CONFLICT BAROMETER 2008

8 Conflict Barometer 2008
of military and police personnel to UN operations, accounting
for one third of UN peacekeepers, representing
a continuation of the trend that the largest share of
the peacekeeping burden was being shouldered by the
Global South. This trend especially referred to UN missions
in Africa. From this resulted a new divide between
those who do the peacekeeping and those whose peace
is kept, on the one hand, and those who fund and control
the operations, on the other. By January, Germany
contributed a maximum of 758 personnel to eight missions
(UNAMA, UNAMID, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIK, UN-
MIL, UNMIS, UNOMIG), 544 alone to UNIFIL. By October,
these numbers had shrunk to 410 personnel in
seven missions (the same except for UNMEE). By October
31, UN missions’ fatalities amounted to a total of
109 in 2008, compared to 90 in 2007. Between 1948
and 2008, a total of 2,435 people died while deployed in
a UN mission, 128 of these from India, 114 from Canada,
99 each from Pakistan and the UK, 98 from France, 94
from Nigeria, and 92 from Bangladesh. By January, the
top ten providers of assessed financial contributions to
UN peacekeeping missions were the USA, Japan, Germany,
the UK, France, Italy, China, Canada, Spain, and
the Republic of Korea. The UN General Assembly assigned
the expenses based on a scale taking into account
the member states’ relative economic wealth, with
the permanent members of the Security Council required
to pay a larger share in line with their special responsibility.
Many countries also voluntarily made additional resources
available to support UN peacekeeping efforts on
a non-reimbursable basis in the form of transportation,
supplies, personnel, and financial contributions above
and beyond their assessed share of peacekeeping costs.
Apart from UNIPSIL, no new mission was deployed.
However, the complex mission African Union/UN Hybrid
Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) that had been approved
by the UN Security Council on 07/31/07 formally
began operations on 12/31/07 [→ Sudan (Darfur)]. By
September 2008, UNAMID had not reached its authorized
strength of up to 9,555 military personnel, and
6,432 police, but only a total of 10,461 uniformed personnel,
including 8,287 troops. Fatalities added up to twelve
troops, four police, and one local civilian. UNAMID represented
an expression of the UN’s goal of enhancing
strategic partnerships with multilateral and regional organizations.
One mission, the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea
(UNMEE) came to an end in July, although tensions between
the two countries concerning border demarcation
had increased to the threat of a renewed military conflict
in 2007 [→ Ethiopia - Eritrea]. UNMEE had been set up
eight years before, in July 2000, to maintain liaison with
the parties and establish a mechanism for verifying the
ceasefire signed by Ethiopia and Eritrea following proximity
talks led by Algeria and the Organization of African
Unity. From September 2000 on, UNMEE had been authorized
to monitor the cessation of hostilities and to help
ensure the observance of security commitments.
As in previous years, sub-Saharan Africa constituted the
region with the most UN missions, adding up to nine
operations including UNMEE, i.e. the two political missions,
BINUB in Burundi and UNIOSIL in Sierra Leone,
MINURCAT in the Central African Republic and Chad,
MONUC in the DR Congo, UNOCI in Côte d’Ivoire, UN-
MEE in Ethiopia and Eritrea, UNMIL in Liberia, UNMIS
in Sudan, and UNAMID in Darfur, Sudan. Sub-Saharan
Africa was followed by the Middle East and Maghreb
with five concurrent UN missions, i.e. the political mission
UNAMA in Afghanistan, UNTSO in Israel, UNDOF
in the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria, UNIFIL in
Lebanon, and MINURSO in Western Sahara, Morocco.
Despite the overall number of conflicts and the high number
of violent ones, the UN still deployed only two peacekeeping
operations in Asia and Oceania (UNMOGIP in
India and Pakistan, and UNMIT in Timor-Leste). With
UNFICYP in Cyprus, UNOMIG in Abkhazia (Georgia),
and UNMIK in Kosovo (Serbia), the UN maintained one
mission more in Europe than in Asia and Oceania. As
in previous years, the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH) was the only UN mission in the Americas.
In general, the international community still increasingly
depended on robust mandates, and assigned Blue
Berets also to high-intensity conflicts. However, the UN
also applied measures not involving military personnel in
order to maintain or restore peace and security. Sanctions
represented such measures. In 2008, the UN
maintained eleven sanctions committees; the same as in
2007, compared to nine in 2006. These sanctions concerned,
firstly, seven states in sub-Saharan Africa (Côte
d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia,
and Sudan). Secondly, the UN maintaned an
arms embargo against the DPR Korea introduced in
2006, and a further arms embargo as well as an assets
freeze against senior officials of the former Iraqi regime
and their immediate family members. Thirdly, a travel
ban and assets freeze was in place against individuals
suspected of involvement in the 2005 terrorist bombing
that had killed Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and
22 others, as well as against al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and
associated individuals and entities.
With regard to the weaponry used in conflict conduct, an
international treaty was formally endorsed in Dublin, the
capital of Ireland, on May 30, and opened for signature
on December 3. The Convention on Cluster Munitions
prohibited the use, the production, or acquisition of cluster
bombs. It was to enter into force on the first day of the
sixth month after the 30th ratification. The Oslo Process
leading to the treaty had begun in the Norwegian capital
in February 2007 and had been followed by a meeting in
the capital of Peru, Lima, in May 2007. The principles to
be included in the treaty were set forth in the final preliminary
meeting in Wellington, New Zealand, on February
22. In November, the European Parliament passed a
resolution calling on all EU governments to sign and ratify
the Convention, as several EU countries had not yet
declared their intention to do so. Finland had declared
it would not sign. 92 countries signed the treaty, including
all EU countries except Finland, Poland, Romania,
Slovakia, Greece, and Cyprus. Major producers of cluster
munitions did not sign, including the USA, Russia,
China, India, Pakistan, and Brazil. Cluster bombs are
air-dropped or ground-launched munitions that eject a