6 March 2011

AFRICA:

• Democratic Republic of the Congo = The “world capital of rape” continues to earn its title. Since January of this year, more than 200 civilians—women, men and children—have been treated for sexual assault by Doctors Without Borders in just one region of South Kivu Province. Rape has been used as a weapon of war fairly consistently since 2004 by the Rwandan Liberation group FDLR which is now based in Eastern DRC, just across the Rwandan border. However, this is largest scale of mass rape victims in years. (IRIN, OHCHR)

• Ivory Coast = Political conflict is fueling a humanitarian crisis. Current but outgoing President Gbagbo allegedly cut off water and electricity to the Central, Northern and Western areas of the country for “national security” reasons. These areas voted principally for Presidential hopeful Allassane Outtara, the “internationally recognized winner of the November 2010 presidential elections” and fighting has broken out between groups loyal to Gbagbo and to Outtara. The conflict, combined with the lack of water and electricity has resulted in terrible sanitation issues as well as limited medical resources, as surgeries, for example, require both clean water and electricity. As the death toll rises, civilians are having to unceremoniously burn dead bodies to help prevent the spread of disease. (AI, IRIN)

• Libya = I'm sure those of you who follow this blog are well aware of most of the actions in Libya this past week. Here are some additional doozies to consider:

• Paramedics have been attacked by al-Gaddafi's Security Forces, despite the fact that the medical workers were wearing “full medical uniform” and arrived at the hospital in Red Crescent-marked vehicles. (AI)

• A video “roundup” showing what has been happening on the ground is available online here.

• BP is still doing business in Libya, engaging in offshore activities, despite the UN's imposition of sanctions on the current government. (CHNG)

ASIA:

• China = Since local bloggers and activists have been calling for an extension of the Jasmine Revolution in China, authorities have cracked down on the media – including the foreign media. This past week, more than a dozen foreign journalists were attacked by Chinese police officers and “plainclothes thugs.” Despite China's agreed-upon October 2008 regulations regarding rights of media correspondents, officials have warned reporters that they must now apply for and “obtain government permission before any newsgathering within the city center.” (HRW, NPR)

• If this is how the foreign media are being treated, what about the locals??

MIDDLE EAST:

• United Arab Emirates = The government this week announced its candidacy for a spot on the UN Human Rights Council. The Council is currently meeting in its 16^th regular session in Geneva until 25^th March. (UAEI)

•Yemen = This week has seen more protestors attacked and fired upon by Yemeni officials, including during prayer time. (HRW)

ALSO OF INTEREST:

• A group of representatives of the apparel industry have formed a sustainable apparel coalition in conjunction with the US Environmental Protection Agency. (BHR)

• The Brookings Institute has published a new (and very comprehensive) report on Education and Displacement: Assessing Conditions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Affected by Conflict. You can find it online here.

• March is International Women's Month – more on this topic on Wednesday, 8 March, International Women's Day.

2 March 2011

Regular Readers, my apologies for this week's late edition! I blame travel and a sickly old laptop which had to be put to rest this week. The RoundUp will back on schedule this coming Sunday – see you then.

AFRICA:

• Libya = Wow. It appears that Colonel al-Gaddafi has completely lost it --- control of his nation, that is. In an unprecedented move this weekend, Libya's own UN delegation declared that they now represented the people of Libya, not its government, and appealed to the UN Security Council to take action against al-Gaddafi. In another unexpected move, the Security Council unanimously referred Libya to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity under international law, following Friday's UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva where the Council strongly denounced the human rights abuses being perpetrated in Libya. (AI, HRW, FIDH)

• Apparently al-Gaddafi ordered some of his military pilots to fire on civilian demonstrators from the air. A petition has been started to support grants of asylum to two pilots who refused to kill unarmed protesters and escaped to Malta; you can sign it here.

• For a good article on the role of technology in the Libyan protests, check out Fast Company magazine's recent article here.

