Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

ATLAS

OF WARS AND CONFLICTS IN THE WORLD

English edition

ATLAS OF WARS AND CONFLICTS IN THE WORLD English edition Supplement to the Ninth Edition

This Atlas is addressed to all those who want to be properly informed, To all those who refuse to fall for fake news; To all those who believe, quite rightly, that accurate information Is the foundation on which we can build democracy and peace.

Associazione 46° Parallelo

Editorial staff Daniele Bellesi Emanuele Giordana Alice Pistolesi Maurizio Sacchi Beatrice Taddei Saltini ATLAS OF WARS AND CONFLICTS IN THE WORLD English edition to supplement the ninth edition

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2 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

General manager Raffaele Crocco

Organization Paolo Bisesti

Collaborators Paolo Affatato Giuliano Battiston Adalberto Belfiore Fabio Bucciarelli Camilla Caparrini Alessandro De Pascale Teresa Di Mauro Marika Di Pierri Danilo Elia Alfredo Falvo Angelo Ferrari Marina Forti Federico Fossi

Special thanks to: Riccardo Noury, Amnesty International Italia Spokesperson Marica Di Pierri, Cdca President Giovanni Scotto, Associate Professor in International cooperation, economic development and conflict management at University of Florence Attempts at Peacemaking is a project realized with the collaboration of the SECI and the degree course in Political Science: Francesca Cerulli, Alberto Giachetti, Sarra Khalafallah e Luana Soldano.

Graphic design, layout and cover: Daniele Bellesi Cover photo Mexico-USA border, Tijuana, 10 December 2018. US Border Patrol Unit with a searching light beamed into the Wall to prevent immigrants from crossing the border. ©Fabio Bucciarelli www.fabiobucciarelli.com

Co-publishing Associazione Nazionale Vittime Civili di Guerra - ANVCG Via Marche 54 – 00187 Roma info@anvcg.it – www.anvcg.it

Lucia Frigo Elia Gerola Rosella Idéo Massimo Morello Riccardo Noury Ilaria Pedrali Andrea Pira Maurizio Sacchi Ilaria Maria Sala Luciano Scalettari Giovanni Scotto Paolo Siccardi

Idea, Project and Editorial Board Associazione 46° Parallelo Via Salita dei Giardini, 2/4 38122 Trento info@atlanteguerre.it www.atlanteguerre.it

L'Osservatorio ANVCG Team: Sara Gorelli (Project coordinator) Giulia Francescon Lisa Giang Carmela Guaglianone Margherita Liverani Carlotta Matteucci Sandra Parziale Simona Smacchi Editor to the English Version Lisa Pelletti Clark

Publication Registered with Trento Court n°1389RS of July, 2009 All rights reserved.

ISSN: 2037-3279 Published in January 2020 Grafiche Garattoni - Rimini

Index

5 6 8 9 12 13 15 17 19 20 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 47 53 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64

Introduction Giuseppe Castronovo Editorial Raffaele Crocco Introduction Riccardo Noury Introduction Marica Di Pierri Instructions for use Editorial staff The situation Raffaele Crocco War and landmines Emanuele Giordana An International Year of Civilian Victims of War ANVCG War Has Come to Town We Must Take Action L'Osservatorio ANVCG Central African Republic: hope comes from emergency Luciano Scalettari AFRICA Democracy is still a distant dream for Africa Amnesty International Africa starts from the single market Giovanni Scotto No peace for the continent of “stolen land” Cdca AMERICA Walls Are Going Up Everywhere in the Americas Amnesty International Environmental Activists Need To Be Defended Giovanni Scotto New World, Old Extractivist Model Cdca ASIA Systematic Atrocities in Asia Amnesty International Asia place all its bets on climate science Giovanni Scotto The Green Revolution: Environmental and Social Costs of Agribusiness Cdca EUROPE Wars and Rights. Europe Going Backwards Amnesty International The Mediterranean: A New Frontier Giovanni Scotto Climate Changes Come to Court Cdca NEAR EAST Massacres of Civilians. Denied Amnesty International Education and Culture: The Future is There Giovanni Scotto Near East and Surroundings: Water Crisis and Conflicts Cdca United Nations ‘The Blue Helmets’ Raffaele Crocco United Nations Peacekeeping Missions A Young Nation Fleeing from the Horrors Federico Fossi WARS - PHOTO AWARD No Jobs, No Rights. This Leads to War Editorial staff 1 - Infographic: Atlas of UN Missions 2 - Infographic: migration routes 3 - Infographic: Atlas of Climate Change 4 - Infographic: Atlas of Death Penalty 5 - Infographic: Atlas of nuclear weapons 6 - Infographic: Atlas of landmines and clusters 7 - Infographic: arrivals in Italy by sea 8 - Infographic: Atlas of freedom of the press

With the collaboration of With the support of

Sponsor

Participating

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4 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

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5 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

Introduction

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6 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

Giving Victims a Voice

T

wenty-one years ago, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1265, permanently making Protection of Civilians in armed conflicts (PoC) part of its agenda.

Today, unfortunately, civilians are still the main victims of war. According to the latest UN Secretary General’s Report on PoC, more than 50 million people were affected by urban warfare in 2018; 91% of the victims were civilians. It feels as though the Geneva Convention, celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2019, and all its subsequent evolutions, have not been and still are not enough to ensure that civilian victims of war are a mistake from the past that must not be repeated.

I myself am a civilian victim of war. I lost my sight at the age of nine due to the explosion of a deceptively harmless looking unexploded device. If, on the one hand, I went through a life of hardship and deprivation, on the other hand, this has led to the honour of being appointed Chairman of the Italian National Association of Civilian Victims of War (ANVCG). Since its establishment, this organization has undertaken to represent and defend the rights of Italian civilian war victims and is now fighting to defend the moral and material interests of victims of wars, of all wars, even outside our national borders. It is for this purpose that we established L’Osservatorio, a special Observatory on civilian victims of conflicts, aiming to document the social and economic impact of conflicts on people's lives. For this same purpose we campaigned for and obtained the institution of the Italian National Day of Civilian Victims of Wars, on 1 February, and we joined the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW) in populated areas; here in Italy we coordinate the INEW campaign to protect civilians from unnecessary suffering caused by explosive weapons.

This Executive Summary is the result of the collaboration between ANVCG and the Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World, which, so far, has only ever been published in Italian. This special English edition is motivated by our shared desire to give the victims of war a voice. I warmly invite you to read these pages, keeping in mind that civilian victims must be considered an anomaly and not an inevitable consequence of war; that the PoC must become a binding commitment for the parties to the armed conflict under International Humanitarian Law; and, thirdly, that it is the moral obligation of the International Community to speak of disarmament from the victims’ point of view and not as an issue related to deterrence or realpolitik.

The young and qualified volunteers of our Osservatorio chose the articles from the extended Italian version of the Atlas and then translated them. I thank them for their dedication, patience and enthusiasm.

I hope this is the first of a long series of Executive Summaries, all dedicated to the victims and to those who work hard every day to restore their dignity and reaffirm their rights.

ANVCG Chairman Cavaliere di Gran Croce Knight Grand Cross (Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy) Giuseppe Castronovo

© Anas Alhajj

Photo in the previous page © Fabio Bucciarelli Palestinians shouting during the Great March of Return demonstration on the Gaza-Israel border, east of Gaza City, on 13 April 2018. The Great March of Return is an organized wave of mass protests, a civil movement whose goals are to break the ongoing Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip and to uphold the inalienable right of Palestinians to return to their homes.

Editorial

Peace on Earth is possible, as long as we don’t shut our eyes

The Editor in Chief Raffaele Crocco

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© Paolo Siccardi

7 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

G

ood news! This year we can start with good news: 30 wars and 18 crisis situations, as we can see from the Atlas, and that is three fewer than at the beginning of 2018. This means fewer deaths, less human suffering, fewer people forced to flee their homes. A look inside the crisis areas in Algeria, Haiti and India, reveals only scenarios of low intensity conflict.

Time will tell whether peace will flourish. Let’s continue with the good news. Since 2018, Greta Thunberg has been joined by tens of thousands of school and university students around the world, who have peacefully demonstrated to demand a cleaner and better planet to live on. They want to prevent our collective suicide. They don’t mince their words. They may well be the change we want to see in the world. The introduction to the ninth edition of our Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World begins on these two positive notes. We are increasingly convinced that we are capable of ending war and environmental degradation. We possess the right tools, the knowledge, the technologies, and the resources to do it. All we need is to work together to build a fairer world. But refusing to do so – and that’s what we are doing – is a specific political decision for which we are all responsible, as both victims and accomplices. We really could change the world. But we insist on complicating matters. The latest available data provided by the United Nations show that we have only 12 years to reverse course on climate change and give back a future to human presence on Earth. Time is short, but no one seems to care. The United States and some European countries, including Italy, just carry on as if nothing had happened. As we live in democracies, we should be able to react by forcing those in power, those who govern us, into changing their actions. But that is not happening. Often it does not happen because, as citizens, we are lazy, distracted, and ill-informed. It is becoming urgent and of vital importance for people to be provided with accurate information. It can be very frightening to find out what is going on around us. For instance, polls have shown that 7% of Brazilians believe that the Earth is flat. And what about the fact that 40% of schools in the United States teach their children that God created our world in a week, like it says in the Bible. It seems stupid, and unbelievable, but it is true. Now, let us make this more concrete. The Conservatives in the UK elected Boris Johnson so that he could “get Brexit done” at any cost, ignoring that this would mean – apart from the possible economic disaster – that Scotland would leave the UK. At the same time, all over the world, citizens and workers have not reacted against a system that has cut their wages and curtailed their rights. No reactions either, against the tax cuts for the rich – and only for them – whose tax rate has dropped from an average of 62% worldwide in 2010 to the current average of 38%. No one was shocked when a billionaire paid 38 billion dollars in a divorce settlement to his wife. Yet a third of the world’s population is living on less than $1.90 a day. About half of the world’s population is living on less than $5.50 a day. There is a need to ensure that everyone has the right to access accurate information.

Statistics show that today in Italy 40% of the population is unable to read and understand a book.

In Europe, only 22% of the population buy one or more books a year. In the United States – a virtual model of for our democracies – the estimated total daily newspaper circulation does not exceed 60 million copies: the same number as President Trump’s social media followers. The role of information has always been central to democracy. As fundamental as the role played by culture. This system has attacked them both, thereby making it possible to reduce our freedoms and curtail our democracy, allowing an erosion of people’s purchasing power and rights without the victims reacting against it.

Inevitably this has led to increased conflict and confrontation. Unfair wealth distribution and denial of rights have fed wars and forced 250 million people to migrate, to seek work, safety and a new life a long way from home. Information and culture should be our eyes, enabling us to see the world and understand it. We are allowing those who do not love either democracy or peace to blindfold us, making us believe that a blindfolded existence is a better way to live. They do not remind us – and we do not remember – that people only shut their eyes when they sleep and when they die.

Introduction

The World Moves Thanks to Greta

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Earth saved by ‘children’

L

uckily, every 10 years or so, a child succeeds in raising awareness about world issues or in explaining what we must do to avoid extinction.

In the past decade, Malala Yusafzai risked her life to reaffirm the universal right to education, even for girls: education as a weapon to stand up for their rights, to think with their own conscience, and to act against fundamentalists whose power thrives on the ignorance of the multitudes.

Even before her, Iqbal Masih revealed to the world – before he was murdered – the great deception of entertainment paid for with the blood and sweat of child workers: sports products, such as soccer balls, were manufactured in conditions of slavery, for the global corporations that dominate the sector.

And now, Greta Thunberg, a Swedish schoolgirl, has promoted ‘FridaysforFuture.’ In August 2018 Greta decided to skip school every Friday to protest in front of her country’s Parliament until it decided to take more serious actions against climate change. Greta’s actions to raise public awareness rapidly became global in scale. More than one million students throughout the world participated in the last strike of ‘FridaysforFuture’ on 24 May, with demonstrations in more than 100 countries.

Greta has achieved many goals. To begin with, she has shown us how we must change the way we approach public opinion about climate change. Before her, the climate crisis was felt only through the impact it had on our natural environment; now its destructive consequences for people make this a human rights emergency. Human rights and climate crisis go hand in hand. We cannot find solutions to the former without solving the latter. Climate change means that it is impossible for humans to rely on the Earth’s resources for food, that our houses are at risk and our health endangered. Greta’s second accomplishment is that she has denounced the profound injustice suffered by populations in the Southern hemisphere: they are and will be the most affected by climate change, despite being the least responsible for it. This concerns millions and millions of people, affected by the prolonged drought in Sub-Saharan Africa and the storms ravaging Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and more recently Mozambique and its surrounding areas. Nor should we forget the summer of 2018 in the Northern hemisphere; from the Arctic Circle to Greece, from Japan to the USA, populations suffered disastrous heatwaves and wildfires that killed and injured hundreds of people.

Greta rejects the cliché that young people nowadays will be tomorrow’s leaders. She explains that, if we wait for tomorrow, there will be no future for any of us. For this reason, she and the student movement of ‘FridaysforFuture’ have been nominated Amnesty International’s 2019 Ambassadors of Conscience.

Greta is our leader today, and the adults of the world, especially those who hold decision-making positions, must follow her lead.

Riccardo Noury Spokesman Amnesty International

Greta Thunberg

Introduction

Climate Change is a War against the Planet

Towards an unavoidable “climate apartheid”

Marica Di Pierri CDCA Chairman Centro Documentazione Conflitti Ambientali (Documentation Center for Environmental Conflicts)

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Philip Alston

9 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

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he Earth is on fire. But the fire is not ignited by the conflagration of armed conflicts. Desertification, prolonged and severe droughts, floods, extreme weather events have triggered countless emergencies which are merely the local symptoms of highly dangerous global processes. We are talking about social, environmental, nutritional, migratory emergencies, affecting and overwhelming local communities, sometimes entire populations and causing more forced mass migrations every year. In June, the United Nations Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Philip Alston, spoke clearly and for the first time about “climate apartheid,” referring to the fact that the world’s richest communities will have the tools and resources to escape starvation and the disasters caused by climate change, while the rest of the world’s inhabitants – i.e. the overwhelming majority – will suffer the consequences, in a cruel vicious circle in which inequalities lead to more inequalities.

The dire prediction is that the least developed countries will pay three quarters of the social costs of climate change, even though they only contribute to one tenth of emissions. According to the UN, climate change “threatens to undo the last 50 years of progress in development, global health, and poverty reduction, and could push more than 120 million more people into poverty by 2030.”

But climate change did not materialize out of nothing. It is the consequence of an economic model – of a model of resource extraction, production, consumption and disposal – based on the intensive exploitation of both natural resources and human beings, a model which yields profits only for the few, while all the negative externalities are offloaded onto the communities.

From this point of view, every country, every continent has a story to tell. Stories of domination, of oppression, and of violated rights. But also stories of strength, resistance, struggle, and change.

In this edition of our Atlas, CDCA – Centro di Documentazione sui Conflitti Ambientali – is contributing reports from all the world’s continents, highlighting the main features and dynamics of these stories.

Asia and its “Green Revolution,” where the introduction of an unfettered agri-business model has had devastating consequences in terms of food sovereignty, public health, biodiversity protection.

The new Continent, the Americas, is still dominated by the age-old extractivist model. Increasingly extreme Oil&Gas extraction practices in the North; a destiny of devastation carved on the bodies of the exploited miners, all the way down the Andes, in an uninterrupted timeline, from colonialism to the present.

Africa, the continent of land grabbing, a new field of conquest and human rights’ abuses, where Governments and foreign companies have never stopped playing the role of ruthless speculators.

Our Europe, struggling to address thousands of active social conflicts fighting against a vast range of different sources of contamination. And the innovation of exemplary lawsuits, which take the consequences of climate change to court, so that judges can ensure that political decision-makers are nailed to their responsibilities.

Lastly, the infographic describing the current situation of climate change globally. Who is releasing more emissions, who is paying the costs, who has ratified the Paris agreement, the risk map, the concentrations in the atmosphere and much more.

Because the only thing that can make the difference in this age of simplification is to be able to access all the necessary information to understand the situation. For this is the only thing that can transform us into fully aware and active citizens.

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1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Uganda

China Xinyang

Thailand

Burkina Faso

Zimbabwe

Koreas

Bosnia

Burundi

Colombia

Hong Kong

Ivory Coast

Haiti

India

10

8

niger

algeria ivory coast

4

12

burkina faso

9

1 5

2

4 nigeria

CRISIS SITUATIONS Algeria

14

6

mali

haiti

venezuela

WARS, UN PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS AND CRISIS SITUATIONS colombia

10 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

THE SITUATION JUNE 2019

9

western sahara

bosnia

northern ireland

18

6

Ethiopia Eritrea

Venezuela

Iran

Northern Ireland

UN PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS

WARS

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

6

7

8

9

10

13

14

15

11

12

13

14

25

26

27

UNTSO

MINURSO

UNMISS

UNMOGIP

UNMIK

MINUSMA

UNFICYP

UNAMID

MINUSCA

UNDOF

MONUSCO

MINUJUSTH

UNIFIL

UNISFA

Cameroon

Afghanistan

Georgia

Chad

China/Tibet

Kosovo

Lybia

Philippines

Ukraine

17

zimbawe

1 uganda

central african rep.

