Category: Conflict

Justice versus reckoning.

Ed Vulliamy makes the crucial distinction between justice and “reckoning,” a term he uses to describe a part of the post-conflict reconciliation process. Reconciliation is a long and drawn-out process, spanning over decades, generations. It is also perhaps not particularly rewarding as breakthroughs are not always evident. It is complicated, requiring utmost cooperation and honesty from all parties: citizens, the government, donors, the international community. As Vulliamy highlights, it is in reconciliation – a process that is too often forgotten, though perhaps less now – that long-term peace is gained and re-development begins:

[...] ”Reckoning” is one of the harshest words in the English language. It means coming to terms with what was done in the wake of calamity, staring at oneself in the mirror, and making amends, historical, political and material. The delivery of Mladic for trial is an important moment, but for justice rather than reckoning. The substance of reckoning is on the ground and among the people who gladly carried out Mladic’s heinous orders. There, it is not happening. And without reckoning, there can be no reconciliation, and thereby no real peace (continued).

This article reminds me of a piece I wrote from Kosovo in 2008, shortly after its independence. Women living within the borders of Kosovo – Albanian, Serbian and Roma – meeting in the primarily Serbian side of Mitrovica. There was nothing particularly glamorous about these meetings: the women would make thick Turkish coffee and the children would stuff their faces with ripe cherries. Yet, without these types of forums, it would be hard for Albanian or Serbian Kosovars to walk to the other side of town and meet with other families and discover that they all shared the same basic needs and that the threat of violence was more in the manipulation of their fears than in reality itself.

mental health and conflict.

This is an important story.

“I am Samar,” she said, wearing a long red dress and sitting on the couch next to Mr. Ali. Two of her siblings, also in the car when their parents were killed, sat nearby.

“I’ve taken them many times to the hospital, where they get pills” for emotional problems, Mr. Ali said. “All of them take pills.”

He says Samar’s 8-year-old brother, Muhammad, talks to himself when he is alone. “When we go out and see a family, they get sad,” he said. Sometimes he finds the children in a room together, crying. “When they remember the accident, it’s like they just died.”

In the minds and hearts of victims, war does not just end after the immediate conflict is over. While this does not sound terribly ground breaking as a statement, mobilizing resources for this type of assistance is only more recently becoming a recognized need.

In August 2010, I wrote this story on psychosocial support for Iraqi refugees coming into Syria. It looks at how the UNHCR is providing psychosocial support for incoming refugees.

Hopefully, Samar’s willingness to share her story will draw greater attention to what may be a significant gap in humanitarian emergency services.

and on the lra.

Over lunch. Debating the International Criminal Court (ICC) and mato oput. While the media has been silent over this issue, the conversation is still very much alive in Northern Uganda. As the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) spreads to the DRC, committing mass atrocities bound to leave whole communities as scarred and broken as  in Uganda, more dimensions open up.

On a community level, the most important nugget of society in Uganda, mato oput might resolve some immediate complications of conscious. Father Jo comments on the similar cultural practices in neighbouring regions allowing for a regional approach to justice and reconciliation spanning several ethnic groups. However, with killings in the DRC, is this still applicable? Like a constitution applied to each country, someone says, mato oput will be applied where applicable – where a cultural norm. And how to resolve national practices with international norms of impunity?

On the individual level, the ICC is the most obvious recourse. Unless, of course, the UPDF and the Ugandan government are not brought to trial. In which case, the Western interpretation of justice is a cruel joke. Let the Big Men get away with the tacit support they offered the LRA by allowing the killings to continue. Let the UPDF soldiers get away with rape. The evidence is everywhere, says another Father, just go to a group of elders in the neighbouring community and they know where bones were buried by the soldiers.

Lunch ends with a collective deep sigh. Someone asks about Easter prayers.

getting to yes.

Waiting at Logan Airport to catch a flight out. Wrapping up a fantastic weekend in Boston with fellow Insight Collaborative (IC) Finalists. IC has managed to make being a “finalist” great fun, regardless of the outcome.

