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PEACE & SECURITY REPORT
IPSI's Peace & Security Report (PSR) is a concise weekly e-publication intended to brief busy students, academics, advocates, and practitioners in the conflict management community on pertinent global news, events, and trends. Meticulously researched and written by IPSI, the PSR empowers us all to take a step back from our immediate deadlines each Friday and gain a greater understanding of the week's global events.
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Featured Event
The End of the LRA? Establishing Security & Justice for Northern Uganda
Wednesday, December 14, 4:00pm
 IPSI, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins SAIS Conflict Management Program, will host a high-level panel discussion and networking reception on Wednesday, December 14th at 4:00pm. The event, which will take place at SAIS, will examine whether the Obama administration's commitment to help combat the LRA will translate into a successful end to the rebel group, as well as the needed steps to foster long-term peace, stability, and justice for the war-traumatized North. The panel of experts includes:
- Betty Bigombe Former Chief Mediator between the LRA and the Government of Uganda
- Cameron Hudson Senior Advisor, Committee on Conscience, U.S. Holocaust Museum
- John Prendergast Co-Founder, Enough Project
Space is limited and will fill up fast, so please RSVP to RSVP@ipsinstitute.org with your name and affiliation. There is a suggested five dollar donation at the door. |
Africa
ERITREA: UN Security Council expands sanctions
The UN Security Council voted Monday to expand economic sanctions against Eritrea for its alleged support of al-Shebab militants in Somalia. Representatives from Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda all urged the Security Council to pass the resolution, which will require foreign companies involved in Eritrea's mining industry to exercise "vigilance" in ensuring that they are not inadvertently funding the flow of arms to Somalia. Eritrea's ambassador to the UN called the sanctions "illegal and unjust," and declared that Eritrea has never, and will never, support al-Shebab. Comment: A UN report released in July found Eritrea involved in providing political, financial, and logistical support to al-Shebab. Most experts believe Eritrea uses the conflict in Somalia to engage in a proxy war with its traditional rival, Ethiopia. There is hope that increased economic pressure on the Eritrean government can be successfully translated into military gains against al-Shebab. (Reuters, BBC, Voice of America)
NIGERIA: Six killed in attack on police buildings, banks
On Sunday, unidentified gunmen carried out an attack on police headquarters and two banks in Azare, a town in Nigeria's northeastern Bauchi state. The assault lasted approximately four hours and left six dead, including a police officer and a soldier. According to reports, the police buildings were bombed and the banks looted. Comment: No group has yet claimed responsibility, although the incident resembles previous attacks by the Islamist sect Boko Haram. Security sources believe the group has splintered into three factions, with one maintaining close ties with terrorist groups in Somalia and North Africa. Based on the Associated Press count, Boko Haram is responsible for at least 387 killings this year alone. (All Africa, AP, Reuters)
SUDAN: Army invades town in South Kordofan
On Saturday, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) announced the capture of a key rebel stronghold in the town of Jau, in Sudan's border state of South Kordofan. Army spokesmen declared that the captured town had been the headquarters of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N). A representative of the SPLM-N denied that the group had soldiers in the area; however, it is not possible to independently verify the claims as Sudan does not allow journalists in the region. Comment: The SAF action follows the ICC indictment last week of Sudan's Defense Mininister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein for war crimes in Sudan's western Darfur region. Hussein now leads the SAF campaign against the SPLM rebels in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, where the Sudanese army is accused of carrying out a scorched earth policy resulting in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians. (Sudan Tribune, Reuters , BBC)
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Americas
COLOMBIA: Anti-FARC demonstrations
On Tuesday, 10 days after the murder of four long-term hostages by the FARC, civic groups in several cities across Colombia organized demonstrations to demand that the FARC free all hostages. The government also showed its support by giving public employees time off to participate. The FARC has since responded via blog post, indicating they will release six hostages, but did not give any more specifics. Comment: Colombia's chief of police, General Oscar Naranjo stated, "[These protests] generate tremendous concern, real anguish, for [FARC] to see Colombians pressuring them and rejecting their terrorist methods." Ten members of the security forces, as well as dozens of civilian captives, remain hostage. President Santos has publicly stated that he is willing to discuss a unilateral release of prisoners followed by a dialogue with the group for peace. (BBC, AFP, Colombia Reports)