• Central African Republic = Diamond profits are still supporting armed and abusive rebel groups ... and the Kimberly Process (designed to ensure “conflict diamonds” are not put into the stream of commerce) isn't working. (AA)

AMERICAS:

• USA = We all know how serious America is about following through on its international legal obligations (ahem), so despite the ILO's 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the ICCPR's guarantees to trade union activity, etc. Wisconsin Governor and state legislators took away Wisconsin workers' collective bargaining rights in a 2am vote this week. The public response was immediate, with solidarity rallies in all 50 states this weekend. (HRW, CHNG)

• Wisconsin residents are now signing a petition to recall Scott Walker as Governor in 2012, which has already gained 65,000 signatures; it is online here.

ASIA:

• China = Chinese bloggers and “netizens” are calling for “Jasmine Revolution” protests … and the government is not surprisingly moving swiftly to stifle their voices. At least 5 people have been criminally detained for “subversion of state power,” a charge that could get these activists 10 years in prison. Additionally, more than one hundred people have had their residences raided, been beaten, interrogated or disappeared over the past week. (CHRD)

EUROPE:

• England = Two teenage college-hopefuls are suing their government for human rights abuses because university tuition was tripled starting next September. Public Interest Lawyers is representing the students, who argue the increased tuition disproportionately affects students from lower-income homes and ethnic minorities. England, as a member of the European Union, is subject to the European Convention on Human Rights and this tuition raise allegedly breaches Article 14 of that Convention. (GRD)

MIDDLE EAST:

• Bahrain = Yay!! The Bahrain 23 have been freed. Last summer, activists from government opposition groups organized a boycott of the approaching elections. The Ministry of Justice arrested and charged 23 activists with “forming an authorized group which incites to overthrow the government.” Since their arrest 6 months ago, the detainees have all been brutally tortured, spurring thousands of their colleagues to protest and blog about their treatment. This week the Bahrain 23 along with 250 other political prisoners were released from jail. (CHNG)

• Yemen = With an average of 3 deaths per day since demonstrations started on 16 February, Yemeni security forces are now allegedly opening fire on protesters, attacking protesters' homes, outright executing people and barring both injured patients and doctors from entering hospitals. A doctor in the al-Mu'alla region was told, “Let them die!” by security officers who would not allow him to enter the hospital to treat people who had been injured in the demonstrations. (AI)

ALSO OF INTEREST:

• Any environmentalists out there feel like taking the Fate of the World into your hands? This video game lets players turn climate change issues around and save the future of our planet. If you purchase the Fate of the World before Thursday, all proceeds will benefit the global environmental-group coalition, TckTckTck. (GOOD)

20 February 2011

AFRICA:

• Djibouti = Mr. Jean-Paul Noel Abdi, president of the Djiboutian League of Human Rights, has been arrested after opposing the arbitrary arrests of human rights activists on 5^th February. Abdi publicly denounced the arrests and was then arrested himself and has been charged with “participation in an insurrectory movement” despite a complete lack of evidence to support these charges. Activists are deeply concerned for Abdi’s health, a 60-something diabetic. (HRW)

• Libya = Protestors have been killed in Misratah, Benghazi and other Libyan cities this week. Colonel al-Gaddafi, Libya’s leader, has allegedly ordered his security forces as well as hired foreign mercenaries to shoot to kill demonstrators in order to suppress protests. At least 34 people were shot on Friday and at least 173 people have been killed. At least 10,000 demonstrators are protesting today in Benghazi; hopefully without incident. (AI, HRW, FIDH)

• Morocco = Today thousands of demonstrators are protesting in the streets of Tangiers, Fes and Marrakech. Apparently a police station was vandalized and certain shops have been looted – it is now unclear how much of this is the result of protestors and how much is the result of street thugs joining in the “fun.” No reports yet on numbers of people who are injured. (GV)

