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Abstract: Le présent rapport se penche sur la fourniture irresponsable et/ou illégale d'armes et de matériel en
rapport aux parties en conflit en Côte d'Ivoire et sur leur utilisation abusive, plus particulièrement lors
du conflit armé de janvier à avril 2011. Il entend ainsi prouver la nécessité d'une action plus
énergique de la communauté internationale en vue d'aider la Côte d'Ivoire à mettre fin à la survenue
persistante de crimes relevant du droit international et de violations graves des droits humains, y
compris des cas de violences liées au genre envers les femmes et des filles.
Les points troublants abordés dans ce rapport posent des questions fondamentales à la communauté
internationale concernant l’absence de contrôle effectif par les États des transferts internationaux
d’armes classiques et notamment la facilité relative avec laquelle les embargos des Nations unies sur
les armes peuvent être tournés.
Sur la base d’une analyse des faits, le rapport propose des recommandations essentielles. Amnesty
International exhorte tous les États membres des Nations unies, ainsi que les États non membres
chargés d'une mission d'observateur permanent auprès des Nations unies, à déployer tous les efforts
possibles lors de la prochaine conférence finale des Nations unies sur le Traité sur le commerce des
armes, prévue du 18 au 28 mars 2013, pour se mettre d'accord sur un texte prévoyant des règles
solides pour protéger les droits humains et faire respecter le droit international humanitaire. Ces
règles doivent être cohérentes avec les obligations qui incombent aux États conformément au droit
international, et permettre aux États de réglementer de manière efficace, par le biais de mécanismes
de contrôle solides et transparents, tous types d'armes, de munitions et d'équipement associé, y
compris les technologies, les pièces et les composants. Amnesty International est convaincue que le
cas de la Côte d’Ivoire, parmi d'autres, offre la preuve que, sans la mise en oeuvre solide d'un Traité
solide sur le commerce des armes dans le monde, ainsi que d'autres mesures spécifiques prises par
la communauté internationale, les embargos sur les armes décidés par le Conseil de sécurité des
Nations unies, comme celui imposé à la Côte d'Ivoire en novembre 2004, continueront d'être violés.
Abstract: On March 25, the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at Brookings hosted General John Allen, former commander of the International Security Assistance Force, for a discussion of the U.S. and NATO mission in Afghanistan.
General Allen led forces in Afghanistan for 19 months, from mid-2011 through February 2013. Prior to that, Allen was deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command from June 2008 through mid-2011. Brookings Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon, just back from his most recent research trip to Afghanistan, joined General Allen in a discussion on the mission as it progressed during his time in command through the current period.
Abstract: This policy brief examines the steps needed to improve women’s participation in peacekeeping, highlights the problem inherent in commonly cited arguments for increasing women peacekeepers and proposes key recommendations.
In recent years some UN member states have attempted to increase the number of women in peacekeeping operations (PKOs) (including introducing all-female units) as part of an effort to mainstream gender in UN institutions, but also to challenge and transform the predominantly masculine PKO culture. However, these efforts are largely isolated and ad hoc. While all these efforts aim at increasing the number of women participants in PKOs, achieving gender balance does not automatically translate into gender equality or gender mainstreaming.
To increase the meaningful participation of women in PKOs, women need to be integrated into senior, decision-making and leadership posts; all-female contingents should be trained and deployed in, and integrated into mixed-gender environments; and deploy women who are ready to substantively change the PKO environment. Numerical targets, women’s “feminine qualities” and quick fixes for addressing sexual violence in PKOs aside, policymakers should deploy women to assist in gender mainstreaming in PKOs and in changing local women’s lives.
Abstract: Bien qu’elle ait le potentiel d’être l’une des nations les plus riches d’Afrique, la RDC demeure en bas du podium sur la liste des pays en termes d’index de développement humain. Ceci est en partie dû à des structures étatiques faibles, à la corruption, aux problèmes de gouvernance, et à des décennies de violence qui continuent de toucher l’est du pays. Les groupes armés congolais et étrangers à l’Est se battent pour le pouvoir, pour les ressources naturelles, ou à cause de différences ethniques.
Abstract: This document provides an overview of the origins and current challenges of displacement flows by refugees and IDPs in Afghanistan. Furthermore, it presents, based on an open-source research, the potential flows that could occur in Afghanistan post 2014. Related information is available at www.cimicweb.org. Hyperlinks to source material are highlighted in blue and underlined in the text.
Abstract: While the planning process for the deployment of the African-led international support mission to Mali (AFISMA) was laboriously under way, events followed in rapid succession when the armed groups occupying the northern part of the country seized the town of Konna on 10 January 2013. This offensive triggered the French military `Operation Serval` and the arrival of AFISMA troops, including in Bamako, in support to the Malian army. In light of the new situation introduced by the military intervention, this report aims at analyzing the changing political and security dynamics while assessing the prospects for the management of the profound crisis of governance that contributed to taking Mali to the edge of the abyss.
