Schede Asia in Inglese

ASIA LIST OF THE COUNTRIES IN CONFLICT Afghanistan China/Tibet Philippines India

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Cooktown

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Daly Waters Normanton

Sabbioso

Mt. Isa

Marble Bar

Cloncurry

M. Zeil 1510

Winton

Gran

Alice Springs

1106

Townsville Bowen Mackay

Emerald

A U S T R A L I A Deserto Gibson Wiluna

M. Woodroffe 1440

Finke

Vila

Bacino

Roma

Efate Eromanga

Ie Ie. Chesterfield (Fr.)

.

Nuova Caledonia (Fr.) Nouméa

d

Tana

.

Lifou

à

L. Disappointment

Mti. Macdonnell

VANUATU

Savaii

Apia

Pa Pa

Tutu

SAMOAOCC.

(U.S.

Vanua Levu

Malekula

A

L. Mackay

M. Bruce 1235

Futuna (Fr.)

Espiritu Santo

Coralli

Cairns

L. Woods

Ie. Samoa Ie. Wallis (Fr.)

Ie. Banks

Mare dei

lt

d i

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(G iap u k y p.) u

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Rotuma (Figi)

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Ie. Ha’apa

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P

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S m vu Ru

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di C. G. di I. Grande

Fakaofo

Ie. Santa Vanikoro Cruz

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C a n a l e

M e r i d .

i l

A

I L

A

M O

DA AN

UG

C i n e s e

I I I I I I

I

I

Nilo Bianco

I

I

M

Pen. Darwin

Terra Arnhem

Rennell-I.

L

M O Z A

Arcip. Louisiade (Papua N.G.)

I

Lim po po

k

C. York

Ie. Tokelau (N. Zel.)

Nurakita

S

Port Hedland

Onslow

I N D I A N O

ta

Alotau

Atollo Nukufetau Funafuti

Guadalcanal S. Cristóbal

e

Ie. Melville

Nui

TUVALU

Honiara

Pt. Moresby

Str. di Torres

Sta. Isabel Malaita

E

I. Barrow C. Nord-Ovest

Carnarvon

Ra

G. d. Papua

Mar degli Arafura

Timor

Golfo di G. Bonaparte

SALOMONE

4073

Daru

n

Timor Mar di

Choiseul

M. d.

Salomone

I. Sydn

Niutao

o

TIMOR ORIENTALE

Nanumea

Kieta

Lae

Merauke

Gran. Des.

ne

.

NUOVA GUINEA

Bougainville (Papua N.G.)

m

Dili

Nva. Britannia

Ie. d. Fenice (Kiribati)

Ie. Nukumanu

N

re

Ie

Madang

4509

Babar Ie. Tanimbar

Wetar

I. Enderbury I. McKean

o

icc . Ie Sumba Kupang . d.

Sond a

PAPUA

Ie. Aru

Rabaul

l

Bali a Sumbawa

E

a

sca

k

Ie. Kai

Mar di Banda

Mar di Flores Lombok Flores

A

Bismarck

Nva. Irlanda

S

C. Ste.-Marie

a I e. M

li

Butung

I

I. Canton (U.S.A.

Kavieng

a i n l l ra

Taolanaro

Pt. Louis

Riunione (Fr.)

Ra

S

Kokenau

Arcip. di

M. di Bismarck

Nuova Guinea

.

Ujung Pandang (Makasar)

E

M

Jayapura Puncak Jaya 5029

A

Toliary

St. Denis

Ie.

N

Beru Atollo Onotoa

Japen Fakfah

Buru Ambon

I. Baker

Banaba

e

O

3455

Parepare

Sorong

Obi Misoöl Ceram

I. Howland (U.S.A.)

Atollo Nonounti

NAURU

Ie. d. Ammiragliato

L

Mbabane

Poso

KIRIBATI

Kuria

Waigeo

Sc. Conway

TONGA

Nuku´alofa

Ata

Rockhampton

Sc. Nelson

a

Johannesburg

Inhambane

Maputo

Manakara

Atollo Mili

Atollo Tarawa

Ie. Mapia

Halmahera

ri

Tswane (Pretoria)

Ternate

Ie. Togian

o

Pietersburg

Gaborone

Fianarantsoa

Majuro Atollo Arno

Makin

is

Kalahari

(Fr.)

IE. MARSHALL

Atollo Nukuoro

iv

OTSWANA

I. Europa

O

Kosaie

Ie. Mortlock

D

Messina

C

Atollo Maloelap

Ie. Pingelap

C a r o l i n e

I

Masvingo

Francistown

I

Atollo Kapingamarangi

Broome

Antsirabe

Morondava

F

Atollo Utirik

Tobi

Toamasina

Beira

Ponape

o

Pal. Makarikari

I s o l e

Ie. Truk

Atollo Kwajalein

C

Bulawayo

I

Atollo Ebon

Derby

Rodrigues (Maur.)

Atollo Oroluk

Pikelot Atollo Ifalik Atollo Puluwat

Atollo Eauripik

Atollo Ujelang

Ie. Hall

M I C R O N E S I A

Ie. Palau

Ie. Sangihe

Sulawesi

Ambatondrazaka

MAURIZIO

C

Atollo Ailuk

Atollo Faraulep

Fais

Wyndham

Antananarivo

A

Taongi

ra

Maun

Quelimane

P

e ri ar

ZIMBABWE

v

Ie. Johnsto (U.S.A

a en Cat Gran

si be Za m

i es

Harare

Ie. Midway (U.S.A.)

Saipan

Atollo Ulithi Ie. Yap

REP. DI PALAU

Gorontalo

Cargados Carajos (Maur.)

(Fr.)

O

Laysan

Atollo Bikini

Carpentaria Tromelin

N

Atollo Eniwetok

Katherine Maroantsetra

A

I. Wake (U.S.A.)

Guam (U.S.A.)

Atollo Ngulu

2876

Mahajanga

E

Pagan

B

I

Zamb

Nampula Blantyre-Limbe

Tete L. Kariba

Mozambico

C

Asuncion

. a n G r

W

Lusaka

Ie. Cocos (Austr.)

Antseranana

Mahoré (Mayotte) (Fr.)

Pemba

i

(

A

Kabwe

Maramba

a

Lichinga

Lilongwe

a

Filippine

Ie. Sonsorol

2210

Tolitoli

Surabaya Kediri 3676

Agrihan

ne arian . MU . S . A . )

L

Ndola

Jogyakarta

Mar delle

Davao

M. di

Semarang

Surakarta

Ie

A

Kitwe

ZA M BI A

D

Giava Jakarta

I. Christmas (Austr.)

C. d´Ambre

E P P I N L I F I

COMORE Moroni Malawi

Parece Vela (Giapp.)

(Celebes) Ie. Sula

Banjarmasin

N

da on Str. d. SBandung

G

e

n

i

t

Lisianski

Ie. Talaud

P

M Mpika

Ie. Agalega (Maur.)

(Seic.)

M

Lindi

Lubumbashi

(Seic.)

Farquhar

I

i

O C E A N O

Providencia

(Seic.)

L. Bangweulu

Likasi

Mongu

Ie. Aldabra

A

(Seic.)

Rungwe 2959

Mbala

L. Mwero

Shaba

a

Kamina

a

Coëtivy

u

Minami Tori (Giapp.)

Ie. Kazan (Volcano) (Giapp.)

Ie. Daito (Giapp.)

Mindanao

Celebes

2240

2278

Mar di

Enggano

d

i asa

Ie. Chagos (Gr. Br.)

(Seic.)

(Seic.)

Iringa

Kapanga

e

Ie. Ogasawara (Bonin) (Giapp.)

Cebu

Manado

Ketapang

Belitung

3159

l

Morotai

Balikpapan

Palembang

Tanjungkarang

n

Platte

Almirante

Dar es Salaam

Kilosa

Tanganica

Victoria

SEICELLE

Zanzibar

Dodoma

Mbuji Mayi

Mahé

Pemba

TANZANIA

Kalemie

r

Tanga

Tabora

o

i

laba Lua

am Lo m

Kigoma

Raja

Bangka

3805 G. Kerinci

r

u

O

I

Okinawa

Ie. Sulu

(Kalimantan)

Ie. Lingga

Bengkulu

C. Lopatka

Ie. Andreanof

Ie. Rat

Agattu

Tokyo

Bacolod

Basilan

Borneo

Telanaipura

Ie. Mentawai

Um

Attu

A

Kure

Butuan

Tarakan

Kuching

Pontianak

t

Malindi

Mombasa

Ie. del Commodoro

Naha

Sibu

a

Kilimangiaro 5895

Arusha

Iloilo

Negros

Sarawak

Singapore

S

Kasongo

Lamu

Mwanza

BURUNDI Bujumbura

Padang

Toyana 3776

Legaspi

Panay

MALAYSIA

Putrajaya Malacca

Siberut

Pen. Kamcˇatka

4750

PetropavlovskKamcˇatski

( U . S . A . )

Samar

Kota Kinabalu

Pakanbaru

Nias

B e r i n g

G

Naga

Calapan

Mindoro

BRUNEI Sabah Bandar Seri Tawau Begawan

Ie. Natuna (Indon.)

m

Nairobi

RWANDA

Bukavu

Kindu

cca al a

Chisimaio

Batangas

Zamboanga

Kuala Lumpur

u

Kigali

S

M. Kenya 5199

Ipoh

d i

Morioka

Amami

Manila

Kinabalu 4094

Dumai

l l a d e

be

ngo

Merca

K E N YA

di M

Medan

Leuser 3145

Simeulue

I. S. Matteo (U.S.A.)

M a r e

Karaginski

Sendai

S. Fernando

Luzon

M. di Sulu

Kota Baharu Tahan 2189

2290

s Niigata

n

Kyushu

Miyako

I. S. Lorenz (U.S.A.)

Hokkaido Kunasˇir

Laoag

Pta. di Bai Bung

Bandayara Tanjung

Uele

G. dell´Anadyr

Anadyr

Ie. Batan

Palawan

Songkhla

MALDIVE

Mogadiscio

Kyoga

Kampala

L. Vittoria

CONGO

Long Xuyen

Banda Aceh

Male

Marsabit

An Nhon

G. d. Siam

1786

jaki

2562

Kaohsiung

Ho Chi Minh

Sihanoukville

Ie. Nicobare (Ind.)

Galle

N

Kandy

Battambang

Phnom Penh

Trincomalee

SR I LA N KA

CAMBOGIA

Mergui

Surat Thani

I s o l e

5110

L. George

Ubundu

Tavoy

Bangkok

Jaffna

Huë

Mekong

Salem Tiruchirappalli

iM G. d Colombo

T

Ie. Andamane (Ind.)

C

Wakkanai

NagoyaYokohama Osaka Kochi Hachijo Shikoku

Ie. Babuyan

Lingshui

Da Nang

Nakhon Ratchasima

a

Kisangani

ka

Khon. Kaen

THAILANDIA

Madurai

Trivandrum

Vinh

Tak

Moulmein

Kor

d.

ti.

TAI WA N

Hainan Dao

S

2633

Cochin Alleppey

2820

Urup

Iturup

Amgu

M. dei Cˇukcˇi

Hakodate

Kyoto

Kagoshima

Taichung

3997

Luang Prabang

Chiang Mai

Juzˇ noSakhalinsk

li

I. Vrangel

. de ll´Anadyr

Haikou

O

ub Gi

L. Mobutu

A

Madras

Macau

Vientiane

Rangoon Bassein

Pondicherry

Kozhikode

Ie. Laccadive (India)

Meregh

L. Turkane (L. Rodolfo)

Isiro

o)

anga

Bangalore

(Canton)

Haiphong

r.

St

eli eb

EP. DEM.

Ilebo

del Bengala

Taipei

Guangzhou

Hong Kong Zhanjiang

Hanoi

Vishakhapatnam

Vijayawada Kurnool

Xiamen

3143

Mandale

Magwe

Prome

Fuzhou Quanzhou

Wuzhou Nanning

MYAN M AR Sittwe (Akyab)

Hubli

Sc

Bondo

le

Cuttack

Guilin

Gejiu

Chittagong

Calcutta

Bilaspur

Obbia

Belet Uen

1

Aomori

o

H

M. Cinese Orient

Changsha Nanchang Xiangtan Wenzhou Nanping Hengyang

Liuzhou

Lashio

Nagasaki

Shanghai Hangzhou

Ganzhou

Kumming

Dhaka

Raipur

Guijang

Huize

Myitkyina 3826

Imphal

A

Mti

Onekotan

Sakhalin

Kobe

Fukuoka

Giallo

Nanjing

COREA-

Daejeon DEL SUD Daegu Gwangju Busan Hiroshima M. Kitakyushu

Wuki

E

bi Ue

Neghelli

Juba

A

Nellore

Hafun

Lijiang

Zunyi

e

M

Korf

Paramusˇir

SovetskajaGavan

M. d.

Mogpe

Linhai ang)

A

o

Batu

Bor

ambari

Ue

Ogaden

4307

ap

Berhampur

Mysore

Addis Abeba

Gimma

um

Ki 4023

ot

Giappone

Seoul

Hefei

Yibin

a

Shillong

BANGLADESH

Golfo

Mangalore

Hargeisa

ETIOPIA

10

Palana

Icˇa

AleksandrovskSakh.

Sapporo

DEL NORD

Pyeongyang Yantai Incheon

Gizˇ iga

2156

Nakhodka Cheongjin

(Mukden) COREA-

Anqing

Wuhan

Chongqing

7556 Gongga Shan

ane

Wau

I

Ranchi Jamshedpur

ri

Raichur

C. Guardafui

Berbera

Bra

r ut

Yichang

Wanxian

I

Dessié

Diredaua

Thimphu

Gan ge

Kolhapur

Socotra (Yemen R.D.P.)

Huainan

Nanchong

Sadiya

BHUTAN

Katmandu L

(Benares)

Lhasa

l a i a

Mt. Everest 8850

A

Poona

Panaji

Gibuti

Etiopico

Za

ngbo

D e c c a n dava

Al Mukalla

GIBUTI

L. Tana

Altopiano

nc Nilo Bia

1330

P. RICANA

A r a b i c o

Pingwu

Chengdu

L

Gondar

Malakal

BOMBAY

a

8167

P

Qamdo

am And M. d.

Kadugli

mbault)

Go

A

S

Jilin

h ik

Vladivostok

Heungnam

Zibo

Mar di

Kholmsk

Jiamusi

Bilibino

Markovo

.K

Ohotsk

Okha

Komsomolskna-Amure

Lüda

(Tientsin)

Jinan

V

o

n

Nasik

M a r e

Golfo di Aden

Aden

4620 Ras Dashan

zzurro

a

Veraval

Masirah

D

Jabalpur Indore

Vadodara Nagpur Surat Amravati

Bhaunagar

m

Varanasi

N

Taizz

Axum

Nilo A

En Nahud

98

180°

Pevek

Ambarcˇik

ma

MJamsk

Okhotsk

Khabarovsk

Shenyang

Tangshan I I I

Taiyuan

He

Blagovesˇcˇensk

Changchun

Tianjin

d ti.

Orotukan

ur Am

Mudanjiang

Qingdao Lanzhou (Tsingtao) g He Baoji Luoyang H ua n Zhengzhou Xuzhau Xi´an

Longxi

N

n

Nam Co

7060

E

Hyderabad

Hodeida

El Obeid

Darfur Nyala

I

T i b e t

Lucknow Kanpur Allahabad Patna

Jamnagar

YEMEN

Asmara

Sennar

El Fasher

3071

s

ra Atba

Wad Medani

Sana

Agra

Jhansi

Ahmadabad

Salalah

ERITREA Massaue

Kassala

Khartoum

R u b

K

l

a

Nuova Delhi

Jaipur

Udaipur

I

ddy Irrawa

s

Omdurman

a

D

es

Mascate

OMAN

Meerut

Delhi Bikaner

Sukkur

C. al Hadd

h

do

Shijiazhuang

I

Amritsar

Faisalabad Multan Saharanpur

In

Hyderabad

G. al Akhadar 3009

Sur

o

SUDAN

I I I I I I

R

2780

Atbara

Pasni

Layla

As Sulaiyil

Port Sudan

lo Ni

Karima

I

r

Abu Hamad

nnedi 1450

S A U D I TA 2596

an

Golfo di Oman Karachi

EMIRATI ARABI UNITI

La Mecca

Dj. Ode 2259

st

g

Mekong

a

Deserto di Nubia

D

Riyadh

Gidda

Wadi Halfa

I

Dhahran Al Manama BAHREIN QATAR OMAN Jask Dubai Doha

M

Nilo

co bi Li 1893

ci

lu

a

ng Jang Cha

o

a

Be

Kuhak

h

n

rt

Lago Nasser

4420 Kuh-e Hazaran

Bandar Abbas

Al Hofuf

Medina

Assuan

Shiraz

C

7315

Lahore

n

Xining

S

Ulugh Mus Tagh 7723

Beijing (Pechino)

Wuwei

Lago Qinghai

n

6920 Nanga Parbat 8125

Baotou Yinchuan

ha

ee

e

Luxor

Idfu

Zahedan

S

a

k

Kol i yma

Ekimcˇan

Harbin

Anshan Yingkou

Cˇ e rs

2959

Nikolajevskna-Amure

Birobidzˇan

Fushun

3147

Ajan

Qiqihar

Fuxin

Koli

Srednekolymsk

Magadan

Bei’an

1949

Chifeng Zhangjiakou

Huhhot

Jiuquan

an

lw Sa

s

Buraydah

E G I T T O ARABIA El Kharga

Quetta

K u n l u

Hotan K2 8611

7690

Leh Peshawar Islamabad

Rawalpindi Sialkot

L. Helmand

Kerman

Golfo Persico

Ad Dahna

A F GH A NI STA N Kandahar

Yazd

h

N

b

o

G

Lop Nur

Qiemo

N

e

Kuwait

Ha´il

Al Wajh

Qena

KUWAIT

An Nafud

Tabuk

2637

Asyut

5143

i

Dalan-Dzadagad

Ie. d. Orsi

a

Tigil

Aihui

G

rk

an

novoj

n

Sajn-Sˇand

a j

i. S ta

Bam

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Ust-Nera

i

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Ust-Maja Ald

2100

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Ulaan Bataar

Cecerleg

g

Mt

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Cˇojbalsan

ge

Hami

Takla Makan

Shache (Yarkand)

i

Aqaba

Sinai

El Minya

Al Jof

us uk H i n d Kabul

Birjand

Esfahan

Kongur 7719

Pamir

Termez

Mazar-i-Sharif

I R A N

Ahwaz Abadan

Bassora

7495

Herat

Qom

Kashi (Kashgar)

Fergana

TAGIK IS TAN

Korla

m Tari

H

Il Cairo

Siwa

Najaf

GIORDANIA

Kokand

Dusˇanbe

Turpan

(Turfan)

7439

Andizˇan

n

(Urumchi)

S i n k i a n g

Issyk Kul´

a

Ürümqi

n e Yining

i

T

Bisˇkek

KIRGHIZISTAN

o nd

Amman Gerusalemme

Mary

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Tel Aviv Suez

Kermanshah

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El- Giza

I I I I I I I I

Alessandria

fra

I RBaghdad A Q

ISRAELE

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gedabia

Eu

te

r r a n e o

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M Rasht Babol Mashhad ti.

