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• Aid performance could improve thanks to a newly launched geocoded global map outlining how much individual donors have given to which aid projects and where, highlighting aid gaps, imbalances and duplication.
• The UN is calling on all Member States that have not yet ratified the treaty banning nuclear testing to do so immediately. China, Korea (DPRK), Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the US still need to ratify before the pact can enter into force.

Africa

• The Somali government claims that ten anti-government fighters have been killed by their own bombs after the devices went off prematurely. Days later, at least 32 people were killed, including 6 MPs and five government officials, after men disguised as government soldiers attacked a hotel. Al Shabab declared a “massive war” on the African Union force on Monday, describing the 6,000 peacekeepers as “invaders” and killing at least 80 people.
• Rwandan authorities have arrested Lt. Col. Rugigana Ngabo, brother to Lt. Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa for “individual criminal liability”. Nyamwasa survived an assassination attempt two months ago in South Africa that was thought to be ordered by Rwandan authorities.
• A suicide bomb attempt at military barracks was foiled in Mauritania on Wednesday. The attack was attributed to Al-Qaeda.
• Concerns of an increasingly antagonistic political climate in Burundi threatens to dismantle the 10-year-old power sharing deal in the government. At least 3 opposition leaders have gone into hiding, after some 12 people were tortured in June and July. Grenade explosions have also been increasing recently, with over 100 in the past two months alone.
• The UN has dispatched an envoy to the DRC after a reported nearly 200 were systematically raped or sexually assaulted within a few short days in one eastern township and has announced plans to improve communications to prevent any such recurrence. It has been suggested that the UN was well aware of the rebel take-over of the area and should have done more to protect the victims. The FDLR, one of the groups accused of committing the atrocity outright denies the claims, saying they were in “no way involved” in the mass rapes reported.
• A new leaked UN report takes a new view on the Rwandan genocide, charging the invading troops for Rwanda of killing thousands of Hutus, including many civilians. Rwandan government reacted angrily, completing dismissing the report and attempted to pressure the UN not to publish their findings by threatening withdrawal of their support for international peacekeeping missions.

Asia

• Nine policemen were killed in Afghanistan on Friday in two separate incidents, five civilians were killed after a bomb explosion on Saturday, and another 8 police officers were killed on Thursday. At least 10 people working for a female candidate running in the upcoming parliamentary election have disappeared, and are assumed kidnapped. NATO took claim for killing three Afghan policemen in a “friendly fire” incident on Friday, while four US troops were killed on Sunday in fighting. Taliban fighters claimed to have attacked and burned 24 trucks carrying fuel and supplies to US troops in southern Afghanistan, which NATO subsequently denied, while NATO claimed to have killed some 40 Taliban insurgents this week in eastern Afghanistan. On Wednesday, an argument between an Afghan police trainee and his two Spanish trainers exploded, resulting in the death of all three, which was followed by an angry protest of several hundred villagers who stormed the compound. Dozens of students and teachers at an all girls’ school in Kabul were sickened by an unknown gas that spread through their classroom. Attacks on schoolgirls have happened in the past after the Taliban banned education for girls.
• Police imposed a ban on political campaigns in Dhaka, Bangladesh ahead of a protest called by the main opposition party in response to the cancellation of parole of the younger son of the party chief.
• At least 21 people were killed on Monday after two explosions rocked Pakistan in apparent suicide bomb attacks, a girls’ elementary school was blown up on Tuesday night and another 12 people killed in a US drone strike in the northwestern region. A released video showing two teenage brothers being beaten and then hanged to death in front of a large crowd resulted in the arrest of 10 people, including four police officers who looked on but did nothing to stop the attack.
• A former Philippine police captain held a tourist bus hostage for 11 hours on Monday. The stand-off ended in bloodshed,  with police killing the hijacker.
• Thai insurgents shot two dead and wounded at least 5 others in three separate attacks over the weekend and a grenade attack in central Bangkok on Friday seriously wounded a security guard. Anti-government (“red shirt”) protesters relaunched their rallies just days after authorities lifted a state of emergency, filling Thai jails with political prisoners.
• A cameraman for SUN TV on the Indonesian island of Maluku was hacked to death by a group of villagers trying to hide their clash with a neighbouring village. According to local sources, policemen at the scene did not to assist the man. Two other Indonesian journalists have died recently in suspicious circumstances.

North and Central Americas

• Mexican police found four decapitated and mutilated corpses hung from a bridge on Sunday, and on Tuesday marines found the bodies of 58 men and 14 women in a ranch in Tamaulipas state, the latest in the country’s escalating drug war. The government has purchased Israeli-made unmanned drone aircraft to spot remote drug fields in its fight on powerful cartels. An anonymous bomb threat at the headquarters of the Mexico City’s stock exchange on Monday turned out to be unfounded and another car bomb in Ciudad Victoria on Friday exploded outside of Televisa, a television studio.
• The body of the ninth journalist to be killed so far this year in Honduras was found on Tuesday. The 2009 coup d’etat has seen decreasing media freedom in the country.
• Fidel Castro made a claim that Osama bin Laden is on the CIA payroll and that President George Bush summoned him up whenever he needed to increase the fear for upcoming attacks or maneuvers.
• A groundbreaking decision by American courts ruled that international organizations are not immune from a lawsuit in the US. This could mean that organizations like the World Bank could possibly face legal battles on US soil. The Obama administration admitted that it has a less than perfect human rights record in its first-ever report to the UN Human Rights Council on conditions in the US. A Congress report sent to the Pentagon urged the creation of suicide prevention programs for military personnel. More than 1,100 members of the armed forces have committed suicide from 2005-9, which are not typically included in death tolls regarding the Iraq or Afghani wars.  Five American soldiers in Afghanistan are facing charges of conspiracy to commit premeditated murder, and murder after it was revealed that they had discussed how easy it would be to “toss a grenade” at Afghan civilians. A key aide to Afghani president Karzai at the centre of a corruption investigation has been reported to be on CIA payroll, in contradiction to the American policy forcing Afghanis to root out government corruption. Many other of Karzai’s administration are also said to be on CIA payroll.

South America

• A group of heavily armed men held 35 hostages for about 2 hours in a Rio de Janeiro hotel on Sunday. 10 suspects were arrested.
• A small explosion rocked the home of some Cuban doctors living in Venezuela on Friday after a grenade was detonated. No word yet on who caused the explosion or why.

Middle East

• Iran has announced its first domestically built, long-range, unmanned bomber aircraft, called the “ambassador of death” by Ahmadinejad. Reporters without borders condemned the closure of three newspapers and the arrest of a journalist in the government’s continual crackdown on the media. The government has also prohibited the media from mentioning opposition leaders in the news.
• The government of Yemen said it killed seven al-Qaeda’s fighters on Saturday only a day after 13 people, including 10 soldiers were killed in clashes at a market in southern Yemen. Nearly 80,000 people fled a city in southern Yemen after clashes between al-Qaeda and government forces killed dozens of people. The US is considering sending in CIA armed Predator drones to the fight.
• More than a dozen car bombs rocked Iraq on Wednesday killing dozens of people, and destroying a police station in the capital. On Thursday, a group of armed men attacked a village in Diyala province killing 8 members of the government backed Awakening Council (Sahwa) militia.
• Three people were killed in clashes in Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday after a shootout erupted between a Shia Hezbollah supporter and a Sunni al-Ahbash supporter. The personal fight escalated into a firefight, but both groups confirmed to set aside their differences and put an end to all armed presence on the street. The UN force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) handed over 39 vehicles to the Lebanese armed forces in an effort to boost their security along the southern Israeli border following the firefight earlier this month. They should also be able to get a boost in security from the arms that Iran is prepared to sell them, should they ask for help equipping their military.
• Tensions among the radical Palestinian factions in Gaza erupted on Wednesday following the detainment of four members of the rival Islamic Jihad.

