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Human Rights Institute
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Contemporary Issues in Human Rights This weekly electronic newsletter is researched and written by students in Professor Rachel Taylor's Contemporary Issues in Human Rights class. The contributors read widely in their areas of focus and choose the week's most important human rights stories to highlight. Information in the write-ups comes from the sources provided and has not been independently verified.
January 30, 2008
Human Rights Activities of United Nations Organizations | Migration and Human Rights Women's Human Rights | Children's Rights | Corporations and Human Rights Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide
Human Rights Activities of United Nations Organizations Human Rights Council Passes Resolution at Special Session on Israeli Attacks of Occupied Palestinian Territory
The Special Session began on January 23, 2008 and was called due to concern at the UN, expressed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and others, about the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, whose 1.4 million residents were running low on supplies of food, fuel, and medicine due to restrictions on those and other items and closure of the border crossings. That same day, gunmen destroyed large sections of the seven-mile-long barricade dividing the Gaza Strip and Egypt, allowing tens of thousands of Palestinians to cross into Egypt where they attempted to buy food and supplies from overwhelmed shopkeepers who were ultimately forced to close their doors, or to visit family members in Egypt from whom they had long been separated due to the restrictions. In his concluding remarks at the Special Session, the HRC President, Ambassador Doru Romulus Costea of Romania, said that the Council had shown its ability to react quickly to situations requiring its consideration.
International Day in Memory of Holocaust Victims Observed The third International Day in Memory of Holocaust Victims was observed on January 27, 2008. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, stated that the day provides an important opportunity to remember the victims and how the international community failed to protect them. She also said the day is a “reminder of the acute necessity to confront intolerance, bigotry, prejudice, ignorance and hatred, early and unequivocally” and that we should honor Holocaust victims “by pursuing all efforts to extend the real protection of international human rights law to all those who fall victim to its violations.” The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Srgjan Kerim, made a similar statement, and called for the international community to strengthen its ability and collective resolve to prevent such atrocities. He observed that the lack of a collective will by the Member States of the United Nations has resulted in the failure to prevent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and Yugoslavia, and noted that in places like Darfur, people are suffering from "the very crimes, which, time and time again, we have vowed would never again happen."
Two Human Rights Treaty Bodies Currently Meeting in Geneva
Treaty bodies are committees of independent experts that monitor implementation of the core international human rights treaties. CEDAW monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and CRC monitors the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is the first year that the CEDAW has met in Geneva, which for decades was the only human rights treaty body serviced by another part of the United Nations Secretariat. CEDAW is now fully serviced by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, which according to the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kang, “will greatly contribute to the strengthening of the treaty body system, and the current endeavours towards a harmonized, well-coordinated and integrated approach.”
By Lauren Torbett Intensified Violence and Displacement in Kenya
Hopes of peace had surfaced when the mediation efforts of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan produced a meeting between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition candidate Raila Odinga on Thursday January 24. However, renewed violence subsequently erupted in Nakuru, Naivasha, and Kisumu over the weekend, causing further displacement.
U.S. Admissions of Iraqi Refugees Lagging The Washington Post has reported that a U.S. asylum program for Iraqi translators who have aided American forces in the country is failing to protect thousands of Iraqis at risk of death because of their service. More than 250 Iraqi interpreters working with the United States have been killed, but, according to the Post story, the U.S. asylum program has “fallen far short of demand and, at times, short of what other coalition countries have offered their Iraqi staff.” Denmark, for example, is granting asylum to 120 Iraqi interpreters who worked with Danish troops in Iraq, along with their families, in a rapid process spurred by the killings of two of their interpreters. By contrast, the United States can take months to process asylum applications while the interpreters are still at risk of death in Iraq. So far only 429 Iraqi interpreters who worked for U.S. forces have been admitted to the United States as refugees, leaving thousands of other interpreters behind.
Peace Deal and Renewed Repatriation Efforts in the DRC On January 23, Congolese President Joseph Kabila and more than 25 militia groups—including one led by General Laurent Nkunda—signed a peace agreement and ceasefire aimed at ending fighting in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The conflict in North Kivu province between government forces and militia groups, including Tutsi rebels under Nkunda’s leadership, has led to the displacement of more than 400,000 people in the last year alone. The peace agreement sets up a commission to either demobilize Nkunda's soldiers and members of other militia groups or reintegrate them into the national army. The commission will also address Nkunda's demand for the return of Congolese Tutsis who fled to Rwanda. The UNHCR “cautiously welcomed” the agreement but warned that the deal would not immediately solve the long-standing problems in the country. If stability is achieved, the UNHCR hopes to repatriate some 80,000 Congolese refugees from neighboring countries this year.