Abstract: Alors que le processus de planification du déploiement de
la Mission internationale de soutien au Mali sous conduite
africaine (MISMA) se mettait laborieusement en place,
les évènements se sont subitement accélérés, avec la
prise, le 10 janvier 2013, de la localité de Konna par les
groupes armés qui occupaient la partie septentrionale
du pays. Le déclenchement subséquent de l’opération
militaire française Serval et le début du déploiement
de la MISMA, y compris à Bamako, en appui à l’armée
malienne, induisent de nouvelles dynamiques politiques
et sécuritaires. Plus globalement, et à la lumière de cette
nouvelle donne, il s’agit d’évaluer les perspectives de
règlement de la profonde crise de gouvernance politique et
sécuritaire qui a mené le pays à la situation actuelle.
Abstract: Background
Nepal is one of the post-conflict countries affected by violence from explosive devices. We undertook this study to assess the magnitude of injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal during 2008-2011 and to describe time trends and epidemiologic patterns for these events.
Methods
We analyzed surveillance data on fatal and non-fatal injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal that occurred between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2011. The case definition included casualties injured or killed by explosive devices knowingly activated by an individual or a group of individuals with the intent to harm, hurt or terrorize. Data were collected through media-based and active community-based surveillance.
Results
Analysis included 437 casualties injured or killed in 131 intentional explosion incidents. A decrease in the number of incidents and casualties between January 2008 and June 2009 was followed by a pronounced increase between July 2010 and June 2011. Eighty-four (19.2%) casualties were among females and 40 (9.2%) were among children under 18 years of age. Fifty-nine (45.3%) incidents involved one casualty, 47 (35.9%) involved 2 to 4 casualties, and 6 involved more than 10 casualties. The overall case-fatality ratio was 7.8%. The highest numbers of incidents occurred in streets or at crossroads, in victims' homes, and in shops or markets. Incidents on buses and near stadiums claimed the highest numbers of casualties per incident. Socket, sutali, and pressure cooker bombs caused the highest numbers of incidents.
Conclusions
Intentional explosion incidents still pose a threat to the civilian population of Nepal. Most incidents are caused by small homemade explosive devices and occur in public places, and males aged 20 to 39 account for a plurality of casualties. Stakeholders addressing the explosive device problem in Nepal should continue to use surveillance data to plan interventions.
Abstract: The premise of most Western thinking on counterinsurgency is that success depends on establishing a perception of legitimacy among local populations. The path to legitimacy is often seen as the improvement of governance in the form of effective and efficient administration of government and public services. However, good governance is not the only possible basis for claims to legitimacy. The author considers whether, in insurgencies where ethno-religious identities are salient, claims to legitimacy may rest more on the identity of who governs, rather than on how whoever governs governs. This monograph presents an analytic framework for examining these issues and then applies that framework to two detailed local case studies of American counterinsurgency operations in Iraq: Ramadi from 2004-05; and Tal Afar from 2005-06. These case studies are based on primary research, including dozens of interviews with participants and eyewitnesses. The cases yield ample evidence that ethno-religious identity politics do shape counterinsurgency outcomes in important ways, and also offer qualified support for the argument that addressing identity politics may be more critical than good governance to counterinsurgent success. Key policy implications include the importance of making strategy development as sensitive as possible to the dynamics of identity politics, and to local variations and complexity in causal relationships among popular loyalties, grievances, and political violence.
Abstract: Reckless and illegal arms supplies from Europe, Africa and China to the warring parties in Côte d'Ivoire over the past decade continue to fuel grave human rights abuses and violent crime in the country, Amnesty International said in a detailed report launched at the United Nations (UN) headquarters.
This report documents how a handful of states and a network of multinational arms traffickers supplied weapons and munitions to both sides in the conflict who committed war crimes and a range of human rights abuses including horrific violence against women and girls.
The arms transfers took place both before and after the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the country in November 2004.
Abstract: After years of intense, cartel-related bloodshed that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and shaken Mexico, new President Enrique Peña Nieto is promising to reduce the murder rate. The security plan he introduced with the backing of the three biggest parties gives Mexico a window of opportunity to build institutions that can produce long-term peace and cut impunity rates. But he faces many challenges. The cartels have thousands of gunmen and have morphed into diversified crime groups that not only traffic drugs, but also conduct mass kidnappings, oversee extortion rackets and steal from the state oil industry. The military still fights them in much of the country on controversial missions too often ending in shooting rather than prosecutions. If Peña Nieto does not build an effective police and justice system, the violence may continue or worsen. But major institutional improvements and more efficient, comprehensive social programs could mean real hope for sustainable peace and justice.