Europe

• A deputy mayor was seriously wounded in an apparent assassination attempt on Monday in Daghestan, North Caucasus. Another two people were killed after a suicide attack exploded in a car. At least 4 people died in violence in Ingushetia, after rebels opened fire at a police checkpoint. Another five people were killed by Russian security forces in Daghestan on Wednesday.
• Georgia has accused Russia of deploying its newly acquired S-300 air defense missiles in South Ossetia in an effort to fence of the strategic South Caucasus. Russia has denied such claims. Georgian officials have come under fire from human rights groups over the forced eviction of hundreds of displaced people from state-owned buildings that it hopes to privatize.
• Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has made peace with his longtime rival Isa Yamadayev, in a deal seen as a product of Russian pressure.
• Bosnian police have arrested Dragan Neskovic, a former Bosnian Serb police officer suspected of taking part in the Srebrenica massacre. Twelve have so far been jailed, seven acquitted and eleven more are still being tried for their role in the 1995 massacre.
• A UN panel criticized France for its crackdown on the Roma population and urged them to avoid collective deportations. Earlier this month the government had expelled nearly 300 Roma to Romania.

• The New Economics Foundation found that the earth is using up resources faster than ever. The study monitors nature’s capital and concluded that this year the earth was using up its own natural resources to support itself a full month earlier than in the previous year.
• August 19th was World Humanitarian Day. The once respected profession that aids those affected by war, natural disasters, sickness and malnutrition, is now facing increasing attacks in the field. The world thanks you for your tireless sacrifices!
• A cheap and effective filtering device developed in South Africa could provide safe drinking water for millions of people around the world. Commercial production of the tea bag like device could begin as early as this year.
• A Thai court has ordered the extradition of Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout, the “Merchant of Death”, to America to face charges of supplying weapons to terrorist groups. Viktor Bout, who was the inspiration for the movie “Lord of War”, is said to have fueled civil wars in South America, the Middle East and Africa.

Africa

• Clashes between Somalia’s Puntland forces and militants led to the death of 9 people and a Somali journalist received a six year jail sentence for interviewing warlords there. South Africa is looking into the possibility of deploying troops to the war torn country following an African Union request. Another 9 people were killed and at least 53 others were wounded following renewed fighting in the capital on Monday. Most of the dead and injured came from a nearby displacement camp. Kenya has also complained of increased cross-border raids of hardline Somalian Islamists in the northern part of their country.
• Jailed Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire has called on the international community to reject the recent Rwandan election, saying that “endorsing the results of this masquerade would be to reward violence as a means to access and maintain power in Rwanda”.  Graphic pictures of a beheaded opposition leader have been released. The US, a long-time supporter of Kagame, expressed concern over the “disturbing events” which surrounded the election but neglected to take any further actions. In good news, many FDLR militia members have volunteered to put down their arms and return home in a repatriation program.
• UN humanitarian chief John Holmes urged Sudanese authorities to allow humanitarian aid workers into the Kalma camp in Darfur, home to approximately 50,000 refugees, only to instead have five UN and ICRC workers expelled from the country days later for failing to respect Sudan’s authority and two more abducted by armed men and later set free. Aid agencies have been bared from the camp since August 2nd in a stand-off between international peacekeepers and the Sudanese government. Sudan’s electoral body has announced that the independence referendum vote for next January might be delayed. Voter registration problems and escalating tensions are cited as the reasons for the stall.
• Ethiopian troops clashed with Somalis on Tuesday morning in an Ethiopian controlled area of Somalia. The Ethiopian troops are said to have opened fire on Somali civilians, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 people.
• Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina signed a deal with dozens of minor parties in Madagascar aimed at ending political crisis, however the main opposition leaders rejected the deal. Rajoelina took the country through coup nineteen months ago.
• A new wave of violence erupted in Chimanimani in Zimbabwe on Sunday after ZANU PF militias attacked MDC activists.
• Ugandan President Museveni’s son along with the commander of the elite Special Forces Lt. Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba have been accused of leading the Ugandan army to a massacre of approximately a dozen people in Karamoja, while many more were branded, abused or tortured.
• The Shell Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria has claimed 3  sabotage attacks on its pipelines so far in August, causing increasing spills in the region. The company has less than an attractive environmental record in the region with oil spill quantities that exceed that of the Exxon Valdez disaster on a yearly basis for the past 40 years. Shell is currently facing charges at court in the Hague over spills in Nigeria.
• Six children under the age of two have recently been reported raped or sexually molested in the Lubumbashi region of the DR Congo as part of black magic rituals aimed at increasing fortune. Many believe that fetishists (witch doctors) in the region have been encouraging this practice for some time, but that it is only now emerging because authorities are stepping up their efforts to protect women from sexual violence. Three Indian UN peacekeepers were killed in a surprise attack at their base in the DRC by 50 fighters armed with machetes, spears and traditional weapons on Wednesday. Three people were killed on Tuesday night after clashes between Rwandan FDLR, Mai Mai Cheka and some Mubi persons and at least 150 women are believed to have been targeted for mass sexual violence in a remote village in the east.
• The youth leader of the Union for Peace and Development was arrested and tortured by Burundi intelligence after being accused of being a security threat to the state in the run-up to the recent election. At least 200 member of opposition parties have been arrested, tortured or threatened in the country according to human rights organizations. There have also been several recorded political murders and disappearances of opposition members, and many are simply in hiding or exile.  The legislature is now dominated 95% by the presidential party, the CNDD-FDD. The last areas suspected to be contaminated by landmines or unexploded ordnance in north-west Burundi will be surveyed thanks to funding from the Swiss government.
• Insecurity in the Niger regions led to the evacuation of Western staff of several aid groups. This evacuation comes days after the World Food Programme had launched its operations to feed nearly a quarter million children.
• The Central African Republic pledged that it would arrest Ugandan rebel Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA. Kony has been charged with war crimes but has evaded prosecution and capture since 2008.
• More than a million South African state workers have gone on an indefinite strike. Police responded to the protesters by firing rubber bullets and water canons in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