E l b u r zShahrud Teheran 5671

Kirkuk

SIRIA

Homs Damasco

LIBANO

Tigri

Nicósia

L. di Urmia

Mosul

Aleppo

Latakia

CIPRO

Rodi

Samarcanda

I

Adana

Iráklion

Creta

Karakum

Asˇhabad

Alma-Ata

Dzˇambul

T UR K ME N IS TAN

Ardabil

I I

oponneso Egeo

Krasnovodsk

Baku

AZER. Tabriz

Van

I

Konya

AZERBAIGIAN ARMENIA

Ararat 5123

Malatya Gaziantep

I I I

Erzurum Sivas

Urgencˇ

I

to

Kayseri

a

Tasˇkent

I I I I I I I I I I I I

Izmir

arj

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Atene

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Kyzylkum

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no

M O N G O L I A

Altaj

H

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a

S h

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Hailar

Darhan

Se len

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Ankara

Jerevan

Sy

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Chövsgöl nuur

4031

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Jakutsk

Aldan

2999

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L. di Bratsk

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Tbilisi

a

Mt

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Batumi Samsun

T U R C H I A

RECIA

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Karamay

Lago Balhasˇ

Kzyl-Orda

Kysyl

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Bodajbo

o aian Irkutsk L. Bajkal Cˇita b lNercˇinsk i O Angarsk Ja rie ti.

Ulan Ude t.

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Balkhasˇ

Aralsk

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na

Tulun

Altaj UstKamenogorsk L.Zajsan

K A Z A K I S T A N

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Istanbul Saloniceo Bursa Mar

r fo

spio Ca

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96

170°E

2300

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a r

Ural

1559

Dzˇezkazgan

Le

Tajcˇet

Mti. S

c.

Oc iani Mti. Sa

Bijsk

Semipalatinsk

Karaganda

Cˇelkar

ar

Sofia

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Mar della Siberia Orientale gi

Druzˇina

Verkhojansk

di

Sangar

Vilj uj

Kirensk

M

a

Volg

Aktjubinsk

M

ACEDONIA

ucas

Mar Nero

BULGARIA

SSOVO

92

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Asia

By Amnesty International

Democracy and Rights are almost unknown in Asia In the months following the military coup on 22 May in Thailand, there have been hundreds of random arrests, unfair trials in the martial courts, reports of torture and severe limitation of freedom of speech and peaceful demonstrations, including the prohibition of gatherings numbering more than five persons. Hundreds of Internet sites have been shut down or blocked, sources of information have been strictly monitored by censure committees and anyone intending to express critical opinions risks being arrested. An unprecedented number of people have been incriminated according to the treason law which forbids offending members of the royal family. Four persons have been condemned since the coup, and a further 10 have been brought to trial. Symptomatic of the modus operandi of the military Junta is the repression of even the slightest manifestation of dissent such as wearing T-shirts which “promote division”, reading certain books or eating sandwiches in public as a symbolic form of protest.

The movement for democracy in Hong Kong has carried out several protests since September

when the Peking Government announced its selection methods for the candidates in the 2017 elections. Security forces have used excessive force and tear gas more than once.

In China repression of minority groups has not ceased, especially regarding the Uyghurs which culminated in the public execution of a group convicted of terrorism and in the life sentence awarded to Ihlan Tohti, a well-known intellectual and reference point for the Uyghur people.

As it has done before in the past, the Peking Government has prohibited all commemorations of the 25th anniversary of the Tienanmen massacre and carried out preventive arrests.

The same fate was reserved for those who, several months later, expressed solidarity with the demonstrators in Hong Kong. Exportation of torture instruments by State companies to African and Asian countries, where this practise is widespread, has increased over the past year.

The human rights situation in ex-Soviet countries in Central Asia has remained critical and lacks international surveillance. The secret services of five countries have collaborated with the Russian secret service in order to reciprocally repatriate presumed opponents. Dozens and dozens of prisoners of conscience languish in the prisons in Uzbekistan where torture is a routine practice.

The extent of the torture scandal emerged in the Philippines where a “torture roulette” marked with the various methods to be applied, according to where the indicator stopped, was

discovered in a police station.

Civilians have continued paying a high price for the fighting between armed forces and security forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Blasphemy laws in force for over 25 years in Pakistan have led to recent condemnations of Ahmadi Christians and Muslims who are considered “infidels” by the principle religious community.

In the Maldives, with the consent of the Government, groups of security guards have begun a real campaign of intimidation and kidnapping in the name of the fight against atheism, which has involved many reporters and bloggers. A law providing amputation for thieves and lapidation for homosexuals and adulterers has been passed in Brunei Darussalam.

Despite the lack of official data it is believed that the death sentence is still being extensively applied in China while a steady stream of hangings in Japan continues. In this latter country 78 year-old Hakamada Iwao, convicted

of murder in 1968 following an iniquitous trial, was temporarily released in March 2014 in consideration of a probable re-examination of the case.

Despite the impossibility of carrying out independent research in North Korea and the difficulty in gaining access to direct and reliable witnesses, satellite images confirm the continuous expansion of prison camps which contain an estimated 200 thousand prisoners, in many cases solely because they are related to or have been associated with presumed opponents.

In India, violence against women has become an increasingly widespread and structural phenomenon which is not being effectively dealt with by the authorities.

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistan student and activist for the right to education and Kailash Satyarthi, the Indian activist for the rights of minors, received Nobel Peace Awards in 2014.

By Giovanni Scotto

Too easy to hand out the blame A quick glance at the Asian continent can lead one to be tempted to generalize when reading the list of the conflicts and wars in act today: to blame radical Islamism (or even worse, Islam itself) for the tensions ranging from the Xinjiang Chinese in the North to Thailand and the Philippines in the South, crossing Central Asia, Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent. Then, from a geographical and political point of view, almost everything can be explained, if we wish, by the ascent of the Chinese giant in the global competition.

If, instead, we change prospective, and attempt to understand and analyse each conflict individually, and not as a manifestation of an abstract and universal process, we will see that there is a lot of unseen movement: attempts for the diplomatic re-establishment of relations between China and Japan, the emergence of a leader figure amongst the Uyghurs from Xinjiang, jailed by the Chinese authorities for the crime of expressing an opinion and sadly becoming the symbol of the struggle for peace; the non-violent protests in Hong Kong; the peace process in the Philippines.

This year the potential present in Asia for seeking new ways to resolve the conflict have been summed up by two personages who have received the Nobel Peace Prize – the Indian Kailash Satyarthi and the young Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai: for a militant against the exploitation of children, and for a victim of Taliban terrorism who had the courage to speak up. Satyarthi has

reminded his Government and international public opinion that one of the reasons why child slavery continues to exist is because too many – even in the north of the world, continue to look the other way. When Malala Yousafzai met US President Obama, she reminded him of the devastating impact of the war conducted with drones in her country, which has caused many civilian victims and deep radicalization amongst the people Both are activists for change who have challenged the elites in power in their respective countries and the dirty conscience of the “international community”.

If we observe closely, the vast Asian continent evidences the importance of understanding and analysing the reality of the armed conflicts – one conflict at a time. If we look carefully, we discover powerful energies for change, often already operating away from the limelight. Even from the outside we can contribute to the changes by identifying the processes of constructive transformation underway, helping new actors emerge over and above the noise of the weapons and the propaganda, appreciating the possible positive outcomes of the conflict.

Malala herself reminds us that, if we really wish to end wars, it is necessary to invest not in weapons and soldiers, but in books, teachers and schools.

Il conflitto e l’Italia

114

A un costo annuo di quasi 2 milioni di euro al giorno, il contingente italiano autorizzato dal Parlamento per la missione in Afghanistan è di circa 4.200 uomini dislocati soprattutto nell’area occidentale dove l’Italia ha il comando del Regional Command West (RC-W), un’ampia regione (grande quanto il Nord Italia) che comprende le quattro province di Herat, Badghis, Ghowr e Farah. Oltre quaranta soldati italiani sono morti in Afghanistan. Nel 2012 dovrebbe iniziare un primo ritiro dall’unico teatro internazionale per il quale Roma non ha deciso riduzione di fondi e di personale. Scarso resta l’impegno nella ricostruzione civile, sbandierato a parole che poco finanziato nei fatti

Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM AFGHANISTAN REFUGEES

2.556.556

MAIN COUNTRIES HOSTING THESE REFUGEES PAKISTAN

1.615.876

IRAN

814.015

GERMANY

24.203

DISPLACED PERSONS IN AFGHANISTAN 631.286 REFUGEES HOSTED BY AFGHANISTAN REFUGEES

16.863

MAIN COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF THESE REFUGEES PAKISTAN

16.825

The division of power

The episode which divided newlyelected President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah terminated in an accord establishing a new institutional figure which places the role of Executive Chief in second position, a relatively ambiguous role equal to that of a Prime Minister, a figure not provided for by the presidential legislation of the Republic of Afghanistan. If Ashraf Ghani, the cultured technocrat educated in the USA and already Minister of Karzai, has ben given the role of President and, in theory, full power, Abdullah has been given an ample margin of manoeuvre which the new institutional asset has still not properly defined. Both will share the choice of ministers.

UNHCR/R.Arnold

By the end of 2014 withdraw of the contingent of multi-national forces (composed of 50 countries) was completed. It had reached a peak of 130.000 soldiers in 2011 and just under 90.000 in 2013, with the start of the withdraw of the foreign troops (a total of 41.000 on 3 September 2014) from the ISAF mission. The new NATO mission (Resolute support) still has to be completely defined, awaiting for the new Afghan Government – which began functioning after a long stalemate following the controversy over the presidential elections in summer 2014 – to sign the strategic safety accord on 30 September (Bsa, see focus) with the United States, after the swearing in of Ashraf Ghani as President. The presidential inauguration of Ghani and the construction of the new post Karzai Government was not a painless process but was the result of an accord between the new President and Abdullah Abdullah (already defeated by Karzai in 2009 and now Head of Ghani's Government) who, after the balloting, demanded co-control of power and the position of Head of the Government. An agreement, approved by the United States and the UNO, which, despite putting a end to the 3-month institutional stalemate, was considered by various observers to be a sign of the future fragility of a betrayal of the rules of democracy, a conquest flaunted by the NATO as a political counterweight for the military defeat in the field where, in almost all of the rural areas, the Taliban continue to dominate the scene. Regarding the pacification of the country, the future remains uncertain, worsened by shadows and fears that the withdraw will signify the abandon of a country where the war is all but terminated. The peace process, evoked and invoked by all, does not appear to be making progress nor has the opening of a Taliban political office in Qatar in 2013 accelerated the possibility of inter-Afghan talks, stimulating, if anything, an atmosphere of suspect in Kabul, triggered by direct negotiations between the Taliban leaders and Washington (who have, for example, negotiated regarding prisoners of war).

The future facing the first Government of the post Karzai era is therefore full of uncertainties, worsened by a struggling economical situation, an increase in common criminality and by the more or less concealed involvement of the bordering countries (Pakistan and Iran) and non-bordering countries (Saudi Arabia), without taking into consideration that the American presence also

AFGHANISTAN

General Information Official Name:

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Flag:

115

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

Pashto and Persian (Dari) are the official languages but there are also many other languages, mostly of Persian or Altaic origins: Hazaragi, Turkmen, Uzbec, Aimaq and others

Capital:

Kabul

Population:

29.820.000

Area:

652.090 square km

Religions:

Muslim (99%) - (74% Sunni, 15% Shiite and 10% other)

Currency:

New Afghani

Primary Exports:

Emeralds, uranium, other minerals, opium

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 1.055

constitutes an obstacle in the negotiations with the guerrillas, whose only element of fragility is more political (the ideological fragmentation of the movement and the various agendas of the various fighting factions) than military.

What is this war about?

This is a question which public opinion very often asks the Governments of countries involved in a war (the latest in order of time) which has gone on for over a decade and which began as a sort of United States revenge after 11 September.

Some analysts have suggested that resources are the reason, but Afghanistan has no petroleum and only limited gas reserves, and can be bypassed using oil and gas pipelines coming from other places. It does have huge mineral fields, already known to the Soviets - ranging from copper to coal, but these minerals are difficult to extract despite the fact that over the past few years this market has grown and is kept under control mainly by China. Geographic and political reasons continue to be the most likely ones (the country is “extremely strategical� for

Pakistan in the event of a war with India, as well as being a crossroads between Central Asia, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent) but there are many other reasons: for example, failure in Afghanistan would be a failure for NATO or the risk of letting Afghanistan become a new Somalia – a black hole for drug-dealers, integralists and smugglers. What must be taken into consideration is that the country has been at war for over thirty years and the reasons for continuing the conflict continue to change, favouring the survival of private armies and the mentality of resolving disputes with violence. Of no less importance is the desire for peace which is very strong amongst the Afghans and negotiations could, perhaps, after 30 years, fall on fertile soils even if too little is being invested in the civil population.

The reason for the fighting

An agreement with the USA

Following a long tug-of-war on 30 September 2014 President Chani's Government signed the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) therefore ending the dispute initiated by Karzai who had refused to sign it.

The agreement establishes the permanence of a US contingent (1012.000 soldiers) in Afghanistan for a period of approximately 10 years, management of the Bagram Base and the use of other military bases in the country. It also guarantees the US troops in service immunity from the Afghan laws. Pakistan, Iran and the Taliban have harshly criticized the agreement.

116

UNHCR/R. Arnold

Afghanistan is an Islam republic which is more than 650.000 square kilometres in size with an estimated population of approximately 30 million inhabitants. The official languages of the country are Dari and Pashto, as well as many minor languages spoken by the various Afghan communities (Uzbek, Turkmenistan, etc). Due to the fact that accurate censors have not been effected in the country for several decades, no precise data exists regarding the numbers of the various components of the population, divided between the Pashtun, Tagiki, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, Baloch peoples and other minorities including the Kuchi nomads. The official religion is Islam (Sunnite 80%, Shiite 19%, others 1%).

According to the World Health Organization, the infant mortality rate under 5 years of age is estimated at 147 deaths per 1000 babies born alive (it was 209 in 1990) and is one of the highest in the world. The decrease in the level is due to the basic health package programme which has been in act since 2003.

Average life expectancy has increased to 48 years of age. The difference between the city and the country remains enormous: in the latter, for example, access to drinkable water

is 39% while in the urban areas it is 78%. In compensation, every second persons owns a mobile phone. More than one million two hundred thousand people use Internet. The Afghan economy is largely dominated by the primary sector, following by the service and industrial ones but Afghanistan is also one of the main producers of opium - approximately 90% of total world production. The economy linked to the cultivation of poppies is a capillary one that is particularly widespread in the south-west area

General outline

UNHCR/R. Arnold

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

A skateboard for changing the country

What do a skateboard and Afghanistan have in common? Nothing, until a few years ago Oliver Perkovich, an Australian researcher, arrived in Kabul and, going around the streets of the capital on a skateboard, was surrounded by the curious faces of many children who had never seen such a thing. Skateistan was created in 2007 with a simple but ambitious objective: “to link the vulnerable youth to education through the skateboard”. The first structure, a skate park, had already been opened in Kabul on 29 October 2009, as well as many classrooms for education and only 4 years later another structure was opened in Mazar el Sharif, in the north of the country: three times as large as the one in Kabul, it could hold as many as 1000 children. This year an external courtyard was opened with new obstacles for skateboarding, but also a classroom on the inside and many green areas. What is the most extraordinary thing? Forty per cent of the children are girls, and skateboarding has become the most widely practised female sport in Afghanistan.

Hamid Karzai

Elegant, capable, well aware of the business that his power has brought to his family, former President Hamid Karzai, head of the country from December 2001 following the Bonn Conference, nominated interim President in 2002 and then re-elected in 2004 and 2009, he was definitely more than the “Mayor of Kabul” as his critics had labelled him. Taliban and Americans were his obsession: for Mullah Omar he was just a puppet, for Washington he was the great ally to praise or denigrate. He exits the scene with an aura of nationalist, an actor necessary, perhaps, for his network of acquaintances abroad and, in any case, his capacity to dialogue with the enemies, too.

UNHCR/R. Arnold

of the country and, according to some sources, amounts to half of the revenue deriving from legal exportation. The economy is also 'drugged' by other factors: international aid is in fact equal to 90% of the GDP. According to the Geneva International Labour Organization (ILO), most of the nation's wealth stems from the informal-traditional economic sector which is largely dominated by agriculture (involving 59% of the Afghan population). Added to this is a dynamic new services sector (involving 24.6% of the Afghan population compared to 12.5% of the manufacturing sector) which risks, however, to diminish as it is linked to the presence of foreigners.

With approximately 400.000 young people entering the job market each year, the largest amount of jobs the country can offer are in the informal sector; the one that does not offer any guarantee for the future or health insurance.

Therefore, if the level of unemployment is relatively low (7.1%, or about 823.000 persons over

THE PROTAGONISTS

15 years of age out of an estimated work force in 2012 of 11.5 million Afghans), most of the workers are employed below their qualification level or employed in temporary or casual jobs.

Six out of ten Afghans employed in the primary sector work in conditions of mere subsistence.

The manufacturing sector labour force is estimated at just half a million Afghans and all the other employment opportunities, concentrated in the urban areas, depend on short-term or seasonal jobs (such as in the construction business) or on various types of services, many of which – those guaranteeing a higher salary – depend on the presence of foreigners and various forms of aid which will progressively decrease with the reduction of military intervention and, presumably, international cooperation.

