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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 Article
Explosive Wisdom: What Landmines Teach Us About Liberation and Leadership
by Jerry White  I had never thought much about landmines until I stepped on one in 1984, when I was twenty years old. I was camping in northern Israel with two friends and suddenly the earth exploded around me. I looked down at my shredded bloody legs in confused horror, wanting to know where my right foot had gone. Our hike had led us through an unmarked minefield left from the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
Thus began my journey of discovering who I was and what was possible. It was the beginning of a lifelong quest to do more than merely survive, but to discover the inherent power of resilience that can lead each and every one of us to greater wisdom, understanding and knowledge.
My personal evolution from landmine survivor to 'transformational leader' happened because I had to learn early in life how to dig deeper into myself-mind, heart, soul-to find out who I really was and what I wanted to accomplish in the life I still had. More importantly, I learned that surviving and leading are collective experiences that require the support of others. No one can do it alone. I began to seek out teachers and mentors who had discovered deeper meaning and understanding of themselves, whether through trauma or accrued life experience. These role models were generous in spirit, pointing me toward a physical and spiritual recovery that I came to think of as my liberation. It was not a singular or solo experience but an ongoing social process. Tapping the power of wisdom in a violently vulnerable world means relying on one other, working with integrity, together.
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Africa
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: 11 UN peacekeepers wounded after attack by villagers
On Monday, an attack against the United Nations mission in the DRC in the Bunyiakiri area of South Kivu province resulted in 11 wounded Pakistani peacekeepers, seven with serious bullet wounds. UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky stated the attackers were upset that UN troops are not doing enough to defend their village against attacks by the Forces Démocratique pour la Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) militants. The UN mission also reported elements of the Mai-Mai armed self-defense group may have been part of the protest and fired on the peacekeepers. Comment: The UN Security Council strongly condemned Monday's attacks and encouraged the government of the DRC to swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice. Pakistan is a current non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. (All Africa, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, UN News Centre)
GUINEA: Government security forces clash with protesters
Clashes between government security forces and thousands of protesters occurred last Thursday in the capital Conakry following calls by the opposition party to reinstate cancelled parliamentary elections set for July 8. Security forces used guns, teargas, and truncheons to quell the protests, resulting in an estimated 24 protesters hurt and 17 police officers injured. The opposition has accused the administration of President Alpha Conde of pre-rigging the polls in his favor, which they claim are fraudulent, corrupt, and not transparent. Comment: The Conde regime has had a long history of delaying polls, including those which were to be held for Conde within six months of his inauguration in 2010 in order to transition from military to civilian rule. The last legislative elections were held in June 2002. (Al Jazeera, BBC News, Retuers)
SOMALIA: EU forces launch raid on Somali pirate bases
On Tuesday, the European Union Naval Force (EU Navfor) launched its first military deployment off the Somali coastline. Mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 1851, EU helicopters conducted air raids and destroyed several of the pirates' boats and supplies in order to cut them off from available resources. EU Navfor released a statement claiming the nighttime raid was successful and that no Somalis were injured. Comment: The new expanded mandate increased the mission's area of operations to include the coastline, as well as allow warships or aircraft to fire at fuel barrels, boats, lorries, or other equipment. This operation was part of a wider approach to tackling the root symptoms and causes of piracy in the Horn of Africa. (All Africa, Al Jazeera, BBC News)
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Americas
BOLIVIA: Multi-sector protests against government
Health and university workers continued strikes this past week in La Paz against the government, and although health leaders lifted the hunger strike, they maintained that the general strike will continue until the government repeals Supreme Directive (S.D.) 1126. The Directive expands the workday from six to eight hours without any increase in pay or benefits. President Morales suspended S.D. 1126 earlier this month, yet protests continued to push for complete abrogation, as well as salary increases. University workers rejected a draft agreement and announced a march in the capital city. The government is urging the workers to return to their jobs and insists that there is no need to continue striking, expressing confidence that any disagreements can be peacefully mediated. Protests over S.D. 1126 began on March 28. Comment: President Morales initially justified S.D. 1126 as a way of increasing healthcare for the poor. Doctors claim more work with patients interferes with their teaching responsibilities. (La Razon, Los Tiempos, JornadaNet, Aljazeera)
BRAZIL: Truth Commission inauguration