AMERICAS:
• USA = Following up on our story previously published in the 6 February 2011 Human Rights RoundUp, “border vigilante” Shawna Forde was found guilty this Tuesday on two counts of 1^st degree murder for killing Brisenia Flores and Raul Flores in their Arizona home. (IPS)

• USA = Boo! The state senate of Wyoming this week passed a bill that would “preserve” a valid marriage as between one man and one woman and would additionally allow the state to not recognize as legal any civil unions or same-sex marriages legally entered into outside of Wyoming. (ADV)

ASIA:
• Thailand = Thai activist Daranee Chamchoengsilpakul made three speeches against government repression in 2008 and was sentenced to 18 years in prison for “insulting the monarchy.” This week, her sentence was overturned in what appears to be a positive step toward freedom of speech in Thailand. (CHNG)

• Unfortunately, this week in Thailand was not all positive: Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the director of a Thai political website, was charged with violating Thailand’s freedom of expression laws regarding cyberspace. She could be sentenced to 20 years in prison if found guilty of “failing to promptly remove offending comments from the website.” (HRB)

EUROPE:
• Italy = Over 5,000 people who are trying to migrate to Italy from Tunisia are being detained on the Italian island of Lampedusa. This “migrant wave” is causing political unrest at home in Italy, allegedly prompting Italian border police to open fire on a boat carrying Egyptian asylum seekers. According to Amnesty International, “Italy routinely detains irregular migrants, and in the past has conducted mass expulsions, in violation of international law.” (AI)

• Let’s keep our eye on this situation.

• Ireland = The Irish Centre for Human Rights now has its own YouTube channel. (HRD)

MIDDLE EAST:
• Jordan = Yay! A new public health initiative in Jordan is connecting Bedouin women with doctors through mobile phones. Patients can use their phones to ask questions and receive recorded audible responses, confidentially. (FC)

• Yemen = As in Libya and Morocco (see above), protestors are motivating in Yemen and the authorities are doing what they can to suppress the demonstrations. Security forces allegedly attacked demonstrators in Ta’izz with a hand grenade, leaving at least 10 people injured. (AI)

ALSO OF INTEREST:
• The Brookings Institution in Washington, DC is hosting a UNESCO event on March 2^nd entitled The Hidden Crisis: Armed Conflict and Education which focuses on the effect of violent conflicts on school children and the local educational systems and institutions; information about the conference is available online here.

• The Qosbi Show?? Apparently it was originally Katie Couric’s idea: having a television show about Arab-Americans on the US airwaves could “promote more cross-cultural understanding,” like the Cosby show did for black and white Americans in the US in the 1980s. (IPS)

• The Nelson Mandela Foundation is hosting an event this coming week marking the 10^th anniversary of legalized freedom of information in South Africa.

• The March 2011 edition of the Human Rights Law Review has published a piece on the human rights of older people … a topic we should all be considering as health care systems improve and populations in the West, especially, are growing older.

13 February 2011

AFRICA:

• Botswana = The Court of Appeal decided what was the 1^st test case of the UN Right to Water Resolution this week. The Kalahari Bushmen will retain legal access to the waters on their ancestral lands. The ruling quoted a UN Report categorizing water as a “fundamental human right.” (PMBZ, COC)

• Egypt = On Thursday, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor on behalf of missing detainees and victims of the alleged massacre at Al Qata prison. This filing follows the protestors’ successful movement to force President Mubarak out of office this week in an 18-day-short revolution. (EIPR, FIDH, CHNG)

• You can view an 18-day photo recap of the Egyptian uprising here.

• Tunisia = Yay! Tunisia is abolishing the death penalty and ratifying the 2^nd Additional Protocol to the ICCPR. (HRD)

AMERICAS:

• USA = Civil Unions are now legal in the state of Hawaii after the state’s House of Representatives voted 31-19 in favor of legalization. (ADV)

• USA = Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Thomas may have had conflicts of interest in the Citizens United case (increasing corporations’ allowable election spending), which they failed to disclose. Allegedly, both justices engaged in strategy sessions with key corporate interests in the case and justice Thomas’ wife benefitted financially from the decision. (CHNG)

• You can sign this petition asking the Department of Justice to investigate these claims.