Despite efforts in the education sector, the level of illiteracy is one of the lowest in the world (0.354 UNDP Education Index 2011. Italy: 0.965) and affects women in particular. In fact Afghanistan is still listed in the Least Developed Countries (LDC) category – countries having the lowest social-economic development levels in the UNDP human development table.

117

(Karz, 24 december 1957)

118

The area of China evidenced in this colour shows the part corresponding to the Region of Tibet, to which these pages are dedicated.

Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM TIBET REFUGEES

15.065

MAIN COUNTRIES ACCEPTING THESE REFUGEES NEPAL

15.000

A super-bank for Asia

In 2014 an agreement for the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (Aiib) was signed in Peking. It was signed by representatives from 21 countries in the Grand People's Hall, seat of the National People's Assembly – the Chinese Parliament.

The super-bank will deal with the development of roads, railways, power plants and telecommunications in the Region.

Negotiations should be finalized by 2015, with the ratification of all the countries. The initial capital amounts to 50 billion dollars, almost entirely funded by China.

As well as Peking, the following countries will also form part of the institute: India, Kazakistan, Uzbekistan and many countries of southern Asia and South-east Asia, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos. Also present were the Philippines and Vietnam, which are experiencing moments of tension with Peking regarding territorial contentions in the South China Sea. Absent, instead, were the main allies of the United States in the Region: South Korea, Australia and Japan.

Khamoi Tashi: suicide number 132 since 2009. He was a 22 year old student. In September 2014 he decided to set fire to himself in the name of freedom for Tibet. This took place in front of the Police Headquarters in the country of Tsoe. News of his death was only made known one month later. The list of these deaths for Tibet is an infinite one. The Peking Government continues to stress the necessity of “no foreign involvement” in what remains, in his opinion, an internal conflict. Dalai Lama, former Head of the State of Tibet before the Chinese occupation, who has been in exile for five decades, continues to be accused by the Chinese authorities of instigating the revolt and seeking independence. In actual fact, the exiled Tibetan Government, guided since 2012 by Lobsan Sangay, is attempting the path of negotiation, demanding increased autonomy.

Peking, instead, is not seeking to resolve the problem. The process of annihilating the Tibetan culture continues, with the mass deportation of entire populations, forcefully transferred to new villages. It is estimated that at least two million persons have been forced to go and live in the houses built by the central Government. Peking's aim is to gain complete control of the population, a difficult task, if not totally local. Still ongoing in Zatoe County are the protests which blocked the mining activities in 2013. The Tibetans had taken to the streets and the authorities had issued an ultimatum, threatening repression and serious actions against the contesters. At the heart of the episode was the Tibetans' decision to “block” the five hundred Chinese miners sent by Peking. There were clashes with hundreds of casualties and many of those who had participated in the demonstrations were sent to prison over the following months. Therefore, even in 2014 there have not been any signs of possible negotiations. Peking continues to deny acknowledgement of the role of the Tibetan representatives, despite the fact that Dalai Lama tries to remain in the background, on the sidelines. Amongst other things, the Tibetan issue seems to be replicated in the Muslim Province of Kinjiang which demands autonomy.

General Information Official Name:

Tibet

Flag:

Main Languages:

Tibetan, Chinese

Capital:

Lhasa

Population:

3.030.000

Area:

1.228.400 square km

Religions:

Buddhist and others

Currency:

Renminbi

Primary Exports:

not available

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 948

CHINA TIBET

General Information Official Name:

People's Republic of Chin

Flag:

119

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

Mandarin

Capital:

Peking/Beijing

Population:

1.353.000.000

Area:

9.596.960 square km

Religions:

Confucian, Taoist, Buddhist (95%), Christian (3.5%), Muslim (1.5%)

Currency:

Renminbi

Primary Exports:

Almost everything in the manufacturing sector, plus wheat, rice and potatoes

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 9.055

Raising the tension further, in the second half of 2014 protests arrived from students in Hong Kong, who are against the electoral law that Peking wants to impose, with the “centralized” choice of candidates who are to be elected in 2017.

They pacifically demonstrated for days, armed only with umbrellas to defend themselves from the stinging spray used by the Police and from the sun. For the Government it is one more problem to resolve.

120

Military strategy and economical interests: the key for understanding the conflict between China and Tibet lies in these two issues. Peking considers control of the border with India, a country it has always regarded as an enemy, to be of vital importance. Furthermore, in Tibet there are important mineral resources and immense water reserves - those which come from the many rivers in the Region. Peking has always sought control of this area. This demand by China obviously

clashes with the Tibetans' call for independence. Empowered by a strong, deep-rooted political and religious culture and by traditions, they claim their right to be a free and autonomous State.

Dalai Lama's method of finding a solution through dialogue does not convince all Tibetans. The most radical branch of the independence movement calls for a more forceful intervention by world public opinion towards China, which they consider to be an occupying country.

The reason for the fighting

China is, in every sense, too big to be challenged. Too strong militarily and economically to be bothered. Therefore, the international impression of the Tibet issue remains unchanged: it is an internal problem. And that was exactly what the world chancellors thought on the morning of 7 October 1950 after having read in press releases or secret service dispatches that 40.000 soldiers from the Chinese Army had crossed the Yangtze River and occupied the whole of Eastern Tibet and the Kham – which is now part of three Chinese provinces, killing 8.000 scantily armed Tibetan soldiers. Just seven days later, Tenzin Gyatso, the present-day Dalai Lama, became sovereign of Tibet. The heart of the controversial Tibetan question can be summed up in just one sentence: it is an internal problem. No western country has ever recognized Tibet as an independent sovereign state. From an international legal point of view, therefore, Peking is right to define the question an “internal problem”. The Chinese – coherent with this opinion – had planned everything.

Above all, they had known exactly when to choose the right moment. The world was focused on the war in Korea which broke out at dawn on Sunday 25 June 1950 with an attack by North Korea's Kim II Sung against South Korea. The United States immediately intervened militarily, calling for and obtaining the political consensus of the United Nations. In this atmosphere the attack on Tibet slid to second place. Tibet was formally in a stalemate position, created

following Great Britain's withdraw from India in 1947. Historically the region had been independent for a long time. It had then fallen under the influence of Imperial China, before being targeted by Czarist Russia and Great Britain, which intervened militarily in 1904. Its culture and political autonomy had, however, always been solid, so much so that it was defined a national identity with Dalai Lama as Head of the Government and spiritual leader. China had announced the attack. Leader since 1949, Mao had repeatedly explained that he wanted all of China's territory to be reunited and this also included Tibet. On 1 January 1950 Radio Peking announced that Tibet would soon be liberated from its foreign yoke. In this way occupation took place almost without protests, relegated to second place by the fact that on 19 October 1950 the Chinese intervened heavily in the Korean war, supporting the North with millions of men which caused serious problems for the United States. On 23 May 1951 Dalai Lama signed the “Pacific Liberation Agreement” and became Vice President of the permanent committee of the People's National Assembly. This document allowed China to commence colonization of Tibet, first militarizing it, then obliging Chinese citizens to go and live in the new Region. Tibet, in the meantime, renounced having an autonomous foreign policy and produced its own money and stamps. The land was re-distributed, particularly in the East Kham and Amdo areas, to avoid souring relations with the nobi-

General outline

Rebellion in Macao In 2014 Macao also experienced revolt. The island, as we all know, is actually the world's largest Casino. It is there that the Chinese political leaders go to launder the bribes they receive. Being an autonomous region, gambling is permitted by the law and is the main source of income, but not everyone benefits from it.

Therefore Jason Chao led the citizens of the former Portughese colony in street demonstrations to demand, exactly like in Hong Kong, that the “one country, two systems” principle is not adopted. Business on the island is managed only by men from Peking. They therefore call for truly free elections in 2019 but the mini Constitution of the island has never provided for this.

Ilham Tohti

(Artush, 25 october 1969)

A successor for the Dalai Lama

The present Dalai Lama “will not be the last one”. This declaration was made to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, by Tenzin Gyatso, current XIV leader of Tibetan Buddhism and symbol of the independence of that territory. The Dalai Lama explained that “procedures linked to the prophecies will not be used for choosing the successor because China could influence this choice. I envisage more of a Conclave, similar to the one used by the Catholic Church to elect the Pope, or some written instructions to be read after death”. The Dalai has therefore quelled rumours stating he would be the last of the Dalai Lamas. The Nobel Peace Prize holder also explained that he was retiring from politics so as to tone down controversy with Peking. “The future of my position – he also declared – is, however, in the hands of the Tibetan people”.

121

Llham Toti graduated from the North-east Normal University and the Minzu University of China, Peking. In 2006 he founded a website called Uyghur Online, publishing articles in Chinese and Uyghur.

Mid 2008 the Peking authorities decided to close the site, with the accusation of creating links with extremists from the Uyghur diaspora. In an interview with Radio Free Asia in March 2009, Tohti attacked the politics of the Chinese Government, accusing Peking of favouring the migration of Uyghur male and female workers from Kinjiang towards other Regions of China, with the aim of impoverishing the Province.

He also criticized the Chinese Governor, accusing him of not having correctly applied the Regional Laws regarding ethnic autonomy. Peking's reply was immediate: a few days later Tohti was accused of separatism and arrested. His case naturally caused a stir and international organizations called for his release but nothing happened. In 2014 he was given a life sentence. On Twitter someone wrote that China had created in Llham Tohti a “Uyghur Mandela”. The Chinese agency refused this comparison: “while Mandela preached reconciliation – it wrote in a note – Tohti preaches hate”.

lity. From that moment onwards there has been a succession of rebellions, pacific approaches and disagreements, many of which caused by foreign countries. The first important rebellion took place in 1959. On March 1959 the Tibetan Resistance Movement lead a protest against the Chinese. To repress it, Peking deployed 150.000 men and airplane units. Thousands died in the streets of Lhasa and other capitals.

Dalai Lama abandoned the capital on 17 March and requested political asylum in India, together with at least 80.000 refugees. Sixty-five thousand people died.

In 1965 Tibet was declared an Autonomous Region, de facto annexed to China. The Cultural Revolution in 1968 led to the destruction of at least 6.000 monasteries and the death of many monks. However, Tibetan Resistance did not give up. There were a further two uprisings in 1977 and 1980, both harshly repressed by Peking. Since 1976 Peking has recommenced colonization - in fact, 7 million Chinese people

THE PROTAGONISTS

have arrived in Tibet, compared to the 6 million Tibetans who live there. According to the Resistance, Peking aims to wipe out the Tibetan culture and identity.

In the meantime Dalai Lama attempted mediation by renouncing independence and aiming at self-determination in order to save the country's culture and protect human rights.

The mediation proposed in 1987 with the aid of the USA failed. And, as always after each failure, protests recommenced which became international protests starting from the Olympics in Peking in 2008 and, since 2009, selfimmolation carried out by young monks. In 2012 Lobsan Sangay, the exiled Head of the Tibetan Government defined these gestures of self-destruction “a clear act of accusation towards the repression politics of the Peking Government”.

Every year approximately 3.000 Tibetans choose to go into exile in Nepal or India. Twenty thousand permanently reside in communities scattered throughout Nepal, without, however, being granted refugee status despite international agreements. They are, in actual fact, prisoners. The reason is simple: Nepal does not wish to irritate its great neighbour.

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Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM FILIPPINE REFUGEES

726

DISPLACED PERSONS IN THE PHILIPPINES 117.369 REFUGEES HOSTED BY THE PHILIPPINES REFUGEES

182

A reconciliation commission

The peace agreement signed between the Muslim independentists and the Central Government foresees a series of mechanisms for initiating the “normalization process”. One of these is the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission presided by Mo Bleeker, a special Swiss envoy from the Federal Department of External Affairs of Switzerland (DFAE). The objective is to elaborate the past and the prevention of atrocities. Mo Bleeker will work with Cecilia Jimenez Damary, a representative of the Philippine Government, and with Ishak Mastura, a MILF representative. Jonathan Sisson, also a collaborator from the DFAE, has been called on to act as special councillor. The Commission has one year to present a report to the signatories of the Accord, accompanied by proposals for the development of transitional justice and reconciliation measures.

© Guillem Valle / MEMO

One of the internal wars in the Philippines – the oldest independentist war in Asia which has lasted for 50 years, appears to have ended on 27 March 2014 with the signing of a peace agreement between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Benigno Aguino's Philippine Government. The issue of the Island of Mindanao, which the Muslim rebels wanted to be independent, seems to have been resolved after five decades of fighting and at least 120.000 deaths.

The agreement, reached with the mediation of Malaysia and the substantial diplomatic contribution of the Italian Saint Egidio Community, provides for ample autonomy for the Region, which will be called Bangsamoro. The usual questions linked with external affairs and defence will remain the competence of the Central Government.

A road map will also be defined which should lead to the demilitarisation of the area by 2016.

In reality, however, the problems remain, and so does the conflict. Even the Abu Sayyaf group, linked with al-Qaeda, a long term adversary of the Moro Front which now refuses to recognize the value of the agreement, is based in Mindanao.

Furthermore, within the Moro Front, there are those who believe that autonomy is an insufficient result and have therefore decided to continue the armed fighting. Therefore, armed conflict has continued. Two days after the signing of the agreement, two dissident rebel training camps were attacked by their own members belonging to the Front. On 29 September 2014 the disarming of the rebel forces officially began but on the 17th and 23rd of October there were new battles, with further deaths. At the same time the Abu Sayyaf group announced that it had taken two Germans hostage – a husband and wife – and had asked Germany for a ransom of 5.6 million dollars and the termination of any support for the operation launched by the United States against the ISIS in Syria and Iraq. The hostages were freed towards the end of October. A difficult situation, therefore, for the Manila Government, which aimed at peace with the Muslim independentists, not so much for peace as for concentrating on military efforts abroad in order to contrast Chinese claims on the

PHILIPPINES

General Information Official Name:

Republic of the Philippines

Flag:

123

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

Filipino, English, Spanish, Arabic

Capital:

Manila

Population:

97.848.000

Area:

300.000 square km

Religions:

Christian (91%), Muslim (5%), other denominations (4%)

Currency:

Philippine Peso

Primary Exports:

Agricultural produce, clothing and hydraulics

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 4.380

Spratly Islands. The archipelago, rich in petroleum and gas, is also being subjected to claims

by Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, but Manila can count on the support of the United States. The second internal conflict in the country still remains in act, the one with the guerrilla warfare linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Here also the conflict has gone on for decades since 1968 to promote agrarian reform. The revolutionary forces have gradually seen their ranks shrink. There are apparently no more than 4.000 armed guerrillas left: too few for winning, but enough to keep the tension level high.

The real cause of the wars which torment the Philippines is control of the land and its wealth of raw materials. The first war, which has been going on for 50 years now, is between the Christian majority and the Muslim minority who want independence. Fuelling this war is the historical mismanaged distribution of the country's resources. The North and Centre of the Archipelago are rich Christian majority areas .

The South is poor and populated by Muslims (5% of the total population) who have always accused the Christian majority of not having

done enough to distribute resources equally.

This same accusation is the origin of the second front: the groups of Marxist origin. A poor distribution which is clearly represented by the diffusion of the population in the country: 60% of the 85 million inhabitants live on one single island – Luzon – where the capital is located.

Added to this situation is international tension, causing frequent crises with China regarding control of islands considered fundamental both for the control of sea traffic and the mineral and petroleum resources.

The reason for the fighting

Bishops say “no” to the death sentence

Some would like to reintroduce it; the Bishops do not. We are talking about the death sentence, abolished in the Philippines in 2006, which several lobbies in the country wish to revive. According to the Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care (ECPPC) its reintroduction is unjustified. This was declared in its message for Annual Awareness Week dedicated by the local Church to prisoners, evidencing that many innocent people also end up on the gallows. “Being against the death sentence does not mean wanting to leave criminals free, but taking the life of those who have been condemned and can no longer offend, means setting a bad example for our children”.

124

© Guillem Valle / MEMO

Some hope has finally appeared on the horizon after the delusions of the preceding years. Already in 2011 there had been the illusion of a solution with Manila and the Islamic independentists who seemed intent on reaching an agreement which foresaw a shared sovereignty guaranteed

by Hong Kong and China for the southern area of the country. Unfortunately, negotiations failed, as well as the ones with the Marxist groups, and the war flared up again.

The election in 2010 of another Aquino as president - Benigno, son of Cory Acquino, the icon of democracy - had brought hope to this historically troubled Asian country. A former colony of Spain and then of the USA, following independence the country was ruled in a dictatorial way

by Marcos until 1986, the year of the democratic turning point, with the election of President Cory Aquino. The arrival of the new President led to an agreement with the Muslim separatist movements of Mindanao, active in the south of the country since the 1950s, who were granted ample administrative autonomy. This halted the armed fighting with the separatists. However, the war with the New People's Army (NPA) continued: fighting recommenced in 1990 following news of the disappearance of left-wing political and union activists. On 26 November 1991 another part of the country's colonial past ended:

the USA withdrew from the Clark base (one of the two present in the Philippines, the other is Subic Bay) along with 6.000 Americans. In May of the following year, former Defence Minister Fidel Ramos was elected President. In 1996 problems with the Islamic independentists seem to have been resolved. A peace treaty was signed on 30 September and Nul Misauri, leader of the Moor National Liberation Front became Governor of Mindanao, a huge autonomous region.

Peace was short-lived. The Muslims had already called for a referendum on auto-determination in 2000, while the Catholic majority protested against the agreement and refused to accept it. Meanwhile, a series of scandals regarding bribes and corruption tormented the country's politics. In April 2002 a state of emergency was declared in General Santos, in the south of Mindanao, due to the explosion of a lot of bombs, causing 14 deaths, set off by the MILF, the Moor Islamic Liberation Front. This started the fighting off again. The declared objective was to create a Muslim state. The clashes with the Islamic groups became more intense, but tension with Marxist guerrilla groups also remained high as the latter gained forces. In 2003 Amnesty International denounced the torturing of political prisoners, members of armed groups and common criminals. This accusation was denied by the

General outline

Record-breaking reforestation

3.2 million trees in just one hour: a real Guinness World Record carried out by the Philippines regarding reforestation - part of a plan for reducing pollution.

Some say it is a “publicity stunt” organized by the Government to demonstrate its good will. The previous record was held by India, where 1.5 million trees were planted in one hour in 2011.

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

External mediators aid the reconciliation process

Swiss citizen Mo Bleeker studied anthropology, theology, journalism and social communication at the University of Freiburg. She also gained a post-degree diploma at the Graduate Institute of International Studies and Development in Geneva.

