Recognition of Statehood or Recognition for Statehood: The Legal Strategy behind Palestine’s Application for UN Full Membership
UPeace graduate student Bernard Ntahiraja examines the legal basis behind the strategic 2011 application for full membership of Palestine within the United Nations. He concludes that strategy as opposed to a sincere legal claim to statehood inspired Palestine’s bid before the UN, with the clear objective of accelerating the process toward true international recognition of a Palestinian state.
The Bougainville conflict: A classic outcome of the resource-curse effect?
Pre-existing ethnic and economic divisions between Bougainville and the rest of Papua New Guinea and the mismanagement of the copper wealth of the Panguna Mine exacerbated existing tensions and provided radical Bougainvilleans an excuse to legitimise the pursuit of violence as a means to resolve their grievances. This article examines the causes of the Bougainville conflict in Papua New Guinea from 1988 -1997, specifically investigating the role of the resource curse (as propounded by Collier) and briefly discusses implications for democracy and future development on the island.
The article finds that not one single factor should be isolated as a sole cause of the conflict but that there is a series of predominant causes which can trace their roots directly to the Panguna Mine. Pan-Bougainvillean ethnicity should not be discounted as an important factor but should be seen as an external projection of economic and inter-ethnic grievances.
Zimbabwe’s new constitutional dispensation and children’s right to education
Zimbabwe’s new constitution reiterates the right to education for all citizens and permanent residents, and calls for state resources to be made available in order to fulfill this right without discrimination. What is needed now is the political will to realize the right to education for all, and to harmonize existing legislation with the new constitutional provisions.
Stranded migrants, human rights, sovereignty and politics
Law, human rights and migration specialists analyze the case of the Cuban migrants who remained stranded for more than two months in Costa Rica, after Nicaragua refused to grant transit visas, truncating their voyage it to the United States. Politics, sovereignty, the application of legal instruments and the fulfillment of the migrants’ human rights: how are they balanced and prioritized as governments make decisions?
This article was originally published in Spanish by the Costa Rican magazine Firma.
The Unraveled and Disquieting Human Rights Violation of Afghanistan
The issues of Human Rights violations have always been of grave concern to the Human Right Defenders. The cases of human right violations ignite fury and anguish and pose challenge for the world. This paper here forth brings forward the odious crime of ‘Bacha Bazi’, and explains how the organized crime takes place in the country, it reflects on the plight of the victim, questions the responsibility of the government to act and pushes for humanitarian intervention. It states that though the crime is restricted to one country but the onus of demolishing this traditional practice lies on the international community as a whole. The world should therefore come together and join hands to save the future of the Afghan Boys.
Keywords: Bacha Bazi, International Conventions, Human Rights, Young boys, Afghanistan, Sexual Slavery
Towards Conflict Transformation in Nepal: A Case For UN Mediation
UN peace facilitators could help the Nepalese to draw up a viable compromise, perhaps engaging the parties and the civil society in “constitution making” as itself a part of the process of conflict transformation. They could help overcome the problems of mutual distrust, and ensure transparency and compliance with the code of conduct. UN resident coordinator in Nepal, Matthgew Kahane, has said that UN help could build trust in both sides to facilitate the resumption of the peace negotiations. Unfortunately, the government of Nepal can veto UN mediation because the UN can only intervene if it has the consent of all parties.
Uganda Needs its Human Rights Commission!
Some elements of the Ugandan Government want to abolish the Human Rights Commission. The Commission, argues, Ferdinand Katendeko, is vital for the health of the Ugandan Democracy.
The Japanese Constitution as Peace System
The wars in Asia would seem to demand that certain European countries, the U.S., and Japan all re-examine the value systems that presumably provided the justification for those wars. Many situations of “instability” in this century were actually based on the preconceptions and deeds of the nations that applied that label. Now as ever, if a country has reason to be opposed to something, it will typically display a tendency to assume that other countries are engaged in strategic designs or acting from an adversarial position.