After a pretty straightforward interview with David Seibel, Founder, and one of their consultants, Larissa McWhinney, I spent a lovely couple of hours walking through Boston Commons up to Beacon Hill and dining at the Paramount Cafe (delicious servings of waffles, spinach & feta omelettes and diner coffee). We were also put up at the Omni Hotel, which is both glamarous Old Boston and haunted. I also met up with Apolo Ndyabahika, fellow Project Diaspora team member, and his sister and uncle. We drove around rainy Boston while I drooled over MIT and Harvard.

Dinner at the Omni. A bit of a gruelling round table situation & a lot of running through CVs in three-minute soundbites while trying to remain interesting. Always good practice, regardless, for similar situations in the future. Followed by blueberry pints at the Bean-something Irish bar down the street. St. Patrick’s Day starts early here.

Today was definitely the highlight of the weekend. We did a three hour workshop with Seibel and two of his consultants. The focus was Alternative Dispute Resolution and we used a fun, yet slightly stressful, Harvard Mediation Program devised system. Human nature revealed in a hypothetical situation of WinBells, a mango-papaya-kiwi-tasting-fruit. The theory following this exercise was a little embarrassing in the sense of how it revealed our personal and cultural priorities.

Basically, we can look at two types of conflict resolution. One is the common form of haggling. In Uganda, this takes the clear shape of: “What’s your best price” – “(enter over priced mzungu cost”) – “No, I give you X. That’s ridiculously too expensive and that’s the best I can do.” – “You are my first customer, so I’ll give you a better price. Promote me. Enter slightly lower number.” – “What?! That’s insane! I’ve been living here for months. Come on, give me a local price. Enter lower number. And walk away if you get a no (bluff).” You get the point.

However, there appears to be a whole other format for conflict resolution. This doesn’t apply to haggling in Ugandan markets, but for high-level business interaction or even personal disputes, there is some serious wisdom in this model. The process, which is better described in Getting to Yes, is focused on discussing the other person’s interests (the why?), options (ways to meet the person’s interests), legitimacy (objective criteria to evaluate options. Like the going price for X or Y) – instead of the typical, “my choice or the highway.” Apparently it works in all regions – from Oslo to Baghdad to Boston.

I can’t do the workshop any justice from over here, but I strongly recommend applying for the fellowship next year simply for this portion.

the opposition.

Linked through by Texas In Africa, York writes a captivating article on “genocide ideology” and being the opposition in Rwanda:

Yet merely by talking of Hutu victims, she has triggered a firestorm of reaction. She and her assistant were assaulted by a gang of young men in a government office. Her assistant, who was badly beaten, has been jailed for “genocide” crimes. She is facing a police investigation for her alleged “genocide ideology.” And even the country’s powerful President, Paul Kagame, has warned that “the law will catch up with her” – a clear threat that she will be arrested.

At the heart of the battle between Ms. Ingabire and Mr. Kagame is a stark disagreement about Rwanda’s identity. The President argues that any talk of ethnicity must be suppressed because Rwanda is still in a fragile post-genocide period, where hatred and violence could rise again. His opponent sees this as an excuse for repression, leading only to resentment and bitterness among those who cannot speak out.

the isolation in terror

Gettleman, regularly espousing the tragedies of the continent, gives us a run-down on the bush war:

For the rest, there are the un-wars, these ceaseless conflicts I spend my days cataloging as they grind on, mincing lives and spitting out bodies. Recently, I was in southern Sudan working on a piece about the Ugandan Army’s hunt for Kony, and I met a young woman named Flo. She had been a slave in the LRA for 15 years and had recently escaped. She had scarred shins and stony eyes, and often there were long pauses after my questions, when Flo would stare at the horizon. “I am just thinking of the road home,” she said. It was never clear to her why the LRA was fighting. To her, it seemed like they had been aimlessly tramping through the jungle, marching in circles.

No end in sight? This specific type of war is increasingly isolating. Abducted children find it impossible, or near impossible, to go “home” or to leave the bush. The Congo and Sudan are preferential to returning to a hostile Northern Uganda and to communities they raped and pillaged. In the face of no alternative, how can we slow or “end” this brutal cycle? Can child soldiers be offered incentives to return home in the form of food, money, protection? How can communities accommodate the return of former terrors so that they have an alternative to war? In Northern Uganda, the talk circled around transitional justice and the mato oput tradition. I look forward to exploring its role today, three years later and as Gulu becomes a vibrant economic center between Kampala and Juba.

real threat?

