The New Media Landscape / Laptop Diplomacy – Timely and reliable media intelligence is key, Wednesday 21 October, 2015, Nieuwspoort Press Centre, The Hague. Pictures by  Anton van der Riet. By Elizabeth Naumczyk. A roundtable meeting focusing on the increased impact of social media in diplomacy and in the national interest of countries with representation in The Netherlands was held on the afternoon of 21 October, 2015. The event was sponsored by the Global Media Analysis Services (GMAS) and included media analysts, ambassadors and diplomats. These talks stressed the usefulness and necessity of timely media monitoring and interpretation of online information for foreign embassies in the Netherlands. The session was moderated by GMAS Senior Advisor, and former Ambassador of the Netherlands, Mr Eric Niehe.   The program commenced with introductions by Mr Guido van Nispen, Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANP, CEO), Mr Ghalied Rodjan Media Info Groep (MIG), Account Manager International Relations and Professor Dr Jan Melissen, Clingendael Institute. Mr Van Nispen summarized the history of the Netherlands national news agency (ANP) and its aim to provide unbiased news working together with EPA in Germany, AP in the United States and EFA in Spain. He described the huge volume of big data that had to be managed with appropriate tools but was also a great opportunity for information sharing. These days people want to be kept updated constantly on mobile devices.

Mr Rodjan stated it was the 100 year anniversary of Media Info Groep, primarily a media monitoring and media intelligence service. It is concerned with how your information is being utilized and how the media is affecting your country or its relationship with the Netherlands. They are in partnership with GMAS. Their client focused services were able to provide specific reports on countries and how best to get your message across in different ways. The reason for the meeting is the study by the Clingendael Institute entitled: “Diplomacy in the Digital Age”, commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and Belgium. Many countries in the world are interested in the report and encourage their diplomats to take cognizance of the content. The keynote speaker, Professor Jan Melissen (who is a collaborator of Diplomat Magazine) spoke about the rapidly changing media landscape to the assembled diplomats and its impact on the actions of their own countries and organizations.

The digital era provided opportunities to achieve different ways of doing things. Information gathering, processing and analyzing had become a huge challenge. Diplomats need more than ever to take account of the views of citizens in the public and political debate and react quickly to misinformation. Society itself becomes a resource and what people know helps governments in crafting solutions. Solutions needed to be explored within the workflows and skill base of an embassy, optimizing the internal network and information sharing within an external network. Success in the application of digital technology was seen in improving the delivery of consular services to vast numbers of people. Digital Diplomacy makes you visible. While the essentials of diplomacy will always remain, these tools are a game changer. Professor Melissen also mentioned the work done by the Lowy Institute in Australia on how social media serves your foreign policy.

This was followed by a panel discussion which included Mr Bernard Hammelburg, Senior Foreign Affairs Commentator, BNR news radio, Mr Willem Post, Advisor International Affairs, City of The Hague (collaborator of Diplomat Magazine), Mr Guido van Nispen, General Director and CEO of Holland’s main press agency ANP, and Mr Ard van der Vorst, Head Management Newsroom, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Hammelburg emphasized that speed was of the essence and news agencies have to meet the challenge of shifting through lots of information and providing on demand news. Mr Post said diplomats need to reach out and digital diplomacy was one among many diplomacies. Mr Van Nispen explained that the Dutch press had a wide variety of viewpoints.   The media allows you to do research beforehand and while negative news can make or break you there is also the opportunity to create news. Mr Ard van der Vorst pointed out that public office is there to benefit people and is a balance between trust and accountability. In the past diplomats were faceless, now people can see what governments do. Trust can be enhanced between citizens and government by showing accountability, and not only content. You can engage the public in the process by explaining what you do and how efficient you are. It is “traction and interaction”. Diplomacy is about relationships and the digital sphere is one aspect and it can legitimize your organization. Invited ambassadors and diplomats participated in a lively discussion. One obstacle mentioned was the technological prosperity gap in Africa which needs the assistance and support of the United Nations. Following Mr Eric Niehe’s concluding remarks, the guests were invited to a reception of drinks and snacks.                                

By Jhr. mr. Alexander W. Beelaerts van Blokland, Justice (Judge) in th (Dutch) Court of Appeal and Special Adviser International Affairs, appointed by the Mayor and Aldermen of The Hague

 

As everyone knows, The Hague is the international city of peace and justice, hosting many world wide and European institutions and tribunals in that field. Apart from permanent institutions and tribunals The Hague hosts also every year many international conferences on peace and justice.

