Issue 7/2012
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
'Qui C'est Ce Monsieur Mali Qui Remplace Les Francais?' Analyzing the Kel Tamasheq Conflict of Mali from the Perspective
Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University Nijmegen MSc Human Geography, specialisation: Conflicts, Territories and Identities Supervised by Dr. Henk van Houtum ‘Qui c’est ce monsieur Mali qui remplace les Francais?’ Analyzing the Kel Tamasheq conflict of Mali from the perspective of identity Ieteke Elze Schouten [email protected] Amsterdam, August 2010 OI VA VOI1,2 Hora It's all about identity Construction of a family Of difference and simile What I give you and you give me It's all about identity This tribal sense of dignity Of tolerance and unity Of prejudice and bigotry It's all about identity A web of who we'd like to be Let's cut and paste our memory A dark and timeless industry It's all about identity A strength and solidarity A dazed, confused desire to find A place and time in history It's all about identity Or how the sheer majority Impose a predetermined badge And wait to judge you silently It's all about identity A retrospective odyssey But where I live and who I meet Are stronger in defining me From the album: Laughter Through Tears (2003) 1 Saint Girons, 2008:27 2 Oi Va Voi is a Klezmer/dance band influenced by folk music from eastern Europe. The band originates from London and most of the members have a Jewish background. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When writing the acknowledgements, I cannot help to ponder over the fact that I am so grateful that this work is now completed. The patience the people close to me have showed was unending. -
Al-Qaeda's Keys to Success
DIGITAL-ONLY VIEW Al- Qaeda’s Keys to Success MAJ RYAN CK HESS, USAF ver the past 20 years, al- Qaeda has been the most recognizable and infa- mous terrorist organization on the planet. The group has planned and executed thousands of violent attacks, spurred dozens of offshoot affiliate Oand copycat groups, and even created rival Islamic extremist organizations. De- spite all this, and subsequently spending the past 20 years at war with the world’s most effective militaries, the group continues to carry out its operations. More- over, the success of foreign al- Qaeda affiliates illustrate that the group has become a global threat. Analyzing the tools that the organization has used to succeed will give us a better understanding of how to combat al-Qaeda. Perhaps more impor- tantly, it will also help intelligence agencies recognize what strategies the group will likely employ in the future. There are some who argue that al- Qaeda is dying. In this article, I argue that not only is it far from dead, but that the main factors contributing to al- Qaeda’s continued global success are decentralization, effective narratives and propaganda, and the specific targeting of locations with a preexist- ing history of instability and violence. This article will use three al-Qaeda affiliates and allies—al-Shabaab, Ansar al- Dine (AAD), and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) — to demon- strate each of the above listed success factors. However, before we can discuss how al- Qaeda has achieved their success, we must first define success. If success is to be defined as the completion of each organization’s stated goals, none of them have yet succeeded. -
Going Global: Islamist Competition in Contemporary Civil Wars
Security Studies,25:353–384,2016 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0963-6412 print / 1556-1852 online DOI: 10.1080/09636412.2016.1171971 Going Global: Islamist Competition in Contemporary Civil Wars AISHA AHMAD The global landscape of modern jihad is highly diverse and wrought with conflict between rival Islamist factions. Within this inter- Islamist competition, some factions prove to be more robust and durable than others. This research proposes that the adoption of a global identity allows an Islamist group to better recruit and expand their domestic political power across ethnic and tribal divisions without being constrained by local politics. Islamists that rely on an ethnic or tribal identity are more prone to group fragmentation, whereas global Islamists are better able to retain group cohesion by purging their ranks of dissenters. To examine these two processes, I present original field research and primary source analysis to ex- amine Islamist in-fighting in Somalia from 2006–2014 and then expand my analysis to Iraq and Syria, Pakistan, and Mali. GOING GLOBAL: ISLAMIST COMPETITION IN CONTEMPORARY CIVIL WARS The global landscape of modern jihad is highly diverse and wrought with internal competition.1 In Pakistan, factions within the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) movement have repeatedly clashed over the past decade, splintering into Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 07:31 05 July 2016 multiple powerful jihadist groups. In northern Mali, the ethnic Tuareg re- bellion has also fractured, leading some Islamist factions to build strong ties to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).2 More recently, the Aisha Ahmad is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. -
