,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Convictions in Russia are a hopeful sign after years of indifference and denial. But Mexico’s situation is deeply troubling, with violence spiking as the government promises action but fails to deliver.”

CPJ’s annual Impunity Index, first published in 2008, identifies countries where journalists are murdered regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes. For this latest index, CPJ examined journalist murders that occurred between January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2010, and that remain unsolved. Only the 13 nations with five or more unsolved cases are included on the index. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained.

Impunity is a key indicator in assessing levels of press freedom and free expression in nations worldwide. CPJ research shows that deadly, unpunished violence against journalists often leads to vast self-censorship in the rest of the press corps. From Somalia to Mexico, CPJ has found that journalists avoid sensitive topics, leave the profession, or flee their homeland to escape violent retribution....

June 1, 2011
Crisis States Research Centre Working Papers // London School of Economics // Destin Development Studies Institute

Abstract:

The author examines the city as a site in which the provision of public goods and services for citizens is demanded and provided through the transfer of central state revenues. The relationship between state and citizens is not conceived simply in the relatively passive and limiting terms of welfare delivery, but rather within the broader arena of social rights, understood as a core component of substantive citizenship – an important characteristic of developmental states. The focus of the paper is derived from the recognition that social rights, notably access to land and housing, are of particular importance in cities. Conflicts over the appropriate use of land are more likely to arise in urban areas, and the high value of land combined with its potential to contribute to economic development mean that the state almost inevitably becomes involved in these conflicts. This paper's examination of the spatial aspects of social rights in urban areas gives rise to a discussion of the 'right to the city', and how the denial of this right can create increased tension and destabilisation in the cities of fragile states. The author outlines the theoretical basis for the paper with an examination of social rights and substantive citizenship, illustrated through the case of a housing movement of the urban poor in São Paulo, Brazil. The paper then develops the discussion of the link between social rights and state stability through a reading of a selection of CSRC case studies of cities in fragile states....

April 27, 2011
Royal Institute for International Relations // Egmont

Abstract:

This Security Policy Brief looks at the vote on the UNSC resolution on Libya and tries to see in it some signs of the new international order in the making. Why did the BRIC countries abstain? Why was the US so shy? What does it all mean for the EU?

April 20, 2011
International Relations and Security Network // Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich

Abstract:

Rio de Janeiro's new Police Pacification Units, designed to take back the city's favelas from drug dealers, represent a doctrinal and operational revolution away from police business as usual. The widely praised program, however, is not without its critics, who worry that it will turn each newly pacified neighborhood into a quasi-police state.

February 9, 2011
The International Journal of Transitional Justice

Abstract:

Most studies of truth commissions assert their positive role in improving human rights. A firstwave of researchmade these claims based on qualitative analysis of a single truth commission or a small number of cases. Thirty years of experience with truth commissions and dozens of examples allow cross-national statistical studies to assess these findings. Two recent studies undertake that project. Their findings, which are summarized in this article, challenge the prevailing view that truth commissions foster human rights, showing instead that commissions, when used alone, tend to have a negative impact on human rights. Truth commissions have a positive impact, however, when used in combination with trials and amnesties. This article extends the question of whether truth commissions improve human rights to how, when and why they succeed or fail in doing so. It presents a ‘justice balance’ explanation, whereby commissions, incapable of promoting stability and accountability on their own, contribute to human rights improvements when they complement and enhance amnesties and prosecutions. The article draws on experiences in Brazil, Chile, Nepal, South Korea and South Africa to illustrate the central argument....

October 7, 2009
Small Arms Survey // Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva // Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Abstract:

The data in this report is derived from country submissions when possible, and estimates when necessary. Estimates are extrapolated from each country’s identified procurement, highest modern personnel totals, and strategic doctrine. Except where noted, the military small arms and light weapons data presented here is not official, comprehensive, or conclusive; it is for general evaluation and comparison only. The complete methodology used here is described in Chapter 2 of the Small Arms Survey 2006. Small arms are state-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, shotguns, and light and medium machine guns. Firearms are civilian-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, and shotguns. Long at the forefront of international small arms issues, public debate and activism in South America have largely focused on matters surrounding civilian firearms, estimated here to total between 21.7 and 26.8 million. The reasons for this civilian preoccupation are principally linked to chronic gun violence. South America has 14 per cent of the global population, and roughly 3.5 to 4 per cent of the world’s civilian firearms, but it suffers from roughly 40 per cent of all homicides committed with firearms. Military small arms are rarely part of public debate, largely because of a strong culture of national security secrecy in South America. But military small arms policy has attracted much closer scrutiny in recent years, especially as military small arms and light weapons are diverted to criminals and guerrillas, fuelling insurgencies and civil violence. This report focuses primarily on issues surrounding surplus military small arms and light weapons in the region. Law enforcement and civilian firearms inventories and issues are recognized here as well, to ensure a balanced overall perspective. The region’s military establishments do not have a strong record of identifying or eliminating their surplus small arms, light weapons, or ammunition. South America holds some of the world’s largest military small arms and light weapons surpluses. Military inventories are not exceptionally large in absolute terms, but they are a major element in global surplus problems. Among the 12 independent countries of South America, there are an estimated 3.6 million military small arms as of 2007, 1.5 per cent of the global total. Of these, approximately 1.3 million, more than one-third, are surplus....

September 16, 2009
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Abstract:

The purpose of the present report is to analyze the intelligence agencies’ role in Pakistan’s political life through a better understanding of the agencies’ objectives and mechanisms. Because Pakistan’s civilian governments have been victims of the agencies’ manipulation in the past, the new and very fragile government cannot ignore the decisive role of the intelligence agencies in Pakistani politics if it wants to counter the direct and more subtle manifestations of military control. The domestic political role of intelligence agencies is always a combination of three elements: militarization, comprehensive political surveillance, and state terror. The intensity and relative importance of each component varies over time and according to the specific situations in each country, but all three are always present. Terror as it applies to individuals or groups can be carried out by proxies and is intermittent, but it remains an essential element of the system. An intelligence agency’s reputation for ruthlessness is often as important as its actual efficiency....

May 23, 2009
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Abstract:

Chile once boasted a long history of stable democratic rule until socialist policies and economic chaos emerged in the 1970s, setting the stage for the coup d’état by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte. Chile’s deeply rooted democratic culture survived sixteen years under Pinochet, however, and the people united under the common goal of returning Chile to civilian control. Claudio Orrego, mayor of Peñalolén in Santiago province and The Chicago Council’s 2009 Gus Hart Fellow, shared his vision of democracy in one of Latin America’s most stable and prosperous nations. He discussed government transparency, the role of information technology, and economic development through public-private partnerships....

December 10, 2008
New America Foundation

Abstract:

This table is part of the larger "U.S. Weapons at War 2008" report. For the full document, please see http://www.humansecuritygateway.info/showRecord.php?RecordId=27517

August 10, 2011
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Abstract:

A new law passed by the Colombian government to make reparation to victims of the armed conflict has implications for the approximately 455,000 Colombians who live as refugees, asylum-seekers, or in a refugee-like situation outside the country.

Although these vulnerable individuals may be entitled to reparation for human rights violations suffered in Colombia, the ongoing armed conflict impedes their access to this offer. This paper investigates the legal and practical implications of offering such ‘transnational’ reparations to externally-displaced victims in circumstances of protracted armed conflict.