By Jennifer Toussaint Increased Sexual Assault Against Women in Kenyan Conflict Since the beginning of January, post-election violence has flared in Kenya and the rate of sexual assault against women, children, and teenagers being reported by Nairobi Hospital and hospitals around the areas of greatest violence has doubled. These assaults are occurring in settlements and slums around the country, with many of the assaults taking the form of gang rape. In light of HIV/AIDS, sexual assaults may have deadly consequences for its victims. The women and children of Kenya are at risk of having many fundamental human rights violated, including the right to be free of torture, the right to health, and the right to life, liberty and security of person. Each of these rights are articulated in CEDAW, the UDHR, the ICESCR.
Surrogacy in India Recent news articles have reported that in the quest to become mothers, foreign women are increasingly flocking to India to acquire a surrogate. Historically known for its medical tourism, India has become attractive for women seeking a surrogate because of the country’s medical advancements and largely unregulated surrogacy market. Once hired, surrogate mothers are offered medical care that they may otherwise have been unable to receive. The right to free choice of employment, articulated in Art. 23(1) of the UDHR may come into play in such situations. The reality is that poor women are renting out their bodies in the hopes of making between $6,000-$10,000 to support their families. Without regulation, this market may quickly become a means by which Indian women are exploited by the people (third party handlers, doctors, potential parents) that are profiting from this business.
Women’s Voting Rights in Mexico Eufrosina Cruz, a woman from Santa Maria Quiegolani, Mexico, is fighting for the right to vote and to attain office in a town where women are not considered town “citizens,” a status received on the sole basis of gender. The town’s discrimination against women seems to be sanctioned by the recent codification of various “use and customs” traditionally used throughout the rural regions of the country. These rules fly in the face of the rights of women articulated in CEDAW, specifically, the right to be free from discrimination, the right to be free of social and cultural patterns that are rooted in the superiority of men and the inferiority of women, and the right to participate in political and public life. Also implicated is Art. 25 of the ICCPR, which offers all people the right to take part in public affairs, vote, and be elected to office via periodic elections. Finally, the Mexican women affected must be considered equal under the law, which is explicitly protected under Art. 26 of the ICCPR.
By Daniel Werly Child Marriage and Human Rights A recent article by the Voice of America has highlighted the problem of child marriage around the world. According to this report, there are sixty-five million women aged twenty to twenty-four who were married before the age of eighteen in developing countries. Thirty million of these women live in South Asia, and in certain countries, such as Bangladesh and Nepal, more than half of married women were married before their eighteenth birthday. The reason for many of these marriages is money. Parents may choose to marry off their daughters because they are an economic burden and her marriage is necessary for the family to survive. Child marriage can cause grave physical and emotional damage to the child. There have been many incidences of domestic violence, forced rape, and even attempted suicide connected to child marriages. One such instance occurred with an Afghan girl who was married at thirteen. She told an Afghanistan radio station that her despair from her marriage and treatment she received from her in-laws during her marriage drove her to attempt suicide. “I decided to set myself on fire,” she said. In July 2007, Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum introduced legislation in hopes of expanding U.S. efforts to put an end to child marriage. This proposed legislation has been referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
UK Police Bust Child Trafficking Ring Last weekend, British police working with children’s rights organizations jointly uncovered a human trafficking ring that had imported thousands of young African children into the UK to be exploited as “modern-day slaves.” The children, who were sold by their parents with promises of a better life for the children, had been taken and sold in various UK cities. According to one news report, boys aged three to five had been offered for 5,000 pounds, while teenage girls, including some still pregnant, were willing to sell their babies for less than 1,000 pounds. After the age of seven, instead of going to school, these children were forced to work in homes, between twelve and eighteen hours a day, basically being utilized as domestic slaves. Some of the children were also subject to physical and sexual abuse. Government statistics show that at least 25,000 children have been trafficked to Britain over the past year, although some fear that the true number could be twice as high.
France Overruled on Gay Adoption On January 22, the European Court of Human Rights overturned a French court ruling that prevented a single homosexual woman from adopting a child by a vote of 10-7. The court ruled that France had violated the European Convention on Human Rights and had illegally discriminated against the plaintiff, identified as Emmanuelle B. The decision sets a precedent throughout the 47-member Council of Europe. The ruling falls short of compelling other countries to allow adoption to homosexual couples but it does open the door for similar legal challenges in other European states. This decision will not change the precedent in countries that do not allow singles to adopt. This result may cause countries considering allowing straight unwed couples to adopt to shelve these plans due to fear of being compelled to allow homosexual couples to do the same. Despite these limitations, gay rights organizations across Europe are hailing the decision for taking on one of the main kinds of discrimination that homosexuals face.