Asia

• NATO has claimed that more than 20 Islamic militants were killed their fire this week, as they ramp up operations in southeastern Afghanistan.  They have also claimed to find and release 27 men from a Taliban prison in Helmand province.  Security concerns have caused the Afghan government to decide not to open more than 900 polling stations during next month’s parliamentary elections, affecting nearly 15% of the country’s polling stations. The Taliban fighters are said to be “spreading like brush fire” into the remote and defenseless northern parts of Afghanistan, but an air strike led by NATO forces has slowed that spread slightly by killing one al Qaeda leader there on Monday. The spread of the Taliban in the north may have been eased by their apparently more just court systems. NATO will have to continue their operations without the help of private security firms, as Hamid Karzai ordered all such firms dissolved over the next four months. On Monday, a insurgent IED strike killed a child and wounded 3 others in Kunduz province. On Wednesday, hundreds of villagers blocked an eastern highway to protest a night raid by NATO and Afghan soldiers that left 2 people dead. More than 2,000 foreign troops have died since the start of the war in 2001, but alas, new found oil deposits totaling 1.8 billion barrels on top of the $1 trillion dollars of newly discovered resources should give them the incentive to continue fighting.
• The US is concerned over China’s extending military reach. The Chinese are said to have increased their military spending by roughly 7.5% from the previous year. A electric three-wheeled vehicle exploded in the Xinjiang region on Thursday killing 7 people.
• Gunmen have shot dead at least 10 people in southwest Pakistan after an attack on a passenger bus. The Pakistani president is concerned that recent flooding in the region could encourage armed groups to gain new recruits by taking advantage of the chaos and misery.
• Kashmiri residents have been again subject to curfew imposed by the Indian government and thousands of police officers, only 3 days after the original curfew was lifted. At least two people were killed on Friday after police opened fire again into protesters. At least 61people have been killed in protests in the past two months.
• Three people were killed in south Thailand in attacks blamed on Muslim separatists. More than 4,000 people have been killed in the last six years in the border region.
• Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey announced that it would begin a ceasefire against Turkish forces on September 20th conditional on Turkey stopping its military operations, releasing 1,700 political detainees and starting a peace process. Turkey has rejected the PKK’s previous unilateral ceasefire declarations.
• The US warned Turkey that it has little chance of obtaining the weapons it wants without major policy changes, although this was later denied by US officials. This comes after Turkey voted against fresh UN sanctions on Iran and concerns that weapons could wind up in Iranian hands.
• Human Rights Watch has concluded that the government of Kyrgyzstan played a role in facilitating the violent attacks against ethnic Uzbeks this past June, after a lengthy investigation. At least 400 people were killed as attacks against Uzbeks left several neighbourhoods burned to the ground.
• Cambodia’s PM has decided that multinational corporations and other local enterprises will now be able to hire out the country’s royal armed forces, in a “sponsorship” program in return for guarding of “large-scale private land concessions” or to “evict the rural poor for business developments”.
• The US and South Korea began their war drills amid North Korean threats of counter measures on Monday. The drills will last 11 days and are the largest joint exercise between the Americans and South Koreans.
• Indonesia’s president has spoken out for religious tolerance amid calls for him to act against extremists regularly attacking minorities in the country. Violence has been rising in the country between the 80% Muslim population and a minority Christian population.
• At least 2 people were killed in northern India on Saturday after clashes over poor government compensation for land erupted between police and farmers. Police are said to have opened fire on the protesters after they were attacked with stones.
• Azerbaijan refused to allow a NATO plane carrying Armenian soldiers from Afghanistan to fly over its territory. This is the second time the country has refused such an action.
• Eleven police officers in the Philippines have been relieved of duty after the release of video footage showing the apparent torture of a naked detainee, said to have later died in the hands of the police.
• Five countries, including the US, are now backing a Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.

Middle East

• A Yemeni intelligence officer was gunned down by two men suspected to be linked to al Qaeda late Friday evening. Another five policemen were seriously injured when an attacker on a motorbike threw a grenade at them. Al Qaeda appears to now be targeting government forces instead of high-impact strikes against Western and Saudi targets.
• Al Qadea is warning its supporters and sympathizers to prepare for a new war which it says it will pit Israel against Iran.
• A tv mini-series was canceled from Lebanese television stations this week for fear of stirring up sectarian violence. The program described Jesus from an Islamic point of view, upsetting Christians. They also announced that they had set up a special account to receive donations towards supplying their country’s ill-equipped army with new weapons for defense against Israeli attack and began the process to approve the ratification of the cluster munitions treaty. Following the violence earlier this month, Israel and Lebanon have voiced interest in accelerating the process of marking the Blue Line between their two countries.
• Two mortal bombs sent from the Gaza Strip into Israel injured two soldiers. Hamas claims that they bombed after six Israeli tanks crossed into the territory with one firing a shell at a home. In retaliation, Israel carried out air strikes against the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Israel has approved the purchase of 20 US built radar-evading stealth fighters in a deal worth $2.75 billion dollars which are expected to be delivered between 2015-2017.
• Gunmen in Baghdad killed 4 policemen in shootings, burning two of the bodies in public. Attacks have escalated during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with 19 deaths from Saturday to Sunday alone, five deaths from a car bomb on Monday and another 57 or so on Tuesday after a bomber blew himself up at an army recruitment centre. The latest death tolls for Iraq are as follows: United States 4,415; Britain 179; Other nations 139; Iraqis military between 4,900 and 6,375; Iraqis civilians between 97,106 and 106,071. Sadly, it appears civilians have taken the brunt of the military intervention in the country. Hopefully, that will change as the last US combat brigade has now left Iraq as part of President Obama’s pledge to end combat operations in the country. Sadly, it appears that the withdrawal of troops will only double the number of private security contractors.
• Clashes between Shi’ite villages and government forces in Bahrain resulted in several arrests on Saturday and Sunday. Shi’ites are protesting for a larger role in governing the Sunni Muslim-led state.

Europe

• A bomb threat saw thousands of people evacuated from the shrine at Lourdes in southern France on Sunday. The threat was later determined “unfounded”. French authorities began deporting hundreds of Roma to Romania and Bulgaria in a move that many feel could spark further racism and discrimination against a vulnerable communty.
• A suicide bomber in North Ossetia killed one police officer and injured three others on Tuesday.
• Russia reportedly plans to sell two of its S-300 Favorit air-defense systems in Azerbaijan to be used to protect energy extraction projects and pipeline networks. The Russian government has also agreed to extend their lease of a military base in the South Caucasus to Armenia and assist them in updating their military hardware.
• Belarusian media has experienced increasing harassment in the lead-up to the upcoming spring presidential election. One media outlet may be shut for suggesting that the President was involved in the disappearances of several political opponents.
• Serbia is looking to renew negotiations over the future of Kosovo with the UN, after last month’s decision that the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo was within international law.
• Israel and Greece are seeking to expand their military ties including sharing military know-how and holding joint war games.
• A well-known activist journalist in the Ukraine has disappeared. Vasyl Klymentyyev frequently spoke out in criticism against the authorities, who critics claim have been increasingly oppressive of the media.

North and Central Americas

• At least 19 suspected drug gang members have been arrested in a series of raids across Mexico this week. A mayor was kidnapped, only to later be confirmed dead and at least a dozen people killed. Escalating drug violence has killed thousands in recent months and stunted tourism, commerce and investment. Mexican government ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to adopt children in Mexico City, by a vote of 9-2. This comes after last week’s ruling that the country recognize same-sex marriage.
• The west end of Kingston, Jamaica was put under new curfews after 10 people were killed in gang violence in a shootout with police. The drug trade has fueled one of the world’s highest murder rates with 1,660 homicides last year for a population of just 2.8 million people.

South America

• Indigenous inhabitants in Rapa Nui (otherwise known as Easter Island) are protesting the Chilean government, who claimed the island as their own province in 1888, over suspected land deals that are using ancestral land to build state buildings. Police have been sent with authorization of force against the peaceful, unarmed protesters, but have so far remained as observers.
• Colombia’s air force bombed a rebel camp on Wednesday that killed seven guerrillas from the National Liberation Army (ELN).
• Luiz Antonio de Mendonca, a top election official survived an assassination attempt on Wednesday. Violence is relatively rare in Brazillian elections.