From 3 to 6 November 2015 the city is hosting the 3rd World Conference of Women’s Shelters about the ever lasting violence against women and girls all over the world.

Violence against women and children still occurs at a huge scale: one in every three women world wide is affected by it at some point in their lives. The United Nations is very much aware of this huge problem and declared November 25th the International Day against violence against women.

The exchange of knowledge on this subject and strengthening and expanding the network of women’s shelters is of utmost importance. In 2008 the Global Network of Women’s Shelters (GNWS) had been founded during the first World Conference of Women’s Shelters of that year in Canada, in 2012 followed by the 2nd conference in Washington DC in the USA. The Hague is proud that had been decided that the first conference outside Northern America had to be organised in The Hague.

In November 2015 about thousand participants from over hundred countries will meet at the World Forum in The Hague for the 3rd World Conference of Women’s Shelters. The Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science Mrs. Jet Bussemaker will open the conference. Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will make a speech as well as Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark; through The Mary Foundation she works to help women and children who are victims of violence. Also Dr. Mukwege from Congo will make a speech; he is a world-renowed surgeon and in 1998 founder of the Panzi Hospital in East Congo where director Dr. Mukwege and his team cared for more than 30.000 survivors of sexual violence so far.

On November 25th, the International Day against violence against women, all over the world famous monuments will be enlighted with the color orange, a color of hope: the Corcavado in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the Niagara Falls in Canada, Petra in Jordan as well as the Peace Palace in The Hague and many others. In future perhaps the enlightment will be on the 25th of every month, to make us realise monthly the importance of the fight against violence against women and children worldwide.

 

a.beelaerts@planet.nl

 

On Wednesday, 28 October 2015, Russell Advocaten hosted the interactive lunch meeting on: “Employee sickness” for Embassies. For a photo album on the seminar, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157660742872392 This seminar covered the most important topics pertaining to sickness of employees: • Prevention of sickness • Medical statements and reporting sick (protocol) • Company doctor of Arbo service (re-integration) • (non) payment of salary • Termination during sickness.

  Using practical examples, including cases presented by the participants, the specialist employment lawyers identified key issues that HR-responsibles at Embassies should be aware of to prevent problems with sick personnel. Russell Advocaten (www.russell.nl) has served as trusted advisor to many Embassies, Consulates, diplomats and expats over the past decades. The special Embassy desk handles a.o. cases of employment, labour and dismissal, buying, selling and leasing real estate (Residence/Embassy), immigration, attachment, garnishment, execution, diplomatic immunity and diplomatic inviolability. Russell Advocaten regularly organizes seminars for Embassies and Consulates. Their next workshop will be “Foreign investments in the Netherlands” on 25 November 2015.