She has worked in organizations involved in the process of transition from war to peace in Central America, Colombia, the Balkans, South and South-east Asia, North Africa and Western Africa since 1982. A long experience which lead her to obtaining in 2003 the position of Swiss Peace-building Advisor for the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAE) based in Guatemala. From 2004 onwards she has worked as a senior consultant for the DFAI, with the task of re-elaborating the past and preventing new genocides. In 2011 she was nominated head of the DFAE task force. She is currently head of the peace and reconciliation process in the Philippines.

125

Mô Bleeker

Following negotiations lasting several years, the “Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro” entered into force in Mindanao in March 2014. It outlines the basis for a permanent return to peace after decades of armed conflict between the Government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The presence of actors from the international civil society helped to stabilize the process, prevent the use of violence and deal with the incidents. The international monitoring mission, coordinated by Malaysia, reduced the number of soldiers in 2014.

Mindanao is an example of how the transition from war to peace can be facilitated by the presence of external mediators and the contribution of civil society. The international non-governmental Non-violent Peace-force organization is continually present in the area, with the tasks of monitoring and mediation from behind the scenes. NP is an organization recognized by the Government and by international mediators and carries out an important role of prevention in the event of tension and conflict on a local level, such as in the municipalities of Isulan and Esperanza.

© Guillem Valle / MEMO

Government. In March 2004 an act of terrorism similar to the one which took place in Madrid on 11 March, was thwarted. Four members of Abu Sayyaf were arrested and 36 kilos of explosives were confiscated. One of the members claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack which cost the lives of 100 persons on Super Ferry 14 on 27 February of that year. The arrested members, who revealed that they had been trained by the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist network Jemaah Islamiah, were planning attacks on trains and shops in Manila, a city of ten million inhabitants. In 2004, Norway mediated an agreement between the New People's Army and the Government.

The following year, after peace negotiations in Malaysia, Muslim Independentists and the Government announced an agreement regarding the ancestral lands which the rebels had been claiming ownership of for the past 30 years. These truces did not last and fighting recommenced

THE PROTAGONISTS

in 2010. It is estimated that from 1971 to presentday more than 150.000 Philippines have died in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago in the fight for independence which has also caused more than 50.000 displaced persons. The conflict with the NPA has been responsible for at least 40.000 deaths since 1969. In the north of the country attacks on convoys and military posts continue despite the crisis experienced by the movement in the past few years. The combatants are estimated to be approximately 4.000, a much lower number compared to the estimated 20.000 in the '80s, but still significant. Attempted negotiations in 2011 failed, interrupted by the Government's refusal to release imprisoned militants. And if the tension remains high also from a social point of view, with the weaker level of the population calling for a more equal distribution of wealth, the double front of the internal war in the Philippines has paid a high price in terms of human lives and the possibility for development. Now it is hoped that things will change but the “falcons” of all the various factions are still a cause of worry.

126

Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM INDIA REFUGEES

11.042

REFUGEES HOSTED BY INDIA REFUGEES

188.395

MAIN COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF THESE REFUGEES CHINA

100.003

SRI LANKA

65.674

AFGHANISTAN

11.122

An unequal country

This past decade has been a period of rapid growth for the Indian economy but just as rapid has been the increase in social inequality.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) places India 135th out of 187 countries on its Human Development Index for 2014. The World Bank estimates that 32% of Indians live below the poverty line, defined by the possibility of spending 1.25 dollars per day. Since 2005 the Indian Government has defined the poverty line at spending 27 rupees a day in rural areas and 33 in urban areas (77 rupees equal one euro), and estimates that 21% of Indians are below this, but the present Government is considering whether to increase the lines to 32 and 47 rupees a day, respectively.

In August 2104 the Government of New Delhi announced that it was sending 10 battalions of paramilitary soldiers to the State of Chhattisgarh in order to reinforce security in this mountainous region of Central India. A short while later brief articles in Indian newspapers announced the arrival in Chhattisgarh of the first contingent of 2.000 men of the Naga Battalion (a paramilitary unit recruited in the North-East of India comprised of the Naga ethnic minority). These are signs of an escalation in the internal conflict which involves a large region of rural India straddling five or six Central-Eastern states (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgharh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Western Bengala bordering Madhya Pradesh). It is estimated that between 70 and 90 thousand soldiers from the Indian paramilitary forces are involved in the “security operations” - in actual fact a true and proper internal war – against the armed Maoist -inspired movement generally referred to as Naxalita. The Government of newly-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took office in June, has adopted a tough policy against “leftwing extremism”, to use the official expression.

The Minister of Internal Affairs Rajnath Singh announced a “new anti-Maoist” doctrine” in mid-September. According to the new guidelines there will not be any new negotiations with the Maoists unless they lay down their weapons. The troops in the area and the antiguerilla schools will, instead, be reinforced: in fact, 10.000 soldiers will be sent to the Bastar Region, in Southern Chhattisgarh, an area of mountains and mines the size of Belgium, scene over the last decade of the most violent phases of the conflict, which remains the principle front of what the Government defines “the war against terrorism”. Minister Singh made his announcement following a report from the Intelligence Bureau (the secret service) who believe that the Maoist movement is in decline (“but there are some signs of new activity”, the Minister apparently said), states the Indian press. In fact the number of victims caused by the conflict has dropped, after a peak of 1180 deaths in 2010: in 2013 the South Asia Terrorism Portal reported 421 victims (slightly up, however,

INDIA

General Information Official Name:

Republic of India

Flag:

127

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

Hindi, English and 21 other languages

Capital:

New Delhi

Population:

1.237.000.000

Area:

3.287.594 square km

Religions:

Hindu (80.45%), Muslim (13.43%), Christian (2.34%), Sikh (1.87%), Buddhist (0.77%)

Currency:

Rupee

Primary Exports:

Textiles, jewelry, engineering and software products

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 3.843

compared to 367 in 2012), and up until the end of September 2014 it reported 264 (of which 112 civilians, 69 from the security forces and 83 Maoists). In October 2014 the CPI-Maoist spokesperson from the Bastar Region confirmed that the movement was in difficulty. However, the Government has announced an all-out war.

In the background remain the profound injustices which fuel the conflict in rural India.

The parties from the Naxalita galaxy claim they are fighting for the rights of the rural masses, for the development of “liberated areas”, and also for installing a proletarian dictatorship in India.

They denounce the State which expropriates land and forests from the natives in order to give them in concession to large multinational companies who exploit the natural resources. The young Adivasi (natives) who join the guerrilla fight for the land and the forests, as well as for justice and respect. The rural population of India has been left in poverty for decades, with little or no access to the health system, schools, services provided by a social state or infrastructures for agricultural development. “Development”, if any, has come in the form of land expropriation, taken by the State or by large private compa-

nies for large-scale projects, dams, mines and steel-works. The Maoists say they are defending them: this is what makes them popular. For its part, the State is fighting to regain control of the vast areas where the rebels find refuge as they are are off-limits for security forces. Large companies are also involved: one of the indiscretions revealed by Wikileaks in Summer 2012 stated that Essar, a large Indian industrial group, paid a sort of “protection tax” to the Maoist groups so that they would not attack their industrial plants. The company strongly denied this, but it is general knowledge that paying for protection is a common practice. Meanwhile, the fighting is the alibi for continuing to leave entire regions of rural India in the vicious cycle of exclusion, exploitation and repression.

The reason for the fighting

Since the beginning of the new millennium India has been considered a “success story” of global economy: a great “economically emerging” democratic nation, which is one of the G20, a major atomic economy with the indisputable role of regional leader. It is in these terms that the latest political development in the country has been described – embodied by its Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who obtained a total majority of consensus in the 2014 general elections.

Leader of the Indian National Party (BJP), ultra-nationalist and liberalist, Modi is a controversial political figure. He has promised a business-friendly Government, a small and efficient executive board, less bureaucracy and measures for attracting investments necessary for creating growth and jobs.

The fact is that over the past few years the Indian economy has slowed down drastically.

In the first decade of 2000 the country's Gross Domestic Product grew on an average of approximately 9% The urban middle class grew in a spectacular way – together with internal

inequalities. However, since 2011 growth has decreased to 4.7%, investments and industrial growth have dropped: from 15% in 2010 to 0.1% in March 2014. Modi won hands down in this atmosphere, aiming at the privatization of strategical structures and expanding mining activities and large industrial complexes. And is is here, in fact that the “success story” of global economy meets the internal guerilla. A glance at the geographical map may help.

The armed revolt by the Maoists involves a region comprising the rural part of Western Bengala and Bihar in the Gange plains, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh in the central-eastern region, as well as parts of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The map of the “areas affected

by Maoist insurrection” coincides almost perfectly with the region known as “tribal belt”, where the indigenous population prevails: a minority of more than 90 million people – the poorest and most marginal in India. This region also coincides with the “mineral belt”, the mountainous areas where 80% of iron and 90% of bauxite, uranium, coal, copper, gold and

General outline

Cannons: record military expenditure

128

In October 2014 the Council for India's defence purchases approved a considerable series of military purchases: it will spend 12 billion dollars for 12 Dornier fighter planes, 362 combat vehicles and 6 state-built submarines. It has also ordered from Israel more than 8.000 Spike missiles (guided antitank missiles) and more than 300 missile launchers – a commercial agreement which, on its own, is worth 525 million dollars. National security is a priority for the Government” said Arun Jaitley, Minister of Defence, who is also the Minister of Finances. India is definitely the biggest arms importer in the world, according to SIPRI in Stockholm: on its own it accounted for 14% of arms importation in the world, followed by China and Pakistan with 5% each.

Malnutrition decreases

A third of Indian children under the age of 5 is underweight, reveals an investigation conducted by the Indian Government in collaboration with UNICEF, and although paradoxical we cannot help feeling cheered up by the fact that this is the lowest level of infant malnutrition in the last 25 years. In fact, the proportion of underweight Indian children has diminished by 45.1% in 2005-6 (year of the last complete census on family health) to 30.7% in 2013-14. India continues to have the highest number of underweight children in the world, and 70% of the children are anaemic.

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

Childhood and education for a peaceful developments

Enslaved children often remain invisible, deprived of their right to education, childhood and freedom: these fundamental principles must be guaranteed and globalization of knowledge is the first step towards world-wide commitment to supporting changes. Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi shared the Nobel peace prize with young Pakistani Malala Yousafzay. Satyarthi is the founder of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan Organization which aims at saving childhood by fighting against the exploitation of minors with concrete actions and peaceful demonstrations. The organization is committed to raising the awareness of the Indian and international public opinion on the child worker issue. Satyarthi has managed to socially reintegrate about 80.000 minors from slave labour with his actions.

Narendra Modi

Today Narenda is acclaimed as a man of change, but at the beginning of 2014 the current Indian Prime Minister was still banned from several countries: the USA denies him a visa because he is considered responsible for the terrible violence that occurred in 2002 in the Western State of Gujarat when he was Head of the Government. More than one thousand Muslims were killed, city quarters were burnt to the ground and women were raped while the police force looked on. Subsequent investigations documented the responsibility of officials and leaders. Modi was accused of negligence, perhaps even complicity but this did not stop him from winning a second term in Gujarat. No court has ever touched him: in December 2013 the magistrates refused to bring him to trial due to lack of evidence. For many, Narendra Modi remains the most radical leader of a party (the BJP, National Park of India) founded on an identity ideology called Hindutva – supremacy of the Hindu culture. Others, however, consider Modi the leader who has made Gujarat one of the most prosperous states in the country.

In this way, having muted Hindu nationalism, today Modi is promoted as a pragmatic and business-friendly governor. And in the eyes of the world, old stains have been washed away.

129

(Vadnagar, 17 september 1950)

other minerals are concentrated. The map of the mineral deposits and that of the native populations overlap: this is the root of the conflict.

There are many protagonists of the armed conflict, all called “Naxalites” from the movement which came into being following a revolt in the village of Naxalbari, in rural Western Bengala, against agricultural exploitation led by a Maoist communist party that was harshly repressed in the 70s. The present conflict, which was inspired by that movement, began in the 90s in Andhra Pradesh encouraged by the People's War Group and in Bihar by the Maoist Coordination Centre and others, heirs of the old party. They all united in 2004, thereby creating the CPI-Maoist communist party (now illegal) and another troubled phase of the conflict began. This time the militants – foot soldiers – are mainly “tribal”, even if the leaders are educated people from high casts. Today the CPI-Maoist movement is present in large areas of Chhattisgarh,

THE PROTAGONISTS

Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar; other groups are present in surrounding areas.

The State responded in a mainly military way, creating anti-guerrilla schools and mobilizing paramilitary corps: the Central Reserve Police Force (which created the Co-Bra special corps), and the Border Security Force. It also armed irregular militias such as the Salwa Judum created in Chhattisgarh in 2005, which spread terror in the native villages with raids, villages burnt down, rapes, killings and 350 thousand people forced to flee.

In 2009 the Government launched a “coordinated interstate operation” known as Green Hunt.

According to experts from the South Asia Terrorism Portal, however, over the last few years the “successes” of the State have been due more to specific intelligence operations and incentives to lay down weapons.

The war, however, continues. The rural population continues to bear the brunt, while social activists, Gandhi followers, trade unionists and human rights lawyers are often targeted by both the Maoists and the government forces.

130

Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM IRAQ REFUGEES

401.417

MAIN COUNTRIES HOSTING THESE REFUGEES SYRIA

146.200

JORDAN

55.509

IRAN

43.268

DISPLACED PERSONS IN IRAQ 954.128 REFUGEES HOSTED BY IRAQ REFUGEES

246.298

MAIN COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF THESE REFUGEES SYRIA

212.809

TURKEY

15.496

PALESTINE

9.992

Not only ISIS

Has the role of the self-styled Islamic State in the taking of Mosul been exaggerated? This is the opinion of Munqith Dagher, who considers the Jihadists to be less than 20% of the forces in the field. And the others?

According to Dagher, who is the manager of an esteemed research and survey institute in Baghdad, a large role was played by ex-Ba'athists, local tribe leaders and former Iraqi Army officials. He is not the only one to think this. US Intelligence chiefs have anonymously spoken of the role of supporters of the ex-Ba'athista regime, including Secret Service officials and soldiers from the Republican Guard, belonging to the “Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order” - one of the most active resistance groups against the US occupational forces, who are commanded by Iraqi ex-Deputy President Izzat al Douri.

According to one member of the Iraqi Ba'ath party, 14 different factions, including Ba'athists, were involved in the taking of the Ninive Province in June.

UNHCR/L. Veide

On 10 June 2014 Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, fell into the hands of the ISIS. The disintegration of the state army was total: the soldiers abandoned their weapons and posts during the attack by the Jihadists who had allied with local tribes. Governor Athil al Nujaifi fled to the Kurd Region, as did 500.000 inhabitants of the Ninive Province. The airport was occupied and taken over by the army and the Police Station was burnt down. The advance of the ISIS could not be halted: Tikrit, and then the Province of Diyala, to the East, not far from Baghdad, were seized. A further 40.000 persons fled from Tikrit and Samarra during the fighting for control of the refinery in Baji - the largest in the country. ISIS and allies occupied posts bordering with Syria and Jordan: the Baghdad Government no longer controlled its borders to the West. Tal Afar, a strategic city between Mosul and the Syrian border also fell.

The UN estimated that there had been more than 757 civilian victims in the Provinces of Ninive, Diyala and Salahuddin from 5 to 22 June. In Baghdad Prime Minister Maliki refused requests for a national united Government despite the graveness of the crisis. The Sunnis called for his resignation but by then even the United States and Iran had decided to oust him. The new Parliament, installed on 1 July, elected Fuad Mas'um, a Kurd, as President of the Republic and he entrusted the task of forming the new Government to Haider al Abadi. Maliki eventually resigned.

The new executive gained the confidence of Parliament on 8 September, but it was little more than a reshuffle of the previous one. Praised as “inclusive” by Washington, it was, in actual fact, supported by the same forces which have dominated post-Saddam Iraq. Heavily pressured by the Americans, the Kurds cautiously accepted to be part of it. In the meanwhile ISIS continued to advance in the North and overpowered not only the Iraqi army but also the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. With the gaining of three Kurdish enclaves in the North at the beginning of August, the Jihadists were half an hour's drive from Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish Region. The turning point

IRAQ

General Information Official Name:

Republic of Iraq

Flag:

131

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

Arabic, Kurdish

Capital:

Baghdad

Population:

33,42 milioni (2013)

Area:

437.072 square km

Religions:

Muslim (Shiite, Sunni); minorities: Christian, Yazidi, Sabei

Currency:

Iraqi Dinar

Primary Exports:

Oil

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 7.004

arrived from the United States: on 7 August President Obama authorized “targeted” air raids on Iraq, followed by the arrival of “military advisers” to support the Iraqi troops while Washington began working on an “ample coalition” against ISIS, involving the Middle East countries (except Syria and Iran). The Jihadists also advanced to the West: taking control of most of the Euphrates Valley and have now almost reached the gateways of Baghdad. The fate of the Iraqi capital is very worrying despite continuous air raids. The Pentagon has reluctantly admitted that these have not been very effective.

political instability (with direct effects on security), alienating the Sunni component, especially in the West and in the North-West, therefore preparing the way for the ISIS advance.

The current very changeable situation, with considerable parts of the country out of the central Government's control, gives rise to serious doubts as to whether Iraq will be able to maintain its territorial integrity.

In any case, its future now depends on how the regional situation evolves - in particular the outcome of the conflict in Syria, as well as the attitude of Tehran, an ally of Damask, but currently involved in negotiations with the United States and the European Union regarding its nuclear dossier.

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The destabilizing effects of the invasion in March 2003 and the overthrow of the regime have been amplified by the loss of stability which the Middle East has witnessed over the past few years - in particular by the fighting with neighbouring Syria.

Squeezed between two cumbersome neighbours – Iran and Turkey – post-American Iraq, where Teheran's influence is strong and where there has never been a process of national reconciliation, sees its various components influenced by the same external parties involved in the Syrian conflict (primarily Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey).

Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki's Government has, in particular, decisively contributed to the

The reason for the fighting

Independence for the Kurds?