SHONA is a grassroots cooperative. There is no outside funding or support. There are no overhead costs, because there are no paid staff, no offices and no middle men to pay for. Each craftsperson essentially operates their own business—and receives 100% of the profit from their own labour. It is about empowerment, sustainability and independence in a region where war has claimed many victims. The craftspeople of SHONA refuse to be victims. They will create their own futures with their own hands, and they will pass on their skills by teaching others as they can.

The story of Argentine, a young craftswoman at SHONA speaks volumes of how a little bit of hope can change a person and bring them inner peace. Argentine grew up unable to walk in the heart of war in Eastern Congo. When the fighting began, Argentine’s mother used to carry her on her back into the woods and hide her in a hole until the fighting subsided, sometimes for months at a time. Today, Argentine supports herself and helps to support her family with her own hands. She said of her time at SHONA, “before I never used to dream. Other people would dream of having a house, or land, but not me. I just hoped that someday something would be better. But now it is different. Now I dream.”

Their motto stands tall:

Each item we sew is our claim to a better world.

A world where we are seen

Not only for the challenges we face

But for the beauty we create.

Think Big

Buy Small

Support a Better World

]]> http://apeaceofconflict.com/2010/08/19/peaceful-hope-the-story-of-shona-cooperative/feed/ 0 apeaceofconflict http://apeaceofconflict.com/2010/08/14/this-week-in-conflict-3/ http://apeaceofconflict.com/2010/08/14/this-week-in-conflict-3/#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:02:41 +0000 apeaceofconflict http://apeaceofconflict.com/?p=5759 ]]> This week in conflict…

World

• The world’s twenty richest nations will be footing an $83 million (USD) bill for three new man-made “floating islands” in Seoul for the upcoming G20. The November meetings will be assisted by apparently more than 400,000 police.

Africa

• Rwanda’s election process saw President Paul Kagame win again by a landslide amid a climate of repression. Opposition candidates were arrested and media silenced in advance of the elections. Kagame is said to have won 93% of the votes, and even as much as 100% of the votes in some districts. His team began celebrating the victory before the polls had even closed. Two days later Kigali was struck by a grenade attack that injured at least 20 people.
• The Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir has warned the UN mission and aid missions in Darfur that they will face expulsion if they do not support his government authorities. On Wednesday, gunmen killed 23 people, including police officers in an ambush on a truck in the south. On Wednesday, an exchange of gunfire at a refugee camp in western Darfur was reported, though it was not clear who fired the shots.
• Government forces in Puntland, Somalia have made two military offensives against allies of the Shabab militant group killing at least 21. The UN warns that the long-running conflict in Somalia is spreading beyond its borders and becoming increasingly concerning.
• 2,000 illegal miners stormed a mining site in the DR Congo burning trucks and stealing copper from Tenke Fungurume mine. 32 have been arrested.
• The Central African Republic pleaded for the UN Security Council for help just as the mandate for the UN peacekeeping mission MINURCAT is coming to an end. Concerns of rebellion, banditry and inter-ethnic conflict still loom.
• The Lord’s Resistance Army has abducted at least 697 people, nearly one third of who are children, in central Africa in the last 18 months according to a human rights group investigation despite previous assurance from the government of the DRC that the LRA has been decreasing its violence. At least 255 of those abducted were killed, often by crushing their skulls with clubs. Up to 74,000 people have been forced to flee the situation in the CAR and Congo.

Asia

• North Korean soccer coach Kim Jong-hun has apparently been fired, ridiculed, expelled from the Worker’s Party, forced to work as a construction laborer and will possibly be executed after his team’s World Cup loss. The North Korean team is said to have faced reprimand and ridicule in front of a large audience of party officials upon their return. FIFA has decided to investigate these claims.
• North Korea fired 110 artillery rounds at waters near a disputed western sea border on Monday, escalating tensions between North and South Korea. South Korea has responded by saying that any North Korean shells found falling south of the border line would be considered an attack and responded to in kind. North Korea seized a South Korean fishing boat from the Sea of Japan claiming that it had intruded into their exclusive economic zone. Maybe 13-year-old Jonathan Lee’s proposal to Kim Jong-Il of a “children’s peace forest” in the demilitarized zone can create some calm in the region.
• Thousands have been displaced in rebel infighting in the Philippines. In response, the army fired artillery rounds and rockets to separate warring rebel factions, in breach of the year long ceasefire.
• Two suicide bombers killed up to five Afghans in an attack on a residential area in Kabul on Tuesday. This comes only days after a report by the UN that the number of civilians killed or wounded has soared by 31% in the first six months of this year. A crowd of about 300 Afghani villagers yelled “Death to the United States” while blocking a main road in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday as a reprisal for what they call the murder of three innocent villagers by the US forces. On Thursday at least 20 insurgents were killed in Paktia, not far from the Pakistan border and on Friday, 3 international coalition service members were killed in the south Helmand province. A problem of nearly 500 former militants rejoining the insurgency after officials failed to deliver on their aid and amnesty promises has the Afghan government scrambling.
• At least 50 protesters have been injured in Bangladesh during clashes with police on Thursday. The protest was said to have been sparked by an ongoing electricity shortage.
• British and US troops will train with Kazakh forces in mock peacekeeping operations for the next 10 days in an attempt to strengthen links between the three counties on Central Asian soil.
• India announced the development of a new Agni-II intermediate-range nuclear missile in attempt to demonstrate that it is a credible nuclear threat against Pakistan and poised as a great power in the world. The Agni-II has a range of approximate 3,000 km.
• Four people were killed and 10 wounded on Friday in Kashmir as police again fired into thousands of demonstrators over the past two months during anti-India protests.
• Myanmar (Burma) has set its first general election in two decades for November 7 of this year. Western countries are calling the election a sham for the current leaders to increase their power.
• The Sri Lankan military court has convicted its former military chief, Sarath Foneska of meddling in politics while in uniform, resulting in a dishonourable discharge. These charges fall short of accountability for what the UN, the US and many rights groups have considered possible war crimes.

Middle East

• Israeli authorities have been charged with using “unnecessary force” to demolish homes of Bedouins in the southern Negev desert. Residents immediately began to rebuild all the structures as soon as police and construction crews left the village.
• Iran has begun digging mass graves in which to bury American troops in case of attack on the country. This show of force comes in response to America’s contingency plan to attack Iran in case of nuclear development. According to popular American magazine, “The Atlantic”, they have a 50% chance of being bombed by Israel over the next year. The US administration has also said that it is planning to sell as many as 209 of the latest Patriot interceptor missiles to Kuwait to bolster its defenses against Iran. The interceptors are valued at upwards of $900 million.
• The Gaza Strip’s only power station has been shut down due to a fuel dispute between Hama, the Palestinian Authority and Israel. It is the third time the plant has been shut down since January.
• Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah showed evidence of Israel’s involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese PM Hariri in a two-hour long television appearance on Monday. Israel dismissed the allegations. According to Nasrallah, a UN court probing the assassination is planning to charge Hezbollah members with the killing, a move which could bring civil violence once again to Lebanon. Nasrallah criticized the investigation of being biased, saying it “does not look into the possibility that Israel is implicated”. The court has since asked Nasrallah for copies of his evidence.
• A series of deadly explosions have killed many in Iraq this week. At least four people were killed in Baghdad, at least 8 in Ramadi, 8 soldiers in Baquba, 11 people in Sadiya and at least 20 in Basra.

