Items related to "Human Security Gateway: South America". Sat, 17 May 2008 0:30:21 +0000 Sat, 17 May 2008 0:30:21 +0000 robert_hartfiel@sfu.ca (Robert Hartfiel) Wed, 14 May 2008 13:35:49 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24360 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24360 The May 4 referendum in Bolivia's Santa Cruz region to approve an autonomy statute highlights the deep lack of consensus that permeates Bolivian politics and society. Under its terms, the statute establishes Santa Cruz as an “autonomous department” within Bolivia with many of the rights and privileges normally reserved for a national government. The referendum, denounced by President Evo Morales and his supporters as illegitimate and unconstitutional, in fact tracks closely with the overall course of Bolivian politics during the last five years, leading to a situation in which the exercise of political power and the rule of law are often at odds. If this tendency is not reversed, Bolivia’s already weak social, regional, ethnic, and political fabric will fray. SOURCE: Center for Strategic and International Studies Center for Strategic and International Studies Wed, 14 May 2008 13:16:16 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24357 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24357 Ce rapport contient des résumés sur les régions suivants: Amérique du Sud et Amérique centrale. SOURCE: Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Wed, 14 May 2008 13:09:40 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24356 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24356 La prévalence du VIH atteint voire dépasse 1% aux Bahamas, à la Barbade, au Belize, au Guyana, en Haïti, en Jamaïque, au Suriname et à la Trinité-et- Tobago (ONUSIDA, 2006). La plupart des pays de la région montrent une baisse ou une stabilisation de la prévalence du VIH, particulièrement dans les zones urbaines, tandis que les changements intervenus dans les zones semi-urbaines et rurales ont été modérés. L’inadéquation des systèmes de surveillance du VIH dans plusieurs pays rend néanmoins difficile l’analyse des tendances récentes de ces épidémies. SOURCE: Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Wed, 07 May 2008 11:15:50 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24195 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24195 • Comment le développement économique et social influencera-t-il l’évolution de l’environnement à l’horizon 2030 ? Quelles politiques seront nécessaires afin de répondre aux principaux défis environnementaux ? Comment les pays membres et les pays non membres de l’OCDE peuvent-ils unir leurs efforts pour relever ces défis ? • Les Perspectives de l’environnement de l’OCDE à l’horizon 2030 présentent des analyses des tendances économiques et environnementales jusqu’en 2030, ainsi que des simulations de politiques visant à faire face aux principaux problèmes. Sans nouvelles politiques, nous risquons de causer des dommages irréversibles à l’environnement et à la base des ressources naturelles nécessaires pour soutenir la croissance économique et le bien-être de tous. L’inaction des pouvoirs publics a un coût élevé. • Mais les Perspectives montrent que relever les principaux défis environnementaux d’aujourd’hui – y compris le changement climatique, l’appauvrissement de la biodiversité, le manque d’eau et les impacts de la pollution sur la santé – n’est pas impossible ni inabordable. Elles mettent en lumière un ensemble de politiques qui pourraient permettre de relever ces défis d’une manière économique. Le champ d’observation des Perspectives a été élargi par rapport à l’édition 2001, afin de tenir compte des évolutions concernant aussi bien les pays de l’OCDE que le Brésil, la Russie, l’Inde, l’Indonésie, la Chine et l’Afrique du Sud (BRIICS), et d’examiner comment ils pourraient mieux coopérer pour résoudre les problèmes d’environnement au niveau mondial et local. SOURCE: Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques Tue, 06 May 2008 11:27:31 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24159 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24159 On March 24, 2006, people in the city of Buenos Aires, like the majority of the Argentinean population, assembled in the streets. Congress declared the day an official holiday. The President delivered a speech in the Colegio Militar de la Nación (the military academy for training officers) and unveiled a plaque that read: “Never again coups and state terrorism.” In the first row was an assortment of people, ranging from the major leaders of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo to schoolchildren, sitting side-by-side with high-ranking military officers. Later, 100,000 people—carrying various banners, flags and photographs—marched in remembrance of those people who had disappeared. The occasion was the 30th anniversary of the military coup of 1976. The weeks before that date were saturated with information concerning the military coup: exhibitions, lectures and seminars, special issues and supplements of magazines and newspapers, films and television programs, as well as statements by survivors, victims, political leaders and parties, universities, and cultural agents. Public life was consumed by the anniversary and the commemoration. However, it was not entirely a peaceful event; discord and opposition were manifest in a few street incidents, and there was even disagreement about the statement that was to be read at the most important public rally, resulting in an open conflict at the podium. SOURCE: The Human Rights Institute // University of Connecticut The Human Rights Institute // University of Connecticut Fri, 02 May 2008 09:58:22 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24074 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24074 The escalating verbal and diplomatic tensions from the governments of Ecuador and Venezuela, accompanied by the deployment of troops to their borders with Colombia, have made evident the existence of a clear risk of military conflict, with regional repercussions, in South America. Traditionally, the region had been considered one of relative peace and stability, and there had been promising, although not problem-free, sub-regional integration processes, such as the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) and Mercosur. However, in the last three or four years things have begun to change radically and today there are two potential flashpoints in the region. The first is Bolivia, which is located at the heart of the Andean region. It is a country that is rich in gas but dogged with political, regional and ethnic disputes which threaten, sometimes more openly than others, to trigger internal clashes. Should that be the case, if the violence finds a place to express itself clearly –and there are factions on both sides that are particularly interested in achieving just that–, the risk that it will spiral into an international conflict is high. The presence of Venezuelan military personnel in Bolivia and the remarks by President Chávez clearly backing his colleague Evo Morales and threatening to turn Bolivia into a new Vietnam are evidence of the risks. SOURCE: Real Instituto Elcano Real Instituto Elcano Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:44:05 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24019 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24019 From March 18-19, 2008 Senate Foreign Relations Committee minority staff traveled to Colombia and Ecuador on an official visit to understand the conflict that commenced with the March 1, 2008 raid by Colombia into Ecuador to eliminate the FARC’s1 second in command, Luis Edgar Devia Silva, better known by his nom de guerre, ‘‘Raul Reyes.’’ During this trip, staff met with senior officials of the Governments of Colombia and Ecuador and senior offi-cials at the United States Embassies in those respective countries. (See Appendix VII). At the request of Senator Lugar, the purpose of the trip was to: Understand the recent conflict between Colombia and Ecuador, and the role played by Venezuela; Determine the outlook for future stability between the three countries, and what are the risks for another crisis; and Develop policy recommendations for the United States Government (USG). SOURCE: Council on Foreign Relations Council on Foreign Relations Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:18:56 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24014 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24014 Ce rapport donne un aperçu de la vie actuelle des femmes dans de nombreuses régions du Brésil. Dans les quartiers pauvres marginalisés, les femmes vivent dans un climat permanent de violences criminelles et policières. Ce rapport s'attache à la situation, souvent passée sous silence, des femmes qui se battent pour survivre, pour élever leurs enfants et pour obtenir justice dans un contexte marqué par les violences d'origine policière ou criminelle. Il met également en lumière certaines violations des droits humains perpétrées contre les femmes en particulier. SOURCE: Amnesty International Amnesty International Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:15:21 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23966 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23966 After the deep sense of crisis which Colombia experienced in the wake of President Pastrana’s (1998-2002) failed peace process, the then candidate to the presidency Álvaro Uribe Vélez, in the midst of an election campaign, announced his intention to strengthen the workings of the democratic state to the utmost and declared his predisposition to open a dialogue with all the illegal armed groups provided there was an immediate cessation of hostilities. Since August 2002, when he took office, a dialogue process and subsequent demobilisation of paramilitary groups has taken place, within the framework of Uribe’s new policy of democratic security which has led to 31,671 members of those illegal armed groups pledging to lay down their arms1. Throughout this process, Colombia has been faced with the onerous task of tackling the dilemmas which any transitional justice process creates: to pull off the ever precarious and unstable balancing act between the need for peace and the need for justice. SOURCE: Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:14:12 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23958 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23958 Almost six years of intense security operations against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) by the administration of President Álvaro Uribe are beginning to produce tangible results. Government forces killed several important rebel field commanders in 2007 and two members of the central command in March 2008, including second-in-command Rául Reyes, and have severely disrupted insurgent communications, prompting a loss of internal cohesion and decreasing illegal revenues. However, this progress has come at the cost of severely deteriorating relations with Ecuador and Venezuela and increased risk of political isolation after the controversial bombing raid on Reyes’s camp inside Ecuador. Military gains can pay off only if combined with a political strategy that consistently pursues a swap of imprisoned insurgents for hostages in FARC captivity, reestablishes much needed working relations with neighbours along borders and strongly advances integrated rural development to consolidate security and broaden Colombia’s international support. SOURCE: International Crisis Group International Crisis Group Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:22:53 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23866 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23866 Amnesty International has addressed the question of criminal gangs in previous publications, consistently condemning their actions and highlighting how the failure of the state to combat criminal violence has effectively condemned millions of people to lives of fear and misery. This report highlights some of the patterns of human rights violations against women in particular. Building on Amnesty International’s past work on public security, it looks at how women deal with high levels of criminal violence in the absence of state protection; how increasing numbers of women have become directly or indirectly involved in the drug trade; and how women’s contact with the criminal justice system often makes already traumatic situations worse. Most worryingly, it identifies how for decades the state has been directly responsible for the fact that women are suffering attacks and violence at the hands of criminal gangs and law enforcement officials. This report is based on interviews with women in six states – Bahia, Sergipe, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul – carried out in 2006 and 2007. SOURCE: Amnesty International Amnesty International Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:07:00 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23801 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23801 This paper aims to advance discussions on human security and how the concept serves as a tool for approaching new (and longstanding) issues of internal and external security in the Latin American context, more specifically in the Brazilian context. It begins by examining the concept of human security, considering its links and practical applications to the problem of violence. It is argued in this paper that human security is more than a normative framework and must be reformulated into an operational and analytical tool. Human security-oriented analysis needs to be more clearly focused on armed violence, a growing phenomenon in Latin America and other parts of the Southern hemisphere. A short review of the current problems in Brazil is undertaken and a case study of Viva Rio, a NGO that works within the human security framework, is discussed. Finally, the paper provides some recommendations for increased cooperation among organizations of civil society, government and private enterprise within and among southern nations. It also makes recommendations for