Welcome to Nairobi:

It is impossible to tell how much of this is braggadocio and how much of it is a legitimate threat. Either way, Nairobi is a very, very easy target, notwithstanding the U.S. Embassy bombing of 1998. Security at possibly high-value targets is perfunctory at best. Security guards are underpaid and treated poorly, and would be susceptible to bribes. Weapons are easy to come by.

You hate to be alarmist on stuff like this. And Kenya’s government cynically muddies the waters by cynically crying wolf about non-existent terrorist threats in what would seem to be a play for more aid from the West. Yet there have been some worrying indicators lately that something might be brewing. The news that police found a mortar shell on a bus raised a few eyebrows, for example.

Yup. Concerns over Al-Shabaab violence are growing. Back when I arrived in July, rumors were that the big shopping mall, Westgate, would be the first target.

from southern italy to kenya.

The main workshop I will be attending (providing pre-registration works) at the NMC First Youth Meeting for Sustainable Development (check Twitter next week, #NMC) will be on the impact of forced migration. This applies to the recent race riots in Southern Italy, as well as to the recent riots in Kenya.

The anti-immigrant violence followed a riot on January 7th when 100
African farmworkers rampaged through Rosarno, uprooting traffic signs,
burning cars, terrifying inhabitants and clashing with police. Those
disturbances were prompted by an apparently unprovoked attack by white
youths who shot and injured two of the farmworkers. But there was far
more to the migrants’ fury. Church leaders claimed that many local
people were sympathetic to the itinerant farmworkers, but there is also
evidence that plenty were engaged in systematic harassment. Rosarno is
in Calabria, the toe of Italy, a lawless place at the best of times. It
is a fortress of the local organised-crime group, the ‘NDRANGHETA.

I’ll try to dig some useful lessons from the mass of information I will be absorbing. Unfortunately, solving the prejudice against foreigners in already poor countries starts with the economy and unemployment – and we know how hard that is to fix (not to mention sorting out the country in conflict issuing these migrants).

I guess the most we can hope for – pending government and religious leaders speaking out – is that Kenyans, no matter how uneducated and poor, will keep their heads on straight and understand that violence in their country, especially linked to Al-Shabaab, will not further their cause. Like the post-election violence, it will chase off investors and continue the bad reputation Kenya already suffers from.

an after thought – nairobi riots

As an after thought to the previous post, I do not think Kenya is in danger of sectarian violence – Christians vs. Muslims – as other areas in Africa, say Sudan. However, I do think that the continued migration of Somalis into the area, especially an urban center like Nairobi where have and have not is highly concentrated, will disrupt the region. Somalis, seen as foreigners, are a good target for a whole series of frustrations that Kenyans are facing: high unemployment, poverty, limited housing, and so on. Anyways, this is nothing new, but as we saw yesterday, the situation is perhaps worsening. While the press is busy with Haiti, which deserves as much attention as possible now, I hope local press, BBC and Al Jazeera keep this issue on their radar.

the new al-qaeda

Three cheers for Steve Coll who, in my humble opinion, has got it right.

Yet Al Qaeda is also weakening. Osama bin Laden sought to lead the vanguard of a spreading revolution. Instead, he and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are hunkered down, presumably along the Afghan-Pakistani border, surrounded by only about two hundred hard-core followers. Their adherents in Yemen and Africa number no more than a few thousand. Al Qaeda in Iraq is a tiny fragment of its former self. Bin Laden’s relations with the Taliban seem brittle. Unlike Hezbollah, Al Qaeda provides no social services and thus has built no political movement. Unlike Hamas, its bloody nihilism has attracted no states that are willing to defend its legitimacy. In a world of at least one and a half billion Muslims, this does not a revolution, or even a vanguard, make.