North America

• More than 1,000 Mexican journalists marched through the capital to protest the killing and disappearance of their colleagues in the escalating drug violence that is increasingly targeting reporters.
• The confessions of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen charged with terrorism, can be used as evidence at his trial even though they may have been obtained through torture. Khadr stands to be the first child soldier to be prosecuted for war crimes in modern history, as under international law, children captured in war are to be treated as victims and not perpetrators. His trial, which was to start this week, was delayed for the next 30 days after his lawyer collapsed from illness in the courtroom and had to be medevaced out of Guantanamo Bay.
• The US appeals court has upheld a ruling that blocks Massachusetts schools from using literature that denies the mass killing of Armenians in Turkey in 1915 was a genocide.

South America

• Colombia has sworn in a new president who has vowed that he is willing to hold talks with leaders of Farc, the country’s rebel group and reconstruct relations with Venezuela and Ecuador.
• A suspected car bomb exploded in Bogota injuring four people on Thursday.
• Suriname swore in its “new” president Desi Bouterse on Thursday. Bouterse, who was previously in power following a 1980 coup, ruled the country from 1980-7 and 1990-1. He was accused of violating fundamental human rights and the murders of 5 journalists during his time as dictator.
• Peru’s indigenous leader Alberto Pizango, who the government accuses of starting an Amazonian uprising that killed 33 people, is considering running for president next year.
• The families of 32 Mapuche prisoners have been on a month-long hunger strike in southern Chile over trial irregularities for the twenty self-declared political prisoners imprisoned over land conflicts.

Europe

• All of the major European countries are planning mass expulsions of Roma populations and demolitions of Roma settlements. Even though they are European citizens, the Roma are now threatened with expulsion, in breach of the EU basic right to free movement. Some rights group worry that such an action is tantamount to the criminalization of an entire ethnic group.
• Three Turkish soldiers were killed in an explosion in southeastern Turkey on Sunday. On Monday Turkish soldiers killed 5 Kurdish militants in a firefight after discovering guerrillas laying mines and on Tuesday another 2 people were killed after a pipeline was blown up by Kurdish militants.
• Russia has deployed an S-300 air defense missile system over the territory of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia complained of the strengthening military control over these territories that it insists are still an integral part of Georgian territory.
• North Caucasus rebel groups have begun to split ranks after the contradictory statements of resignation of leader Doku Umarov last week. Chechen field commanders have announced that they are rescinding their oath of loyalty.
• Four former Bosnian Serb army soldiers have been charged with genocide for crimes committed during the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. The four are said to have assisted in the deaths of at least 800 people.

World

• The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative has recently launched its Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), a new way to measure poverty in the world. The MPI expands on the previous Human Development Index (HDI) and includes 10 indicators of health (child mortality and nutrition), education (years of schooling and child enrollment) and standard of living (access to electricity, drinking water, sanitation, flooring, cooking fuel and basic assets like a radio or bicycle).
• The UN is set to transform the way it deploys peacekeeping missions around the world to ensure field operations have the support they need and to improve efficiency and effectiveness of services.

North America

• The Federal Court of Canada has ruled that the Canadian Security and Intelligence System cannot rely on evidence obtained through torture. Hopefully this will have an impact on the practices of CSIS and the RCMP.
• Wyclef Jean from singing group the Fugees has taken legal steps towards running for President in Haiti. Many analysts predict that Jean could easily win the election due to his overwhelming popularity, particularly amongst young people.
• The US has acknowledged plans to attack Iran if needed to prevent it from getting nuclear weapons.
• An annual review process by the Office of the US trade Representative has placed several countries on a “priority watch list” for failure to properly enforce intellectual property rights, specifically in regards to pharmaceutical property. This process puts the manufacture of generic AIDs anti-retro-viral treatments at severe risk, which many NGOs have complained is in violation of the international right to health.
• A military lawyer is seeking to halt the trial of Omar Khadr, held in Guantanamo Bay since 2002. Khadr was just 15 when captured. His lawyer contends that the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals are unconstitutional because it created a second-class court system that applies only to non-US citizens. Khadr’s trial is to begin August 10.
• More than 30 US billionaires pledged to give away at least 50% of their wealth to charity as part of a campaign by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. The Giving Pledge campaign does not accept any money, but merely asks the billionaires to make a moral commitment to give their wealth away to charity.
• California’s gay marriage ban was overturned by a federal judge on Wednesday in a landmark case that could eventually force the US Supreme Court to confront the question of whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed. Sadly, the right has taking to calling into question the bias of the judge who has been reported as himself homosexual. They are expected to appeal the ruling.
• In a similar move, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a law allowing same-sex marriages in Mexico City is constitutional. A car bomb exploded outside a police station in northern Mexico on Thursday, thought to be related to drug gang ambushes. There were no reported injuries.

South America

• Colombia’s president Alvaro Uribe denied plans to launch a military attack on neighbouring Venezuela. Recent tensions were sparked by Colombia’s claims that Venezuela was harbouring nearly 1,500 Colombian rebels.
• At least one farmer died in Peru on Tuesday when police cleared a protest roadblock set by coca growers. The government is making efforts to eradicate the coca plantations, which are used to make cocaine. Other protests later in the week saw hundreds of Peruvians sabotaging facilities at a foreign-owned gas pipeline and threatening to take more radical measures.
• In a groundbreaking pact, the Ecuadorean government agreed to UNDP’s proposal to refrain from tapping three major oilfields in the Amazon jungle for at least a decade in exchange for a economic partnership to invest in other resources.
• Violent protests in Bolivia came after the government enacted a new customs law that would punish those who smuggle goods with the same severity as drug traffickers. Another wave of protests in Potosi over regional border disputes over limestone deposits stranded hundreds of foreign tourists. The mining city’s residents went on a general strike for more government investment in their region.

Middle East

• A suicide bomb attack in Yemen wounded 8 soldiers on Tuesday after an attack on security forces. Al Qaeda has been held as the main suspect of the bombing. The country’s Shi’ite rebels released 100 soldiers and pro-government tribesmen captured in last month’s clashes, a second move towards cementing a fragile truce in the north of the country. Three soldiers were killed at a checkpoint on Thursday in a suspected al Qaeda attack.
• A gunmen killed five police officers at a Baghdad checkpoint on Tuesday. The attacks took place just after mortar rounds had hit the area. A roadside bomb and then a car bomb killed 12 people and wounded at least 55 in a busy commercial area of Kut.
• Israel launched a series of air attacks against the Gaza Strip injuring many Palestinians, which they say was in response to a rocket that hit the city of Ashkelon on Friday. Another rocket, possibly coming from Egypt, slammed into a Jordanian Red Sea resort on Monday. It was thought that the rocket was supposed to hit a nearby Israeli resort but went astray. Another explosion, meant to kill the senior Hamas commander in the Gaza Strip on Monday, instead wounded at least 31 people. At least five rockets were fired at the southern Israeli city of Eilat in response. On Wednesday Israeli shellfire killed a Palestinian militant and wounded another on the Gaza strip in an attempt to stop a group of Palestinians who Israel claims had approached the Gaza border fence.
• Fighting erupted at the Lebanese-Israeli border on Tuesday between the Lebanese and Israeli armies. An Israeli patrol was said by the Lebanese to cross the border unannounced in order to remove a tree that was blocking their visibility, wherein, the Lebanese army began firing rocket propelled grenades. In response, the Israelis fired two missiles at a Lebanese army post killing at least 4 people. Israel claimed they were fired upon while engaged in “routine activity” and threatened retaliations against Lebanon should violations continue.

