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Human Rights Institute
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Contemporary Issues in Human Rights This bi-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.
March 12 , 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 First Week of Human Rights Council’s Seventh Session Marks a Beginning and an End The Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council opened in Geneva on March 3 and runs through March 28. During this session, the Council will begin its first Universal Periodic Review, a procedure to determine if all U.N. member states are fulfilling their human rights obligations. At the opening of the session, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged the Council to scrutinize each country’s human rights record without favoritism, regardless of a country’s power or influence. On March 7, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour presented her annual report to the Council and announced that she would be stepping down when her mandate expires at the end of June.
Despite Calls from U.N., Violence in Gaza Continues Violence in Southern Israel and Gaza continued unabated in recent weeks and peace talks were suspended despite condemnation of the violence and calls for restraint from several U.N. officials and bodies. A series of rocket attacks by Hamas into Israel prompted Israel to respond with air strikes, which led to many civilian casualties, including children. The U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting, the U.N. Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a U.N. Special Rapporteur and the U.N. Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict issued statements, and the Human Rights Council passed a resolution on the matter.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination concluded its 72nd session on March 7, 2008, after hearing reports from seven countries, including the United States, and issuing concluding observations and recommendations on how those countries are implementing the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Committee also examined, under its review procedure, the country situation of four States whose reports were over five years late. Since Gambia’s second to fourteenth reports have been overdue since 1982, and the country gave no indication that it is drafting them, the Committee decided to send a list of issues to Gambia for it to address as a starting point.
By Lauren Torbett Reconciliation and Resettlement Efforts in Kenya In the wake of a peace deal between rival political leaders in Kenya, the government and international agencies are now focusing on resettlement of thousands of Kenyans displaced by the post-election violence. On February 28, President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement brokered by Kofi Annan in an attempt to end two months of political gridlock and violence following the December 27 elections. However, many of the 300,000+ people displaced by the violence are still unable to return to their homes because their houses were vandalized, destroyed or occupied illegally. Both the United Nations and the Kenyan government have mobilized to respond to the continuing humanitarian crisis faced by these internally displaced persons (IDPs). Ramesh Rajasingham, the head of IDP policy for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that the UN would assist the government in resolving the situation in accordance with the UN's guiding principles on internal displacement, by helping the displaced go back to the homes from where they fled, resettling them in another part of the country, or reintegrating them in the area of displacement. The Kenyan government has also set up a fund to help IDPs under the newly created department of mitigation and resettlement in the Ministry of Special Programmes. President Kibaki pledged 1 billion Kenyan shillings (approximately $14 million dollars) towards the fund, and U.S. President George Bush offered a similar amount. In the coming weeks, Parliament is expected to consider establishing a coalition that will help to expedite the resettlement of IDPs in urban and rural areas hit by the post-election violence.
UN Special Rapporteur on Migrants’ Rights Criticizes U.S. Immigration Policy
Resettlement of Bhutanese Refugees In early March, after more than 15 years in exile, a significant number of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal have left for resettlement abroad. The number of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese living in Nepali refugee camps had grown to more than 100,000 since the early 1990s, when the government of Bhutan stripped them of their nationality and expelled them from the country. In October 2006, the United States offered to take some 60,000 of the 107,000 refugees who live in seven camps in southern Nepal, and around 23,000 refugees have since applied. However, some refugee leaders have argued that all refugees should be repatriated to Bhutan, and have gone so far as to physically attack those who have expressed a desire to move to the West. Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency says there is still an urgent need for relief supplies after one of the seven refugee camps was largely destroyed by fire a week ago. The fire on March 1 destroyed 95% of the Goldhap refugee camp and left most of its 9,770 residents homeless, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
By Jennifer Toussaint Amnesty International Calls for Protection of Right to Education With its newly released report, Safe Schools-every girl’s right, Amnesty International is calling on governments and schools around the world to protect the right of girls to an education and consequently the right of women and girls to freely choose a life course. Amnesty’s report found thousands of girls are not attending school for fear of physical or sexual attack by peers or teachers. Girls that do attend school are routinely threatened with sexual assault by other classmates or are offered higher marks by teachers in exchange for sexual favors. Also of concern are schoolchildren unable to receive education while living in areas of conflict. Globally, although the numbers of children attending school has increased, the increases disguise the gender imbalance that continues to exist in education. In its report, Amnesty noted that 50% of schoolgirls in Malawi have been touched in a sexual manner without permission by teachers or male pupils, and between the years of 2003-2006, about 14,000 schoolgirls in Tanzania were expelled for getting pregnant. In Afghanistan, 170 violent attacks against schools took place in 2006 and a number of girls’ schools in the country have been targeted and burned down. The report calls for adequate protection of girls as they pursue their education and punishment for those that commit crimes against schoolgirls.
Women and UN Poverty Goals
ActionAid praised UK prime minister Gordon Brown for placing poverty and development at the top of the UN agenda last summer; however, it said, the link between gender equality has been lost and must be addressed in order for UN plans to move forward. The report goes on to say: “The disproportionate impact of poverty on girls is not an accident, but a result of systematic discrimination.” Without a change, current trends show that hunger would not be halved until 2035, equal enrollments between boys and girls in school would not be realized until after 2025, and the current progress on cutting maternal mortality rates was less than one-fifth what is needed to meet the goal.