The new Victims’ Law in Colombia provides for wide-ranging reparation measures to persons who have suffered damages directly as a result of human rights violations or infractions of international humanitarian law.

Although refugees and other EDVs do not figure prominently in its provisions, this new legal framework generates a range of wider questions about the positioning of such persons vis-à-vis the offer of reparation from their home country, including:

- To what extent does international law require the home state to address the specific needs of EDVs when designing reparation measures and procedures?

- What are the international law implications of home country reparation to EDVs for third states?

- What is the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – as the international agency mandated with refugee protection in such processes?

- What does ‘reparation’ mean for refugees and other EDVs, and what are their needs in this regard?

- What are the political consequences of the often tense border dynamics that accompany refugee outflows for the implementation of any reparation measures for EDVs?

By addressing these questions through a Colombian case study, this paper constitutes a first step towards understanding what the provision of reparation may mean for refugees and other displaced persons where the circumstances giving rise to their displacement remain....

August 8, 2011
IKV Pax Christi

Abstract:

In 2001, Pax Christi Netherlands published a report about the kidnapping industry in Colombia. Seven years on, and the number of kidnappings worldwide has risen even more. The crime has lost nothing of its potency as a cause of human tragedy. Kidnapping is a serious violation of the most elementary right of mankind: the right to a dignified existence. We set out in this report to provide a brief summary of the kidnapping issue on a global level, in particular of kidnapping in conflict regions and fragile states. The questions to be answered are concerned with the financial and political requirements that the kidnappers set, and with the impacts of these practices on the conflict and its perpetuation, and on the performance of the state.

Following on from the previous report, the emphasis of this investigation is on kidnapping and extortion in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Firstly, we wished to ascertain how the kidnapping issue has developed in these countries in the past ten years. This raised the question of whether there was any relationship between the kidnapping practices in Colombia, and trends in this crime in the neighbouring countries. Another primary question regarding Colombia was concerned with the role of the kidnapping theme in peace talks and other dialogue between illegal armed groups and the Colombian government, and with the possible role of the theme in any future peace talks.

The final chapter investigates the kidnapping-related policies of the EU member states, and as far as possible we compare their policies with their actions in practice in recent years. The main question is whether there is any European consensus on how to deal with kidnapping, and how to suppress the phenomenon. What obstacles are there to a joint approach to the kidnapping issue?...

July 25, 2011
International Crisis Group

Abstract:

Deeply entrenched connections between criminal and political actors are a major obstacle to conflict resolution in Colombia. Illegal armed groups seek to consolidate and expand their holds over local governments in the October 2011 governorship, mayoral, departmental assembly and municipal council elections. The national government appears more willing and better prepared than in the past to curb the influence of illegal actors on the elections, but the challenges remain huge. The high number of killed prospective candidates bodes ill for the campaign, suggesting that the decade-old trend of decreasing electoral violence could be reversed. There are substantial risks that a variety of additional means, including intimidation and illegal money, will be used to influence outcomes. The government must rigorously implement additional measures to protect candidates and shield the electoral process against criminal infiltration, corruption and fraud. Failure to mitigate these risks would mean in many places four more years of poor local governance, high levels of corruption and enduring violence.

Decentralisation in the 1980s and 1990s greatly increased the tasks and the resources of local government, but in many municipalities, capabilities failed to keep pace. This mismatch made local governments increasingly attractive targets for both guerrillas and paramilitaries. Violence against candidates, local office holders and political and social activists soared. With a largely hostile attitude to local governments, guerrillas have mainly concentrated on sabotaging and disturbing the electoral process. By contrast, paramilitary groups, particularly after the formation of a national structure under the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), used their links with economic and political elites to infiltrate local governments and capture public resources. That peaked in the 2003 local elections. Since then, and particularly after the official demobilisation of these groups in 2006, the influence politicians linked to paramilitaries enjoyed has weakened but not disappeared....

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....

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....

August 8, 2011
IKV Pax Christi

Abstract:

In 2001, Pax Christi Netherlands published a report about the kidnapping industry in Colombia. Seven years on, and the number of kidnappings worldwide has risen even more. The crime has lost nothing of its potency as a cause of human tragedy. Kidnapping is a serious violation of the most elementary right of mankind: the right to a dignified existence. We set out in this report to provide a brief summary of the kidnapping issue on a global level, in particular of kidnapping in conflict regions and fragile states. The questions to be answered are concerned with the financial and political requirements that the kidnappers set, and with the impacts of these practices on the conflict and its perpetuation, and on the performance of the state.

Following on from the previous report, the emphasis of this investigation is on kidnapping and extortion in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Firstly, we wished to ascertain how the kidnapping issue has developed in these countries in the past ten years. This raised the question of whether there was any relationship between the kidnapping practices in Colombia, and trends in this crime in the neighbouring countries. Another primary question regarding Colombia was concerned with the role of the kidnapping theme in peace talks and other dialogue between illegal armed groups and the Colombian government, and with the possible role of the theme in any future peace talks.

The final chapter investigates the kidnapping-related policies of the EU member states, and as far as possible we compare their policies with their actions in practice in recent years. The main question is whether there is any European consensus on how to deal with kidnapping, and how to suppress the phenomenon. What obstacles are there to a joint approach to the kidnapping issue?...

July 22, 2011
UN Women // United Nations Entity for Gende Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Abstract:

The past century has seen a transformation in women’s legal rights, with countries in every region expanding the scope of women’s legal entitlements. Nevertheless for many of the world’s women the laws that exist on paper do not translate to equality and justice.

Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice looks at how the legal system can play a positive role in women accessing their rights, citing cases that have changed women’s lives both at a local and at times global level. It also looks at the important role women have played and continue to play as agents for change within the legal system, as legislators, as lawyers, as community activists but also asks why, despite progress on legal reform, the justice system is still not delivering justice for all women.

The report focuses on four key areas: legal and constitutional frameworks, the justice chain, plural legal systems and conflict and post-conflict. Drawing on tangible examples of steps that have been taken to help women access justice, the report sets out ten key recommendations for policy and decision makers to act on in order to ensure every woman is able to obtain justice....

July 21, 2011
Women's Refugee Commission

Abstract:

This report is the culmination of a six-month project commissioned by the Women’s Refugee Commission and co-funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to address the rights and needs of displaced persons with disabilities, with a particular focus on women (including older women), children and youth. Based on field research in five refugee situations, as well as global desk research, the Women’s Refugee Commission sought to map existing services for displaced persons with disabilities, identify gaps and good practices and make recommendations on how to improve services, protection and participation for displaced persons with disabilities. The objective of the project was to gather initial empirical data and produce a Resource Kit that would be of practical use to UN and nongovernmental organization (NGO) field staff working with displaced persons with disabilities....

February 4, 2011
Comision Ecumenica de Derechos Humanos // International Federation for Human Rights // International Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development

Abstract:

Over the past decade, a serie of social conflicts has arisen in Ecuador, as a result of the growing presence of actors seeking to develop large-scale mining in the country. These mining endeavors have been encouraged by legislative and economic measures put in place by national governments and international organizations. Mining companies’ activities have led to numerous episodes of human rights abuses, and have given rise to an important national debate on the promotion of large-scale mining in Ecuador.
During and after some protest mobilizations, there have been reports of numerous cases of repression, judicial harassment, and criminalization targeting both social leaders and the general population. In 2008, the National Constituent Assembly responded to this repression by granting amnesties to participants in the protests, shelving hundreds of investigations and criminal proceedings. The move effectively acknowledged the legitimacy of peoples’ struggles to defend their territory and nature....

