Peace and Conflict Studies Commons^™

Global Discourse, Local Context: Counter-Terrorism And Human Rights In Morocco, Christine Sargent

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Human rights and terrorism are two of the most frequently invoked, powerfully deployed, and hotly contested paradigms of our time. They are, first and foremost, words. They are words that attempt to describe concepts, values and actions. Human rights are understood as the fundamental “civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights that all human being should enjoy” beyond the non-negotiable, fundamental right to life (United Nations). The concept of terrorism seeks to categorize and comprehend what has been perceived as a uniquely transnational, increasing phenomenon of violent, ideologically driven attacks targeting civilians. Accordingly, counter-terrorism is normatively understood to consist of …

A Coincidental Trip To Cambodia, Rebecca Otis

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In a timely coincidence, Henry Alford’s recent travel article, “Banishing the Ghosts in Cambodia,” recently tantalized this reader with visions of a destination vacation in mind. Written for the travel-inspired readership of the New York Times, Alford’s version of Cambodia as a newly reborn hotspot for far flung Westerners approaches the point of lulling his decidedly non-Cambodian audience into pleasantly myopic vision of a plush Cambodian phoenix fully risen from its mired ashes. Amidst the outcropping of chic resorts and beautiful beaches reincarnated from the elegant, pre-Khmer Rouge moment of Cambodia’s forgotten past, Alford banishes the ghosts of Pol Pot’s …

A Curse Not Limited To Cambodia, Chandra Lekha Sriram

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Brinkley’s piece draws welcome attention to the virtual farce of hybrid justice now underway in Cambodia, although the emphasis of the piece on the prevalence of corruption de-emphasizes a broader point: human rights protections are not respected in Cambodia, and serious accountability for the abuses by the Khmer Rouge or any subsequent abuses are unlikely, not merely because leaders are corrupt, but because the wide scale culture of impunity makes the protection of human rights and functional rule of law virtually impossible.

Evaluation Of Ec-Funded Mine Action In Africa: Volume 2-Country Reports, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

The Evaluation of EC support for mine action in Africa is the first of six regional mine action evaluations that the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) will conduct or commission for the European Commission (EC). These regional evaluations follow from a Global Assessment of EC support for mine action completed in 2005. Given the broad scope of a regional evaluation, no attempt was made to assess the performance of individual projects; rather, the focus was on EC mine action strategy and programming issues at the country and regional levels. In addition to a document review, the evaluation team …

Assessment Of Post Demining Impact Assessment For The Mine Action Coordination Center Of Afghanistan, Sippi Azerbaijani-Moghaddam

Global CWD Repository

In May 2007, after training Landmine Impact Assessment Teams (LIATs) for the job, Mine Action Center Afghanistan (MACA) started to conduct PDIA. LIATs perform their duties conscientiously and are generally more comfortable with the figures and calculations involved in economic analysis related to demining rather than the slightly more nebulous aspects related to the ‘people'‐end of activities and social impact assessment. Foremost among the latter would be the relatively unexplored aspects of how mines affect the intimate relations between people and the landscape in predominantly rural or agrarian communities. According to the LIATs basic comparison between forms exploring the pre‐ …

Citizens For Peace Activities And Accomplishments 2008, Ann Abdoo

Citizens for Peace

No abstract provided.

Ddasaccident716, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

[The Victim] was working in one of the closest lanes to MDU, therefore, he also stopped the operations and wanted to keep safety distance with operating machine, he crossed the boundary of minefield and entered to a suspected area, he stepped on a mine there, and the accident happened. The consequences of this accident were traumatic amputation of left leg plus some superficial injuries on right leg and right hand fingers of deminer.

Ddasaccident608, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

According to the preliminary investigation the incident is caused due to a pressure applied to the mine from the heavy RAKE (the excavation tool) used by the deminer and the deminer didn’t expect to find a mine in that spot with that depth and may like accident could be avoided by using the metal detector to locate the non visible mine before using the standard RAKE drill.

Ddasaccident602, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

While the deminer trying to recover an AP M14 mine using the heavy RAKE he applied a pressure in the pressure plate of a non visible M14 which in turn activated that mine in a depth of about 5-7 cm

Protecting Human Rights In Conflict, Clair Apodaca

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Just War Theory of Jus in Bello is the international community’s attempt to ensure respect for human rights and human welfare during armed conflicts. The principle of proportionality and the obligation to distinguish between combatants and civilians in attacks are two related notions that are fundamental to the protection of human rights during conflict. The principle of proportionality limits the amount of violence and destruction that is morally permissible. By contrast, the principle of discrimination (or distinction) discriminates between legitimate targets, such as soldiers and weapons depots, and illegitimate targets, specifically noncombatants such as civilian populations and their property.