President Dilma Rousseff inaugurated the Brazilian Truth Commission, which will investigate the human rights abuses committed between 1946 and 1988 by both the military and left-wing guerrillas. The military-era amnesty means that there will be no trials or convictions. Controversy was sparked over the appointment of Rosa Maria Cardoso da Cunha, who was President Rousseff's lawyer while incarcerated and tortured in the 70s, as one of the seven members of the Truth Commission. Military personnel view Rosa as vindictive and a hindrance to the healing process of the Commission. Victims and families are complaining that the Commission is already limited without the capacity to put perpetrators on trial. Comment: A parallel panel is being set up by retired officers to counter the anticipated accusations that surface. The Commission will investigate the estimated 500 killed or disappeared Brazilians and thousands of other torture cases that occurred during the country's military dictatorship. (OGlobo, BBC, Terra Noticias)
REGIONAL: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report on prisons
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released a report this week detailing the systemic human rights violations in prisons prevalent throughout the majority of American countries. The most serious problems included overpopulation (exacerbated by excessive preventive detention), poor living conditions, high incidences of violence and inadequate control by authorities, torture as part of criminal investigations and excessive uses of force, lacking vulnerable group protection, deficient work and educational programs, and corruption by prison management. The IACHR cites decades of neglect by governments and societal apathy as major contributors to the problem. The principle recommendation of the report is a refocusing on effective reintegration policies and practices based on the fundamental ideal that prisons systems ought to be used to prevent crime and violence in order to create security for citizens. Comment: The report is receiving extra attention due to the prevalence of deadly prison fires throughout the region. International attention recently focused on the grave account of a prison fire in Honduras' Comayagua where 361 prisoners died on February 14. (IACHR, El Comercio, El Nuevo Herald)
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East Asia
CHINA: Foreign direct investment drops below target for sixth month
May marks the sixth consecutive month in which China reported lower foreign direct investment (FDI) in their economy than achieved last year; a trend many experts attribute to a weak global economy and continuing anxiety concerning the European debt crisis. In an effort to restore economic output to previous levels, Beijing has relaxed the reserve requirements imposed on domestic banks to encourage easier lending. Comment: Some analysts interpret the consistent decline in China's FDI to an overall slowing of Chinese economic growth, raising the concerns of its international trading partners. (Reuters, BBC, Bloomberg)
NORTH KOREA: Construction resumes on prototype nuclear reactor
Satellite images indicate that North Korea has resumed its light water reactor construction, and experts say the facility may be operational within two years. This reactor could potentially accelerate the rate at which Pyongyang can enrich uranium for use as either nuclear fuel or in the development of nuclear weapons. While North Korean officials insist that the facility is intended explicitly as a source of civilian electric power, observers remain apprehensive given Pyongyang's two previous nuclear weapons tests and numerous missile tests. Comment: North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 2003 following a diplomatic dispute with the United States, which claimed North Korea had violated the terms of their 1994 'Agreed Framework' settlement by secretly enriching uranium. It conducted widely condemned missile tests last month, further heightening tensions. (NYTimes, Al-Jazeera, BBC)
REGIONAL: Japan, China, and South Korea to begin free trade agreement preparations
Leaders from Japan, China, and South Korea met this week to lay the groundwork for a regional free trade agreement. These three economies are the largest in East Asia, and a collective free trade agreement between them is expected to accelerate their economic growth significantly if properly implemented. Despite expectations that the three nations would also make a joint statement of condemnation regarding North Korea's recent missile tests, the talks failed to produce a diplomatic consensus on the matter. While all three parties have voiced public disapproval of North Korea's missile tests, they disagree on the best diplomatic recourse. Comment: Japan, South Korea, and the United States all advocated increased sanctions and diplomatic isolation of North Korea, but China has opted for a policy of non-confrontation. (Yomiuri, Jakarta Post, SIIA)
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| Europe & Central Asia
GREECE: New snap elections and Euro crisis
On Wednesday, it was announced that Greece would hold snap parliamentary elections on June 17 after Greeks withdrew hundreds of millions of Euros from banks fearing that the country would not be able to remain a member of the euro zone. The date for the new snap elections was announced only 10 days after the May 6 national elections in which Greeks did not cast enough votes for any major party, leaving no party able to form a government. A special caretaker administration led by a senior judge will govern Greece until the new elections. Comment: Greece may not have a government when it needs to make critical debt payments, possibly resulting in its exclusion from the Eurozone. Moreover, the Greek debt crisis threatens the stability of the European Union's single currency. (CNN, Euro News, BBC).
