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NTS Bulletin

NTS Bulletin August 2010 (Issue 2)
Issues:
Note: Please click on the respective titles or headers for the full report.

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MAIN HIGHLIGHT

Landmark Verdict by The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

On 26 July 2010, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) delivered its first verdict against a former official of the Khmer Rouge regime, Kaing Guek Eav (also known as ‘Duch’). The ECCC sentenced Duch to 30 years in prison for his role in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity against the estimated 1.7 million casualties of the regime.

The ECCC is a hybrid institution, functioning on an international criminal law jurisdiction and incorporating aspects of national law. Tribunals such as the ECCC have been used as a means by States to fulfil their responsibility to protect their population from past afflictions and future recurrences of mass atrocities. They are used as an avenue to strengthen domestic rule of law and respect for human rights. Reconciliation efforts in Cambodia have been ongoing for many years, and the establishment of the ECCC is Cambodia’s first attempt towards ending hitherto legal impunity and providing accountability to those adversely affected by the Khmer Rouge regime. The accused intends to appeal his sentence, but the verdict has evoked a sense of indemnification.

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MIGRATION

News & Commentaries

Selected Publications

This report documents global trends for 2009 surrounding the movement of and access to humanitarian protection by ‘persons of concern’ to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Consequent to this report, UNHCR is to publish its 2009 Statistical Yearbook. According to the report, the total population under the responsibility of the UNHCR is 36.5 million. In addition to statistical data, the report provides information on age, sex, demographic and location characteristics of persons displaced. It documents the return and resettlement trends of ‘persons of concern’, and estimates the number of refugees in protracted situations, that is, not returned or resettled. The report alludes to growing trends related to the changing nature of displacements, such as displacements due to natural disasters and the rural-urban movement, and the existence of ‘durable solutions’.

This report provides an overview of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) projected global resettlement needs and priorities for the year 2011 and includes a statistical report for 2009. The 2009 report summarises the major trends in resettlement submissions and departures using criteria such as women at risk, medical needs, the acceptance rates of submissions by resettlement countries and protracted refugee situations where resettlement takes place. The report documents an increase in the number of countries worldwide indicating their willingness to receive resettlement submissions to 24. It also highlights the gap between resettlement needs in 2011, and the capacity of States and UNHCR to meet them. The report also provides regional overviews. It discusses promoting strategic use of resettlement, managing resettlement more effectively and addressing highlighted key challenges.

Events & Announcements

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INTERNAL AND CROSS-BORDER CONFLICT

News & Commentaries

Selected Publications

This literature review provides an overview of policy and theoretical innovations in disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) over the past decade. It also notes a progressive professionalisation and standardisation of DDR practice within the multilateral, bilateral and non-governmental communities. Moreover, the review observes a shift in the focus of research on DDR; from process and practice of DDR as a spatially, temporally and socially bounded activity, to investment in comparative case studies, statistical assessments and more experimental approaches to test counter-factuals. Focusing on a wider case selection these researchers are also exploring new sectoral horizons such as the relationships between DDR and combatant agency, peace agreements, transitional justice, security sector reform and state-building more generally.

This volume presents an approach to the civil component of counterinsurgency that builds on detailed background, context analysis and threat analysis to identify and develop critical civil counterinsurgency activities. It illustrates this approach using three case studies; Nangarhar province in Afghanistan, Nord-Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Al Anbar province in Iraq. The approach builds on the best aspects of existing conflict assessment methodologies and adds new elements developed specifically for this project. The resulting framework goes beyond the strategic and operational decisions related to designing a programme that is appropriate for a given conflict context.

In light of the large-scale mass killings of civilians and massive forced displacements, this paper uses a model where conflict onset, conflict intensity and the decision to commit mass killings are all endogenous, to assess two main goals: the identification of the key variables and situations that make mass killings more likely to occur; and the distinguishing conditions under which mass killings and military conflict intensity reinforce each other from situations where they are substitute modes of strategic violence. The paper predicts that mass killings are most likely in societies with large natural resources, significant proportionality constraints for rent sharing, low productivity and low state capacity. The paper also presents empirical results on the role of natural resources in mass killings and on what kinds of ethnic groups are most likely to be victimised in massacres and forced resettlements, using group level panel data.

This is the sixth annual compilation of the year’s ‘failed states’, that is, the world’s most vulnerable nations, by Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace. The index draws on publicly available sources to analyse 177 countries and rate them on 12 metrics of state decay; from refugee flows to economic implosion, and human rights violations to security threats.

This paper attempts to carve through the economic and political issues surrounding the recent events related to the Special Autonomy status of Papua in Indonesia, in particular the protests in Jayapura in early July 2010. Through an analysis and evaluation of the economic and political challenges in Papua, the paper provides an assessment on the prospects for conflict resolution.

This briefing by the International Crisis Group examines the political fallout from Jakarta’s rejection of a local Papuan initiative that requires all candidates in district-level elections to be indigenous Papuans. It highlights the shortcomings of the 2001 autonomy package in appeasing the Papuans. In addition, concerns such as the steady in-migration from other parts of Indonesia (which is precipitating sentiments of marginalisation among Papuans) are discussed.