The development of cartels into murder squads fighting to control territory with military-grade weapons challenges the Mexican state’s monopoly on the use of force in some regions. The brutality of their crimes undermines civilian trust in the government’s capacity to protect them, and the corruption of drug money damages belief in key institutions. Cartels challenge the fundamental nature of the state, therefore, not by threatening to capture it, but by damaging and weakening it. The military fight-back has at times only further eroded the trust in government by inflicting serious human rights abuses. Some frustrated communities have formed armed “self-defence” groups against the cartels. Whatever the intent, these also degrade the rule of law.
Abstract: Colombia has one of the longest-running armed conflicts in the world, as well as the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Oxfam research in the department of Nariño and in the Montes de María area of the department of Bolivar found that the Colombian government’s stabilization program (the National Consolidation Plan, or NCP) has not promoted peace, good governance, or sustainable development, as intended. The United States is one of the leading donors to NCP, along with Spain and the Netherlands. In the areas where we carried out our research, our interviewees clearly indicated that the NCP and other stabilization efforts had failed to make communities more secure, often leaving them less safe. We found severe limitations in attempts to promote conflict-sensitive development. This briefing paper explores these issues and offers recommendations to improve both security and development in Nariño and Montes de María.
Abstract: In South Sudan, widespread euphoria following independence in July 2011 has given way to disappointment that expected peace dividends have not materialised. Many South Sudanese are experiencing insecurity, a lack of access to basic services, and increasing inequalities. Pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities in remote border areas are particularly affected by insecurity and by a lack of social services, and women are particularly marginalised. This report is the result of Oxfam research to enable the needs and views of conflict-affected communities to be voiced, heard, and addressed, particularly in relation to security and livelihoods and with an emphasis on women’s participation. It focuses on the security concerns expressed by the communities themselves: conflict within and between communities, cattle raiding, and violence against women.
Abstract: A UN research into the human rights situation in detention centers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) shows that the number of deaths in detention almost doubled in 2012, and that conditions of detention remain extremely poor in the vast majority of detention centres.
Between January 2010 and December 2012, a total of at least 211 civilians died in Congolese detention centers. In 2012, 101 such deaths were recorded compared to 54 in 2010 and 56 in 2011. The report notes that poor conditions, including overcrowding, malnutrition, limited access to health care and lack of resources, were the main causes of death, but also says that more than 10 percent of the deaths (24 cases) were caused by torture or ill-treatment, a finding it describes as “extremely worrying.”
The report, published Wednesday, details the results of in-depth research conducted by human rights officers working for the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC (UNJHRO)* during visits to prisons and other detention centers throughout the country.
Abstract: Malgré des succès louables, quelques initiatives de désarmement, de démobilisation et de réintégration (DDR)
incomplètes ou mal conçues ont été les facteurs clés du phénomène fréquent de la reprise des conflits en
Afrique.
uu La réintégration est la composante la plus complexe et la plus critique du DDR, mais celle à laquelle est
accordée néanmoins la priorité la plus basse.
uu En général, l’intégration des anciennes milices dans les armées nationales constitue une décision d’opportunisme
politique qui va à l’encontre de la professionnalisation des forces armées et qui accroît les risques d’instabilité
et de violations des droits de l’homme.
Abstract: The war in Syria is currently in a particularly complex phase with conflicting reports of rebel progress. Jihadist militias are growing in strength and capability, making it probable that they will have considerable influence and even power in a post-Assad Syria. At the same time, there are indications that elements supporting the Assad regime, including the Iranian government, recognise this and are planning for the aftermath with their own militias.
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.
Abstract: Accessories for small arms and light weapons have become increasingly sophisticated, making weapons more lethal and more versatile. Their trade, both in civilian and military markets, is often not given the degree of attention paid to the weapons themselves.
Accessories for Small Arms and Light Weapons, a new Research Note from the Small Arms Survey, defines accessories, explores their usage on the modern battlefield, and assesses the international trade in these items. The research note focuses on five subsets of accessories:
weapons sights,
night vision devices,
aiming lasers,
laser rangefinders, and
fire-control systems.
The Survey estimates the annual international trade in such items to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But data on international transfers of accessories is sparse: reporting requirements are quite limited, national reporting is vague or non-existent, and little is known about the illicit acquisition and use of accessories by armed groups and criminals.
This Research Note summarizes existing data on small arms accessories and highlights the gaps in this data.
Abstract: This is a transcript of an event held at Chatham House on 12 March 2013.
