Thursday 16 October 2014

Abandonment of "Bring Back our Girls"

Original Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/10/abandonment-bring-back-our-girls-2014101494119446698.html?utm_content=bufferc3d66&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer


Six months after the armed group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 Nigerian girls from a boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok, 219 remain in captivity after 57 escaped.
That may come as a surprise to many because the April 14 mass abduction that drew global shock, condemnation, and media attention has since been largely forgotten - except in Chibok that is.
Every day at Unity Fountain in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, family members of the girls, community members, and citizens in solidarity gather to chant the message that was heard around the world last April: "Bring back our girls."
None of the young women so far have been rescued, despite a global #BringBackOurGirls Twitter campaign that went viral and garnered support from such high-profile figures as the US president's wife, Michelle Obama, and Nobel Peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
World leaders from countries including the United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Canada and Israel offered assistance to Nigeria to free the schoolgirls, but to date no diplomatic or military action has secured their release.
No end in sight: Boko Haram's bloody legacy
"As far as our girls are concerned, they have been abandoned," said Mkeki Mutah, an uncle of two of the missing - 17-year-old Saratu and 18-year-old Elizabeth.
"There is a saying: 'Actions speak louder than words.' Leaders from around the world came out and said they would assist to bring the girls back, but now we hear nothing. The question I wish to raise is: why?" Mutah told Al Jazeera.
"If they knew they would not do anything, they wouldn't have even made that promise at all. By just coming out to tell the world, I see that as a political game, which it shouldn't be so far as the girls are concerned."
Moving on
Thousands of people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks since the group was established in 2002 in its fight to create an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.
On April 14 - in one of its most brazen assaults to date - Boko Haram fighters stormed a high school in Chibok after dark as hundreds of young women wrote exams. The students were then loaded onto trucks and driven off. Fifty-seven managed to escape as they were being hauled away or soon after.
Boko Haram has demanded a swap for detained fighters in exchange for the girls, but so far President Goodluck Jonathan has refused.
Outrage over the abductions soon spread and the world's media began marking the number of days since the schoolgirls disappeared. But six months later, world leaders and the Western media have since shifted their attention to the international fight against the group calling itself Islamic State (ISIL) in Syria and Iraq and the threat of Ebola.



Despite decreasing attention, a small but faithful group of supporters is trying to keep pressure on the Nigerian government - and the spotlight on the missing Chibok teenagers. Bring Back Our Girls campaigners in Nigeria still meet daily and they organised a Global Week of Action from October 11-18 to mobilise people around the world to the girls' plight.
On Tuesday in Abuja they will march to President Jonathan's villa to demand the immediate rescue of the missing girls from Chibok, a town 130km from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
Jonathan has been accused of keeping silent on the mass abduction and failing to bring the girls home. He responded in June saying his government would never abandon the search.
"My government and our security and intelligence services have spared no resources, have not stopped and will not stop until the girls are returned home," the president said in a Washington Post opinion piece.
But months later, that pledge still remains unfulfilled - and for those affected the international media, too, has also failed to follow up on the story that dominated global headlines at the time.
Hadiza Bala Usman said international attention to the girls' plight has not amounted to anything [Ashionye Ogene]
"People need to remember that 219 girls remain in captivity," Hadiza Bala Usman, a protest coordinator, told Al Jazeera. "We appreciate the fact that the media propelled a lot of support around the world, but that support has not translated into any rescue. For us, if whatever is said and done doesn't translate into the rescue of the girls, it hasn't really achieved anything."
'Exercise patience'
While the Nigerian military has made little progress in tracking down the missing teenagers, the government, however, has highlighted its achievements in neutralising core commanders of Boko Haram.
Last month it released a statement announcing the death of Mohammed Bashir, a man it claimed featured in Boko Haram's recent video allegedly posing as the group's leader Abubakar Shekau, who the government said had been killed in a military operation.
The government said it is doing all it can to bring back the students.
"It has been hard to rescue the girls, but rescuing the Chibok girls has remained a focus of the Nigerian government, despite all that is happening on other fronts," Mike Omerri, director general of the National Orientation Agency, told Al Jazeera.
Omerri said releasing information publicly about the pursuit of the students wouldn't be beneficial.
"Because rescue efforts require regular information about troops and their activity, this could lead to disruption of tracing them. Therefore, the Nigerian government is asking all citizens to exercise patience."
'Pleading for more voices'
Peter Joseph's sister Elizabeth was taken [Ashionye Ogene]
But patience has run out in the town, and for some the hope of finding them has disappeared.
"Our Chibok people have given up already. They don't even believe there is a rescue operation going on," said Peter Joseph, brother of Elizabeth, 17. "Each time I speak to my mother about my sister Eli she always cries. They were taken away alive, and we just don't know where she is or what is happening to her. That feels worse than knowing she's dead."
Members of the Chibok community described how their town has been torn apart. Victor Ibrahim Garba, uncle of 18-year-old Naomi Stover, said: "There are a lot of parents in Chibok that are dead today. A lot of parents have died because of heartache … It has affected me and my family psychologically, emotionally and otherwise."
Garba said the international fury that erupted in April is again needed to help free the teenagers.
"Whatever it takes, however long it takes, we are pleading for more voices. We are here every day under the sun and in the rain for others in our community and around the world to see that we are here. We will not stop until the girls are back even if it takes 100 years, even if it is just one person that remains standing.
"We demand the girls are brought home from hell, and we are pleading with people around the world to come to our aid. We are still here."

Wednesday 6 August 2014

The Long and Lonely Fight of Soni Sori

Original Source: http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/blog/entry/the-long-and-lonely-fight-qa-with-indian-tribal-rights-activist-soni-sori