Mali 2017 Human Rights Report
MALI 2017 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Mali is a constitutional democracy. In 2013 President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won the presidential election, deemed free and fair by international observers. The inauguration of President Keita and the subsequent establishment of a new National Assembly through free and fair elections ended a 16-month transitional period following the 2012 military coup that ousted the previous democratically elected president, Amadou Toumani Toure. The restoration of a democratic government and the arrest of coup leader Amadou Sanogo restored some civilian control over the military. Civilian authorities did not always maintain effective control over the security forces. Despite the signing of the Algiers Accord for Peace and Reconciliation in June 2015 between the government, the Platform of northern militias, and the Coordination of Movements of Azawad (CMA), violent conflict between CMA and Platform forces continued throughout the northern region. The terrorist coalition Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wa Muslimin (Support to Islam and Muslims, JNIM)--comprised of Ansar al-Dine, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and the Macina Liberation Front (MLF)--was not a party to the peace process. JNIM carried out attacks on the military, armed groups, UN peacekeepers and convoys, international forces, humanitarian actors, and civilian targets throughout northern Mali and the Mopti and Segou regions of central Mali. The most significant human rights issues included arbitrary deprivation of life; disappearances; torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest; excessively long pretrial detention; denial of fair public trial; female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), which was common and not prohibited by law; the recruitment and use of child soldiers by armed groups, some of which were affiliated with the government; and trafficking in persons. -
Othering Terrorism: a Rhetorical Strategy of Strategic Labeling
Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal Volume 13 Issue 2 Rethinking Genocide, Mass Atrocities, and Political Violence in Africa: New Directions, Article 9 New Inquiries, and Global Perspectives 6-2019 Othering Terrorism: A Rhetorical Strategy of Strategic Labeling Michael Loadenthal Miami University of Oxford Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp Recommended Citation Loadenthal, Michael (2019) "Othering Terrorism: A Rhetorical Strategy of Strategic Labeling," Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal: Vol. 13: Iss. 2: 74-105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.13.2.1704 Available at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol13/iss2/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Open Access Journals at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Othering Terrorism: A Rhetorical Strategy of Strategic Labeling Michael Loadenthal Miami University of Oxford Oxford, Ohio, USA Reel Bad Africans1 & the Cinema of Terrorism Throughout Ridley Scott’s 2002 film Black Hawk Down, Orientalist “othering” abounds, mirroring the simplistic political narrative of the film at large. In this tired script, we (the West) are fighting to help them (the East Africans) escape the grip of warlordism, tribalism, and failed states through the deployment of brute counterinsurgency and policing strategies. In the film, the US soldiers enter the hostile zone of Mogadishu, Somalia, while attempting to arrest the very militia leaders thought to be benefitting from the disorder of armed conflict. -
Franco-African Military Intervention in the Mali Crisis and Evolving Security Concerns
Report Franco-African Military Intervention in the Mali Crisis and Evolving Security Concerns Freedom C Onuoha* & Alex Thurston** Al Jazeera Center for Studies Tel: +974-44663454 19 February 2013 [email protected] http://studies.aljazeera.net/en/ Before 2012, many observers considered Mali and its President Amadou Toumani Touré a success story for the “third wave” of democracy. After leading a coup in 1991 and overseeing a democratic transition, Touré gave up power in 1992 upon the election of President Alpha Oumar Konaré. After Konaré’s tenure, Touré returned to politics, winning elections in 2002 and again in 2007 as a civilian president. As Malian politicians prepared for another presidential election scheduled for April 2012, Touré seemed poised to freely relinquish power once more. Three months before the April 2012 elections, Tuareg separatists in north Mali under the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (MNLA, where “Azawad” refers to the northern regions of Kidal, Gao, and Timbuktu), declared a rebellion against the central government. The regime's soldiers suffered defeats and seemed too ill-equipped to withstand rebel assaults. Soldiers’ discontent with the regime, which they blamed for their losses, erupted into protests, mutiny, and ultimately a coup against Touré on 22 March 2012. The coup created a power vacuum that enabled Tuareg rebels in the north backed by a patchwork of Islamist forces to take control of nearly two thirds of the country. These disparate Islamist forces included Ansar Dine (“Defenders of the Faith”), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and Jama’a al Tawhid wa al Jihad fi Gharb Afriqiya (The Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, MUJWA). -