Asia

• Recent floods in the Koreas have led land mines from North Korea to wash ashore on South Korean riverbanks, and beaches, causing at least one death.
• Government troops fired into crowds of protesters demonstrating against round-the-clock curfews early this week in Indian-administered Kashmir, resulting in the death of at least 4 people. Violence has been escalating in recent weeks, with as many as 47 protesters killed in the last week.
• At least 80 people have been injured during textile workers protests in Bangladesh this week, demanding an increase of their minimum wage (currently around $24 a month) to a livable salary. The workers make clothing for international brands like Marks & Spencer, JCPenney, Wal-Mart and H&M.
• Afghanis rioted in Kabul setting fire to two US embassy vehicles after NATO SUVs collided with a civilian car killing a number of passengers. A suicide car bomber killed at least 5 children in the southern Kandahar province on Monday and more suicide bombers attacked an air base in Kandahar on Tuesday. A deadly attack on an Afghan-NATO convoy resulted in the deaths of at least 7 police officers. July was hailed as the deadliest month for American forces with a death toll of 66. The Dutch mission in Afghanistan has officially ended and their withdrawal has begun.
• Nepal’s parliament failed to elect a new Prime Minister on Monday for the third time in less than two weeks, further delaying a peace process that ended a decade-long civil war.
• Four people were killed in Turkey Monday night after Kurdish separatists attacked a police station with a rocket launcher and automatic weapons. Violence has been said to be increasing on military targets, with nearly 100 soldiers dead since calling off a unilateral ceasefire at the start of June.
• At least 70  people were killed in Karachi, Pakistan by violent mobs this week following the assassination of a member of the provincial Sindh Assembly from the Muttahida Quami Movement. A suicide bomber killed a police officer in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, and wounded at least 4 other people; and at least six people were wounded after a grenade was hurled at a mosque during prayers later that evening.
• Another school attack in a kindergarten in China has led to the deaths of at least 4 people; one teacher and 3 children. This is the sixth in a string of school assaults this year. In an attempt to reduce crime, the poor in Beijing are being locked inside their neighbourhoods at night. Officials call the project “sealed management”.
• China is said to be developing an unprecedented carrier-killing missile called the Dong Feng 21D that could be launched from land with enough accuracy to penetrate the defenses of even the most advanced moving aircraft carrier at a distance of more than 1,500 km.
• A battle between Indian police and Maoist fighters flared on Wednesday when a police patrol was ambushed in the central state of Chhattisgarh. No word on on the number of casualties has yet been released.
• The controversial death of Papuan activist Yawan Wayeni was broadcast over the internet, sparking outrage in Jakarta. Police officers taunted him as he lay dying from wounds they had inflicted upon him. The original story surrounding the death of Wayeni, who was killed almost a year ago, suggested that he had been shot while resisting arrest and died on the way to the hospital. Video shows that he was tied to a log and forced to chant before his abdomen was sliced with a bayonet.
• South Korea has begun naval drills of its western coast. North Korea warned that it will counter any reckless naval firing with strong physical retaliation.
• Two people died in a bombing at an airport in the Philippines on Thursday. 24 people were injured.
• Around 1,000 demonstrators were prevented from entering Bishkek to attend a rally in the capital on Thursday and another 3,000 demonstrators are said to have amassed near parliament. National Security Services said that the demonstrators planned to demand the installation of a local politician in a position of power or else seize power themselves. Later, the Kyrgyz authorities arrested opposition leader Urmat Baryktabasov and more than 20 of his supporters on suspicion of a coup plot.

Africa

• The UN extended its mission in Darfur, Sudan for another year on Friday until July 2011, while the government of Sudan responded by saying it will now monitor travel by UN/African Union peacekeepers. The South Sudan army (SPLA) recovered about 30,000 unauthorized weapons in the semi-autonomous regions. South Darfur’s government called on the peacekeepers to hand over six Darfuris, supposedly responsible  for inciting last week’s violence in a refugee camp, who are sheltered in the UNAMID peacekeeping base.  The government then denied all aid agencies access to Darfur’s Kalma camp on Friday.  Stalled talks between Sudan’s rival northern and southern halves over the disputed oil-producing Abyei region could trigger new conflict in the region. Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) decided to suspend its medical care to the most violent region of Sudan after experiencing three separate attacks on its staff. Cattle raids killed at least 21 people on Wednesday in southern Sudan and in a separate incident, the LRA was accused of ambushing a truck.
• The UN reported that almost 90,000 people have been displaced following recent military operations in the DR Congo, with at least 6 civilian deaths. Fighting occurred in the Beni territory of North Kivu between the national army and the Ugandan rebel group ADF-NALU.
• Presidential and legislative elections in the Central African Republic have been postponed for a third time until January 23.
• Kenya has approved a new legal framework to replace its old constitution which has been in use since independence from British colonial rule in 1963. Ushahidi software was used to track irregularities.
• The European Union (EU) has decided not to extend its security forces reform mission in Guinea-Bissau when its mandate expires on September 30. Failure to respect the rule of law in the country since the April army mutiny has been cited as the reason.
• The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) found a former administrator guilty of genocide on Tuesday, for transporting soldiers to kill thousands of people he had promised to feed and protect during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. Dominique Ntawukilyayo was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
• Rising vigilante violence in South Africa saw the death of at least five suspects this week. Police services say that nearly 5% of the nearly 50 homicides a day are the result of vigilantism.

Europe

• Lobby group Global Witness intends to sue the British government for failing to refer its companies and citizens who are violating United Nations resolutions on Congolese conflict minerals to a UN sanctions committee.
• A new security law signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev restores Soviet-era powers to the Federal Security Service (the KGB’s main successor agency), allowing Russians to face jail time for crimes they have not yet committed in an effort to combat extremism and terrorist attacks.
• Russia’s most wanted rebel decided to step down as leader of the Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus due to health reasons, but then later denies quitting calling the previous video a falsification. Analysts are expecting the decision to contribute to increased violence in the area.
• Videos of French police violently dragging women and babies out of their homes after being evicted made waves in France. Many of those evicted are now reported to be living on the streets.
• Drug users and doctors legally prescribing substitution drugs to addicts, in an attempt to battle the growing HIV epidemic, are facing illegal police intimidation and imprisonment in the Ukraine. The country as also announced that they plan to close their top HIV/AIDs treatment centre this month.

Here’s some of what’s happening in the world of conflict this week:

World

• The UN General Assembly voted to recognize the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation in a landmark victory with 122 “for”, 0 “against”, and 41 countries abstaining from the vote. How they will work to guarantee this right is yet to be seen.
• The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which completely prohibits the use, production and trade of cluster munitions, is to become binding in international law as of August 1, 2010. So far 107 governments have signed the convention, with only 37 ratifying. The law calls for all cluster munitions to be cleared within ten years, all stockpiles to be destroyed within eight years and assistance and compensation given to those affected. Brazil, China, India, Israel, Pakistan, South Korea, Russia, and the United States have yet to adopt the convention.