In a crowded auditorium at a conference on gender-based violence in Delhi this month, a frail woman sits, silently listening as lawyers and activists take turns to speak. When the discussion shifts to atrocities on adivasi (tribal) women, she takes center stage. When she speaks, the crowd listens in silence. Soni Sori, a schoolteacher, speaks about the fate of women in Chhattisgarh, an Indian state that has been engulfed in violence and conflict, with tribal civilians caught in the crossfire between Maoists and government security forces.
Within this mineral-rich Indian state, the genesis of conflict has been complex. It is a mix of deep neglect of the poor and also, some would say, lopsided development plans. But beyond simplistic explanations of conflict, undeniable is the loss of lives and brutality unleashed in the name of counterinsurgency and fighting for the poor. For years, women and children have born the brunt of this cruelty.
In 2013, at least 1,380 rapes were reported in Chhatisgarh, according to India's National Crime Records Bureau. The controversial and now-disbanded Salwa Judum, a self-protection force formed with local civilians and later declared illegal and unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2011, face at least 99 counts of alleged rape since its inception in 2005.
It was against this backdrop that Soni Sori, all of 35, was arrested in 2011 and accused of being linked to the Naxals, an armed, left-wing extremist group that has waged war against the Indian state for decades. She was sexually tortured in custody. Human rights activists worldwide campaigned for her release. Amnesty International declared her a “prisoner of conscience,” turning the spotlight on atrocities she’d been subjected to. Now out on bail, Sori spoke to me about the inhumane sexual torture she endured, the dismal state of women’s prisons in Chhattisgarh, her fight ahead, and her optimism on women’s rights.
Indian tribal rights activist Soni Sori speaks to Amnesty International India about her case and thanks the organization for its support in advocating for her release. (Amnesty International India)
Priyali Sur: It's been almost three years since you were first taken into police custody. Do you remember every detail?
Soni Sori: It was past 10 at night. I was asleep when the cops came and woke me up, saying the superintendent of police wanted to meet me. The superintendent, Ankit Garg, asked me to sign documents that would confirm I was involved with the Maoists. I refused. He then asked the lady constables to leave, warning them that what happened inside the police station that night should not be told to anyone.
The police officials started abusing me, calling me a whore and saying I indulge in sexual acts with Maoists. They stripped me naked, made me stand in an “attention” position and gave me electric shocks on various parts of my body. I still didn't relent. They then shoved red chili powder inside my vagina. By now, I was losing consciousness, but I refused to sign the documents. The cops started inserting stones into my private parts. Many stones—so many that they started falling out. I finally collapsed.
The next morning, I could barely move when I was taken to court. My biggest complaint is that the magistrate didn't even see me once and sent me to prison. In the days that followed, I was admitted to the hospital, where they chained me to the bed. When I asked why, they said it was procedural. Due to the stones, it was difficult and painful for me to even urinate. Only after I wrote to the court was I taken for treatment. 
Sori was ultimately referred to the NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, where stones were removed from her vagina and rectum. But her torture and humiliation in the prison continued. In April 2013, a group of human rights organizations wrote to the Chhattisgarh chief minister, demanding the end of ill treatment of Soni Sori and other inmates in Jagdalpur, the central jail. They said Sori was being subjected to a psychiatric evaluation to declare her mentally unsound and create doubts over the veracity of her complaints of sexual torture.
PS: How long were you in prison and what is it like for the women inmates inside jail?
SS: I spent two and a half years in all, and spent time in four jails [Tihar, Raipur, Jagadalpur, and Kolkata]. The plight of girls and women is deplorable inside the Chhattisgarh jail. There is an urgent need for proper health care and sanitation. During their menstruation, women inmates are not given any sanitary pads. They have just one piece of cloth, which they wash and reuse as a pad. At times, due to the unavailability of pads and clean cloth, many even have blood trickling down their knees. It is extremely humiliating. Due to such unhygienic conditions, most women suffer from vaginal discharge, problems like “safed paani” [vaginal discharge] and foul-smelling urine. Women keep waiting to visit a doctor, but they are only taken after a very long wait.
The way women inmates are treated is inhuman. They are themselves made to clean the toilets and if anyone complains, the cops beat her up and put her in an isolated cell. No woman is allowed to keep more than one sari. If families send them more, the cops burn the extra sari. They are made to do hard labor but given a poor diet. If a mother dares to ask for more for her crying child, she is beaten up.
PS: Are the inmates also sexually abused by the police?
SS: The inmates are mentally tortured and harassed. A naked drill is a common thing. I was tired of being asked to strip again and again and again. They would strip me and accuse me of being a Maoist. …  They would then humiliate me by inspecting my breasts with their batons and forcing me to spread my legs. It’s a mental torture. Not just me, but they do this to other women inmates as well. There are many minor girls as well inside, but they are falsely recorded as majors in the files. Many 13- to 14-year-old girls are brought in and accused of being Naxals.
According to Himanshu Kumar of Vanvasi Chetana Ashram, an organization working for tribal people in Chhattisgarh, grave human rights violations are taking place in the prisons of Chhattisgarh. Himanshu has been fighting for justice for Sori. He says that the International Committee of the Red Cross has access to all the prisons across the world to carry out human right audits, but has been denied access to Chhattisgarh prisons. The state has been seen as the epicenter of Maoist conflict for a long time.
In February, after almost two and a half years in jail, Sori was finally granted bail by the Supreme Court of India. She is free to go anywhere but has to report to the nearest police station every Monday, regardless of the location. Sori now wants to work from Chhattisgarh, along with a human rights lawyer, to help other women who have been falsely accused and are languishing in prisons. According to the National Crime Records Bureau report of 2011, Chhattisgarh was one of the states that reported the highest number of female convicts (242) in its central jails. The women’s prisons here are overcrowded, with almost 150 percent occupancy. But along with this, Sori’s priority is also her children—her two daughters and one son.
PS: Now that you are out on bail, do you worry about separation from your family again?
SS: My children refuse to let go of me at all. They say this year they will stay with me since they don’t know when I might be taken to jail again. Every other day, jeeps packed with cops come to my house and question my children at gunpoint, but my children are strong and aren’t scared. My children say, “Let the police come, we can handle them.” Everything that they have been through has made my children strong.
When I was in jail, my husband passed away. I wasn’t even allowed to come for his last rites. I appealed to the court to let me go home to see him for one last time, but they didn’t permit me. One week later, they said I could go and visit home. I refused, saying it was too late.
During India’s recent general elections, Sori ran from her region. She says her decision to join politics is so she can challenge and change the system that treats women mercilessly. She remembers how the jail officials mocked her, saying that once she was out, her spirit would die. She says joining politics is an answer to all those people who challenged her.
Sori lost the election by a huge margin.
PS: You entered politics—are you disappointed that you lost?
SS: Not at all. I believe I have won, and my fight has just started. My fight was not to occupy the chair, but to get the support of my people. Today, there are many who will come and stand by me. The rulers always rule from their chair. I am fortunate that I will get to work at the grassroots level. My politics is not about ruling, but about fighting for the rights of my people.
PS: Is it difficult to stay motivated and focused on your mission?
SS: There are days when my children have nothing to eat. I don’t have a job today while Ankit Garg, who has been accused of brutalizing me, has been awarded with the president's Police Medal of Gallantry. But it’s my children who give me the courage to fight. They are all I have today. My fight is not about caste or religion but about the rights of all women.
I know there are many who are waiting for me to die for this fight to end, but I want to tell them that if Soni Sori dies the fight will not end. There will be a hundred more Soni Soris who will emerge. Can they drown the fight for justice for women? Can they kill each one of us? In the end, victory will be ours.

