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Begin New Search Political Geography Democratic Republic of the Congo Publication Year within 25 Years

71. Congo: l'enlisement du projet démocratique

Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
La consolidation de la démocratie en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) est entravée dans presque toutes ses dimensions et le régime congolais reste fragile. Lorsque Joseph Kabila est devenu le premier président élu démocratiquement en 2006, la communauté internationale a considéré cette élection comme une avancée majeure du processus de paix. Aujourd'hui, l'équilibre des pouvoirs est quasiment inexistant. Le cabinet présidentiel a pris l'ascendant sur le gouvernement, le parlement et le pouvoir judiciaire. Les libertés fondamentales sont fréquemment menacées et des réformes institutionnelles essentielles – la décentralisation et la réforme du secteur de la sécurité – n'ont pas significativement progressé.
Topic:
Democratization and Governance
Political Geography:
Democratic Republic of the Congo

72. In Pursuit of Peace

Author:
Alan Doss
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
On June 30, 2010, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will celebrate fifty years of independence. As the anniversary approaches Congolese people and their leaders are very mindful of the presence of a large force of UN peacekeepers in their country—just as there was when the Congo marked its first anniversary of independence. So not surprisingly they ask themselves what has been achieved during those fifty years and why do we still need such a large UN force, currently the biggest in the world?
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Democratic Republic of the Congo and United Nations

73. Rape in War: Motives for Militia in DRC

Author:
Jocelyn Kelly
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820 signals a new movement in the international community to recognize widespread sexual violence against women in conflict as a threat to international peace and security. Research on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has predominantly focused on victims and survivors of rape. A better understanding of the roots of SGBV in conflict, however, can only be gained by examining the experiences and motivations of perpetrators. SGBV has been a pervasive and highly destructive feature of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Soldiers from the Mai Mai militia group, one of many armed groups operating in this conflict, describe a number of factors that promote sexual violence in the ranks of this group. Soldiers have a complex and sometimes contradictory relationship with civilians. Interviewees express a desire to reintegrate into civilian life and return to pre-war norms, and they see themselves as protectors of civilians. However, civilians are also seen as a resource that can be exploited for money, food, and other needs. For the Mai Mai, sexual violence against women by other armed groups, particularly foreign groups, is seen as a motivation to fight. Nevertheless, at least some soldiers justify sexual violence perpetrated by members of their own group. Some commanders explicitly support rape by treating women as a spoil of war. Men also describe rape as a result of individual motives, such as the desire of a particular woman. The most effective interventions to address SGBV are tailored to the motivations and decision-making structures of each armed group. An understanding of militia group attitudes is especially important as these groups are currently being integrated into the national army. Mai Mai commanders should be held responsible for the violence perpetrated by themselves and the men under their command. High levels of concern about contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections pose an opportunity to discourage combatants from engaging in sexual violence.
Topic:
United Nations and Sex Trafficking
Political Geography:
Democratic Republic of the Congo

74. Women and Children First: On the frontline of war in the Kivus

Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
In 2009, the government of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with international backing, launched military offensives against the FDLR (Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda) and other militias in eastern DRC, with devastating humanitarian consequences: an estimated 900,000 people displaced and over 1,400 documented civilian deaths attributed to militia and government forces. In 2010 a new offensive, Amani Leo ('peace today'), continues efforts to disarm the militias, with some additional safeguards for civilian safety linked to UN peacekeeping support for the operations. However, while some areas have become safer as a result, ongoing population displacement (over 164,000 January- April 2010) and protection cluster monitoring of human rights violations (up 246% January-February in South Kivu after the launch of Amani Leo) are indications of continuing fallout for civilians. A survey conducted by Oxfam and partners in North and South Kivu in April 2010 enquired into the experiences of people in areas affected by the military operations. It found that, for 60% of respondents this year, things are worse than in 2009.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Gender Issues, Genocide, and War
Political Geography:
Asia and Democratic Republic of the Congo

75. Controlling conflict resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Author:
Ruben de Koning
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The political economy of mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is central to sustaining the conflict in the east of the country. Transforming it is a priority in order to alleviate the conflict and suffering that it fuels. In an attempt to ensure that conflict minerals—minerals sourced from militia controlled mines—do not enter the legal supply chain, industrial actors, the Congolese Government and outside donors have established schemes to trace minerals such as cassiterite and coltan back to the mines of origin.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Corruption, Political Economy, Poverty, Natural Resources, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