7

8

Mali

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

28

29

30

Iraq

Israel Palestine burundi

cameroon

13 south sud

chad

2 sudan

11

12 10/11

Niger

Kashmir

Lebanon

5 thailand

8

Syria

29

22

10

Nigeria

Kurdistan

15 21

Central African Rep.

Myanmar

14

Dem. Rep. of Congo

Nagorno Karabakh

19

Western Sahara

Pakistan Pashtun hong kong

13 17

china/tibet

kashmir

nagorno karabakh

chechnya

china/xinjiang

20

myanmar

afghanistan

5

pakistan/pashtun

georgia

ukraine

25 23 koreas

11

2

16

Somalia

Yemen Saudi Arabia

15

6

9

3

Sudan

Chechnya

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16 lebanon

kurdistan

israel/palestine

syria

28

philippines

iran

cyprus

3

24

india

yemen/saudi arabia

kosovo

18

somalia

iraq

3

ethiopia/eritrea

lybia

26 7

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dem. rep. congo

7 27 1 4

30

12

14

13

South Sudan

Cyprus

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Instructions for use

A short guide to reading the 9th edition This publication is a shortened version, an extract, of the Atlas of Wars and Conflicts. We owe the English translation to the support of the Associazione Nazionale Vittime Civili di Guerra – ANVCG (Italian National Association for Civilian Victims of War). Together, we thought it would be useful if the Atlas were to circulate in English as well and could thus become a more helpful tool. It is published in a reduced form, i. e. without the Conflict Profiles illustrating existing wars, and crises that might develop into full-blown wars, country by country. Despite its reduced form, the purpose of the Atlas remains: a way to fight against war with peaceful weapons. And books are the most peaceful of weapons. So what is this publication? We aim to raise awareness on where wars are being fought, on what triggers a crisis, a high or low intensity armed conflict. The Atlas is published every year in October. Journalists, academics, photographers, activists, and humanitarian workers make all this possible. The editorial staff keeps track of research and documentation on the website atlanteguerre.it (updated daily), then collects the material and assembles it. However, ours is not a neutral job. The Atlas of Wars has a point of view; it is “biased.” It is against war, and that must be clear from the beginning. Let us therefore start from the assumption that, in a book about wars, words can have multiple meanings. They can be interpreted, their meaning bent, reworked, to justify, explain, convince. This also applies to the design, the choice of images, the type of maps. It is, in short, a political operation, and because of this we need to explain the reasons behind some of our decisions. The design is essential: we have chosen to be an Atlas, and we put all wars on the same level, as a way to make their destructive force equal. In this reduced English version we have included the overall introduction to all the continents (although the individual Country Profiles are only in the Italian edition). In these introductions, Amnesty International’s contribution is complemented by a brief assessment of the environmental situation and some positive developments, which we have called ‘Attempts at Peacemaking.’ In the final part we have included some reports and in-depth analyses on specific issues or theme. A special section at the end of the publication is devoted to the use of words. We have codified them so as to warn our readers that we use them in that specific way and with that specific meaning. For us, this is a fundamental step to avoid ambiguities and misunderstandings of the facts, which are the basic elements of our work. This decision, if you like, is not scientific, and there will certainly be people who will not agree with our use of words, but we have at least established a common and shared code. In addition, we chose to use the Peters World Map. This, too, is a political choice, to clarify our vision of the world. The photos you will find are the result of collaborations with a variety of agencies and individual photographers who have made their materials available. Lastly, the book’s infographics are helpful, as they are designed to explain the many causes that lead to too many wars in the world.

We hope you find it useful and interesting!

Editorial staff

The situation Raffaele Crocco

Mark this date: 10 May 2019. Since that day the EU countries are officially in debt with the planet.

In other words, they have already begun consuming natural resources allocated for 2020. Italy is no different. Our Overshoot Day was 15 May, only five days later. On that day, we Italians had used up all the biological resources that can be renewed this year.

For the rest of the world, the fateful date was in late July: just remember that last year Earth Overshoot Day had been on 1 August 2018. EU countries have only 7% of the global population but we are using huge amounts of other people’s resources. If everybody lived like the Europeans we would need 2.8 Earths to sustain the demand of natural resources. Think about it: if the entire world consumed resources at the rate India uses them, we would only need 0.7 of Earth’s yearly capacity to renew biological resources.

This is a very serious problem, one of the root causes of war. Climate change has been an important issue of debate in recent decades. In 2018 young people took to the streets to demand action and call on adults to join them in the fight against climate change. Nothing has changed so far.

We can view the world through two core issues: migrations and wars. There are marked parallels between them. Rights denied, unequal distribution of wealth, waste of resources, environmental devastation: all lead inexorably to wars – 30 wars and 18 crisis situations, this year – and increasing numbers of forced displacements.

According to the 2019 data on migrations released by the United Nations, there are now 258 million people who have been forced to flee their homes or who are on the move to seek a better life. People who have left the country in which they were born and now live somewhere else have increased by about 49% as compared to the figure of 173 million migrants in 2000. Over 60% of all international migrants are living in Asia (80 million) or Europe (78 million). North America hosts 58 million international migrants, followed by Africa (25 million). About two-thirds of all migrants are living in just 20 countries: in the United States (50 million), Saudi Arabia, Germany and the Russian Federation (around 12 million each), followed by the United Kingdom (9 million). Italy occupies 11th place, behind the United Arab Emirates, France, Canada and Spain. Around 5.9 million migrants live permanently in Italy.

These are the figures for 2019. The way we do when we talk about wars, we tend to talk about the effects or consequences of migration, and never about the causes. We ask: how many are there? where are they? what problems do they encounter or give rise to? We hardly ever try to find out more about the reasons behind migration or investigate the causes that forced people to flee from their homes, abandon loved ones and look for safety elsewhere.

As mentioned above, inequalities in wealth distribution cause war. According to Oxfam’s most recent research study, 1% of the world’s population owns 47.2% of the world’s total wealth. In addition, 50% of the world’s population – that is 3.8 billion individuals – only possesses 0.4% of the world’s wealth. The report also states that the 1,900 richest people increased their wealth by 12% in 2018, i.e. they made 900 billion dollars in one year, or about 2.5 billion dollars a day. That same year, the wealth of the poorest half of the world’s population decreased by 11%.

Extreme poverty rates have risen over the past three years. Right now, 3.4 billion people are living on less than $5.50 a day. Almost 2.5 billion are living in extreme poverty on less than $1.90 a day.

Poverty has devastating effects: it is estimated that 10,000 people die in the world every day be-

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Photo above © Paolo Siccardi

13 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

The Rich Getting Richer We must put a limit

14 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World 46° Parallelo

cause they are too poor to access healthcare. In India high caste women live on average 15 years longer than poor women. In 137 economically unstable countries a child from a poor family is twice as likely to die before the age of five than a child from a rich family.

Economic inequality is further exacerbated by a fairly recent development: increasingly unfair taxation systems. The less you have, the more you pay. This trend has been ongoing for several years: a gradual erosion of progressive tax rates, and a shift of the burden from taxation of wealth and corporate income to income tax on salaries and indirect taxes on consumption. In 2015, only 4 cents for every dollar collected by the tax authorities came from taxes on wealth, while 96 cents came from income taxes on earnings and consumption taxes. In 1970 the share of taxes paid by high-income households was 62% of the total; in 2019 it is 38%. The corporate tax rates of 90 multinational corporations have fallen from 34% to 24% in the last 18 years, nor have these tax savings led to any increased investment in job creation.

There seems to be no way out! If the wealthiest 1% paid just 0.5% extra tax on their wealth, we could solve the problems of 2.4 billion people in one year. And we would solve them for good. 830 million people are risking death by starvation. Nearly 2 billion people lack access to water, since the nearest well is at least half an hour away from their villages. 260 million children cannot go to school. Are these reasons to fight wars? Yes, they are. Without any doubt. One can demonstrate this by looking at the geography: see where the poorest countries are, where the people are hungry and there are no rights, and see where there are wars that continue to cause mass migrations.

And there are other reasons for wars, too. In many African countries – Liberia, Ethiopia and Somalia, to name a few – there is less than one doctor for every 1,000 inhabitants. In those countries where people die easily, however, the population continues to grow at an average of 3% per year.

By 2020, there will be 2.5 billion Africans, their average age being about 20, in a continent that does not offer satisfactory living conditions for all. What will they do? Many of them will migrate toward the cities, creating gigantic urban conglomerations of 60 to 90 million inhabitants, where there will be shortages of food, water and healthcare. Others will leave and seek their fortune elsewhere. Desertification will cause rural lands to become unable to support them. In the last 45 years, about 1.2 billion hectares of farmland, that is 11% of the Earth’s rural surface, have become no longer suitable for agriculture. It is estimated that between 5 and 12 million hectares are lost each year. An immense area. Africa is the continent most affected, with 65% of severely degraded farmlands, followed by Latin America (51%), Asia (38%) and North America (34%). And even where desertification does not take its toll, land grabbing is a threat to the environment. According to official estimates, there are 88 million hectares of land sold to Governments or multinational corporations, equivalent to an area eight times the size of Portugal. Millions of people are driven from their lands every year, because of financial speculation or control over the markets, or because they are replaced by other workers.

From this bleak outlook, we need to look to the future of the planet. We possess the tools to solve the problems, we have the means to promote justice and equality, to deal with conflicts before they become destructive. We must create a world where we can all live, and live well. It is not merely a matter of justice. It will be for the benefit of us all. We will all be better off, and happier. It is possible, for we know what the issues at stake are. The young people who followed Greta Thunberg’s lead and are out on the streets have told us. Let’s try and listen to them. © Francesco Cavalli

Special Focus Landmines Emanuele Giordana

The Mekong Delta has also been called the War Delta. In Vietnam, this is the name of a huge system of canals, lakes, streams, islands that wind up from Cambodia, after having touched Laos and Thailand, where the great Mekong marks the border between the two countries. All these nations were involved in the last devastating Cold War conflict, before Afghanistan gave the final blow to the precarious balance of terror established between the USA and the USSR: both countries possessing the atomic bomb, who never confronted each other directly, instead financing and supporting the Governments of friendly countries, often in power thanks to military coups planned together with their powerful mentors.

© Emanuele Giordana

Vietnam Today the war that ended in 1975 with the departure of the Americans from Saigon – now Ho Chi Minh City – seems to be a distant piece of ancient history. In the maze of small islands and canals of South Vietnam, where the final part of the great river of Indochina flows – the Mekong originates from the Tibetan highland – the atmosphere is one of peace and calm: small and large bungalows host crowds of tourists and the slow rhythm is matched by the river boats gliding by the flowercovered banks, or the bikes riding by small aquatic gardens, or family vegetable gardens. The Delta area hosts around 20% of Vietnamese farmers, who have to deal with insidious enemies hidden under the beautiful blanket of plants that covers the river: pollution from industrial metals, plastic and polystyrene, and loss of fertile silt due to the Delta river dams built in recent years by the Chinese.

Additionally, the country has to deal with the long-term effects of another furtive legacy that continues to affect them, silently and invisibly, more than 40 years later: dioxin, a defoliating chemical compound better known as Agent Orange, used with napalm to obtain what the military called their scorched-earth strategy.

Tumours, malformations, skin diseases and internal organ damage still occur today. In addition to these invisible enemies there is another one, equally concealed: unexploded bombs hidden in the mud, carried by the river into the rice fields, nestling under a thin layer of earth in cultivated fields. During the Vietnam War (which is called the American War here) 14 million tons of bombs were dropped, three times more than the ones used by the Allies in World War II. Not all of them exploded. Dioxin was used mostly in

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There are still millions of unexploded weapons from the war fought in the 1960s and 1970s in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. This dormant legacy continues to reap victims and no amount of mine clearance seems to be enough.

15 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

Southeast Asia The Delta of War

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16 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

the South, while the bombs were dropped mostly in the North, and in Hanoi, the capital of the People's Republic led by Ho Chi Minh. It is estimated that today 15% of the country is still at risk due to unexploded ordnance: a percentage that goes up to 84% in the province of Quang Tri, the province that lies across the 17th parallel – the old wartime border dividing North from South Vietnam.

Laos The legacy of anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines, and cluster munitions covers an area as extensive as the war, starting as it did in Vietnam and then spreading out into Laos and Cambodia. In Laos, by the end of 1964, Washington launched Operation Barrel Roll, then followed by others including the infamous Menu, complete with Breakfast and Dessert. The aim was to weaken the Laotian Pathet Lao, revolutionary forces supported by North Vietnam which in 1959 began to advance from the Northeast towards the centre of the country. At the same time Washington wanted to destroy the famous Ho Chi Minh Trail which, via Laos and Cambodia, supported the guerrillas in South Vietnam. While the Laotian airmen were being trained and the Hmong mercenaries – an independent mountain population – supported the US Air Force, the USA began its “secret war” with bombing raids conducted from bases leased in Thailand. Then from 1964 an escalation began, which led to a total of over 580,000 air raids, and only ended in 1973. Between 1964 and 1973 two million tons of bombs were dropped on a country only two-thirds the size of Italy and which, today, only has just over six million inhabitants: 28 per sq. km. Legacies of War have calculated that it means a bomb every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day, for 9 years, resulting in the country with the greatest number of bombs per capita on the planet. 30% of the bombs, however, did not explode, and eighty million are still there, waiting. At the headquarters of the NGO Mines Advisory Group in Vietnam, they explained to us that the problem of Laos is mostly the issue of cluster bombs which, with other unexploded weapons, still contaminate 25% of Laotian villages.

Cambodia As reported by the Landmine Report, the Kingdom of Cambodia is a country where, between 1979 and 2017, unexploded weapons killed nearly 20,000 people and injured 44,962. “Cambodia, as well as Laos or Vietnam, remain high-risk countries,” explains Michael Heiman, leader of APOPO Project in Cambodia, a demining organization that uses Cricetomys Gambianus, an African rat with an exceptional flair, capable of perceiving the explosive substances of a mine even when it is well buried in the ground. “War,” Michael adds, “moves and therefore creates new emergencies, so that money tends understandably to go towards these new needs.” Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan; less and less attention for Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam. “For Africa,” concludes Heiman, “it is even worse.” So, these far away wars are less and less on the donors' agenda even though, fortunately, demining expenses remain fairly stable. This is also the case in Italy. Giuseppe Schiavello, director of the Italian Campaign against Landmines, confirms that public spending in our country for demining is maintained, despite the ups and downs, at constant levels (above 3 million euros per year) but that we should not forget that demining is not enough: “In general, the funds for land reclamation have increased – but then again, so have conflicts and asymmetric wars, and of course the victims. And it is still difficult to provide adequate support for the disabled, both in the post-emergency context (prosthesis and physiotherapy) and for the socioeconomic reintegration of survivors.” A problem that we also found in Southeast Asia: in a bank in Pailin, on the border between Cambodia and Thailand, two elderly gentlemen were queuing at the counter. They both had a very rough wooden prosthesis replacing their limb lost to a landmine. They bear testimony to the never-ending consequences of past history.

Civilians in Conflict ANVCG

© Anas Alhajj

The Turkish offensive against the Kurdish fighters in north-eastern Syria started last October, and it has caused a further wave of violence in a country that has been torn apart by an apparently neverending war for eight years now.

According to United Nations agencies, more than 200,000 people have been displaced as a result of this attack; 180,000 of them fled in the first two weeks. The exact number of civilian victims is unknown, although humanitarian agencies estimate it to be very high.

These figures exacerbate further what was already a very high victim toll. The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) states that, in late 2018, about 11.7 million people were surviving solely thanks to humanitarian aid, with 5 million in severe need. 83% of Syrian victims of war are reduced to living below the poverty line and 30% are food insecure. In the country, which had about 23 million inhabitants before the war, 6.2 million have been forced to leave their homes, including 2.5 million children. According to the UNHCR, this is the world’s largest internally displaced population.

As is the case in other urban wars worldwide, most of these figures refer to the civilian population.

Once again, it is the civilians that pay the highest price for a war that has become increasingly hard to explain, and even more cruel and bloody for the defenceless people caught up in it.

Indeed, in our minds Syria has become the symbol of war in the 21st century, with Aleppo joining the list of cities destroyed by the fury of war – like Coventry, Dresden, Hiroshima and many others.

Unfortunately, there is no doubt that Syria, so rich in history, culture and humanity, will be dealing with the consequences of this war for generations, in addition to the severe, long-lasting impact on civilians. It will take decades for the population to re-establish some form of social cohesion, not to mention the even longer period needed for the clearance of explosive ordnance, the numbers of which are impossible to quantify.

And what about destroyed hospitals and houses reduced to rubble? And physicians killed when they are most needed? And children who have never been to school or have no school to go to (2.1 million according to OCHA)?

We cannot help feeling discouraged, if we think back to the powerful call for peace after the end of World War II: it led to the adoption of legal instruments of great importance, like the Geneva Conventions, although those tools have since proved incapable of curbing the violence of war.

The increasingly speedy globalization process in these last two decades has changed warfare and caused a more marked urbanization of war: we therefore need to implement the Protection

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© Anas Alhajj

17 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

An International Year of Civilian Victims of War

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18 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

of Civilians in Armed Conflicts Resolution as a global regulatory framework, without being bound by national borders. States, International Agencies, Civil Society Organizations and, of course, the victims, must be involved in peace processes, as well as in planning humanitarian assistance and development programmes.