• Venezuela = A group of students is on a hunger strike protesting in front of the Caracas office of the Organization of American States. The students want justice for people who are currently detained, “deprived of their freedom” including Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni and three members of Parliament. (OAS)

ASIA:

• Afghanistan = The Council of Ministers, which meets every Monday, is debating passing a draft regulation on Women’s Protection Centers. This would give the government control over domestic violence shelters for women and girls in Afghanistan. As the Afghan government is “increasingly dominated by hard-line conservatives who are hostile to the very idea of shelters,” local women and activists fear that passage of this regulation will result in the closure of many shelters and resources for women seeking freedom from their abusive family members. (HRW)

• To take action and contact the council of ministers, click here.

• Thailand = 91 Rohingya people were found on a boat in the Indian-administered Nicobar Islands this week, claiming that the Thai Navy had set them adrift in the boat, without an engine or adequate food and water. People who are Rohingya are a Muslim minority in Burma and have been fleeing to Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia for decades to escape persecution. Three boatloads of refugees have entered Thailand this month; the first boat arrived on January 22^nd and the people aboard are missing and were allegedly “returned to Myanmar by Thai authorities.” (IRIN)

EUROPE:

• Holland = This week, prosecutors and defense attorneys made their closing arguments in the case against Charles Taylor of Liberia in the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The trial has been under way for 3 years and revolves around allegations of murder, rape, and dismemberment committed by Taylor’s rebel groups in Sierra Leone. (OSF, HRD)

MIDDLE EAST:

• Yemen = On Friday morning, protestors gathered in Sana’a, calling for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. These protests follow those in Egypt (see above) and also raise concerns about demonstrators’ safety. Yemeni security forces have allegedly been working together with “armed thugs” using tasers against activists, along with clubs, axes, traditional daggers, and sticks, contravening the freedom of assembly. (HRW)

ALSO OF INTEREST:
• The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) is launching 2 short public service announcements, “Slavery Lives”, in Times Square. These PSAs come prior to the US governmental debate on whether or not to renew the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). You can watch the PSAs online here.

• A December 2010 interview with the Islamic Human Rights Commission is now online here at the Institute for Policy Studies’ website.

• The movie, Mrs. Goundo’s Daughter about a Malian immigrant in the US who is seeking asylum so that her daughter will not be subjected to Female Genital Mutilation will be airing on PBS this month.

6 February 2011

AFRICA:

• Egypt = Protests against police brutality and President Mubarak continued this week, despite Egypt’s prior attempts to quash the demonstrations by using live fire against civilian marchers and instituting a nation-wide internet blackout. Egyptian security forces, including the police and the Special Police, have been detaining and abusing Egyptian citizens, activists and journalists, as well as international activists and journalists in an apparent attempt to cover up or at least minimize the reporting of the protests. On Friday, security forces raided a Law Center in Cairo, detaining 30 people including two Amnesty International staff and local human rights activists. (AI, ICTJ)

• Gambia = YAY!! 24 communities in Gambia’s Upper River Region have officially abandoned the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). (AA, GRD)

• Uganda = After last week’s murder of David Kato, a Ugandan gay rights activist, his local colleagues are calling on both the Ugandan government and American evangelicals to take responsibility for the role they played in spreading the homophobia and hate which led to Kato’s death. (CHNG)

· You can sign a petition to “Tell Evangelicals to Condemn the Murder of a Gay Activist in Uganda” here.

