National Day of Remembrance and Action on Mass Atrocities


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Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 7:00pm Alumni Auditorium University of Ottawa   The All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity invites you to a panel discussion to mark the first annual National Day of Remembrance and Action on Mass Atrocities Special guests:
  • Alex Neve – Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada
  • Kyle Matthews – Lead Researcher, Montreal Institute for Genocide Studies and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University
  • Naomi Kikoler – Senior Advisor and Program Manager, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
On April 23rd, 2010, the Parliament of Canada officially recognized that day as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Mass Atrocities. April 23rd was chosen in honour of Lester B. Pearson’s birth date, Canada’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, and recognizes his commitment to peace and international cooperation to end crimes against humanity. This day now serves as a call for Canadians to commemorate those who have suffered in the past and to work towards preventing such atrocities from happening in the future. In the spirit of the day’s mandate, please join us in a panel discussion that will offer an overview of mass atrocities in the world today and the ways in which Canada be part of their solution. For inquiries and RSVP, please contact prev-gen@parl.gc.ca

North Kosovo: Dual Sovereignty in Practice


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North Kosovo: Dual Sovereignty in Practice PUBLICATION: International Crisis Group DATE: 2011.03.14 INFORMATION:http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/europe/balkans/kosovo/211-north-kosovo-dual-sovereignty-in-practice.aspx The dispute between Kosovo and Serbia is most acute in Kosovo’s northern municipalities. The North has not been under effective control from Pristina for two decades; its sparse and predominantly rural Serb population uniformly rejects integration into Kosovo. Though small and largely peaceful, it is the main obstacle to reconciliation and both countries’ European Union (EU) aspirations. A Kosovo-Serbia dialogue mediated by the EU began on 8-9 March 2011 and is likely over the coming months to look at some of the consequences of the dispute for regional cooperation, communications, freedom of movement and the rule of law. For now, however, Belgrade, Pristina and Brussels have decided that tackling the North’s governance or status is too difficult before more efforts are made to secure cooperation on improving the region’s socio-economic development, security and public order. For some time, the North will remain in effect under dual sovereignty: Kosovo’s and Serbia’s. Kosovo seeks to rid the region of Serbian institutions, integrate it and gain control of the border with Serbia. It is willing to provide substantial self rule and additional competencies as suggested under the Ahtisaari plan, developed in 2007 by the then UN Special Envoy to regulate Kosovo’s supervised independence. But local Serbs see the North as their last stand and Mitrovica town as their centre of intellectual and urban life. Belgrade will continue to use its influence in the North to reach its primary goal, regaining the region as a limited victory to compensate for losing the rest of its former province…

Myanmar’s Post-Election Landscape


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Myanmar’s Post-Election Landscape
PUBLICATION: International Crisis Group DATE: 2011.03.07 INFORMATION: http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-east-asia/burma-myanmar/B118-myanmars-post-election-landscape.aspx The November 2010 elections in Myanmar were not free and fair and the country has not escaped authoritarian rule. Predictably, in such a tightly controlled poll, the regime’s own Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won a landslide victory leaving the military elite still in control. Together with the quarter of legislative seats reserved for soldiers, this means there will be little political space for opposition members in parliament. The new government that has been formed, and which will assume power in the coming weeks, also reflects the continued dominance of the old order with the president and one of the two vice presidents drawn from its ranks and a number of cabinet ministers recycled. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to conclude that nothing has changed. The top two leaders of the former military regime have stepped aside, and a new generation has taken over…

Yemen between Reform and Revolution


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Popular Protest in North Africa and the Middle East (II): Yemen between Reform and Revolution
PUBLICATION: International Crisis Group DATE: 2011.03.10 INFORMATION: http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/iran-gulf/yemen/102-popular-protest-in-north-africa-and-the-middle-east-II-yemen-between-reform-and-revolution.aspx Even before the popular wave from Tunisia and Egypt reached Yemen, President Saleh’s regime faced daunting challenges. In the north, it is battling the Huthi rebellion, in the south, an ever-growing secessionist movement. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is showing mounting signs of activism. Sanaa’s political class is locked in a two-year battle over electoral and constitutional reforms; behind the scenes, a fierce competition for post-Saleh spoils is underway. Economic conditions for average Yemenis are dire and worsening. Now this. There is fear the protest movement could push the country to the brink and unleash broad civil strife. But it also could, and should, be a wake-up call, a catalyst for swift, far-reaching reforms leading to genuine power-sharing and accountable, representative institutions. The opposition, reformist ruling party members and civil society activists will have to work boldly together to make it happen. The international community’s role is to promote national dialogue, prioritize political and economic development aid and ensure security aid is not used to suppress opposition…

Flashpoint: Abyei


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Flashpoint : Abyei
PUBLICATION: Enough Project DATE: 2011.03.04 INFORMATION: http://www.enoughproject.org/publications/flashpoint-abyei The human security situation in the Abyei region of Sudan has rapidly deteriorated in the past week due to renewed violence. Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has confirmed through the analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery that buildings consistent with civilian infrastructure appear to have been intentionally burned Maker Abior and Todach villages. Some 100 people in the Abyei region have reportedly died in the clashes to date. According to the humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), tens of thousands of civilians have either been displaced by fighting or fled due to fear of further attacks…

