16 April 2011

AFRICA:

• DR Congo = Representatives from civil society organizations from all 11 provinces of the DRC have agreed to terms for the creation of a special independent court within the national judicial system for the prosecution of international crimes against humanity committed in the DRC since 1990. (HRW)

• Libya = The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has instituted proceedings against the state of Libya in the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights in response to the massive number of NGO communications imploring it to do so. Libya now “has 60 days to respond to … (the allegations of) serious and widespread violations of the African Charter, including the repression of peaceful demonstrations and the use of heavy weapons and machine guns against its population.” (FIDH)

AMERICAS:

• USA = Attention New Yorkers: the Human Rights Campaign wants you! If you support marriage equality and would like to say so in a video, show up between 11am and 4pm tomorrow (Sunday)at Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District and speak out for equal rights. (ADV)

• USA = OMG! WTF? The Red Cross just published a new survey … in which 60% of American teenagers support torture for POWs … and over half of American teenagers support murder of POWs who had killed an American citizen. (GOOD)

• How did this happen? What messages are these kiddos getting? These are the people who will making our policy decisions in the not-so-distant future. This does NOT make me wanna LMFAO.

• Venezuela = The Inter-American Commission's Friday report found that Venezuelan human rights activists are working in a “growing climate of hostility” including unjust arrests, assaults, and harassment. President Chavez denies these allegations, saying the claims are politically motivated. (CHRON, WP)

ASIA:

• Tibet = YAY for citizen action! Residents near the Kirti Monastery have gathered to block Chinese military access to the monastery, protecting the 2500 monks within from a forced re-education program led by Chinese security forces, despite the use of excessive force and attack dogs. (HRW)

EUROPE:

• Croatia = About time! Yesterday the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted Croatian Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac for their crimes against ethnic Serbs in 1995. (AI)

• For more information on the ICTY's prosecution of war criminals, you can check out Amnesty International's report, Behind a Wall of Silence: prosecution of war crimes in Croatia here.

MIDDLE EAST:

• Iran = A proposed law before the Iranian parliament, the Bill on the Establishment and Supervision of Non-Governmental Organisations, will seriously restrain independent activities of Iranian NGOs if passed. Rights at risk include the freedom of association and the freedom of assembly, which would be monitored by the newly created Supreme Committee Supervising NGO Activities, an “unaccountable body” requiring registration of every active NGO in Iran. (AWID)

ALSO OF INTEREST:

• FREE conference in the Hague next month! On May 5-6, a short conference on Post-Conflict Justice and “Local Ownership” will be offered for free at the University of Leiden Campus. Register BEFORE 29 April by emailing pcj @ cdh.leidenuniv.nl

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.