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia and the Cautious Optimism of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.   By Héctor Olasolo, active member of the Colombian Academy of International Law (1). On 23 September 2015, the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – Popular Army (‘FARC-EP’), issued a joint communique, in which they made public the core aspects of their agreement on justice matters (‘the New Agreement’), including, in particular, the establishment of a Special Jurisdiction for Peace. The next day, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (‘ICC’), Ms. Fatou Bensouda, made a preliminary statement thereon, in which she highlighted that “any genuine and practical initiative to end the decades-long armed conflict in Colombia, while paying homage to justice as a critical pillar of sustainable peace, is welcome by her Office”. She also stressed her hope for the New Agreement to comply with this goal, and her cautious optimism as “the agreement excludes the granting of amnesties for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and is designed, among other things, to end impunity for the most serious crimes”. But, what are the reasons for the ICC Prosecutor’s cautious optimism, if ever since the adoption of Legislative Act 01 of 2012 on the so-called ‘Legal Framework for Peace’ she has expressed, in all her annual reports on Colombia, her concern by the ample powers granted by it to the Colombian Congress? In my view, this can only be due to the significant difference between the role in an eventual transitional process in Colombia that the New Agreement seems to give to the investigation, prosecution and punishment of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes (‘ICC crimes’), and the limited scope of application of criminal justice provided for in the Legal Framework for Peace. In other words, if the Legal Framework for Peace reduced the role of criminal justice to a mere appendage of the transitional process, the New Agreement appears to restore it to its International Law status as an autonomous and necessary pillar of such process. The cornerstone of the criminal justice model provided for in the Legal Framework for Peace was the attribution to the Colombian Congress of the constitutional power to enact legislation banning the Colombian General Attorney from investigating and prosecuting ICC crimes. The only limitation to such broad constitutional power referred to criminal conduct: (i) amounting to genocide, crimes against humanity o war crimes; (ii) committed on a systematic manner; (iii) having sufficient gravity; (iv) being representative of the criminal activities of the organisations or institutions involved; and (v) involving the so-called ‘most responsible persons’. Only in the handful of cases in which all these cumulative requirements were met, the Colombian Congress did not have the power to ban the Attorney General from investigating and prosecuting ICC crimes. Nevertheless, even in such cases, the Legal Framework for Peace gave the Colombian Congress the power to enact legislation on alternative sentences of uncertain length, which could be served under a special regime, such as house arrest, or could even get suspended (this last option was subsequently declared unconstitutional by the Colombian Constitutional Court). As a result, the Legal Framework for Peace turned the investigation, prosecution and punishment of ICC crimes into a mere appendage of the transitional process in Colombia, departing significantly from the ICC Prosecutor’s request for their due consideration as a critical pillar of sustainable peace. It is in this context that one should understand the ICC Prosecutor’s repeated expressions of concern in recent years, which have been fully shared by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in its 2014 country report on Colombia, and by several bodies of the universal system for the protection of human rights. When the investigation, prosecution and punishment of those crimes that deserve the deepest social condemnation (ICC crimes), becomes a mere appendage of a transitional process, then one cannot but affirm the State’s failure to comply with its obligations, voluntarily assumed, to (i) provide protection against serious violations of human rights, and (ii) investigate, prosecute and punish such crimes. In light of this situation, the New Agreement constitutes a significant departure from the Legal Framework for Peace, which has never been accepted by the FARC-EP. At first glance, the New Agreement shows that all crimes of genocide and all crimes against humanity committed by the various parties to the armed conflict will fall within the Special Jurisdiction for Peace. This is of remarkable importance when considering – as explained by Prof. Jorge Giraldo in the 2015 Report of the Commission for the History of the Conflict and the Victims – that in an armed conflict with more than 250.000 casualties, for each member of the warrying parties killed in a combat operation between 1985 and 2000, there were seventy-nine civilian deaths. In subsequent years, this proportion fell dramatically to 1 out of 380. The New Agreement also shows that criminal proceedings before Special Jurisdiction for Peace will not be limited to the ‘most responsible persons’. They will also cover all those who, directly or indirectly, were involved in the commission of international crimes. Moreover, as a general rule, alternative sentences of 5 to 8 years of restriction of liberty – which are very similar to the alternative sentences provided for in the 2005 Peace and Justice Law for the purpose of promoting the demobilization of paramilitary groups – will be imposed, although they could be served in facilities other than prisons. It is certainly remarkable that after several years of hard bargaining, we end up with a criminal justice model for the Colombian transitional process that appears to be far closer to the 2005 Peace and Justice Law than to the 2012 Legal Framework for Peace. But certainly, the most striking feature of the New Agreement is the definition of the goals to be achieved by the criminal proceedings of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace. According to the New Agreement, such proceedings will be aimed at ending impunity, getting the truth, contributing to victims’ reparation, prosecuting and sanctioning those responsible for the international crimes committed during the armed conflict (especially the most serious and representative crimes), and providing guarantees of non-repetition. After hearing for several years in Colombia that truth and reparations should be provided for through extra-judicial mechanisms, and that criminal proceedings have little or nothing to do with providing guarantees of non-repetition, we have now a new legal framework that explicitly acknowledges: (i) the value of the judicial truth on individual responsibilities (which complements the contextual and historic truth provided for by extrajudicial mechanisms); (ii) the effective contribution of judicial proceedings to victims’ reparations; and (iii) the relevance of criminal proceedings to provide for effective guarantees of non-repetition. In other words, the New Agreement rejects the Legal Framework for Peace view of criminal justice as a mere appendage of the transitional process, and acknowledges its International Law status as an autonomous and necessary pillar of such process. This does not mean that what is known so far about the New Agreement contains no ambiguity. Furthermore, several aspects of it raise concern, such as, inter alia: (i) the exclusion from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace of war crimes of ‘insufficient gravity’ (which, nevertheless, fall within the ICC jurisdiction); (ii) the requirement of a link between crimes against humanity and the armed conflict; (iii) the reference to the Colombian Penal Code as the source of crimes against humanity, when no offence in such Code includes the contextual elements of crimes against humanity; (iv) the determination of which groups of individuals, who have already been found guilty of international crimes by Colombian courts, or are currently being prosecuted before such courts, may benefit from the alternative sentences of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace; and (v) the possibility of considering genocide or crimes against humanity as not sufficiently serious, for the purpose of avoiding sentences that constitute an effective restriction of liberty. As the full text of the New Agreement is not yet known, it is difficult to analyse at this time the true extent of these concerns. Nevertheless, it can be already stated that the New Agreement seems to restore criminal justice to the central position that, according to International Law, must have in any transitional process. As a result, the New Agreement is much closer to fulfil the ICC Prosecutor’s request for its due consideration as a critical pillar of sustainable peace. The challenge is now to ensure that the investigation, prosecution and punishment of ICC crimes remain in their restored position, and that once the fine print of the New Agreement becomes public, adequate measures are taken to address the concerns arising therefrom. I believe that this is what the ICC Prosecutor meant when she reiterated last week her commitment to continue its monitoring through the careful review and analysis of the provisions agreed by the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP, as part of her preliminary examination into the situation in Colombia. [1] Chair in International Law at the University of El Rosario (Colombia) & Chairman of the Ibero-American Institute of The Hague for Peace, Human Rigths and International Justice (The Netherlands).

