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ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Human Security Brief 2007
The Human Security Brief 2007 was recently released and can be found at http://www.humansecuritygateway.info/documents/HSRP_Brief_2007.pdf
Challenging the expert consensus that the threat of global terrorism is increasing, the Human Security Brief 2007 reveals a sharp net decline in the incidence of terrorist violence around the world. Fatalities from terrorism have declined by some 40 percent, while the loose-knit terror network associated with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda has suffered a dramatic collapse in popular support throughout the Muslim world. The Brief also describes and analyses the extraordinary, but largely unnoticed, positive change in sub-Saharan Africa's security landscape. The number of conflicts being waged in the region more than halved between 1999 and 2006; the combat toll dropped by 98 percent. Finally, the Brief updates the findings of the 2005 Human Security Report, and demonstrates that the decline in the total number of armed conflicts and combat deaths around the world has continued. The number of military coups has also continued decline, as have the number of campaigns of deadly violence waged against civilians. SOURCE: Human Security Report Project
New York: Child Soldiers Global Report 2008
The 2008 Child Soldiers Global Report, was launched in New York on May 20, 2008 by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
The report details how a near global consensus that children should not be used as soldiers and strenuous international efforts – with the UN at the forefront – to halt the phenomenon have failed to protect tens of thousands of children from war. When armed conflict exists, children will almost inevitably become involved as soldiers.
The report documents military recruitment legislation, policy and practice in more than 190 countries worldwide – in conflict and in peacetime armies – as well as child soldier use by non-state armed groups.
There have been positive developments over the past four years. The Coalition's research shows that the number of armed conflicts in which children are involved is down from 27 in 2004 to 17 by the end of 2007. Tens of thousands of children have been released in that time from armies and armed groups as long-running conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere have ended.
But the report shows that tens of thousands of children remain in the ranks of non-state armed groups in at least 24 different countries or territories. The record of governments is also little improved – children were deployed in armed conflicts by government forces in nine situations of armed conflict, down only one from the 10 such situations recorded when the last Global Report was published in 2004.
For more information, visit: http://www.childsoldiersglobalreport.org/files/country_pdfs
/FINAL_2008_Global_Report.pdf
National Report on the Implementation of the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms
This report pertains to the implementation by Canada of the United Nations (UN) Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA) and the International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons (International Tracing Instrument). It responds to the request by UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) dated 28 January, 2008 in accordance with resolution 62/47 entitled “The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects,” adopted by the General Assembly on 5 December 2007.
Sudan: Obstacles Slow Deployment of Peacekeepers
South Africa's deputy foreign minister, Aziz Pahad, sketched his government's view of the challenges facing the deployment of the African Union/United Nations Hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID), at his latest weekly briefing for the media. An extract from the briefing: http://allafrica.com/stories/200805220388.html .
Council backs stronger UN presence in Somalia
The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday, May 15, 2008 that opens the door to a stronger U.N. presence in Somalia and possible deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in the lawless Horn of Africa country.
Somalia's transitional government is expected to welcome the resolution, even though the text contains no hard promises that the council will eventually deploy U.N. peacekeepers in Somalia as the government has repeatedly requested.
While all 15 council members agree the situation is dire, most have been reluctant to send U.N. peacekeepers to Somalia, where warlords, Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces clash almost daily.
Read more at: http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKN1530415720080515
Liberia: Ex-combatant guns increase armed robbery
From IANSA Update: The circulation of small arms from ex-combatants could be responsible for an
increase in armed robbery in the Liberian capital of Monrovia. A report by
the Liberia National Commission on Small Arms (LiNCSA) says that only one
weapon was surrendered for every four combatants during the disarmament
process, suggesting that a large number of guns remain at large. The
Liberian Action Network on Small Arms (LANSA) says many combatants were too
frightened to hand in their weapons after the process officially closed, for
fear of being prosecuted for illegal gun possession. The current increase in
armed violence has reportedly prompted civilians to form vigilante defence
groups. Local patrols say they do not believe police are able to provide
adequate protection.
www.iansa.org/regions/wafrica/wafrica.htm
www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78095
Nepal: Arms proliferation fuelled by lack of government
From IANSA Update:The absence of an established government in Nepal has led to a proliferation of small arms in the Terai region, according to local analysts. As political parties struggle for power, criminals and armed groups are taking advantage of the insecurity to import large numbers of weapons. Arms are thought to be coming across the porous border from the Indian state of Bihar. Civil society is calling for the new government to regulate small arms in cooperation with India, and to increase security in the Terai region and at the Nepalese-Indian border. IANSA member SASANet Nepal said, ‘There must be continued dialogue between the Indian and Nepalese government to develop effective security across the border and prevent the proliferation of weapons within the Terai region’.
www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78188
NATO: Afghanistan Says To Decide How Long NATO Troops Stay
Reuters
The Afghan government will decide when foreign troops will leave the country, the foreign minister said on Tuesday, but added they would be needed until Afghan security forces could stand on their own feet. "Whenever ... the Afghan security forces and its national army acquire the ability to defend this water and soil against international terrorism and foreign interventions, there will be no need for the presence of international military forces in Afghanistan," Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta told a news conference. Currently some 60,000 foreign troops led by NATO and the U.S. military are stationed in Afghanistan where the al Qaeda-backed Taliban movement has made a comeback since 2006. And the number of Western-trained and funded Afghan security forces fighting against the militants stands at nearly 150,000. The Taliban are mostly active in southern and eastern areas along the border with Pakistan wher e the militants have bases and sanctuaries in lawless tribal areas, dominated by ethnic Pashtuns who form the bulk of the Taliban. U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and toppled Taliban's Islamist government after its leadership refused to hand over al Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden.
Continue reading this article
Links to related articles:
• ARTICLE: NATO Could End Rotating Command In Southern Afghanistan, Agence France-Presse (May 9)
• ARTICLE: Is NATO Repeating The USSR's Afghan Mistakes', BBC (May 15)
• ACADEMIC ARTICLE: Afghan South: Will NATO-ISAF Adopt the Strategies & Tactics for Counterinsurgency brought to RC South by the US Marines?, Canadian American Strategic Review (May 2008)
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