Friday 11 July 2014

Don't beat war drums, go for drum diplomacy.

Original Source: http://www.tehelka.com/dont-beat-war-drums-go-for-drum-diplomacy/


War drums are getting louder since the arrival of the NDA government as far as plans to tackle the Maoist violence in central India are concerned. Chhattisgarh will be given 10,000 extra paramilitary troops. Bastar has been chosen as the next concentrated area of operation. Mobile tower installations for Bastar will be expedited. Helicopters will now be allowed in anti-Maoist operations.
These are some of the news reports we have been reading lately.
The Maoists must be very happy.
Beginning in 2005, the Chhattisgarh government ran a disastrous military campaign called Salwa Judum with the Centre’s help. Though it was shown as a spontaneous people’s movement, it ended up strengthening the Maoists as never before. Top Maoist leaders wrote articles in their internal magazines in Gondi language with headlines like, “Thank you, Salwa Judum”.
One of their leaders told me, “We called our movement People’s War but Salwa Judum made it a real people’s war. Our recruitment is up many times. Now, there is no chance of fence-sitting for Adivasis and obviously a huge majority has chosen us.”
I remember meeting an old Adivasi man during one of my trips to a Maoist-controlled area. He must have been 80.
Feeling that he will tell the truth as he may be uncaring of threats from the Maoists at this ripe age, I asked him, “Who is better — Dadas (as the Maoists are called in Bastar), or the State?”
Dadas, he replied without hesitation. Then he added, “We need water, medicine and schools, and we know Dadas can’t give us that. They have not given us these things in 30 years, but the State only sends the police, who beat us unnecessarily. That’s why I say Dadas are better. They at least don’t beat us without warning.”
During the Salwa Judum years, the State could not kill more than 50 uniformed Maoists. However, it killed more than 1,000 civilians (around 200 of them were non-uniformed Maoist cadres) and created thousands of new Maoists in return. If the recent reports are correct, the State seems to have learnt very little.
“Bastar is not Kashmir,” say CRPF officers who are posted in the remote areas of Bastar and have served in Kashmir and the Northeast before. “The forest is very thick here. There is almost no direct fight here as we faced in Kashmir. It is impossible to encircle the whole area, it is too big. And the most important point is, we get no intelligence. You have given us Co-BRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), but that has no eyes.”
During a recent incident in Bastar in which 15 policemen were killed, newspapers reported the next day that all the parents in the area knew about increased Maoist presence as the attendance that morning in all nearby schools was almost zero. But no one told the police.
No, peace talks with the Maoists will not help. We need to talk to the people.
There is absolutely no communication between the lower-class Adivasis in Bastar and mainstream India. We only talk to the tiny, creamy layer of Adivasis, who have got a little educated and speak Hindi. They have become sarpanches, teachers and rubber-stamp MLAs and MPs. The same people who advised and also formed part of the Salwa Judum. The interests of upper-class Adivasis are often different from those of the majority lower class, which is the backbone of the Maoist movement, especially women.
We need to understand that there are two wars going on in Bastar. One by fanatic communists, and the other by lower-class Adivasis who have lost patience with the system, which has given them nothing so far, has only appropriated their resources and has no respect for them. Both will have to be dealt with differently.
Most Adivasis in Bastar don’t support the Maoists for the cause of creating a communist raj all over the world. Most of them have not seen state capital Raipur, forget about Delhi. Lal Qile pe lal jhanda (red flag on Red Fort) can’t be part of their imagination.
The top-most Adivasi Maoist commander today is called Venkatesh (not his real name). He was educated until Class II. He has never been to Raipur. He saw trains when he went to pluck chillies as a daily-wage labourer in Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana).
These are the people the State should also be talking to. They are our future Laldengas. They are fighting for respect, their forest, their culture, their languages, maybe Sixth Schedule status, maybe a new state of Dandakaranya.
A communist revolution may be a good idea, but that looks a distant reality today. But there are other real revolutions that one can make use of.
Recently, a team from CGNet Swara travelled through Adivasi villages and weeklyhaats in Adivasi districts across six states for a month. We were trying to teach them how they can use their mobile phones to tell the world about what is happening around them. They need not wait for a reporter anymore.
We went to many villages where there is no electricity and no drinking water. They walk kilometres to fetch drinking water, but they have mobile phones.
They also walk kilometres to get their phones charged and even pay for it.
They often also don’t have any mobile signal in their villages.
While walking with Maoist Adivasi young boys and girls when I was writing my book, I had noticed their sixth sense in finding the source of water and their impeccable sense of direction. Wherever you are, how ever deep in the jungle that may be, they will find a source of water for you. And we hardly lost our way ever, though we were walking most of the time in the dark, sometimes in the middle of the night.
Now, one more thing needs to be added to that list. Wherever I visited this time, they took me to a place where you can get a mobile phone signal — sometimes it was up in hills, sometimes next to the river or in their weekly market.
Mobile phones are a one-way tool here. You can’t reach them as they are out of range all the time, but they can reach you.
This mobile phone revolution must be used to create a dialogue as we are doing with the CGNet Swara experiment in a very small way.
Shortwave radio, which is effectively utilised today only by foreign broadcasters and religious fanatics, should be used to access all these remote villages. If we link mobile phones, Internet and shortwave radio, we can create a democratic communication platform for oral communities like the Adivasis.
This will help Adivasis in talking to each other and also to the outside world. Bengalis got Bengal, Gujaratis got Gujarat, but the Gondi-speaking people were divided into six states, maybe not by design.
Recently, at a meeting we organised, we saw that educated Gond Adivasis from four states could not talk to each other because there is no education in their mother tongue and they learnt the language of the state in residential schools and forgot Gondi. This must change.
Adivasi drums, which were used to communicate across long distances, like telegraphy, should be helped with new drums such as mobile phones, Internet and shortwave radio to make it a two-way dialogue model.
This kind of platform will empower scattered Adivasi groups to make a stronger community. There can’t be a community without communication.
But if that strengthened community decides one day in future that they will not give land for mining, as a democracy, we must accept that. As a community, if they decide that they will vote for Maoists, we must accept that too.
They can bring Maoists to electoral politics, collectively. We can’t.
It is time for drum diplomacy, not war drums.
Shubhranshu Choudhary is the author of Let’s Call Him Vasu: With the Maoists in Chhattisgarh

