News Roundup – 17 May 2013
Enough Project report: Mary Robinson’s Next Steps to Help End Congo’s Deadly War
UN condemns Syrian government for violence, but according to Amnesty International UN resolution on Syria will do little to stop massive abuses
Syrian troops repel rebel attack on Aleppo prison
Human Rights Watch: Visit to Syria Reveals Torture Chambers
News Roundup – 16 May 2013
USIP Peace Brief by Bruce ‘Ossie’ Oswald: Armed Groups Maintaining Law and Order Dealing with Reality
Colombian rebels recruit child fighters even as they negotiate to end conflict
‘Massive’ numbers of Nigerian troops target insurgents
DR Congo military: Gunmen attack army base in east, at least 31 dead
Op-Ed: The Irony of the Number of Weapons in the Hands of Armed Groups in DRC
Fears of Rebel Infiltration of DR Congo Army
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Pillay appalled by Syrian atrocities
Human Rights Watch: Rebels Target Children in Conflict Southern Thailand
Another blog post on the Mavi Marmara incident: Dov Jacobs, When a ‘situation’ is not really a ‘situation’
News Roundup – 15 May 2013
Peruvian Minister of Environment: Peru’s Illegal Mining on Verge of Funding Armed Groups
Goodluck Jonathan declares emergency in three Nigerian states, and Nigeria Responds to Upsurge in Boko Haram Violence
CAR Instability Said to Help Lord’s Resistance Army Regroup
Hamas leader Meshaal: ‘We Are Not Fanatic Killers’
Video purporting to show Syrian rebel atrocity highlights challenges facing West on aid, and Syria mutilation footage sparks doubts over wisdom of backing rebels, whilst the Syrian rebel defends eating dead soldier’s organs as revenge. See also this interesting analysis by a German psychologist on The desecration of bodies in war
Landmine casualties rising in Kachin (Myanmar)
Three blog posts on the referral to the ICC by the Comores of the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident: by Bill Schabas, Kevin Jon Heller (here and here), and Dapo Akande.
News Roundup – 14 May 2013
Malian army heads for rebel-held northern town of Kidal
Geneva Call trains Syrian rebels on international humanitarian law
ICRC: Many Armed Groups Hold Swathes of North Syria
New International Crisis Group report: Too Close for Comfort: Syrians in Lebanon
Outrage at Syrian rebel shown ‘eating soldier’s heart’
US Commander Denies US or NATO Responsibility for Afghan Deaths in Beginning April
Insurgent attack kills three Georgian ISAF soldiers in Afghanistan
In April 2013, the Small Arms Survey published the first edition of its new series ‘Armed Actors Issues Brief’ entitled ‘Demobilization in the DRC: Armed Groups and the Role of Organizational Control’. The briefing provides exactly the kind of real-life insight into the internal organization of armed groups which we like to share with the practitioners and academics who read our blog. It gives a fascinating account of the dynamics which are at play within the armed groups in the DRC and shows how they are affecting the DDR process.
Joanne Richards, the author of the report, has kindly provided an introduction to the report in a guest post below. Her post shortly summarizes the report’s aims and reproduces its keys findings.
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In April 2012, the emergence of the M23 rebel movement in North Kivu Province placed yet another obstacle on the road to disarmament and demobilization in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Kinshasa’s approach to neutralizing the myriad armed groups involved in Congo’s wars has been one of demobilization paired with the integration of non-state armed groups into the Congolese national army (Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo, FARDC). M23 is a remnant of this approach, and was forged by dissident Tutsi soldiers within FARDC who were formerly members of the rebel group National Congress for the Defence of the People (Congrès national pour la défense du people, CNDP).
To better understand the issues which may arise in the future disarmament and demobilization of the M23 rebellion, it is helpful to examine past experiences of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR). A new Issue Brief produced by the Small Arms Survey takes a retrospective look at the DDR process implemented in eastern DRC between 2004 and 2011, and focuses on two rebel groups (RCD-Goma and CNDP) and four local defense militias (PARECO, APCLS, Mai-Mai Kifuafua and Mai-Mai Simba). Drawing on interviews with 57 ex-combatants, the Brief illustrates how military commanders across these six armed groups used similar mechanisms of organizational control to prevent the unauthorized demobilization of their lower-level troops. In particular, senior military commanders used supporting ‘staff officers’ and ‘intelligence security agents’ to help them monitor low-level foot soldiers, detect escape attempts, and to locate and recapture escapees. Military parades were also held each morning and at regular intervals throughout the day to check for unauthorized absences.
Key findings from the Issue Brief are as follows:
- The rebel and militia groups studied were highly organized in terms of military intelligence. Low-level troops were closely monitored and would be severely punished if caught trying to escape to an official DDR program.
- Grading DDR packages by rank could prevent military commanders from becoming recalcitrant and tightening their grip over the rank-and-file.
- Better protective measures for escapees, such as safe havens introduced prior to peace agreements, may have helped to prevent re-recruitment and may have also limited reprisal attacks against the family members of escapees.
- Military commanders often kept lists of members and weapons stocks. DDR practitioners could use these records to guard against misinformation concerning troop sizes and weapons inventories.
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Joanne Richards is a PhD candidate at the Geneva Graduate Institute and a visiting scholar at Columbia University. Her main research interests are the micro-dynamics of civil war onset, duration, and termination. She has conducted substantial fieldwork in eastern DRC and has also spent time working with the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration section of UNDP in North Kivu.
For more publications on armed actors published by the Small Arms Survey see here. For more on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration see here.
News Roundup – 13 May 2013
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada document on Colombia: Recruitment methods of armed groups, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) (2011-March 2013)
Historic conviction brings long-awaited justice in Guatemala
Interview with ICRC president Maurer: The use of armed drones must comply with laws
UN Children’s Fund condemns in strongest possible terms killing of teen linked to rebels in CAR
Human Rights Watch: Rampant Abuses After Coup in CAR
Tanzanian troops arrive in eastern DR Congo as part of UN intervention brigade
Libya crisis deepens as rebel groups expand demands
Police stations bombed, British embassy cuts Libya staff
Darfur Former Rebel Leader Killed Near Sudan-Chad Border Area
UN: Up to 40,000 flee rebel assault in central Sudan
IRIN News interviews with Syrian rebel fighters: Syrian rebels on IHL: In their own words and “Sometimes you cannot apply the rules”
Human Rights Watch: Syria Opposition Brigade Fighting in Homs Implicated in Atrocities
Turkey blames Syria after car bombs kill dozens near border
Indian government official: Militancy in northeast on the decline
Philippine National Police says it is monitoring 41 private armed groups
On 24-25 November 2013, the Minerva Center for Human Rights (of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem), together with the ICRC Delegation in Israel and the Territories, will organise for the 8th year running a conference on a current issue of international humanitarian law/the law of armed conflict. This year’s topic is “Military Objectives and Objects of War: An Uneasy Relationship”.
The Center has published this call for papers.
Having had the pleasure of presenting a paper at earlier editions of this conference twice, I can really recommend anyone to send in a proposal. The conferences are very well organised and benefit from excellent local experts, and have attracted a great level of participants. The location makes for a very interesting backdrop for the discussions and debates.