With this consideration in mind, the Italian National Association of Civilian Victims of War (ANVCG) – an organization formed by Italian victims of World War II and legally appointed to represent them in this country – has launched the proposal to establish an International Year dedicated to all the civilian victims in the world. Starting from this year, an International Day is expected to be proclaimed. For this initiative ANVCG will follow the actions it undertook as a leader of the campaign to establish the Italian National Day of Civilian Victims of War and Conflicts in 2017.

The date proposed for the International Day is 8 June, when Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, prohibiting attacks against civilians, was adopted. In Article 51 the Protocol affirms, for the first time, the principle of combatants’ obligation to protect civilians from the effects of military operations. This article prohibits direct and indiscriminate attacks and reaffirms that the civilian population is entitled to enjoy general protection.

The historical UN Security Council Resolution 1265/1999 marked a turning point by ensuring that the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict was included in its agenda. This was the result of the widespread outrage at the growing number of episodes of International Humanitarian Law violations. A long list of appeals by UN Secretaries General, as well as other Security Council Resolutions followed (for example: 1296/2000, 1674/2006, 1738/2006, 1894/2009, 2175/2014, 2222/2015, 2286/2016, 2417/2018).

Our initiative aims to: • draw attention to civilian victims of wars and their suffering, by promoting their participation in the planning and implementation of assistance programmes • reaffirm the rules and principles of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols • highlight the debate on the norms for the protection of civilians enshrined in International Humanitarian Law and the provisions to ensure they are implemented • reverse the priorities contained in the usual accounts of wars, in which the main subjects are the combatants and their geopolitical vested interests • focus on peace as the essential condition for the observance of all human rights.

This initiative reflects the core principle of humanitarian disarmament: inclusiveness not as an end in itself, but as an asset that can benefit the entire International Community. Ours is a request proposed by the Italian victims on behalf of all victims, yet we are confident that it can contribute to the establishment of a broad consensus and a shared awareness, based on solidarity towards all the victims of war.

© Anas Alhajj

L'Osservatorio ANVCG Sara Gorelli

For most people 1 and 2 October 2019 are meaningless dates. In actual fact, they marked a turning point for humanitarian disarmament. It was on those days that representatives from over 130 countries gathered in Vienna to attend the International Conference on Protecting Civilians in Urban Warfare.

The outcome was a green light to start the process for the development of an international declaration to prevent human suffering from the use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA). It is a known fact that the urbanisation of warfare poses serious threats for the safety of civilians in armed conflicts. Explosive weapons (bombs, shells, rockets, etc.), normally used in war, have become increasingly lethal as conflicts are fought more and more in cities, where the concentration of civilians is high. It has been documented that when explosive weapons – especially those with wide-area effects – are used in urban areas, 90% of victims are civilians. Deaths, physical injuries, psychological trauma, destruction of infrastructure and housing, collapse of basic services like healthcare, affect civilians. And the armed conflict continues. There are also prolonged and belated effects (so called “reverberating”) to be considered in the aftermath of hostilities, like the need to clear a territory from ordnance in order to make it economically productive and safe for its inhabitants, or the environmental pollution left behind by war. Here are some key facts and figures. According to Action on Armed Violence, in 2018 the civilian victims of EWIPA amounted to 22,342. Between 2011 and 2018 EWIPA victims numbered almost 232,000. Incidents from explosive violence occurred in 64 countries. The highest numbers of civilian victims were recorded in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq and Pakistan.

IEDs have had the most dreadful consequences, being responsible for 42% of all civilian casualties.

In Syria, the clearance of landmines and unexploded devices will take about 50 years, while today, throughout Afghanistan, almost 1,100 square kilometres of land are still contaminated by mines, IEDs and other types of weapons, reducing the area that can be used for agricultural production by over 88%. Data alone are not enough to highlight the fact that EWIPA, and their pattern of harm, are a crucial aspect of the Protection of Civilians. The humanitarian impact of EWIPA is linked to the new forms of warfare: urban, involving State and non-State actors, and characterized by a total disregard for the rules of war. Against this backdrop, the International Community must act as one, to address the harm wrought and to reaffirm the existing rules for civilian protection. An international political declaration, though not legally binding, would engage the States on officially addressing the harm caused by EWIPA, as a direct consequence of urban warfare; avoiding the use of weapons with widearea effects; recognizing the rights of the victims and ensuring assistance to them and their communities. Such a declaration would be an implementation of IHL, to reaffirm the principle that civilians must be protected from the effects of hostilities. Following on from Vienna, on 18 November the first round of open consultations in view of the political declaration was held in Geneva. Despite the fact that almost all States attending (about 70) were in support of the process, a certain number of States spoke about the need for greater compliance with IHL, stating that better implementation can be achieved through sharing of best practices, not by introducing a new tool. Some of them highlighted the role of non-State actors and IEDs. While the new declaration on EWIPA will certainly be officially endorsed, it is reasonable to wonder what kind of a declaration it is going to be: an ambitious document, specifying clearly the responsibility that parties have to prevent harm to civilians or to remedy any damage done, or a weak response. There is no doubt that civilians will bear the burden of that choice, in one way or another, for a long time.

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© Anas Alhajj

19 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

War Has Come to Town We Must Take Action

Special Focus Intersos Luciano Scalettari

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Central African Republic: hope comes from emergency Samira and Oscar. Or Amazon and Tao: those were their aliases, their battle names, until a few months ago. They sit next to each other, each one bent over a Singer sewing machine, the kind with pedals, like the very old ones. All around is the din of music, of people yelling, of motorcycles roaring by, of people shouting. The small workshop where Samira, Oscar and the other children are learning to become tailors is in the informal market of Kaga-Bandoro, a small town with an unspecified number of inhabitants (maybe 20,000, according to the Prefect), over 300 km north of the capital Bangui. In the middle of the forest, in the heart of the Central African Republic (CAR). The poorest country in the world, ranking 188th out of 188 in the UN’s Human Development Index.

Nowadays, Samira and Oscar cut and sew. Not long ago, in their second life, they were child soldiers.

In their first life, they were nothing but children.

Actually, the market where the offices of Intersos are and where they run this former child soldiers’ rehabilitation project, is not the city’s market; this one grew up spontaneously next to the biggest IDP camp (for Internally Displaced Persons) in the town, for many people were wary of going to the old market, which they considered too dangerous. So they created another one, next to the densely packed area of their mud and straw shacks.

Samira and Oscar handled a rifle instead of a Singer. And they could have even killed each other, since they used to fight on two opposite fronts: she belonged to Seleka, while he belonged to Anti-balaka, the two armed groups who have been fighting since 2013, when the former, the so-called Islamist rebels, began to advance from the north towards Bangui, where they took power, forcing President François Bozizé to flee. They set up a Government (led by Michel Djotodia) that lasted less than ten months, and which has now left a legacy of (still smouldering) civil war and a country in which 80 % of the land is under the control of armed militias.

Samira is 17 now and her smile lights up her face; except that she hardly ever smiles. Oscar has a shy gaze and looks even younger than he actually is: 16. He doesn’t smile either. Both spent five years as soldiers in an armed group. Two stories that are heartbreaking to listen to.

My name is Oscar, corporal of Anti-balaka, my battle name is Tao, which means, “he who lights the fire.” I am originally from Maoromba, a village between Kaga-Bandoro and Mbrès, which was attacked several times and was burnt to the ground after the Seleka took power. There were six of us: my parents, three sisters and I. One of my sisters disappeared when we fled the village during an attack and I have not heard anything about her since. The other two have been forced to marry some Anti-balaka leaders.” Were you kidnapped or did you enlist spontaneously? “I volunteered.” Why? “To avenge my parents. The Seleka burned them alive. If all this had never happened, now I would be going to school with children my age.” How old were you when you

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joined the Anti-balaka? “I was 11. Five other boys enlisted, just like me. I’m the only one who is still alive.”

“My name is Samira, but when I was among the Seleka I was called Amazon, like Gaddafi’s personal guard corps. I was a lieutenant.” A cascade of tiny braids and deep black eyes. She regained her freedom after spending five years in the forest, from which she emerged with a four-year-old child, the result of rape by “a man who was as old as my grandfather, whom I was forced to marry.” It makes one uneasy that Samira tells you this without betraying any emotion. Before the wars, she used to live with her parents and three siblings in Boda, a small town in the southeast of CAR. “I went to get water when our IDP camp was attacked by the Anti-balaka. It was February 2014. People were running in all directions, and I ran, too. I ran all night long.” She doesn’t know what happened to her family. They were all probably murdered. At the age of 12, she enlisted hoping that serving in the militia would give her protection. But… “Now I can close my eyes and overcome the shame for what happened to me.” Her rapist was killed in battle. “Intersos has taught me a trade that allows me to take care of my son and myself. But they also gave me medical and psychological assistance.”

Samira and Oscar: cannon fodder. Two of the 14,000 child soldiers who have been rescued (it seems that many armed groups are still recruiting children). Two of the hundreds of thousands of children and young people who have suffered during this war, whether they were used as child soldiers or simply by being victims of the violence, raids, oppression. Some could no longer go to school, some died because what little healthcare there was before the war was totally wiped out. Some have fled to an IDP camp and some have sought shelter abroad. Some are orphans and some have permanent wounds and mutilations, in the body or in the soul. Girls and women have paid the highest price. As in any war. As in every part of this continent. In CAR, it is an especially high price: 80% of women, according to UNICEF data, declare that they have been victims of violence.

“Here the population has been subjected to unbelievable levels of violence,” says Rosaria Bruno from OCHA (the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs). “Here people are forced to live below the minimum level of human dignity. In such a situation, even dreams are crushed.” The population of CAR, the size of France, numbers about 5.5 million people. Kaga-Bandoro is surrounded by forest.

Right outside the city there are roadblocks manned by armed gangs on every road, except one which is patrolled by MINUSCA, the UN peacekeeping mission in CAR. We drive along this road, towards Mbres, which is only 87 km away. Huge, majestic trees provide a thick green barrier on either side of the road: leaves, canopies and creepers, in a tangled web of jungle that seems impenetrable, as we look out from the window of our jeep, bouncing along on a dirt track where even a 4x4 would have a tough time. The red earth track cuts through the second largest forest in the world, the Congo basin forest. As in many African countries, here, too, the capital is one thing; but the rest of the country is another world.

Here everything is low down on all scales: this country is ranked bottom for all development indicators.

In the UN’s index, it ranks 188th out of 188. And it is easy to see why, from all points of view.

An example? There are no roads worthy of the name, but you wonder whether having roads would be a priority, since there are no cars: in the four days we spent in the North, in the Nana-Grebizi Province, we did not see a single private car. Some trucks, white UN armoured trucks, motorcycles and bicycles.

Another example? UN and NGO agencies that work in the countryside, outside the capital, cannot find employees with any qualifications, and the levels needed are only very basic: therefore most of the “local” staff actually comes from Bangui. This means that, in a country with such poor infrastructure, in order to go home, the staff has to ask some truck for a lift (paying the driver, of course), and will be forced to take an uncomfortable and expensive trip, holding on for dear life on top of the truck’s cargo.

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One more example: the largest contributor to CAR’s healthcare system is Doctors without Borders (MSF), the second is the population itself (although the amount charged by the health centres is very low), while the Ministry of Health only comes third. If the humanitarian aid workers (UN and NGOs) were to leave tomorrow, there would no longer be any healthcare providers at all in most of the country.

We can continue: three children out of five do not go to school; only 6% gets through secondary school.

More than half of the teachers have qualifications at all. CAR is the second country in the world “for neonatal mortality: one out of 24 newborns does not survive,” says Paolo Marchi, UNICEF Deputy Manager for CAR, “and it is also the second country with the highest rate of maternal mortality. More than 43,000 children today are at risk of acute and severe malnutrition. The children in this country are in a highly dramatic situation.” These appalling data, however, have little to do with the civil war that has gripped the country since December 2012 and is now on hold, simply because of the presence of 12,000 UN peacekeepers.

The extreme poverty of CAR is the result of the French post-colonial yoke and the tragic sequence of events that has seen this country go from a dictator to a coup to another dictator. Until a problem that was totally unimaginable here materialised: a religiously motivated conflict, a political armed group, the prevalently Muslim Seleka, which fought, seized power and tried to govern.

A devastating impact, that of the conflict that began in 2012. Not so much on the poverty levels, for they were already dramatic, but on the division wrought between Muslims and all the others which had always lived alongside each other peacefully. And we can observe this on our 90 km journey, too. The forest steps back, here and there, in order to make way for a path to some little village. A dozen huts or more, with two or three young boys inevitably standing in the middle, sometimes with a rifle resting on their shoulders, sometimes unarmed, keeping guard over that tiny village. Along this path, everyone is Anti-balaka: that is, they belong to the self-styled “self-defence militia” which has sprung up in many parts of the country in order to fight against the Muslim Seleka. Most of them belong to the Christian majority (Catholic or Protestant). The two small cities, Mbres and Kaga-Bandoro, are under the control of the Islamic militia.

No one has disarmed. On the contrary, between 2012 and today the armed groups have multiplied: there used to be two, but on 6 February this year, when the last deal (number eight) was signed, there were 14 around the negotiation table. In the last six years there have been raids, violence, pillage, and even during 2019 there have been some real massacres. Along the road we are driving on, one can still see the signs of houses burned down last June during an attack by the MPC Islamic militia, one of the groups linked to Seleka.

There are still 630,000 internally displaced persons and an equal number of refugees outside the country. Two thirds of the population are dependent on international support. The whole population of this country is totally exhausted, while games of power politics and geopolitical interests are played out over their heads. CAR is a temptation to many, due to its vast supply of natural resources: like the nearby Congo, rich in diamonds, gold and coltan, as well as the precious timber and the rich biodiversity of its forests. Chinese companies grab mining concessions, the Russian Government has supported both the armed groups and the Government. Its neighbours, Chad, Sudan, Cameroon and DR Congo, support or hinder the peace process according to their different – and often conflicting – political and commercial interests. A Big Game, and one in which the people of CAR know very well that they are powerless.

Oscar and Samira are a symbol of this: they are unwitting victims in this Big Game. And yet, somehow, they are also a sign of hope for this country. Because now they are handling a Singer sewing machine.

Spitsbergen

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COUNTRIES AT WAR CRISIS SITUATIONS Jan Mayen (Norv.)

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23 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

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

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N. Amsterdam (Fr.) S. Pablo

By Amnesty International Mohamed Morsi

Democracy is still a distant dream for Africa At the beginning of 2019, the tensions between the armed forces loyal to the Sarraj Government (recognized by the International Community) and the troops answering to General Haftar erupted into a real war, as both sides aimed to gain control of the capital, Tripoli. The fighting affected migrants and refugees, too. Thousands of them have continued to be locked up in official – and often unofficial – detention centres, languishing under appalling conditions. In early July 2018, one of these centres was bombed, leading to the death of dozens of people who had been intercepted at sea by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard, supported in its activities

by Italy’s contributions since 2017.

In Egypt, the worrying authoritarian trend has progressed: independent media have been basically silenced – with very few exceptions, among which the Mada Masr website is worth noting – and new draconian laws on protests virtually make public dissent impossible. The death of former President Mohamed Morsi is another victim, to be added to the 762 deaths of inmates in Egyptian prison, and local human rights organizations have estimated that 2,400 death sentences were handed down between 2013 and 2018, with nearly 150 executions already carried out. War crimes were perpetrated in the conflict in North Sinai, pitting the national security forces against armed groups.

Massive demonstrations brought down long-

lasting presidencies in Algeria and Sudan. In Algeria this has produced a deadlock, while in Sudan the removal of President Omar al-Bashir has been followed by mass murders perpetrated by the armed paramilitary militia called Rapid Support Forces, already guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. In Morocco, the judicial proceedings against the organizers of the October 2016 protests against the socio-economic discriminations of the population in the Rif region, ended with harsh sentences. In Nigeria, armed factions continue to sow terror and for the tenth year running Boko Haram has carried out almost daily terrorist attacks, kidnappings, lootings of villages and targeted or mass killings. In Mali, hundreds of deaths have been reported, not only as victims of terrorism, but also of people killed in the inter-ethnic fighting between the Dogon and the Fulani.

The actions of separatist groups in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon have become more violent and the central Government has been reacting with serious human rights violations and holding show trials of opposition members who have not engaged in violent behaviour. The “US’s secret war” in Somalia has continued, mainly using drones in the Lower Shabelle region. Since 2017, over 100 attacks have been carried out, purportedly against the al-Shabab armed group, but which have killed 14 civilians

and injured 8.

Two consecutive hurricanes destroyed Southeastern Africa, particularly affecting Mozambique and causing hundreds of deaths. The violence of the phenomena and the scarcity of available resources made helping affected people, mainly the poor, particularly difficult.

Aid was scarce and often very late. The new administrations that have come to power in Ethiopia and Angola aroused great hopes that human rights might finally be respected. In Burkina Faso, the Government undertook to provide free family planning services beginning on 1 June 2019, including medical examinations and advice, as well as the distribution of condoms.

Progress towards the abolition of the death penalty has continued: in 2019, 34 death sentences in Zimbabwe, 22 in Gambia, 21 in Nigeria (one of them concerning a centenarian prisoner), 3 in Egypt and 2 in Morocco were commuted, while draft legislation abolishing the death penalty has been submitted in Equatorial Guinea.

There is also good news concerning LGBT rights: the High Court of Botswana has declared unconstitutional the articles of their Criminal Code criminalizing “unnatural offences” and “indecent practices.”

