March 18, 2013
Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Abstract:
This Report provides a summary of the deliberations as well as some very useful background papers from the Perth Counter-Piracy Conference held on 16–17 July 2012. The Conference addressed the issues of piracy and armed robbery against ships. It compared the situation in the three main areas where these crimes are most prolific -in Southeast Asia, off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Guinea- with a view towards gaining ideas about the lessons to be learned and how the fight against piracy and sea robbery might be strengthened at the national, regional and international levels....
September 28, 2012
The United Nations Development Programme // The United Nations Children's Fund // The United Nations Women's Programme
Abstract:
In some developing countries, informal or traditional justice systems resolve up to 80 percent of disputes, over everything from cattle to contracts, dowries to divorce. Disproportionately, these mechanisms affect women and children.
A new report, commissioned by UNDP, UNICEF, and UN Women and produced by the Danish Institute for Human Rights, provides the most comprehensive UN study on this complex area of justice to date. It draws conclusions based on research in Bangladesh, Ecuador, Malawi, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, and 12 other developing countries.
These systems, it concludes, are a reality of justice in most of the countries where UNDP works to improve lives and livelihoods and government capacities to serve. The evidence illustrates the direct bearing such systems can have on women and children’s legal empowerment, covering issues from customary marriage and divorce to custody, inheritance, and property rights. It’s time to engage squarely with customary justice systems and integrate them into broader development initiatives aimed at guaranteeing human rights and access to justice for all.
These systems are often far more accessible than formal mechanisms and may have the potential to provide quick, inexpensive, and culturally relevant remedies. But traditional development models have for years paid them little attention. To be effective, both systems must work together for development. Both justice systems—the formal, government-supported model of laws, police, courts, and prisons—and informal or traditional systems can violate human rights, reinforce discrimination, and neglect procedural fairness. But both can also adapt and engage so that human rights are respected and access to justice is universal....
July 4, 2012
International Center for Transitional Justice
Abstract:
Fifty years after the Dutch colony of Netherlands New Guinea came under Indonesia’s authority in 1962, many Papuans continue to demand justice, accountability, and independence from Indonesia. In 2001, Papua was granted special autonomy, under Special Autonomy Law No. 21/2001, which included a commitment to address past human rights violations and to prevent their recurrence. However, a decade later, the steps needed to implement these goals have not been taken.
Papua and West Papua are Indonesia’s eastern-most provinces, and the former shares a land border with Papua New Guinea. In the last few years, the provinces have seen a surge in violence, accompanied by protests, attacks, and counterattacks by armed groups, and attempts by the government to suppress the growing dissent. In an attempt to respond to mounting grievances, on September 20, 2011, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a decree creating the Unit for the Acceleration of Development in Papua and West Papua [Unit Percepatan Pembangunan di Papua dan Papua Barat, or UP4B]. Although an earlier draft decree empowered the unit to address sensitive but important topics such as conflict mediation and human rights, the final version focused almost exclusively on development issues, such as poverty, education, health, and infrastructure.
This report, based on research conducted by the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy [ELSHAM] together with the International Center for Transitional Justice [ICTJ], contributes to ongoing discussions on the steps required to achieve a sustainable peace in Papua. Based on more than 100 interviews carried out in 2011 in Sorong, Manokwari, Biak, and Paniai, the report reviews Papua’s recent history, including the Special Autonomy Law, within a transitional justice framework. It also reveals new information that was provided in testimonies by victims and witnesses who experienced human rights violations going back to the earliest days of Indonesia’s history as a nation.
While efforts by the Indonesian government to raise the standard of living of Papuans are welcome, economic grievances are only one source of dissatisfaction and unrest in Papua. This report is not intended to be a comprehensive study of the entire period from 1963 to 1998; however, the information collected during the research includes almost 750 counts of human rights violations and demonstrates that the feelings of distrust are deeply rooted in thepast and present experiences of human rights violations. Victims and witnesses continue to distrust the government and endure emotional trauma and acute memories of past violence.
Unless these grievances are not only recognized, but also addressed in a practical way, reconciliation could remain elusive. A comprehensive transitional justice strategy could provide an effective redress, and should include truth-seeking, criminal accountability, reparations, institutional reform to prevent recurrence of human rights violations, and a focus on the rights of indigenous women. Recommendations are offered at the end of this paper....
June 6, 2012
Australian Government // Australian Civil-Military Centre
Abstract:
Australia is a longstanding and committed contributor to global peace operations, having deployed more than
65 000 personnel to more than 50 UN and other multilateral peace and security operations since 1947. Over the
past two decades Australia is proud to have contributed personnel, resources and leadership, alongside its regional
partners, to a number of peace operations in the Asia–Pacific region. This report examines some of the primary
features of these contributions in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, in Solomon
Islands and in Timor-Leste and identifies a number of lessons that emerge from these experiences. It seeks to focus
on those policy innovations, best practices and lessons that have greatest potential for use in peacekeeping and
peacebuilding efforts elsewhere.
Australia has been a partner for peace in each of these operations, recognising that assistance that aligns with
local priorities and supports local leadership will be more effective and sustainable in the long term. Support from
Australia and regional partners has built on the significant efforts made by the governments and peoples of Papua
New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste to emerge from conflict. Although this report focuses on Australia’s
experiences, it recognises that the credit for peaceful transitions belongs overwhelmingly to the leaders and
communities of these three countries themselves....
May 28, 2012
The World Bank
Abstract:
The report addresses the fact that the spheres of security and development significantly overlap in fragile and conflict-affected countries, the respective responses remain largely disconnected. Only by securing development, can roots be deep enough to break the cycle of fragility and violence. Firstly, to facilitate the transition from war to peace and later to foster stability so that development can generate progress over a decade and beyond. In order to do this, the authors believe all development actors need to rethink development assistance creatively as well as learn from the other side: security-focused operations and programs. This paper reports on a consultative dialogue between the World Bank and Australia's whole-of-government spectrum of institutions, with a focus on development actors hearing the security perspective. In this, the authors join a growing process of dialogue between accidental partners development and security actors, unfamiliar with each other but faced with the same challenge of being engaged in fragile and conflict-affected environments. From the authors perspective, engaging in thinking about integration or coordination between development and security embarks on largely unknown territory. However, over the last fifteen to twenty years, Australia has engaged in several unprecedented models of crisis response, integrating security and development, and the authors welcome the opportunity to bring that experience into the broader global discussion....
Asia-Pacific 