Events & Announcements

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WATER SECURITY

News & Commentaries

Selected Publications

This report assesses bathing water quality in the EU Member States in 2009 indicating where the best quality bathing is likely to be found in 2010. The report observes that in 2009, 95.6 per cent of Europe's coastal bathing waters and 89.4 per cent of inland bathing waters met the minimum water quality standards set by the European Bathing Water Directive. Between 2008 and 2009 there was a slight deterioration in the number of bathing waters meeting minimum standards, with reductions of 0.7 per cent for coastal sites and 2.6 per cent for inland bathing waters. The report introduces sources for interested citizens to access more information on bathing waters. These include online tools and geospatial mapping programmes.

This article reveals, for the first time, that microscopic marine algae known as phytoplankton have been declining globally over the 20th century. Phytoplankton forms the basis of the marine food chain and sustains diverse assemblages of species ranging from tiny zooplankton to large marine mammals, seabirds and fish. The scientists found that long-term phytoplankton declines were negatively correlated with rising sea surface temperatures and changing oceanographic conditions.

This manual aims to help practitioners design and construct small earth dams in rural areas. It essentially provides a comprehensive and pragmatic means for the practical understanding of the principles and procedures used in small earth dam construction and for the users to safely and competently construct small dams without recourse to the costly, complex and sophisticated design and construction techniques associated with dams on larger catchments. The manual includes an introduction to community participation, social and gender issues in siting, constructing and operating dams, environmental issues and fish production, as well as sections on costing dams, tendering for construction and awarding contracts.

Water practitioners are increasingly called upon to negotiate workable agreements about how to best use, manage and care for water resources. This paper makes the case for constructive engagement and cooperative forms of negotiation in dealing with complex water issues. It guides users through ways of building meaningful participation of stakeholders in decision-making over water by unpacking constructive approaches such as multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) and consensus building. The paper also focuses on the diversity of agreements which can be produced to regulate or encourage fairer and more effective water allocation and use.

Events & Announcements

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HUMAN TRAFFICKING

News & Commentaries

Selected Publications

This manual is the result of a process undertaken in 2008 by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) in cooperation with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the European Police Office (Europol) and the United Kingdom Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and, most importantly, with the active participation of experienced practitioners working all over the world to investigate and prosecute those who smuggle migrants. The manual is organised thematically and it aims to be a reference tool that provides basic introduction to the subject of investigating and prosecuting the smuggling of migrants for self-study and for use in the training of investigators and prosecutors. The manual also seeks to provide a solid basis of knowledge that can be adapted to a country’s specific context.

This article looks at the intersection to be found in sex trafficking victims’ increased vulnerability to HIV infection, the proliferation of HIV infection through sex trafficking, and the perceived and actual clashes between HIV and sex trafficking prevention efforts. The author states that addressing these intersecting issues entails framing the elimination of sex trafficking as a tool to reduce HIV transmission.

Events & Announcements

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TRANSNATIONAL CRIME

News & Commentaries

Selected Publications

To learn more about the possible outcomes of marijuana legalisation in California, RAND researchers derived key findings from constructing a model based on a series of estimates of current consumption, current and future prices, how responsive use is to price changes, taxes levied and possibly evaded, and the aggregation of non-price effects (such as a change in stigma).

This publication offers statistics on global trends and reviews a range of issues related to gangs and armed groups, exploring their functions, roles, and use of violence, as well as emerging efforts to address the damage they inflict on society. The volume includes studies of prison gangs, gender aspects of gangs and pro-government non-state armed groups.

The paper analyses the issue of information sharing and transparency in international small arms transfers, in times when a significant number of deaths and injuries around the world are directly enabled by small arms and light weapons proliferation. It finds that sources of supply of small arms and light weapons are not only states that are traditional producers of such weapons. The paper’s implicit finding, through the list of major exporters of small arms, is that many important exporters have little or no domestic production capabilities. It states that documenting surpluses, and examining how they are generated and managed, take on significant importance in the process of informing states and the public on small arms transfers.

This study attempts to measure the scale and the effectiveness of the response to illegal logging. It examines the response in countries where illegal logging occurs and also in those countries which import, process and consume illegally sourced wood. In addition to measuring the extent to which illegal logging and associated trade has changed over time, the study examines how attention to the problem has changed and how governments and the private sector have responded.

Events & Announcements

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Use of this article:

You are free to publish this article in its entirety or only in part in your newspapers, wire services, internet-based information networks and newsletters and you are also free to use the information in your radio-TV discussions or as a basis for discussion in different fora. We would, however, appreciate it if you could let us know when and where the article was used.

About the Centre:

The Centre for NTS Studies of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, was inaugurated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan in May 2008. The Centre maintains research in the fields of Climate Change, Energy Security, Health Security, as well as Internal and Cross Border Conflict. It produces policy-relevant analyses aimed at furthering awareness and building capacity to address NTS issues and challenges in the Asia Pacific region and beyond. The Centre also provides a platform for scholars and policymakers within and outside Asia to discuss and analyse NTS issues in the region.

In 2009, the Centre was chosen by the MacArthur Foundation as a lead institution for the MacArthur Asia Security Initiative, to develop policy research capacity and recommend policies on the critical security challenges facing the Asia-Pacific.

The Centre is also a founding member and the Secretariat for the Consortium of Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies in Asia (NTS-Asia). More information on the Centre can be found at www.rsis.edu.sg/nts


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