Therapeutic Prosecutions?

Posted by , and & filed under Gender, Law and Ethics

Assessing the therapeutic potential of criminal prosecution of international crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In 2012, the International Criminal Court (ICC) handed out its first-ever prison sentence, giving a 14-year jail term to former Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga.

Over the past twenty years, the global community has shown a renewed commitment to the pursuit of international criminal justice. A hallmark development in this regard is the establishment of the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC). A central asset of the court is victim and witness participation, based on an assumption that this approach will benefit those who have been affected by the crimes and their communities. In a recent policy brief we explore the therapeutic potential and pitfalls of this approach based on a literature review, relevant studies in the field and initial interviews at the ICC.

  • A sense of confidence in the system and a feeling of security are vital in order for the ICC to have a positive impact on victims and their communities.
  • The possibility of reparation is important, but can also have adverse effects if perceived as a way of silencing victim’s accounts.
  • The court process may represent a form of social recognition and acknowledgement of what happened which has an important healing potential.

Read more in a recent Policy Brief from PRIO.

Putin’s Political Pause Amid National Mobilization

Posted by & filed under Regions and Powers

XXL-missiles are again rolling on Moscow streets. Photo Novaya gazeta.

The focal point for the “patriotic” propaganda for the last several months has been the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War (as World War II is known in Russia), which is now just a few days away. Reflections on the horrible costs of that bitter victory or on coalition efforts with the Allies have been nearly nonexistent; instead, jingoistic triumphalism, combined with the traditional display of military might, translates into an eager anticipation of yet another victorious campaign. Putin has invested a lot of personal effort in turning this celebration into a demonstration of Russia’s prominent position in the international arena, and now has to swallow not only the fruits of isolation but also the consequences of progressing economic feebleness. The artificially induced moment of national unity will likely dissipate with unpredictable speed in the weeks to come, so his window for a new morale-boosting aggressive action may turn out to be quite narrow.

This is the final point from the article in Eurasia Daily Monitor, May 4.

Humanitarianism and Return

Posted by and & filed under Humanitarianism, Migration

Humanitarianism and Return: Compromising Protection

In many contexts around the world, states use funding for humanitarian programming as an active part of their attempts to manage populations displaced by conflict. Humanitarian aid to refugees and internally displaced is commonly understood as a temporary activity that ends when people will return home. Yet returnees can often not be provided with protection and ‘return’ for many entails a first encounter with a new place. In a recent policy brief we argue that humanitarian organizations have the responsibility to analyze the long-term security implications of their decisions on where to provide aid.

  • Somali refugees returning. Photo: The Africa Migration Insider

    Return of refugees is a common aim of humanitarian policies in (post-) conflict contexts.

  • For a portion of refugees, ‘return’ entails a first encounter with a new place, while many others have lost social networks in places of origin.
  • To guarantee protection, programming for returnees requires mobile forms of assistance that build on social networks.
  • If return programming is considered, humanitarian actors should include a systematic analysis of its long-term security impact.

Read more in a recent Policy Brief from PRIO

This Week in South Sudan – April 20-28

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Monday 20 April The SPLM (IO) conference in Pagak was kicked off, the agenda is to discuss the status of the peace negotiations, and the proposed IGAD +. President Kiir’s address at the opening of the national assembly was met with mixed reactions from its members. Tuesday 21 April President Kiir has once again asked… Read more »

Patterns of Peacemaking

Posted by and & filed under Conflict Patterns

When do we see international mediation, and what are the impacts?

International mediation is a form of diplomatic intervention aimed at reaching negotiated solutions to armed conflict, political violence and international crises. Used by states, organizations, groups or individuals, mediation continues to be an important form of peacemaking. We outline the major trends in international mediation, identify relevant empirical trends and discuss implications for policy.

Photo: U.S. Department of State/flickr.