By Amber Mills Jewelry Companies Boycott Burmese Gems
Burma produces most of the world’s rubies and jade. These gems originate in mines run by the country’s military authorities and mining companies, and are produced under deplorable conditions. Indeed, forced labor, child labor, environmental pollution, HIV/AIDS, drug-resistant malaria, and tuberculosis are common among the country’s mine workers. The military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Company (UMEH) controls the gem-mining sector which, in fiscal year 2006-2007, boasted trade valued at US$297 million. Several jewelry companies, including Bulgari and Cartier, have joined retailers such as Tiffany & Co. and Leber Jewelers in their refusal to purchase Burmese gems. In addition, industry associations have pressed for legislative action to curb trade with Burma, and legislatures have responded with sanctions. As a result, sales of Burmese gems appear to have gone down, with a November 2007 gem auction posting sales far below estimates. As many groups now look to China and Thailand, the largest purchasers of Burmese jade, to follow suit, Human Rights Watch has called for continuing targeted sanctions.
Labor Conditions in Chinese Factories
And so, while Western consumers worry about their children using products produced in China, many child workers are actually producing these items— with daily exposure to harmful chemicals, and likely long-term effects. In addition, recent reports indicate that in China’s Pearl River Delta region alone, factory workers lose or break 40,000 fingers on the job every year due to dangerous machinery. One child laborer was even found with blisters on his hands due to handling hot equipment. Labor groups push to keep big corporations honest by smuggling photographs, videos and pay stubs out of abusive factories. In 2007, Wal-Mart, Disney, and Dell were among the corporations that were supplied by factories accused of unfair labor practices.
Corporations Reap Benefits from Extraction of Congolese Minerals
Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide By Cassandre Theano Sri Lanka
Tens of thousands of people have died since 1972, when the Tigers began their campaign to carve out an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the majority Sinhalese nation. Despite some signs that the Norwegian-brokered peace held promise, this latest incident puts years of negotiations at risk and leaves little hope for any prompt resolutions between the Tigers and the government. Human rights law at play includes: UDHR: Articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 13, 18, 19, 21, 28 and 29; ICCPR: Articles 1*, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27; and ICESCR: 1*, 2 (2), 11.
Sudan
While the UN has been reluctant to call the events in Darfur a genocide, referring it to as “gross violations,” the United States and many countries have condemned it as genocide. While the numbers are disputed, the UN has estimated over 200,000 deaths and 2.5 million refugees as a result of the conflict. Some NGO’s claim the numbers are as much as double the UN’s estimate. Today, millions of Sudanese live in refugee camps in neighboring Chad, Central African Republic, and Kenya with no timeline or immediate plans of returning home. While there has been relative silence about the violence occurring in Darfur in recent months, with the exception of “Save Darfur” T-shirts and protests, the situation on the ground has seen little improvement as international media lost interest over protracted conflict. Having a janjaweed in power makes it even less likely that the violence will end anytime soon and that the refugees will be able to go home. Rights that are violated under the UDHR: from the freedom of belief in the Preamble to articles 2, 3, 5, 9, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27 and 28. Other international treaties are implicated, especially CEDAW (discrimination against women, janjaweed have raped countless Sudanese women); ICCPR: Articles 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 [esp. 6(3)], 7, 9, 12, 19, 20; and ICESCR: articles 1, 2, 11, and 12, among others.
Kenya
Much of the controversy now simmering in Kenya arose from contested elections, but many other underlying issues such as land distribution, wealth, and power have fueled the violence. Unfortunately, the latest headlines show that the post-election violence continues as the Rift Valley, one of the contested regions, is up in flames, while mobs stormed the streets yielding machetes and targeting people from rival tribes. Thus far, the nationwide death toll is estimated to be over 800 since the late December elections, while an estimated 250,000 have been displaced. Human rights law at play includes: UDHR: articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, 16(1) (this particularly affect women who under customary Kenyan laws are not entitled to inheritance or land/CEDAW comes into play as well here), 19, 20, 21 (freely chosen representatives), 27 and 28; ICCPR: 1, 2, 4, 6(3), 9, 1219, 20, 25, 26, 27; and ICESCR: 1, 2 and 11.
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