Thursday 21 October 2010

The Other War: Inter-Arab Conflict in Darfur

For almost four years, the largest single cause of violent death in Darfur, Sudan’s western region, has not been the government–rebel war that erupted in 2003, but fighting among Arab tribes armed by the government to fight the insurgency. Although the inter-Arab conflict claimed about 1,000 lives in the first ten months of 2010, displaced thousands of civilians, and left tens of thousands unprotected, very little is understood about it, or its protagonists, despite a large international presence spearheaded by the 30,000-person African Union/ UN Hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID). Like the insurgency in its early years, the killing of Arab by Arab is unfolding almost completely unremarked outside Sudan. Unlike the insurgency, the deaths are at least partially recorded, including by UNAMID, and well reported by some Sudanese journalists. This Working Paper examines the background to and the development of the fighting between camel-herding Abbala and cattle-herding Baggara, the main players, and some of the possible repercussions.
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Wednesday 20 October 2010

Human rights concerns in southern and central Somalia

mnesty International is concerned at the widespread violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, including war crimes, and the dire humanitarian situation that civilians face in southern and central Somalia. Civilians are at high risk of being killed and injured in indiscriminate attacks by all parties to the internal armed conflict, and as a result of a situation of generalized violence and collapse of the rule of law. In addition, certain categories of persons also face targeted attacks, including unlawful killings, torture and otherill treatment, abductions, death threats and harassment. In areas where there is currently no fighting, civilians bear the brunt of arbitrary and repressive rules, violating their human rights, enforced by armed Islamist groups. Conflict and associated human rights abuses continue to cause massive displacement in Somalia. According to UNHCR, over 200,000 civilians were estimated to have fled their homes in Somalia between January and early September 2010, some 1.4 million are currently displaced within the country and 68,000 have been registered as newly arrived refugees in neighbouring countries in 2010. Given the difficulties of access to southern and central Somalia by independent observers, Amnesty International relies on information provided by local sources to document the situation, as well as accounts from Somali refugees who flee Somalia. Amnesty International interviewed hundreds of Somali refugees who had recently fled their country in March and June 2010 in Kenya.
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An Analysis of Humanitarian and Protection Operations for the Internally Displaced in Darfur

In 1951, the international community made a significant step with the introduction of United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which was an international law that aimed to protect those who had become stateless and therefore faced a unique set of vulnerabilities and difficulties. As the nature of conflict has changed over the years, so have the types of humanitarian and human rights challenges that the international community face. The number of refugees has decreased to roughly 9.2 million people, the lowest figure in 25 years; while a new category, internally displaced persons (IDPs) has arisen. An IDP often flees his/her home for the same reasons as a refugee - national disaster, terrorism, persecution and violence. Yet they do not enjoy the same legal protection as refugees because they remain within their country of origin and do not cross the borders of their country. Currently, these is an estimated 25 million IDPs in over 52 countries.
The East African state of Sudan hosts more than a quarter of IDPs population in the world. The protracted conflicts that have engulfed the state since its independence in 1956 are a major cause of the increase in the IDP population in Sudan. That are about 6 million IDPs in the country and this is incomparable with situations in other countries.
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