Photography by Studio 24, Abuja, Nigeria By Sunday Oyinloye, West Africa Editor. Some call it an emerging market, some emerging economy, some a continent of the future, yet some refer to it as a continent flowing with the proverbial milk and and honey because of its geographical location, but Africa in the real sense seems to be a crawling adult. Some scholars have argued that human civilization started in Africa,however, to some youth in Africa, that is more of a folklore than reality. Can you blame the youth for not believing in history? They have every reason to dispute the theory that civilization started in Africa. How could one explain the level of poverty,hunger, disease,deprivation ,mis-governance,illiteracy,insurgency and other anti-progressive vices in a continent said to be the cradle of civilization? In theory, the future of the continent is bright, but if what is on ground and recent developments are anything to go-by, then the thinking that Africa is an emerging market and economy might be a fluke after all. From Nigeria to Central African Republic, from Kenya to Egypt and many parts of the continent, it is one crisis after the other. Even in some countries where there are no crisis, the citizens are in economic bondage under sit-tight leaders, some of whom have been heads of government for than 25 years without making any meaningful impact in the lives of their people. Though, no part of the globe is immuned to crisis and challenges,the wounds in Africa are mostly self-inflicted.Yes books have been written on how Europe underdeveloped Africa, stories of slave trade have been told and acted in films over and over again, these are not enough reasons why Africa should be stagnant. African nations are always quick to point accusing fingers at Europe and America for their misfortunes, it is however clear that some of these countries have not sat down to look inward to see that they are the architects of their misfortunes. Why for instance should people be hungry in Africa when fertile land dot many parts of the continent. It is true that some parts of Africa are prone to extreme weather conditions,but it can be safely argued that Africans have not made the best use of their arable land. Using Nigeria as a case study, there is no reason on earth why the country should not be able to feed the rest of Africa with her good soil,land mass and abundance water resources. It is rather an irony that the number of African countries facing severe food shortages has increased over the years due to insurgencies, extreme weather conditions and lack of adequate attention to Agriculture. While food supply in the globe is on the increase,that of Africa is decreasing. The Food and Agricultural Organisation and the World Food Programme fear that as many as 24 Sub-Saharan Africa countries are struggling with food crisis. Africa accounts for a large number of people displaced by conflicts and violence. Stories coming from Nigeria, Congo, Central African Republic and some nations are not encouraging. Good story has eluded Somalia for years. al-shabaab has practically held that country hostage. In recent times, Kenya has had to contend with attacks from alleged al-shabaab insurgents. Not even South Sudan which recently became a nation is faring better. It has been one crisis after the other. If on paper more than half of Africans are involved in the Agricultural sector, what sense does it make for the continent to be spending an estimated $35 billion yearly importing food ? . This is surely an headache for African Development Bank. Many farmers in Africa cannot tend their farms because of insurgencies. In Nigeria, the bulk of the food comes from the Northern part of the country, but in recent times, food production has decreased sharply because of the activities of Boko Haram. Farmers don’t feel safe in their homes not to talk of farms, little wonder prices of food are now beyond the reach of an average Nigerian. Only the wealthy and a few number of people in the middle class can afford to eat whatever they want. An average home cannot afford three square meal per day. Put differently, most Nigerians are suffering in the midst of plenty, the rich are getting richer, the poor getting poorer . Nigeria spends billions of dollars annually on food importation .From 2005 to 2015 the country has been a net importer of mainly rice, sugar, wheat and fish. The record of the Central Bank of Nigeria shows that Nigeria is the largest importer of United States hard red spring and white winter wheat. Though Nigeria has an arable land for cultivation, this opportunity has not been properly harnessed for food production in such a way to prevent food crisis. Nigeria is reputed to have over 84 million hectares of arable land of which only 40 percent is cultivated. Not even its 230 billion cubic meters of water has been effectively harnessed for agricultural growth that could lead to food security. Where are the Kano groundnut pyramids in the Northern part of Nigeria ,where is the cocoa that was used to finance education in the old Western Region and where are rubber , palm oil, and other farm produce that were popular in the Eastern and Southern parts of the country before the oil boom?. Nigerians are exposed to modern farming methods and technology but how much they have used this to put food on their tables is another question entirely. The country over the years has made fortunes from oil, yet many of her citizens are living in abject poverty Africa needs to wake up from its slumber. What is happening in some parts of the continent is heart breaking. Much of the scare resources are being used to fight insurgencies, treat diseases instead of preventing it, while huge amounts of money are daily stolen and kept in banks outside the continent by some corrupt leaders and their foreign collaborators. A continent that is supposed to be the good bride of other continents because of its history has practically lost its bearing. If not, what is the rationale behind the exodus of youth to Europe with many perishing on the high seas in their bid to seek greener pasture.Yes many are fleeing conflicts in their countries, but a large number are economic migrants. If Europeans had also chosen to destroy their countries economically, where would these economic migrants have run to?. It is time for African leaders to begin to do self examination and make their countries habitable for their citizens to prevent brain drain and exodus of the youth to Europe where they often think their future will be more guaranteed

