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32. Under Pressure: Social violence over land and water in Yemen
- Publication Date:
- 10-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- In February 2007 at least a dozen people, including an 11-year-old boy, were killed during a land dispute between tribesmen from al-Baydha and Sanhan that erupted in a southern suburb of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a. A sheikh from Sanhan kidnapped the son of a sheikh from al-Baydha to pressure him into renouncing ownership of a large plot of land. The youth reportedly fought back, injuring his kidnapper, and was then killed. The boy's family rejected mediation and a gun battle erupted, with further killings apparently occurring when injured fighters were taken to hospital. Fighting was only quelled when the government sent tanks to separate the parties.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Natural Resources, and Water
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Yemen, and Arab Countries
33. The Method behind the Mark: A Review of Firearm Marking Technologies
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- Record-keeping is an essential prerequisite for limiting the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons. A robust record-keeping system provides the necessary means to trace small arms1 and investigate the illicit trade. The marking of small arms is a necessary component of the recordkeeping; it links a specific small arm to a unique record for that item.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Crime, Terrorism, Insurgency, and Law Enforcement
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Europe
34. Rhetoric and Reality: The Failure to Resolve the Darfur Conflict
- Author:
- Julie Flint
- Publication Date:
- 01-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- Seven years after large-scale militia attacks signalled a change in the long- running but generally low-level conflict in Darfur, an unprecedented array of international instruments has been deployed, often chaotically, to address the conflict, including peacekeepers, peacemakers, special envoys, mediators, sanctions, embargoes, and criminal prosecution. Yet peace remains as elusive as ever. In the three and a half years since the Darfur Peace Agreement was precipitously concluded in Abuja and, rejected by most Darfurians, left to wither, the paradigm of government–rebel talks has persisted, despite stalemate. Time is not on Darfur's side: the longer the conflict continues, the more actors become involved and the harder it is to resolve. With national elections scheduled for April 2010 and a referendum on self-determination for Southern Sudan in 2011, the focus has moved away from Darfur. This Working Paper examines mediation efforts since Abuja and suggests why they have failed.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Civil War, Ethnic Conflict, Treaties and Agreements, and Armed Struggle
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Sudan
35. Symptoms and causes: Insecurity and underdevelopment in Eastern Equatoria
- Author:
- Emile LeBrun
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- Eastern Equatoria state (EES) is one of the most volatile and conflict-prone states in Southern Sudan. An epicentre of the civil war ( 1983 – 2005 ), EES saw intense fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), as well numerous armed groups supported by both sides, leaving behind a legacy of landmines and unexploded ordnance, high numbers of weapons in civilian hands, and shattered social and community relations.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, Ethnic Conflict, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Sudan
36. Fault lines: Tracking armed violence in Yemen
- Author:
- Emile LeBrun
- Publication Date:
- 05-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- A unified state for just 20 years, Yemen has endured decades of social and political turmoil. It is also afflicted by a number of interlocking armed conflicts. These range from separatist political clashes between state security forces and protesters to all-out civil war—drawing in Saudi Arabia— and terrorism, which has seen the United States, the United Kingdom, and others become involved. Meanwhile, under the international radar, simmering social conflicts—primarily over land and water—reportedly account for some 4,000 violent deaths every year.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Civil War, Armed Struggle, and Fragile/Failed State
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Yemen
37. Uncertain Future: Armed Violence in Southern Sudan
- Author:
- Emile LeBrun and Claire McEvoy
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- For the four-year-old Government of Southern Sudan, 2009 was a punishing year. It struggled to manage multiple financial, governance, and security crises while fighting for implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Looming large were CPA-mandated legislative and executive elections scheduled for April 2010 and a referendum on Southern self-determination in January 2011. For much of the year, tensions between the ruling National Congress Party and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army were high, with mutual recriminations over stalled aspects of the peace process. Over the same period Southern Sudan experienced a wave of intense armed violence that swept through rural areas. The violence was well organized, involved multiple tribal groups, and exhibited a brutality not reported in recent years. By the end of the year, some 2,500 Southerners had been killed and 350,000 displaced, with no real progress made to address the conflicts. This Working Paper focuses on the violence of 2009, including its root causes and connections to political and power rivalries at the local and national levels. It highlights current and probable future sources of insecurity as the country moves to national elections and the referendum on Southern determination and beyond.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Ethnic Conflict, Armed Struggle, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Sudan
38. Primed and Purposeful: Armed Groups and Human Security Efforts in the Philippines
- Author:
- Soliman M. Santos and Paz Verdades M. Santos
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- As this book was in its final stages of preparation, contributing author Professor Octavio Dinampo of Mindanao State University was taken hostage while he guided journalists to meet a leader of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Sulu province in June 2008. Instead of considering him to be among the civilian hostages, security force officials cast suspicions over the possible culpability of Dinampo, a former member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and now respected academic and peace advocate. He was released ten days late.
- Topic:
- Security, Political Violence, and Armed Struggle
- Political Geography:
- Philippines and Southeast Asia
39. Trading Life, Trading Death: The Flow of Small Arms from Mozambique to Malawi
- Author:
- Gregory Mthembu-Salter
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- In a region apparently awash with weapons and plagued with rising levels of armed crime, Malawi is a welcome exception to these characteristics. In early 2007 there were only 9,320 legally registered firearms in Malawi excluding those used by the security forces, compared to just under 87,000 in Zambia (Mtonga and Mthembu-Salter, 2004, p. 286) and nearly 4 million in South Africa (Gould et al., 2004, p. 133). Though a country of an estimated 13 million people, in the 5 years between 1996 and 2000 Malawi suffered just 2,161 reported cases of armed robbery (Mwakasungula and Nungu, 2004, p. 89). For 2005 the figure was 316 and for 2004 it was 263, according to figures provided by the Malawi Police Service (MPS). Even leaving aside South Africa, where there were 119,726 recorded cases of aggravated robbery in 2006 (SAPS, 2006), Malawi's armed crime statistics still compare favourably with the rest of the region. In neighbouring Zambia, for example, where there is a population of only 10 million people, there were 3,168 reported cases of armed robbery in the 5 years between 1998 and 2002 (Mtonga and Mthembu-Salter, 2004, p. 294).
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Political Violence, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
- Political Geography:
- Africa
40. Surplus Arms in South America
- Author:
- Aaron Karp
- Publication Date:
- 08-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- Long at the forefront of international small arms issues, public debate and activism in South America have largely focused on matters surrounding civilian firearms, estimated here to total between 21.7 and 26.8 million. The reasons for this civilian preoccupation are principally linked to chronic gun violence. South America has 14 per cent of the global population, and roughly 3.5 to 4 per cent of the world's civilian firearms, but it suffers from roughly 40 per cent of all homicides committed with firearms.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Arms Control and Proliferation, War, Armed Struggle, and Counterinsurgency
- Political Geography:
- South America