January 18, 2011
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Abstract:

Ecuador currently hosts the largest refugee population in South America, more than 135,000 people, some 98 per cent of them Colombians who fled from their country of origin within the last decade. Most have settled in the northern province of Sucumbíos.1 Recognizing the severity of the humanitarian and security situation in Sucumbíos, the government of Ecuador and UNHCR jointly undertook an „enhanced registration‟ exercise which regularized the status of refugees in remote and isolated regions of the country.

The project began in March 2009 and was carried out a year in every province along the northern Ecuadorian border. Using a mobile team of 50 civil servants from Ecuador‟s Government Directorate for Refugees (GDR) supported by UNHCR, the project registered and provided refugee documents to previously unregistered asylum seekers. UNHCR provided some 80 per cent of the $2 million cost of the exercise, as well as a great deal of logistical and material support in the form of computers, generators, vehicles and visibility materials.

The Enhanced Registered project is considered unprecedented for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the project was entirely transparent and had the Government of Ecuador‟s support of at all levels. Secondly, the project highlighted best-practices for developing more rigorous and structured ways to identify specific needs within regular asylum processes, reinforcing mechanisms for physical protection and identifying durable solutions for large caseloads. Finally, the project registered over 26,000 refugees and created an “entry point” into a system of human rights guarantees and legal protections for a highly vulnerable and marginalized population....

October 14, 2009
Partnership Africa Canada

Abstract:

By all indications, and from the evidence gathered for this year’s Diamonds and Human Security Annual Review, the Kimberley Process (KP), designed to halt and prevent the return of “conflict diamonds”, is failing. The cost of a collapse would be disastrous for an industry that benefits so many countries, and for the millions of people in developing countries who depend, directly and indirectly on it. A criminalized diamond economy would re-emerge and conflict diamonds could soon follow. The problems can and must be fixed. Accountability is the primary issue. There is no KP central authority. The “chair” rotates annually and has virtually no responsibility beyond a convening function. Problems are shifted from one “working group” to another; debates on vital issues extend for years. “Consensus” in the KP means that everyone must agree; a single dissenter can block forward movement. Nobody takes responsibility for action or inaction, failure or success; the Kimberley Process has no core body apart from its annual “plenary meeting” and thus nobody is held responsible for anything. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) has a peer review mechanism which reviews each member’s compliance roughly once every three years. Some reviews are thorough and recommendations are heeded. In many cases, however, recommendations are ignored, and there is little or no follow-up — this has been the case in the past with DRC and Angola. And, as this Annual Review notes, some reviews are completely bogus. In 2008, a bloated, nine-member team visited Guinea, a country beset by corruption, weak diamond controls, and almost certain smuggling. The team spent less than two hours outside the capital and its report remained unfinished for almost 11 months. A team visited Venezuela in 2008 but its makeup, agenda and itinerary were dictated entirely by the Venezuelan government. NGOs were barred and there were no visits to mining areas or border towns. Zimbabwe, rife with smuggling and gross diamond- related human rights abuse, consumed months of ineffectual internal KP debate. In the end, the KP agreed on a review mission, but only after being publicly shamed into action by NGO and media reports. The result is a lowest-common- denominator “consensus” and continuing inaction....

October 7, 2009
Small Arms Survey // Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva // Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Abstract:

The data in this report is derived from country submissions when possible, and estimates when necessary. Estimates are extrapolated from each country’s identified procurement, highest modern personnel totals, and strategic doctrine. Except where noted, the military small arms and light weapons data presented here is not official, comprehensive, or conclusive; it is for general evaluation and comparison only. The complete methodology used here is described in Chapter 2 of the Small Arms Survey 2006. Small arms are state-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, shotguns, and light and medium machine guns. Firearms are civilian-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, and shotguns. Long at the forefront of international small arms issues, public debate and activism in South America have largely focused on matters surrounding civilian firearms, estimated here to total between 21.7 and 26.8 million. The reasons for this civilian preoccupation are principally linked to chronic gun violence. South America has 14 per cent of the global population, and roughly 3.5 to 4 per cent of the world’s civilian firearms, but it suffers from roughly 40 per cent of all homicides committed with firearms. Military small arms are rarely part of public debate, largely because of a strong culture of national security secrecy in South America. But military small arms policy has attracted much closer scrutiny in recent years, especially as military small arms and light weapons are diverted to criminals and guerrillas, fuelling insurgencies and civil violence. This report focuses primarily on issues surrounding surplus military small arms and light weapons in the region. Law enforcement and civilian firearms inventories and issues are recognized here as well, to ensure a balanced overall perspective. The region’s military establishments do not have a strong record of identifying or eliminating their surplus small arms, light weapons, or ammunition. South America holds some of the world’s largest military small arms and light weapons surpluses. Military inventories are not exceptionally large in absolute terms, but they are a major element in global surplus problems. Among the 12 independent countries of South America, there are an estimated 3.6 million military small arms as of 2007, 1.5 per cent of the global total. Of these, approximately 1.3 million, more than one-third, are surplus....

September 16, 2008
En la Mira - The Latin American Small Arms Watch

Abstract:

Although all countries, in theory report their authorized transfers - and such information may even be available in certain public databases - the task of providing an overview of SALW transfers, their parts and munitions, is an arduous one. Nonetheless, despite the difficulties, we have some extremely positive initiatives on a global scale, such as for example, the Small Arms Survey, recognized as an important source of information, especially on SALW production and transfers, as well as the Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers (NISAT) which has a database containing transfer records going back to 1962.Despite these important initiatives, themselves when researchers, activists and policy makers try to understand a regional market, such as Latin America and the Caribbean, they encounter a dearth of information. With the intent of addressing this shortcoming, En La Mira has, since 2007, dedicated an issue to transfers of SALWs, parts and ammunition in this region. Further, according to statistics from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN-Comtrade or Comtrade), USD 6.7 billion were exported between 2004 and 2006, while USD 6.5 billion were imported. Despite the fact that Latin America and the Caribbean represent 6% and 3%, respectively, of total transfers worldwide during this period, 42% of firearms related homicide is committed in the region. This discrepancy between the international transfer volume share and the levels of armsrelated violence in Latin America and the Caribbean calls attention to itself, above all because of the tragic and startling number of homicides. Obviously, far from wishing to increase arms transfers in order to be more in sync with homicide rates, we decided, a year ago, to study this issue and periodically monitor its development based on our interest in understanding the primary legal entry and exit routes of firearms and ammunition. The result is a report - based on customs information as stated by Latin American and Caribbean countries and their respective partners - whose objective is to describe the movement of the SALW imports and exports, as well as ammunition and parts, during the present decade. Based on this data, we answer the following questions: who exported and who imported? From whom? What? And when? It is worth restating that the intent of this report is not to explain the cause of arms imports and exports by Latin American countries. Beyond merely providing information, we do indeed wish to awaken, by means of the information presented here, the curiosity of other researches, activists and government staff members such that they may continue to perform research in their countries regarding the transparency of this information, on who is using the transferred SALW, and how. The data used for this report came from the NISAT database, which contains more than 800,000 entries for SALW transfers worldwide since 1962. The NISAT database gets its information from different sources, COMTRADE among them. In this study we decided to restrict ourselves to data from this latter source because, in theory, all countries report transfers to the UN. This data is declared in accordance with the Harmonized System (SH) merchandise classification system. The HS has existed since 1988and, in 2007, was revised for the fourth time; previous revisions were in 1992, 1996 and in 2002. Regarding the period analyzed, we are looking at data up until 2006, since at the time the study closed this was the most recent year available on NISAT....