July 7th, 2019 may become a historic date for Africa. The Summit of African Union Heads of State officially launched the AfCFTA, the African Continental Free Trade Area. The agreement, signed in 2018 in Kigali by 52 countries out of the 55 members of the African Union (Benin, Eritrea and Nigeria have not signed), entered into force on 30 May 2019 when 22 countries ratified it. The aim of the agreement is to establish a single African market, which could serve 1.2 billion people, favouring the development of intra-African trade; it is seen as an essential condition for economic growth, in particular for the manufacturing sector.

Africa is a composite continent, very different from the stereotypes used by our media. It is a continent riven by armed conflicts, as we know, but it also possesses some dynamic economies and growing aspirations towards continental unification. For decades African economies had totally unbalanced commercial relations: trade was essentially with the countries’ former colonial masters, and consisted basically of exporting raw materials and importing finished goods.

In 2016, only 20% of African trade took place within the continent. Today, trade between African countries incurs higher duties than foreign trade. An industry in Sierra Leone finds it easier to export to Europe than it does to buy raw materials from neighbouring Guinea or sell its products to Ghana.

The AfCTA will be gradually implemented over the next decade and plans to cover 90% of all goods traded in Africa. It will undoubtedly provide an opportunity for industrial growth. A

greater commercial integration will bring considerable benefits, not only economically. As has been happening in Europe over the years, national boundaries will become more permeable to the needs of people looking for job opportunities.

Lastly, it may promote the development of a real, continent-wide civil society. During the meeting in Niamey last July, the free trade zone was welcomed by a number of associations and movements, which established the network ‘Tournons la page’ (Turning over a new leaf) based on the following appeal: Economic freedom is not enough: in Africa we need political freedom.

Attempts at Peacemaking

46° Parallelo

Africa starts from the single market

25 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

By Giovanni Scotto

By Centro Documentazione Conflitti Ambientali

No peace for the continent of “stolen land”

46° Parallelo

26 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

Land grabbing, as a practice, was first mentioned in Shakespeare’s day. Today it is perpetrated everywhere and literally means the appropriation of lands by rich and powerful entities, States or multinational corporations, at the expense of vulnerable communities. FOCSIV provides a frightening overview of almost 20 years of land grabbing in the report “The Masters of the Land”: 88 million hectares of fertile land – the equivalent of 8 times the size of Portugal – bought or rented to grow food crops, for biofuel production, forest exploitation or tourism. Of the top 10 countries affected by land grabbing, the majority are in Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Mozambique, Republic of Congo and Liberia.

Land grabbing gives rise to a chain reaction, generating a cascade of crises: agricultural, environmental by reducing soil biodiversity, and the serious human rights violations of entire communities. It has been estimated that more than 200 people have been killed and thousands have been deported or imprisoned, merely for defending their own land and the environment.

In 2018, in a village near Kampala, in Uganda, 350 people were evicted from their houses with no prior notification, and despite the fact

© Alfredo Falvo/Contrasto

that they were the legal owners of the lands.

Even though the judge declared the eviction illegal, they are still displaced today. Lawsuits promoted by the communities to defend their rights often last years and, meanwhile, the new “masters” use the land by force. In Congo, in the name of “conservation” upheld by powerful environmental movements, thousands of families and communities have been robbed of everything they owned.

The predator States include: USA, UK, the Netherlands, emerging economies such as China, India, and Brazil and some oil-producing States, like the United Arab Emirates. There are also investments from Italy: an estimated 1.1 million hectares and 30 deals with 13 States – mainly in Africa – for lands used primarily for agriculture, mostly biofuels.

The mobilization, albeit weak, is led by local communities, although their struggles are opposed by powerful financial lobbies. The situation is very complex and only a clear and concerted action from the International Community could change these criminal dynamics.

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By Amnesty International

Walls Are Going Up Everywhere in the Americas After two and a half years, Trump's anti-immigration obsession has severely damaged thousands of people who are looking for protection and asylum in the USA. The rights of international refugees have been severely undermined by targeted measures reiterated multiple times – for instance, different versions of the Muslim ban – and cruel practices, such as the forced separation of families illegally entering the USA through its Southern border. All of these are serious violations of their human rights.

An increasing number of people fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras because of the extreme level of violence are not even able to reach that border. Mexico was economically threatened by the US and accepted to do the dirty work by blocking and repatriating migrants coming from Central America. Despite its new Government, Mexico is still the most dangerous country for journalists among countries not at war.

Access to abortion has been the core of the last US crusade: Alabama passed a new law in which doctors who perform an abortion could face life imprisonment; five more States passed laws prohibiting abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy, when many women do not even realize they are pregnant. Moreover, two Justices openly opposing abortion were appointed to the Supreme Court. The USA risks emulating other American countries which criminalize

abortion and prohibit it under any circumstance, like El Salvador; although recently Salvadoran authorities have been releasing women who had been charged with murder after a miscarriage and sentenced to thirty years.

In the first months under Bolsonaro’s administration in Brazil, much of what was promised during the electoral campaign has been either achieved or at least put on the agenda. Some of the most worrying measures include: loosening gun restrictions, more repressive drug policies, and a new anti-crime package introducing additional circumstances justifying self-defence.

Bolsonaro’s anti-human rights rhetoric represents a significant threat to minorities and their lands, to human rights defenders, and to the LGBTI community.

While a solution to the human rights crisis in Nicaragua appears to have been found, the same cannot be said of Venezuela, where the crisis has institutional and humanitarian consequences. Foreign intervention has been threatened and internal repression has been reinforced. More than four million Venezuelans have fled the country because of food shortages and lack of medicines.

Over the last two years a series of initiatives in Canada (institutional and otherwise) have addressed indigenous peoples, acknowledging (and where necessary apologising for) the historical discrimination suffered by Native

Canadians, also known as First Nations – in particular segregation policies and violence, including sexual abuse, affecting about 150,000 children. On the issue of avoiding impunity and acknowledging responsibility for past human rights violations, it is also worth mentioning the identification of 130 children of desaparecidos who had been illegally adopted during the dictatorship in Argentina, as well as the 2019 Court of Justice sentence in Peru that annulled the 2017 pardon granted to former President Alberto Fujimori who had been convicted for crimes against humanity.

The USA is the only country on the continent still carrying out capital executions. The death penalty was reinstated in 1977 and, since then, 1,500 people sentenced to death have been executed. New Hampshire abolished capital punishment in 2019, becoming the 21st abolitionist State; and in California – the State with the highest number of convicts on Death Row -- the Governor has announced a moratorium on executions.

The murder of Berta Caceres in 2016 was a wake-up call: activism defending the environment and the rights of the people who live on the land (specifically, indigenous peoples) can be dangerous. In this case, defending human rights and upholding ecosystem conservation is up against many powerful vested interests. Environmental activism is a nuisance (to be got rid of) for big multinational corporations interested in extracting mineral resources, local landowners, corrupt politicians, and organized crime. According to the NGO Global Witness, more than 200 environmental activists were killed in 2017, the majority of whom in Latin America.

This kind of violence is not new in the region: in 1988 Chico Mendes was assassinated in Brazil because of his role in organising rubber tappers in the Amazon forest.

Such crimes can be opposed by coordinating international intervention. Many organisations, such as Global Witness, are involved in campaigns on these issues. The international NGO Front Line Defenders provides activists in danger with support and services: they have an emergency number to report serious threats, and their ‘Rest & Respite’ programme offers activists a safe haven to take some time off, reenergize and learn new methods for defending human rights. Front Line Defenders regularly cooperates with European Union and United Nations programmes in order to strengthen the protection for human rights defenders at a global level.

In Italy, in 2016, some associations and NGOs founded the In Difesa Di (‘In Defence Of’) network, in order to cooperate at the national level

in protecting human rights defenders. These organisations gained visibility thanks to growing attention from the media. Media such as The Guardian regularly monitor activists engaged in environmental protection. The newspaper writes, ‘What is the driver for violence against the activists? Industry, in one word’: agribusiness, mining companies, poaching, projects for big hydroelectric dams. Episodes of violence usually take place in remote areas, and the most vulnerable activists are members of indigenous communities. More than anyone else, they can benefit from media attention as a means of protection.

Attempts at Peacemaking

46° Parallelo

Environmental Activists Need To Be Defended

29 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

By Giovanni Scotto

By Centro Documentazione Conflitti Ambientali

46° Parallelo

30 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

New World, Old Extractivist Model Exploitation of natural resources in the Americas: that does not sound new. Back in the colonial era, the European conquerors discovered important silver deposits in Potosi, Bolivia, and in Zacatecas that fuelled the industrial and technological revolutions in the Old World. It became a never-ending story: in 2012, Latin America still provided 45% of brass, 50% of silver and 20% of gold at a global level, and it still attracts one third of the world’s investments in the mining sector.

This model, based on low-cost extraction of raw materials and exploitation of local labour forces, traditionally leaves behind only human and environmental costs. The benefits from the wealth it produces are reaped elsewhere. For centuries this plunder has caused and perpetuated pockets of poverty, violence, and political instability. But recently a number of widespread environmental struggles have emerged: local populations demand protection of their territory and respect for their rights, usually paying the highest price for their actions, for they are targeted by persecutions.

According to the NGO Front Line Defenders, 67% of the activists killed in 2017 all over the

world were environmental activists and 80% were from four countries. Three out of four were Latin American countries: Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. In the latter, the multinational corporation Vale was blamed for the environmental disasters caused by the collapse of two dams storing waste materials and toxic residues of mining activities. Tragedies that killed 250 people, mainly from the Xikrin and Kayapo indigenous communities.

The struggles of indigenous peoples are common to both North and South America. The Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion was created by more than fifty indigenous tribes in response to major energy projects in the US and Canada. Tar sand processing requires huge quantities of water, more than any other fossil fuel.

In Ecuador, the Waorani people recently celebrated their victory against the sale of 200,000 hectares of forest to the oil industry. But in Brazil, a few decades after Chico Mendes’ struggle, Jair Bolsonaro protects industrial giants like Vale, seriously threatening the Amazon forest – the Earth’s green lung – and its inhabitants.

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CRISIS SITUATIONS

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COUNTRIES AT WAR

Brisbane

Sci. Minerva

Ie. Tongata

By Amnesty International

Systematic Atrocities in Asia Throughout this enormous geographic space, human rights are systematically violated. In some cases, the situation has got even worse: for example, in Sri Lanka, since the terror attacks on Easter Sunday 2019; or in the Philippines’ bloody “war on drugs” waged by President Duterte and his attacks against dissidents; or in China’s disgraceful de-radicalization policy against the Uyghurs, a million of whom have been interned; and lastly in Iran, where repression of human rights activists has intensified, especially against women rebelling against the compulsory wearing of the hijab in public.

From West to East, human rights violations remain a constant in the general framework.

Turkey still ranks tops, as the biggest prison for journalists and the place where dissent and human rights defence are not allowed, especially if related to the conditions of the Kurds.

In Australia, externalization policies for the processing of asylum applications have exacerbated the suffering of thousands of people needing international protection; they are stuck on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, where suicide attempts have increased and the levels of mental health disorders are the highest in the world.

In India, the landslide electoral confirmation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for another five-year term will probably fuel more social discriminations, aggravate tensions in Kashmir

and exacerbate the crackdown on journalists, opponents and human rights activists.

Asia Bibi’s acquittal, after almost ten years of trials, did not solve the problem of the application of laws on blasphemy; there are still new arrests and further trials ongoing.

The consequences of the vicious ethnic cleansing conducted by Myanmar armed forces against the Rohingya minority are still felt. In the country military campaigns persist, while the situation of approximately 700,000 refugees who sought shelter in Bangladesh remains unresolved, suspended between two alternatives: to go back amidst the threat of more violence, or to remain in what have become unliveable conditions in the camps.

Sunni monarchies tend increasingly to cover up the terrible human rights situation in their countries by investing in costly PR or advertising campaigns, such as the sponsorship of major sports events and, in the case of Bahrein, even in the financing of professorships at Rome’s La Sapienza University. Occasionally, an appalling incident, like the dismemberment of journalist and Saudi dissident, Jamal Khashoggi, inside Saudi Arabia’s Consulate in Istanbul, does manage to break through the smokescreen and generate international outrage. In contrast, the suffering Yemeni civilians, who have been living under shelling by the military coalition led by the Emirates and Saudi Arabia, receive

little attention; Italy has been shipping arms to Saudi Arabia for use in this military campaign since March 2015.

Lastly, past and future problems intertwine in Iraq: both concern the Islamic State’s defeat after Mosul’s reconquest. On the one hand, thousands of Yazidi girls and women captured by terrorists are still missing and the ones who survived the rapists suffer the consequences without receiving adequate assistance; on the other hand, there is the issue of justice, which should not merely be the revenge of today’s winners against those responsible for heinous

crimes, and the fate of their families – many of whom are foreigners.

To highlight a scenario where activism has been rightly celebrated, for its high level of organization and efficiency, we must mention Hong Kong: in June 2019 the biggest mobilization in recent history took place here. One in four residents of the island State protested against the proposed law on extradition which would have meant that dissidents and opposition members could be handed over to China.

In October 2018, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a report which highlighted the need to maintain global warming at no more than +1.5°C by the end of the century, the most ambitious goal formulated at the Paris Conference in 2015. For Asia, a difference of half a degree more would have extremely serious consequences, with a rising sea level producing millions of environmental refugees in heavily populated coastal regions and the progressive melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, feeding the major rivers of the continent. According to the latest study, an increase of basic temperature from +1.5°C to 2°C would mean the loss of between one and two thirds of Himalayan glaciers: access to water for around 2 billion people depends on the glaciers. Generally, law enforcement and adaptation to climate emergency policies are formulated at the global level (like IPCC reports and annual climate conferences) or at single country level, with the EU as the only exception.

Asia is a continent affected by complex rivalries and conflicts, as reported in these pages. But in this case, it is fundamental to act on a continental scale regarding the impact of the climate emergency and measures to contain its effects.

The Himalaya situation is emblematic of this.

Climate science is one of the fields in which the larger countries on the continent have started to cooperate. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), based in Nepal, brings together the eight countries in the Himalaya-Hindu Kush Region (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan) and has recently publi-

shed the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment, launching the alarm on the progressive disappearance of Himalayan glaciers. ICIMOD was established in 1984, but has only gained importance in the last 15 years; today it is involved in the drafting of the next IPCC report. It also promotes operational projects of cross-border cooperation and mountainous region development. A similar initiative favouring scientific and operational cooperation was established thanks to the International Water Management Institute of Sri Lanka: it addresses issues relating to the Indus, one of the major rivers fed by Himalayan glaciers, promoting collaboration among Tibet, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

The climate emergency is taking place and the clock is ticking.

Attempts at Peacemaking

46° Parallelo

Asia place all its bets on climate science

33 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

By Giovanni Scotto

By Centro Documentazione Conflitti Ambientali

46° Parallelo

34 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

The Green Revolution: Environmental and Social Costs of Agribusiness The Green Revolution and industrial agriculture have had evident side effects in Asia in terms of increasing poverty, ecological deterioration and health emergencies. The effects of this model based on GMO monocultures and pesticides have been mostly felt by small producers and indigenous communities, forced to abandon their traditional crops and their own lands, sacrificed in the name of maximising production and profits. The major actors in this silent war are agrichemical corporations (including Bayer and Monsanto, the leader in agri-biotechnologies and a pioneer in the military chemical industry) who threaten the survival of farmers and influence the decisions of Governments and institutions, through their control over seeds.

The case of Bt Cotton seeds, introduced in India in 2002 by Monsanto, is emblematic: declared immune to cotton pests, sterile and extremely expensive, the seeds caused the indebtedness and suicide of thousands of farmers in Maharashtra Region. That region today, despite Monsanto’s false promises, is overrun by pink bollworms (the most harmful and invasive of cotton pests) and farmers continue to have to use pesticides. At the same time, some groups

of farmers have initiated a civil disobedience campaign in favour of even more resistant GMO seeds, highlighting how the biotech industry’s seed monopoly exacerbates social tensions, destabilizing relations between local communities. And we have also witnessed the intensification of environmental conflicts related to palm oil production, 85% of which takes place in Indonesia and Malaysia. Extremely adaptable (used by food, cosmetics, biofuel industries) and available at affordable prices, the demand for this oil has caused vast deforestation in the last decades, triggering increased CO2 emissions, biodiversity loss and land expropriation. The EJ Atlas, the International Atlas of Environmental Justice, records in Indonesia alone 37 cases of conflicts connected to palm oil production, where the local population is increasingly criminalised, as in the case of the residents of Sembuluh last May, when they mobilised to denounce the expansion of palm oil production in the Batu Gadur woods.

EUROPE CRISIS SITUATIONS

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. in the World 35 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts U

COUNTRIES AT WAR

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By Amnesty International © Paolo Siccardi

Wars and Rights Europe Going Backwards Anti-immigration policies are still dictating the political agenda in much of the continent. Italy has continued to be a negative example, through its increasingly close collaboration with Libya, by adopting laws penalising the best experiences of managing migrants and guaranteeing their rights, as well as weakening the protections for asylum-seekers and introducing provisions whose declared goal is to hinder search and rescue activities at sea by criminalizing certain aspects of the process and by prohibiting vessels from landing in Italian ports.

The European Parliament approved an important reform of the Dublin Regulation, whose examination by the European Council was suspended due to the upcoming elections.