The panel discussed the international community's role in supporting Afghanistan after the 2014 withdrawal of international troops, including strategies for building up local security, the possibility of reconciliation with the Taliban, and how to address ongoing humanitarian needs in the country.
Speakers included: Dr Robert Johnson, Jawed Nader, Matt Waldman.
Abstract: The withdrawal of international troops seems to have set in motion the beginning of a stampede whose consequences will only be known over time. Limiting the damage of what looks like a widespread and comprehensive withdrawal at all levels from governments, companies or individuals will be crucial for the stability of Afghanistan.
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the withdrawal provided that the necessary assets, funding and support are put in place to fill the vacuum left by the international forces. Should this not be guaranteed, the current fears of growing insecurity could become a reality triggering or exacerbating some of the current negative trends.
The gradual decline of aid, if properly managed is not intrinsically bad. As the World Bank points out “less aid with more effective aid delivery could, in the end, lead to more positive outcomes”.
The resurgence of the Taleban insurgency in 2006 started to reverse the prevailing trust and optimism of the business community. This trend has been exacerbated since the announcement of the withdrawal calendar in 2009.
The burden of, and the capacity for, changing reality on the ground for investors remains largely in the hands of the Afghan government through the implementation of the necessary reforms and actions that would guarantee a reasonable level of hard and economic security.
Both, the transition and post transition periods pose a series of great challenges. However none are really new to the country, just the means to tackle them and the division of labour.
Abstract: In late 2012, the Burma Army intensified military operations against strongholds of the
Kachin Independence Army (KIA). This culminated in a massive offensive on the KIA
headquarters at Laiza on the China-Burma border starting in mid-December. This month-long
assault involved repeated mortar shelling and aerial bombings in the Laiza area, populated by
20,000 civilians, over half of whom are internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were denied
refuge in China.
This report documents the killing or injury of 26 civilians, including women, children and the
elderly, in Burmese artillery attacks in five areas during the recent military operations. The
repeated authorization of artillery fire into areas populated by civilians, as well as deliberate
torching of villages and IDP shelters, represent serious breaches of international humanitarian
law, and are likely to amount to war crimes.
The humanitarian situation in Kachin areas remains critical, with 364 villages wholly or
partially abandoned, and over 100,000 people internally displaced. Hardly any international
aid has been provided to the 66,000 IDPs in Kachin-controlled areas.
There has been little international condemnation of the Burma Army aggression in Kachin
State. Foreign governments appear more interested in pursuing diplomatic and economic
engagement with Burma’s military-backed government. However, silence on the Burmese
military’s crimes risks plunging Burma deeper into civil war, by emboldening Burma’s rulers
to continue using force to crush the ethnic resistance movements.
The international community must strongly condemn the crimes committed by the Burma
Army, and pressure the Burmese government to end all military aggression, begin troop
withdrawal from Kachin areas of Burma, and enter into political dialogue with the Kachin
Independence Army to address the demands for ethnic equality at the root of the conflict.
Abstract: The dead bodies found every day in towns and villages across Syria bearing marks of execution-style killing and torture are the grim evidence of mounting war crimes and other abuses being committed not just by government forces, but also by armed opposition groups in the context of the country’s bitter internal armed conflict. This briefing looks at serious abuses, some amounting to war crimes, committed by the burgeoning number of armed opposition groups operating in Syria, focusing mainly on summary killings.
Abstract: The uprisings that the Arab world has experienced since the end of 2010 have fundamentally affected all the countries of the region. In this context, while civil society has had a profound role to play, the level of development of civil associations in each of the countries of the region has not been irrelevant to the outcomes. The diversity in outcomes is matched by a similar differentiation in the nature of the states and regimes, with civil society experiencing a similar evolutionary path. This paper aims to identify the notion of civil society and its components vis-à-vis the Arab world, and accordingly to present a classification of the Arab states, based on the degree of the active presence of civil associations. The linkages between civil society and democracy are also explored. Finally the paper offers a set of policy suggestions with regard to the enhancement of Arab civil society.
Abstract: The Syrian grassroots civilian opposition has been the primary engine of the popular uprising against the regime of Bashar Assad. Local arrangements for self-organization have evolved from so-called local coordination committees (LCCs), which are mainly involved in media work and the organization of protests. They have created sophisticated structures of civilian administration in the liberated areas of Syria. Currently, the protracted violence, sectarianism, radicalization, lack of coordination among rebel forces and deteriorating social conditions are putting the survival of these LCCs and local opposition councils in serious jeopardy. The achievements in bottom-up mobilization and organization, as well as the inclusiveness of these new organizations, could be crucial assets in building a democratic Syria. However, without outside support, already fragile state institutions, as well as the LCCs and local opposition councils, are in danger of collapse as communities face the dangers of disintegration.