Asia

• The first conviction against one of the lead perpetrators of mass murder under the Khmer Rouge saw ‘Comrade Duch’ sentenced to 35 years in prison. It is said that Duch will file an appeal on the ruling.
• The notorious website Wikileaks posted 92,000 classified US military reports regarding the Afghan war. News that the Taliban has been using portable heat-seeking missiles against the US and NATO aircraft (previously undisclosed), and of tax dollars funding the bribery of protection rackets in the narcotics-trafficking industry were mostly underplayed by main-stream media who touted it as suspected “old news”. The US has vowed to track down the person responsible for the leak with full force as confidence in the war wanes across the US, the EU and other allied countries. The killing of at least another 45 innocent civilians in a rocket attack led by the NATO forces this week only serves to worsen the mission’s already poor image.
• Five men were shot and killed in a series of insurgency attacks with government security forces in southern Thailand on Wednesday. The violence is said to often target Buddhists and Muslims associated with the Thai state.
• The Philippines are set to receive $18.4 million worth of precision-guided missiles this year from the US in their fight against Islamist militants in the south. The Philippines has received more than $73 million under the US National Defense Authorization Act to help boost counter-terrorism around the world and $500 million in military and development aid.  This after the main rebel group said on Tuesday that they were willing to resume peace talks.
• Four Turkish police officers were killed on Monday after gunmen opened fire on their police station. It is suspected that the gunmen were rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The following day, clashes between Turkish and Kurdish protesters surrounding the incident were barraged with tear gas by police.

Europe

• A bomb explosion in a Ukrainian church killed one person and injured 8 others. Officials are so far keeping quiet on suspected responsibility for the bomb as they investigate.
• Germany has charged a suspected former Nazi guard with helping to murder 430,000 Jews at a death camp in Poland during WWII. The 90 year old will also testify against suspected Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk. Samuel Kunz denies all charges and of ever working as a prison guard for the Nazis.
• A Russian police officer, tired of the constant corruption within the policing system, appealed to Putin for action via YouTube only to be immediately fired, arrested and charged last November. He recently gave the New York Times a tour of some luxury homes of top ranking police officers as he now regularly speaks out about the corruption within the force.
• Shootouts in Russia’s Dagestan resulted in the death of at least five people, including a village head and a policeman.
• Serbia asked the UN on Wednesday to review the independence of Kosovo, following last week’s World Court ruling that the 2008 secession from Serbia did not violate international law. A Serbian ex-policeman was indicted for crimes against civilians, including children, committed in Sarajevo during the 1992-5 war.

Middle East

• The US Defense Department has apparently no trace of what happened to $8.7 billion in Iraqi oil money out of $9.1 billion (96%) that was to be used for rebuilding in the country according to a recent audit.
• Israel has demolished the homes of 300 Bedouins in the southern Negev desert claiming them as illegally built. Many more are expected to be demolished in the near future.  The UN agency for Palestinian refugees suggest that Bedouins are facing tremendous suffering in the region and found that in Bedouin communities the rates of stunting are more than double those in Gaza.
• Jewish settlers clashed with Palestinians, injuring 6 people in stone-throwing and fistfights. Other violence in the region saw a rocket fired from Palestinian militants into Ashkelon on Friday. There were no reported injuries from the blast.
• The UN rights forum named a team of international experts on Friday to probe the flotilla fiasco and called for cooperation from all parties. They also told Israel it must lift its military blockade of the Gaza Strip in a non-binding recommendation.
• Four soldiers were killed in an ambush in south Yemen and Shi’ite rebels captured a north Yemen base on Monday, killing at least 10. Violence has increased in recent months in the country with separatists in the south, a fragile ceasefire with Shi’ite rebels in the north and a campaign against al Qaeda militants.

Africa

• 20,000 grenades were destroyed in Burundi by the Mines Advisory Group in an effort to reduce armed violence. Grenades are a popular choice for violence in the country involving nearly 22% of all armed violence registered in the country in 2008.
• Fighting continued in Somalia with reports of at least 17 civilians being killed in fighting between the Somali government and al-Shabab fighters in Mogadishu, 13 militia killed in clashes in Puntland and thousands displaced. The UN welcomed the African Union’s decision to send 2,000 more peacekeeping troops into the country.
• Former Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga, the first person to be tried by the International Criminal Court will remain in jail after proceedings were suspended on July 15th. Lubanga is accused of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 to his Union of Congolese Patriots. Calls for his release, after the prosecutor failed to comply with an order to turn over information to the defense were denied.
• Mali is up in arms about the recent French-backed Mauritanian raid of an al-Qaeda base within their country, calling it an “unannounced declaration of war”.
• Sudan’s army was accused of killing at least two civilians during a raid on a refugee camp on Wednesday and burning some of the camps full of internally displaced persons.

North America

• Discussion around the recently passed Conflict Minerals legislation in the US has avid Congo bloggers a buzz. The Enough Project and Jason Stearns take a more positive approach with Laura at Texas in Africa (see her Mineral Week  posts starting July 26, 2010 for full details), Dan Fahey and Resource Consulting Services seriously critiquing the legislation. Wronging rights did a great overview of the new legislation here.
• The US House of Representatives agreed to provide $37 billion to continue financing America’s two wars by a vote of 308-114.
• A ruptured underground oil pipe in Michigan leaked more than 800,000 gallons of oil into the Tallmadge Creek and Kalamazoo River, along with another spill in the Gulf a Mexico off the coast of Louisiana after a barge slammed into an abandoned oil well.
• Senator John Kerry put the New Start arms control treaty with Russia, which would prohibit the US and Russia from deploying more than 1,550 strategic warheads and 700 launchers each, on his panel’s schedule for next week.

Central and South America

• Paraguayan police killed the leader of an armed leftist group in a shootout on Wednesday after facing pressure to track down key figures in the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP), a small armed group active in the northern regions.
• Mexican police found at least 51 bodies in a mass grave outside of Monterrey, suspected killed in escalating drug violence, along with the kidnapping of four Mexican journalists reporting on organized crime in northern Mexico. At least 26,000 people have been killed in drug violence in Mexico in the past 4 years, at least 30 of them journalists.
• Native Brazilians took 100 workers at a hydroelectric plant in the southern Amazon region hostage this week, after occupying the plant they say was built on an ancient burial site.
• A US federal court has paved the way for Guatemalan women to claim asylum status as a “social group” on the grounds that being a women there is sufficient reason to fear for your life.

The 1960 Constitution entitles all Ivoirians to fair public trial. In reality, public defenders are often unavailable for many defendants and more often than not, the judiciary sides with the court president over the word of law because of the president’s control over all appointments to the court. Court is hardly a fair or just process, it’s a place where the rich win and the poor lose. Locals tell of paying hundreds of millions of CFA ($1 USD = approx. 511 CFA) in bribes for larger court cases to judges, notaries and other court workers for justice, even when fully innocent of all wrong-doing. Average Ivoirians will never see that much money—and therefore have little chance of success within the court. Others tell of heavily paying off police to escape jail time or court in the first place.

Self-employed “margouillat”, derogatorily named after a type of African lizard, work as intermediaries between citizens and justice officials. They take bribes from citizens to court workers in their pocket trying to catch favors, or sometimes merely pocket the bribes themselves without providing any real assistance. Citizens have little choice but to use intermediaries and bribery, as they know they will simply wait in the court wasting their time if they don’t work within the corruption. Insufficient salaries of court workers are often cited as the main motivation to receive bribery with one time bribes larger than one’s entire yearly paycheck a definite incentive.

Cote D’Ivoire signed the UN Anti-corruption Convention in 2003, and has since made efforts to increase some high court official’s salaries in an attempt to reduce corruption. Without ratification of the Convention however, little more will be done. Any anti-corruption initiatives must deal with both the court workers and the public at large; a massive task mostly outside the scope of small NGOs and groups. For now, locals are reliant on paying hard-working fixers with good contacts to receive any semblance of real justice.