The Terrorism Trap: the Hidden Impact of America's War on Terror
University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-2019 The Terrorism Trap: The Hidden Impact of America's War on Terror John Akins University of Tennessee, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Recommended Citation Akins, John, "The Terrorism Trap: The Hidden Impact of America's War on Terror. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2019. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/5624 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by John Akins entitled "The Terrorism Trap: The Hidden Impact of America's War on Terror." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Political Science. Krista Wiegand, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Brandon Prins, Gary Uzonyi, Candace White Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) The Terrorism Trap: The Hidden Impact of America’s War on Terror A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville John Harrison Akins August 2019 Copyright © 2019 by John Harrison Akins All rights reserved. -
Violent Events Linked to Militant Islamist Groups in the Sahel
VIOLENT EVENTS LINKED TO MILITANT ISLAMIST GROUPS IN THE SAHEL ALGERIA MAURITANIA MALI NIGER SENEGAL GAMBIA BURKINA FASO GUINEABISSAU NIGERIA GUINEA BÉNIN GHANA TOGO Hover over year to see data for that timeframe JNIM Ansar Dine AFLMnsar DineAQIM Sahara MUJEIGSAnsaAMUJAOAOrQIMoul Islam Sahara 2010 2016 Ansar Dine AKatibaQIM Saha Sermara AUnaliatednsaUnaliatedroul Islam 2012 2018 AQIM Sahara MAlEIGSou Mourabitounrabitoun Unaliated 2014 Al Mourabitoun FLMKatiba Salaheddine Data Source: Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) VIOLENT EVENTS LINKED TO MILITANT ISLAMIST GROUPS IN THE SAHEL ALGERIA MAURITANIA MALI NIGER SENEGAL GAMBIA BURKINA FASO GUINEABISSAU NIGERIA GUINEA BÉNIN GHANA TOGO Hover over year to see data for that timeframe JNIM Ansar Dine AFLMnsar DineAQIM Sahara MUJEIGSAnsaAMUJAOAOrQIMoul Islam Sahara 2010 2016 Ansar Dine AKatibaQIM Saha Sermara AUnaliatednsaUnaliatedroul Islam 2012 2018 AQIM Sahara MAlEIGSou Mourabitounrabitoun Unaliated 2014 Al Mourabitoun FLMKatiba Salaheddine Data Source: Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) VIOLENT EVENTS LINKED TO MILITANT ISLAMIST GROUPS IN THE SAHEL ALGERIA MAURITANIA MALI NIGER SENEGAL GAMBIA BURKINA FASO GUINEABISSAU NIGERIA GUINEA BÉNIN GHANA TOGO Hover over year to see data for that timeframe JNIM Ansar Dine AFLMnsar DineAQIM Sahara MUJEIGSAnsaAMUJAOAOrQIMoul Islam Sahara 2010 2016 Ansar Dine AKatibaQIM Saha Sermara AUnaliatednsaUnaliatedroul Islam 2012 2018 AQIM Sahara MAlEIGSou Mourabitounrabitoun Unaliated 2014 Al Mourabitoun FLMKatiba Salaheddine -
1 Statement by Christopher Fomunyoh, Ph.D. Senior Associate and Regional Director for Central and West Africa National Democrati
Statement by Christopher Fomunyoh, Ph.D. Senior Associate and Regional Director for Central and West Africa National Democratic Institute U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs “Addressing Developments in Mali: Restoring Democracy and Reclaiming the North” December 5, 2012 Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, on behalf of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), I appreciate the opportunity to discuss recent political developments in Mali. Since Mali’s first steps toward democratization in the early 1990s, NDI and other U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations have worked with Malian legislators, party leaders, and civil society activists to support the country’s nascent democracy. Early this year, and with funding from USAID and other partners, NDI was providing technical assistance to citizen observers of the electoral process, fostering inter-party dialogue, and taking steps to increase the participation of women and youth in political processes. I last visited Bamako in October, and met with civic and political leaders to gauge the level of election preparations and their overall commitment to a democratic transition. Introduction Today Mali faces three interwoven crises: an on-going armed occupation of two-thirds of the country and a humanitarian emergency in the north that has displaced an estimated 450,000 people1; persistent political uncertainty in the capital, Bamako; and a severe food shortage that is affecting the entire Sahel region.2 Should Mali rebound from these crises, Malian democrats and the international community would need to better understand the reasons for the political alienation of citizens, including youth, women, and ethnic minorities from the previous democratically-elected government so as to avoid future backsliding. -
ICC-01/12-01/18 Date: 21 November 2019 Date of Submission: 6 February 2020