  • Mediation increases the likelihood of short-term peaceful settlement of conflicts.
  • While international mediation has become increasingly common, many conflicts are still unmediated.
  • The distribution of mediation is globally skewed, with Europe and the Middle East attracting the most attention.
  • States and the UN remain key mediators, but regional organizations are becoming increasingly active and competent.
  • There is no evidence of a positive long-term effect of international mediation.

Read more in a recent Policy Brief from the Conflict Trends project at PRIO.

Earthquake in Nepal and we are Safe

Posted by & filed under Humanitarianism, Regions and Powers

Peace researchers often have the opportunity to witness the ‘real world’ of conflict and post-conflict during fieldwork in countries such as Nepal. In some cases we also cooperate with local institutions where we benefit from working with fellow peace researchers and other partners. In Nepal we have had the great pleasure of working with Dr. Bishnu Raj Upreti, director of the Nepal Centre for Contemporary Research (NCCR) on a collaborative project called Making Women Count for Peace.

This image was tweeted 25 April by @ashbel_nialler

When the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and its surrounding areas on Saturday, our first thoughts naturally went to Bishnu, his colleagues and their families. After initial messages that they were unharmed by the earthquake and the numerous aftershocks, we received the following update from Bishnu this morning:

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Recognising and Denying Armenian Losses in Cyprus

Posted by & filed under Regions and Powers

Cyprus was one of the first countries to recognise the Armenian genocide, but the relationship that the country has with its own Armenian population is more complicated than it seems.

First Armenian Genocide march at Eleftheria square in Nicosia (1975). Wikimedia Commons

The centenary of the Armenian Genocide on 24 April this year comes amidst heightened speculation about a resumption of peace negotiations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The timing is coincidental and yet it is telling of how, in Cyprus, the Armenian issue (more so than others) has been mired in the Greco Turkish dispute.

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Comics and the Liberation from Patriarchy

Posted by & filed under Culture and Conflict, Regions and Powers

New media, new content

Reem: “Thorn,” Tuk-Tuk 7, pp. 37. Tuk-Tuk is a bi-monthly independent magazine run by a collective of young artists.

Warning: This is all work in progress, so it leaves much to be desired. But this subject is so fun working on that I wanted to share what I have even if it is still pretty undeveloped. OK, here goes:

During the last few years, the literary scene in Egypt has been enriched by a new kind of medium: Comics for grown-ups. Arab comics for grown-ups is a new cultural phenomenon which is only now beginning to attract attention, not least thanks to the efforts of Marcia Lynx Qualey, and it provides a rich, fun and stimulating window into contemporary Arab culture. In the course of a few years, we have seen manga-inspired horror stories, crime noir set in Cairo, and anthologies with stories ranging from the funny and surreal to deeply disturbing accounts of poverty and oppression. The most visible venue for the new comics is Tuk-Tuk, a bi-monthly independent magazine run by a collective of young artists.
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Social Media Responses to this Winter’s Terror Attacks

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Social media have brought Kenya into focus recently, with people’s reactions to the attack at the University of Garissa spreading on Facebook and Twitter. Social media users have been sharing an image of a candle against a black background, accompanied by the single word “Kenya”. In this way they have demonstrated sympathy for the 148 victims and show that they care. The reactions have been not only to the actual attack, but also to the fact that there was relatively little international attention to it when it happened.

Today, the Nigerian schoolgirls are still in captivity. US First Lady Michelle Obama initiated the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag in support of the 2014 Chibok kidnapping. Posted to the FLOTUS Twitter account on May 7, 2014.

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Unlikely Partners: The EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative

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Should the EU cooperate with regional states to manage and control migration from the Horn of Africa?

Proponents of greater migration control within the EU increasingly favor the use of political and economic incentives as an approach to prevent migration from the Horn of Africa and elsewhere, effectively through increasingly externalizing border control. While the unfolding humanitarian disaster in the Mediterranean shows the urgency of finding creative solutions, we argue that the solution does not lie in cooperating with states that create refugees or cannot guarantee to uphold the non-refoulement principle that EU countries have signed up for in the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Refugee shelters in the Somali refugee camp Dadaab in Northern Kenya.

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