“Iraq exists only in the minds of those in the White House”: these are the words of Masrur Barzani, Chief of the Kurdish Region Intelligence Services, as well as son of his President, Mas'ud Barzani. Independence for Kurdistan? One certain thing is that the political void following the advance of the ISIS in the NorthWest of the country has permitted the Kurds to expand their territorial claims. Furthermore, they have taken possession of Kirkuk, a city which has always been contested

by Baghdad and is an important petroleum centre, as well as two reserves which jointly produce 400.000 barrels of crude oil daily.

According to the Prime Minister of Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, it is improbable that Iraq will be able to return to the situation prior to the ISIS advance. The Kurd Region has, in the meanwhile, begun to export its petroleum and pump oil from Kirkuk in its oil pipes despite protests from Baghdad.

© Fabio Bucciarelli / MEMO

Already part of the Ottoman Empire, then under British rule (1920), the country gained independence in 1932.

In July 1958 a coup overthrew the monarchy. A second coup in February 1963 brought the Arab Nationalist Party Ba'ath to power. Soon ousted, the Ba'athists returned to rule on 17 July 1968, establishing a single party regime.

In September 1980, Saddam Hussein, President since July 1979, attacked Iran, where Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's Islamic revolution had overthrown the Shah in February.

This led to the start of a bloody war in which the West sided with Baghdad. At the end of the war (August 1988), Iraq found itself in a disastrous situation - enormously in debt to the Golf countries who had financed their military adventure.

On 2 August 1990, Saddam invaded Kuwait, accused of lowering the price of petroleum in order to weaken the Iraqi economy. On 6 August the United Nations imposed an embargo to force Baghdad to retreat.

On 17 January – the Gulf War: a coalition of 34 countries authorized by the Security Council attacked Iraq. On 3 March there was a cease-fire,

but sanctions remained until the UN certified that Iraq no longer possessed “mass destruction weapons”.

The embargo devastated the country and strengthened Saddam's regime, which Washington wished to abolish under the pretext of “mass destruction weapons”. The United States and Great Britain invaded Iraq on 20 March 2003 despite not having obtained authorization from the Security Council.

Baghdad fell on 9 April and occupation of the country was soon endorsed by the UN but the precipitation of events convinced Washington to “return sovereignty” to the Iraqis. An interim Government guided by Iyad Allawi was installed at the end of June 2004, while the UN legitimated the US led “Multinational Force”, a term of which would be renewed annually.

The first elections for a “transitional government” took place on 30 January 2005. The new Constitution was approved on 15 October and the Iraqis voted once again on 15 December. In May 2006 came the new Government, led

by Nuri al Malidi: a coalition of Shiite (religious) parties and Kurds. Saddam, captured in Decem-

General outline

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

La soluzione è ancora troppo lontana

A dieci anni dall'invasione di Stati Uniti e Regno Unito, le speranze di una pacificazione nel Paese si sono allontanate. Allo stesso tempo, è bene ricordare le molte iniziative locali che, in una situazione di conflitto violento, continuano a impegnarsi per costruire una società irachena democratica e dove i diritti umani vengano rispettati. La Rete La'Onf (nonviolenza in arabo), attiva dalla metà degli anni duemila anche grazie al sostegno della organizzazione italiana Un Ponte per, raccoglie circa un centinaio di organizzazioni locali irachene.

A ottobre e novembre, con il sostegno di Un Ponte Per, una delegazione della società civile irachena ha incontrato organizzazioni e istituzioni europee, e ha potuto portare la voce di un ”altro Iraq”. Della delegazione facevano parte attivisti di diversa provenienza e origine etnica e religiosa. A Ginevra gli attivisti hanno seguito la Universal Periodic Review dell'Onu sulla situazione dei diritti umani nel Paese, documentando violazioni e abusi governativi.

Haider al Abadi

The “moderate” Shiite who should be able to hold together Iraq - hostage of ethnic and religious conflicts, with a considerable part of the country uncontrolled by the central Government, and bombardments by the “coalition” - is an electrical engineer who lived in Great Britain for a long period of time.

Born in Baghdad in 1952 and graduated from university in 1975, he then moved to Manchester for a Master's degree. Exiled because he was a member of the Da'wa, Shiite religious party opposing Saddam's regime, he worked as an industrial consultant.

Returning to his country in 2003, he was Minister of Communications in the first “Government” nominated by the occupying authorities in September 2003. Minister of Parliament from 2006, he headed various parliamentary commissions including Economy and Finance.

Contrary to his predecessor and fellow party member Nuri al Maliki, he speaks fluent English and has a better understanding of the West, according to some western diplomats. But his political positions are not so different – nor is his base, mainly deeprooted amongst the Shiites from the South.

He has declared his opinion on the fight against the ISIS

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(Baghdad, 25 April 1952)

© Fabio Bucciarelli / MEMO

ber 2003, was executed three years later.

In February 2006 an attack on the Shiite mosque in Samarra triggered a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites. The number of USA troops rose to almost 170 thousand men.

On 14 December 2008 the United States and Iraq signed the Status of Forces Agreement: all US troops had to withdraw by the end of 2011.

The legislative elections in March 2010 were narrowly won by former prime minister Allawi's nationalist alliance, but the new (incomplete) Government was only established in December and led once again by Maliki who had managed to unite the Shiites.

The last American soldiers left Iraq on 18 December 2011 but the post-American phase, however, began with a serious political crisis. An arrest warrant for “terrorism” against Tariq al Hashimi, one of the Vice Presidents of the Republic, triggered an uncontrollable cycle of violence

THE PROTAGONISTS

which bathed the country in blood.

Political instability soon became paralysis. The Iraqi Sunni felt increasingly excluded by Shiite Prime Minister Maliki's Government, which continued to gain strength and control the entire security system.

From December 2012 onwards the initially peaceful protest seemed to be an Iraqi “Arab Spring” but in just a few months the repression of the governing forces ignited the Sunni zone where an armed uprising began.

Political and religious leaders invited the rebels, especially in the Province of Anbar, to imitate their “Syrian brothers” and overthrow the Baghdad Government. Provincial, and then political elections were held in the midst of this ceaseless violence.

On 30 April the latter were once again won by Maliki's coalition, which sought a third term.

However, it had not been possible to vote in many areas of Anbar: the city of Falluja and part of Ramadi, the capital of the Province, were at that stage controlled by the Jihadists of the selfstyled Islamic State.

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How to read the maps

In the UNO map here above you will find only Jammu and Kashmir evidenced as this is the old name of the entire area contested by India, Pakistan and China.

The map on the right, instead, indicates the actual division of the territories amongst the above mentioned States, under different names, which have never been recognized on an international level.

Present situation and latest developments

Violence has returned to the limelight in Kashmir, in the extreme North-Western area of the Indian subcontinent, theatre of a nationalist revolt which is both internal and simultaneously contested by India and Pakistan.

Fighting increased in the first few months of It is called LOC, an acronym for 2014 along the Control Line, functioning as Line of Control. It separates the the border which separates the Principality of Kashmir Region under Indian sove- Jammu and Kashmir, under Indian sovereignty, reignty from the region controlled from the territories of Azad Kashmir, Gilgit and

by Pakistan. It was the line upon Baltistan, controlled by Pakistan. Fighting also which the respective armies were intensified between the Indian troops and the deployed at the moment of the armed militias from the area controlled by Pakicease-fire which, in 1949, with the stan, according to a twenty-year trend. mediation of the UN, put an end However, during the summer numerous clashes to the first war between the two between the two armies also took place, violanewly-independent countries. It is ting the 2003 cease-fire agreement. It was the monitored by a UN mission but is most serious escalation in the last decade and not an internationally recognized while India and Pakistan accuse each other of border because it is still an object violating the agreements, civilians are the main of contention. It was, however, victims: in Indian Kashmir at the beginning of sanctioned as the actual border in October there were over 1500 displaced per1972, with the Simla Agreements sons, fleeing from neighbouring villages close (at the end of a new war between to the border in order to escape the crossfire.

Pakistan and India which marked It seems that not even the flooding in Septemthe birth of Bangladesh). The LOC ber 2014, which caused 500 deaths and left one remains impenetrable to the infil- million people homeless, was enough to halt the tration of armed fighters (from both hostilities: tension remain high despite good inthe Pakistan and Indian sides), tentions regarding the humanitarian emergency. but for the civilian population it is The number of victims is now on the rise once an insurmountable barrier which again. separates villages and families. According the South Asian Terrorism Portal, 181 Normal telephone connections people were killed in 2013 (20 civilians, 61 Inbetween the two sides do not work dian security force men and 100 guerillas). and only on very rare occasions The death total up to 26 October 2014 was 134 have families been able to visit (19 civilians, 33 from the security forces and each other or reunite. 82 guerillas). This is a long way off the peak of 4500 deaths in 2001, or even the more than a thousand deaths in 2006, but if the number of victims since then has General Information been in constant decrease (the year Official Name: Jammu and Kashmir 2012 with 117 deaths was definitely Flag: the least bloody year since 1990), the tendency has now been inverted.

On one hand, the evident resumption of activity by groups such as HizbMain Languages: Hindi, English ul-Mojaheddin or Lashkar-e-Taiba, Capital: Jammu and Srinagar “Jihadist” organizations based in Pakistan is a worry. The Indian secuPopulation: 12.500.000 rity establishment is convinced that Area: 222.236 square km the withdraw of the NATO forces in Religions: Muslim – Hinduism Afghanistan within the end of 2014 prevails in the Jammu will lead these organizations to reRegion while Buddhism launch their activities on the Kashis predominant in the mir “front”.

Ladakh Region.

A video circulated in June 2014 Currency: Rupee confirmed fears: al-Qaeda leaders Primary Exports: Fruit, cashmere wool, appealed to Kashmir Muslims to embroidered fabrics, join the global “holy war” like their polished precious “brothers” in Syria and Iraq. The stones video promised that a “convoy” of Gdp Per Capita: not available “heroic martyrs” from Afghanistan

KASHMIR

The Line of Control

General Information Official Name:

Azad Jammu and Kashmir

135

Flag:

Main Languages:

Kashmiri, Urdu, Kindko and others

Capital:

Muzaffarabad

Population:

4.500.000

Area:

13.297 square km

Religions:

Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh

Currency:

Rupee

Primary Exports:

not available

Gdp Per Capita:

not available

would be sent to “liberate Kashmir”.

It was the first time that al-Qaeda specifically referred to Kashmir.

On the other hand, internal political dialogue is also at a stalemate. Emergency laws have been enforced in Jammu and Kashmir that confer special powers to the security forces - the Armed Forced Special Power Act (AFSPA) and the Public Safety Act (PSA) - the major sources of abuse towards the civilian population.

And, as always, the real victims of the conflict are unarmed people.

who took office in June 2013 and Pakistan is suspicious of the Government installed in New Delhi in May 2014, led by Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi.

The Kashmir national forces remain divided regarding fundamental strategic matters. Independentists demand the referendum for self-determination foreseen by a UN resolution in 1948, but for some “self-determination” means choosing between India and Pakistan; for others it includes the option of independence, refused by both New Delhi and Islamabad. The first common demand is, however, to revoke the special laws and end militarization of everyday life and the impunity of the security forces as well as to expose illegal executions, torture, rape and the disappearance of thousands of persons. All this while a generation which has grown up with the fighting demands freedom, but does not expect anything from talks which have dragged on for far too many years: fertile terrain for new waves of revolt.

The reason for the fighting

The Kashmir conflict is one of the longest-lasting regional crises in the Indian subcontinent. It is also an internal conflict (within India) and one between nations (India and Pakistan) and this means that the green valleys of Kashmir, surrounded by the Himalayan glaciers which extend as far as India, Pakistan and China, are a powder keg with regional implications. Kashmir is one of the unsolved inheritances of the 1947 Division, when two separate nations were created out of old British India – Muslim Pakistan and multireligion, secular India with a Hindu majority.

The Principality of Jammu and Kashmir (which included the territories of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, and the territories of Gilgit and Baltisan) hoped to remain independent but finally opted for India with a formal act making it a State of the Indian Union with greater autonomy. This decision made by Hari Singh, the local Maharajah (Hindu) was not well received by the Pakistan leaders,

who wanted to reclaim Kashmir. In 1948 the dispute erupted into the first war between India and Pakistan. The cease-fire line negotiated with the mediation of the United Nations in 1949 became the actual border (LOC, the “Control Line”): to the West is the sector controlled by Pakistan (about one third of the original territory), to the East is the part under Indian rule (capital cities - Srinagar and Jannu). A glacial area in the extreme North (10% of the original territory) was handed over by Pakistan to China in 1962. United Nations Resolutions in 1948 and 1949 called for Pakistan to withdraw its forces from the occupied territories and urged for a referendum so that the Kashmir people could decide their own future. Pakistan did not withdraw and India used this an an excuse not to ever declare a plebiscite.

The post-independent period witnessed growing friction among the Kashmir leaders and the Central Government of the Indian Union which has

General outline

136

There are at least three reasons: India, Pakistan and the inhabitants of Kashmir. For India and Pakistan the contention is territorial. They have fought two declared wars (in 1948-49 and in 1965) and one undeclared one (in Summer 1999) for Kashmir, as well as a long “proxy war” conducted by guerrillas infiltrated from Pakistan into the area controlled by India (Islamabad declares that it only provides “moral and political support” to the Kashmir Muslims). From the start of this century there have been alternating moments of escalation and relative calm. In 2002 the two atomically strong nations deployed their respective troops in a state of maximum alert. From 2005 to 2008 they initiated the most promising cycle of debate since 1947. The terrorist attack in Mumbai in December 2008, organized by the Jihadist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (based in Pakistan), stalled dialogue once again and although bilateral contact resumed in August 2001, relations remain reserved. India distrusts Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,

The highest war front in the world

Symbols count: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated the Hindu festivities in Diwali in October 2014, with a brief visit to the Siachen Glacier, where Indian and Pakistan troops face one another at 6700 metres ASL. Situated between the Karakorum and the Ladak mountain chains, at the convergence of India, Pakistan and China, Siachen is the highest war front in the world. Its inaccessible (and non-strategic) position had meant it was nobody's land up until 1984 when the Indian Army began to transfer men and equipment there by plane.

They also built stations along the presumable route of the Control Line which in that area marks the actual border between India and Pakistan.

The Pakistan Army responded by doing exactly the same. Maintaining troops and equipment at that altitude is extremely costly price-wise: (more than a billion dollars a year just on the Indian side) and energy-wise: a large number of the victims here were not due to the fighting but to the cold and illness in the minus 40-50 degree temperatures. In the past many, both in India and Pakistan, have proposed the demilitarization of Siachen: even if one is not a pacifist, an evaluation of the costs and its strategic importance suffices. Up until now, however, reciprocal suspicion has stopped this from taking place.

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

The Dalai Lama's project for conflict management

What happens when a natural disaster hits one of the regions with the highest number of troops in the Indian subcontinent? One would expect that man power and logistics would be put put to good use in a humanitarian emergency. The Kashmir case suggests the opposite. In September 2014, the extreme North-West of the Indian subcontinent was hit by disastrous flooding. In Jammu and Kashmir torrential rain caused the Jelhum River, one of the five tributaries of the Indo River flowing down from the Himalayan mountain range, to burst its banks and flood the Summer capital of Srinagar.

The entire Kashmir valley was devastated by flooding and landslides (as were the bordering areas of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltisan (under Pakistan rule); the flood also hit further down the valley in the Pakistan province of Punjab. At the end of the month a total of at least 564 had lost their lives (284 in Indian Kashmir and 280 in Pakistan) and one million had become homeless. In Jammu and Kashmir in particular, at least 180.000 homes were destroyed or damaged, and in Srinagar alone 50.000 people faced winter in emergency shelters mostly mosques or temples.

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Natural disasters

“Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace” (WISCOMP) is a project launched in Delhi by the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness Dalai Lama, whose intention is to promote gender sensibility and women's empowerment in the sectors of peace, security and international affairs, as well as conflict management and peace-building.

WISCOMP intervenes in order to facilitate the creation of pacific political relations and relations in areas of conflict in South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan, with special attention being paid to Kashmir.

Workshops and events provide not only a space for encounters between political leaders, peace activists and academics, but also encourage young people and women to contribute to the prevention of conflict and the building of faith amongst ethnic groups, religions and social classes. Peace-building is vitally important for managing conflict without violence and for increasing young people's awareness regarding accepting differences.

gradually eroded the autonomous regime of Jammu and Kashmir. In 1989 this disaffection turned into a civil protest which involved a broad social and political array, from the university to trade unions to nationalist parties. The first armed actions against government objectives also took place at the end of that year in Srinagar: it was the beginning of a separatist rebellion which would, in its worst moments, reach the intensity of a civil war. The central Indian State's response was harsh and escalation unrelenting. The first armed group, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) was soon defeated: they were young men with ideas of people's revolution. Yasin Mal ik, their leader was soon arrested and in '94 the JKLF gave up their armed struggle. However, other protagonists had taken the upper hand: the Hizb-ul-Mojeheddin, armed wing of the Jamiat Islami Conservative (and pro-Pakistan Party, in turn overtaken by other groups (Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba and others). It was the beginning of the '90s and weapons and fighters

THE PROTAGONISTS

from Afghanistan trained by the Jihad, (“holy war” in the political and military sense) and supported by the ISI, the Pakistan military intelligence service converged in Kashmir against the Soviet Union. They brought with them a Talibantype of Islam, foreign to the local Sufi tradition. It also brought terror: attacks on civilians, bombs in the local markets and reprisals. Most of the Hindus in Kashmir – the Pandits – fled the country.

The central Government sent its troops and paramilitary corps to oppose the rebels and the valley was militarized. It was a war largely manoeuvred by secret services, but it was the inhabitants of Kashmir who paid the highest price: between 50 and 80 thousand people have been killed since 1989, the majority of them civilians. And this is without taking into accounting the thousands of desparecidos and a wake of injustice and abuse which has devastated the social services, the unions, the political parties and the human rights groups. It is for this reason that peace in Kashmir depends both on relations between India and Pakistan, as well as on India's ability to find a democratic balance which suits the social and political forces in this area.

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How to read the maps

The above map shows Turkish territory. On the right is a map of the transnational territory inhabited by the Kurds.

Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM TURCHIA REFUGEES

66.607

MAIN COUNTRIES HOSTING THESE REFUGEES GERMANY

24.449

IRAQ

15.496

FRANCE

10.867

REFUGEES HOSTED BY TURKEY REFUGEES

609.938

MAIN COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF THESE REFUGEES SYRIA

585.601

IRAQ

13.467

The Domiz Refugee Camp

Quie literally a city of refugees, the Domiz Refugee Camp is situated near the city of Dohuk, in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. Sustained by the Regional Government and humanitarian organizations (in particular UNHCR), the camp hosts approximately 60.000 refugees from the Syrian and Iraqi conflict (mainly Kurds) Some of the refugees have lived in the ramshackle tent-city in the camp since the outset of the fighting in Syria, when the region was considered a safe place to take refuge in. Today Domiz has become their home, while waiting for a solution which does not seem to be forthcoming and in the complete indifference of the international community, which has never discussed a plan for the effective support of refugees from the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts.

© Fabio Bucciarelli / MEMO

The “Kurd issue” dramatically returned to the attention of the press over the past year, linked to the future of the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

The city of Kobane in Syrian Kurdistan (Northern Syria), confining with Turkey, has become the global symbol of the struggle for freedom from the IS (Islamic State) militias, who have held it under siege for months. It is being strenuously defended by the Kurdish combatants from the YPG and YPJ (the Kurdish militias – the former composed of men and women, the latter of women only).

At the beginning of January the Islamic State combatants, who had taken over several quarters of the city, raising their black flag on the strategic hill of Tel Shahir, withdrew.

The city was “liberated” by the Kurds who, in order to carry out this action, could count not only on the support of international public opinion but most of all on the cover of air raids by the anti-IS coalition led by the USA and on the support of the Peshmerga Iraqi Kurds and several combatants from the free Syrian army.

There was no involvement, instead, by Turkey, accused of having sustained and guaranteed logistic support to the IS militias.

For decades Ankara has been involved in the repression of the political and civil rights of the Kurds who live in Turkey. It considers the strengthening of the experiment of Kurdish autonomy in Rojava, Syrian Kurdistan to be a mere smokescreen (see focus).

Kobane is one of the three Cantons (as well as Cizire and Efrin) which the Region of Rojava was divided into by the Kurds at the beginning of 2014.

The advancement of the IS in Syria and Iraq has led the Syrian Kurds, linked to PKK and the Peshmerga from the Autonomous Region of Iraqi Kurdistan, to join forces against the Jihadists, overcoming, even if temporarily, past differences. Following the ruinous withdraw of the Iraqi Army before the IS advancement in Mosul, the Peshmerga have become the horse to bet on for the Western world.

KURDISTAN

General Information Official Name:

Kurdistan

Flag:

139

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

Kurmanji, Sorani and many sub-dialects

Capital:

not available

Population:

Approx. 40.000.000

Area:

Approx. 500.000 square km

Religions:

Sunni Muslim majority

Currency:

not available

Primary Exports:

not available

Gdp Per Capita:

not available

The US-led international coalition supports them and provides them with weapons (including the Italian Government) and the air raids were decisive in the regaining by the Peshmerga of Sinjar, east of Mosul, where the IS militias had forced thousands of Yazidi, a minority “hunted” by the Jihadists for mass killings, kidnapping and enslavement, to flee.

Refugees fleeing from the Syrian conflict continue to take refuge around Arbil in the north of Iraqi Kurdistan.

140

The Kurdish people's struggle is one for selfdetermination, independence and recognition of their identity and civil and political rights within the nation-states. The repression inflicted upon them has always been very harsh.

The governments of Iran, Turkey, Syria and Saddam Hussein's Iraq have always endeavoured to deny the very existence of this ethnic group, attempting to erase their culture, history and

language and sometimes even denying them an identity document. Torture, summary trials, jailing and violent repression are part of the past and present history of these people who inhabit a territory rich in oil and natural resources (70% of the oil in Iraq comes from Iraqi Kurdistan) which the nation-states have absolutely no intention of relinquishing.

The reason for the fighting

Kurdistan, literally “Country of the Kurds”, is a vast geographical area of approximately 500.000 square km divided between Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran inhabited by a majority of ethnic Kurds. The area is the region corresponding to the northern and north-eastern part of ancient Mesopotamia. The Kurdish people - of IndoIranian origin, have their own language, culture and political organization but even today are still denied their identity and fundamental freedom.

The wealth of oil and natural resources in the Kurdistan territory is without doubt one of the main reasons why Turkey, Syria and Iran refuse this ethnic group recognition of even their most basic civil and political rights, therefore denying their very existence. This negotiation began during the Ottoman Empire and continues on even today, despite the efforts of many human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and of the European Institutions themselves: the European Council Commission against Racism and Intolerance has more than once emphasized how the Kurds in Turkey are not guaranteed basic rights such as expression, assembly and association. With the end of the First World War, the creation of an independent Kurd nation did actually seem possible. It was foreseen by the Sèvres Treaty, signed on 10 August 1920, which determined the creation of an autonomous Kurdistan in Eastern Anatolia. However, the Treaty was not respected, mainly due to pressure by the nascent Turkish Republic. In fact, the successi-

ve Treaty of Lausanne Treaty, signed in 1923 by Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Greece and Romania invalidated the Sèvres Treaty and the areas inhabited by the Kurdish people were divided up between Turkey, Syria, Ian and Iraq. More than 25 million Kurds were dispersed, mainly in these four nations. Today the Kurds in the world number approximately 45 million, transformed, in actual fact, into four minorities and have been forced to undergo violent attempts of assimilation in all four countries over the years. Almost 7 million Kurds live in Iraq, mostly in the autonomous region of Kurdistan which is about 85.000 square km in size. For the Kurds this area is

General outline

Kurds hanged in Iran

The civil and political rights of the Kurdish minority in Iran are continuously violated. According to Human Rights Watch “dozens of condemned persons accused of terrorism, including many Iranian Kurds and Baluchs are awaiting to be executed following trials severely in violation of defence rights”. In the single month of December, Iran hanged to death 64 persons, including 11 Kurds.

According to Kurdish sources, the number of executions has increased under President Rouhani's new Government. The report published

by Human Rights Watch also reported that the Iranian Law Courts have continued allowing the execution of detainees condemned for “moharebeh” (enmity to God) despite the fact that the Penal Code explicitly calls for the death sentences to be re-examined and commuted.

© Fabio Bucciarelli / MEMO

© Fabio Bucciarelli / MEMO

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

A de facto independence

This is the Kurdish majority region in the North and North-East of Syria (Western Kurdistan) It is not recognized as autonomous by the Government of the Arab Republic of Syria, which has, however, conceded to the Kurds large areas of autodetermination – previously denied to them prior to the start of the revolution in 2011. In the midst of the bloody civil war in Syria the Kurds have created in Rojava an experiment of democratic federalism which implicates self-sufficiency, localism and political pluralism.

“A confederation of Kurds, Arabs, Syrians, Arameans, Turkmen, Armenians and Chechens”, as stated in the Constitution of Rojava. “in approving this Charter” – reads the text, “we are adopting a civil political and administrative system based on a social contract which reconciles the rich mosaic of Syria through a transition phase from dictatorship, from civil war and from destruction which will lead to a new democratic society where civil life and social justice will be maintained.

141

Rojava

The implosion of Iraq and Syria and the rise of Islamism in the region has suddenly brought the Kurd issue to the top of the international diplomacy's agenda. The traditional rivalry which afflicted the Kurdish community and the parties formed in the various countries to represent interests has not disappeared. However, the war and the profound political transformations in the area have opened up previously unimaginable political spaces for the Kurds: the Peshmerga have found themselves in the front line de facto allied with the USA, against the Islamist threat. In the North of Syria (Rojava) the Kurd majority areas have gained de facto independence. Here the main political force is the Democratic Union Party (PYD) - the Syrian wing of the PKK. The Rojava experience gained notoriety during the battle against ISIS per control over Kobane: the Syrian Kurds called for the realization of a democratic experiment, with equal rights for the women (also involved in the fighting). In December 2014 an international delegation visiting Rome testified that it had seen “genuinely democratic structures” in function, which could become the reference point for a different kind of future for Syria and the Middle East.

© Fabio Bucciarelli / MEMO

called Basur-Kurdistan, that is, Kurdistan of the South – but they also live in other cities: Kirkuk, Mosul and the capital Baghdad. The Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK) guided by Mustafa Barzani opposed the Saddam Hussein regime which had adopted brutal repression against the Kurds: chemical weapons, arrests, killings, disappearances and forced deportations. In Iraq the two main Kurdish parties, the DPK and the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) of Jalal Talabani, both contend control of the territory. Approximately 12 million Kurds - Sunni Muslims - live in Iran in an area of 140.000 square km called Rojhelat Kurdistan (East Kurdistan). When the Khomeini revolution broke out in 1979, the Iranian Kurds reunited around the DPIK (Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan) founded by Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou fought to obtain their own sort of autonomy within the nation. The Shiite rule led to harsh repression which caused approximately

THE PROTAGONISTS

10.000 deaths. In Syria the Kurds live mainly in the region called Rojava, situated in the northeast of the country in an area of about 40.000 square km inhabited by 3 million Kurds. Until the beginning of the civil war in 2011, the Kurds were not recognized in any way by the Government in Damask which, instead, began to concede wide margins of autonomy to the PYD, the main Syrian Kurdish Party, worsening the conflict. Most of Kurdistan, about 250.000 square km, is in Turkey. The twelve million Kurds who live there call the region Bakur-Kurdistan (North Kurdistan).

The Kurds in Turkey have no rights and the policy of the Ankara Government is to deny their very existence. In 1979 the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan founded, together with others, the PKK, the Kurdish Workers Party, a political and military organization which commenced its armed conflict against the Turkish government in order to obtain recognition of the identity of the Kurdish people. The reaction of Turkey was, and still is, harsh: forced perquisition, the destruction of villages, unjustified arrests and torture.

142

Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM PAKISTAN REFUGEES

48.867

MAIN COUNTRIES HOSTING THESE REFUGEES AFGHANISTAN

16.825

CANADA

10.641

UNITED KINGDOM

5.297

DISPLACED PERSONS IN PAKISTAN 747.498 REFUGEES HOSTED BY PAKISTAN REFUGEES

1.616.507

MAIN COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF THESE REFUGEES AFGHANISTAN

1.615.876

The Islamic State seeks recruits

The Islamic State (IS), the Jihadist movement which operates in Iraq has distributed leaflets in Peshawar and in the Pakistani Provinces on the border with Afghanistan, encouraging recruitment and inviting the local population to support the creation of an Islamic caliphate. This is a worry for Pakistani civil society, especially for the organizations defending human rights. The Government has therefore been asked to halt the distribution of IS propaganda. Facing the threat of the IS ideology infecting Pakistani society, lawyers and activists explain that “the country is already at risk due to the presence of extremist groups and terrorists”. Civilian organizations and movements have joined together to counter “the death ideology”, bringing a vision based on values such as the respect of dignity and human rights to the culture and publishing sectors.

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez / MEMO

Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan finds itself tangled up in political tensions and social instability which jeopardize the reforms and redevelopment of the economy, issues which the prime minister elected in May 2013 had based his electoral programme on. That year two democratically elected Governments alternately ruled the nation for the first time in the history of the country. The PPP (Pakistan People's Party) administration handed power over to the party led by the PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz), while Asif Ali Zardari, the first democratically elected President of the Islamic republic of Pakistan was replaced by Mamoon Hussain. Sarif, a politician and businessman already known on the scene for his previous experiences in the Government (1990-93 and 1996-99), soon found himself right in the middle of a political, social and institutional crisis which has paralysed the nation. First of all, the problem of how to quell the terroristic threat by the Pakistani Taliban groups has generated strong contrast between the Sharif Government, in favour of negotiations, and the military establishment, in favour of an “iron fist”. In the second half of 2014 the Government also had to deal with massive and protracted demonstrations organized by movements and parties calling for new elections. In the face of a political stalemate which lasted for several months, fuelled by street fighting and the deaths of three protesters, the country found itself once again on the brink of authoritarianism. Popular dissent is led by former cricket star Imran Khan (from “Pakistan Thareeke-Insaf”) and mullah Tahirul Qadri (leader of the “Pakistan Awami Thareek”), who had already contested the democratic victory of Sharif, accusing him of electoral fraud. With the paralysis of public life, the Pakistani population has witnessed fundamental economical issues such as lack of electricity, inflation, unemployment and corruption being pushed into the background, while the nation is being badly affected by an energy crisis. On a foreign level, relationships remain turbulent with neighbouring Afghani-

PAKISTAN

General Information Official Name:

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Flag:

143

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

English, Urdu, Punjabi, Sindi, Pasto, Baluchi

Capital:

Islamabad

Population:

179.200.000

Area:

803.940 square km

Religions:

Muslim (95%) - mainly Sunni; Christian (2%), Hindu (1.6%)

Currency:

Pakistan Rupee

Primary Exports:

Textiles, cotton, fish, fruit

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 3.056

stan, even though this is an area where Sharif has worked very hard in an attempt to revive peace talks between Kabul and the insurgents, supporting the stabilization of the country. Following the election of Nationalist leader Narendra Modi and repeated tensions in the area contested by Kashmir, the task of normalizing relations with India has never been so difficult.

Christian and Hindu minorities are being increasingly targeted by violence.

144

According to Pentagon analysts, today Pakistan is “al Qaeda's neuralgic centre”, as well as being a key country in the fight against international terrorism. Furthermore, regarding international trade and the oil industry, the country is the nucleus of wide-reaching strategic, geographical, political and economical interests (and therefore conflict). So much so that, despite being in the orbit of the Atlantic alliance (the USA finances military and civilian co-operation programmes), even China has set its eyes on it: Peking has initiated a series of economic co-operation investments and projects - a solid base for creating a political and diplomatic relationship. On the other, hand, Pakistan, overlooking the Indian Ocean, is the privileged route for the oil ducts which transport crude oil from central Asian countries: Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which possess the largest gas and oil reserves in the world. For this reason, in the areas surrounding the central Asian region (recently freed from Russian influence) and in the Afghanistan and Pakistan quadrant, the new “Great game” (expression used in the XIX century) of the major leading countries of the world is played today in the West and in the East, in order to gain political alliances and therefore secure supplies of energy resources. Foreseen on the Pakistan game-board is the umpteenth confrontation between the two world giants - the United States and China - both

interested in extending their political influence in such a strategically important region. There are, however, also tensions of a religious nature in Pakistan. Pakistan is a country with a majority of Sunnite Muslims, but it is also inhabited by a Shiite minority with 30 million followers, which makes Pakistan the second Shiite nation in the world after Iran. The current religious conflict in the country sees a part of the Sunnites supported

by Saudi Arabia and the other countries in the Gulf, and another part supported by Iran. Both fronts exploit nearby Afghan conflict, both use the mosques as a place for propaganda and indoctrination, both cover for or favour terrorist organizations, both attempt to silence the voices of moderate Islam and religious minorities. It is, in fact, the religious minorities (mainly Christians, Hindus and Ahmadi) who are often targeted in mass attacks, and there has been an increase in violence over the past year.

Both alliances are endorsed by political parties, by members of the Pakistan Government, by some sectors of the armed forces and secret services. In the midst of these tensions, trying to govern and weaken them, is the rest of the Government, the armed forces and the secret services; that is, those who wish to create a united, lay and democratic Pakistan which respects the law and human rights.

The reason for the fighting

Old and new tensions between democracy and feudal structures, between modernization and tribalism, between military lobbies and Islamic powers: Pakistan (the “Land of the pure”), is struggling with profound internal instability which has very ancient roots. The country, given consideration by the press only in clamorous cases such as the killing of Osama bin Laden, is, in actual fact, one of the main protagonists of the international political scene. Situated in the heart of Southern Asia, Pakistan was officially created on 14 August 1947. Until then it had been part of British India, successively divided into two different countries: Pakistan, with a Muslin majority, and India, with a Hindu majority.

Since independence, Pakistan has always been in conflict with India over control of Kashmir but this is not the only cause of destabilization for the country. Its federation structure, subdivided into 4 Provinces, 2 Territories and 107 Districts, with an extremely irregular ethnic composition divided between a southern part which is organized in a more modern way, and a northern one which is profoundly tribal and crossed by ageold independentist influences, makes it a difficult territory to govern. On a social and cultural level, the nation remains anchored to an ancient feudal structure which influences the economical dynamics, relations and the entire social structure, divided between elites who hold the economical and political power and masses of extremely poor people reduced to a servile state. Further-

more, regarding social and political equilibrium, the Army has always been a strong influence and represents one of the “great powers” which have always been present in the key moments of the nation's history: military leaders have, amongst other things, directly ruled the country through a coup, as in the case of the dictator Zia-ul-Haq (in the '80s) and, more recently, of General Pervez Musharraf (from 2000 to 2008).

The other element which has, right from its origins, strongly characterized Pakistan history and society is Islam in its various forms and declinations. After Indonesia, it is the second country in the world regarding the number of Muslim worshippers (95% of 180 million). Although the founder of the nation, Muslim leader Ali Jinnah, wished to create a lay and democratic nation – thus represented in the Constitution – over the following years the movements and integralist Islamic Parties have increasingly conditioned its politics, society, legal system and education.

In exchange for the political support of the dictator, the Islams, in particular under the rule of Zia-ul-Haq, have obtained pro-Islamic legislative measures which have changed the face of the nation, penalizing human rights and individual freedom. The level of conflict is extremely high.

The country endures strong internal tensions: the crisis in the province of Balochistan has been in act since the '70s; Islamic groups, with varying schools of thought, attempt to impose their ideals; tensions between the various eth-

General outline

The fight against polio

This prevention campaign is often opposed by the tribal and sectarian mentality of the Taliban: in one year the polio vaccine has been administered to 850.000 children under the age of five, particularly in the Pakistani Province of Beluchistan, a vast region in South Asia which is politically subdivided between Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The initiative was undertaken because cases of polio were registered in Pakistan at the beginning of 2014.

According to the local UNICEF office, health operations in the infected areas has been hindered by cultural problems which have generated acts of violence against the health workers. Pakistan is one of three countries in the world (together with Nigeria and Afghanistan) where polio is endemic and the hardest hit are children under five.

Put to death for “blasphemy”

Although it is present world-wide as a crime of opinion, punishable with several years imprisonment, “blasphemy” continues to reap victims in Pakistan. The crime is codified in an article of the Penal Code which foresees a life sentence or the death penalty for defamation of Islam, the Koran and the prophet Mohammed.