The election campaign for the European Parliament has been characterized by lack of attention to regional and human rights issues; it focused mainly on local issues, in particular on security and immigration.

Like the election campaign for the Italian Parliament in 2018, this year’s European Parliament election campaign was marked by highly divisive narratives and hate speech, with a worrying return of misogyny.

The infringement of human rights we have observed in countries like Hungary and Poland over the last few years has reached other countries: from judicial persecution against Catalan political activists in Spain to the crimi-

nalization of solidarity in France, to the gradual closure of the spaces of freedom in Italy. Here, in the first months of 2019, there have been several arbitrary interventions by police forces to remove banners and flags; in at least one case (in Genoa, against a journalist), excessive and unmotivated force was used.

Thousands of refugees were trapped in dramatic conditions on the Greek islands following the implementation of the 2016 agreement between the European Union and Turkey.

There were no further advances in the efforts to fight impunity for human rights violations perpetrated in the past, apart from the life sentence handed down to Radovan Karadžić for the Srebrenica genocide and other war crimes in Bosnia in the 1990s.

Although in the past the European Union had been a place where journalists could practice their profession in safety, today this is no longer the case: in just 20 months, four information workers – three women and one man – were murdered in Malta, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Northern Ireland. In Italy the number of journalists provided with police escorts due to received threats has risen to 22.

Outside the European Union the situation is even worse. In Russia, where independent journalists have long been under attack by the Government, for the first time a mobilization of the press and public opinion forced the autho-

rities to withdraw the trumped up drug charges against a journalist. That, however, was an exception: those who report rights’ abuses or investigate instances of corruption and crime, or examine the connections between the two, are silenced, at best with a conviction based on false charges.

It is consolidated practice in Azerbaijan, too; although here, in early 2019, President Aliyev pardoned more than 400 convicts, at least 51 of whom were serving sentences for political reasons. In Belarus – the only European count-

ry that applies the death penalty – the small but inexorable number of executions continued: two in 2017, four in 2018, at least one in 2019.

Some European countries have made progress in legislation punishing violence against women: Parliament in Greece adopted a law introducing the criterion of ‘absence of consent’ to define the crime of rape and the Government of Denmark has announced a similar initiative.

The Mediterranean A New Frontier longing to the NGO Jugend Rettet, was confiscated by Italian authorities in 2017 and the trial has not yet begun. Other organizations have decided to cease their activities. But people keep on drowning, although in smaller numbers, for there are fewer migrants attempting the crossing. In mid-July 2019, 683 people died at sea, 426 in the stretch between Libya and Italy. Thousands of migrants are trapped in Libya. In 2018, Italian civil society groups launched the project ‘Mediterranea - Saving Humans’ with the vessel Ionian Sea.. In the summer of 2019 Captain Carola Rackete's ship, Sea Watch 3, made the headlines, and so did the Alan Kurdi, belonging to the NGO Sea Eye. In July 2019 Sos Mediterranée and Doctors Without Borders were back in operation with their ship. In this situation where Europe is displaying a sort of ‘organized hypocrisy,’ NGO vessels are saving human lives from avoidable deaths and also playing a very precious (and inconvenient) role, that of witnesses. They and all rescuers at sea were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Attempts at Peacemaking

46° Parallelo

The Mediterranean is the most dangerous frontier in the world among countries that are not at war. Between 2015 and 2017 over 15,000 deaths were documented in the Mediterranean. And after the Mare Nostrum Mission, manned by the Italian Navy, was called off in 2014, there were no longer any military vessels involved in rescue operations further than just a few dozen miles from the Italian coast. If people are drowning, trying to save them is a duty; and when national institutions stopped intervening, civil society stepped in. According to the law of the sea, anyone is allowed to save people whose life is in danger at sea: in fact, they are obliged to do so. The presence of NGOs at sea also provides us with witnesses of what is happening in the Mediterranean. The commitment of the NGOs dates back to 2004: then, as happened again recently, the crew of the Cap Anamur was put on trial and later acquitted in Italy for having saved 37 migrants. Over the years there have been several organizations involved, including SOS Mediterranée, Doctors Without Borders and Migrants Offshore Aid Station (MOAS). There were 4 ships in action in 2015 and 13 in 2016. For these organizations, however, things have become more and more difficult. Since the end of 2018, the EU has entrusted ‘search and rescue’ tasks to Libya, a country at war in which migrants are tortured, imprisoned, exploited. In Italy and in Europe a violent political campaign against the NGOs has added to the difficulties caused by the lack of interest shown by the EU. Member States have hindered rescues at sea with new laws, or by cancelling ships from naval registries, as they did with the Aquarius in 2018. The Iuventa, be-

37 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

By Giovanni Scotto

© Paolo Siccardi

By Centro Documentazione Conflitti Ambientali 32

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46° Parallelo

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By Amnesty International © Fabio Bucciarelli

Massacres of Civilians Denied The war in Syria is not over by any means, but reconstruction has already begun in the absence of any proposal from the International Community addressing the need to prosecute those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The pattern of events – siege, famine, reconquest, concentration of displaced people (both civilians and military) – in the province of Idlib has done nothing but gather people precisely in the area that was the Syrian forces’ ultimate military objective, which they attacked, with Russia providing decisive support.

Starting in 2018, Syrian authorities began to hand over death certificates to families who had been searching for years for their missing relatives arrested by the security services.

Details have emerged of the consequences for Raqqa’s civilian population of the military operations carried out by the US-led coalition to reconquer the what was known as the capital of the Caliphate. According to US military leadership, those operations were the most accurate of all modern wars; these lies were gradually uncovered by the field research conducted by Amnesty International and the analysis by Airwars experts. It was established that the number of bombs dropped was the highest since the Vietnam War, and that these bombings caused massacres among the civilian population who were either taken as human shields or preven-

ted from fleeing by the so-called Islamic State.

Because of the Syrian conflict, neighbouring countries have put huge efforts into taking in refugees. Lebanon, despite allegations of labour and sexual exploitation and discrimination, has done much more than any of the much richer European countries. Since 2011, the Lebanese population has increased by a quarter, due to the influx of 1.5 million Syrian refugees. This figure takes into account both those registered (938,531 according to the United Nations) and those unregistered (550,000 according to the Government of Beirut). To that, one should also add another 31,000 Palestinians who have fled Syria.

However, “voluntary” returns began in December 2017. According to official sources, in one and a half years 172,046 Syrian refugees “voluntarily” returned to their country. In actual fact, “voluntarily” is a misnomer: it is the Syrian security services, through intimidating interrogations, that determine who can return and who cannot. What their fate will be, no one knows. Other factors also contribute to this “voluntary” process of requests for return: difficulties in renewing residence permits; forced evacuations from precarious camps; cuts in essential services; curfews; mass arrests; and – as if all of this were not enough – attacks against refugee camps.

The Palestinian population of Gaza, still in the

grip of the Israeli embargo, continues to suffer the effects of the military operation launched

by Tsahal during the Great March of Return protests: according to UN OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), in the 12-month period from 30 March 2018 to 22 March 2019, 195 Palestinians were killed (including 41 minors, some of whom were extremely young) and 28,939 were injured; of these, many were intentionally seriously injured. At the end of 2018, at least 6,000 Palestinians in Gaza were still under medical care; at least 122, including 21 minors, had undergone amputations.

Thanks also to the favourable conditions created by the Trump presidency, the Israeli authorities have continued to build settlements and to announce additional ones. Light has been shed on the complicity of, among others, online tourism promotion agencies that propose destinations and attractions without mentioning the illegal nature of the settlement in which these are located.

The Government of the Palestinian National Authority has further tightened the gag on independent journalists and human rights activists.

Education and Culture: the Future is There cipants to create stories for children to explain the essence of a right and its violation, and to work in both Hebrew and Arabic: this way not only do the students become aware of the main problems related to rights and their violation, but they also have direct experience of language discrimination against the Palestinian and Druze minorities.

Finally, all across the region, professional educators are a growing community. They hold their courses in real emergency situations – for example, in refugee camps hosting Syrians.

INEE (Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies) offers an online platform in Arabic with materials and tools to support teachers in humanitarian emergency contexts, today with Syrian refugees in several countries in the region.

Attempts at Peacemaking

46° Parallelo

Far from the spotlight, grassroots work in the educational and cultural field continues, in the effort to build a different future in the Middle East. Peace education projects are often criticized for allegedly encouraging superficial reconciliation between individuals and avoiding major political issues. Nevertheless, today most education projects promote both dialogue between people and knowledge of the structural, political, and economic problems underlying conflicts. In the context of violence, peace education addresses several key issues: social cohesion in societies divided along ethnic and religious lines; the topic of social justice and rights, and how social inequality and the fragility of institutions expose people to continuous risks and violence; the problem of individual suffering and traumas in contexts where war, in addition to its usual toll, produces displaced people as “collateral damage.”

In the Middle East, projects in the field of peace education are carried out both by States and public institutions and by civil society organisations.

In the autumn of 2019 in Iraq, a degree course in Peace Studies was launched; it is the result of cooperation between the universities of Innsbruck and Baghdad, in collaboration with the local association Al-Amal and UNDP Iraq.

The curriculum was drawn up in collaboration with scholars from all over Iraq, and it is the outcome of several years of work on the issue of peace in a country marked by decades of violence.

In Israel, Gal Harmat teaches human rights at the university. In his courses he asks the parti-

41 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

By Giovanni Scotto

© Paolo Siccardi

By Centro Documentazione Conflitti Ambientali

Near East and Surroundings: Water Crisis and Conflicts

46° Parallelo

42 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

According to research conducted by the Australian National Centre for Climate Restoration, by 2050 the effects of global warming will trigger changes in our global ecosystem, with fatal effects for the entire planet. The water crisis will affect 30% of the Earth’s surface and the impact will be devastating. Water is already at the core of several conflicts today and is increasingly used as a weapon to subjugate people. The Near East is an emblematic example of this aberrant dynamic.

In summer 2016, as a result of the Israeli occupation, Palestinian refugee camps and villages were left without water for several days. The scarce aquifers, together with the bombings that damaged the already inadequate water infrastructure, and the economic embargo imposed by Israel, have led, over the years, to an endemic shortage of water. At the same time, practically none of the wells in Gaza meet the health requirements for human consumption. In the central-northern part of the Palestinian territory, the per capita availability of water continues to decrease progressively, with water provision only being guaranteed every four to five days, for a few hours at a time.

In Yemen, the war between the Hadi Government, supported by Saudi Arabia, and the Houthi rebels has further aggravated an already dramatic situation as relates to the availability of water resources. According to the UN OCHA (Office for corporatewatch.org

Humanitarian Affairs), 16 million Yemenites lack access to clean water and sanitation. This has led to an unstoppable cholera epidemic that has infected 1.3 million people since 2017 and has driven the country to the verge of famine. 90% of the population, including 11 million children, is dependent on humanitarian aid.

The story in Turkey is a different issue: the case of the ancient city of Hasankeyf ended with the victory of the Turkish Government and of the GAP (South-eastern Anatolia Project). The project, started in 2006, includes 22 dams with a capacity of 8,000 megawatts per hour and 19 hydroelectric plants on the Tigris and Euphrates. In addition to the complete flooding of this thousand-year-old city, the project will have tragic impacts on the economy and water availability for the people.

Syria and Iraq are the first victims of a project that completely upsets the ecosystem and the hydrological structure of the region: the flow rate of the two rivers in the Iraqi territory has already collapsed and farmers are fleeing because of the expected drought and desertification.

These three cases explain the severity of the water emergency in the Middle East. The whole area could soon become uninhabitable due to drought and violent sandstorms.

United Nations The Blue Helmets Raffaele Crocco

The future UN peacekeeping missions are currently being discussed in New York. The Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, responsible for administrative and budgetary matters, must take practical steps to address the problem. The problem is simple: not enough money. In 2018, the budgeted amount for maintaining international peace and security was in the red by $1.4 billion. A huge shortage, like a big black hole, into which future UN missions are likely to fall. Structural fund payments to many of the countries that supply troops and police officers have been withheld. Here, too, the planet is divided. Nine out of ten countries providing troops are in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The wealthiest nations, with the highest standard of living, are in the global North and they are the ones who are supposed to pay, to make up for the hole in the budget. “Responsibilities are not shared fairly between the global South, which provides the troops, and the North, which finances peacekeeping missions whose mandates are decided by the (privileged few) members of the United Nations Security Council,” explained Lucile Maertens, professor of International Relations at the University of Lausanne. Moreover, casualties have been increasing considerably since 2010. According to Jeune Afrique, a French pan-African weekly news magazine, five of the most dangerous missions have been conducted in Africa: 153 casualties were reported in Mali, the most affected country.

The management of the missions is fraught with difficulties. From a legal point of view, UN peacekeeping operations deploy only with the consent of the parties to a conflict. And yet, with unstable Governments and changing spokespersons, situations become more complicated. It is difficult to say what will happen. For many, the United Nations continues to be the only institution capable of addressing international armed conflicts, and the Blue Helmets have become an indispensable tool. However, the general impression is that many States no longer feel that the UN is the “common home” of all countries and for this reason are cutting the funds owed to the UN, despite the fact that those sums are only the tiniest fraction of their national budgets. As mentioned above, that black hole of the missing 1.4 billion dollars, which would cover the costs of all peacekeeping missions, is less than one-thousandth of the 1,800 billion dollars spent every year on military expenditure.

46° Parallelo

© Alessandro Rocca

43 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

Money is tight. UN Peacekeeping Missions may be cancelled

44 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World 46° Parallelo

1) UNTSO

United Nations Truce Supervision Organization

2) UNMOGIP

United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan

3) UNFICYP

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus

4) UNDOF

United Nations Disengagement Observer Force

5) UNIFIL

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

6) MINURSO

9) MONUSCO

United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo

10) UNISFA

United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei

11) UNMISS

United Nations Mission in Sud Sudan

12) MINUSMA

United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali

13) MINUSCA

United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara

United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission In The Central African Republic

7) UNMIK

14) MINUJUSTH

United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo

8) UNAMID

African Union and United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur

United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti

Victims of war Federico Fossi

46° Parallelo

Almost 71 million people have been forced to flee their homes and seek safety elsewhere; there have never been as many refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and asylum-seekers as there are today. They make up an imaginary nation which would rank twentieth in population size, slightly smaller than Turkey and slightly bigger than France. It is a young nation, half of which are boys and girls under the age of 18, who have already experienced war-related traumatic events, including threats, gender-related persecutions, sexual violence, and human rights violations. These young people were forced to leave home, school, everything they loved. They have had to start all over again, with little or nothing, in a foreign country where in almost all cases a different language is spoken, the standard of living is very near the poverty line, and it is difficult to overcome barriers to inclusion.

In 2018, 70.8 million people fled from their country, the highest number that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has recorded in the nearly 70 years of its existence. The UNHCR has collected data on the following groups of forcibly displaced persons: refugees, asylum-seekers, and IDPs. Firstly, refugees are people who have been forced to flee their country because of war, conflicts, or persecution. In 2018, the number of refugees reached 25.9 million worldwide, 500,000 more than in 2017.

Secondly, asylum-seekers are people who cross national borders in search of protection as refugees, but whose claim for refugee status has not yet been assessed. By the end of 2018, 3.5 million asylum-seekers were forcibly displaced worldwide. Lastly, 41.3 million have become displaced internally, IDPs, who have not crossed a border to find safety; unlike refugees, they are on the run at home.

Furthermore, the UNHCR estimates that by the end of 2018 at least 10 million people were either without a nationality or at risk of statelessness. A stateless person is not considered a citizen by any country and is therefore denied the right to a nationality and the rights related to it. The constantly increasing number of people with no nationality, or at risk of statelessness, has doubled over the past two decades. The conflict in Syria, which has just reached its ninth year, led to an increase in these statistics, especially between 2012 and 2015. Other armed conflicts – in Iraq, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan, as well as the huge numbers of Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh at the end of 2017 – have also all contributed to prolonging and worsening the situation. An estimated 13.6 million people were forced to flee their homes for the first time; the number of new displacements is equivalent to

45 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

A Young Nation Fleeing from the Horrors

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46 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

an average rate of 37,000 people forced to flee their homes every day.

Over two-thirds of all refugees in the world originate from just five countries: Syria (6.7 million refugees mostly resettled in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan), Afghanistan (2.7 million), South Sudan (2.3 million), Myanmar (1.1 million) and Somalia (949,700).

In 80% of these cases, people are forced to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. Refugees want more than anything else to return to their country, but this is only possible when conditions of safety are restored. Many of the neighbouring host countries are very poor themselves and do not receive adequate international assistance to ensure that all human rights of refugees are respected.

The precarious reception conditions encountered in some centres, along with the lack of political solutions capable of leading to a long-lasting peace, lead to what are known as protracted exile conditions: when at least 25,000 refugees have been in exile for five consecutive years or more in a given host country. 78% of all refugees are in protracted exile, like the 2.4 million Afghan refugees

who have been in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan for 40 years. Nearly four out of every five refugees have been living in exile for at least five years. One out of five refugees has been in protracted exile for at least twenty years.

For the fifth consecutive year, Turkey is hosting the largest number of refugees (3.7 million), followed by Pakistan (1.4 million), Uganda (1.2 million), Lebanon and Germany (1.1 million refugees each).