76. Building Partnerships in Peace Operations: The Limits of the Global/Regional Approach

Author:
Thierry Tardy
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
A consensus seems to exist on the need to tackle contemporary intra-state conflicts through a multiplicity of actors who display different comparative advantages and levels of expertise. For the United Nations as well as for the regional organisations that, since the end of the Cold War, have emerged as crisis management actors, working together is the way forward. The UN and the EU run or have run simultaneous operations in Africa (Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad) and Kosovo and have largely institutionalised their cooperation; the UN took over operations initially deployed by the African Union in West Africa and in Burundi and the two institutions have created a hybrid UN-AU mission in Darfur; the EU is assisting the AU in the building-up of its Stand-by Force and finances AU operations; the EU, the OSCE and NATO have for some time shared the burden of security management in the Balkans. As noted in a UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) document, “reinforcing interoperability with key partners […] can enhance cooperation and ensure that we maximise finite global peacekeeping resources”. Indeed, given the scope of crisis management needs, not least the UN overstretch, burden-sharing has become an imperative and its corollary, inter-institutional partnerships, equally central. Yet, the establishment of partnerships among international institutions is facing important political and technical difficulties that make the prospect for an interlocking system unlikely.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Globalization, International Cooperation, Peace Studies, Regional Cooperation, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, and United Nations

77. The Future of Peacekeeping Operations: Fighting Political Fatigue and Overstretch

Author:
Richard Gowan
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
In the last sixth months, NATO and the UN have both confronted the possibility that their largest individual peace operations may fail. In Afghanistan, NATO troops have struggled to contain the Taliban. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the UN was unable to halt rebel attacks that displaced as many as 250,000 people last September.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Security, International Cooperation, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Taliban and Democratic Republic of the Congo

78. Congo: Five Priorities for a Peacebuilding Strategy

Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The deal struck by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda for renewed military and political cooperation is an important step forward, but is not sufficient to bring peace to the Kivus. Their five-week joint military operation did not produce significant results against the Rwandan Hutu rebels. Integration of the former insurgency that came over to the government's side after Laurent Nkunda was dropped as its leader is precarious, despite the 23 March 2009 agreement it signed with Kinshasa. An international monitoring group chaired by UN Special Envoy Olusegun Obasanjo and Great Lakes Envoy Benjamin Mkapa should work with the Congolese and Rwandan governments to support and implement a genuine and comprehensive peacebuilding strategy, while donors should condition their support on adoption and implementation by Kinshasa of a comprehensive package of judicial measures to fight impunity.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, Post Colonialism, and War
Political Geography:
Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

79. The United Nations Convention Against Torture. A Commentary • Commentary on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Observers' Notes, Article by Article

Author:
Alexander Orakhelashvili
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
It is indisputable that the fight against impunity for the perpetrators of serious international crimes is a fundamental policy of the international community. As the International Court of Justice emphasized in the Arrest Warrant case, the functionally and temporarily limited immunity of the foreign minister of the Congo was not the same as according impunity to that official, because the number of ways of prosecuting him remained intact ( Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000, Merits, General List No. 121, 14 February 2002, paras 60 – 61). The efforts to combat impunity for the perpetrators of serious crimes are conducted by two methods. The first method relates to establishing international tribunals, which has been the case since the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals in the aftermath of World War II. This method is limited, because international tribunals necessarily have limited jurisdiction. They cannot address the problems of impunity in general, but only those aspects of it which are covered by their mandate as specified in their statutes. Even if this mandate is quite general, as is the case with the International Criminal Court (ICC), the actual extent to which impunity will be combatted still depends on the voluntary decision of states to become party to the Statute. The second method reflects the limited nature of international criminal tribunals. The remaining problems of impunity are addressed through the exercise of jurisdiction by national courts. This is reflected in the fact that the multiplication of international criminal tribunals over the past 15 years has not caused any decline in the activities of national courts in this field. Quite the contrary; the growth of international criminal jurisdiction has been accompanied by the equally remarkable growth of national criminal jurisdiction to address international crimes, including those committed extraterritorially.
Topic:
United Nations and War
Political Geography:
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tokyo

80. Toward Reconciliation in Afghanistan

Author:
Michael O'Hanlon
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Washington Quarterly
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
How can we make sense of where the United States is in Afghanistan today? A poor country, wracked by 30 years of civil war, finds itself at the mercy of insurgents, terrorists, and narco-traffickers. NATO's economy-of-force operation there has attempted to help build a nation with very few resources. Yet, overall levels of violence remain relatively modest by comparison with other violent lands such as the Congo, Iraq, and even Mexico. Economic growth is significant and certain quality of life indicators are improving, though from a very low base. The United States is committed to Afghanistan and over the course of 2009 will roughly double its troop strength there. The international community is also seriously committed, with a number of key countries such as Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom fighting hard and applying solid principles of counterinsurgency.
Topic:
NATO and Economics
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, United Kingdom, Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mexico, and Netherlands