the consolidation of a common international agenda. SOURCE: Centre for Policy Studies Centre for Policy Studies Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:04:12 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23776 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23776 A highly complex relationship exists between land and violent conflict, where land is often tied to multiple social, economic, political and symbolic power structures and processes. These structures and processes often manifest themselves violently when the existing institutional framework fails to resolve disputes over land.1 This complexity is increased in protracted conflict-related emergencies, such as in Colombia, where violence is characterised by its multiplicity and interdependence over both time and space. Neat categorisations, such as legal/illegal, failed/strong state or conflict/post-conflict, become increasingly difficult to make, and this fluidity often poses enormous challenges for humanitarian organisations. A failure to understand and address this complexity can often lead to policies and programmes that can perpetuate violence and civilian insecurity. SOURCE: Humanitarian Policy Group Humanitarian Policy Group Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:57:15 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23753 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23753 Récemment, le CRDI a examiné pourquoi et comment il avait travaillé, au cours des trois dernières décennies, dans des pays en transition — transition de la dictature à la démocratie, d'une économie planifiée à l’économie de marché, de la guerre à la paix. L’objectif du CRDI était de mieux comprendre comment il recueille et diffuse l’information destinée à éclairer l’élaboration de la programmation et les prises de décisions. Comment le Centre avait-il été informé de l’imminence d’une transition? Comment s’était-il renseigné sur la situation ? Comment était-il intervenu? Des études de cas ont été préparées sur l’Algérie, la Birmanie, le Cambodge, le Kenya, l’Afrique du Sud, les pays du cône Sud, le Vietnam et la Cisjordanie et Gaza. Ces huit études de cas et le texte d’introduction qui les accompagne montrent que le CRDI est depuis longtemps capable de travailler dans les situations à haut risque que l’on retrouve avant les transitions et dans la phase initiale de celles-ci. Il en ressort également qu’il a joué un rôle distinct dans l’aide à la recherche et à la conception de politiques axées sur le développement et qu’il a su habituellement adapter sa programmation à des contextes mouvants. SOURCE: Centre de recherches pour le développement international Centre de recherches pour le développement international Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:38:15 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23747 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23747 Récemment, le CRDI a examiné pourquoi et comment il avait travaillé, au cours des trois dernières décennies, dans des pays en transition — transition de la dictature à la démocratie, d'une économie planifiée à l’économie de marché, de la guerre à la paix. L’objectif du CRDI était de mieux comprendre comment il recueille et diffuse l’information destinée à éclairer l’élaboration de la programmation et les prises de décisions. Comment le Centre avait-il été informé de l’imminence d’une transition? Comment s’était-il renseigné sur la situation ? Comment était-il intervenu? Des études de cas ont été préparées sur l’Algérie, la Birmanie, le Cambodge, le Kenya, l’Afrique du Sud, les pays du cône Sud, le Vietnam et la Cisjordanie et Gaza. Ces huit études de cas et le texte d’introduction qui les accompagne montrent que le CRDI est depuis longtemps capable de travailler dans les situations à haut risque que l’on retrouve avant les transitions et dans la phase initiale de celles-ci. Il en ressort également qu’il a joué un rôle distinct dans l’aide à la recherche et à la conception de politiques axées sur le développement et qu’il a su habituellement adapter sa programmation à des contextes mouvants. SOURCE: Centre de recherches pour le développement international Centre de recherches pour le développement international Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:53:26 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23734 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23734 A relatively new concept has come to influence greatly the debates in development studies and political science: that of state failure. Latin American countries have been included in some lists of ‘failed states’. However, it is argued that Latin America’s plight is far better understood through the prism of a theory of the state that recognises the complex and ongoing, underlying process of transformation through which the region’s political institutions are passing. During the last two decades Latin American countries have implemented profound political and economic reforms. But, the region’s deeply unequal income distribution persists. The transition from authoritarianism to democracy implied important changes but has not brought about a solution to the uneven distribution of wealth. This is not, however, a feature of state failure. Rather, it should be seen as the result of historical development and the fact that state formation in Latin America is far from completed. In short, the conflicts and weaknesses besetting the Latin American state flow from a complex process of historical evolution. SOURCE: Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:52:39 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23584 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23584 On March 26, 2008, Colombian officials reported recovering 66 pounds of depleted uranium that was originally acquired by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). While it was not of weapons grade, the latest discovery adds to a growing body of disturbing evidence regarding the network of ties and linkages the FARC has developed throughout the Andes and elsewhere. Experts dismiss the possibility of FARC using the depleted uranium to make a “dirty bomb,” but they have yet to develop a credible explanation regarding its belligerent intentions. The FARC is the oldest and largest guerrilla/terrorist organization in the Americas and is deeply involved in the narcotics business. In the past three months, it has attracted intense international scrutiny as a result of its cynical manipulation of the roughly 700 hostages, including three Americans, that it has held for years; strong public support from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez; and its use of foreign territory, notably Ecuador, as bases for operations against Colombia. SOURCE: The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:51:16 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23381 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23381 This document aims to give an account of the presence and absence of policies on reparation, truth and justice in Spain from a comparative perspective. First of all, the main rules