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Naxal Women: the challenges that lie ahead

Original Source: http://www.transnationalstudies.org/Article/74

War has never been a male domain since women also get drawn into it as combatants, survivors and peace makers. India’s Maoist war which seeks to overthrow the state to establish socialist-communist society is no exception with women being impacted on both sides of the spectrum: as perpetrators and survivors. While many of the Naxal leaders have claimed that their support base has been in its waning phase, they have also deployed a different strategy which focuses on increasing the participation of women in the Naxal cadres. Current reports suggest that sixty per cent of lower Naxal cadres now comprise of women with their numbers steadily increasing. This has raised concerns amongst government quarters which see it as a method to elicit social acceptability in the tribal areas.
Mapping the movement shows that women have supported it at various levels since its inception in Naxalbari, a small village in West Bengal. In the 60s and 70s women joined the struggle as they were influenced by their male counter parts and were determined to bring about a social change. The class struggle subverted the need for equal participation and rights since most of the women were employed to do courier tasks provide logistical support to robberies, stealing arms and were not entrusted with organisational work. Several women found themselves retreating to their traditional feminine roles and observed that the movement was replete with nuanced gender blind episodes. As it progressed some women found a constricted space to express concerns over their rights since it was subverted by the larger albeit “more important” issue of class equality. In the October 2004 cease fire agreement between the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Naxalite leaders, none of the women were represented.
At present, the movement’s support base largely comprises tribals who, driven by their poverty stricken conditions, see no other alternative but to join the Maoists in their war against the State, mining corporations and the upper caste. Shubhranshu Choudhary in his book “Let’s call Him Vasu”, based on the Maoist war in Chattisgarh, has extensively highlighted the various reasons that drive women to join the war. Many pick up the gun to avenge the sexual exploitation they faced at the hands of security forces. Many find Naxalism as a route to free themselves from the clutches of patriarchy and domination from the upper caste. Rebecca, a Naxalite, says "state repression" drove her to take up arms and join the rebels too." We don't live this hard life for nothing. I had no choice but to join the revolution. Now there is no looking back," she says defiantly
Women’s bodies often become sights of war. The warring sides inflict violence upon women to avenge the treatment meted out to them. It is no different for women caught in the conflict between the State and Maoists. A Naxalite woman could be raped by State forces or suffer torture at the hands of Naxalites if they quit. Rape and sexual abuse is rampant within the Maoist cadres, Shobha Mandi also known as Uma in her latest book,”Ek Maowadi ki diary”, highlights that she was repeatedly raped and assaulted by her fellow commanders”.
"We had women from 16 to 40 years of age in our group. Almost all those I knew had experienced some form of sexual abuse or exploitation when they had stepped outside their homes to work or at the hands of security forces," says Rampati Ganjhu, a former rebel commander from the eastern state of Bihar. "These women joined us to seek revenge but things are very different now." More and more of them are disillusioned and some women in particular are being abused by the male leaders."
The tough forest life as a Maoist guerilla saps strength out of many drop outs who suffer from kidney problem, ulcers, joint pain and reproductive tract infections.  This further adds to their hardships when they want to start life afresh.  The societal fabric that exists in the region rarely offers a way for women to be independent and empowered in the cultural and the financial domain. Many women have also brought to fore the mismanagement that prevails in granting rehabilitation packages for those who have quit the movement
There is also a rapid increase in female headed household since most of the men either lose their lives in the conflict between the State or Naxalite movement or join the Naxalite movement. Women find it tough to cope up in the absence of socio-cultural, governmental and financial support. Kalavati, a Sarpanch leader, from a Gond tribe speaks of her difficulties in implementing construction of roads in her village. The Maoists hinder the project claiming that it would make them more vulnerable to the Indian security forces. This also impacts other developmental and humanitarian initiatives like health sanitation and education due to lack of connectivity. She has devised other alternatives to help alleviate the condition of women in her village like providing them with earning opportunities by cooking and delivering food with the help of government funds. However, largely women have to struggle in the absence of support mechanisms
Partly to blame is media which contributes towards glorifying the image of women Maoists and this pattern has been observed not only in the case of women Maoists in India but worldwide. Media tends to be transfixed on the image of the woman guerilla and rarely encapsulates the desperate conditions which prevail in the rural hinterlands and in turn propel these women to join the movement. In fact there is only recent emergence of interest in studying the impact of Maoist war on Women in the rural hinterlands of India.
In order to check upon the ever increasing number of women Maoists, it is imperative that the Government implements policies and introduces adequate safety measures for the women. A woman goes on to impact her entire community therefore it’ s extremely crucial that positive measures are taken to alleviate them from their poverty stricken conditions and at the same time weaken the Maoist support base.
References
-Singh Pratibha, “Women’s Role in the Naxalite Movement”, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, April 2013
-BBC News, “Why Women join India’s Maoist Groups”, November 2013
-Singh Vijaita, “Women Maoist Commanders play a big role in encounters”, Indian Express, March 2014
-Haque Saiful, “Wife swapping, Adultery, Rapes. Former Woman Maoist’s shocking revelations on the ultras”, India Today, June 2013
-Paul Stella, “Tribal women leaders seek safety & innovation as Maoist insurgent conflict continues”, Women’ News Network
-Ramanna P.V., “Women in Maoist Ranks”, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, August 2013

Monday 26 May 2014

Saudi women urged to work in security forces

Original Source:http://www.arabianbusiness.com/saudi-women-urged-work-in-security-forces-551612.html


Saudi security experts, lawyers and some Shoura Council members have demanded that Saudi women be employed in the security forces’ investigation departments to handled sensitive cases such as rape and sexual harassment, it was reported.
Thuraya Al Areed, a female member of the Shoura Council said it was important for Saudi women to work in the sector, telling a local newspaper that often females victims could not report the assault in detail as police stations always demand the presence of the father or a male guardian “who can sometimes be the aggressor himself”.
“More often, police stations ignore female reports in such cases regarding it as a family matter where policemen being men, do not feel able to handle the case,” she said.
“However, if a female was in charge of the case, there would be no need for the presence of a male member.”
Ahmad Al Othman, a lawyer, was quoted as saying that employing women in security services would serve the best interests of females at large.
“It is absolutely important for Saudi women who are nominated for the job to be given specialised training and attend courses in the security field,” he was quoted as saying.