RUSSIA: Russian Duma to propose amendments challenging freedom of assembly
On Tuesday evening, the Russian Committee on Constitutional Law and State Building proposed changes to the Code of Administrative Offenses and Law on Assembly that has been dubbed as unconstitutional by opposition and experts. Dmitry Vyatkin, who chairs the Constitutional Law Committee, told Russian journalists that the new law would ban those previously charged with violating public rally regulations from organizing protests for a one-year period. This means that some leading Russian opposition leaders who have been charged with administrative offenses before can be subject to this new law. Comment: The legislative initiative is a response of the Russian government to week-long protests in Moscow that began in response President Putin's return to the Kremlin on May 7, 2012. (Itar Tass, Ria Novosty, Reuters)
UKRAINE: Tymoshenko's Case and the European Union
On May 16, the current Prime Minister of Ukraine, Azarov, granted permission to the EU to send experts to assess the health condition of Ukraine's jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and the process that led to her imprisonment. EU Parliament President Martin Schulz stated Azarov's commitment is "a real step forward" in light of "intense and honest" discussions that took place between the two sides. The hearing of Tymoshenko's appeal has been postponed until June 26. Comment: Tymoshenko's abuse-of-office conviction last October and her seven-year prison sentence are seen by many as politically motivated. The Ukrainian government has been under pressure from the EU to release Tymoshenko, which has made clear that unless the ex-Prime Minister is released, milestone agreements on political association and free trade with Kiev would not be ratified. (Reuters, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, BBC)
Researched/Written by Natia Jikia
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Middle East & North Africa
LEBANON: Sectarian violence erupts in Tripoli, nine dead
Last Saturday, the arrest of Shadi el Mawlawi instigated violent clashes between armed supporters and opponents of Syrian President Assad in the northern city Tripoli, leaving nine dead and approximately 90 others wounded. The rival neighborhoods Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tebbaneh, which support and oppose President Assad respectively, exchanged heavy fire and threw grenades. The sectarian clashes recommenced as recently as May 16, prompting the Lebanese army to deploy to the area. Comment: Political Science expert Fadia Kiwan states, "The fighting in the north is an example of what might happen in Lebanon in the future as a result of the ongoing confrontation in Syria." Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati adopted a policy to dissociate Lebanon with the polarized clashes occurring in Syria, which The March 14 coalition, an anti-government party, has condemned as a sign of support of the Assad government. The Lebanese army is adamant about maintaining order and security so as not to succumb to instability and internal violence affected by the unrest in Syria. (NNA, The Daily Star, Al Jazeera, UPI)
SYRIA: Internal violence continues, 21 civilians killed
On Tuesday, gunfire and heavy bombing broke out during a funeral in the town of Khan Skeikhoun, killing at least 21 civilians. Pro-government sources claim that unidentified gunmen opened fire, while opposition forces believe that pro-government militia were responsible. UN ceasefire monitors surveying the region, caught in between the attack, remained overnight with the Free Syrian Army and were safely escorted back to a UN convoy. Comment: Major-General Robert Mood, the leader of the UN monitoring mission released a statement, "That kind of violence is obviously the kind of violence we don't want to see. It is not going to contribute constructively to the aspirations of the Syrian people." Also since Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least 15 people were killed in the Shammas district of Homs when government security forces reentered the area. (Al Jazeera, The Daily Star, Reuters)
YEMEN: Yemen army offensive against al-Qaeda, heavy fighting
On Monday, at least 16 al-Qaeda (AQ) members were killed in a Yemeni army airstrike in the southern province of Abyan. Six Yemeni soldiers were also killed in clashes with AQ fighters in the southern city Zinjibar. It was reported on Wednesday that Yemeni troops, along with local tribesmen, captured a strategic mountain location held by AQ, killing roughly 24 of its members. Comment: The fighting is linked to the Yemen military campaign against AQ, which seized territory in the southern parts of Yemen during the political unrest that resulted in the overthrow of the President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Al Jazeera reports that it is Yemen leader Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's primary goal to continue the military offensive against AQ in southern Yemen, which according to the U.S. is one of the group's most active locations. (The Daily Star, Reuters, Al Jazeera)
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South Asia
AFGHANISTAN: Peace negotiator Arsala Rahmani killed
On Sunday, Arsala Rahmani, a key member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, was shot and killed on his way to work. The Taliban denied any involvement in killing Rahmani and stated that peace talks with the government will not be affected by his death. On Monday, Al-Jazeera reported that the Taliban splinter group Mahaz-e-Mullah Dadullah, which refuses to negotiate with the government, claimed responsibility for the death of Rahmani. Comment: The High Peace Council was created by President Karzai in an effort to coordinate talks with the Taliban. Rahmani was a senior member of the Council and instrumental in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table. (CNN, BBC, Reuters, Al-Jazeera)
BANGLADESH: Ghulam Azam indicted for war crimes
On Monday, Ghulam Azam, a former leader of the Islamist organization Jamaat-e-Islami, was indicted for war crimes committed during the 1971 war of independence. The charges brought against him include complicity in acts of genocide and crimes against humanity. Azam pleaded not guilty. His trial is expected to begin June 5, 2012. Comment: The Jamaat-e-Islami is a right-wing political organization that seeks to establish an Islamic theocratic government. The organization was against the 1971 Bangladeshi independence movement and collaborated with the Pakistani government in attempts to maintain authority over the country. (The Daily Star, Gulf Times, Tribune)
PAKISTAN: Government to lift blockade on NATO supplies
On Wednesday morning, the Pakistani government announced that its officials are working with the U.S. on lifting its six month blockade on NATO supplies. This will allow for trucks and oil tankers to transport non-lethal supplies from Karachi to Afghanistan. The government stated that there is no set deadline for agreements to be met, but negotiations are expected to happen as quickly as possible. Comment: The government imposed this blockade after a U.S. drone attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November, 2011 further complicating U.S.-Pakistan relations. The government's decision to work with the U.S. came after President Zardari was invited to attend the NATO summit in Chicago from May 20-21, during which the country hopes to showcase itself as a key player in the future of Afghanistan. (DAWN, Hindustan Times, The Daily Star)
Researched/Written by Nishat Jafreen
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IPSI Leadership
Cameron M. Chisholm Dr. I. William Zartman
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Alexander Little
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Jan Eliasson
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Amb. Jacques Paul Klein
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Dr. Jean Paul Lederach
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Susan Collin Marks
Dr. Joyce Neu Dr. Valerie Rosoux
William Stuebner
Dr. Ruth Wedgwood Dr. Craig Zelizer About Us >> ___________________ |
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