on material reparation that have been approved in Spain since Franco's death will be introduced. This will be followed by a comparison of the transitional measures of justice adopted in Spain, Chile and Argentina. The intention is to examine how different countries have responded to the similar challenges that emerge in the inevitably awkward and uncertain process of transition to democracy. SOURCE: Peace Justice Conference // Crisis Management Initiative Peace Justice Conference // Crisis Management Initiative Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:38:07 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23312 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23312 This study seeks to explore current practices in the pursuit of justice within a situation of active hostilities prior to a peace agreement, drawing on recent experiences in Afghanistan, Colombia, the DRC, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda, and the former Yugoslavia. In dealing specifically with the complex questions that arise from the exercise of criminal justice during conflict, the paper addresses considerations which govern the decisions of the international Prosecutor, in particular regarding the question of the timing of indictments. The paper also takes a thorough look at the view of various constituencies on the question of delivering justice in the context of ongoing conflict, such as the interests of victims, governments, the Security Council and other UN actors, regional organisations, humanitarian organisations, traditional leaders, and mediators. Finally, the paper highlights the challenge of conducting an investigation in a situation of ongoing conflict and elaborates on steps that can be undertaken to preserve justice options for the future. Throughout the paper, reference is made to the experience of the International Criminal Court which, at the moment, only has active investigations operating in contexts of ongoing conflict. SOURCE: Peace Justice Conference // International Center for Transitional Justice Peace Justice Conference // International Center for Transitional Justice Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:32:56 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23299 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23299 This study aims to offer a critical account on how transitional justice discourses have framed the legal arrangement for the paramilitary demobilization process in Colombia. It seeks to explore not only the official accommodation of concepts of retributive and restorative justice, used to construct an acceptable offer for the paramilitary leadership, but civil society contestation over the meaning, requirements, and ownership of transitional justice processes more generally. In this respect the paper provides a background on the conflict in Colombia highlights the views of the various constituencies in the process and gives an in-depth analysis of the Justice and Peace law, which has been the subject of a broad debate, both domestically and internationally. SOURCE: Peace Justice Conference // International Center for Transitional Justice Peace Justice Conference // International Center for Transitional Justice Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:43:33 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23280 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23280 Small arms and gun violence present the most dramatic threat to public safety in Latin America and the Caribbean. After decades of uncontrolled proliferation, at least 45 million to 80 million small arms and light weapons—that is, weapons operated by an individual or small group, including handguns, assault rifles, grenades, grenade launchers, and even man portable surface to air missiles—are circulating throughout the region. Gunshots kill between 73,000 and 90,000 people each year in Latin America, and guns are the leading cause of death among Latin Americans between the ages of 15 and 44, according to World Health Organization estimates. SOURCE: Center for Defense Information Center for Defense Information Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:30:34 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23182 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23182 Illegal right-wing paramilitary groups are central to the question of civilian safety in Colombia. They have been responsible for most civilian conflict deaths. Compared to the guerrillas and government forces the paramilitaries have an exceptionally high ratio of killings to injuries in conflict events in which they have participated, indicating a strong intentionality in their killing. In other words, they have executed numerous people with shots at point blank range, mainly in massacres, leaving few people injured amidst the carnage. These killings were part of an explicit terror strategy of killing civilians whom the paramilitaries suspected of helping the guerrillas. Since the end of 2002, as most groups have officially gone on ceasefire and then demobilized, the paramilitaries have significantly reduced, but not eliminated, their killing. SOURCE: Annual Convention of the International Studies Association // Royal Holloway University of London Annual Convention of the International Studies Association // Royal Holloway University of London Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:14:32 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23179 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23179 Humanitarian engagement with armed non-state actors (ANSAs) has been an understudied area academically, though practitioners have increasingly paid attention to this issue. Nevertheless, in order to encourage ANSAs not only to reframe from negative actions but also to undertake actions in favor of the civilian population, there is a need for further in-depth investigation on this issue. In the current context of ‘war on terror’ alternative approaches to these demonized actors are indispensable. This paper intends to build up some initial understanding to why armed groups use violence against the civilian population in conflict situations and what factors influence the humanitarian engagement activities undertaken to improve their behavior towards the civilian population. SOURCE: Annual Convention of the International Studies Association Annual Convention of the International Studies Association Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:27:08 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23145 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23145 Under what conditions do communities resort to violence as a means of holding elected authorities accountable? What is the role of rule of law and civic association in preventing or facilitating the use of violence? This paper addresses these questions theoretically by drawing on existing literature on rule of law, civil society, and contentious politics, and empirically through a careful examination of the case of Peru. Using data drawn from the monthly Social Conflict Reports issued by the Peruvian Ombudsman from 