Hate Fuck = Rape = Human Rights Violation

Soooo ... Playboy magazine's website this week posted an article by Guy Cimbalo entitled "So Right It's Wrong."

He described in detail how he would like to "hate fuck" a handful of conservative pundits/ politicians.

The media response has been disappointing. Nothing that I have read has yet pointed out the basic human rights objection to this. Columnists have decried Guy Cimbalo's misogyny, true ... but so far I haven't seen anyone call this what it is: an incitement to violence (which is speech that is NOT protected by the First Amendment) and a violation of these women's basic human rights to safety and security of the person.

There is now a list out there, targeting potential victims of violence. Guy Cimbalo has essentially created an "I dare you to rape these people" list.

Playboy's response? There is nothing on their website referencing that this article ever existed. Guy Cimbalo is still employed. The editor(s) who gave his piece the green light are still employed.

If the object of his article had been black pundits/ politicians who he'd like to "hate noose" I can't imagine the response being the same.

Help me advocate for basic human rights: contact Playboy, online at admin@playboy.com , and tell them how disgusted you are that they published such a bigoted article that encourags violence against a sector of our community. We need to hold our media accountable for the role they play in our popular culture ... if any of Guy Cimbalo's targets DO become victims of violence, I hope we as a society will hold the Playboy organization partly accountable.

Longer Than Expected Hiatus

Hello folks, 

We're still on HRRU hiatus due to other pressing work ... but we will be back soon and hope thereafter to remain your constant human rights news source. 

24 March 2009 -- Short Hiatus

Hello folks, 

We here at the HRRU are getting slammed with work (yay!!) so we're taking a short hiatus from the blog. It'll be back up in April and just as fabulous as ever. 

On a related note, we're working on a rather timely issue, and would love to hear from you if you have any contacts with human rights activists in Israel or Palestine who are involved in the peace process .... especially women's human rights activists. 

Thanks so much & we'll be back sooooooon ------ 

16 March 2009

AFRICA:

• Democratic Republic of the Congo = Mai Mai commander Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga was convicted for crimes against humanity by a military court in Katanga province on March 5^th. Yay! (HRW)
• This ground-breaking ruling also awarded damages to victims of militia violence and found the government liable for failure to disarm militias. (HRW)
• Nigeria = The National Assembly is debating the “Same Gender Marriage Bill” which would punish same sex marriage by imprisonment. (HRW, Queerty)
• Sierra Leone = is kicking kids out of school if they get pregnant, or get a partner pregnant. (IRIN)
• Anyone else think this is a terrible idea? Yowza.
• Somalia = is instituting Sharia (Islamic) law. (AJ)
• Sudan = 4 staff members of Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) who were abducted in Darfur have been released. (AJ)
• Following these abductions, DWB pulled out of Darfur almost entirely, like many other aid organizations (see last week’s HRRU posting). (AJ)
• Tunisia = Political prisoner Sadok Chorou was rearrested this week for speaking his dissident views to the media, apparently. He spent almost 20 years in prison on questionable charges and was only released from that original arrest a few weeks ago. Not cool. (HRW)

MIDDLE EAST:

• Afghanistan = Journalist Jawed “Jojo” Ahmed was shot and killed this week; one of many media workers facing increasing violence and intimidation. (AI)
• Israel = Moshe Katsav, Israel’s former president, is to be charged with rape and sexual misconduct, including assault and harassment. (AJ)
• Pakistan = In response to massive street protests, the Pakistani government will restore the Supreme Court’s chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudry. (WP)
• Protestors began marching on Thursday in a rally against President Asif Ali Zardari, demanding the reinstatement of several judges who were dismissed, and defying the government’s ban on public gatherings. (DN)
• Hundreds of activists were jailed prior to the protest march. (DN)

CULTURAL:

• Liberia = 10 girls share their stories in a new documentary film: “I Have Something to Tell You” (UNICEF)
• Yay! Comic Relief 2009 raised £57m overnight. The money is for “disadvantaged people” in the UK and the African continent. Nice. (BBC)

AMERICAS:

• United States = Legislators in the state of New Mexico have voted to revoke the death penalty and replace it with life without parole in prison. (AJ)
• While the US does NOT view the death penalty as a human rights violation, the majority of nations globally DO. (AI)

ALSO OF INTEREST:

• Sri Lanka = UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Pillay is concerned that both the Tamil Tigers and the government are committing war crimes against Sri Lankan civilians. (AJ)
• “Pillay said the government had repeatedly shelled the designated ‘no-fire’ zones for civilians and also cited reports that the Tigers were holding civilians as human shields and had shot some as they tried to flee.” (AJ)
• Tibet = This week marked the 50^th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against China. (DN, WP))
• The Dalai Lama called for “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet. (DN, WP)
• Turkey is hosting the 5^th Annual World Water Forum this week. (ICRC)
• Turkey = Ebru Soykan, a transgender human rights activist was killed on March 10^th. Lambda Istanbul is the local transgender advocacy group. (HRW)
• Women may be at a higher risk of violence during the current and continuing global economic crisis according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. (AJ)
• As 53 million more people are expected to fall into poverty THIS YEAR, progress toward gender equity is likely to be halted in many countries as “more pressing” concerns take precedence. (AJ)