Americans voted in a President who could reform their image abroad. All that rhetoric leading to the Nobel Peace Prize was well-warranted if you consider how much of an impact simple words can have when broadcast across the globe. Of course, actions are equally important and Obama finds himself increasingly under a judging lens.

the internet jihad.

Some think that the Internet should be closely monitored for websites that can incite violence – thereby defying the absolute freedom of expression the Internet offers in places like Canada (not so much in China). This article, The Global Internet Jihad: Web of Terror, suggests we need to think closely about the other purpose of the Internet:

Many of us used to think the Internet would be a powerful force for progress and modernity, shrinking divisions and differences, in the world and uniting educated people everywhere in the quest for more democracy and freedom. But it turns out that far from dissolving the age-old problems of tribalism, identity and belonging, the Internet can exacerbate them. By connecting politically restless young adults with a noble cause, it gives them a powerful new sense of purpose.

Another article in the New York Times suggests the same. The virtual web of terrorism brings regions like Nigeria, Palestine, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia together.

In fact, neither Pakistan nor Yemen nor Afghanistan is the key place for radicalization. These terrorists go there after being radicalized in the West or in a Western environment. And radicalization does not occur in a concrete political praxis with real people but in a solitary experience of a virtual community: the ummah on the Web.

We have known – for a long time – that the Internet has such side effects. Just looks at the number of creepy sites that value school shootings, anorexia, suicide and so on. Should these websites, as well as those by fundamentalist religious groups – Christians, Muslims and so on – be monitored? Does this infringe on the ultimate freedom of the Internet – where its true power for good lies?

the larger issue.

Some predict that it’s not just Yemen, but a whole new crescent of instability. If you have taken Middle Eastern Politics and Conflict with Professor Habib at Concordia University, does this sound familiar?

One thing most analysts do agree on, is the risk. Ginny Hill, who runs Chatham House’s Yemen Forum, believes future instability in Yemen could expand a lawless zone from northern Kenya, through Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, to Saudi Arabia. “People are worried about the transit of Islamist radicals, but the real story is arms. If you can find a way of tackling the arms trade you could improve governance in Yemen and reduce the potential for further conflict in Somalia. It also needs to be recognised that the Gulf of Aden itself is a vector for instability.” The Yemeni coastguards who intercepted dhow 11S2, stuffed with guns, would doubtless agree.

of mindset.

Not being cynical, a trend I am considering. Sort of,

No Obama doctrine yet exists. What the President has is a sophisticated theology, an anti-utopian belief that human imperfection is inevitable but progress is possible if human beings remain self-critical about what they can achieve. This is the theology of Reinhold Niebuhr, whom Obama has called “one of my favorite philosophers.” One evening in 2007, after leaving the Senate floor, Obama said of Niebuhr, to the Times’ David Brooks:

I take away the compelling idea that there’s serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn’t use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naïve idealism to bitter realism.

R2P

I just finished reading through Waxman’s report: Intervention to Stop Genocide and Mass Atrocities. Central to the paper is his concern that international law has been divorced from political will in the call for humanitarian intervention. He suggests that a greater consideration of international law can help build the political will for humanitarian intervention.

However, in the comments section on Opinio Juris, I find myself agreeing with the following:

Professor Waxman is wrong when he says that legal regimes constrain action. It is the political interests that are at fault here and no amount or reform is going to fix this.

Despite the optimistic belief that reformed international law – particularly the introduction of legalized humanitarian intervention through the Responsibility to Protect (which is not a legal document, but might influence a change in international law) – might give States support for intervention, and therefore increase political will, Opinio Juris makes another valid point.

The rise of new economic superpowers, might built on the advancement of their own interests, leads to an increasingly fractured international scene where competitiveness increases self-interest and therefore makes political will for any humanitarian intervention less likely, whether enshrined in international law or not. Fortunately, Waxman suggests that, regardless of Security Council approval or not, there is a moral grey-zone where humanitarian intervention can be justified and the US should seize the opportunity if necessar.

As an average concerned citizen, having the US act outside the legitimizing functions of the Security Council – as flawed and slow as it may be – seems terrifying. Did this not lead to the current mess the country is in abroad now? Granted, intervention in Kosovo outside the Security Council was merited and admirable.