According to data from the Pakistani NGO network “Awaz-e-Haq-Itehad”, 1438 persons were accused of blasphemy between 1987 and October 2014. The religious minorities – less than 4% of the Pakistani population – constitute 50% of those accused of blasphemy (501 Ahmadi, 182 Christians, 26 Hindus and 10 victims whose religious belief has not been ascertained). Since 1990, 60 persons have been the victims of extra-judicial executions, accused of blasphemy: 32 were from religious minorities and 28 were Muslims. Twenty persons were killed by the police or while they were in custody, 19 were killed in attacks by crowds.

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

A Nobel for all the children without a voice

The attempt on her life was not sufficient to stop her – Malala has continued her campaign for the right to education for all the women and children in the world. In October 2014 she was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize together with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi, therefore becoming the youngest winner of the prize. In her speech at the prize-giving, Malala stressed the importance of this Nobel Prize won together with Satyarthi – a person from a historically divergent country with a different religious belief. This prize is one dedicated to all the children that she fights for every day and those who still cannot go to school.

For Malala the Nobel is only a beginning - an injection of courage and faith from thousands of people encouraging her not to stop, and to continue fighting until the right of every child, whether male or female, to receive a suitable education is respected.

Malala Yousafzai For the first time ever the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to a Pakistani citizen.

In 2014 it was received by Malala Yousafzai, together with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi. The motivation of the Prize states: “children must be able to go to school and not be exploited for money. In the poorest countries in the world, 60% of the population is under 25 years of age and it is a prerequisite for the pacific development of the world that the rights of children and youth be respected”. The girl became famous for having opposed the Taliban by promoting, from the age of 12, the right to education for the women in the Swat valley (North Pakistan) and editing a blog for the BBC. For this reason she became a target for the militants and in October 2012 was victim of a Taliban attack. Wounded in the head and chest, she was transferred to London and miraculously recovered. Today she is the youngest person ever to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala continues her campaign defending the right to education, conducted by international organizations such as the United Nations.

Following this award, public debate on issues such as women's rights have once again renewed interest in Pakistan.

145

(Mingora, 12 july 1997)

© Diego Ibarra Sánchez / MEMO

nic and tribal components of the society are still evident, for example, in the massacres in the city of Karachi. But Pakistan is also being subjected to strong external pressures: the international community has become increasingly present with strategical and economical co-operation programmes since the country became a hub for international terrorism. One factor which has created instability for decades is the uprising in the province of Balochistan in western Pakistan, inhabited by the Baloch people – tribal groups dedicated to sheep-farming and the cultivation of the land who also live in the west of Iran and in the extreme south of Afghanistan. Raging in Balochistan since the '70s is an independist guerrilla fought by rebel groups who are fighting for independence of the region, rich in natural resources and therefore forcefully annexed to Pakistan in 1947. In the '80s and the 90's the Baloch movement interrupted their armed struggle to undertake, unsuccessfully, the political route.

However, in 2000 several Baloch groups formed

THE PROTAGONISTS

the Balochistan Liberation Army, reactivating the guerrilla to which the Pakistan government retaliated with an “iron fist”. Following the attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001, with the start of the military campaign in Afghanistan, the war against the independentists in Balochistan became entangled with the one against the al-Qaeda Islamic terrorists. In fact the border areas have been focused on by the Pakistan (and American) intelligence services active in the war against terrorism and hunting down militant leaders, especially in the Waziristan district. Pressure by the Americans, however, is not widely accepted by many Islamic sectors of the society and therefore causes increased tensions and internal instability. The current Pakistan political scene - variable, irregular and quarrelsome - reflects a divided nation, troubled by ferment and contrasting ideologies, split between a rich oligarchy and 60% of the population who live below the poverty line. A country whose international strategical position is continually in discussion.

A country in which it is increasingly difficult to govern centrifugal thrusts and radical pulsations of a political, social and religious nature.

146

Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM THAILANDIA REFUGEES

222

REFUGEES HOSTED BY THAILAND REFUGEES

136.499

MAIN COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF THESE REFUGEES MYANMAR

135.476

Too many deaths on the roads

Twenty-six thousand in one year, in 2010, to be exact: this is the total of road deaths in Thailand.

Far too many. The country is third on the tragic world category compiled by the World Health Organization regarding deaths due to road accidents pro capita. 38.1 per 100.000 inhabitants, that is, 118 per every 100.000 vehicles.

A figure which has convinced the Government to intervene with an awareness campaign: As of today, the results seem disappointing.

© Guillem Valle / MEMO

Coup number 19 since 1932. A war which has caused 6.000 deaths since 2004. The year 2014 was a terrible one for Thailand. The military coup took place on 22 May. Chief Head of State Prayuth Chan-ocha announced that the soldiers had taken power “in order to restore order and push for political reforms”. A few days earlier, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had been ousted and accused of abuse of power by the Constitutional Court. A move confirming a political crisis which began in 2013 with the protest marches, the dissolution of the Government and the announcement of new elections, continually postponed. Therefore the army acted in the silence of elderly King Bhumibol Adulyadej, increasingly distant from the reality of the country. The reaction of the Shinawatra supporters ( the so-called Red Shirts) – held under arrest in the meantime – was immediate, with the announcement of retaliation and the denouncing of the coup to the international community.

The new Government blacked out several television channels and suspended the constitution.

The announcement of new elections remains in the background, but the Head of the Executive, Chan-ocha, is an inquietante personage.

Sixty years of age, former Head of the Queen's bodyguards, he has been Head of the Royal Army since 2010. He is also President of the TMB Bank – the Thai Military Bank – controlled entirely by the Army. In the days following the coup he composed a song which encouraged the return of the smile to Thailand and increased his television appearances. Several days after the coup, he decided to renew the clash with Cambodia: he deported 250.000 workers, loading them onto military trucks and taking them over the border. He did the same with the Burmese sans papier, triggering protests from the humanitarian and civil rights associations, who also denounced torture and the arbitrary imprisonment of opponents.

Meanwhile, in the Provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala, Songkhla and Sutun in the South, where almost two million people live,

THAILAND

General Information Official Name:

Kingdom of Thailand

Flag:

147

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

Thai

Capital:

Bangkok or Krung Thep in Thai

Population:

66.790.000

Area:

514.000 square km

Religions:

Buddhist (95%), Muslim (4.6%), Catholic (0.75%)

Currency:

Thai Baht

Primary Exports:

Tapioca, rice, rubber, pineapple, tin

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 9.503

the war continues. The Malay minority, which has its own culture, its own traditions and also its own language (Yawi), claim autonomy, arms in hand. The Government liquidated the issue as “common criminality”, but since 2004 there have been at least 6.000 deaths. The independentists are divided into at least 20 different factions, without co-ordination or a single leader. They call for increased autonomy and some would like annexation with Malaysia. Confused and non-united requests. In the meanwhile, the number of deaths increases.

Two fronts open for decades. The political problem exists, with repeated coups carried out by the army with the approval of the Kings, useful for retaliation between the groups holding power and between oligarchs. Then there is the internal war in the South which stems from cultural and economical differences and from the demand for independence from one of the sides. The Muslims are a comparatively

small minority in the country, only 4.6 % of the population, but they are all concentrated in the same area and, most importantly, they have a long history of independence from Thailand.

The international situation, with the actual conflict between the so-called western world and Islamic terrorism, has rekindled their hopes for independence, gathering them under the panIslamic flag.

The reason for the fighting

Fingerprinting at the border

Over the next few years Thai immigration control offices aim to install fingerprint scanners. They will be used for gathering and cataloguing the fingerprints of all foreigners wishing to enter Thailand.

The cost of the operation is 324 million bath (approx. 8.3 million euro) but this expenditure has not yet been approved by the Government. The objective is to facilitate controls for discovering criminals already known to the Thai authorities and Interpol.

They will be installed in all points of entry to the country and this will stop many criminals from entering the country in order to escape justice by other countries and to commit other crimes in Thailand.

148

© Guillem Valle / MEMO

It is known as – and essentially calls itself – the “Land of Smiles”, but there is actually not much to be happy about in Thailand. The contradictions are evident, as are the new outbursts of fighting which had seemed to have ended. Just like the tough conflict with Cambodia. By accepting international mediation in 2012, Thailand and Cambodia ended the armed conflict between the two countries, ongoing since 1962, for control of the border area near the Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO world heritage site. There have been repeated clashes over these 50 years.

The last one, which took place in April 2012 just before the signing of the agreement, caused 18 deaths. With the signing of the peace accord, the soldiers on the borders have been replaced by normal policemen, but the forced repatriation of the Cambodian workers, decided by the new Government in 2014, could renew the threat. The internal political conflict, which seemed to have finished after 91 deaths and 2.000 wounded persons in 2009, is destined to flare up again. The coup in 2014 once again sets the working class Red Shirts against the aristocrats of the Yellow shirts and the conflict will, undoubtedly, be tough. Then there is the war with the indipendentists which continues grinding out deaths in the three Muslim-majority southern provinces, despite the fact that Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani are located just a few hundred kilometres from the most famous Thai beaches, on the border with Malaysia.

The Thai armed forces are constantly in action, at an enormous cost. In 2009, retired general, Ekka-

chai Srivalas, Director of the Office for Peace and the Governance of the King Prajadhipok Institute, had proposed an alternative approach to the crisis in order to avoid the costs and efforts involved in sending 60.000 soldiers to the south. The government refused the idea and in summer 2009 continuous offensives combed all the villages in the region in order to isolate the Pejuang - the militiamen of the National Revolutionary Front (BRN). A choice consistent with the decision to attack the rebels in order to destroy them, without seeking mediation in any way. Therefore: war. The height of the conflict was in 2007, but it has never ceased. The provinces of Narathi-

General outline

Slaves of the shrimps

Thousands of people in Thailand are apparently being bought and sold as slaves for working on the fishing fleet and supplying shrimps to large western food chains: Walmart, Carrefour, Costco and Tesco. This was discovered by the English newspaper The Guardian, which conducted a 6-month investigation.

It has been discovered that the largest supply industry in the world – Thai Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods), buys fish-based feed for its shrimp farms from suppliers who use slaves on their fishing boats.

Several escaped workers told of 20hour shifts, amphetamine drugs for staying awake, beatings, torture and even murders. Burmese migrants also told of how they were sold for 230 pounds each – more or less 300 euro each.

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

The People's College: what will happen to it after the coup?

(Nakhon Ratchasima, 21 march 1954) General Prayuth Chan-och, the sixty-year old Chief Commander of the Royal Thai Army, led the military coup on 22 May 2014.

Two days earlier he had assumed the command of the National Council for Peacekeeping and Order – the military junta which had begun to rule the country after the coup. On 23 May he self-proclaimed himself interim Prime Minister of Thailand and on 21 August 2014 he was elected Prime Minister of the new parliament nominated by the junta and mainly composed of military servicemen.

Before carrying out the coup, Prayuthhad, who had repeatedly excluded the possibility of one while the country was undergoing prolonged antigovernment protests, is also President of the Armed Forces Bank, a rather powerful credit institute in the country. Now that he has silenced the opposition and imprisoned many political leaders, every Friday he makes speeches on television in nationalistic tones, in which he promotes himself as a severe father-figure who intends to “restore happiness to Thailand” by eliminating corruption and reviving the economy. The general – and now Prime Minister – has outlined a three-phase plan: national reconciliation, the formation of a new Government and elections at the end of 2015- implementing, meanwhile, institutional reforms.

149

Prayuth Chan-Ocha

In these ten years of fighting in the south of the country, there have also been several peace initiatives but the ones that stand out most are those regarding education: the People's College, created in 2010 by a group of young Muslims, has educated local youths in subjects ranging from the actual history of the religion to studies on conflict and peace-building techniques. Help has arrived from all corners of the world: the German foundation Berghof, which has worked for years towards the transformation of the conflict, helped to develop the curriculum for the first course, while the Japanese Peace Foundation Sasakawa was the main financial backer. Unfortunately, the project has been on stand-by since the coup carried out by the Army last 22 May. These young people should have been the ones to bring changes to their Region, but the seeds have not had time, nor found the right soil, for blooming. What will be their future? And the future of the People's College?

© Guillem Valle / MEMO

wat, Yala and Pattani are mainly populated by Malaysian speaking Muslims. They correspond to a sultanate annexed to the former Kingdom of Siam at the beginning of the last century, following an agreement with the English - the true rulers of the area at that time. A war, therefore, with historical reasons, but lacking a real reason to exist nowadays. According to international analysts, the rebels – in the meantime united under the name of National Revolutionary Front (BRN) – can be linked to the al-Qaeda network.

This is also the opinion of the United States CIA which has always collaborated with the army in the fight against international terrorism. Confirming this opinion is a June 2009 report from the International Crisis Group denouncing the use of world-wide Jihad rhetoric in schools in the three provinces with the aim of recruiting new fighters.

The real reason for the war, which broke out in

THE PROTAGONISTS

2004, is unknown: it is not clear whether they only want increased autonomy, independence, or to be united with Malaysia. The fact remains that the vast majority of the inhabitants in the region are Muslims of Malaysian ethnicity and language. The Thais have always seen them as a threat.

The few Buddhists in the area tend to work for the government and since 2004 have been easy prey for the rebels, who have always mainly targeted teachers, considered the spokespersons of the Bangkok government, who, on their own, represent 11% of the victims. They are escorted to work by the army but even this measure has not prevented ambushes. It is a dramatic situation even from a human rights point of view. A report from Human Rights Watch explained that as a result of special Thai laws which foresee preventive incarceration without a warrant for 37 days, and a regulation by General Viroj, Commander of the area, which does not allow visits by family members for the first three days of detention, thousands of male Muslims of all ages have been arrested and tortured by the army.

150

Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The figures shown in the adjacent table were provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. They are official figures from the Global Trends Report 2013 published in 2014 showing the flows of refugees entering and leaving each country. For further details, please consult the full report.

REFUGEES ORIGINATING FROM YEMEN REFUGEES

2.428

DISPLACED PERSONS IN YEMEN 306.614 REFUGEES HOSTED BY YEMEN REFUGEES

241.288

MAIN COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF THESE REFUGEES SOMALIA

230.506

ETHIOPIA

5.740

The al-Qaeda assembly

The whole world saw it in April 2014 in a video shown on CNN: a gathering of al-Qaeda Jihadists which the Atlanta television channel has defined “the largest and apparently dangerous assembly of Islamic terrorists in the past few years”. CIA and FBI have declared they know nothing about it. The film – being analysed by the intelligence analysts, shows Nasir al-Wuhayshi haranguing the militants, completely ignoring the fact that they may be attacked by a drone. Al-Wuhayshi, second-in-charge of al-Qaeda in the world and head of al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsular, has said in the past that he wants to attack the United States again.

UNHCR/H. Macleod

It has become a ferocious battle – an all-forall, independentists against the Central Government and Sunnites against Shiites. The war in Yemen is worsening dramatically. Yet another episode took place, in fact, on the last day of 2014, the 31st of December: a suicide attack on supporters of the Shiite militia caused 49 deaths and wounded 70. The victims were from the Shiite group Ansaruallah. The attacker, who was wearing women's clothes, struck during a religious ceremony. There has been no responsibility claimed for the attack but Yemen is definitely an al-Qaeda sanctuary and the movement has its main bases here. The organization is entering the historical strife between the Sunni majority (60% of the population) and the Shiite minority. From a military point of view, this latter minority appears to have taken the upper hand. In fact, on 21 September 2014 the Houthi Schiite rebels took control of the capital, forcing President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi to change Prime Minister. The position was given to Khaled Mahfouz Bahah. In the meantime, mediation by the UN representative Jamal Benomar was unsuccessful: the cease-fire agreement signed by the parties on 19 September was not followed up, nor was the proposal to establish a federal state. Meanwhile, the secessionists from the south continue to operate, guided by the Herak movement linked to tribal traditions. At the end of 2014 they requested that the Government withdraw servicemen and state workers from the southern regions in Yemen and ordered all the foreign petroleum companies to immediately halt the exportation of oil and gas. The objective seems to be a return to two separate States, exactly as before 1990.

However, the creation of a Shiite State on the Red Sea alarms the Gulf countries who, from a

YEMEN

General Information Official Name:

United Republic of Yemen

Flag:

151

Present situation and latest developments

Main Languages:

Arabic

Capital:

Sana'a

Population:

24.000.000

Area:

527.970 square km

Religions:

Muslim

Currency:

Yemeni Rial

Primary Exports:

Oil, natural gas, coffee and cotton

Gdp Per Capita:

US$ 2.251

diplomatic point of view, are trying to put pressure on the United States in order to convince the country to intervene and keep the countries united. And the al-Qaeda Sunni organization has entered right into this game. In April 2014 it organized a huge militia assembly. Then it began a great offensive in the South-west of the country, gaining control over some areas.

The chaos may also affect the production of petroleum. The country has an estimated reserve of approximately three billion barrels which are mainly extracted in the northern area of MaribJawf, while the rest comes from Masila, in the South-east.

The reasons for the war in Yemen have been the same since 2000: the fight against terrorism. Added to this are internal tensions which flared up once more in 2011 in the context of the popular protests all over the Islam world, between the Central Government and clans who are often bound by tradition and not very willing to accept

changes to their way of life. There is also the role of the United States - militarily present but not completely accepted - which has the task of contrasting al-Qaeda. In substance, therefore, the fighting is over control of the central government.

The reason for the fighting

The migrant route

At least 70 migrants of Ethiopian origin apparently lost their lives in autumn 2014 in the sinking of a large boat at the entrance to the Red Sea, off the port of Al-Makha. This was only one known episode of the many which, it is feared, have taken place in one of the routes most used by those fleeing Africa towards Europe seeking hope.

The international organizations have reported tens of thousands of crossings by men, women, elderly people and children who make the trip in the attempt to reach Yemen and from there Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries.

It is estimated that at least 500 thousand have managed to reach the coast in the past five years.

152

UNHCR/J.Zocherman

The new president, Abde Rabbo Mansur Hadi, has not changed the reality. Yemen, created in 1990 with the unification of the North and the South, remains fragile. In fact, national reconciliation is still a long way off: Sana'a and Aden remain separated by bereavement and by the aftermath of the civil war, as well as by the economical and social discrimination still suffered by the South. The result is that the wind of secession continues to blow, contrasted by fierce repression by the central Government which obviously ends up exasperating the situation.

Present in this already problematic situation is al-Qaeda which supports the requests for secession by the Southern Mobility Movement (SMM). There is also a second “front” in the North on the border with Saudi Arabia with a Shiite minority led by the Al Houti. These Shiites belong to the Zaidita sect which refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the Central Government. Their leader, the preacher Hussein al Houti, was killed in an air raid in December 2009.