Stopping The Killing And/Or Stopping Human Rights Violations, Edward Friedman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The relationship between promoting human rights and stopping wars can be perplexing. The 19th century origins of the Geneva Convention and the International Commissions of the Red Cross (ICRC) are warnings about the moral danger, ambiguities, or tensions of bringing war within the arena of human rights considerations. Human rights and war can be a toxic cocktail. One should not want to make war more likely or legitimate or deadly by seeming to say that the killing machine on one side or the other is acting humanely, as if that makes war okay. War is hell.

Proportionality And Unjust Wars, Sarah Stanlick

Human Rights & Human Welfare

As violence rages in the Middle East, policymakers, academics, and the public alike have been embroiled in debate over the proportional use of force. As The Economist article points out, historical grievances leave both Israelis and Palestinians with compelling arguments for defense and resistance. However, at this point, the cycle of violence has perpetuated blame that goes beyond a simple tally sheet. World leaders remain divided on the rights and wrongs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but human rights groups internationally are crying out for Israel and Hamas to end attacks that “do not discriminate between civilians and military targets.” While …

Proportional To Life, Emma Gilligan

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Economist piece entitled “Proportional to what?” poses a dangerous question. The notion, as the article suggests, that proportionality in war is a “slippery idea” or that the facts are “nebulous” is the work of either an intentionally provocative or idly cynical author. Whatever the motivation for the words, it is precisely the dismissive tone embodied in such statements that has contributed to and defined the attitude more recently of larger states, like Israel and Russia, to issues of accountability for the death of civilians.

Healing From War To End All Wars, Christien Van Den Anker

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The First World War was known as the war to end all wars. After the Second World War, and especially in reference to the Holocaust, the urgent slogan was “Never Again.” Although these hopes to end war and genocide have not yet been fulfilled, they inspired the worldwide moral stance against war and a host of international instruments and bodies contributed to the protection of both civilians and combatants during war.

Regional Evaluation Of Ec-Funded Mine Action Support In Asia-Pacific 2002-2008, Ted Paterson, Erik Tollefsen, Mao Vanna

Global CWD Repository

In 2001 the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament adopted two Regulations on the reinforcement of the EU response against Antipersonnel Landmines (APL). These (referred to collectively as “the Regulation”) laid the foundation of an integrated European policy. The Regulation states the need to regularly assess operations financed by the Community and that the European Commission (EC) shall submit to the European Parliament an overall assessment of all Community mine action. To implement these provisions, the EC commissioned a global assessment of EC mine policy and actions over the period 2002-2004 and entered into an agreement with the Geneva …

February Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Proportional to What?” The Economist. December 30, 2008.

Ddasaccident781, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

On 20 January 2009 while de-miner [the Victim] was working in his clearance lane excavating a detected signal, his bayonet stroked the top of a PMN mine and caused it to explode. According to the investigation report the de-miner has not maintained and considered the default clearance depth during the excavation and used his bayonet carelessly, therefore, caused the accident. Unfortunately the victim was not fully dressed with PPE and his visor was up during the accident. Thus he has got several injuries on his face, legs and different parts of his body.

Ddasaccident727, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

On 19 January 2009 at 10:15 10 hours while [the Victim] was busy in excavating a detected signal, the explosion occurred due to PMN mine and caused the accident. Unfortunately as he was not fully dressed with PPE, therefore, he has got severe injuries on his face and lost his both eyes and some minor injuries on his hand and leg. According to the investigation report, it seems that he was working with pick instead of standard excavation tool and started excavation directly from the centre of the signal.

Ddasaccident739, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

A cluster bomb left over from the Israel-Hizbullah war in 2006 wounded a member of the demining team [Demining group] in south Lebanon on Friday. The National News Agency said [the Victim], 26, was wounded when the bomb exploded near the southern Lebanese town of Arabsaleem

Ddasaccident647, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

According to the preliminary investigation the incident is caused due to a pressure applied to the mine from the heavy RAKE (the excavation tool) used by the deminer and the deminer didn’t expect to find a mine in that spot with that depth and may like accident could be avoided by using the metal detector to locate the non visible mine before using the standard RAKE drill.