  By Karsten Klein.  Photography by Arenda Oomen. Alderman Karsten Klein has the Hague literally at his feet: his office at City Hall provides a magnificent view of the hustle and bustle of the city. If it is up to Klein there will be even more economic bustle in the city. To achieve this, an increase in innovative talent is necessary. That is why he has introduced the program Impact Economy, a program where societal and technological innovations with international outreach are united to create a better world.   What exactly entails the program? ‘Let me start with a few examples. Drones who can be used in a case of emergencies Big data, which can be converted into practical visualisations to make humanitarian help more effective Tweets who can be converted into flood maps who can actually save lives in case of flooding. The mentioned examples are all technological innovations with an international impact, made possible by start-ups or entrepreneurs who are all based in the Hague. We call this phenomenon: the impact economy and it is exactly the kind of economy the city wants to stimulate. That is why we have developed this program. The city is a junction of public authorities, of international institutions and companies, creatives, embassies and NGO’s. This has an historic background, of course, but also more and more an economic signification. I call it an international eco-system: on a daily basis thousands of people are working on a better world. The Hague used to focus on attracting large international institutions and companies to settle in the city. Now we are ready for the next step: we can use our reputation as international city of peace and justice to attract companies and start-ups who are working on global challenges. Our international ecosystem is a perfect environment for exactly these kind of entrepreneurs who are focused on making our world a better place. The city wants to stimulate people working on the Impact Economy by investing in people, places experiments and ideas.’ How does the embassy network benefit from the Impact Economy program? ‘In the impact economy embassies and their economic diplomats are valuable partners with whom we would like to collaborate more intensely. Embassies can let us know which challenges they are facing in their country. We are interested in entering such dialogues, as some of our impact start-ups can play an innovative role in solving them. For example: I can imagine that countries who are based in delta’s and are suffering from flooding can benefit from the start up, I mentioned above, that extracts data from twitter and creates maps that give insight to inundation areas. Embassies that are interested are more than welcome to contact us on impacteconomy@denhaag.nl. We also encourage them to have a look at our platform impactcity.nl on which they can also share their events and possibly share their challenges. Also, I can imagine the city organising meet-ups or conferences for certain trade sectors from specific countries. We can than inform economic representatives of the embassy about promising developments for new industries. Not so long ago I went to Milan to discuss the enhancement in the area of food, food production and food safety. The Westland is one of the most knowledge –intensive agriculture areas and is just around the corner. Right here in this city we have multiple companies and start-ups who are working on further rejuvenation of these themes. We can make this knowledge and these developments are potentially applicable to other countries for other countries. There is more. In addition to this I think there are also more informal possibilities for cooperation. We want to create a welcoming environment for diplomatic staff. The Impact Economy program inspires to attract young people. The city offers a lot of international cultural activities, sports events and recreational opportunities. We have high end meeting places and an international events calender. We encourage embassies to join us. ‘