ConflictBarometer_2015

MEASURES OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION
tinued peace talks with the government [→ India (ULFA-I et
al. / Assam)]. To de-escalate the conflict over the secession
of various parts of Meghalaya state, the Garo United Achik
Liberation Army signed a peace agreement with the government
on December 18 [→ India (GNLA et al. / Meghalaya)].
Another peace accord was signed by the Indian government
concerning the secession of territory inhabited by ethnic
Naga with the newly-formed National Socialist Council of
Nagaland Reformation (NSCN-R) on April 27 and with the
NSCN Isaak Muivah on August 3.
In addition, the government's special interlocutor for the
Naga talks held separate consultative meetings with the
NSCN Khole-Khitovi as well as with the Naga National Council
on December 7 in Dimapur District [→ India (NSCN factions
et al. / Nagaland)].
On March 7, the Tajik and Kyrgyz governments signed an
agreement concerning the demarcation and delimitation
of disputed border parts in Dushanbe [→ Kyrgyzstan
Uzbekistan Tajikistan (border communities / Fergana Valley)].
In Pakistan, negotiations between representatives of
the provincial government of Balochistan and the unofficial
leader of the geographic predecessor of Balochistan
province, Mir Suleman Dawood Jan, concerning the latter's
participation in the ongoing peace process ended without
results [→ Pakistan (Baloch nationalists / Balochistan)]. After
two separate agreements suggesting the division of Nepal
into eight or six provinces on June 8 and August 8, protests
erupted and turned violent [→ Nepal (Madhesis, Tharus /
Terai)].
In Myanmar, the limited war over autonomy and resources
between the Kachin Independence Organization, along with
its military wing, and the government saw some progress
regarding peace efforts [→ Myanmar (KIA, KIO / Kachin State)].
A total of eight armed groups signed a ceasefire agreement
with the government on October 15 after almost two years
of negotiations. A summit for the non-signatory groups was
held in Panghsang on November 1.
In Vietnam, the National Wage Council decided on a wage
increase in 2016 after months-long negotiations between
the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and the Vietnam
Chamber of Commerce and Industry [→Vietnam (socioeconomic
protests)]. Representatives of the Communist Party
of the Philippines (CPP) and the House of Representatives
met in the Netherlands for exploratory talks on July 10 [→
Philippines (CPP, NPA)]. After CPP and its military wing had
declared a unilateral ceasefire effective from December 23 to
01/03/2016, President Benigno Aquino announced a pause
from military operations for the same period. After having
reached an agreement in talks between August 22 and 26 to
end the military standoff, the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea and the Republic of Korea met from December 10
to 12 in Kaesong for high-level talks without achieving any
result [→ North Korea South Korea]. The USA and the PRC
reached agreements on several issues, such as cyber security
and energy, in late September [→ China USA]. To resume
peace talks concerning the conflict over the territorial status
of the Kuril Islands, the foreign ministers of Japan and Russia
met in Moscow from September 21 to 22 and again on October
8. Furthermore, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks on September 28
and November 15. [→ Japan Russia].
EUROPE
In Europe, most agreements were reached in the Ukraine
[→ Ukraine (Donbas)]. Despite a ceasefire agreement in
the conflict over the Donbas region reached on September
8 in Luhansk, fighting continued. However, the intensity
decreased during the last three months of the year. The
conflict parties met numerous times for consultations. On
May 21, they jointly decided on the establishment of observation
posts at the contact line to document ceasefire
violations. Two month later, the Trilateral Contact Group
agreed on a DMZ in Luhansk during a meeting mediated by
the OECD. Throughout the year, several meetings concerning,
among others, de-escalation measures, the reconstruction
of Donbas, and the demilitarization of Shyrokyne were held
between the Normandy Four states. They also agreed on
extending the validity of Minsk II to 2016. In the conflict
between Russia and the Ukraine, the parties signed Minsk
II concerning the re-establishment of border controls on
February 12 [→ Russia Ukraine]. Following a complete
power breakdown in Crimea due to activist attacks on the
power supply line, Kherson city officials stated on December
8 that they partly repaired the power line after reaching an
agreement with the activists [→ Ukraine (Crimean Tatars)].
After the OSCE had voiced its concern over the increased use
of heavy weapons in the Azeri-Armenian conflict, Armenian
President Serge Sarkisian and his Azeri counterpart Ilham
Aliyev met in Bern, Switzerland, for OSCE-mediated talks
on December 19, expressing their willingness to settle the
conflict [→ Armenia Azerbaijan]. Starting in March, the
EU, UN, OSCE, and the US facilitated four rounds of talks
in Geneva, Switzerland, between representatives of Georgia
and Russia as well as those of the regions of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia. The negotiations concerning the status of the
two de facto autonomous regions ended without result [→
Georgia (Abkhazia); Georgia (South Ossetia)].
Serbia and Kosovo agreed on delegating greater administrative
powers to Kosovar areas on August 25 as part of a 2013
EU-brokered landmark agreement [→ Serbia (Kosovo opposition)].
This deal, in addition to a demarcation agreement
with Montenegro, led to violent opposition protests. Concerning
the conflict over the secession of Northern Ireland,
Republicans and Loyalists reached an agreement on welfare,
history conceptions, and paramilitarism on November
17, putting an end to the political stalemates between the
conflict parties [→ United Kingdom (Nationalists / Northern
Ireland)]
AMERICAS
Despite ongoing peace negotiations in Havana, Cuba, the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the
Colombian government further engaged in violence [→
Colombia (FARC)]. The agreements included a deadline for
reaching a final agreement, drafting an amnesty law for political
crimes, as well as measures of reparation, truth-seeking,
and guarantees of non-repetition. After the government had
suspended aerial bombardments in reaction to FARC's unilateral
ceasefire on July 20, the number of violent encounters
decreased. Exploratory peace talks between the Army of
National Liberation (ELN) and the Colombian government
continued over the course of the year, with Ecuador offering
the mediation or hosting of future formal negotiations [→
Colombia (ELN)]. Following the reduction of the fuel price
after negotiations between the National Platform of Transport
Syndicates and the Haitian government on February 3,
violent protests erupted in which demonstrators demanded
further cuts [→ Haiti (opposition)]. (ska)
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
The notion of internationalpeacekeepinghad been first
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