U.S. Army/ U.S. Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center (Coin), Cisr

Global CWD Repository

As we prosecute the current campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and the Philippines, the military must also prepare for an uncertain security situation beyond the present theaters of conflict. It is a future that will be heavily influenced by global competition for declining natural resources, rapidly rising populations in underprivileged and underdeveloped areas, unstable economic markets, and the continuing resurgence of violent religious and secular ideologies challenging democracy as a credible political theory. Additionally, U.S. Force must account for the impact of rapid information transfer, porous national borders, globalization, increased indigent migrating populations with elevated expectations, and …

Ddasaccident617, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

According to the preliminary investigation the incident is caused due to a pressure applied to the mine from the heavy RAKE (the excavation tool) used by the deminer and the deminer didn’t expect to find a mine in that spot with that depth and may like accident could be avoided by using the metal detector to locate the non visible mine before using the standard RAKE drill.

Darfur: In Search Of Peace Exploring Viable Solutions To The Darfur Crisis, George Shepherd, Peter Van Arsdale, Negin Sobhani, Nicole Tanner, Frederick Agyeman-Duah

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The following is a report for the Consultation on Darfur carried out in Nairobi, Kenya by Africa Today Associates, Inc. The event took place June 9‐11, 2008 and was made possible with support from Ford Foundation, Kenya (in collaboration with the Institute of International Education). This report aims to build upon, not replace, the findings of our Consultation in Abuja, Nigeria. It is for this purpose that the findings and points addressed in this report are solely those discussed in Nairobi. Although it is inevitable that the two consultations reflected some overlap on the core issues and discussion points, especially …

Citizens For Peace Minutes 12-8-09, Linda J. Lieder

Citizens for Peace

Kim Redigan spoke of her June 2009 trip to Haiti, to visit the first graduating class at the first rural University in the region of Fondwa.

Citizens For Peace Minutes 10-13-09, Linda J. Lieder

Citizens for Peace

A discussion about the Global Unity Project.

National Strategic Plan For The Uxo Sector In The Lao People's Democratic Republic 2010-2020 "The Safe Path Forward Ii", Lao People's Democratic Republic

Global CWD Repository

This strategy aims to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the other development objectives captured in the NSEDP in accordance with the principles of the Vientiane Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. It also aims to guide the implementation of several important international conventions and declarations, including:

1. The Convention on Cluster Munitions

2. The Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities

3. The UNESCAP Declaration on the Decade of the Disabled

Peer And Maternal Relationship Predictors Of Adolescent Romantic Conflict Resolution, Pallavi Visvanathan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the current study was to examine whether change in adolescent conflict resolution in romantic relationships is predicted by adolescents' prior interactions with mothers and friends. A community sample of 191 adolescents (96 female), representative of the U.S. population, their mothers and close friends participated in this study. Data collection began when adolescents were in 10th grade (¬Average age = 15.9, SD = .52) and continued for the next five and a half years. Results indicated that teens engaged in positive problem solving, withdrawal, and compliance far more frequently than in aggressive conflict resolution strategies. Hierarchical linear modeling …

Scoping Study Of The Effects Of Aging On Landmines, Cisr

Global CWD Repository

During the past year, the Mine Action Information Center at James Madison University has partnered with a British EOD consultancy company, C King Associates Ltd, to conduct a preliminary study into the effects of aging on landmines. This project entailed examination and disassembly of several types of anti-personnel mines, a literature review of relevant material and analysis of the initial findings.

The Ties That Bind: An Examination Of Outgroup Relationships As A Deviant Behavior, Carrie L. Shamos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contact programs, such as Seeds of Peace, subscribe to the assertion that an essential element to co-existence between groups with a violent history is to provide situations in which out-group members are encouraged to form new relationships. Although the individual may have positive feelings toward out-group members at the conclusion of the program, he or she must return home to existing social networks, which may not hold the same tolerant attitudes. This research explores what happens when individuals present new out-group relationships to existing peer groups. Under what circumstances, if any, can participants sustain new relationships when they return to …

The International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia: The Promise And Reality Of Reconciliation In Croatia, Sara Parker

Peace and Conflict Studies

The international community is increasingly interested in promoting post-conflict reconciliation in a variety of forms, with trials and truth commissions featured most prominently. The contemporary academic discussion over transitional justice (and the practice of transitional justice itself) is largely focused on whether and how these types of large-scale national transitional justice mechanisms contribute to reconciliation. This article examines the promise and reality of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to contribute to national reconciliation. Ultimately, the ability of state-wide policies to contribute to reconciliation rests on the active participation of local level actors. This requires political backing …