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| Picture credit: ccun.org |
An ex-British undercover police officer recently revealed detailed accounts of his experience as a member of the Special Demonstration Squad - a secret unit which deployed full-time undercover officers in the mid 1990s to infiltrate supposedly "subversive" or "potentially violent" activist organizations seen by the police as liable to cause public disorder in London. The revelations have since sparked intense outrage among political activists, who now demand a public inquiry into police tactics at gathering intelligence and at managing public protests.
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The Egyptian government has recently introduced new draft legislation which requires NGOs and advocacy groups to become members of a government-controlled federation. The federation manages NGO permits, work and funding. Thirty-sex local NGOs have since launched a protest, alleging that the new legislation's underlying purpose is to prevent civil society from monitoring upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.
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The United States is not a state party to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is known for its indifference towards the Court. The US, however, keeps raising its concerns over African nations' commitment to cooperate with the Court. A recent US outcry followed after the refusal by the Democratic Republic of Congo to arrest General Bosco Ntaganga after an ICC arrest warrant against him. While most Congolese human rights NGO's welcome the US call for justice, some believe the US needs to set the example by joining the ICC first.
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| Picture Credit: UN |
In Liberia, the transition from peacekeeping to peace-building has been a success. The economy is improving and the country is politically stable. However, to truly build peace more is needed than potable water, roads, ports, and electricity. Liberia's government and UN peace-builders must cultivate "the soft infrastructure" of training, skills, and national cooperation in getting Liberians working again.
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The UN anti-corruption unit has accused Alexander Yakolev, an ex-UN official, of taking bribes from Armor Holding, a US private security company. Yakolev and his partner-in-crime, Ezio Testa, entered into a corrupt agreement that steered the lucrative UN contract to Armor Holding in return for personal payouts. Testa's position within UN peacekeeping contracts is well known; he acts as a key broker between multinational corporations and UN peacekeeping forces in need of clothing, food and other supplies.
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Foreign trading companies have taken substantial advantage of the armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by providing weapons and munitions to armed groups in exchange of access to mineral resources. The International Criminal Court (ICC) does not have the jurisdiction to prosecute private or public legal persons for their involvement in international crimes. The Rome Statute of the ICC provides that the Court can only prosecute individuals. International crimes, however, are usually committed by individuals linked to organizations. Therefore, this paper argues that the ICC should have jurisdiction over legal persons.
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| Picture Credit: Getty Images |
Cheap food causes poverty and hunger. This article explains the contradictory nature of food and agriculture under globalization. The demand for low food prices means many farmers are getting less money for their crops and struggle to support themselves. As farmers go out of business, long term food security is also at risk. The author blames the demand for "cheapness "for the food crisis, concluding that there are "some essential things, such as our land and the life-sustaining foods it can produce, that should not be cheapened."
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| Picture Credit: Guardian |
The President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, argues that climate change will result in twenty-three African countries entering into war in the next twenty years, and political instability in thirteen others. The President coherently draws links between environmental degradation and conflict, even arguing that UN peacekeepers may one day shed their current roles and instead "protect biodiversity and stop deforestation."
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US private security contractors training Afghanistan's police force is "a disaster in the making", states Eckart Schiewek, a senior UN official. In some police "training" centers, Afghani civilians will be granted a badge, gun and uniform after only three-weeks training! However, three weeks appears opulent compared to the ten-day training program offered by DynCorp, a Virginia-based private security firm. International Crisis Group asserts that these ridiculously short programs actually lower literacy rates and decrease police efficacy.
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The European Union wants to conclude discussions with the East African Community (EAC) about a new Economic Partnership Agreement. The agreement would mean less stringent trade rules and lesser tariffs on EU imports than the current trade instruments, and would replace the decolonization era trade system between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States that expired in 2007. While the EAC is worried about a loss in tariff revenues, other advocates for the African region warn of unequal terms of trade and a pace of liberalization that could harm local industry.
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| Picture Credit: SeedToday |
Biotechnology is playing an increasing role in African agriculture. As a result, farmers are becoming more dependent on imported technology -a fact that hinders local sustainability. US companies, Monsanto and Pioneer, plan to export more biotech corn seed to Africa - claiming yields will increase to provide more food and profit for all. However, companies sell seed at a great cost to farmers and enforce strict rules to prohibit sowed seeds being used for future seasons. Moreover, the agricultural methods promoted are designed for monoculture production on large scale acreages (like in the US) and are unsuited to the small scale production methods of African farming.