High-income countries on average host 2.7 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants, while middle and lowto-middle income countries on average host 5.8 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants. Lebanon continues to host 156 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants (about one refugee for every six inhabitants), the largest number of refugees in relation to a country’s national population. In Italy there are 3 refugees every 1,000 inhabitants.

Filippo Grandi UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Photo award WARS

Raffaele Crocco

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A photograph, every single photograph in any good reportage from the World, requires time. The person taking it needs time to understand how to move around, where to live and how to do it.

He or she must know the context and who is he or she dealing with. The photographer must know the places, decipher its geography, the habits. He or she needs time to be truly ready in the exact fraction of second necessary for the shot. Photography, good photography, is made of long times dedicated to giving birth to instants. Only this way, only at that time, the strength of those instants – all of them or just one – becomes News, emotion, tale.

This is exactly what makes the job of the photographer so hard. In the world of information, that barely stops to reflect and never stops to build something, photography is still an ancient art, that, despites the modern technology available still needs method and good resources. Only this way, every shot published, every image realized in a warzone, through a crisis, in a place forgotten by men and by rights, will have the power to build awareness and consciousness in individuals.

One single image can tell the drama of other human beings and this is what makes photography so essential: it creates empathy, proximity, solidarity.

So, Wars – War and Revolutionary Stories was born. The international photography contest inaugurated this year thanks to Montura. And this way this exhibition was also born: “Wars – to tell about the war. Mosul and the others”, thanks to the Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino -Historic Museum of Trentino Foundation and the support of Intersos and the Federazione Nazionale della Stampa - National Federation of Press.

It gathers the photos by Laurence Geai, the winner of this first edition, Manu Brabo and Dar Yasin, the other finalists. The images from three reportages, chosen among those of the 111 projects submitted. An incredibly hard job for the three judges, Carol Guzy, Manoocher Deghati and Alessio Romenzi: they worked throughout the summer to select and indicate to Fabio Bucciarelli, the Award’s director, the photos to set up the exhibit. This is the result is this, the exhibit produced and exposed here, that will travel around Italy.

47 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

Wars: photography is information

LAURENCE GEAI - Winner Laurence Geai is a French photojournalist based in Paris. After receiving a degree in international business, Geai turned her attention to journalism, first in television then in photography. Geai’s work focuses on armed conflict, especially throughout the Middle East: Syria, Iraq, Israel, Palestine.

Her works have also covered the consequences of the refugee crisis in Europe and France. Her work has been published in Le Monde, Paris Match, The Washington Post, Polka, La Vie, Le Pelerin, Le Nouvel Obs, Libération, Le JDD, Causette, La Croix, M Magazine for Le Monde, Le Parisien, Elle and others. Awards: 2018: 3rd prize in Science PO’s political photo award. 2018: 1st prize for “Single Shot” awarded by the Ethical Photography Festival. 2017: Photographer of the Year, Polka.

Award-winning reportage | Mosul story PROJECT DESCRIPTION Mosul is a photographic reportage about the city of Mosul in Iraq, which was under the control of Daesh for 3 years. I started working on this reportage two months before the liberation of Mosul in July 2017. It is an ongoing project, I am still working on it today. The city has suffered terribly, especially the old city of Mosul, which was almost totally destroyed. Many civilians are still stuck in camps around the city.

They can't go back home because their homes are destroyed or because they belong to Daesh, and they will not be welcome anymore in their town. Life has slowly been returning to the old city over the past two years. Civilians are back, they are opening shops and cafés again. This reportage documents the resilience of human beings.

On 5 July 2017, civilians escape fighting in the old city of Mosul. Iraqi Special Forces (ICTS) soldiers are trying to verify that no one is wearing an explosive belt. The men are all stripped naked. Some, suspected of belonging to the Islamic State, will be slaughtered without any investigation.

49 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

Old city of Mosul. June 2017. A coalition airstrike has just taken place in the old town of Mosul.

Some Daesh fighters are still in the old city.

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West Mosul. On 26 June 2017, the body of a jihadist hangs from a pole in a busy intersection of the city. The previous night, sleeping cells of Daesh carried out several counterattacks in liberated West Mosul neighbourhoods. The Iraqi army hangs the body of one of the jihadists, in order to humiliate the enemy.

Civilians and children attend this show. Later the body will be brought down and lynched with stones.

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West Mosul. Old city. In July 2017, civil protection workers are tasked with recovering the bodies following an attack by a suicide bomber who blew himself up amid the civilians fleeing the fighting in the old town of Mosul.

Seven lifeless bodies are on the ground. Including this young woman. Many jihadist women hid amongst the mass of civilians fleeing the fighting in the old city. Unlike men, women are never searched for cultural reasons.

West Mosul, 5 July 2017. Men and women flee the fighting in the old city. Here a man and his injured son.

Dar Yasin, born in 1973, in Indian Kashmir. Gained a Bachelor’s in Computer science and technology in the South of India. Dar has extensively covered the Kashmiri conflict, the South Asia earthquake and its aftermath, as well as the historical opening of a bus route between divided Kashmir. On assignment in Afghanistan Dar has covered the Afghan War, Afghan refugees and the daily life of Afghans in their wartorn country. Dar has also covered the Rohingya refugee crisis, when large masses fled violence and persecution in Myanmar. His works have appeared in almost all the major newspapers and news magazines around the globe. Dar has won dozens of international and national photo awards including Pictures of the Year international, Atlanta Photojournalism, China Press Photo contest, the National Headliner Awards, the Sigma Delta Chi Award by the Society of Professional Journalism, and India’s most prestigious Ramnath Goenka Award twice for his stories from Kashmir. Dar was also part of the Associated Press team that won the Hal Boyle Award for the Rohingya Exodus in the Overseas Press Club and a Robert F. Kennedy Award in the International Print category. Most recently he received the NPPA (National Press Photographers Association) Humanitarian Award which is presented to an individual for playing a key role in the saving of lives or in rescue situations.

Kashmir - Endless War PROJECT DESCRIPTION India has faced a separatist challenge in Kashmir since 1947, when India and neighbouring Pakistan gained independence and launched the first of two wars they would fight over their rival claims to the Muslim-majority region. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training rebels to cross the heavily militarized border that divides the region between the two countries; Pakistan denies the allegation and says it offers the rebels only moral support. Most people in the Indian-controlled portion of the divided territory favour independence or a merger with Pakistan. Rebel groups have been fighting in the region since 1989, and more than 68,000 people have been killed in the armed uprising and ensuing Indian military crackdown.

51 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

Unidentified relatives comfort the wailing sister of a Kashmiri civilian who was killed during a protest near the site of a gun battle, at her residence in Begumbagh, about 32 kilometers south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, 1 August 2017. Large anti-India protests and clashes, spearheaded mostly by students, erupted in disputed Kashmir on Tuesday after Government forces killed two senior militants in a gun battle and fatally shot a protester during an ensuing demonstration demanding an end to Indian rule.

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DAR YASIN - Finalist

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MANU BRABO - Finalist Manu Brabo (Manuel Varela de Seijas Brabo, 1981) is a freelance photojournalist whose work is mainly focused on social conflicts around the world. Since 2007 he has been working on political upheavals, uprisings and wars in countries like Haiti, Honduras, Kosovo, Libya, Egypt, Syria or Ukraine among others. During the last ten years Manu has contributed to several news agencies as The Associated Press, media like The Wall Street Journal or NGO's like Doctors Without Borders or the OCHA. His work has been exhibited by many different institutions in Europe and America and he has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Picture of the Year and the British Journalism Awards among others.

The Last European Frontlines PROJECT DESCRIPTION It’s almost 5 years since the uprising in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine. Since then, the Ukrainian army (supported by several nationalist militias) has been fighting Russia-backed rebels from the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic. The conflict, supposedly under a cease-fire since an agreement in February 2015, has been escalating during the first months of 2017, according to the latest reports. Yet the war remains mostly static, transforming the landscape into something resembling World War I, with trenches and machine-gun positions all along the contact line. After four years, the only war in Europe doesn’t seem to be approaching an end. A powerful and bellicose Russia and the events going on in some other parts of the world have relegated this conflict to oblivion, even for Ukraine’s European neighbours. In the meantime, according to the Ukrainian government, the war has left around 10,000 dead and 30,000 wounded, as well as more than a million internally displaced. .

Galina, 86, looks at the hole made by artillery shell on her apartment in Kievsky district in Donetsk, Ukraine.

Tuesday, 21 January 2015.

Special Focus War and employment Editorial staff

© Paolo Siccardi

There is a close connection between war and employment issues. Unemployment, unfair wage policies, and scarcity of guaranteed labour rights create the conditions for social conflicts and wars. Conversely, war and social conflict obliterate jobs. And, just as often, war becomes the only possible occupation.

There are specific cases that demonstrate this, some of which are described in this publication.

There are several countries, in different continents, that offer a good example of how work is essential to set in motion processes leading to peace and democracy. To get hold of accurate and evidence-based data about pre-war and current employment levels is not easy, but the picture that emerges is clear. Let us have a look.

Syria: a war-torn economy Everything has changed in Syria since the beginning of the conflict in 2012, including jobs and human rights. Before the war, the Syrian economy was going through a good period. From 2005 to 2010 the tourism industry’s turnover had grown from 2 billion dollars to 6, and the country welcomed more tourists than Australia in 2010.

According to reports by the Syrian Centre for Policy Research and World Vision, unemployment was below 10%, the GDP per capita was on the rise and public debt was not alarming. All economic sectors have suffered from the war: agriculture was undermined by shortages of seeds and fertilizers, fuel was reserved for the war effort, and production in the manufacturing sector collapsed.

More than 90% of the companies in the Alsheck Najjar industrial district north of Aleppo were forced to close down.

Thus, unemployment increased by around 627% between 2010 and 2015, and the Syrian GDP collapsed. According to World Bank figures, the average reduction in GDP was about 15.7% per year between 2011 and 2014. Add to this the fact that inflation in Syria over the first five years of war reached a staggering 300%.

In another World Bank report dating from July 2017, the cost of war-related losses is estimated at 226 billion dollars (183 billion euros), i.e. four times the value of the Syrian GDP before the war. 538,000 jobs were lost.

According to the UNHCR, “about 69% of the population is struggling to survive under conditions of extreme deprivation. 90% of the population spend more than half of their income on food, the average prices being eight times the pre-war prices. About 5.6 million people live in poor security conditions or in circumstances where human rights are not guaranteed.”

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Photo at the top © Francesco Cavalli

53 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

No Jobs, No Rights This Leads to War

54 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World 46° Parallelo

Ukraine: a devastated economy (and much more) In Ukraine the civil war and tensions with Russia have destroyed the economy. The beginning of the conflict and the annexation of Crimea caused a severe reduction in the country’s GDP and unemployment increased. Before the crisis, Russia was Ukraine’s main trade partner. And that is no longer the case. Kiev has amassed a considerable debt with the IMF. It is attempting to contain the debt implementing hyper-austerity policies and public expenditure cuts, including cuts to unemployment and disability benefits.

Tariff increases requested by the IMF in exchange for loans have forced hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to do without heating. The energy problem will probably further increase inflation, since the price of gas is bound to go up further.

Under these circumstances, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev approved in October 2018 a package of economic counter-sanctions against Kiev, which affected 68 companies and about 320 Ukrainian citizens. Ukrainian industry has all but ceased to function, and this has forced more than one million people to leave the country in 2017 alone. In the last months of 2018 miners and public employees protested because their wages were paid so late. All in all, the only thing that has been increasing has been military spending, up from 2.6 billion dollars in 2013 to 3.6 billion in 2017 (according to SIPRI data).

© Paolo Siccardi

Venezuela: the crisis affects employment The Venezuelan political crisis has repercussions on the economy, on the workers, and on their rights. From 2015, 3 million jobs have been lost due to the closure of thousands of companies; most industries operate at less than 30% of their potential. José Antonio García, coordinator of the National Union of Workers, estimates that the commerce sector has experienced the highest job loss of all: 750,000 jobs lost in 2016-2017.

Furthermore, 1,873 small and medium companies have closed down in the last two years due to the lack of foreign currency. This has led to the loss of 93,650 jobs. By the end of 2018, unemployment had reached 18.9%.

According to some analysts, companies have been overwhelmed by excessive Government controls and by the lack of foreign currency to buy raw materials needed in their production processes.

Fedecámaras (the country’s main employers’ association) submitted complaints in 2016 and 2017 to the International Labour Organization through the International Organization of Employers against the Government of Venezuela for having violated ILO Convention 122 promoting decent work. Another fact to highlight is the exponential increase of the informal economy, which has always ignored the rights of workers. According to the statistics of trade unions and employers’ organizations, only © ildenaro.it

28.6% (4 million people) of the economically active population worked in the formal sector in 2017, while 52.5% was employed in the informal sector, for a total of 7.35 million workers.

A study by the Andrés Bello Catholic University, the Simon Bolivar University, and the Central University of Venezuela on the size and importance of the formal economy concluded that “formal salaried labour has lost importance as the primary source of income. The benefits of having a job have lost their meaning and appeal.” According to this study, the Venezuelan labour market, firmly controlled by the State, is characterised by pressures against the autonomy of trade unions and restrictions on the freedom of companies, which greatly discourage activity in the formal sector.

Conducted between July and September 2017 this report also reveals that 18.5% of young people, aged between 15 and 24, are unemployed, a figure above the national average. Unlike Ukraine, Venezuela has reduced its military expenditure with this crisis, going from 564 million dollars in 2008 to 465 million in 2017. The year with the lowest expenditure was 2016, when ‘only’ 218 million dollars were invested in the military.

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55 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

Exploited in Congo Despite the great wealth of natural resources in this country, the situation of employment in the Democratic Republic of Congo is dire. More than 70% of young people between 15 and 24 have no job. There are few real jobs, and for this reason many young people are forced to work in the shadow economy, in unregulated or illicit jobs or survive with petty crime. The exploitation of workers in DRC is widespread and linked to the extraction of minerals such as cobalt and coltan, essential

© Alfredo Falvo/Contrasto

to the technology sector.

In most cases, no rights at all are guaranteed to the workforce, which includes children. The worst labour conditions are those of underground miners; and the minerals extracted are also the main cause of the conflicts ravaging the country. Mining activities are conducted for the most part to satisfy the greed of multinational corporations.

A good worker can produce one kilo of coltan in a day. The average Congolese worker earns 10 dollars a month, whilst a coltan mineworker earns between 10 and 50 dollars a week.

It is estimated that there are about 100,000 miners in the DRC, give or take. People dig with rudimentary tools, without supervision or security measures. Coltan miners are typically young farmers and breeders who left their lands or were displaced by the war, including prisoners of war and thousands of children. They work from sunrise to sunset. They sleep and eat in wild mountain areas and no longer cultivate their lands. Furthermore, coltan is radioactive and even those who do not work directly in the mines are affected.

The presence of child labour was acknowledged by the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Lambert Matuku Memas in 2017. Matuku Memas, who is no longer Minister, announced that by 2025 there would no longer be children working in the mines of the DRC. In 2016 Amnesty International and AfreWatch published a report which denounced the practice of using children as young as seven in cobalt mining. There are no certain data about the exact number of children working in the mines, but in 2014 UNICEF released an estimate of 40,000 children employed in the south of the country. It is likely that today there are many more. To complete this report, Amnesty International contacted sixteen multinational corporations that are customers of the three firms that

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56 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

produce car batteries using cobalt bought from Huayou Cobalt or other DRC suppliers. None of these sixteen corporations were able to provide detailed information useful in identifying the origin of that cobalt.

In the Ivory Coast to work The Ivory Coast is one of the African countries experiencing a recovery after a long and bloody conflict.

In spite of the serious consequences of a decade-long conflict over control of the land’s riches fought between several leaders and military commanders, today the country’s labour market and economy appear to be slowly recovering.

In 2018 Ivory Coast was the first destination for African migrants. The country is not densely populated and can offer an abundance of raw materials and resources for agriculture, which is why it attracts a workforce coming from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, and even from Guinea and Senegal. The job opportunities are primarily in the agricultural sector, especially in the cultivation of coffee, cocoa or palm oil.

Despite this recent economic growth, in some regions the unemployment rate is still high (around 23% of the population is unemployed) and young immigrants find it far from easy to enter the labour market.

The country’s statistics are still those of a poor State: infant mortality (children under five) stands at 92.8 per thousand; life expectancy is only 59 years; 60% of citizens over the age of 15 are illiterate; less than one quarter of the total population has access to adequate healthcare and less than one out of five persons has access to drinking water.

The enlisting of so many young men as soldiers, during the war, has created many problems to the country’s still shaky democracy, dominated as it is by the military. In 2014 the late payment of salaries led to several mutinies, that made many fear the outbreak of another civil war. Other episodes of soldiers rebelling took place again in early 2017. To deal with them, President Alessane Ouattara dismissed the chiefs of both police and gendarmerie, paid the backlog of wages, and promised an improvement in working conditions.

The pan-African Trade Union Organization Setting up a trade union organization in Africa is not an easy thing.

In the continent, however, Union affiliations exist.

The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) is a pan-African trade union organisation created in November 2007 following the merger of two former African trade union organisations, namely ICFTU-Afro and DOAWTU. ITUC-Africa has 16 million members, 101 affiliate trade union centres in 51 African countries. The headquarters is in Lomé, Togo. The President is Mody Guiro, while the Secretary General is Kwasi Adu-Amankwah.