Sunday 18 May 2014

From Taliban to Boko Haram and back again

Original Source :http://carolmann.net/wordpress/?p=310


The female body as battleground for extremists
Whilst the world engages in public breast-beating and vocal rage against the Boko Haram and the plight of the hapless, kidnapped girls, no-one seems to have expressed that feeling of  déjà vu all over again.
The last instance such a public display of international outrage occurred when, in 2012, Pakistani schoolgirl Malalai Yusufzai was viciously attacked by the local variety of Taliban militant Islamists who are responsible for the destruction of hundreds of schools all along the Afghan-Pakistani border.
The attack on Afghanistan by US and NATO forces in late 2001 was shrouded in self-righteous indignation against the Taliban at a time when G.W. Bush needed some form of legitimation to invade the country as the links between Kabul and the 9/11 bombings looked at best tenuous. The fact that the Taliban had been in power for six years, all schools closed and girls’ access to education  banned had, until then, not been deemed suitably alarming by the Great Powers.
So why are they reacting now to Boko Haram, founded in 2002 and active since 2009 and for whom kidnapping of girls is a familiar tactic.? That is the real question which I hope someone more qualified than myself  will investigate.
In the meantime it is interesting to see what is shared by  Taliban and Boko Haram and the countries where they operate. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria are amongst the most corrupt countries in the world[1] Polio is endemic in the three (nowhere else). The armed Political Fundamentalist groups are equally opposed to any form of female agency, expressed through systematic gender violence.
Each group has instituted active policies that have had disastrous consequences for civilian populations, public health and education generally, reversing any efforts undertaken to improve the standard of living. In North Eastern Nigeria where the Boko Haram rules, as in Northern Pakistan and all of rural Afghanistan, under Taliban and Deobandi control, infant and maternal mortality are catastrophic. The opposition to education has been much publicized, as it is known that there is a direct correlation between literacy and public health. But the consequences of militant Fundamentalism on young mothers and babies never make the headlines. Of course insecurity and armed combat, as in any conflict situation are a major impediment to accessing hospitals and dispensaries (when they exist). But add to that forced marriages of extremely young teenagers (as young as 11)encouraged by Boko Haram and every variety of Deobandi/Taliban (all political allies), plus the prohibition regarding Western health care, the ban on girls’ education (which makes female doctors and nurses unacceptable) and you get theworld’s highest rate of maternal mortality (in the North-East of Nigeria) and the same in the remoter Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan..In all these cases, marriage is regulated by state, religious and customary law which do not afford any protection to the poorest. The infants born to these under-fed girls (because their value is deemed lesser than that of males) have few chances for survival and here as well, statistics are appalling: Afghanistan, despite the billions poured in holds the worst child mortality rates on the planet[2]
These Fundamentalist terror groups set themselves up as the only legitimate opponents to the West and fight the most visible manifestations of the Western idea of progress, that is to say women’s rights to health and education. In all three cases, the protagonists, despite being religious zealots, engage in big business on a transnational scale and high- level smuggling (arms in Nigeria, drugs in Afghanistan and Pakistan) with the more than probable connivance of those powers that supposedly fight them. Be it Karzai or Goodlife Jonathan, these leaders have shown remarkable indifference to the potential (and partly realized) fate of 50% of their population.
On one side, the US finances major aid programmes in Afghanistan that  are frequently inefficient because of inadequate knowledge of local culture. On the other, by negotiating with the Taliban, (since at least 2010) the American government actively supports corrupt politicians who have removed human rights from their agenda. Indeed, by bolstering warlords and government officials active in the opium-producing areas, these cynical real politicians know full well that they arede facto making school and hospitals inaccessible for the girls who live there. There again, the business advantages licit and illicit far outnumber any humanitarian aid committed to these regions. That’s showbusiness, good for press relations and feel-good media.
What of Nigeria? No institution is officially negotiating with Boko Haram who represent nobody but themselves. But their elusive finances indicate that more money is going in their direction than towards stopping the major humanitarian crisis in their benighted provinces. Their funding is a mystery but seems to include protection money from the governors in the region, bank robberies, ransoms from kidnapping, hand-outs from Al-Qaeda, allies such as AQMI and al-Shabab, themselves known to be financed by Qatar as well as money funneled through Islamic charities, via it seems Saudi Arabia[3]. The smuggling of weapons is certainly a major source of income. It is rumoured that Boko Haram might be financed by drug-cartels in South America who have for decades benefited from the not-so-occult help of the CIA, in other words the main allies of the Gulf State potentates. But in the meantime, Michelle Obama’s speech looks ever so moving on television…
So there we have it, from the Taliban to Boko Haram and back again, the female body is the battle ground of extremists, quietly murdered with the help of the  richest and the most powerful on this planet…

Sunday 27 April 2014

Presence of military does not contribute to insecurity of women and girls in former conflict zone, Sri Lanka says

Original Source: http://www.colombopage.com/archive_14A/Apr26_1398527610CH.php


Sri Lanka rejected the inference made by certain organizations and reports that the presence of military contributed to the insecurity of women and girls in the former conflict-affected areas.
Speaking at the United Nations Security Council debate on Conflict-Related sexual Violence Friday (April 25), the Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Ambassador Shavendra Silva said that certain organizations are involved in propagating false reports of sexual violence against the Sri Lankan military.
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his annual report on the issue submitted to the UN Security Council Thursday noted continued vulnerability of women and children in areas formerly affected by conflict, partly due to the continued militarization in those areas.
The UN Chief citing the UN resolution A/HRC/25/33 said during 2013, women and girls, especially in female-headed households, continued to be vulnerable to sexual harassment and abuse, including at the hands of military personnel.
Giving details the envoy explained that during the conflict period from January 2007 to May 2009, seven Security Forces personnel had been reported as having been involved in five incidents of sexual violence in the Northern Province and in the post-conflict period up until May 2012, 10 Security Forces personnel had been reported as having been involved in six incidents.
The involvement of those personnel as a percentage of the total population accused stood at 5.6 percent in the conflict period and 3.3 percent in the post-conflict period.
The Secretary General however has noted in his report that the Sri Lankan government has reported that the military has taken strict action in such cases.
In a majority of the cases, the perpetrators had been close relatives or neighbors of the victims, Ambassador Silva noted.
He explained that accusations, often with disturbing details have been made for example, in a recent report by human rights lawyer Yasmin Sooka, without providing sufficient details such as a time and place and the identification of victims, to enable investigations and prosecutions.
He said the accusations are then repeated in other publications of different organizations, thereby contributing to forming an opinion which is propagated without evidence.
According to Ambassador Silva, none of these allegations have been substantiated by verifiable data in any of these documents.
"Significantly, no credible evidence has been directly brought to the attention of Government authorities by any of these parties. The Government has not been provided the evidence which is claimed to be in the possession of the authors of these reports in order to investigate and respond," he added.
Therefore, he rejected the inferences made by certain organizations and reports that the presence of military contributed to the insecurity of women and girls in the former conflict-affected areas.