Yemen: Excessive Force Used Against Demonstrators


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Yemen: Excessive Force Used Against Demonstrators
PUBLICATION: Human Rights Watch DATE: 2011.03.09 INFORMATION: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/09/yemen-excessive-force-used-against-demonstrators Yemeni security forces repeatedly used excessive, deadly force on largely peaceful protesters in the southern city of Aden in February 2011, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Security forces fired weapons that included assault rifles and machine guns at the protesters, killing at least nine and possibly twice that number, and injuring more than 150, some of them children. The 20-page report, “Days of Bloodshed in Aden,” documents attacks on protesters in the strategic port city of Aden from February 16 to 25. Human Rights Watch found that police and military forces also chased and shot at protesters trying to flee the assaults. The forces stopped doctors and ambulances trying to reach protest sites, fired at people who tried to rescue victims, and removed evidence, such as bullet casings, from the shooting scenes…

Zimbabwe: No Justice for Rampant Killings, Torture


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Zimbabwe: No Justice for Rampant Killings, Torture
PUBLICATION: Human Rights Watch DATE: 2011.03.08 INFORMATION: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/08/zimbabwe-no-justice-rampant-killings-torture The failure of Zimbabwe’s government to investigate and prosecute killings, torture, and politically motivated violence since the 2008 elections is fueling further human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on March 8th. The 40-page report, “Perpetual Fear: Impunity and Cycles of Violence in Zimbabwe,” examines the lack of justice in several illustrative cases of political killings, torture, and abductions by government security forces and their allies during and after the presidential election run-off in 2008. Human Rights Watch called on Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government to conduct immediate, credible, impartial, and transparent investigations into serious human rights abuses and to discipline or prosecute those responsible, regardless of their position or rank…

The Right Way to Resolve the Libya Crisis


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A Ceasefire and Negotiations the Right Way to Resolve the Libya Crisis
PUBLICATION: International Crisis Group DATE: 2011.03.10 INFORMATION: http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/publication-type/media-releases/2011/a-ceasefire-and-negotiations-the-right-way-to-resolve-the-libya-crisis.aspx A complete ceasefire to be followed by negotiations to secure a transition to a post-Qaddafi, legitimate and representative government should be the immediate objectives of the international community’s approach to the Libyan crisis. Military intervention should be viewed as a last resort, with the goal of protecting civilians at risk, and nothing should be allowed to preempt or preclude the urgent search for a political solution. At the outset of the anti-Qaddafi protests, the international community reacted to widespread abuses against civilians by adopting measures (asset freeze, arms embargo, threat of prosecution of war crimes) which Crisis Group had called for and publicly supported as necessary to prevent a humanitarian disaster. But the situation has since evolved. It is now becoming a full-scale civil war. In Tunisia and Egypt, the army, by playing a neutral buffer role, was decisive in avoiding civil war and facilitating an orderly resolution of the political crisis. In both countries, the state had an existence independent of the president and his regime, and the army could see that the protesters were opposing the latter but not the state itself. This distinction between state and regime is absent in Libya. Qaddafi built a power structure centered around him and family members and dependent in part on tribal alliances rather than modern structures. As a result, the army and security forces could not remain neutral; they have split between forces loyal to one side or the other. The country also appears to be dividing along tribal and regional lines…

Public lecture: The Fourth Stage of the Arab-Israel Conflict


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University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs presents a public lecture: The Fourth Stage of the Arab-Israel Conflict, with Dr. Alan Dowty
DATE: 2011.03.21 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm LOCATION/LIEU: Desmarais Building, Room 3120, 55 Laurier avenue East INFORMATION: Email api@uottawa.ca for more information. Registration is not required. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has passed through three major stages since its origins in nineteenth-century Ottoman Turkey: from a collision between two communities in Palestine, to an interstate conflict between Israel and Arab states, to the re-emergence of the Palestinians as the major actor opposite Israel. Since the turn of the 21st century a fourth stage appears to be emerging, rooted in religious militancy, the rise of non-state actors, and changes in the nature of warfare. This development complicates chances of reaching a two-state settlement of the conflict. The talk will analyze the nature and challenges of the “Fourth Stage” and will also address the impact that recent events in the Middle East might have on the Arab-Israeli peace process. Alan Dowty is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, and Senior Associate for Middle East Studies of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, at the University of Notre Dame. In 1963-1975 he was on the faculty of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, during which time he served as Executive Director of the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations and Chairman of the Department of International Relations. Professor Dowty has published widely on the Arab-Israel conflict, Israeli politics, U.S. foreign policy, weapons of mass destruction, international freedom of movement, and international enforcement. He has published over 130 scholarly and popular articles and reviews, and has delivered over 500 public lectures in 19 countries.

Côte d’Ivoire: Is War the Only Option?


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Côte d’Ivoire: Is War the Only Option?
PUBLICATION: International Crisis Group DATE: 2011.03.03 INFORMATION (executive summary and recommendations only): http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/africa/west-africa/cote-divoire/171-cote-divoire-is-war-the-only-option.aspx Côte d’Ivoire is on the verge of a new civil war. This tragedy can only be avoided if Africans and the wider international community stand firm behind the democratically elected president, Alassane Ouattara, and he launches an initiative for reconciliation and a transitional government of national unity. Côte d’Ivoire: Is War the Only Option?, the latest International Crisis Group report, examines the escalation of political violence and armed confrontations since Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept defeat in the November presidential election and has sought to retain office by manipulating institutions and violence. The report says war is imminent, with Gbagbo’s army and militias already beginning to clash with the former insurgent Forces Nouvelles in Abidjan and the west of the country, close to the border with Liberia…