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SSR Resource Centre
Innovative Approaches to Security and Justice Programming
This article provides a summary of a recent security & justice seminar series organized by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). This contribution provides a great overview of a key research theme for the SSR Resource Centre and the Centre for Security Governance and is a useful primer to innovative approaches to security and justice programming and 2nd generation security sector reform.
Centre for Security Governance
Event Video - eSeminar on Climate Change and Peacebuilding
On Friday February 26, the Centre for Security Governance hosted a free online event on Climate Change, the Environment and Peacebuilding. If you missed this eSeminar, the event video is now available here.
News
These are the 11,000 soldiers who might save Afghanistan
The Afghan army is criticized as ineffective because of defections, timidity, and an inconsistent command-and-control network. However, its commando and special-forces units might feel the void and be sufficient to fight back against the Taliban. - Tim Craig, The Washington Post
Ukrainian Women Face Tough Battle for Equality in Military
In Ukraine, labor regulations ban women from professions associate with hard labor, including multiple military specializations and participation in active combat. Only a small fraction of the 14,000 women in the country’s armed forces enjoy the same salary, benefits, recognition, and prospects as men in equal roles. - Oleksiy Kuzmenko, Voice of America
“El Chapo” Threatens Extradition, Pushes for Better Jail Conditions
Supporters of El Chapo have launched a media campaign to improve the kingpin’s conditions in prison, rather than to call for an expedited extradition to the United States. They allege that he is being slowly tortured in Altiplano, the maximum-security federal prison in which he is being housed. - Quenton King, Insight Crime
Uribe ends opposition; Colombia congress approves FARC demobilization zones
The Colombian Congress agreed to create special zones, all of which will be temporary and outside of city limits, for FARC guerrillas to concentrate for the demobilization process. The intention of the zones is to identify the units and individuals who refuse to participate in the process. - Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports
South Sudan: UN reports campaign of killing and rape
A new United Nations report found that South Sudanese soldiers had undertaken a campaign of killing and rape during conflict in the country. In lieu of being paid official wages, the soldiers were allowed to commit crimes against civilians, highlighting the critical issue of impunity within the government. - Al Jazeera
SPLA-IO deploys senior military officers to various army divisions, brigades
South Sudan’s Vice President Riek Machar deployed hundreds of senior military officers to army divisions and brigades as part of a countrywide reorganization of the forces. The deployment comes as the precursor to the leadership’s formation of a transitional government. The- Sudan Tribune
Massacres “High Cost” of El Salvador Security Strategy: Vice President
El Salvador’s vice president has suggested that new levels of violence in the country are an inevitable cost of the government’s security strategy. He said that criminal structures are reacting irrationally to targeting by the security forces, raising questions about the sustainability of the strategy. - Sam Tabory, Insight Crime
El Salvador mulls suspending some rights as crime spikes
The Salvadoran president met with the country’s legal institutions to discuss the viability of suspending some constitutional rights as part of a state of emergency. As the country’s murder rates have reached record highs, the government is considering tapping into communications channels and prohibiting meetings and free movement. - Reuters
Analysis
Without addressing women’s security, we can’t hope for equality
In this piece on the effects of insecurity on women’s equality, the author highlights cases in which national police forces have failed to respond or protect women’s rights. She highlights the role of the National Police Service Commission in Kenya, which has been tasked with conducting a nationwide vetting process to reduce further police abuse, based in part on complaints from women who can identify abusive police officers or negligent commanders. - Amrita Kapur, Open Democracy
To establish the rule of law, cut off elites’ purpose and power. Here’s how.
The authors discuss how aid agencies and scholars should approach the rule of law in developing countries to reduce corruption and poverty. Rather than focus on urging governments to adopt the rule of law, they argue that reformers should work to eliminate government subsidies that sustain criminal elites and replace compromised bureaucrats who patronize them. - Neil A. Abrams and M. Steven Fish, The Washington Post
Time for transparency in overseas military aid and financing
While the U.S. Departments of State and Defense have several billion-dollar budgets for overseas military aid and financing, the exact amounts of aid and its effects remain unknown. The author asserts that the assistance needs to be measured and evaluated so as to prevent the reliance on failed strategies. - Rachel Kleinfeld, The Hill
Military Aid Should Do No Harm
Citing the failures of U.S. military assistance programs, the author notes the critical problems seen in past initiatives. Too often, unrealistic expectations are placed on the assistance being provided, and too little emphasis is given to assessing areas where assistance and training can have positive effects. - William Hartung, US News
Libya’s militias take justice into their hands
The author discusses the role of Libya’s militias in the country’s justice system, including the reliance of the police on certain militias to arrest and detain criminals. In many cases, crimes are not fully investigated and are attributed to unknown perpetrators, leading to a cycle of vengeance. - Mustafa Fetouri, Al-Monitor
Why Almost No One Believes Egypt’s Security Services
Egypt’s interior ministry is facing heightened scrutiny as a result of high-profile accusations of abuses by the security forces. Recent controversies, including the murders of a foreign student and a key prosecutor, have renewed calls from human rights groups for the vast police and security apparatus to be reformed. - Jared Malsin, Time
Victims still “disappearing” from Egyptian streets
With Egypt’s security institutions failing to carry out proper investigations, many detainees are physically pressured or emotionally coerced into confessing to crimes. The author highlights the prevalence of forced disappearances and the stories of the individuals who are released from Homeland Security’s detention centers. - Aya Nader, Al-Monitor
How Tunisia’s military has changed during its transition to democracy
The author discusses how the democratic political transition in Tunisia has influenced the military and how the country’s security apparatuses have become more evenly balanced. While the military has received new weapons contracts and international partnerships, the most notable change comes from its growing political influence, with many officers being appointed to traditionally civilian posts. - Sharan Grewel, The Washington Post
What Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation?
U.S. military assistance has been used to train more than 20,000 Palestinian security forces and provided thousands of pieces of non-lethal equipment from uniforms to vehicles. Although the forces have been restructured into eight units with separate operational mandates and training has improved, the vast majority of Palestinians still view the forces and the government as corrupt. - Seth Binder, Al Jazeera
In this article on Myanmar’s transition from military rule to democracy, the author describes how the former military rulers have been affected. He demonstrates the military’s hold on enough power to allow officers to get away with murder, citing a specific and recent case. - Nick Davies, The Guardian
Publications
Training Manual on Police Integrity
In this knowledge product from DCAF’s Police Integrity Building Programme, the authors aim to assist ministries of interior, police services, and training institutions in developing their capacities to deliver integrity training to their staff. The manual also provides guidance on how to build and sustain organizational integrity through effective planning and management of human resources and reform processes. - Paolo Costa and Isaline Thorens, The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces
State-Sponsored Legal Aid Schemes
This Practitioner’s Guide is a practical tool for rule of law practitioners who are promoting and supporting government counterparts in the design and development of a state-sponsored legal aid scheme. Through an examination of the challenges, experiences, and lessons learned in both developing and developed states across the world, this guide identifies and assesses the most popular legal aid models, and offers recommendations to help practitioners select the most suitable model for their specific context. - Leanne McKay, International Network to Promote the Rule of Law
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