Archive: April, 2011

From the field Emerging movement for peace

I did not feel safe when I travelled to Bardiya in the last week of November, 2010. Just before my journey, the district treasurer of the Nepali Congress was killed by unidentified persons on the east-west highway near the Bardiya National Park, while he was returning to his home around 6pm. I landed at nearby Nepalganj airport around 6.30pm, and then had to drive one-and-a-half hours to the district headquarters of Bardiya, at Guleriya. Just a couple of days before, two children aged 13-14 had been kidnapped for ransom near Nepalganj, and killed after the kidnappers received the ransom money. My unsafe feeling increased when I drove through the village where the kidnappers lived, as my driver suddenly told me this. Thank God! I arrived safely at the hotel where my accommodation was booked for the next four days. Read more >>>

Sudan Briefing: 2011-04-26

Following South Sudan’s referendum on independence, Insight on Conflict will be producing a weekly round-up of the news. To subscribe to receive the updates via email, please contact [email protected] or complete the form below. Email Address: News round-up: Last week saw heavy fighting in South Sudan’s Unity state between the Southern army, the SPLA, and a [...] Read more >>>

Commentary PAX: a Reuters for the people?

I joined the PAX project last summer to help with research, and we have just finished a feasibility study, supported by Google, to take us into the next stage of technical development. PAX proposes to create an online early warning system for emerging violent conflict. The system would act as a crowd-sourced digital ‘barometer’, using data mined from the internet, in addition to text and pictures from mobile phones and satellites. Read more >>>

Commentary Germany: a foreign policy based on peace?

Germany is a country of peace movements. In public opinion, peace is seen as a key value, more important even than democracy or individual freedom. In a recent Eurobarometer 69 survey, for example, 62% of the population responded in the affirmative that peace was the most important personal value for them, placing Germany at the top of the European list. Germany is also a country of contradictions. Does Germany want to be a mid-sized USA or a big Switzerland?  When it comes to defining Germany’s role in world affairs, I think this is a fair question. In the 1990s, German foreign policy had a clearer focus, but for more than a decade now, it has badly floundered. Read more >>>

From the field “We’ve heard of peace but not experienced it yet”

The idea that peace needs to be build up from the grassroots is valid, but how can you talk about peace when the enemy has no clear objective and kills seemingly at random? Who can you talk with when Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, hides in the jungle in the borders of Central African Republic and DR Congo? What does a comprehensive peace agreement mean when your sons are abducted, your wife raped and your father killed? Read more >>>

Sudan Briefing: 2011-04-18

Following South Sudan’s referendum on independence, Insight on Conflict will be producing a weekly round-up of the news. To subscribe to receive the updates via email, please contact [email protected] or complete the form below. Email Address: News round-up: Talks between Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir of the ruling NCP party and opposition leader Sadiq Al-Mahdi of the [...] Read more >>>

From the field Pakistan: likely to follow the Arab spring?

What is the likelihood of a mass-level movement in Pakistan, of the kind we have seen in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain and Libya? I would have said ‘very little’, if in the near past there wasn’t the notable example of the lawyers’ movement for the restoration of judiciary and democracy. Even then, there are many who would reject the possibility of another movement in the near future, because they think that the situation of Pakistan is entirely different from states that have either recently experienced a people’s revolution or are still going through that. Read more >>>

From the field For true peace, first there must be justice

In the heart of Putumayo, one of the most troubled regions in Colombia, a coalition of grass-roots and human rights organisations held a two day event offering an opportunity for reflection, analysis and the highlighting of the reality being lived in the region. The ‘Citizens’ Assembly for Truth’ offered an integral space to the region’s many victims of the conflict. Human rights lawyers offered their assistance taking record of the hundreds of cases as the victims of Putumayo seek an end to the humanitarian crisis and an end to the impunity that continues to reign throughout Colombia. Read more >>>

Sudan Briefing: 2011-04-11

Following South Sudan’s referendum on independence, Insight on Conflict will be producing a weekly round-up of the news. To subscribe to receive the updates via email, please contact [email protected] or complete the form below. Email Address: News round-up: The largest rebel group in Darfur, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) have suspended peace talks with the [...] Read more >>>

From the field Celebrating “Mohali Magic”: India-Pakistan should ‘pad up’ for peace and prosperity

The following is a press release from ‘Partners in Victory – Flags for Peace’ a campaign developed jointly be peace organisations in Pakistan and India. Read more >>>