October 4, 2004
British Broadcasting Corporation

Abstract:

Dense equatorial forests, colonial towns and a major space centre are among the varied faces of French Guiana, a region of France on the northeast coast of South America.

October 14, 2009
Partnership Africa Canada

Abstract:

By all indications, and from the evidence gathered for this year’s Diamonds and Human Security Annual Review, the Kimberley Process (KP), designed to halt and prevent the return of “conflict diamonds”, is failing. The cost of a collapse would be disastrous for an industry that benefits so many countries, and for the millions of people in developing countries who depend, directly and indirectly on it. A criminalized diamond economy would re-emerge and conflict diamonds could soon follow. The problems can and must be fixed. Accountability is the primary issue. There is no KP central authority. The “chair” rotates annually and has virtually no responsibility beyond a convening function. Problems are shifted from one “working group” to another; debates on vital issues extend for years. “Consensus” in the KP means that everyone must agree; a single dissenter can block forward movement. Nobody takes responsibility for action or inaction, failure or success; the Kimberley Process has no core body apart from its annual “plenary meeting” and thus nobody is held responsible for anything. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) has a peer review mechanism which reviews each member’s compliance roughly once every three years. Some reviews are thorough and recommendations are heeded. In many cases, however, recommendations are ignored, and there is little or no follow-up — this has been the case in the past with DRC and Angola. And, as this Annual Review notes, some reviews are completely bogus. In 2008, a bloated, nine-member team visited Guinea, a country beset by corruption, weak diamond controls, and almost certain smuggling. The team spent less than two hours outside the capital and its report remained unfinished for almost 11 months. A team visited Venezuela in 2008 but its makeup, agenda and itinerary were dictated entirely by the Venezuelan government. NGOs were barred and there were no visits to mining areas or border towns. Zimbabwe, rife with smuggling and gross diamond- related human rights abuse, consumed months of ineffectual internal KP debate. In the end, the KP agreed on a review mission, but only after being publicly shamed into action by NGO and media reports. The result is a lowest-common- denominator “consensus” and continuing inaction....

October 7, 2009
Small Arms Survey // Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva // Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Abstract:

The data in this report is derived from country submissions when possible, and estimates when necessary. Estimates are extrapolated from each country’s identified procurement, highest modern personnel totals, and strategic doctrine. Except where noted, the military small arms and light weapons data presented here is not official, comprehensive, or conclusive; it is for general evaluation and comparison only. The complete methodology used here is described in Chapter 2 of the Small Arms Survey 2006. Small arms are state-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, shotguns, and light and medium machine guns. Firearms are civilian-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, and shotguns. Long at the forefront of international small arms issues, public debate and activism in South America have largely focused on matters surrounding civilian firearms, estimated here to total between 21.7 and 26.8 million. The reasons for this civilian preoccupation are principally linked to chronic gun violence. South America has 14 per cent of the global population, and roughly 3.5 to 4 per cent of the world’s civilian firearms, but it suffers from roughly 40 per cent of all homicides committed with firearms. Military small arms are rarely part of public debate, largely because of a strong culture of national security secrecy in South America. But military small arms policy has attracted much closer scrutiny in recent years, especially as military small arms and light weapons are diverted to criminals and guerrillas, fuelling insurgencies and civil violence. This report focuses primarily on issues surrounding surplus military small arms and light weapons in the region. Law enforcement and civilian firearms inventories and issues are recognized here as well, to ensure a balanced overall perspective. The region’s military establishments do not have a strong record of identifying or eliminating their surplus small arms, light weapons, or ammunition. South America holds some of the world’s largest military small arms and light weapons surpluses. Military inventories are not exceptionally large in absolute terms, but they are a major element in global surplus problems. Among the 12 independent countries of South America, there are an estimated 3.6 million military small arms as of 2007, 1.5 per cent of the global total. Of these, approximately 1.3 million, more than one-third, are surplus....

October 29, 2008
Partnership Africa Canada // Global Witness

Abstract:

The illicit trade in rough diamonds is one of the greatest threats facing the Kimberley Process (KP) certification scheme. The KP was created to halt and prevent the trade in conflict diamonds that cost so many lives during the last two decades. At the end of the scheme’s fifth year, the trafficking of conflict and illicit stones is looking more like a dangerous rule than an exception. Partnership Africa Canada and Global Witness have long argued that the Kimberley Process should be more proactive in monitoring infringements, and tougher in curtailing this illicit trade. The situation today is getting worse. In Venezuela, rampant diamond smuggling continues while the government flouts the certification scheme. Despite a UN embargo on Ivorian conflict diamonds, stones are still mined in northern Côte d’Ivoire, smuggled into international trading centres and sold on to consumers. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono recently stated that over 10,000 people were visiting the border town of Mutare every month for illegal activities involving diamonds. Gono said that over 2,000 local syndicates were smuggling diamonds out of the country. This paper reviews the issues around illicit flows of rough diamonds, particularly in countries facing serious challenges in controlling the artisanal mining sector. We present the results of a survey assessing how participant countries are enforcing KP controls and monitoring the diamond industry, and we put forward specific recommendations for changing the way the KP is managed and implemented. We hope that the procrastination and denial that have gripped the Kimberley Process on these issues in recent years can be replaced at the forthcoming Plenary Meeting in New Delhi with a proactive and dedicated response to the problems....

October 29, 2008
Partnership Africa Canada

Abstract:

Just as peace is not simply the absence of war, an end to conflict diamonds does not necessarily mean that diamonds will create prosperity or that human security will prevail in the areas where they are mined. The campaign to halt conflict diamonds has largely succeeded, although the phenomenon continues in Côte d’Ivoire, seemingly beyond the ingenuity and the powers of the 75 governments represented in the Kimberley Process (KP) and the world’s entire diamond industry. But the KP challenge today is not just Côte d’Ivoire; the larger challenge is to ensure that diamonds are controlled and tracked in ways that prevent a return of the much more deadly diamondfuelled wars of the past. Diamonds are not just symbols of love, fidelity and purity, they are the most concentrated form of wealth on earth, and because of that, they attract problems. A raid on a Damiani showroom in Milan netted thieves as much as $30 million in diamond jewellery in February. That was just one of many diamond heists. If you Google “diamond theft 2008” you will find more than five million articles. It stands to reason, therefore, that conflict diamonds could return to countries where development is stunted and governance weak. That is why organizations like the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) are so important, and why efforts to bring greater transparency to the extractive sector need all the support they can get. The intergovernmental Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the NGOled Publish What You Pay Campaign are key elements in this. Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) has been a leader in the campaign against conflict diamonds since 1999. It has been, and remains an active member of all Kimberley Process meetings and working groups. We have produced several background studies on diamond-related issues, 17 occasional papers and a quarterly newsletter, "Other Facets". All are available on the PAC website (www.pacweb.org). Starting in 2003, we began to publish standalone Annual Reviews of the Diamond Industry on Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. The Annual Reviews, published in English (all), French (DRC) and Portuguese (Angola) aimed to provide governments, civil society and investors with information that would be helpful in the promotion of greater transparency and more positive developmental outcomes. The Annual Reviews have been widely quoted and have become documents of record on the diamond industries in those countries. For 2008 we have taken a different approach, expanding the project to cover more countries, but producing one report rather than three. This report — Diamonds and Human Security Annual Review 2008 — concentrates on the three countries most seriously affected by diamond- fuelled conflict – Angola, DRC and Sierra Leone – but we have also included articles on countries touched by those conflicts, or where internal controls over diamonds, and where development considerations, remain problematic....