AMERICAS:
• USA = Closing arguments are expected this week in the Arizona murder trial of 9 year old Brisenia Flores and her father, Raul in their Arizona home by anti-immigration extremists. The accused vigilante group leader, Shawna Forde, is a former member of the Minuteman Project and was known to espouse her extremist views to such a degree that she was expelled from some civilian border patrol groups. (IPS, WP)

ASIA:
• Bangladesh = Sometimes “village justice” just isn’t – according to the local human rights advocates. 14 year old Hena Akhter died this week after being whipped by her village elders for having “an illicit relationship with a married man.” (GRD)

· The married man in question is her cousin, who found her outside her home in the early evening one night, gagged her with a cloth and beat her senseless. This attack led her cousin Mahbub’s wife Shilpi to accuse Hena of engaging in a relationship Mahbub. This man Mahbub, Hena’s cousin and attacker, had been found guilty of rape before, but the village elders had him marry that woman—Shilpi—to invalidate any shame on Shilpi’s family.

· Justice did not serve Shilpi, forcing her to marry her rapist, and Shilpi used that same justice system, the shalish—a village meeting led by the elders (elder men only?)—to get her revenge on her husband Mahbub.

· How absurd that Hena got caught up in the middle of this; that village elders, village ANYONE, would think it reasonable to give 101 lashes to a 14 year old girl who could barely stand from the beating her cousin Mahbub had given her.

· The only way to turn this into a positive is to put pressure on the Bangladeshi government to enforce its own laws, which make these village-level punishments illegal. You can contact the Supreme Court of Bangladesh here, and the Prime Minister here.

EUROPE:
• European Court of Human Rights = The Court is introducing fees on applications, which many rights groups fear will deter individuals from filing legitimate human rights claims. (PAMB)

ALSO OF INTEREST:
• Cell Phones = Blood Diamonds? Six African Heads of State are backing a certification plan to track and eliminate conflict minerals from being used in electronic devices, much like the processes that were adopted to prevent the trade in conflict diamonds. The four “dirty” minerals are tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold – regularly used in our cell phones and laptops. This initiative aims to prevent armed groups from reaping the profits of these minerals. (CHNG)

· You can get in on the action, by signing a petition to “Tell the SEC: Keep Conflict Minerals Out of Our Electronics” here.

• The 2^nd Annual Women in the World Summit is happening in New York City this coming March 10^th-12^th. (DB)

• The Draft UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training is available online here.

30 January 2011

AFRICA:

• Egypt = This week’s demonstrations and riots against police brutality and against President Mubarak have resulted in at least 33 civilian casualties in Alexandria, with estimates of over 50 people dead in a Cairo morgue -- due to excessive force and live fire on civilian protestors. Additionally, the Egyptian government imposed a nation-wide blackout, shutting down the internet and most phone networks. (HRW, FC, FIDH, AI, HRW)

• Ethiopia = YAY! Two districts in Ethiopia’s Afar Region have outlawed Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting, citing the many health problems it causes women and girls. (IRIN)

• Uganda = David Kato, a prominent activist for LGBT rights in Uganda was killed in his home this past Wednesday. He was the Advocacy Officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda and was an active opponent to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill before Parliament. This Bill would officially criminalize all homosexuality, making offenses punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty. (HRW)

AMERICAS:
• USA = The state of Pennsylvania’s Superior Court met this Tuesday to hear an appeal regarding whether or not to try Jordan Brown, a 13 year-old boy, as an adult. Jordan allegedly shot and killed his father’s pregnant fiancée when he was 11 years old. Currently, the international human rights community is in almost consistent agreement that putting a minor child on trial for a crime which could result in life imprisonment without a chance for parole, violates international law. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits this action, but the USA (along with Somalia) has not yet ratified that Convention. (AI, CBS)

ASIA:
• Phillippines = Peace talks are scheduled to resume next month between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Phillippine government. Previous negotiations broke down in August 2008 and led to over half a million people being internally displaced. The most contentious topic will likely be Ancestral Domain in disputed territories. (AST)

EUROPE:
• UK = The UK high court—perhaps in response to the killing of David Kato (see above)—granted 29 year-old Ugandan Brenda Namiggade a temporary stay, rather than being deported home on Friday, as was originally intended. Ms. Namiggade is a Ugandan national and a lesbian who has been petitioning for asylum in the UK since 2002. (ADV)

ALSO OF INTEREST:
• The Danish Institute for Human Rights, with the UN, has published The Arc of Human Rights Priorities, a guide developed for businesses looking to integrate human rights practices into their internal management.