Saturday 26 April 2014

Nagalim: Increasing Rate Of Crimes Mobilizes Women’s Organizations - See more at: http://www.unpo.org/article/17076#sthash.gLK4KjKj.dpuf

Original Source: http://www.unpo.org/article/17076

Several women’s organizations in Nagalim have condemned violence against women, which has considerably increased. There have been several cases of rape of minors, a trafficking case, and the murder of a woman in April 2014. The organizations have appealed for a stimulation of a sense of morality, responsibility, and discipline, and asked law enforcement agencies to do more, warning that otherwise violence against women will continue.
Below is an article published by the Morung Express
The ever-growing rate of crimes against women in Naga society has yet again drawn the ire of Naga women organizations, which have urged law enforcing agencies to ensure befitting punishment, and the society to imbibe a sense of morality, responsibility and discipline.
The Naga Women’s Union (NWU) and the Indigenous Women’s Forum for North-East India (IWFNEI) in a joint statement today [April 22, 2014] condemned acts of gender insensitivity, atrocities and disrespect of women in society. Rampant violence against women, they stated, has reached an “alarming level.” The two women’s bodies cited the examples of the “rape” of a minor girl by Povetso at Mohonkhola, Kohima on April 13 [2014], rape of minor girl by S. Ngaopuni (65) of Poumai Colony at Koirengei Hills, Imphal on April 17, rape and assault of a woman (43) by Waikhom Saratkumar (45) in Thoubal on April 14, rape of minor girl of Sora Mayai Leikai, abducted and raped by Md. Rahman alias Namba (22) of Sangai Humpham Cherapur, and a case of trafficking which came to light when an inmate (minor) of Grace Academy, Hamleikhong in Ukhrul District, escaped from the clutches of alleged traffickers while her younger sister in class V is still believed to be in the custody of traffickers.
“These incidents of evil acts have shocked our collective conscience and it is an indication of how inhumane one can become,” stated the NWU and IWFNEI. They appealed to “every sensible person” to denounce these violent acts and “cooperate in rooting out social evils and urge law enforcing agencies to award befitting punishment to the culprits as per the law of the land and promptly trace and rescue the missing minor girl from the kidnappers.” The two women’s organizations also encouraged that “a sense of morality, responsibility, discipline and God fearing is duly imparted in the families, schools, Churches, institutions, etc to eradicate such violence and cruel acts against Women.”
Meanwhile, the Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA) on April 22 [2014] condemned in the “strongest term” the “brutal and senseless murder” of a woman on April 17 in Dimapur, as well as the alleged rape of a minor girl in Kohima. “Such unethical, monstrous and most inhuman crime should be seriously investigated and punished in its severest manner so that it don’t happen again,” stated the NMA in a press release from its president Abei-u Meru and secretary, Lochumbeni Humtsoe. “Violent crimes against women have been re-occuring in our society and just verbal condemnation is not enough. Unless law takes strict action and creates a sense of fear in people, such sad incidents will continue to happen,” it said, also appealing and demanding for the law enforcing agencies to “ensure that the perpetrators are given the strictest punishment possible.”
- See more at: http://www.unpo.org/article/17076#sthash.gLK4KjKj.dpuf


Wednesday 23 April 2014

Conflict induced displacement must end

Original Source:


The 30 July 2013 announcement of the Congress Working Committee decision to create a separate Telangana state within the Union of India spurred other statehood demands. In Assam, ethnic groups like the Bodos, Karbis, Dimasas, and Koch Rajbonshis – which have all been fighting for separate states for themselves – unleashed serial agitations and economic blockades to intensify their demands. This fuelled prevailing friction along ethnic lines; tension turned into violence and the result has been large-scale displacement.
December 2013 witnessed another episode in the history of displacement in Assam. More than 3,000 people, a majority belonging to the Rengma Naga tribe, a minority in Karbi Anglong district, have been displaced. Violent conflict between two insurgent groups and a statehood demand are reasons behind this forced displacement.
A series of incidents in Karbi Anglong district, beginning in June 2013, preceded this forced movement. According to AHRC's sources, on 9 June 2013, members of Karbi People's Liberation Tiger (KPLT), a militant organisation, issued a notice to Rengma Nagas to leave the district within a month or face dire consequences. The Rengma Nagas were also asked to surrender cadres of the Naga Rengma Hills Protection Force (NRHPF), an armed group believed to be formed in December 2012 to “protect” the Rengma Naga community.
The shismogenesis of KPLT relates to the history of the Karbi quest for autonomy vis-a-vis neighbouring tribes and in relation to the Union of India. The KPLT, earlier known as the Anti-Talks Factions of Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF-ATF), is an off-shoot of the Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF), which itself broke away from the United People's Democratic Solidarity (UDPS). UDPS signed ceasefire agreement with the Union government and surrendered in December 2011. The KLNLF is itself now in peace negotiations with the government, having signed a Suspension of Operation (SOS). However, the KPLT – formed when 20 members broke away from KLNLF in 2010 – decided to continue demands for the creation of a Hemprek Kanthim (self-ruled homeland) for the Karbi community in the Kabri Anglong and Dima Hasao districts.
As a result of the KPLT notice, as simmering tensions began to boil over, more than 500 villagers fled their homes within a month's time. These internally displaced people found shelter in what is now known as Chokihola relief camp.
October and November 2013 saw the KPLT allegedly impose an economic blockade, restrict movement, and make extortion demands on the Rengma Nagas. This severely obstructed the orange trade in the district, one of vital sources of livelihood of the Rengma Nagas in Karbi Anglong district. The Assam government failed, abysmally, to take measures to lift the isolation and economic blockage that affected the freedoms and trade of minorities in the district.
In order to restore peace and normalcy, community based organisations convened a meeting on 17 December 2013 and concluded that in the future anti-social activities would be monitored and respective tribes would hold their members accountable. The meeting also urged the creation for a police outpost in the area with immediate effect. The absence of police presence in the area to this date is but an indication of a negligent state.
Unfortunately, this community-based peace initiative failed; a series of killings, assaults, and destruction of property ensued, allegedly carried out by both the KPLT and NRHPF cadre.
Subsequent attempts for restoring peace by the social organisations, local political groups, and by police authorities proved fruitless. Violent attacks restarted on 27 December 2013. Fear displaced more than 3,000 people. Police inaction and passivity is considered to have contributed to the fear and exodus.
Tension reached a height again on 3 January 2014 when nine dead bodies were recovered from a grave in Chumukedima near Dimapur, Nagaland. The bodies were identified as those belonging to the Karbi community. NRHPF cadres are suspected to have been involved in these 9 murders in retaliation to attacks committed on Rengma Nagas.
The Assam Government announced compensation of INR 6 lakh for each of these 9 deaths. This announcement created yet another rift between the two communities. This is because of the unequal distribution of compensation to the kith and kin of Karbis and Rengma Nagas killed since end December 2013.
According to media sources, 3,131 people were forced to take shelter in nine relief camps in Bokajan, Assam. Of them, 1,683 are Rengma Nagas and 1,448 are Karbis as of 7 January, 2014. (The Hindu, 7 January 2014).
As on 22 March 2014, a total of 542 displaced persons out of the 1002 people lodged in the Silonijan Relief Camp, in Bokajan Sub division, have returned to their homes. However, being a minority community in Karbi Anglong, fear and insecurity prevails among the Rengma Nagas. Rengma Naga leaders have appealed for financial relief and rehabilitation support for the displaced people of their community.
An independent fact finding mission led by social activists submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Assam on 20 January 2014. The team observed that the state government had failed to maintain law and order despite prior intimation regarding impending violence and heightened conflict. The team expressed concern about the merging of judicial and executive powers in the district, where the Deputy Commissioner has been handling the law and order situation as well as conducting trails for cases. Karbi Anglong is an autonomous district as per Sixth Schedule [pursuant to Articles 244(2) and 275(1)] of the India Constitution where judicial and executive powers are not separated. This status has raised suspicions regarding the possibility of equitable justice guaranteed by the Constitution since often executives are not trained in law to deliver judicial duties.
Another memorandum, submitted on 30 January 2014 to the Governor of Assam by Rengma Naga organisations alleges that Rengma Nagas have been systematically sidelined from decision making processes for decades. The Memorandum includes a long outline of severe human rights violations and deprivation in Karbi Anglong district, which, if accurate, concern the AHRC. The memorandum speaks of multiple levels of corruption, economic blockades, disappearances, violations of right to free movement, general police inaction, and extra judicial killings, amongst other problems.