September 16, 2008
En la Mira - The Latin American Small Arms Watch

Abstract:

Although all countries, in theory report their authorized transfers - and such information may even be available in certain public databases - the task of providing an overview of SALW transfers, their parts and munitions, is an arduous one. Nonetheless, despite the difficulties, we have some extremely positive initiatives on a global scale, such as for example, the Small Arms Survey, recognized as an important source of information, especially on SALW production and transfers, as well as the Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers (NISAT) which has a database containing transfer records going back to 1962.Despite these important initiatives, themselves when researchers, activists and policy makers try to understand a regional market, such as Latin America and the Caribbean, they encounter a dearth of information. With the intent of addressing this shortcoming, En La Mira has, since 2007, dedicated an issue to transfers of SALWs, parts and ammunition in this region. Further, according to statistics from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN-Comtrade or Comtrade), USD 6.7 billion were exported between 2004 and 2006, while USD 6.5 billion were imported. Despite the fact that Latin America and the Caribbean represent 6% and 3%, respectively, of total transfers worldwide during this period, 42% of firearms related homicide is committed in the region. This discrepancy between the international transfer volume share and the levels of armsrelated violence in Latin America and the Caribbean calls attention to itself, above all because of the tragic and startling number of homicides. Obviously, far from wishing to increase arms transfers in order to be more in sync with homicide rates, we decided, a year ago, to study this issue and periodically monitor its development based on our interest in understanding the primary legal entry and exit routes of firearms and ammunition. The result is a report - based on customs information as stated by Latin American and Caribbean countries and their respective partners - whose objective is to describe the movement of the SALW imports and exports, as well as ammunition and parts, during the present decade. Based on this data, we answer the following questions: who exported and who imported? From whom? What? And when? It is worth restating that the intent of this report is not to explain the cause of arms imports and exports by Latin American countries. Beyond merely providing information, we do indeed wish to awaken, by means of the information presented here, the curiosity of other researches, activists and government staff members such that they may continue to perform research in their countries regarding the transparency of this information, on who is using the transferred SALW, and how. The data used for this report came from the NISAT database, which contains more than 800,000 entries for SALW transfers worldwide since 1962. The NISAT database gets its information from different sources, COMTRADE among them. In this study we decided to restrict ourselves to data from this latter source because, in theory, all countries report transfers to the UN. This data is declared in accordance with the Harmonized System (SH) merchandise classification system. The HS has existed since 1988and, in 2007, was revised for the fourth time; previous revisions were in 1992, 1996 and in 2002. Regarding the period analyzed, we are looking at data up until 2006, since at the time the study closed this was the most recent year available on NISAT....

August 2, 2011
Reporters Without Borders

Abstract:

Last February, Reporters Without Borders released its first-ever thematic report on organized crime, the main source of physical danger for journalists since the end of the Cold War. Produced with the help of our correspondents and specialists in several continues, that report underlined how difficult it is for the media to investigate the criminal underworld’s activities, networks and infiltration of society. Aside from covering bloody shootouts between rival cartels, news media of any size usually seem ill-equipped to describe organized crime’s hidden but ubiquitous presence.

Paraguay, which a Reporters Without Borders representative visited from 3 to 10 July, is a good example of these problems. Overshadowed by Brazil and Argentina, its two big neighbours in the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), it has long received one of the world’s worst rankings in Transparency International’s corruption index. It is also a major way station in the trafficking of cocaine from the Bolivian Andes to the Southern Cone.

While the level of violence is not as high as in Mexico, Colombia or some Central American countries, the persistent corruption, judicial impunity and influence of mafia activity on political and business activity prevent the media and civil society from playing a watchdog role. Although elections brought about a real change of government for the first time in 2008, Paraguay is still struggling to free itself from the code of silence and complicity that prevailed during the decades of dictatorship and affects the media as well. This was clear from interviews with journalists, observers and state officials in Asunción and Concepción, in the border cities of Ciudad del Este and Encarnación, and the Argentine border city of Posadas....

September 10, 2010
Small Wars Journal

Abstract:

Hezbollah, Lebanon‘s Iran-sponsored Shi‘i Muslim terrorist organization, has established global networks in at least 40 countries. Its growing presence in South America is increasingly troublesome to U.S. policymakers, yet there are few experts on Hezbollah and fewer still on Hezbollah Latino America. Hezbollah‘s operatives have infiltrated the Western Hemisphere from Canada to Argentina, and its activity is increasing, particularly in the lawless Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. This research was conducted to expose the actions and objectives of Hezbollah in the TBA. The majority of US officials and operators believe that Hezbollah‘s terrorist wing is separate from its political wing, but these are misconceptions from people who "mirror-image" the American experience when assessing Hezbollah. Unfamiliarity with the organization makes these assessors vulnerable to its propaganda, which is a severe problem that permeates the US government and its operatives. People who think Hezbollah is or could be compartmentalized or disunited are not familiar with the organization and perceive Hezbollah through the lens of the organization‘s extensive propaganda effort. Hezbollah has a large operational network in the TBA, which generates funds for the party, but its primary mission is to plan attacks and lie dormant, awaiting instructions to execute operations against Western targets. The following is a look at Hezbollah‘s modus operandi, an analysis of how operational its networks in the Tri-Border Area are, as well as some possible solutions to this threat. First, is an examination of how Hezbollah traditionally operates to establish the context....

March 15, 2010
Congressional Research Service

Abstract:

This report updates the topic of Iran’s Growing Relations with Latin America [page 5]. Over the past several years, U.S. officials and other observers have expressed concerns about Iran’s increasing activities in Latin America, particularly under the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. For example, in January 2009 congressional testimony, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates maintained that he was concerned about the level of “subversive activity that the Iranians are carrying on in a number of places in Latin America, particularly South America and Central America.” There has been some contention, however, over the level and significance of Iran’s linkages with the region. One view emphasizes that Iran’s relations with several Latin American leaders who have employed strong anti-U.S. rhetoric and its past support for terrorist activities in the region are reasons why its presence should be considered a potential destabilizing threat to the region. Another school of thought emphasizes that Iran’s domestic politics and strategic orientation toward the Middle East and Persian Gulf region will preclude the country from sustaining a focus on Latin America. Adherents of this view assert that Iran’s promised aid and investment to Latin America have not materialized. Some observers holding both of these views contend that while Iran’s activities in Latin America do not currently constitute a major threat to U.S. national security, there is enough to be concerned about to keep a watchful eye on developments in case it becomes a more serious threat. On October 27, 2009, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere held a hearing on “Iran in the Western Hemisphere” that reflected these range of views....