According to its website, ITUC - Africa mission is to strengthen trade unions in Africa and to provide common voice for all African workers, in order to improve working and living conditions by fighting all forms of exploitation and discrimination, defending human and trade union rights, promoting social justice, peace, democracy and environment protection".

africarivista.it

January 1949

March 1964

June 1974

March 1978

April 1991

June 1999

July 2007

July 2010

June 2011

July 2011

March 2013

April 2014

October 2017

UNMOGIP

UNFICYP

UNDOF

UNIFIL

MINURSO

UNMIK

UNAMID

MONUSCO

UNISFA

UNMISS

MINUSMA

MINUSCA

MINUJUSTH

14

20

102

158

215

1.948

MINURSO

UNMIK

UNAMID

MONUSCO

367

33

417

165

207

9

1.334

2.201

76

1.402

730

519

172

8.393

UNISFA

UNMISS

MINUSMA

MINUSCA

MINUJUSTH

Total:

0

0

0

79

115

UNFICYP

0

0

588

48

UNMOGIP

UNIFIL

142

UNTSO

UNDOF

Local Civilians

Mission

73.251

0

11.114

12.488

14.244

3.882

15.301

4.369

0

19

10.215

876

743

0

0

Troops

100.945

1.173

15.007

16.303

19.378

4.452

20.375

9.625

349

477

11.252

1.053

1.014

114

373

1.516

1

85

200

67

35

173

271

55

16

313

54

183

11

52

Victims

1.240

0

172

37

218

134

223

48

8

207

0

0

0

42

151

Military observers

UN Total staff Volunteers

May 1948

UNTSO

Total:

Start date

4.539

153

643

691

873

141

769

672

97

72

242

46

36

24

80

about $6.69 billion

121.460.000

930.210.00

1.070.000.000

1.120.000.000

263.860.000

1.111.000.000

385.680.000

37.190.000

52.870.000

474.410.000

60.300.000

53.530.000

19.750.000 (2018-19)

67.160.000 (2018-19)

Budget (US$)

10.178

839

2.045

1.740

1.797

66

1.260

2.356

9

0

0

0

66

0

0

Police

Ongoing peacekeeping operations

GENDER CONDUCT DISCIPLINE PERSONNEL

CIVIL AFFAIRS OFFICIALS ON A MISSION

Mission

235 120

in support of the promotion and protection of Human Rights, with

International Civilians

600 HUMAN RIGHTS STAFF

DEPLOYED IN 9 PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

More than

30 June 2019

UN

SOURCE OF DATA

FOCUS

3,424

124 46° Parallelo

58 132 18 6 11,023 271

95%

FOCUS

PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS MANDATE

MEDICAL CLINICS

VEHICLES

VESSELS

unarmed, unmanned aerial vehicle

DRONES - UUAV

HELICOPTERS

AIRPLANES

1) UNTSO

LIST OF ACTIVE MISSIONS

UN

ATLAS OF WARS AND CONFLICTS OF THE WORLD

14) MINUJUSTH

United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti

13) MINUSCA

United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic

12) MINUSMA

United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali

11) UNMISS

United Nations Mission in South Sudan

10) UNISFA

United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei

9) MONUSCO

United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

8) UNAMID

African Union and United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur

7) UNMIK

United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo

6) MINURSO

United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara

5) UNIFIL

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

United Nations Disengagement Observer Force

4) UNDOF

3) UNFICYP

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus

United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan

2) UNMOGIP

United Nations Truce Supervision Organization

Active mission Completed missions Never any mission

COUNTRIES WITH A UN MISSION

of UN PEACEKEEPERS who work in missions have a

A GLOBAL LOGISTICS OPERATION

57 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

Countries contributing troops, police and military personnel

PERSONNEL IN THE FIELD

Civilian staff:

Police: 1,441

100.945

authorised forces

16,215

Military observers: 660

Troops:

RD CONGO

THE LARGEST MISSION

POLICE TEACHERS MILITARY PERSONNEL HEALTH WORKERS

22,492}

[Monusco]

24,700 }

MILLION men, women and children given safe behaviour training

12.2

2.4

MILLION ERW and anti-personnel mines destroyed

RESULTS OF FIVE YEARS OF MINE CLEARANCE

There are fourteen active UN missions. The oldest is UNTSO: it dates back to 1948 and is responsible for monitoring compliance with the peace treaties between Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Syria; since 1967 it is responsible for maintaining the ceasefire. The missions involving the largest number of people including military, civilian and international are MONUSCO in Congo, UNAMID in Darfur, UNMISS in South Sudan, MINUSMA in Mali and MINUSCA in Central African Republic. These are demanding and expensive missions: despite international agreements, many countries do not contribute to the maintenance of staff deployed abroad. Thus, the future of the Blue Helmets, the main instrument of intervention of the International Community in crisis areas, is becoming uncertain.

INFOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF UN MISSIONS

More than

INFOGRAPHIC MIGRATION ROUTES SOURCES OF DATA

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5.451

777

1.312

Many sources report the high number of deaths in Libya, due to torture, hunger and lack of medical care.

187

deaths at sea

Cairo

Refugees and migrants have reported being detained for extortion and tortured.

People are detained for extortion and tortured on arrival in Libya.

Aswan TOTALE ARRIVI MENSILI 2016-2018

08

09

10

Seizures are recorded in the bordering region.

People are detained for extortion and abused.

07

ATLAS OF WARS AND CONFLICTS OF THE WORLD

12

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

ROUTES TO EUROPE THROUGH AFRICA

Sabha

Bani Walid

Tripoli

Malta

Conditions in the detention centres are appalling.

Some do not provide regular meals.

deaths at sea

Dedbeb

Medenine

Algeri Tunisi Lampedusa

Refugees and migrants reported being detained for extortion or sometimes sold after their arrival in Sabha.

Oudja

deaths at sea

Rabat

Refugees and migrants reported violent attacks by criminal groups in this area.

In the last 10 years, almost 22 million foreign citizens have become EU citizens. The EU country with the highest number of foreigners is Luxembourg: 39 per thousand inhabitants.

FRONTEX - ITALIAN MINISTRY OF INTERIOR - UNHCR - CIR 2018

55.878

Isole Canarie

The map of migrations to Europe shows how thousands of human beings arrive every year in the Old World. Unfortunately, it is not able to explain the reasons behind the trips. Who are the refugees seeking a life better than the one they left behind, and where do they want to go? The map explains the effects, not the causes: poverty pushes people to move. Poverty is often fed by war. Wars are fueled by “death sellers”, based in the countries where asylum seekers arrive. It is a vicious circle and the flow will not stop. The total African population will grow from the current 1. 2 to 2. 5 billion by 2050. It will be a young population - 19 years old on average - sufficiently aware of the things of the World. If they remain poor and without any prospect, they will become a long, endless stream of men and women fleeing death.

23.276

1.487

MIGRATION MAP

Western Balkans

56.644 Number of illegal border crossings

Eastern Mediterranenan Number of illegal border crossings Top 5 countries of origin of migrants: Afghanistan: 1.481 Pakistan: 965 Iran: 943 Turchia: 398 Kosovo: 341

Central Mediterranean Number of illegal border crossings Top 5 countries of origin of migrants: Syria: 13.683 Afghanistan: 10.700 Iraq: 8.933 Turchia: 7.904 Pakistan: 2.332

Western Mediterranean Number of illegal border crossings Top 5 countries of origin of migrants: Tunisia: 5.245 Eritrea: 3.396 Sudan: 2.021 Pakistan: 1.512 Nigeria: 1.259

997 Number of illegal border crossings

Western Africa

Number of illegal border crossings

Eastern borders

Top 5 countries of origin of migrants: Unknown: 23.213 Morocco: 11.670 Guinea: 5.377 Mali: 4.650 Algeria: 4.356

4.327 Circular route from Albania to Greece Number of illegal border crossings Top 5 countries of origin of migrants: Morocco: 787 Unknown: 699 Algeria: 1 -:-:-

These data*, referring to the accesses visible in the map below, present the current migration situation in Europe.

Each circle represents one of the main migratory routes to the EU.

Kufra

06

Metema

Kassala

05

11

Arrivi via terra e via mare in Spagna Arrivi via mare in Italia Arrivi via mare in Grecia Dongola Port Sudan

Khartoum

03

04

Crossing the desert is deadly.

Some people starve or die of thirst. Others fall from overloaded vehicles. Armed groups sometimes kidnap people along the way.

02

2018

01

16,000

Ghat

12

8,000

35000

11

13,500

Spain

13,500

Tamanrasset

10

14,200

Arlit

It is estimated that many people lose their lives during the desert crossing north of Agadez..

Italy

09

N’Djamena

08

12,900

Refugees and migrants reported being detained for extortion or labour exploitation by armed groups.

Timbuktu

Agadez

Kano

07

Greece

10,800

28,200

06

7,900

Gao Niamey Ouagadougou

05

14,200

30000

Nouakchott

Bamako

04

13,200

25000

20000

15000

03

Grand Total

26,400

Top 5 countries of origin of migrants: Vietnam: 370 Iraq: 90 Russia: 82 Ucraina: 74 Turchia: 66

2018

M

58 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

e

ut

ro

02

2017

01

16,400

GREECE 35.400 50.500 2017

rn

ste

Ea

n

rra

ite

ed

ea n

12

15,200 13,600

Top 5 countries of origin of migrants: Albania : 4.105 Iran: 41 China: 39 Syria: 18 Pakistan: 17

2018

ITALY (arrivals by sea) 119.400 23.400

350

2.448

11

8,800

18.014

32.471

10000

10

11,800

32,300

On arrival in southern Algeria, smugglers lock people up in “ghettos" to get out of which they have to pay. Some are forced into prostitution or work to pay.

There are also reports of extortion and torture.

22,000 09

11,700

26,200

08

11,700

26,200

07

7,200

24,500 06

8,700

2017

1.320

766

05

22,600

*Source: FRAN and JORA data as of 6 November 2018. The data presented refer to illegal border crossing points rather than to the number of persons, as the same person may cross the external border several times. However, there is currently no EU system capable of tracing the movements of each person following an illegal border crossing. Therefore, it is not possible to establish the exact number of persons who have crossed the external border illegally.

2018

1.445

13,700 04

4,800

17,000

36,900

03

7,100

SPAIN* 28.300 65.400

5.607

26 5000

02

3,800

2017

1.012

12.977

0 01

2016

10,600

ARRIVALS BY COUNTRY JANUARY - DECEMBER 2017-2018

8.178

54.815

Western Mediterranean route

Central Mediterranean route *In 2018, 1,307 people arrived by sea in the Canary Islands and 1,085 people landed in Spain after being rescued off the Libyan coast. Including Serbia and Kosovo (S/RES/1244 (1999)).

The boundaries, names and designations on this map do not constitute official approval or acceptance by the United Nations.

73,100

61,100

USA 20%

India 15%

Other Asian developing countries 10%

Russia 7%

Middle East 5% Rest of the World 5%

300,00

315,00

330,00

345,00

360,00

375,00

390,00

405,00

420,00

435,00

450,00

MAGGIO

The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached 411. 8 parts per million (ppm) in May 2019, increasingly approaching 450 ppm. If this limit is exceeded, according to the scientists, the implications will be catastrophic and both temperatures and extreme events will increase.

Source: NOAA

CONCENTRATIONS PPM

Source: United Nations Treaty collection, data as at 18 June 2019

WHO HAS NOT RATIFIED THE PARIS AGREEMENT?

Contributions to energy growth in 2018 by country/geographical area.

Global energy consumption increased by +2.9% in 2018, the fastest growth since 2010.

China's growth rate is one third of global growth.

Fonte: BP statistical review of world energy 2019

ENERGY GROWTH IN 2018

China 34%

Africa 3%

More than 1,000 climate legal disputes have been promoted by citizens and social organisations in recent years. 24 countries around the world are asking governments and multinational corporations for concrete measures and actions to fight the causes and impacts of climate change.

Source: UNEP data as at March 2017

CLIMATE LITIGATION

46° Parallelo 0 4

of Wars 59 Atlas 8 12

4,28 3,35 2,96 2,96 2,54 2,32 2,04 1,93 1,83 1,71 1,59

Annual mortality per 100,000 inhabitants between 1996-2016 due to weather events, excluding geological accidents such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

Source: Germanwatch @StatistaCharts

MORTALITY AND WEATHER EVENTS

Sources: IDMC, UNHCR, IOM, UNEP, European Commission

40%

In Asia, of the population living within 60km of the coast will be displaced by rising seas.

environmental refugees by 2060.

Myanmar Honduras Micronesia Nicaragua Haiti Dominica Dominican Republic Russia Grenada France Italy Spain

of

6 million per year In Africa 50 million

environmental refugees by 2050, average

200/250 million

In internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to weather events

18 million

ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE REFUGEES

HIGHER GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN 2017

0

3,5

7

10,5

14

1,5

2,4

Brasile Giappone Russia

1,2

India

3,6

In the coming decades, the effects of extreme weather events on food production could lead to a decrease in harvests of between 5 and 25% in the Mediterranean area.

Source: European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC)

6,6

Europa Stati Uniti Cina

4,6

13,5

Unprocessed data

Cyclones and hurricanes United States Hurricane Michael - Hurricane Florence Arabic Sea Cyclone Mekunu Mariana Islands Typhoon Yutu (Source NOAA's NCEI State of the climate reports and WMO Provisional Status of the climate in 2018)

The following territories also recorded significant increases: Asia Algeria Australia Argentina

Increased temperatures Alaska: Alaska has spent its second hottest year ever recorded.

Europe: 2018 was the warmest year in Europe.

New Zealand: New Zealand recorded its second hottest year.

Polar caps reduction In 2018, the Antarctic cap had its fourth lowest annual maximum growth and second lowest extension ever recorded.

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EVENTS AND ANOMALIES IN 2018

The Climate Action Tracker index quantifies and assesses the climate change mitigation commitments and policies of 32 countries, representing 80% of emissions and 70% of the global population; the index shows for each country the expected increase in temperature if all countries committed themselves in the same way at the global level.

Source: Climate Action Tracker Data as at April 2019

Compatible commitments (within +1. 5°)

Insufficient commitments (+2°- 3°)

COMMITMENTS FOR CLIMATE

Compatible commitments (within +2°)

Highly insufficient commitments (+3°- 4°)

ATLAS OF WARS AND CONFLICTS OF THE WORLD

Critically insufficient commitments (>4°)

Food sovereignty in the Mediterranean

Unit: greenhouse gas emissions in 1gigaton of CO2eq Source: Trends in global CO2 and total greenhouse gas emissions; 2018 report; December 2018, European Commission/PBL report 3125 and 16 Conflicts in the World

14,55

2018

CDCA

SOURCE OF DATA

FOCUS

Climate change has become one of the main emergencies of our planet: desertification, extreme weather events and rising seas dramatically affect people's lives and migration flows, geopolitics and international governance. Responsibilities in relation to greenhouse gas emissions and exposure to climate change reflect the inequality between the most marginalised and disadvantaged populations and the wealthiest ones: the demands of social movements for climate justice focus on the environment but also on social and economic justice.

INFOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

INFOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF DEATH PENALTY SOURCE OF DATA

Amnesty International 2018

ATLAS OF WARS AND CONFLICTS OF THE WORLD

Maintaining countries

Countries where death sentences were carried out in 2018

* Countries where the death penalty is still in force but executions have not taken place for at least ten years, or countries that have introduced moratoria on executions.

** Countries that have abolished the death penalty for common crimes but maintain it for exceptional cases, such as, for example, crimes committed in wartime.

DEATH SENTENCES EXECUTED IN 2018*

*This list only contains data on executions on which Amnesty International has been able to obtain certain information.

In some Asian and Middle Eastern countries the figure could be much higher. Since 2009, Amnesty International has decided not to publish the estimate of death sentences and executions in China, where these data are classified as state secrets. Every year, Amnesty International renews its request to the Chinese authorities to make available this information, which is believed to be in the order of thousands, both of executions and death sentences.

Afghanistan: at least 3 Saudi Arabia: at least 149 Belarus: at least 4 Botswana: 2 China: data not available, probably thousands North Korea: data not available Egypt: at least 43 Japan: 15 Iran: at least 253 Iraq: at least 52 Pakistan: at least 14 Singapore: 13 Syria: data not available Somalia: 13 United States of America: 25 Sudan: 2 South Sudan: at least 7 Taiwan: 1 Thailand: 1 Vietnam: at least 85 Yemen: at least 4

Abolitionist countries for common offences**

De facto abolitionist countries*

Abolition of the death penalty Totally abolitionist countries

*

686

executions verified by Amnesty International in 2018

* with the exception of those in China

46° Parallelo

60 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

Every year, on October 10th, abolitionist organizations and activists from all around the world mobilize for the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the main event of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty whose aim is to raise awareness about its application in the world, to achieve its complete abolition. Founded in Rome in May 2002, it includes more than 150 human rights organisations, legal associations, trade unions and local and regional authorities. In addition to Amnesty International, the Coalition includes, among others, the Community of St. Egidio, FIDH (International Federation of Human Rights), Fiacat (International Federation of Action of Christians against Torture), Forum 90 (Japan), Mothers against Death Penalty and Torture (Uzbekistan).