PERU: State of emergency declared
On Monday, President Humala implemented a 60-day state of emergency in the northern Cajamarca state that denies people the right to assembly and allows arrests without warrants; the decision follows the failure of mediation efforts on Sunday with protesters who have been rallying for 11 days against a 4.8 billion USD gold project by U.S.-based Newmont Mining. Cajamarca's state governor, Gregorio Santos, has been leading the protests, claiming the project will taint and diminish water supplies. Comment: According to the Associated Press, mining accounts for 61 percent of Peru's export income. Before his June election, Humala told Cajamarca residents that clean water was more important for him than gold. The government now claims this project will be the largest mining investment in Peruvian history, generating thousands of jobs and huge tax revenues. The state of emergency marked the first time Humala has used special powers to defuse a social conflict over mining in Peru, where disputes in some 200 communities across the country threaten to delay billions of dollars in planned mine and oil projects. (BBC, AP, Reuters)
UNITED STATES: DEA Accused of laundering Mexican drug money
Anti-narcotic agents within the Drug Enforcement Agency were accused this past weekend of laundering millions of dollars in drug proceeds as part of operations to gain intelligence on how the system works. In the scheme, agents deposited proceeds in accounts designated by traffickers or in shell accounts and then allowed cartels to continue their operations over months or even years before making seizures or arrests. Comment: Mexican President Felipe Calderon has encouraged American agents to increase their role in the fight against cartels as part of his offensive on drug gangs, which began in 2006. Critics claim these operations blur the line between surveillance and facilitation of crime, raising questions similar to those around a gun-smuggling operation between 2009 and 2010 notoriously known as the Fast and Furious. That operation involved agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who encouraged gun shops in Phoenix to sell up to 1,725 assault rifles and other weapons destined for Mexican drug cartels. (Huffington Post, NY Times, Global Post)
REGIONAL: Summit ends with creation of CELAC
In Caracas, Venezuela on Saturday, numerous Central and South American heads-of-state ended a regional summit by creating a new regional bloc, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), with the stated aims of creating a regional reserves fund for economic crises and a body for human rights monitoring. The presidency of CELAC was conferred to Chilean President Pinera who is now responsible for hosting the next meeting. This new regional body consists of 33 nations, including Cuba and excluding Canada and the U.S. The CELAC nations have nearly 600 million people and a gross domestic product of about six trillion USD. Comment: Chavez, who initiated this summit, claims the creation of this new regional body will allow the member nations to abandon Washington and the OAS, creating their own space for new growth. Other nations are not as decisive and see CELAC as a forum to resolve regional conflicts and build stronger ties, not replace existing institutions. Meanwhile, critics say it unnecessarily adds yet another acronym to the plethora of organizations that already exist around Latin America with similar goals. (Reuters, Latin American Herald Tribune, BBC)
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East Asia
CAMBODIA: 30 Victims of trafficking repatriated
On Tuesday, 30 trafficking victims were repatriated to Cambodia from Indonesia. The victims, who were all men, claim they were tricked into traveling to Thailand, where they were sold to fishing boats for hard labor. The victims are part of a total group of 65 men who are expected to be repatriated; 30 more will return to Cambodia on December 12, but it is unclear when the remaining five will be repatriated. Comment: Cambodian and Indonesian authorities, as well as the International Organization for Migration, are working together to secure the repatriation of the remaining victims. Cambodian human rights group Licadho has already recorded 75 Cambodians so far this year who were trafficked onto fishing boats and later repatriated Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Mauritius. (Xinhua Net, Phnom Penh Post, Phnom Penh Post, Khamerlogue)
CHINA: Australian businessman sentenced to 13 years in prison