According to the UN, the conflict has already caused tens of thousands of victims and led to the displacement of at least 50.000 refugees, forced to abandon their homes. Authorities in Sana'a accuse Iran of inciting the revolt in order to bring to power the Shiite minority, which represents 40-45% of the population in Yemen.

One certainty is that the Northern provinces, in particular Saada, are off-limits for the Sana'a Army and are firmly in the hands of the rebels: a de facto secession which led to an armed inter-

vention in 2009 by Saudi Arabia, who complains about the insecurity of this border because it is too easily crossed by al-Qaeda militia.

In addition to this is the international situation, with the role of the United States. Following an assault in 2000 by al-Qaeda on the aircraft carrier Cole and the death of 17 marines, the USA reached an agreement with the Yemen government and increased their military presence, thus ending the ambiguous relationship which former President Saleh had maintained for years with the organization. It has, for example, been proven that the al-Qaeda has been readily used by the Yemen Government since the second half of the '90s, in order to contrast attempts for secession in the Southern provinces by the “Southern Mobility Movement” rebels.

Just as easy, however, was the volte-face by the former Head of State after the attack on the Twin Towers on 11 September 2000, when the Americans discovered the extent of bin Laden's terrorist network in Yemen. At that point hunting down the al-Qaeda militants also became a national priority in Sana'a, rendered even more urgent by the large number of Yemeni kamikaze who sacrificed themselves in Iraq after 2003 in order to fight the Americans.

Paradoxically, the faster the jails in Sana'a filled up with al-Qaeda militants, the faster they emptied. A mass escape, for example, took place in February 2006 when 23 top level alQaeda militants evaded the prison. This was the beginning of a new phase which saw the Jihadists establishing themselves even more

General outline

Human trafficking a lucrative business

The human trafficking business in Yemen is worth between 200 to 1000 dollars per migrant. This has been declared by the testimonies gathered by the international organizations regarding the lucrative business of trafficking and smuggling (trade and slavery).

Several traffickers have admitted earning up to 13.000 dollars by increasing the agreed priced upon arrival at the border and exploiting the complicity of the military forces.

The profit comes from the transport, from by-passing the checkpoints and even from the food sold to those undertaking the trip. Another source of revenue is selling migrants who have escaped from the detention camps back to those detaining them. One testimony told of a friend who escaped from a camp and was caught by soldiers near the city of Haradh. While some of them offered him food and water, the others were making phone calls: soon after a car arrived with two men in it who then paid the soldiers and took the man back to the camp.

TENTATIVES FOR PEACE

A conference for women's participation

Khaled Mahfouz Bahah

In 2014 there was a glimpse of hope following the National Dialogue Conference (NDC) promoted by the UN in January, which had extended participation to the political transition to include civilians, also provided for a 30% quota of women in the future elected institutions. The conference had, however, only outlined vague indications regarding the transition and mainly on the future federal structure of the country. The process definitively fell apart when the Huthi attacked President Hadi, refusing the project for the federation of six regions proposed by the government. The vagueness of the final documents of the NDC became the stumbling block of the process. The Huthi overtook the capital Sana'a in September. Shortly afterwards the UN negotiated an “Agreement for peace and power sharing”, which has not, however, been transformed into a credible peace-building process. The success of the Huthi risks leading the country towards sectarian conflict. But the Shiite (Zaydi) and Sunnite (Shafai) communities have lived together peacefully in Yemen for centuries. Regional forces Saudi Arabia and Iran should contribute by not aggravating the situation.

Former UN ambassador for Yemen and ex-Minister of Oil and Minerals, 49 year old Khaled Mahfouz Bahah is an expert politician.

In autumn 2014 he was called upon to lead a United National Government, in an attempt to recompose a disastrous situation, created on one side by the unsolved Shiite minority issues, and on the other by the breakaway ambitions of the tribal South.

Despite the difficulties, with the capital virtually in the hands of the Shiite militia, the United National Government was sworn in in November as planned, notwithstanding the protests of the Shiite rebels from the Al-Houth movement.

The new government is formed of 35 persons. Despite their disagreement with the composition of the new government, the ministers linked to the Al-Houthi movement and the General People's Congress led by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, participated in the inauguration ceremony.

An encouraging sign for Bahah, who confirmed that his main task was that of re-establishing order and security in a country which has become divided and prey for the various armed factions.

UNHCR/ J. Björgvinsson

solidly in the Southern Provinces, through relationships of contiguity, if not tactical alliance, with the separatist guerrilla which continues its fight for independence.

At the same time al-Qaeda has not ceased attacking its American enemy and its closest allies at every opportunity on the Arabic peninsular: In 2008 there were two suicide attacks on the USA Embassy as well as several attacks on “western” targets. Furthermore, in autumn 2009 Saudi Arabia reported the infiltration of elements linked to al-Qaeda coming from North Yemen, confirming the fact that the network of terror headed by Osama bin Laden has its main stronghold in Yemen, with a capacity of longrange action and a tribal network of protection which will be difficult to dismantle despite the fact that in 2010 harsh fighting took place between the Yemeni Army and the al-Qaeda militia in the southern city of Loder causing tens of deaths on both sides. Everything chan-

THE PROTAGONISTS

ged in 2011 with the fall of President Saleh.

The clashes with the opponents had become incandescent. On 3 June artillery bombing semidestroyed the presidential quarters. Saleh was wounded and fled to Saudi Arabia but protests recommenced upon his return bringing the total of deaths to 700. In a speech on national television on 25 September, Saleh promised imminent elections in order to initiate a power transition process but the people, arms in hand, called for his immediate resignation. They also wanted to bring him to trial for the ferocious repression and all the other crimes committed during his 33 years of more or less absolute leadership. The battalions of the Republican Guards, led by his son Ahmed, could not save him from the protests, by now involving all the tribes and the whole country which led him to lose within six months even the support of his historical protectors – the Saudi Monarchy and the United States Government. A changeover took place in 2012 with the election of Hadi, Saleh's faithful supporter. However, nothing has really changed and tensions in the country still remain.

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(Yemen 1965)

Also Birmania/Myanmar

154

“Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims Democracy seems even more remote”

After half a century of military dictatorship Myanmar seems actually ready to open up to the world and overcome the dark years of the dictatorship, thanks to a decisive process of reforms embarked on by President Thein Sein and the liberation of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi which took place in 2010 following twenty years of conflict, arrests and isolation.

Over the last few months, however, the situation seems to have worsened again and tension in the country has returned high with the Police out in force in the streets again on many occasions. In particular high tension, violence and clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Mandalay, the second biggest city in the country, have been reported. There have been many casualties.

The situation is also worrying in Western Myanmar, where fighting between the ethnic minorities in Rohingya has taken place.

A further twenty persons have been killed in the armed conflict between rebel groups in the North-East of the country, on the border with China.

Triggering the violence was the decision by the United Nations Federal Council (representing eleven rebel groups of various ethnic groups) to send a letter to President Thein Sein calling for the negotiation of an agreement for a federal union which, according to the rebels, would guarantee increased stability in the country, by finally putting an end to the sectarian violence and clashes (in Myanmar there are over 100 ethnic minorities, 4% of which are Muslims).

But it is not only the ethnic differences which

render the country unstable. For some time now, the young men and women have been demanding increased freedom and more guarantees for safeguarding civil and political rights.

At the end of 2014 student protest demonstrations took place in the capital Rangoon as well as all over country. The young people marched in the street against the new education law which, according to the students, prohibits them from participating in any type of political activity and severely limits their academic freedom.

The Government has accused the students of being manipulated by undefined groups which have the unique objective of destabilizing the country.

In any case, the crucial appointment, following which it will be possible to understand whether the country really is ready for change, is represented by the elections in November 2015.

Despite the liberation of Aung San Suu Kyi, it seems highly unlikely that this woman, symbol of the fight for the freedom of an entire country will finally be able to lead the country.

It is not only the worrying possibility of electoral fraud but also several regulations in the Constitution which seem to have been specifically written to prevent the Nobel Prize winner from being a candidate in the next elections.

In fact, in Myanmar, Article 59 of the Charter forbids the candidacy of anyone married to a foreigner or who has had children by a foreigner. Aung San Suu Kyi's husband was British and their two children are both British citizens.

It must be said that President Thein Sein has created a committee for the revision of the Constitution and that this regulation may disappear if the majority of the politicians accepts the challenge of seeing an international symbol of commitment and freedom proposed as candidate.

However, no-one, at least we hope, can prevent the Nobel Prize winner from supporting her party – the National League for Democracy (NLD) in the electoral campaign.

Also Cina-Xinjiang “Attacks and death. Growing tension between Peking and Islamic Independentists”.

the other in October 2013 when a SUV vehicle exploded killing even more people).

The life sentence for Ilham Tohti triggered strong protests not only in Xijang but also in the international community.

The Chinese Government was severely criticised by the United States and the European Union. The UE defined the sentence “completely unjustified” and called for the “immediate and unconditioned release” of Professor Ilham Tohti. These judgements were returned to the sender, expressing “strong dissatisfaction” and accusing the European Union of interfering in the internal affairs of the country.

The sentence given to Ilham Tohti was not the only one to trigger international protests. In the month of December 2014, a Chinese Law Court issued a death sentence for eight persons in Xinjiang accused of having carried out terrorist attacks in the Region.

The repression by the Chinese Government in the region has also been severely criticised by international organizations such as Human Rights Watch which has also denounced many cases of missing dissidents in its Reports. Since 2009 Peking has imposed a special control regime by the Chinese Police Force and Army in the country.

155

The Xinjang Autonomous Region in the Northeast of China has long been the scene of violence and social tension between the Uyghur Muslim Turkic minority and the Han Chinese ethnic group.

The Uyghur people (composed of 56 different groups) are officially recognized by the Peking Government but this has not halted the continuous and ferocious attacks they are subjected to by the Chinese, as well as human rights violations and repression in all forms of cultural and religious expression.

The Uyghur minority also claims it has been totally excluded from all the economical development plans for the Region, the benefits of which the Peking Government seems to uniquely destine to the Han immigrants, who have become the largest portion of the population over the last few decades. Since 2009 the clashes and attacks have continued non-stop, with the Uyghur minority fighting towards the declared objective of obtaining independence from Peking.

2104 was a particularly tense year for the Region. Clashes and explosive attacks caused many casualties.

The first terrorist attack at the end of 2014 killed fifteen people and wounded another fourteen. There were more than forty victims in the ethnic conflict in the month of September.

In this case also the fighting appears to have been accompanied by a series of explosions (four, to be exact): the first in front of a shop, then in an open-air market and finally near two police stations in the County of Luntai.

The clashes and the explosions are probably linked to the life sentence inflicted by the Chinese Government on one of the most well-known Uyghur intellectuals, Ilham Tohti, a university professor (from the Minzu University, the University of the Minorities in Peking) accused of “separatism” and of having been the “brain” behind several terrorist attacks (one in March 2014 on the Kunming Railway Station which caused 29 deaths and wounded more than 150;

Also North and South Korea

156

“Reunification negotiations cannot get off the ground.

Objectors tortured and killed in the North”.

Further tension between North Korea and neighbouring South Korea despite attempts at negotiation imposed years ago which have unfortunately never led to a shared and long-lasting solution to the ongoing hostilities between the two countries. Technically still at war following the end of the conflict (1950-1953), the two Koreas have never signed a peace accord.

Only an armistice exists which represents the temporary cessation of the hostilities but does not guarantee the future stability of the country. The border between the two countries – the 38th parallel – is the most protected and militarized in the world, with 250 kilometre of mines, heavy weapons, barbed wire and movement sensors. The fuse of the hostility between Seul and Pyongyang is lighted at regular intervals, with the launch of missiles and provocative military exercises. In 2014 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un suddenly announced that he was willing to hold “talks” with his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye, stressing the need for “great changes” in the North-South relations. In his speech at the beginning of the year, transmitted on live TV, Kim Jong-un explained that Pyongyang “would do everything in its power” to promote dialogue and co-operation with Seul (which has already adhered to several economical co-operation agreements).

Meanwhile, however, the openness of Pyongyang comes following years of tension which in 2013 greatly alarmed the international community.

In the year of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice in 1953, the sudden escalation of tension between the two countri-

es once again caused fear for the worst even though many analysts believe that a real missile attack by Pyongyang is improbable and they have interpreted the continuous alarms and ultimatums launched by the North Korean regime as mere provocation. One burden, however, is the substantial incapacity of the other parties involved – mainly the United States – to establish negotiations which will lead to a negotiated and definitive solution to the conflict.

Despite numerous requests by North Korea, the USA has never agreed to participate in a bilateral negotiation, preferring instead 6-party negotiations with Russia, China, Japan and the two Koreas – which, despite ongoing attempts over the years, have never led to a long-lasting solution to the conflict nor to any significant step forward.

Of primary importance remains the violation of human rights in North Korea. This has been reported by the UN Commission appointed to conduct an investigation on this issue. One hundred thousand persons opposing Kim Jong Un's regime are apparently being held in prison camps. Therefore Michael Kirby, President of the United Nations Commission, states: the individual testimonies emerging from the public auditions are not isolated cases. They represent large scale patterns which constitute the systematic and macroscopic violation of human rights”. The UN document states that the political prisoners are subjected to torture equal to that inflicted in the past by the Nazi regime on concentration camp prisoners.

The UN Security Council can request the Hague Tribunal to investigate the abuses in North Korea even if this latter has not ratified the Statute of Rome instituted by the International Penal Court.

Also Iran "Continua il disgelo con gli Usa ed il califfato diventa il nemico".

al-Quds Brigades, General Qasam Soleimani, “for halting the advancement of the IS towards Baghdad”. Some weeks ago, following the liberation of the Iraqi Shiite majority city of Amerli, Zakani also spoke of the current crisis in Yemen (see chapter) stressing that even “Yemen is changing in a new battlefield against the IS” and announced that “Sana'a will soon enter into the Iranian orbit”.

Although the Islamic Republic of Iran intervenes in the Middle East theatres, it has always refused direct collaboration with the US-led international “coalition” in the military operations against the Islamic State, considering it a “ploy” to maintain the presence of the US Army in the country.

Therefore, Iran continues to be the protagonist of the international scene and human rights protection organizations continue to report violations of human rights in the country despite the change of Government - today in the hands of reformist Hassan Rouhani.

In a long report on global human rights violations, Human Rights Watch stressed how there have not been any significant improvements regarding human rights in President Hassan Rouhani's first year. “Repressive elements within the security forces, from the intelligence sector to the law courts, have maintained ample power and continue to be the main cause of the violation of rights”, the dossier states.

157

The apparent conciliation between the United States and Iran on the nuclear issue continues.

According to US diplomatic sources, Washington and Tehran seem to be finalizing a nuclear agreement which would allow, on one side, the Islamic Republic of Iran to maintain its own technology for uranium enrichment (for civil purposes) and, on the other, a sort of limit to the development of the technical capacities for the production of nuclear weapons.

According to US diplomats, the agreement is a compromise which would be a guarantee for both parties and would finally put an end to a diatribe between Iran and the international community which has gone on for years without being resolved.

The final agreement, which everyone hopes can be concluded as soon as possible, should definitively ensure that Iran does not equip itself with nuclear weapons and should lead to the cancelling of the heavy economical sanctions imposed over the years by the International community on Tehran. Sanctions which have intensified alimentary instability and the economical crisis.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to be one of the main actors on the international chessboard, even regarding the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.

Tehran has unilaterally entered the battlefield against the IS. In fact, the Iranian Government is, today, the only country to have sent is own men - the elite Pasdaren corps - to the area to physically fight the Islamic State.

“The al-Quds brigades are active in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon and are in action against the Islamic State militias”. The news was, therefore, officially confirmed by Ali Zakani, considered close to the Supreme Leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He is an Iranian Member of Parliament as well as former Commander of the Basij paramilitary troops (soldiers sent by the regime to quell the protest demonstrations during the popular revolts in 2009). In a public speech in Mashad, North-East Iran, Zakani defined “vital” the intervention in Iraq of the commander of the

Also Kirghizistan

158

“Reunification with Moscow – a deliberate choice.

But China does not want to let go”

The long reunification manoeuvre with Moscow actually began in 2014. Following the revolution in 2005 and attempts to liberate itself from the Russia's hegemonic politics, Kyrgyzstan is returning home. The most evident sign was in June 2014: the United States closed its air base in Manas, near Bichkek. The Government has not renewed the contract with the United States administration, in order to emphasize its rapprochement with Moscow following the signing of the Euro-Asian Economical Union with Bielorussia and Kazakhstan. Kyrgyzstan aims at entering this organization. It was a hard blow for the United States. Bichkek was officially the main base for the transit of US Army towards Afghanistan. Strategically, it was an outpost situated right in the heart of Asia, right in Putin and the Russian nationalists' “backyard”.

Signs of repositioning were already evident at the beginning of the year, especially regarding the military programme. In May, for example, under the direct supervision of Putin and the heads of state of Bielorussia, Tagikistan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan itself, the armed forces from Moscow began military manoeuvres, with the launching of long and short-range ballistic missiles in the North of the country.

The situation, however, seems even more complicated as there is another actor on the scene - China - who is very unwilling to concede Kyrgyzstan to the Russians. China borders with Kyrgyzstan for almost 1000 kilometres. Peking has always been aware of the strategic importance of the area, mainly for halting separatist ferment in its Islamic regions; that is, in Xinjiang. It is fundamental for Peking that the

whole of Central Asia remains neutral in the event of conflict with Moscow. Furthermore, it would be helpful if Kyrgyzstan became a sort of deposit for goods made in China and the mines in the country became the property of China.

These mines are the subject of the most important debates for power in Kyrgyzstan which is strictly divided into clans. One example of this is what happens at the gold mine in Kumtor, controlled by Centerra, a Canadian multinational company, and the Government of Kyrgyzstan.

The mine accounts for only 12% of the national GDP. The Canadian company recently reported that they were continuously being subjected to racketeering by the Kyrgyzstan political forces which - divided into clans benefiting directly or indirectly, with each new Government demand to renegotiate terms, thanks to the agreements signed by the State with the mining country. In order to force the Canadian company to negotiate, the Government threatened to nationalize the mines in 2011. The multinational company was forced to succumb, conceding increased profits to the clans which, however, are definitely not redistributed amongst the population.