November 24, 2009
openDemocracy

Abstract:

Border zones are incubators of criminal instability and violence. Weak state presence and the lucrative drugs trade is combining to challenge state sovereignty in acute ways. Consider Mexico, where the northern frontier with the US and southern border with Guatemala are contested zones. The bloody center of gravity of Mexico’s drug cartels is the ‘plazas’, the drug smuggling corridors that link the borders. When most think of conflict and border zones, they imagine territorial disputes such as India and Pakistan’s recurring battles over Kashmir or less serious tug-of-wars such as Japan and South Korea’s contestation of the Liancourt Rocks. To be sure, there have been territorial disputes, such as Nicaragua’s dispute with Colombia over several islands, or Colombia’s conflicts with Venezuela and Ecuador over narco-guerrillas operating from their territory. Yet, as former FRIDE researcher Ivan Briscoe argues, the biggest sources of violent conflict has been the erosion of government control over border zones and the rise of criminal groups, gangs, and cartels in loosely governed zones. As Briscoe argues, "violence and institutional corrosion have plagued as never before the frontier between Mexico and the United States, while Guatemala’s eastern border region and Colombia’s frontiers with Ecuador, Venezuela and Brazil witness these countries’ highest murder rates, as well as territorial capture by armed groups and narco-trafficking networks."...

October 7, 2009
Small Arms Survey // Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva // Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Abstract:

The data in this report is derived from country submissions when possible, and estimates when necessary. Estimates are extrapolated from each country’s identified procurement, highest modern personnel totals, and strategic doctrine. Except where noted, the military small arms and light weapons data presented here is not official, comprehensive, or conclusive; it is for general evaluation and comparison only. The complete methodology used here is described in Chapter 2 of the Small Arms Survey 2006. Small arms are state-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, shotguns, and light and medium machine guns. Firearms are civilian-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, and shotguns. Long at the forefront of international small arms issues, public debate and activism in South America have largely focused on matters surrounding civilian firearms, estimated here to total between 21.7 and 26.8 million. The reasons for this civilian preoccupation are principally linked to chronic gun violence. South America has 14 per cent of the global population, and roughly 3.5 to 4 per cent of the world’s civilian firearms, but it suffers from roughly 40 per cent of all homicides committed with firearms. Military small arms are rarely part of public debate, largely because of a strong culture of national security secrecy in South America. But military small arms policy has attracted much closer scrutiny in recent years, especially as military small arms and light weapons are diverted to criminals and guerrillas, fuelling insurgencies and civil violence. This report focuses primarily on issues surrounding surplus military small arms and light weapons in the region. Law enforcement and civilian firearms inventories and issues are recognized here as well, to ensure a balanced overall perspective. The region’s military establishments do not have a strong record of identifying or eliminating their surplus small arms, light weapons, or ammunition. South America holds some of the world’s largest military small arms and light weapons surpluses. Military inventories are not exceptionally large in absolute terms, but they are a major element in global surplus problems. Among the 12 independent countries of South America, there are an estimated 3.6 million military small arms as of 2007, 1.5 per cent of the global total. Of these, approximately 1.3 million, more than one-third, are surplus....

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...

November 17, 2010
United Nations Development Fund for Women

Abstract:

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has reviewed its past support to transitional justice processes in a select group of countries to assess the effectiveness of programming and draw lessons for the development of a more coordinated, coherent and systematic approach. The objective is to design and support strategies for the integration of a women’s human rights perspective into various transitional justice mechanisms; including truth commissions, criminal prosecutions, traditional/local justice and reconciliation mechanisms, institutional reform and reparations. The three country studies in this review—the Republic of Sierra Leone, the Republic of Rwanda, and the Republic of Peru—were selected because each presents a unique opportunity to extract lessons and best practice with regard to securing gender justice in the wake of armed conflict. The goal of the review exercise is to inform the institutional response by all actors engaged in justice and reconstruction efforts in these countries.

Each country study is structured to include information on: the position of women prior to the main political conflict; the situation of women in the post-conflict period, which illustrates the impact of the conflict and need for redress; the key transitional justice mechanisms employed and their effectiveness in addressing women’s experiences of violations during the conflict; UNIFEM programming in the country; and recommendations for future programming. The focus is primarily on women’s experiences of sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) during armed conflict and ways women have been able to access justice for these crimes, whether through prosecutions in the formal justice system, accountability through truth commissions, or reparative justice. While access to justice for sexual violence crimes is not the whole picture and will not deliver the transformative reforms necessary to redress the inequality, gendered norms and power differentials that lead to and exacerbate women’s vulnerability in conflict, it is an important component of broader gender justice goals....

November 10, 2010
United Nations Children's Fund // Innocenti Research Centre

Abstract:

This working paper provides an overview of the transitional process in Colombia and Peru, focusing on the situation of children. The adoption of judicial and administrative measures to deal with human rights violations from the past (Peru) and the present (Colombia) is a tool towards the consolidation of democratic institutions. While individual initiatives have been undertaken in both countries, addressing the situation of children in an integrated, comprehensive way is a persistent challenge, as is the exploration of legal tools as a means to demand responsibility....

October 18, 2010
Bonn International Center for Conversion

Abstract:

This brief presents the progress to date in developing a typology of wartime rape as a first step toward understanding the different consequences of this form of violence in war. This publication focuses solely on wartime rape perpetrated by armed groups against civilians, though this form of violence is perpetrated more widely by, and against, different actors during war. The wider perpetration of rape against other actors is not presented in this brief, but is nevertheless included in the Typology. The Typology is a product of two phases of research: a) an initial phase (November 2008–May 2009) where a preliminary typology was created based on an examination of two country cases of wartime rape: Bosnia and Herzegovina, and El Salvador; and b) a second phase (September 2009–May 2010) where the typology was refined according to data collected from a review of the literature on ten additional country cases of wartime rape (Cambodia, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea/ Bougainville, Peru, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Timor Leste). The Typology was designed on the basis of a definition of wartime, which includes a myriad of war dynamics that surround and influence the perpetration of rape, and which can be organized into the following ‘themes’: type of conflict in which wartime rape occurs; characteristics of the armed group; motivations for the rape; characteristics of the rapist; characteristics of the raped person; and characteristics of the rape....

October 7, 2009
Small Arms Survey // Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva // Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Abstract:

The data in this report is derived from country submissions when possible, and estimates when necessary. Estimates are extrapolated from each country’s identified procurement, highest modern personnel totals, and strategic doctrine. Except where noted, the military small arms and light weapons data presented here is not official, comprehensive, or conclusive; it is for general evaluation and comparison only. The complete methodology used here is described in Chapter 2 of the Small Arms Survey 2006. Small arms are state-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, shotguns, and light and medium machine guns. Firearms are civilian-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, and shotguns. Long at the forefront of international small arms issues, public debate and activism in South America have largely focused on matters surrounding civilian firearms, estimated here to total between 21.7 and 26.8 million. The reasons for this civilian preoccupation are principally linked to chronic gun violence. South America has 14 per cent of the global population, and roughly 3.5 to 4 per cent of the world’s civilian firearms, but it suffers from roughly 40 per cent of all homicides committed with firearms. Military small arms are rarely part of public debate, largely because of a strong culture of national security secrecy in South America. But military small arms policy has attracted much closer scrutiny in recent years, especially as military small arms and light weapons are diverted to criminals and guerrillas, fuelling insurgencies and civil violence. This report focuses primarily on issues surrounding surplus military small arms and light weapons in the region. Law enforcement and civilian firearms inventories and issues are recognized here as well, to ensure a balanced overall perspective. The region’s military establishments do not have a strong record of identifying or eliminating their surplus small arms, light weapons, or ammunition. South America holds some of the world’s largest military small arms and light weapons surpluses. Military inventories are not exceptionally large in absolute terms, but they are a major element in global surplus problems. Among the 12 independent countries of South America, there are an estimated 3.6 million military small arms as of 2007, 1.5 per cent of the global total. Of these, approximately 1.3 million, more than one-third, are surplus....