26 June was the day that the Convention against Torture came into force. It was also the day that the United Nations Charter was signed – the first international instrument to embody obligations for Member States to promote and encourage respect for human rights.

To mark 26 June, torture rehabilitation centres and other human rights organisations around the organise a multitude of events. On the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims’s website, campaign tools, information, materials and suggestions are made available for all who want to join us.

http://www.irct.org/about-us/what-we-do/awareness-raising/day-against-torture-on-26-june.aspx

Over the past six years, I have delved into this subject more than any other and have even gone so far as to ban all products for my personal use if I didn’t know EXACTLY where they came from and what effect they had. I still feel comfortable with this personal decision. I have become essentially a non-consumer (except for second hand goods) and I like it that way because I cannot fathom my personal choices causing pain in others and could not live with myself and my luxuries at that expense. As such, I’ve taken to growing almost all of my own food, having friends make me new clothes from reclaimed fabric or hitting the second hand shop and living a pretty austere life away from any new fangled gadgets. I have been mocked by other friends who suggest I now live in the stone age (not quite, I still have many older modern conveniences such as my laptop that I’ve had for the past 8 years– she runs just fine!). Frankly, that doesn’t bother me. I enjoy being connected to what I produce and what I consume. It makes me feel whole, but it’s definitely not a plausible life choice for everyone.

Over the past several months, it has become blatantly clear to me that boycotts will not improve the situation for those in the DR Congo, in fact, it will only make things worse for the people on the ground. Nor will creating a certification-scheme for “fair trade” products to help ban all blood minerals and metals. Lobbying governments or companies will create further awareness on the issue, perhaps bringing much needed funding for Congolese humanitarian projects, but it won’t make the lives of the people any better and it won’t stop conflict resources from flooding the market.

It’s hard for me to admit this, especially since I have so vehemently proposed such things in the past and now feel stupid for doing so. I ask myself, how did I not come to this conclusion earlier? The evidence was all there, I was reading it daily, but these conclusions made me feel helpless. Boycotting and calling the governments and companies to change made me more able to do something about the problem. Again, I feel helpless and feel like I am starting from scratch.

So what can people in North America do?

I still advocate that people should be aware of what they are purchasing. They should know that when they buy luxuries, they are affecting more than just their pocketbook. They should not over-consume, and skyrocket demand for mining and resource extraction that may cause environmental degradation, abuse or suffering. But what can they do directly about the problem?

To better my answer, I sent emails out to several people I consider to be experts on the Congo, or who frequently discuss such things to ask them for their advice. I have received no direct response at this point (I am sure these people are quite busy in their own work). So I looked over some of my notes, consulted my favorite blogs on the subject, re-read some articles and wrote this post.

In a country where corruption is king, and violence rampant– certification schemes are going to be corrupted. One only has to look to the Kimberley Process and the recent problems in Zimbabwe to realize that certifications schemes are not all they are cracked up to be. Until corruption and governance can be stabilized, a certification scheme is out of the question. So should we just ban all such resources from the areas of fighting in the DRC?

Criminalizing imports in an area where the majority of the population is reliant on revenues from mineral exports means that the local economy would experience rapid devaluation of their currency, suddenly making their basic needs completely unaffordable. It will also push illegal trade much further underground, making it much harder to track and people will still be subject to abuse for the sake of minerals. These minerals will still end up in our market, only they will have gotten there through much shadier means.

The new Bill C-300 on the table in Canada will open channels for victims of human rights abuses at the hands of Canadian corporations acting overseas and in theory allow them to have more access to justice. The bill would allow guilty companies to be sanctioned, their support withdrawn from Export Development Canada (EDC), as well as any investment by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) in their company shares. In practice, however, given the high risk nature and generally small size of extractive companies, they do not generally even receive EDC funding or CPP investment. Mining companies could feel the sanctions, but as the bill is a private member’s bill, it will not likely be receiving the financial resources it needs to adequately make this function-able in the first place. Not to mention that the average person living in the DRC would probably not even be aware of the existence of said bill to even begin to file a complaint. In its current form, the Bill is clearly problematic and will have little effect on the well-being of the affected population.

The American Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009 is meant to push companies to report on any minerals used in their products coming from conflict areas and describe the steps they took to ensure the minerals procurement did not support arms groups. All information would be public for citizens so that they could make their purchasing choices accordingly. This will result in essentially boycotting minerals from the DRC since the cost to the companies will increase with their use and people will avoid buying from companies who use potentially conflict-laden materials. Boycotts, as mentioned above, will have devastating effects for the population. The Conflict Minerals Trade Act of 2009 also amounts to a boycott.

Ok. Ok. Enough with the bad stuff, what will work?

It’s not that simple. What the DRC needs more than anything is good governance and security. “Without a Congolese state capable of playing its role in controlling and running affairs, how can the minerals of Kivu be de-criminalized?”

Since MONUC, the UN peacekeeping troop in the DRC,  has recently decided to scale back its mandate and reduce its troops by 2,000 to change itself into MONUSCO, the possibility of good governance in the country looks bleak. The latest UN resolution calls on MONUSCO to “support” and act “upon explicit request” from the Congolese government (one of the major human rights abusers in the country, including within the mineral trade), a move that offers no explicit details on how MONUSCO is supposed to support them or deal with abusive officers or improve the behaviour of the forces. The resolution also limits the mandate of civilian protection to only areas where peacekeepers are stationed, clawing back existing assistance. The former head of MONUC has also just retired and to be replaced with the surprise choice of Alan Doss, a man with no previous UN experience, potentially leaving the already troublesome command structure weakened.

What can we do about this? Well, the UN already has the largest peacekeeping force in its history in the country, but it would take thousands more troops to really provide some semblance of stability and that is just not likely to happen.

We can petition our governments to push for greater UN presence in the country, to increase their spending to aid these endeavors and increase their arms sanctions or actually enforce them. We can push the UN to increase its mandate so it can try to actually secure unstable territory. We can push the UN to work on good governance programs, ensure active functioning justice systems,continue its Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program and thoroughly train the police or in areas where there are no police, do the job of policing to ensure security.  We can push it to hunt down and contain the rebel movements who are destabilizing the country. We can push the international community to listen to local solutions and help implement them. We can push the media to actually show the severity of the conflict to help increase international aid and pressure and monitor the progress. We can inform people of what is happening and encourage them to push their governments and the UN as well.

And we can hope that the world will listen and respond. With enough pressure, anything is possible.

** Update: I received a thoughtful return email from Laura at Texas in Africa with some great suggestions who agrees with the idea that “getting a functioning security sector, police who can and will do their jobs, collecting taxes so that salaries can be paid, and getting the judiciary working again” are a top priority.

She stated, “I’ve found that the best thing for me to do in terms of formulating a response is to support organizations that I think are doing a good job, and to encourage others to do the same.  If you’re concerned about women who are victims of rape in the region, Heal Africa, Panzi Hospital, and Women for Women all do a wonderful job of helping them to return to health and rebuild their lives.  The IRC, Doctors without Borders, and Oxfam also do good work, especially in the education and health sectors.  Supporting  NGO work doesn’t solve the bigger issues, but it does help me to feel like I’m making a small difference, even as I work to figure out these issues and educate others about them.”

She also suggested reading over Resource Consulting Services Ltd. ‘s work for ideas on how to legalize and formalize the mineral trade in the DRC. Thanks Laura for your helpful suggestions!