Displacement, and even the threat of it, affects communities enormously and causes insecurity, both physical and economical. It has been well documented how displacement increases human trafficking, as displaced women seek income and financial security.
The AHRC condemns the violent attacks and calls on the Governor of Assam to initiate an investigation and hold the perpetrators – no matter which ethnic group they belong to – accountable for the multiple acts of killings, torture, and restrictions on freedom. The AHRC urges the Assam government to ensure adequate compensation and rehabilitation of those displaced. Both the government of Assam and Union government should ensure justice, relief, rehabilitation and equal compensation for Rengma and Karbi victims and survivors.
Furthermore, the inactive role of law enforcement agencies in such times of ethnic tension, passivity which displaced itself in the face of repeated and desperate attempts by victims to seek protection, raises deep concern. The roles of the police and security personnel need re-assessment so the forces can become accountable and just. Re-establishing security to life and property with police presence should be a priority.
And, if the government of Assam and the Union of India ever wish to amend their policy of governance by neglect, a long term strategy for conflict resolution among different communities in north east India might be wise and in the interest of peace and justice.

Tuesday 15 April 2014

Educated women in Srinagar pessimistic about elections

Original Source: http://kashmirreader.com/educated-women-in-srinagar-pessimistic-about-elections/

Most of the educated women in Srinagar appear not to be interested in casting their vote during upcoming parliamentary elections, citing reasons like less rights and privileges which the women enjoy.
Many educated women who chose to speak to Kashmir Reader said they fervently believed their vote won’t make any difference.
Lawyer Narjees Nawab, for instance, believes that women’s vote is not of much help and it is a socio-political election with no gender sensitivity. “Gender has no significant role to play, neither inclusion nor reference in any election manifesto, be it from female contender or male. There is no gender sensitivity,” she said.
Nawab said that the issues pertaining to women are always given less priority over other things. “Like always, gender is a non-issue in here. It becomes an issue only for teaching moral values to girls,” she said.
Echoing similar views, Shaheen Bashir, a college lecturer said, “As per government revelations only 12 per cent of women constitute its workforce. A government where there is such less space for a woman, what significance does her vote hold? Probably nothing.”
Mariya Zahoor, a banker, said that women’s right to vote has no importance at a place where women’s safety and empowerment are taken for a ride. “I would have voted for a government that ensures safety of women. But sad enough, they only talk about bijli, sadak and pani. Nobody talks about women empowerment, women safety. Every other day, a woman faces one or the other form of brutality in Kashmir. And the culprits roam around freely. I cannot think of casting my vote under such deplorable condition of women folk,” said Zahoor.
Adding another dimension, Dr Taizeena Khan, Founder/Principal ‘Red Letter Phyline(RLP)’, Centre for women’s and Pediatric Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, said that it is unfair for people to vote at ‘gunpoint’.
“I wonder how people can cast their votes under restrictions. It is quite likely that on the day of voting, we will be put under curfew or restrictions and asked to vote. How fair is that? In my opinion, nobody should vote, be it women or men. Let them first provide us freedom of speech and then ask us to vote for them,” Khan said.
Adding to it, Sabah Yaqoob, a Management student, said, “Our state is politically unstable and I think it is of no use to cast a vote. How can we caste our votes when the government could not punish the rapists and murderers of Asiya and Neelofar (in Shopian in 2009). Our women have been molested and our governments have tried to shield the culprits. So I would say whichever party comes to power in Kashmir, it is all the same as long as our issues aren’t solved.”

Sunday 23 March 2014

Afghan women break tradition, join April 5 elections

Original Source:http://www.nation.com.pk/international/22-Mar-2014/afghan-women-break-tradition-join-april-5-elections



KABUL- Pictures of female candidates on the walls of the Afghan capital city alongside male contenders in the April 5, 2014 general elections speak volumes on the country's transition from the iron-clad rule of the Taliban more than 13 years ago.

Scores of female politicians, some of them pretty enough to be beauty queens, are now openly campaigning for seats in the provincial councils or assemblies thus elevating the status of Afghan women in the traditionally patriarchal society. These young and ambitious female contenders, in full beauty make-up, along with elderly women candidates, have come up with promising mottoes such as "equity, justice and social welfare" for all Afghans regardless of gender and stations in life. They urged all Afghans to use their right of suffrage in next month's presidential and provincial councils' elections.