On Tuesday, Chinese-born Australian citizen, Matthew Ng, was sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges of bribery and embezzlement. Ng took a majority holding of GZL, a company owned by the Guangzhou municipal government, in 2007 and 2008; he claims he is now being punished for refusing to sell those shares back to the government for their original purchase price. Two of Ng's business associates also received prison sentences; Ng has indicated his intent to appeal. Comment: Australian diplomats were unsuccessful in their requests to top Chinese officials to have the trial moved to a larger courtroom and opened to media coverage. Prime Minister Gillard reportedly expressed her interest in Ng's case during a meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao in April, and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has continued to express its "strong interest" in Ng's case to Chinese authorities. (BBC, NY Times, Herald Sun)
INDONESIA: Police clash with protesters at a West Papua independence celebration
Last Thursday, police fired shots to disperse a crowd of 1,500 Papuans gathered in Timika, West Papua to celebrate the 50th anniversary of West Papua's independence. The police were allegedly provoked by the raising of the Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan independence, which is illegal in Indonesia. Police claim that they only fired warning shots, but some Papuans argue that several people were injured when police opened fire; claims are difficult to confirm since foreign media is strictly controlled in the region. Comment: West Papua declared independence from the Dutch 50 years ago, but Indonesia annexed the region in 1969 in order to claim West Papua's rich mining resources. Timikia is home to the Grasberg copper-gold mine, where workers have been striking for ten weeks. (BBC, The Australian, The ABC, The ABC)
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| Europe & Central Asia
BELGIUM: Government formed after 541 days of deadlock
The new Belgian government headed by Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo was sworn in to office on Tuesday; Di Rupo is the first French-speaking Prime Minister in over 30 years, as well as the first Socialist since 1974. The delay in forming a new government began with arguments between Flemish and French-speaking communities over voting rights, which then expanded to include budget and immigration issues. Comment: Belgium's financial issues, including the downgrade of the credit rating to AA from AA+ last month, pressured political parties to form the new government. Belgium has not had an official government since April 2010, 541 days in total, setting a record for a country without a government. (France 24, The Telegraph, Reuters)
GERMANY: WWII bombs defused in Koblenz after evacuation
After a fall in water levels from lack of rain in November, two undetonated bombs were discovered in the Rhine river in the German city of Koblenz. On Sunday, orders came to evacuate anyone within a 1.2 mile radius of the bomb; approximately 45,000 people, including hospitals and a prison. Bomb disposal experts were able to successfully defuse both bombs after a three-hour operation. Comment: The larger of the two bombs, weighing 1.8 tons, was one of the largest found since the end of the war. Between 1943 and 1945, the Allied powers dropped over 250 bombs on Koblenz. An estimated 600 tons of unexploded munitions are discovered every year in Germany. (Deutsche Welle, Reuters, BBC)
RUSSIA: Protests over election fraud
Police cracked down this week on opposition activists and anti-Putin protesters in Moscow, arresting over 1,000 people since demonstrators took to the streets following reports of fraud in Sunday's parliamentary elections. Prime Minister Putin's United Russia party won 49 percent of the vote, down from 64 percent in 2007; however, opposition leaders and rights activists argued that 25 percent of the votes for the United Russia party were faked by election officials. President Medvedev and the Central Elections Commission denied any wrong-doing and called the evidence of fraud into question. Comment: Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev agreed with the opposition and called for new elections. International observers and election monitors cited election fraud based on reports from organizations such as the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which criticized the elections as only partially free and fair. (The Moscow Times, RFE/RL, Reuters)
Researched/Written by Erin Bobst
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Middle East & North Africa
IRAN: U.S. spy drone recovered
On Sunday, Iran's media reported the capture of an unmanned U.S. spy drone downed by the Iranian Air Force over the eastern town of Kashmar, approximately 140 miles from the Afghan border. U.S. officials in Afghanistan said the craft was possibly an unmanned reconnaissance plane, which flew off course and crashed last week. Analysts reported worries of Iranian military collecting intelligence or replicating the technological secrets of the plane; reports also speculate that Iran could sell the drone to China or Russia. Comment: This is not the first incident where Iran claimed to have shot down U.S. drones. This year, Tehran reported that its forces shot down drones in the Gulf area and near the city of Qom. While no evidence of destroyed drones was produced in the previous incidents, Iran vowed that its responses would not be limited to its borders. (Tehran Times, Washington Post, WSJ)
SYRIA: President Assad denies ordering killings of protesters