ICC-01/12-01/18-505-Red2 06-02-2020 1/30 RH T Original: English No.: ICC-01/12-01/18 Date: 21 November 2019 Date of submission: 6 February 2020 TRIAL CHAMBER X Before: Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua, Presiding Judge Judge Tomoko Akane Judge Kimberly Prost SITUATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF MALI IN THE CASE OF THE PROSECUTOR v. AL HASSAN AG ABDOUL AZIZ AG MOHAMED AG MAHMOUD URGENT PUBLIC With confidential, EX PARTE, Annexes A and B Only available to the Prosecution, VWU and the Detention Section Public redacted version of “the Prosecution’s urgent application to maintain restrictions on Mr AL HASSAN’s contacts and access to others whilst in detention”, 22 November 2019, ICC-01/12-01/18-505-Conf-Exp Source: Office of the Prosecutor ICC-01/12-01/18 1/30 21 November 2019 ICC-01/12-01/18-505-Red2 06-02-2020 2/30 RH T Document to be notified in accordance with regulation 31 of the Regulations of the Court to: The Office of the Prosecutor Counsel for the Defence Fatou Bensouda Melinda Taylor James Stewart Marie-Hélène Proulx Sarah Bafadhel Legal Representatives of the Victims Legal Representatives of the Applicants Seydou Doumbia Mayombo Kassongo Fidel Luvengika Nsita Unrepresented Victims Unrepresented Applicants (Participation/Reparation) The Office of Public Counsel for Victims The Office of Public Counsel for the Defence States’ Representatives Amicus Curiae REGISTRY Registrar Counsel Support Section Peter Lewis Victims and Witnesses Unit Detention Section Nigel Verrill Mr Paddy Craig Victims Participation and Reparations Other Section ICC-01/12-01/18 2/30 21 November 2019 ICC-01/12-01/18-505-Red2 06-02-2020 3/30 RH T Introduction 1. -
Between Islamization and Secession: the Contest for Northern Mali
JULY 2012 . VOL 5 . ISSUE 7 Contents Between Islamization and FEATURE ARTICLE 1 Between Islamization and Secession: Secession: The Contest for The Contest for Northern Mali By Derek Henry Flood Northern Mali REPORTS By Derek Henry Flood 6 A Profile of AQAP’s Upper Echelon By Gregory D. Johnsen 9 Taliban Recruiting and Fundraising in Karachi By Zia Ur Rehman 12 A Biography of Rashid Rauf: Al-Qa`ida’s British Operative By Raffaello Pantucci 16 Mexican DTO Influence Extends Deep into United States By Sylvia Longmire 19 Information Wars: Assessing the Social Media Battlefield in Syria By Chris Zambelis 22 Recent Highlights in Terrorist Activity 24 CTC Sentinel Staff & Contacts An Islamist fighter from the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa in the city of Gao on July 16, 2012. - AFP/Getty Images n january 17, 2012, a rebellion 22, disgruntled Malian soldiers upset began in Mali when ethnic about their lack of support staged a coup Tuareg fighters attacked a d’état, overthrowing the democratically Malian army garrison in the elected government of President Amadou Oeastern town of Menaka near the border Toumani Touré. with Niger.1 In the conflict’s early weeks, the ethno-nationalist rebels of the By April 1, all Malian security forces had National Movement for the Liberation evacuated the three northern regions of of Azawad (MNLA)2 cooperated and Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu. They relocated About the CTC Sentinel sometimes collaborated with Islamist to the garrisons of Sévaré, Ségou, and The Combating Terrorism Center is an fighters of Ansar Eddine for as long as as far south as Bamako.4 In response, independent educational and research the divergent movements had a common Ansar Eddine began to aggressively institution based in the Department of Social enemy in the Malian state.3 On March assert itself and allow jihadists from Sciences at the United States Military Academy, regional Islamist organizations to West Point. -
The MLNA's Fight for a Secular State of Azawad
The MLNA's Fight for a Secular State of Azawad By: Anna Mahjar Barducci* On April 6, 2012, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) seceded from Mali unilaterally and declared an independent State of Azawad. The MNLA is a secular Tuareg1 movement whose goal is the establishment of a secular state in Azawad that will respect the rights of all ethnic groups in the region (Tuareg, Moors2, Songhai and Peul). The MLNA has declared itself a partner of the West in the war on terrorism. However, despite its secular and pro-Western character, immediately after the secession the MNLA became the target of a smear campaign by international media,3 which tried to paint it as an Islamist movement. The campaign served the interest of the Malian government and of neighboring countries, which want to delegitimize the MNLA's struggle in order to avoid recognition of the State of Azawad. MLNA Seizes Two Historic Opportunities The MNLA seceded from Mali by taking advantage of two historic opportunities. One was provided by the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Desperately struggling for his survival, Gaddafi armed the Tuareg population in northern Mali, hoping they would help him quell the uprising against him. However, instead of turning their weapons against the Libyan rebels, the Tuaregs used them to take control of their own country. They were assisted by Tuaregs who immigrated to Libya in the 1960s and 1980s in search for a better life and joined the Libyan army, who defected from the tyrant's army and came to the aid of their brothers in Azawad.