WORLD DAY AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY

FOCUS

More than half the world's countries have abolished the death penalty de jure (by law) or de facto (in practice). According to Amnesty International, as of April 2018: 106 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. 8 countries have abolished it except for exceptional crimes, such as those committed in wartime. 28 countries are de facto abolitionists, as there have been no executions for at least ten years, or they have made an international commitment not to execute death sentences. A total of 142 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. 56 countries maintain the death penalty in force, but those who carry out death sentences are far fewer.

DEATH PENALTY IN THE UNITED STATES Unlike most countries that retain the death penalty, the transparency that characterises the application of the death penalty in the US makes it possible to reconstruct almost in real time a reliable picture of the reality as regards data on executions.

Executed death sentences: From 1608 over 19,000 (from 1930 to 2000 over 45001) From 1976 to the present day 14992 convictions Commutations since 1976: 288 (of which 187 in Illinois, 21 in Ohio and 1 Federal).

Number of people sentenced to death, released after being found innocent since 1973: 166 (of which 29 in Florida, 21 in Illinois, 13 in Texas) of which 18 through DNA tests.

Longest time spent on Death Row: Anthony Hinton, Alabama, released on April 3rd, 2015 after 29 years.

Methods of execution applied from 1976 to the present: lethal injection 1322; electric chair 160; gas chamber 11; hanging 3; firing squad 3.

Number of prisoners awaiting execution (May 2019): 2.654 (42% white; 42% African-American; 13% Hispanic; 3% other minorities), of whom 63 under Federal civil laws and 6 under Federal military laws.

Women awaiting execution (April 2017): 55 in 18 states and Federal jurisdiction.

Foreign nationals awaiting execution (March 2018): 134.

1 The first officially recorded execution took place in 1608: Captain George Kendall who was convicted for espionage.

2 Including 22 minors at the time of the crime, 59 people with mental disorders, 148 “volunteers", 16 women, 15 Native Americans and 33 foreign citizens or dual nationals.

DEATH PENALTY IN THE UNITED STATES States which have abolished the death penalty States where it is still in force

2018

UN - FAS - ICANW - SIPRI

SOURCES OF DATA

Approved by the UN General Assembly on July 7th, 2017; as of June 2019 it had been signed by 70 States and ratified by 23 (it will only enter into force after 50 ratifications). It commits States Parties not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stock, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons. It provides for assistance/intervention obligations in case of damage to human health and the environment caused by nuclear weapons. ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) played a crucial role in the negotiations. It is a coalition of 541 associations from 103 different countries (in Italy: AIMPGN, Cormuse, IRIAD, PeaceLink, Pressenza, Disarmament Network, Senzatomica, WILPF Italia, World Foundation for Peace). In 2017, it won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Source: Un.org; icanw.org

TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS:

FOCUS

NATO's “nuclear sharing" envisages that 5 allied States stock tactical nuclear devices in bases on their soil: about 150 US-owned B61 nuclear gravity bombs, transported on host States’ aircraft: F-16s in Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey; Tornado PA-200 in Italy and Germany. F-35s are capable of carrying B61s.

The bases are: Aviano and Ghedi Torre (Italy), Büchel (Germany), Incirlik (Turkey), Kleine Brogel (Belgium) and Volkel (Netherlands).

Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2019

AMERICAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN ADVANCED DEPLOYMENT

46° Parallelo

This is how close the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists believe the world is to the outbreak of nuclear war in 2019. The risk level is symbolized by the Doomsday Clock, a virtual clock updated annually, since 1947.

DOOMSDAY CLOCK: 2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT

61 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

In 2019, 9 States have military nuclear capabilities and hold a total of 13,890 nuclear warheads, of which 1,800 are on alert, and about 4,000 are awaiting decommissioning. 93% of all warheads are owned by Russia and the US, which like the UK, are reducing their stockpiles. On the contrary, China, Pakistan, India and North Korea have increased them. The peak of 70,300 warheads dates back to 1986 (bottom right graph). Historically, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus also held formal control over a number of former Soviet warheads, which were then returned to the Russian Federation. In 1991 South Africa ceased to have the atomic bomb, becoming the first and only state to have developed and then dismantled it.

INFOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

The graph on the left shows the progressive increase in the number of nuclear warheads in the world, with a peak in the mid-1980s. The end of the confrontation between the US and the USSR has meant the reduction of arsenals.

WARHEADS OVER TIME

Sources: Kristensen/Korda of FAS, 2019; Sipri YearBook 2018; icanw.org

North Korea 25 - 2006 - 2

Israel 80 - 1998 - ?

India 140 - 1974 - 6

Pakistan 150 - 1998 - 6

United Kingdom 215 - 1952 - 45

China 290 - 1964 - 45

France 300 - 1960 - 210

USA 6.185 - 1945 - 1.054

Russia 6.500 - 1949 - 715

13.890

Total warheads - first test date number of tests performed

TOTAL OF NUCLEAR WARHEADS

Countries that currently possess nuclear weapons

Countries that possessed nuclear weapons in the past

Countries that have never possessed nuclear weapons

ATLAS OF WARS AND CONFLICTS OF THE WORLD

INFOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF LANDMINES AND CLUSTERS

2000

1999

5.920

6.280

5.674

6.517

1.780

2.321

2.125

1.735

2.239

Dead

59

217

493

746

778

944

Survival Unknown

7.043

6.361

6.800

8.734

9.151

8.187

9.700

Total Victims

MINE BAN TREATY The Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) has 164 States Parties, more than 80% of the world's countries. Only 32 countries have not signed the Treaty.

FOCUS

CLUSTER CONVENTION

The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) has been signed by 120 countries of which 104 are States Parties and 14 more have yet to ratify.

FOCUS

62 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

2001 4.803 27

87% CIVILIAN CASUALTIES

ERW 2.038

Unexploded clusters 93 Unspecified mines 843

SOURCES OF DATA

1-9

200-499

50-190

ATLAS OF WARS AND CONFLICTS OF THE WORLD

500 +

2.300

VICTIMS

1.906

Myanmar

Pakistan Nigeria

160

184

202

235

304

429

Libya

In 2017, mines claimed at least 4.795 lives. Of these: factory-made anti-personnel mines (748) anti-vehicle mines (488), improvised mines (2.716) and other unspecified mines (843).

Unexploded ammunition caused 93 deaths and ERW 2.038 more deaths.

VICTIMS BY TYPE OF MINE AND ERW IN 2017

Note: States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty are given in bold.

291

Yemen

Ukraine Iraq

Syria

Afghanistan

COUNTRY

STATES WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF MINE AND ERW CASUALTIES IN 2017

Improvised mines 2.716

Anti-vehicle mines 488

Anti-personnel mines 748

10-49

LANDMINES, EXPLOSIVE REMNANTS OF WAR (ERW) AND CLUSTERS VICTIMS

Landmine e Cluster Monitor Report Campagna Italiana Contro le Mine 2018

46° Parallelo

2002

1.525

1.780

4.421

Civilians represent the overwhelming majority of victims as compared to military and security forces, continuing the consolidated trend of massive damage to civilians that influenced the adoption of the Ban Treaty.

Unknown mine/ERW 313

Mine Action, with its 5 pillars (clean-up, victim assistance, risk education, advocacy, universalisation) is closely linked and functional to the achievement of the 17 objectives of 2030 Agenda. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention banning anti-personnel mines, and symbolically on 1 March 2019 the Road to Oslo was launched, which will lead to the 4th Review Conference of the Ottawa Convention. An important contribution to create a bottom-up model of action, that has continued to deliver concrete results in the field of disarmament. But even in a mine-free world, victims of these weapons will still need socio-economic assistance and reintegration.

47% OF VICTIMS AMONG CHILDREN

In 2017 there were at least 2.452 deaths.

Victims among children in 2017 amounted to 47% of all civilian victims for whom the age group is known (5.183).

Children were killed (773) or injured (1.679) by landmines/ERW in 38 countries and other areas in 2017. As in previous years, in 2017,

84%

of the child victims whose sex is known were males.

2003 5.491

4.522

Injured

2004

Anno

LANDMINE AND ERW CASUALTIES BETWEEN 1999 AND 2017

2005

59

4.613

4.513

6.570

196

4.419

218

1.094

36

3.451

1.424

1.184

9

3.993

4.928

3.268

1.381

27

6.971

2006

3.133

1.344

9.437

5.872

2009 3.196

1.071

5

50

7.239

5.732

2010 3.066

1.295

28

123.207

96

2011 2.353

1.875

15

39

2012 2.648

2.472

4.040

1.424

2013

5.091

2.793

1.394

2014

6.937

32.256

4.409

2015

4.431

4.242

2016

86.909

2007

2017

2008

Total

2018

1PAKISTAN .589

minors

2016

2017

minors

2 .340 women

accompanied minors

676

SEX-BASED DIVISION

FOCUS

13 .121 women

minors

1accompanied .558

16 .848 men

minors

3 .536 unaccompanied

SPAIN

452 (1,6%) Disembarked in Malta

LIBYA

(After rescue/interception by the Libyan coast guard and some merchant ships)

15.235 (53,6%) Disembarked in Libya

(in the Libyan SAR area)

53,6 Libya

%

COUNTRY OF LANDING

3,9 Spain

1,6 Malta

40,9 Italy

In addition, a further 1,363 people arrived in Italy and 989 arrived in Malta as a result of either direct arrivals from Libya or rescue operations in the Italian or Maltese SAR regions.

RESCUES OFF THE LIBYAN COAST JANUARY - DECEMBER 2018

GREECE 50.500 2018

28.387 Rescued or intercepted at sea

2018

2.404

24.885*

136

* From January to November 2018 ** in addition, 2,211 people arrived in Cyprus and Malta

(by land and by sea)

389

27.450

75

One dead for each 51 arrivals

2.275

116.647

2018

TOTAL ARRIVALS** 139.300

-

18.175

72

Regione di recupero e soccorso Libica

MALTA

ITALY

ITALY 23.400 2018

-

11.175

144

11.614 (40,9%) Disembarked in Italy

TUNISIA

1.086 (3,9%) Disembarked in Spain

SPAIN 65.400 2018

Number of people evacuated from Libya

Number of resettlements in Europe

Number of deaths recorded along land routes on European borders

3.139 One dead for each 55 arrivals

5.096 One dead for each 71 arrivals

3.771 One dead for each 269 arrivals

172.324

2017

363.425

2016

1.015.877

2015

ARRIVALS IN EUROPE BY SEA COMPARATIVE DATA: 2015-2018

It is estimated that in 2018 2,275 refugees and migrants lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea, with an average of six deaths per day. Most of the deaths - more than 1,100 - took place after the departure from Libya: many boats capsized, causing at least 10 accidents in which 50 or more people drowned.

Ratio of deaths at sea per arrivals in Europe by sea

Deaths at sea

Arrivals in Europe via the Mediterranean

In 2018, arrivals fell by 80% compared to 2017. On the other hand, the sex ratio remains unchanged.

46° Parallelo Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World 63almost

119.369 refugees and migrants

88.911 men

FOCUS

15 .779 unaccompanied

23.400 refugees and migrants 2018

Among the main countries of origin, India and Pakistan aside, the African ones remain numerous.

3 .320 ERITREA

24 .133 women

minors

2 .377 accompanied

1IRAQ.744

5 .244 TUNISIA

129 .080 men

25 .846 unaccompanied

1SUDAN .619

2018

23.400

refugees and migrants

181.436 refugees and migrants

1.250 NIGERIA

1ALGERIA .213

CÔTE D'IVOIRE

1.064

MALI

876

GUINEA

810

3.357 others

MAIN COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN

ATLAS OF WARS AND CONFLICTS OF THE WORLD

Six deaths per day on average in the Mediterranean

ITALIAN MINISTRY OF INTERIOR - UNHCR

SOURCES OF DATA

The EU Countries’ rigid management of the arrivals and the simultaneous increase of migration flows in the Mediterranean, feeds an illicit turnover of hundreds of million of euros per year. The price for the journey varies from border to border, ranging between 500 and 2,000 dollars. Payment is usually made in dollars or euros, non-refundable in case the crossing is not completed. Each step of the journey is controlled by a different criminal organization. A dramatic situation for migrants, who face blackmail and violence all along their journey until they board the vessels.

INFOGRAPHIC ARRIVALS IN ITALY BY SEA

INFOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

Norway Finland Sweden Netherlands Denmark Switzerland New Zealand Jamaica Belgium Costa Rica Estonia Portugal Germany Iceland Ireland 15.33 15.66 15.69 16.06 16.38 16.55 18.25 18.95 19.53 19.81 20.49 20.81 21.74 21.99 22.06 22.19 22.21 22.23 22.31 23.58 24.53 24.63 24.70 24.74 24.89 24.94 24.98 24.98

7.82 7.90 8.31 8.63 9.87 10.52 10.75 11.13 12.07 12.24 12.27 12.63 14.60 14.71 15.00

55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89

Dominican Republic Comoros Argentina Mauritius Poland Georgia Armenia Haïti Bosnia-Herzegovina Croatia Greece Niger Japan Malawi Seychelles Mongolia Côte d’Ivoire Tunisia Hong Kong Northern Cyprus Kosovo Togo Malta Lesotho Panama Bhutan El Salvador Albania Kyrgyzstan Timor-Leste Peru Sierra Leone Hungary Israel Guinea Bissau

27.90 27.91 28.30 28.46 28.89 28.98 28.98 29.00 29.02 29.03 29.08 29.26 29.36 29.36 29.41 29.51 29.52 29.61 29.65 29.67 29.68 29.69 29.74 29.74 29.78 29.81 29.81 29.84 29.92 29.93 30.22 30.36 30.44 30.80 30.95

FOCUS

Press Freedom Index

SOURCE OF DATA

110 111 112 113 114

90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109

Ethiopia Bulgaria Mali Bolivia Nicaragua

Serbia Moldova Gambia Liberia Mauritania Rep. of North Macedonia Benin Ecuador Maldives Paraguay Kenya Lebanon Ukraine Mozambique Montenegro Brazil Nepal Guinea Kuwait Angola

35.11 35.11 35.23 35.38 35.53

31.18 31.21 31.35 31.49 31.65 31.66 31.74 31.88 32.16 32.40 32.44 32.44 32.46 32.66 32.74 32.79 33.40 33.49 33.86 34.96

115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125

ATLAS OF WARS AND CONFLICTS OF THE WORLD

Problematic

39.61 42.23 42.51 42.82 43.11 43.32 43.42 43.63 43.91 43.98 44.10 44.68 44.92 45.65 45.67 45.75 45.83 45.90 46.78 47.27 48.53 49.09 49.10 50.31 50.74 51.41 51.48 51.66 51.71 52.43 52.60 52.81 52.82 52.89 53.52 54.02

Difficult

Sri Lanka Zimbabwe Qatar Colombia Jordan Cameroon Oman United Arab Emirates Philippines Morocco/Western Sahara Thailand Palestine Myanmar South Sudan India Algeria Pakistan Cambodia Mexico Central African Republic Honduras eSwatini Venezuela Russia Bangladesh Singapore Brunei Belarus Democratic Rep. of Congo Rwanda Iraq Turkey Kazakhstan Burundi Uzbekistan Tajikistan

55.77 56.47 57.24 58.35 59.13 61.31 61.66 63.81 64.41 64.49 65.88 71.36 71.78 72.45 74.93 78.92 80.26 83.40 85.44

THE SITUATION

126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161

Libya Egypt Somalia Equatorial Guinea Azerbaijan Bahrain Yemen Cuba Iran Laos Saudi Arabia Djibouti Syria Sudan Vietnam China Eritrea North Korea Turkmenistan

Very serious

162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180

Good

35.60 35.94 36.04 36.28 36.38 36.50 36.55 36.71 36.74 36.77 39.42

Satisfactory

Gabon Guatemala Congo-Brazzaville Tanzania Zambia Nigeria Afghanistan Chad Malaysia Indonesia Uganda

Reporters sans Frontiéres 2019

The index reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, news agencies and citizens around the world and takes into account the actions undertaken by authorities to respect and guarantee that freedom.

It is based on a questionnaire sent to the partner organizations of RSF, to a network of 150 correspondents, to journalists, researchers, lawyers and human rights activists. Each country is assigned a score and a position in the final ranking. These are complementary indicators which, together, assess the state of freedom of the press.

The questions follow six general criteria. Using a weighted system, each country is assigned a score between 0 and 100 for each item. These scores are then used to calculate the final score for each country.

64 Atlas of Wars and Conflicts in the World

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Austria Luxembourg Canada Uruguay Surinam Australia Samoa Namibia Latvia Cabo Verde Liechtenstein Ghana Cyprus Spain Lithuania South Africa France United Kingdom Slovenia Slovakia Burkina Faso Andorra Papua New Guinea Trinidad and Tobago Czech Republic South Korea Taiwan Italy 25.09 25.41 25.65 25.67 25.69 25.81 26.04 26.63 27.18 27.50 27.76

46° Parallelo

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Botswana Tonga Chile Romania United States Senegal OECS Guyana Fiji Belize Madagascar

We have much more information than we used to, yet freedom of the press is increasingly at risk. In 2018, few countries can guarantee the life and safety of journalists: the Northern countries, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Jamaica. In Africa, many countries have become even more unsafe: the Central African Republic, downgraded by 33 points, followed by Tanzania (-25) and Mauritania (-22). In the top 4 of the negative trend Nicaragua, which ends up in 114th position. Staying in the Americas, the situation in Mexico remains alarming. In Europe, there are five dangerous states: Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary, Malta and Slovakia.

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