In a televised interview with ABC on Wednesday, President Assad denied ordering the ongoing deadly crackdown on protesters, rebutting the UN's estimate that Syria's nine-month-long uprising has killed over 4,000 civilians. He explained, "There is no command to kill or be brutal... there is no policy to crack down," denying any guilt associated with the bloodshed, but feeling sorry for the lives lost. Comment: Syrian activists consider the interview comments as evidence that Assad is disconnected from the reality of violence in the country. While the civilian protesters claim that the security forces are using deadly force against them, the government justifies its violence as action against armed groups and terrorists influenced by extremists and a foreign agenda to destabilize Syria. (WSJ, ABC News, Aljazeera)
REGIONAL: Gulf monarchies to establish a unified police force
On Wednesday, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) interior ministers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE agreed to set-up a permanent security committee to "oversee the safety of industries and other vital installations." The committee aims to establish a Gulf-wide unified police force to counter terrorism. Qatar played a pivotal role in unveiling this plan, utilizing the recommendation of consultants and security experts who study security agreements between the GCC countries. Comment: The GCC has an existing joint military unit (Peninsula Shield), which was established to protect the Gulf countries from outside threats; however, the forces were criticized for their role in this year's crackdown against Bahraini protesters. (Arab News, Saudi Gazette, The National)
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South Asia
AFGHANISTAN: Leaders meet at the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan
Representatives of 85 countries and 15 international organizations met at Bonn, Germany on Monday for a conference to discuss Afghanistan's future. The meet focused on three key areas: transferring responsibility from international troops to Afghan security forces over the next three years, long term prospects of aid, and a possible settlement with the Taliban. Leaders at the conference also pledged their continued support for Afghanistan after the withdrawal of foreign forces in 2014. This conference comes ten years after the first Bonn meet which laid down a road map for the Afghan Government following the fall of the Taliban. Comment: Experts point out that no tangible progress was made on core issues. The success of the conference was marred by the absence of two key players, Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban. (CNN, Rediff, RFE-RL)
AFGHANISTAN: Bomb attacks kill at least 59
On Tuesday, on the Shiite holy day of Ashura, bomb attacks in three Afghan cities, Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, and Kandahar killed at least 59. President Karzai blamed a Pakistan-based group for the attack stating, "Lashkar-e-Jhangvi which is based in Pakistan has claimed responsibility for this attack... We will investigate the issue very carefully and will discuss it with the Pakistani government." On Wednesday, a roadside mine killed 19 when it exploded in the southern province of Helmand. Comment: The blasts were the worst sectarian attacks in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban. Sectarian violence was largely absent during the decade-long Afghan war; however, there are now fears that this sort of violence could further stretch the resources of Afghan security forces once international troops withdraw by 2014. (Express Tribune, Daily Record, Reuters)
INDIA: Minister seeks to crackdown on offensive internet content
Communications Minister Kapil Sibal announced the Indian government's decision to crack down on offensive internet content and met officials from Google, Facebook and other websites on Monday; he said the firms told him they were unable to take any action. Accusing the firms of not cooperating, he said the government would introduce guidelines to ensure "blasphemous material" did not appear on the internet; however, he assured that the government would not interfere with the country's freedom of expression. Comment: Doctored photos of Prime Minister Singh and Congress party head Sonia Gandhi have angered the government. Sibal's move to regulate online content evoked a barrage of criticisms on social media websites. India has close to 121 million internet users, of which 43 million use Facebook, 3.6 million use Google plus, and 3.5 million use Twitter. (BBC, Time of India, Statesman)
Researched/Written by Megha Swamy
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IPSI News
Applications open for IPSI's 2012 The Hague Symposium on Post-Conflict Transitions & International Justice!
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IPSI News
Applications open for IPSI's 2012 Bologna Symposium on Conflict Prevention, Resolution, & Reconciliation!
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IPSI News
Time.com article by IPSI Contributor John Prendergast and George Clooney: Famine as a Weapon: It's Time to Stop Starvation in Sudan
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