September 16, 2008
En la Mira - The Latin American Small Arms Watch

Abstract:

Although all countries, in theory report their authorized transfers - and such information may even be available in certain public databases - the task of providing an overview of SALW transfers, their parts and munitions, is an arduous one. Nonetheless, despite the difficulties, we have some extremely positive initiatives on a global scale, such as for example, the Small Arms Survey, recognized as an important source of information, especially on SALW production and transfers, as well as the Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers (NISAT) which has a database containing transfer records going back to 1962.Despite these important initiatives, themselves when researchers, activists and policy makers try to understand a regional market, such as Latin America and the Caribbean, they encounter a dearth of information. With the intent of addressing this shortcoming, En La Mira has, since 2007, dedicated an issue to transfers of SALWs, parts and ammunition in this region. Further, according to statistics from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN-Comtrade or Comtrade), USD 6.7 billion were exported between 2004 and 2006, while USD 6.5 billion were imported. Despite the fact that Latin America and the Caribbean represent 6% and 3%, respectively, of total transfers worldwide during this period, 42% of firearms related homicide is committed in the region. This discrepancy between the international transfer volume share and the levels of armsrelated violence in Latin America and the Caribbean calls attention to itself, above all because of the tragic and startling number of homicides. Obviously, far from wishing to increase arms transfers in order to be more in sync with homicide rates, we decided, a year ago, to study this issue and periodically monitor its development based on our interest in understanding the primary legal entry and exit routes of firearms and ammunition. The result is a report - based on customs information as stated by Latin American and Caribbean countries and their respective partners - whose objective is to describe the movement of the SALW imports and exports, as well as ammunition and parts, during the present decade. Based on this data, we answer the following questions: who exported and who imported? From whom? What? And when? It is worth restating that the intent of this report is not to explain the cause of arms imports and exports by Latin American countries. Beyond merely providing information, we do indeed wish to awaken, by means of the information presented here, the curiosity of other researches, activists and government staff members such that they may continue to perform research in their countries regarding the transparency of this information, on who is using the transferred SALW, and how. The data used for this report came from the NISAT database, which contains more than 800,000 entries for SALW transfers worldwide since 1962. The NISAT database gets its information from different sources, COMTRADE among them. In this study we decided to restrict ourselves to data from this latter source because, in theory, all countries report transfers to the UN. This data is declared in accordance with the Harmonized System (SH) merchandise classification system. The HS has existed since 1988and, in 2007, was revised for the fourth time; previous revisions were in 1992, 1996 and in 2002. Regarding the period analyzed, we are looking at data up until 2006, since at the time the study closed this was the most recent year available on NISAT....

February 26, 2007
Petroleum World

Abstract:

Some 160 km off of the muddy Atlantic shores of Guyana and its neighbour, Suriname, lies what geologists suspect is the world's second-largest untapped oil resource, scattered in more than 100 pools. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there could potentially be some 15.3 billion barrels, buried deep in the same rock formations that have been a source of petrodollars for neighbouring Venezuela and Brazil. If put into production, Guyana's theoretical reserves could eventually yield a daily output on par with Kuwait's. And a small Toronto-based oil company called CGX Energy Inc. is one of a few companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Spain's Repsol YPF SA, that are licensed by Guyana to drill there. A bitter boundary dispute, though, has thwarted attempts to explore the most promising sites and keeps the oil dream on hold. The drama started in June 2000, when CGX first set off to drill one of two large targets it had identified as potentially holding half a billion barrels of oil each, some 13,000 feet below sea level. The company named the target Eagle, after the national bird of Guyana. (The other one was named Wishbone, "indicative of the fact that we had our fingers crossed," recalls CGX president Kerry Sully, a long-time oil executive.) As they waited for their rig to cross the ocean from Italy, Sully and his partners plotted its daily progress on the Internet. A mistake, it turned out -- Sully says the company was later told that "people from Suriname looked at it daily."...

May 25, 2005
British Broadcasting Corporation

Abstract:

A chronology of key events.

October 7, 2009
Small Arms Survey // Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva // Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Abstract:

The data in this report is derived from country submissions when possible, and estimates when necessary. Estimates are extrapolated from each country’s identified procurement, highest modern personnel totals, and strategic doctrine. Except where noted, the military small arms and light weapons data presented here is not official, comprehensive, or conclusive; it is for general evaluation and comparison only. The complete methodology used here is described in Chapter 2 of the Small Arms Survey 2006. Small arms are state-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, shotguns, and light and medium machine guns. Firearms are civilian-owned handguns, submachine guns, rifles, and shotguns. Long at the forefront of international small arms issues, public debate and activism in South America have largely focused on matters surrounding civilian firearms, estimated here to total between 21.7 and 26.8 million. The reasons for this civilian preoccupation are principally linked to chronic gun violence. South America has 14 per cent of the global population, and roughly 3.5 to 4 per cent of the world’s civilian firearms, but it suffers from roughly 40 per cent of all homicides committed with firearms. Military small arms are rarely part of public debate, largely because of a strong culture of national security secrecy in South America. But military small arms policy has attracted much closer scrutiny in recent years, especially as military small arms and light weapons are diverted to criminals and guerrillas, fuelling insurgencies and civil violence. This report focuses primarily on issues surrounding surplus military small arms and light weapons in the region. Law enforcement and civilian firearms inventories and issues are recognized here as well, to ensure a balanced overall perspective. The region’s military establishments do not have a strong record of identifying or eliminating their surplus small arms, light weapons, or ammunition. South America holds some of the world’s largest military small arms and light weapons surpluses. Military inventories are not exceptionally large in absolute terms, but they are a major element in global surplus problems. Among the 12 independent countries of South America, there are an estimated 3.6 million military small arms as of 2007, 1.5 per cent of the global total. Of these, approximately 1.3 million, more than one-third, are surplus....

May 8, 2009
Freedom House // United Nations Watch

Abstract:

On May 12, 2009, the UN General Assembly will elect 18 new Human Rights Council members. Twenty countries are candidates. However, each is not competing against all of the others, but rather only against the ones from the same UN regional group. In this year’s election, all but two regional groups have submitted the same amount of candidates as available seats. The Asian Group has 5 countries vying for 5 available seats, the Latin American and Caribbean Group (―GRULAC‖) has 3 countries vying for 3 available seats, and the Western European and Others Group (―WEOG‖) has 3 countries vying for 3 available seats. This does not mean that the candidate countries for these groups will automatically be elected; in order to become a Council member, a country must receive the votes of at least 97 of the 192 General Assembly member states (an absolute majority). Competition between the candidates exists only in the African Group, where 6 countries are vying for 5 available seats, and in the Eastern European Group, where 3 countries are vying for 2 available seats....