2004-2006, it conducts a multi-method analysis to identify both key causal effects and causal mechanisms. It finds that when rule of law is weak, civic associations facilitate the use of violence by allowing protestors to maintain a confrontational stance over longer periods of time and overcome collective action problems. SOURCE: Annual Convention of the International Studies Association // Georgetown University Annual Convention of the International Studies Association // Georgetown University Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:28:52 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23113 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23113 Paralleling the upward trend in global FDI flows to developing countries, Kimberly-Clark quadrupled its equity holdings in Brazilian and Mexican affiliates over the past decade. Concurrently, Kimberly-Clark made sizable investments in Colombia while this country was facing high levels of civil conflict. The firm’s latter decision is unexpected, given the conventional wisdom that ongoing conflict in the host translates into high costs for any investor. However, Kimberly-Clark is not alone in exposing some of its foreign affiliates to political violence risk, which raises the question: Why do certain investors avoid conflict countries while others continue to select these locations? Previous research assumes homogeneity in investors’ reactions to political violence risk and does not solve this puzzle. I recognize that firms are heterogeneous and identify the attributes that increase firms’ sensitivity to political violence. Firms with investments that rely preponderantly on physical assets, have higher costs for exit, and serve non-host markets perceive higher threats from political violence. Data from a new survey of foreign investors, which includes questions about attitudes towards political violence, support my predictions. SOURCE: Annual Convention of the International Studies Association // Penn State University Annual Convention of the International Studies Association // Penn State University Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:45:56 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23084 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23084 Chile once harbored Nazi fugitives and has a history of racial discrimination, but its predominantly mixed-race population makes it an unexpected home for a neo-Nazi movement. Reporter Lygia Navarro examines why some brown-skinned, working class kids have bought into Hitler's ideology. SOURCE: Public Broadcasting Service // Frontline World Public Broadcasting Service // Frontline World Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:50:56 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23021 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23021 The policies of a decade or more to stop the flow of cocaine from the Andean source countries, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, to the two largest consumer markets, the U.S. and Europe, have proved insufficient and ineffective. Cocaine availability and demand have essentially remained stable in the U.S. and have been increasing in Europe. Use in Latin American transit countries, in particular Argentina, Brazil and Chile, is on the rise. Flawed counter-drug polices also are causing considerable collateral damage in Latin America, undermining support for democratic governments in some countries, distorting governance and social priorities in others, causing all too frequent human rights violations and fuelling armed and/or social conflicts in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. A comprehensive shared policy reassessment and a new consensus on the balance between approaches emphasising law enforcement and approaches emphasising alternative development and harm reduction are urgently required. SOURCE: International Crisis Group International Crisis Group Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:23:00 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22929 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22929 Coca leaf and cocaine production in the Andean region appear to have set new records in 2007. Cocaine trafficking and use are expanding across the Americas and Europe. Despite the expenditure of great effort and resources, the counter-drug policies of the U.S., the European Union (EU) and its member states and Latin American governments have proved ineffective and, in part, counterproductive, severely jeopardising democracy and stability in Latin America. The international community must rigorously assess its errors and adopt new approaches, starting with reduced reliance on the measures of aerial spraying and military-type forced eradication on the supply side and greater priority for alternative development and effective law enforcement that expands the positive presence of the state. On the demand reduction side, it should aim to incarcerate traffickers and use best treatment and harm reduction methods to avoid revolving and costly jail sentences for chronic users. SOURCE: International Crisis Group International Crisis Group Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:07:37 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22856 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22856 A senior Colombian guerrilla leader killed in Ecuador last weekend in a cross-border raid by Colombian forces held secret talks with U.S. diplomats ten years ago in Costa Rica, according to a declassified memorandum of conversation published on the Web today by the National Security Archive and cited in today's New York Times. The slain insurgent, Raúl Reyes, met secretly in Costa Rica in December 1998 with a U.S. diplomatic mission led by Philip T. Chicola, then director of the State Department's Office of Andean Affairs. The meeting was particularly sensitive in that the guerrilla group represented by Reyes, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was listed on the State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The FARC remains Colombia's oldest and largest rebel army. SOURCE: National Security Archive // George Washington University National Security Archive // George Washington University Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:34:25 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22633 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22633 Le phénomène des violences urbaines et le sentiment d’insécurité qui en découle sont au cœur des dynamiques urbaines contemporaines. Pour répondre à la demande de sécurité qui émane des citoyens, des moyens publics, privés et communautaires servent les nouvelles politiques urbaines des grandes métropoles. En nous focalisant sur les pratiques d’aménagement urbain qui visent à résoudre physiquement les problèmes et le sentiment d’insécurité dans les villes, nous analysons de quelles manières la violence, l’« insécurité » et les pratiques sécuritaires sont aujourd’hui à l’origine d’une transformation radicale et significative de l’espace urbain et des usages qui en sont fait par ses habitants. Si la violence