In the end, enacting R2P seems like playing God(s): Western states get to decide in what cirucmstance they believe humanitarian intervention is warranted. Sometimes the situation are ambiguous – i.e. not a mass slaughter in Rwanda – and I fear that the West’s passion for instilling democracy and saving others from their lesser cultures might do more harm than good.

land as citizenship.

In Burundi, land is where the heart is. Over at African Arguments, we’re told that refugees returning home in droves want their citizenship recognized through land (probably on a psychological level and in retribution, i.e. making the government give back what it took).

In order to prevent creating the conditions for future violence, the government is having to grapple with meeting two somewhat competing demands: the fact that land is seen as a critical marker of identity and belonging, and that it is a dwindling resource for livelihoods in Burundi. On the one hand, therefore, systems for resolving disputes over competing claims for land need to be constructed in such a way as to acknowledge and, to the extent possible, address the serious human rights violations of the past. If they are not seen to be just, they risk sowing the seeds of further conflict. At the same time, there is a need to address factors that are imbuing land with such critical importance, and alternative forms of livelihood that are not dependent solely on land must be promoted.

I’m not sure what options exist. The above statement seems to describe the appropriate tensions necessary for conflict. No matter what, people are going to keep returning. No matter what, people will demand land. And no matter what, the government will not be able to compensate everyone. While one might suggest that other economic opportunities might be introduced, if land remains a marker of identity, this is not really an alternative. But, perhaps a few generations down the line.

New Technologies in Emergencies and Conflicts: The Role of Information and Social Networks

I just finished reading Vodafone Foundation and the UN Foundation’s report on “New Technologies in Emergencies and Conflicts: The Role of Information and Social Networks.“ I was going to write a long, cumbersome blog post on the contents, but I’d rather highlight a few things that stuck. Also, I would recommend reading the full report as it highlights the many interesting ICT applications used by both humanitarian actors and civil society.

First of all, it was clear throughout that the use of social networking and applications like Twitter and Facebook merits the attention of inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in pre, conflict and post-conflict situations. However, it was also emphasized that there needs to be a method to better “verify” information. During politically charged situations, anyone can harness the Internet/mobile waves to spread lies or hate messages. Apparently Ushahidi is developing an application called Swift River which will aggregate information from crowd sourcing and other sources such as media and check facts against each other leading to a stronger verification process. Read a more accurate and interesting description here.

Despite the amount of confusing and complex acronyms and tech-words, the report also made it clear that organizations need figure out how to “people-center” technology and make use of existing social networks. This requires an in-depth study of how information spreads and how technology is appropriated by communities in different stages of emergencies. Refinement to follow. Secondly, it’s necessary for the information to be bottom-up, instead of top-down. Civilian participation is crucial. Thirdly, organizations needs to standardize and implement emergency communications systems with this new information.

Otherwise, the report lists a series of programs that are being used in different stages of conflict. While all this is interesting, I think the report, despite finger-pointing, has also failed to analyze the broader social implications of technologies in conflict. If anyone can point me towards research that studies these process (let’s say, how a rural villager interprets and understands an application like Ushahidi), I would be most grateful.

All-women.

UN peacekeeping force, courtesy of Bangladesh. The first established in a Muslim majority country. The UN has been urging for more female peacekeepers because women bear the brunt of war and therefore should be involved in preventing and resolving conflict. My take is that women are not as likely to frequent brothels. However, I could be wrong.

afternoon links.

It’s increasingly hard to imagine Christmas in 20+ degrees. However, I have seen a Santa and Christmas lights. On another note, here’s some links for a hot afternoon.

1. Canada’s War in Iraq: of interest to Canadians, of course, and those who want to learn more about the real happenings behind our safe cover flag.

2. How to Fix Afghanistan With People: Clare was young when she went into Afghanistan. With some very bright ideas (which many would think obvious, but clearly most Americans can’t figure out). Including: give locals responsibility and keep huge multi-million dollar investment projects out. There’s no better way to build legitimacy (and re-build a nation) than to show that you have confidence in those who are interested in seeing their economic situations change through locally-generated development.