September 16, 2008
En la Mira - The Latin American Small Arms Watch

Abstract:

Although all countries, in theory report their authorized transfers - and such information may even be available in certain public databases - the task of providing an overview of SALW transfers, their parts and munitions, is an arduous one. Nonetheless, despite the difficulties, we have some extremely positive initiatives on a global scale, such as for example, the Small Arms Survey, recognized as an important source of information, especially on SALW production and transfers, as well as the Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers (NISAT) which has a database containing transfer records going back to 1962.Despite these important initiatives, themselves when researchers, activists and policy makers try to understand a regional market, such as Latin America and the Caribbean, they encounter a dearth of information. With the intent of addressing this shortcoming, En La Mira has, since 2007, dedicated an issue to transfers of SALWs, parts and ammunition in this region. Further, according to statistics from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN-Comtrade or Comtrade), USD 6.7 billion were exported between 2004 and 2006, while USD 6.5 billion were imported. Despite the fact that Latin America and the Caribbean represent 6% and 3%, respectively, of total transfers worldwide during this period, 42% of firearms related homicide is committed in the region. This discrepancy between the international transfer volume share and the levels of armsrelated violence in Latin America and the Caribbean calls attention to itself, above all because of the tragic and startling number of homicides. Obviously, far from wishing to increase arms transfers in order to be more in sync with homicide rates, we decided, a year ago, to study this issue and periodically monitor its development based on our interest in understanding the primary legal entry and exit routes of firearms and ammunition. The result is a report - based on customs information as stated by Latin American and Caribbean countries and their respective partners - whose objective is to describe the movement of the SALW imports and exports, as well as ammunition and parts, during the present decade. Based on this data, we answer the following questions: who exported and who imported? From whom? What? And when? It is worth restating that the intent of this report is not to explain the cause of arms imports and exports by Latin American countries. Beyond merely providing information, we do indeed wish to awaken, by means of the information presented here, the curiosity of other researches, activists and government staff members such that they may continue to perform research in their countries regarding the transparency of this information, on who is using the transferred SALW, and how. The data used for this report came from the NISAT database, which contains more than 800,000 entries for SALW transfers worldwide since 1962. The NISAT database gets its information from different sources, COMTRADE among them. In this study we decided to restrict ourselves to data from this latter source because, in theory, all countries report transfers to the UN. This data is declared in accordance with the Harmonized System (SH) merchandise classification system. The HS has existed since 1988and, in 2007, was revised for the fourth time; previous revisions were in 1992, 1996 and in 2002. Regarding the period analyzed, we are looking at data up until 2006, since at the time the study closed this was the most recent year available on NISAT....

January 3, 2007
Track Impunity Always

Abstract:

Backgrounder on Juan Bordaberry, accused of illegal detention and disappearances of political opponents in Uruguay.

April 4, 2006
Elcano Royal Institute

Abstract:

The governments of Argentina and Uruguay are at loggerheads. The conflict involves the construction of two plants designed to produce paper pulp, one backed by Spanish capital and the other Finnish, in the Uruguayan city of Fray Bentos. The Argentines see the venture as environmental aggression, making it a bilateral issue. Uruguay considers it a strictly internal, domestic matter in which the country's sovereignty is at stake. The conflict arose from local political battles and electoral issues in the Argentine province of Entre Rxc3xados. From there, with President Kirchner's support (or unwillingness to stop it), it became a nationa#l issue. Uruguay's response has been uncompromising and the constant criticism of Mercosur expressed by different political and economic actors has amplified a large number of complaints against Argentina. The two governments could lose control of the dispute since strong nationalist feelings have been stirred up among the general public. In fact, the conflict mounted steadily through February, as the Argentine Congress authorised the government to approach the International Court in The Hague, the Uruguayan government requested mediation before the Organisation of American States (OAS) and Argentina proposed that work on the projects be stopped for three months. This demonstrates how the conflict has gone beyond the bounds of Mercosur, given the apparent inability of Brazilian diplomacy to deal with a dispute which, if it continues to worsen, threatens to ruin what little remains of Mercosur. However, in early March there were a few, though insufficient, signs that tensions may be easing....

August 8, 2011
IKV Pax Christi

Abstract:

In 2001, Pax Christi Netherlands published a report about the kidnapping industry in Colombia. Seven years on, and the number of kidnappings worldwide has risen even more. The crime has lost nothing of its potency as a cause of human tragedy. Kidnapping is a serious violation of the most elementary right of mankind: the right to a dignified existence. We set out in this report to provide a brief summary of the kidnapping issue on a global level, in particular of kidnapping in conflict regions and fragile states. The questions to be answered are concerned with the financial and political requirements that the kidnappers set, and with the impacts of these practices on the conflict and its perpetuation, and on the performance of the state.

Following on from the previous report, the emphasis of this investigation is on kidnapping and extortion in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Firstly, we wished to ascertain how the kidnapping issue has developed in these countries in the past ten years. This raised the question of whether there was any relationship between the kidnapping practices in Colombia, and trends in this crime in the neighbouring countries. Another primary question regarding Colombia was concerned with the role of the kidnapping theme in peace talks and other dialogue between illegal armed groups and the Colombian government, and with the possible role of the theme in any future peace talks.

The final chapter investigates the kidnapping-related policies of the EU member states, and as far as possible we compare their policies with their actions in practice in recent years. The main question is whether there is any European consensus on how to deal with kidnapping, and how to suppress the phenomenon. What obstacles are there to a joint approach to the kidnapping issue?...

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 13, 2011
Prism // Center for Complex Operations (National Defense University)

Abstract:

Transnational criminal organizations, networks, and terrorist groups are increasingly helping each other move products, money, weapons, personnel, and goods. They accomplish this through an informal network or series of overlapping pipelines. These pipelines can be best understood as recombinant chains with links that can couple and decouple as necessary to meet the interests of the networks involved. Many operate in “alternatively governed” spaces outside of direct state control or within criminal state enterprises. A criminal state counts on the integration of the state's leadership into the criminal enterprise and the use of public services—such as licensing, issuance of official documents, regulatory regimes, border control—for illicit purposes. A further variation of the criminal state occurs when a state franchises part of its territory to nonstate groups, with the protection of the central government or a regional power sharing the profits. The author shows that understanding and addressing these threats requires capacity-building in human intelligence collection and prosecuting transnational criminal organizations....

March 14, 2011
Institute for Security and Development Policy

Abstract:

The events in Libya have once again put focus on Belarus as an arms exporter. Belarus has admitted that it sold or delivered weapons worth an estimated US$1.1 billion in 1999-2006 according to the Congressional Research Service. A significant number of these sales went to state-sponsored terrorism, extremist groups or states involved in conflict. Belarus is also one of the top arms exporters to rogue states.

March 3, 2011
German Institute of Global and Area Studies

Abstract:

Natural resources are often held responsible for intrastate conflicts. As a consequence, both national and international measures to avoid the detrimental impact of resource endowments have increasingly been discussed and implemented in resource‐rich countries. These measures include stabilization funds, subregional development programs, revenue‐sharing regimes, and transparency initiatives. However, comparative empirical studies of the actual impact of these measures, particularly regarding their contribution to conflict prevention, are scarce. This paper contributes to the filling of this gap: combining a medium‐N sample of oildependent countries and three in‐depth case studies (Algeria, Nigeria, and Venezuela), we evaluate different instruments of resource management and their effects on conflict risk factors. On the one hand, the findings do not show any systematic connection between the countermeasures and a reduction in resource‐related risks; on the other, the paper highlights common causal factors for the lack of implementation of resource‐related countermeasures....