sociale fabrique du territoire, les politiques urbaines de sécurité ont à leur tour un véritable impact territorial et sont parfois prétextes à la transformation de l’espace urbain. SOURCE: Réseau universitaire international de Genève Réseau universitaire international de Genève Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:56:45 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22616 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22616 Declassified U.S. documents posted today on the Web by the National Security Archive (www.nsarchive.org) show that the U.S. government had detailed knowledge of collaboration between the Peruvian, Bolivian and Argentine secret police forces to kidnap, torture and "permanently disappear" three militants in a Cold War rendition operation in Lima in June 1980—but took insufficient action to save the victims. The Archive's documents are part of a sweeping Italian investigation of Condor that has issued arrest warrants for 140 former top officials from seven South American countries and, in the words of today's New York Times, has "agitated political establishments up and down the continent." The documents address what has become known as "the case of the missing Montoneros," a covert operation by a death squad unit of Argentina's feared Battalion 601 to kidnap three members of a militant group living in Lima, Peru, on June 12, 1980, and render them through Bolivia back to Argentina. (A fourth member, previously captured, was brought to Lima to identify his colleagues and then disappeared with them.) SOURCE: National Security Archive // George Washington University National Security Archive // George Washington University Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:55:09 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22615 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22615 A highly complex relationship exists between land and violent conflict, where land is often tied to multiple social, economic, political and symbolic power structures and processes. These structures and processes often manifest themselves violently when the existing institutional framework fails to resolve disputes over land.1 This complexity is increased in protracted conflict-related emergencies, such as in Colombia, where violence is characterised by its multiplicity and interdependence over both time and space. Neat categorisations, such as legal/illegal, failed/strong state or conflict/post-conflict, become increasingly difficult to make, and this fluidity often poses enormous challenges for humanitarian organisations. A failure to understand and address this complexity can often lead to policies and programmes that can perpetuate violence and civilian insecurity. SOURCE: Humanitarian Policy Group // Overseas Development Institute Humanitarian Policy Group // Overseas Development Institute Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:58:01 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22552 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22552 Striving for Better Days: Improving the Lives of Internally Displaced People in Colombia urges the Government of Colombia to take three concrete steps to address the humanitarian crisis of internal displacement in the country. Displacement in Colombia remains the largest humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere despite the existence of a regulatory framework, institutions and human resources. The report calls for the Government of Colombia to work more closely with displaced communities when developing assistance programs, reinforce the mechanisms that hold agencies of the Public Ministry accountable for assisting displaced people, and create durable and sustainable livelihoods for long-term displaced communities. SOURCE: Refugees International Refugees International Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:28:53 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22511 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22511 Denied a childhood and often subjected to horrific violence, an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 children are currently serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government armed forces in armed conflicts worldwide. Yet, despite near-universal condemnation of the recruitment and use of child soldiers, there has been inadequate attention paid by the international community and national governments to the process of demobilising them, understanding what they need for a successful transition to civilian life, and identifying what the State must do to make adequate and appropriate reparations to them for their lost childhoods. SOURCE: Y Care International Y Care International Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:15:39 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22467 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22467 U.S. espionage operations targeting top Colombian government officials in 1993 provided key evidence linking the U.S.-Colombia task force charged with tracking down fugitive drug lord Pablo Escobar to one of Colombia's most notorious paramilitary chiefs, according to a new collection of declassified documents published today by the National Security Archive. The affair sparked a special CIA investigation into whether U.S. intelligence was shared with Colombian terrorists and narcotraffickers every bit as dangerous as Escobar himself. The new documents, released under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, are the most definitive declassified evidence to date linking the U.S. to a Colombian paramilitary group and are the subject of an investigation published today in Colombia's Semana magazine. SOURCE: National Security Archive National Security Archive Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:32:09 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22415 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22415 In any conflict, the social and economic reintegration of former combatants is one of the most critical components of a lasting peace. Thus, officials, experts and academics are raising questions as to the conditions required to achieve an effective reintegration. Though experts measure the success of reintegration differently, it is generally agreed that successful reintegration occurs when the combatants put down their weapons and stay on the side of legality. How is this desired outcome best achieved? Must demobilized combatants break all ties with their former groups? Is it better to impose high costs for defection or to offer incentives for cooperation? Is it necessary to find them work or to concentrate more on psycho-social assistance, or perhaps to focus on processes of local and national reconciliation so that communities may better accept the combatants? How might international cooperation best be used to facilitate transition? SOURCE: Fundación Ideas para la paz Fundación Ideas para la paz Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:32:21 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22233 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22233 