· “The Arc builds upon the Sphere of Influence concept, and is designed to allow companies to focus their resources on the most urgent human rights issues in their operations.” (BHR)

• TED Talks go old-school, sort of … you can now read several of their talks on your Kindle. TED Talks are publishing short (10,000 to 20,000 word) electronic books by authors who have given Talks. The launch is 3 TED favorites, including The Happiness Manifesto, for $2.99 each. (FC)

23 January 2011

AFRICA:

• South Africa = This week, Johannesburg hosted a summit on global poverty. The participants were in general agreement that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are falling short of targets and will not be reached by the originally anticipated 2015 deadline. (IRIN)

• Do the MDGs remain helpful targets? Is there a way to address accountability which would prompt leaders to work harder toward achieving these goals?

• Sudan = The 9^th-15^th January voting period in Sudan on the Referendum for Secession was “peaceful and calm,” according to observers. The final results of the vote will be revealed on 14^th February and are expected to return strongly in favor of Secession. (IRIN)

• The women’s vote may be the deciding factor in the outcome of this Referendum. Local rights activists see separation as “liberation” for the women of the South, freeing them from the rule of Islamic law, which many see as the primary limit to their freedom. Polling returns show that the majority of women voted for Secession. (IPS)

AMERICAS:
• Haiti = This week the City University of New York’s International Women’s Human Rights Clinic issued a press release regarding the incidence of sexual violence against displaced women in Haiti. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is now pushing the Haitian government to “take immediate measures” to prevent sexual and gender-based violence in the displacement camps, based on advocacy by CUNY and other Haitian and American human rights activists. (CUNY)

• The decision is available online here.

ASIA:
• Thailand = 85 detained Pakistani people remain in detention in Bangkok over a month after arriving in the country seeking asylum. The refugees are of Pakistan’s Ahmadi sect; while they consider themselves Muslim, Pakistan does not and discriminates against Ahmadi people. Local rights groups are concerned that the Ahmadi refugees face either indefinite detention in Thailand or persecution and prejudice back home in Pakistan. (IRIN)

EUROPE:
• Germany = This past Tuesday marks the start of Germany’s first Rwandan genocide trial. A former Rwandan mayor who sought asylum in Germany in 2002 is now being tried in a Frankfurt court for murder, genocide, and incitement to both. The German prosecutors partnered with the Rwandan government to gather evidence and secure over 50 witnesses. This case could mark the beginning of a trend: because many Rwandan refugees fled to European countries, the future will likely bring similar continued cooperation between European governments, the Rwandan government, and the International Criminal Court. (DW)

• Is this a positive justice-sharing program? Are the European courts over-stepping their bounds? Should the ICC support these types of cases? What role does the Rwandan government have here? Would justice be better served by trying all of the accused within Rwanda?

CULTURAL:
• Liberia Women Democracy Radio is now in its 6^th operating month. The station was launched in August 2010 by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf with funding from the UN Democracy Fund to focus on women’s advancement. The UN funding expires in March 2011 and the station is now looking for donations and sponsorships. The station focuses on both producing gender-relevant radio shows and on training female reporters, who are currently a tiny minority in Liberia’s media. (WEN, YWCA)

ALSO OF INTEREST:
• The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights is offering an Advanced Training Course on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva from 9^th-13^th May 2011. Course information and registration form are available here.

• Open Society Foundations just published a new study regarding the rule of law in international criminal cases in 3 African States, entitled “Putting Complementarity into Practice: Domestic Justice for International Crimes in DRC, Uganda, and Kenya” and available online here.

• The Final Report of the Organisation of American States Mission to Haiti regarding Vote Tabulation of the November 2010 Presidential election is available online here.