Election delay will not solve Libya's problems

Significance This is expected to be followed by the first parliamentary election since 2014, at some point in early 2022. It now looks increasingly likely that both elections will be delayed. The electoral process lacks the elements it would need to be truly transformative, but it is prompting shifts in the political elite which will dictate developments for at least the next year. Impacts Khalifa Haftar will keep pushing for his armed group to form the core of Libya’s future army Seif al-Islam Qadhafi’s candidacy in the elections is unlikely to result in him becoming president. Aguileh Saleh looks set to stay on as House of Representatives speaker with no clear date for parliamentary elections.

The armed resistance to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan

The main violent threat to the Taliban regime comes from the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) armed group, but the Taliban regime will also have to deal with armed resistance from ethnic groups in Afghanistan that already feel threatened by the new regime. ISIS – K presents a serious challenge to the Taliban's regime in Afghanistan as the group operates in cells across the country. ISIS – K doesn't possess the capabilities to overthrow the Taliban government. Still, they can damage the credibility of the Taliban, which has claimed that it is the only group that can bring peace and stability to the country. The ethnic groups (the Shia Hazara and Uzbek and Tajik ethnic groups) are already under pressure in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. These groups that in the 1990s formed the "Northern Alliance" that fought against the Taliban are organizing to defend themselves against Islamic State attacks and Taliban persecution and in the future could become a significantly armed opposition to the Taliban regime.

Investigating the Jana Adalat of the 1996–2006 armed conflict in Nepal

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M), an organized armed group, engaged in a non-international armed conflict against the Government of Nepal between 1996 and 2006. During the armed conflict, the organized armed group operated a judicial system in the territories under its effective control, called the Jana Adalat (the People's Court). The legitimacy of the Jana Adalat has been a contentious subject matter. This article examines the historical, legal and practical dimensions of the Jana Adalat, especially focusing on the perspectives of the CPN-M.

Beyond Greed: Why Armed Groups Tax

Armed groups tax. Journalistic accounts often include a tone of surprise about this fact, while policy reports tend to strike a tone of alarm, highlighting the link between armed group taxation and ongoing conflict. Policymakers often focus on targeting the mechanisms of armed group taxation as part of their conflict strategy, often described as ‘following the money’. We argue that what is instead needed is a deeper understanding of the nuanced realities of armed group taxation, the motivations behind it, and the implications it has for an armed group’s relationship with civilian and diaspora populations, as well as the broader international community. This paper builds on two distinct literatures, on armed groups and on taxation, to provide the first systematic exploration into the motivation of armed group taxation. Based on a review of the diverse practices of how armed groups tax, we highlight that a full account of their motivation needs to go beyond revenue collection, and engage with key themes around legitimacy, population control, institution building, and the performance of public authority. We problematise common approaches towards armed group taxation and state-building, and outline key questions of a new research agenda.

La paz imperfecta: una mirada a los puntos de tierras, participación política y solución al problema de drogas ilícitas en el posacuerdo

Resumen: Uno de los hitos más relevantes en la historia reciente de Colombia es seguramente la firma del Acuerdo de Paz (2016), hecho que condujo al principio de la terminación del prolongado conflicto armado interno con la guerrilla más antigua de América Latina: las FARC-EP1. Con sus aciertos y tropiezos, el balance de su implementación puede ser agridulce. Por un lado, existen avances verificables en cada uno de los puntos eje del Acuerdo, aunque con varias particulari- dades. Por otro, haciendo una lectura general, cuatro años después del inicio de su ejecución, se puede evidenciar que este también ha sido un factor distanciador entre la sociedad colombiana. El análisis de este artículo se centró en tres de los seis puntos acordados, logrando un mayor detalle para cada caso. Imperfect Peace: a Review to Land, Political Participation, and Solution to the Problem of Illicit Drugs in the Post-agreement Abstract: One of the most relevant milestones in the recent history of Colombia is surely the signing of the Peace Agreement (2016), a fact that led to the beginning of the end of a prolonged internal armed conflict with the oldest armed group in Latin America, the FARC-EP. With its successes and failures, the balance of its implementation can be bittersweet. On the one hand, there are verifiable advances in each of the central points of the agreement, although with several peculiarities. On the other, making an overview, four years after the beginning of its implementation allow us to see that the agreement has been a distancing factor among Colombian society. The analysis is focused on 3 of the 6 agreed points, achieving a greater detail for each case. Keywords: Peace Agreement, positive peace, negative peace, armed conflict, region

Discontent over Congo’s state of siege will grow

Significance The attack is just the latest in a long series of massacres in the region but comes almost four months into a ‘state of siege’ established by President Felix Tshisekedi to put an end to armed violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Impacts The security situation in eastern DRC remains precarious and could deteriorate further. A failure to stabilise eastern DRC will weigh on Tshisekedi’s re-election prospects. Entrenched national, local and cross-border political tensions will provide fertile ground for continued armed-group evolution in the east.

Foreign fighters and the tension between counterterrorism and international humanitarian law: A case for cumulative prosecution where possible

Contemporary foreign fighters (FFs) often join so-called dual-nature groups, i.e. groups that can at the same time be qualified as a non-State armed group involved in a non-international armed conflict and a terrorist organization. Both international humanitarian law and counterterrorism (CT) legislation may hence be of relevance when assessing the legality of FF conduct. The CT perspective tends to remain predominant, however. This paper argues that, especially in terms of prosecution, due regard must be paid to both legal frameworks where possible. It also argues that national prosecution in the country of origin seems to offer the best prospects for realizing such cumulative prosecution.