Ce chapitre présente les résultats de deux études pilotes menées dans le cadre du projet de traçage des munitions, projet en expansion rapide mené par le Small Arms Survey. Les deux études pilotes ont été conduites à des endroits où la violence armée atteint des niveaux extrêmement élevés. Les informations fournies dans ce chapitre montrent qu’une bonne partie des munitions circulant parmi les acteurs non-étatiques dans les deux régions ont été illicitement détournées des forces de sécurité de l’État. En quantifiant et en localisant les flux de munitions, ce chapitre fournit des preuves solides sur le rôle majeur des armes et des munitions détournées dans le maintien de la violence armée. SOURCE: Small Arms Survey Small Arms Survey Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:27:10 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22231 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22231 Le Brésil, pays qui n’a pour ainsi dire jamais connu de conflit violent, se distingue aujourd’hui par ses niveaux élevés de violence par armes à feu. Le nombre de victimes des armes à feu a augmenté régulièrement des années 1970 à 2004, lorsque les premiers signes d’une atténuation ont été annoncés publiquement. Le nombre de décès causés par les armes à feu a triplé (de 7 à 21 décès par 100 000 personnes) au cours de la période 1982–2002. On parle beaucoup de l’escalade de la violence armée au Brésil dans les médias, mais de manière simpliste. Les médias insistent surtout sur les attaques d’une violence spectaculaire causées par des organisations criminelles organisées dans les principales villes du Brésil, mais ils oublient les effets plus meurtriers de la violence armée ordinaire, phénomène aussi présent dans les campagnes que dans les villes. SOURCE: Small Arms Survey Small Arms Survey Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:13:09 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22218 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22218 Le produit le plus récent et le plus détaillé à être conçu par securitehumaine-villes.org, cette publication s'appuie sur les travaux de 40 collaborateurs externes qui appliquent un prisme urbain à des thèmes tels que les enfants et les conflits armés, la réforme des systèmes de sécurité, les armes de petit calibre et les armes légères, la stabilisation et la reconstruction, la consolidation de la paix et la promotion de la démocratie. SOURCE: securitehumaine-villes.org securitehumaine-villes.org Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:29:39 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22216 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22216 Latin America is together with Sub-Saharan Africa the most unequal region of the world. This paper documents recent inequality trends in the Latin American region, going beyond traditional measures of income inequality. The paper also reviews some of the explanations that have been put forward to understand the current situation, and discusses why reducing income inequality should be an important policy priority. In particular, the authors discuss channels through which inequality can affect growth and output volatility. On the whole, the analysis suggests a two-pronged approach to reduce inequality in the region that combines policies aimed at improving the distribution of assets (especially education) with elements aimed at improving the capacity of the state to redistribute income through taxes and transfers. SOURCE: World Bank // Latin America and the Caribbean Region // Office of the Regional Chief Economist World Bank // Latin America and the Caribbean Region // Office of the Regional Chief Economist Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:07:10 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22202 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22202 Latin America is together with Sub-Saharan Africa the most unequal region of the world. This paper documents recent inequality trends in the Latin American region, going beyond traditional measures of income inequality. The paper also reviews some of the explanations that have been put forward to understand the current situation, and discusses why reducing income inequality should be an important policy priority. In particular, the authors discuss channels through which inequality can affect growth and output volatility. On the whole, the analysis suggests a two-pronged approach to reduce inequality in the region that combines policies aimed at improving the distribution of assets (especially education) with elements aimed at improving the capacity of the state to redistribute income through taxes and transfers. SOURCE: World Bank // Policy Research Working Papers World Bank // Policy Research Working Papers Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:02:48 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22147 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22147 Le vendredi 11 janvier, dans un discours à l’Assemblée nationale de son pays, le président vénézuélien a osé proposer la reconnaissance des Forces Armées Révolutionnaires de Colombie (FARC) comme force belligérante. Les réactions nationales et internationales étaient en grande partie prévisibles. SOURCE: Réseau d'Information et de Solidarité avec l'Amérique Latine Réseau d'Information et de Solidarité avec l'Amérique Latine Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:01:11 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22125 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22125 Promised a life of riches and full of options, thousands of Brazilians leave their homes every year armed only with dreams and hopes of a better future. Hundreds of them, however, on their way to a nightmare in a foreign tongue. Considered a modern version of slavery, human trafficking preys especially on women in Brazil, and among them, on young, unmarried women with little schooling. They are tricked by older men into living as hostages of international prostitution networks. And none of these victims denounce their oppressors. They are often left without their papers, do not speak the local language and are forced into a market worth 7 to 9 billion US dollars a year, according to estimates by the United Nations Office for Drug Control UNODC. SOURCE: Comunidad Segura Comunidad Segura Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:14:38 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22114 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22114 The 19th of April Movement (Movimiento 19 de Abril, M-19) was the first of many guerrilla groups in Colombia to start a negotiation process that concluded in a final peace agreement involving its demobilisation as an armed group and leading to some of its members founding a new political party, the Democratic Alliance M19 (AD-M19) (Alianza Democrática M19). This not only paved the way for seven other groups to start peace negotiations and ultimately transform from armed to political actors. It also influenced reform of the Constitution, probably the most significant event of the twentieth