Afghanistan is a country of traditions and tribal customs. Many Afghans, especially those living in the rural areas, are against women participation in social activities including politics, even opposing education for girls. "Learning from the past experiences plus today's efforts for the rights of women can guarantee a better future for Afghan women," one female candidate for the Kabul Provincial Council said in her campaign poster.

Although there is no female candidate for president, there are two women vying for the position of vice president. "We believe in act and not in empty word," says a slogan written below the photo of Habiba Qaderi, a candidate for a seat in the Provincial Council in Kabul. The slogan - "The knight of your demands" - in a billboard with the photo of woman candidate Shukiba Saifi Kamal has drawn the attention of voters in the capital city. Khatera Ishaqzai is another female candidate for a seat in Kabul's Provincial Council. In her campaign posters, she is promising to "ensure justice, human rights and women rights" for all.

Because of security problems, most women candidates are limiting their campaign sorties in the capital since campaigning in the rural areas could pose danger to their lives. The militant Taliban has openly threatened to disrupt the election process, even saying that they would kill candidates who will join the election as well as their supporters. The Taliban has said that the election is another ploy of the U.S. to continue its stranglehold of Afghanistan.

The Taliban threat has prompted male and female candidates to call on the government to provide them with security escorts, especially during the campaign and on the election day. A statement posted on the Taliban website last week ordered its fighters to target election workers, election sites and security escorts given to candidates. At least a dozen election workers have been killed since the start of the election campaign on Feburary 2, 2014. In a latest attack on a police station in Jalalabad city, eastern Afghanistan, on Thursday for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, 18 people including 10 police were killed and 15 others sustained injuries.

Sunday 16 March 2014

War and famine, peace and light? The economic dynamics of conflict in Somalia 1993–2009

Original Source: http://jpr.sagepub.com/content/50/5/545.full

The literature on war economies argues that prolonged civil wars have an economic logic: certain groups may obtain material gains from committing acts of violence and hence resist peacebuilding efforts. Objective tests of these predictions have so far been limited, as corruption and conflict prevent the collection of reliable economic data on the ground. Remote sensing and Geographic Information Science techniques enable us to overcome these problems of terrestrial data collection. Electricity consumption manifested as night-time light emissions recorded in satellite images is proposed as a proxy for changes in disposable income in Somalia’s cities. The nightlight images provide striking illustrations of economic decline and recovery and clearly show the contrast between the stable regions of Northern Somalia and the chaos and anarchy of Southern Somalia. Based on geospatial analyses of settlement patterns in Somali cities, we argue that specific metrics of light output can be used to proxy for the incomes of different social groups. We use geo-coded conflict event data to analyze the economic impact of conflict on local light output and therefore incomes. We find a significant peace dividend for poorer households located at the margins of cities, which benefit both from local stability and more peaceful conditions in the country as a whole. By contrast, the central business districts are relatively well insulated from the effects of local conflict, and violence in Mogadishu has positive effects on light output from cities where humanitarian aid agencies are located. Future peace initiatives need to confront these economic incentives for continued conflict and state failure in Somalia.
There is currently much political and academic interest in Somalia. Addressing issues of governance in Somalia is important for maritime security, for regional stability and to help millions of victims of periodic drought and conflict. Considerable political and financial resources have been invested by the international community to resolve the civil conflict over the last two decades. However, so far all attempts to bring about effective and consensual central governance have failed, either through domestic ‘spoilers’ or through the intervention of neighbouring countries (Menkhaus, 2007a,2009). Questions are raised about the potentially counterproductive effects of international intervention in Somalia. Eminent country experts argue that international actors may contribute to the ‘war economy’ and (inadvertently) fund the conflict (Hansen, 2007Hansen et al., 2012Menkhaus, 2009). To design more effective interventions we need evidence on how the Somali war economy operates.
The literature on ‘war economies’ argues that in some countries war is not a temporary breakdown, but a sustainable, alternative form of social order. The absence of central government creates economic opportunities for some groups, which have no interest in bringing the conflict to an end (Duffield, 1998). Conflict can therefore become entrenched as ‘economics by other means’ (Keen, 1998). The simplest form of the ‘war economy’ is banditry and looting. In more advanced war economies armed groups provide ‘protection’ for (legal and illicit) businesses, tax production, trade and financial flows and manipulate and divert humanitarian and development aid. Warlords provide government functions in so-called ‘shadow states’ (Reno, 19981999). Violence is an integral part of the war economy as elites use it to extract, contest and redistribute economic rents and attract and divert humanitarian aid.
The literature on war economies is based on detailed case studies and generates clear testable implications for the economic dynamics of conflict. However, because of the absence of regular and reliable data collection, the economic dynamics of civil war have not yet been statistically explored. In this article we use remote sensing and geographic information science techniques to recover the economic history of Somalia’s cities during the civil war from the archives of images of night-time light emissions. This allows us to test key hypotheses of the ‘war economies’ literature with economic data that are not manipulated by any of the conflict parties. Night-time light emissions have been shown to be an excellent proxy for income especially in statistically underdeveloped and corrupt countries (Chen & Nordhaus, 2011;Henderson, Storeygard & Weil, 2011). We present striking images of the patterns of economic decline and recovery across Somalia from 1993 to 2008, indicating the effectiveness of informal governance in supporting local economic development as well as the costs of high intensity conflict.
We create proxies for changes in income for different social groups by looking at changes in the intensity of light use among those already using electricity and changes in access to electricity at the cities’ margins. We show how these correlate with exogenous economic shocks and variations in local and overall conflict intensity derived from the EDACS geo-coded conflict event data on Somalia. Finally, we statistically explore the economic dynamics of the Somali conflict in a multivariate statistical model.
We show that the rich are relatively well insulated from the economic costs of violence, whereas the poor experience significant peace dividends. Conflict outside a city may even bring local benefits, either through diverting investment from more violent areas or through triggering international aid flows. Changes in light emissions from Somalia therefore provide evidence for the existence of a profitable war economy. This may explain the apathy and occasional resistance from political and business elites to previous international efforts to resolve state failure in Somalia.
The article is structured as follows: in the second section we review the literature on war economies and derive our hypotheses. In the third section we review the nightlights literature, introduce our method and data and present visual images of the economic history of Somalia’s cities. In the fourth section we show correlations between nightlight emissions, conflict and exogenous economic shocks, providing preliminary evidence of the validity of the income proxies and the war economy hypotheses. We then present the results of a full multivariate econometric model. The fifth section concludes.