ConflictBarometer_2012

Asia and oceania
Nepal
Intensity:
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
(Madheshis / Terai)
3 Change:
Start:
2004
JTMM-G, JTMM-J, JTMM-R, JTMM-S, JTMM,
ATMM, TJP-M, MMT, SJTMM, MJF, TMPD vs.
government
autonomy
The autonomy conflict between various Madheshi political
parties, among them the Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum (MJF)
and the Terai Madhesh Democratic Party (TMPD), and assorted
militant groups such as the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha
(JTMM), the Akhil Terai Mukti Morcha (ATMM), the Madhesi
Mukti Tigers (MMT), and the Samyukta Janatantrik Terai Mukti
Morcha (SJTMM) and their various factions, on the one hand,
and the government, on the other, continued.
Throughout the year, diplomatic efforts increased. On January
22, JTMM-G, led by Jaikrishna Goit, signed an agreement
with the government and renounced violence. On February
25, JTMM-B met with government officials in Rupandehi and
similarly foreswore violence. On August 27, SJTMM in turn signed
a deal with the government and also renounced violence.
On March 8, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai resumed the
integration of Madheshi youth into the army for the first time
since December 2011.
On January 1, police arrested a member of Bhagat Singhled
JTMM-B in Banke District. On March 12, the army defused
an MMT-planted improvised explosive device (IED) inside the
Itahari District Education Office. Ten days later, JTMM-J, led by
Jwala Singh, installed an IED in a bus, injuring two passengers
in Dang District. On March 31, an alliance of five Madheshi
political parties, the United Democratic Madhesi Front, held a
rally in Kathmandu to reiterate their claim for identity-based
federalism within the pending constitution. On April 30, a
JTMMM-planted bomb killed five people and injured at least
24 in Janakpur. On August 10, ATMM set off an IED in a hotel
in Siraha District. No casualties were reported. Two days later,
police shot dead a JTMM member in Mahottari District. On
September 1, JTMM-B handed over its weapons to the police.
In a similar move, SJTMM started to hand over its weapons and
explosives to the authorities by December 24. On November
30, police arrested an SJTMM member in Kapilvastu District.
On December 26, police arrested another six militants from
this organization in Kathmandu.
lst
new supreme leader by the Political Bureau of the Workers'
Party of Korea on 12/29/2011. Seven months later, he became
a marshal in the Korean People’s Army (KPA), after then-
Chief of the General Staff of the KPA, Ri Yong-ho, had been
dismissed. Kim continued his father’s Military First policy
and advanced NK’s nuclear and satellite capabilities. Allegedly,
NK prepared the Punggye-ri test facility in Kilju County,
North Hamgyong Province, for a third nuclear test after 2006
and 2009. On May 30, NK proclaimed its status as a nucleararmed
state by amending its constitution. This change was
criticized by the US and SK.
Trilateral cooperation between the US, SK, and Japan
continued, despite conflicts between Japan and SK [1 Japan
– South Korea (Takeshima / Dokdo)]. The three countries conducted
their first official joint naval exercise from June 21
to 22, followed by a large US-SK single-day drill. In spite of
strong protest from NK, the US and SK conducted two of their
regular annual large-scale exercises in spring and autumn, respectively.
On October 7, the US and SK revised their treaty
on technological aid, permitting an extension of the range of
SK’s ballistic missiles to 800 km and of the missiles’ payload
to over a ton. Two days later, NK claimed its missiles could
reach the US mainland.
On January 11, NK test-fired three short-range ballistic
missiles. During January and February, the US offered NK food
aid in return for talks on denuclearization. As announced one
month earlier, NK launched a satellite aboard an Unha-3 carrier
rocket on April 13. The rocket launch failed shortly after
lift-off. The international community condemned the test. The
US withdrew its food aid offer from earlier on in the year and
instead proposed economic sanctions against NK. The United
Nations Security Council approved sanctions against three NK
companies allegedly involved in NK’s ballistic missile industry.
NK revoked its previous permission for IAEA inspections to
take place on April 16.
After stating the intention to reconsider its stance on the
nuclear issue on July 20, four days later NK deployed twenty
to 50 helicopters to airbases close to Baengnyeong Island,
the sovereignty over which was disputed between NK and SK
[1 North Korea – South Korea]. On November 31, a government
delegation from PR China voiced its concerns over NK’s
plans to launch a satellite. In early December, the US deployed
warships equipped with sophisticated ballistic-missile
defense systems to monitor a potential NK rocket launch. On
December 12, NK successfully launched a long-range Unha-3
rocket, bringing a satellite into orbit for the first time. lbs
North Korea – USA, South Korea,
Japan
Intensity:
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
2 Change:
Start:
1990
North Korea vs. USA, South Korea, Japan
system / ideology, international power, other
The system and international power conflict between North
Korea (NK), on the one hand, and the USA, South Korea (SK),
and Japan, on the other, continued. After Kim Jong-il’s death
on 12/17/2011, his son Kim Jong-un was proclaimed NK’s
Pakistan
Intensity:
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
(BLA et al. / Balochistan)
3 Change:
Start:
1948
Baloch and Brahui tribes, BSO, BPLF, JWP, BLA,
BRA, BLUF, BNP, LeB, BMDT vs. government
secession, resources
The conflict over resources and secession between various
militant groups and Baloch political parties in Balochistan
province, on the one hand, and the government, on the other,
remained violent.
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