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The global economic crisis has spurred discussions about the role of civil society in constructing and sustaining a resilient economy. The Carnegie Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society examined humanitarian work by the voluntary sector, and how it could be modified or improved. The inquiry discovered broad consensus on the need to significantly increase the roles of civil society organizations. It even suggested that public services such as libraries and parks should be opened up to civil society organizations, and that civil society as a whole should move beyond its current sphere of activities to a larger and broader economic role.
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| Picture Credit: wikimedia |
Over the past year the cost of water in Sanaa has tripled, and thousands of families are left without water over the summer months. Annual per capita water availability is 1,500 cubic meters below the international scarcity line. Sanaa's population is growing rapidly, and the capital may - by 2017 - simply run out of water.
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| Picture Credit: IPB |
In a March 19th open-meeting of the Security Council, members of the United Nations debated the destabilizing effects illicit arms have on the Central African region. Gabon argues that illicit arms undermine the region in five areas: the flow of arms encourages mercenaries, upsets peace processes, promotes child soldier recruitment, increases the number of refugees and impedes socio-economic development. This Security Council meeting sought to strengthen regional and international frameworks to control/stem the flow of arms, but an international treaty to regulate the small arms trade is yet to exist.
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| Picture Credit: AP |
Eighty-percent of Gaza lives without access to potable water. The ground-water aquifers are polluted by salt-water and sewage. This humanitarian crisis can be prevented: import water from foreign countries in the short term, and build desalinization plants in the long term. However, both these solutions are made impossible by the Israeli-imposed blockade on Gaza.
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This working paper analyzes the nature and scale of violence in Darfur. Through rigorous and lengthy data collection, the paper demonstrates that UNAMID - the Sudanese UN peacekeeping force - have under-reported or missed up to 15% of violent incidents. Furthermore, this paper outlines how the nature of the violence in Darfur has changed recently. Data-collection oversights impact UNAMID's potential to keep peace in the region. The authors argue that a more stringent and standardized system of collecting peacekeeping date is necessary.
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Youssef Nada, a prominent financial and diplomatic representative of an Egypt-based fundamentalist movement, has been quietly dropped from the UN sanctions list. Nada was added to the list after alleged financial ties with Al Qaeda through his companies in Switzerland, Lichtenstein and the Bahamas. Nada and his companies, however, remain on the US terrorist-finance sanctions list. This article suggests that the UN's decision to drop Nada from its sanctions list may have been prompted by a proposed mechanism under Swiss law. This mechanism would enable the Swiss government to refuse enforcement of UN sanctions against individuals in circumstances where little is proven against them.
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Local election monitors have raised serious concerns about the fairness of the parliamentary elections held in Iraq on March 7. The Independent Report published by three Iraqi institutions, details widespread irregularities with reports of inadequate and fraudulent electoral rolls and claims that "security forces were urging people to vote for a specific list." The absence of international monitors casts an additional shadow over the election.
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| Picture Credit: www.inthenews.com.uk |
The White House, after soliciting suggestions from the Department of Justice and the CIA, is considering a Guantanamo style expansion of the Bagram airbase prison in Afghanistan. The proposed expansion signals a retreat by the Obama Administration from its previous policy and a readiness to continue the era of abusive detainment begun by George W Bush in the name of the "War on Terror."
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| Picute Credit: ghetti images |
The world's largest agribusiness companies squeeze the agriculture system from both the supply and demand side, threatening food security. Seed prices overall have risen 146 percent in the last decade as many farmers in the US and worldwide have no choice but to buy seeds from Monsanto, the world's largest GM seed company. As well, agribusiness mergers in the last two decades have concentrated the industry's buying power in the hands of a small number of corporations, threatening farmers to "get big, or get out."
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One third of the world's population suffers from malnutrition. Of the hungry population, women are affected most severely - accounting for 60% of the suffering. This vulnerability is particularly ironic since women produce and manage most of the available food in developing countries. The author identifies food sovereignty as key to protecting women's right to food and addressing the inequality which weakens the current food production system
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