century in Colombian politics, and the most important attempt at democratization of the country in its Republican period. This study combines interaction between first-hand experience and academic knowledge of this peace process. We have the experience of Otty Patiño and Vera Grabe, top commanders of M-19 who played an important role during both its phase as an armed organisation and in its subsequent political existence after demobilisation. Based on their own experience, they have reflected on the challenges and implications of this transition from an armed political struggle to a legitimate political struggle (Grabe: 2000, 2003 and 2004; Patiño: 2000 and 2001). Additionally, we have the knowledge of Mauricio García Durán, who has researched the Colombian peace processes since 1990 (García Durán: 1992, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2006a).This case study is therefore not only based on knowledge of the published literature in Colombia, but is primarily the result of a sustained and rich ‘dialogue of understandings’ among the three authors. SOURCE: Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:28:15 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22103 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22103 The government of Colombia’s response to the humanitarian needs of internally displaced people continues to show serious gaps despite increases in funding and planning at the central level. These advances have not translated into concrete results locally, and municipalities receiving high numbers of people fleeing violence and fighting are failing to prepare properly for expected displacements, provide adequate humanitarian assistance when they occur, and assist those displaced residing for years in their areas. The Colombian government needs to follow existing humanitarian response procedures with the active contribution of affected communities, and in close coordination with the United Nations and other non-governmental actors. SOURCE: Refugees International Refugees International Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:06:13 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22097 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22097 U.S. attention to terrorism in Latin America intensified in the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, with an increase in bilateral and regional cooperation. In its April 2007 Country Reports on Terrorism, the State Department highlighted threats in Colombia, Peru, and the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. There were no known operational cells of Islamic terrorists in the hemisphere, but pockets of ideological supporters in the region lent financial, logistical, and moral support to terrorist groups in the Middle East. Cuba has remained on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1982, which triggers a number of economic sanctions. In May 2007, for the second year in a row, the Department of State, pursuant to Arms Export Control Act, included Venezuela on the annual list of countries not cooperating on antiterrorism efforts. Congress fully funded the Administration’s FY2008 request for $8.1 million in Anti-Terrorism Assistance for Western Hemisphere countries in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008 (P.L. 110-161). In the first session of the 110th Congress, the House approved H.Con.Res. 188, which condemned the 1994 bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association in Buenos Aires, and H.Res. 435, which expressed concern over the emerging national security implications of Iran’s efforts to expand its influence in Latin America, and emphasized the importance of eliminating Hezbollah’s financial network in the triborder area. The Senate also approved S.Con.Res. 53, which condemned the hostagetaking of three U.S. citizens for over four years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, while a similar resolution, H.Con.Res. 260, was introduced in the House. SOURCE: Congressional Research Service Congressional Research Service Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:59:13 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22078 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22078 This number of En la Mira intends to become an echo of one of the main problems related to the proliferation of firearms, one which clearly affects all of Latin America: youth and armed violence. This number of En la Mira sparks the debate that is occurring in Latin America on the levels of of involvement of young people in armed violence, as well as a discussion of which mechanisms and interventions should be applied. SOURCE: Comunidad Segura Comunidad Segura Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:56:00 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22077 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22077 In Brazil, if you are a young male with age between 15 and 29, the possibilities of being in a firearm related homicide are much elevated than any other age group (60.2% of the homicides are registered in this age group). These are the basic characteristics of the main risk group. For that reason, and for effective action against this phenomenon, a change is necessary on legislations and on governmental programs in order to allow the implementation of positive measures, such as prevention programs, treatment and rehabilitation initiatives involving the affected communities. SOURCE: Comunidad Segura Comunidad Segura Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:51:47 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22076 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22076 Latin America and the Caribbean are regions of the world with worrisome levels of firearm related violence. The ample availability of small arms and light weapons certainly plays a important role and without a doubt it has increased the level and the lethality of social violence. In this context, the statistics show that the most vulnerable stratum of society are children and adolescents SOURCE: Comunidad Segura Comunidad Segura Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:27:37 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22057 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22057 The administration of President George W. Bush likes to boast of its commitment to promoting democracy around the globe, and has employed the same sort of rhetoric to defend US policy toward Colombia. On a trip to Bogotá in January last year, US General Peter Pace, at the time the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that he had discussed with his Colombian colleagues “how to continue the very good partnership, to strengthen the democracy here in Colombia, which in turn strengthens the democracy in the United States.” However, and notwithstanding the pretensions of General Pace and other US officials, the reality is that democracy promotion has barely featured in the Bush administration’s Colombia policy. This is evident from the administration’s stance on paramilitarism and free trade. SOURCE: Colombia Journal Colombia Journal