The UN Commission on the Status of Women ended its 52nd Session on March 7, 2008, after taking action to adopt resolutions on Palestinian women, the international research and training institute, women and children hostages, female genital mutilation, and HIV/AIDS. The Chairman to the Commission suspended the session, convinced that delegations would be able to finalize their agreed conclusions on the session theme “financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women.” He said he believes that the delegations had worked very hard and were “very close” to an agreement. The Commission adopted a resolution requesting the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) to promote gender equality and women’s advancement in the context of development financing. Other resolutions include calling on governments to intensify their efforts to eradicate discrimination against women and girls in relation to HIV/AIDS and urging governments to condemn harmful cultural practices, especially female genital mutilation. A resolution to aid Palestinian women was also addressed, in efforts to aid women that are being affected by the Israeli occupation. Other actions completed by the Commission include an adoption of a provisional agenda for the fifty-third session and adopting the draft report for the current session.
By Daniel Werly United States Leads World in Jailing Children Currently 42 states allow children to be imprisoned without the possibility of ever being released. There are 2,270 children in the United States serving this sentence. Outside of the United States and Somalia, there are only twelve people in the world with such a sentence. Twenty six percent of these sentences in the United States arise from the felony murder law, a law that has been abolished in many states and European countries. The United States and Somalia are the only countries in the world that refuse to sign the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Under the U.N. covenant, sentencing children to permanent imprisonment is considered inhumane and inconsistent with the practices of a civilized society. The existence of child sentences of imprisonment without the possibility of release has increased drastically since 1980 due to the rise in the belief in the deterrent effect of harsh sentencing policies. The Bush administration claims that these sentences are reserved for only the most hardened young offenders who have “committed gravely serious crimes.”
UNICEF Helps Launch Campaign Against Child Rape in Zimbabwe UNICEF has joined with the Government and various religious groups in Zimbabwe to start a new ‘Stand Up and Speak Out’ campaign against child abuse. The campaign is aimed at raising awareness of all forms of child abuse, the damage caused, prevention, and where to go to get help. In order to get their message across, the campaign will use television, radio, and print media, and will distribute materials at church sermons and other religious activities. The campaign is attempting to reach more than six million citizens with its educational message. The campaign has arisen out of the growing problem of child abuse in the country. There were 2192 reported cases of child rape reported in Zimbabwe 2003 and 3112 cases in 2006. This represents a 42 percent increase. The increase is most likely linked to the country’s deteriorating economy. The country has by far the largest inflation rate in the world at 100,000%. When things start going wrong, people tend to take out their anger on the children.
China to Keep One-Child Policy China’s current one-child policy bans families that live in cities from having more than one child unless neither parent has siblings of their own. The rules are not as strict for families that live in rural areas or for underrepresented ethnic minorities. The policy creates many human rights issues. It has led to forced sterilization in some parts of the country, and because of a traditional preference for male heirs, it has led to a higher number of female fetuses to be aborted. The policy has accomplished its goal of slowing population growth. China’s population is growing at the rate of 0.6 percent and will peak at around 1.6 billion people in 2050. It is estimated that the policy has prevented about 400 million births. After the population peaks, Chinese family planning minister Zhang Weiqing claims that the policy will be revisited and possibly abandoned.
By Amber Mills Hydropower Projects in Southeast Asia Raise Human Rights Concerns For Displaced Locals The ruling military junta in Myanmar has committed to building hydroelectric power projects despite the huge costs to locals living along the river banks. Presently, there are plans to erect approximately 200 hydropower stations with total generation capacity of nearly 40,000 MW. However, most of the projects are being built without investigation into the potential societal and environmental impact. There is often little to no consultation with, or participation of, the affected community. In addition, these military-backed projects are often constructed by foreign corporations for the benefit of people living in other countries. One such project, the Myitsone hydropower project on the Irrawaddy River in northern Myanmar, is being constructed by the state-owned China Power Investment Corporation and Burma-Asia World Co., Ltd. This project has already displaced many of the local Kachin people. In addition to forced relocation, some of the alleged human rights abuses against the Kachin include monetary extortion from the local merchants by the military junta. There have also been reports that the junta is taking materials without paying and threatening locals not to speak with the media.
Worker Exploitation in American Poultry Factory
As the investigative report notes, companies have a financial incentive to hide injuries because by ignoring them, the company can lower costs associated with compensating injured workers for medical care and lost wages. In addition, as mentioned above, the government inspects companies that report low injury rates less often.
Private Sector Declaration Presented to Heads of State at the African Union Summit
During the summit, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, noted that business growth must be rooted in “practices that respect fundamental human rights, that ensure safe and decent workplace conditions, that protect the environment and advance good corporate governance.”
Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide By Cassandre Theano Cambodia: Tribunal Revisits the Khmer Rouge Genocide Nearly thirty years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge government, victims of the genocide orchestrated by that group may finally get a shot at justice. This week, the trial of Kaing Gech Eav (Duch), a former prison chief, began on a dramatic note as the defendant led judges and others on a tour of a prison where more than 14,000 Cambodians were tortured and executed. Yet, amidst the hope of justice lie improprieties of the Cambodian justice system. Human Rights Watch launched a warning call to the international community to consider how the money pledged for the trials is being used in nation where paying off the appropriate clerks can be the difference between paying the price for a crime or walking free. Human Rights Watch identified safeguards to be implemented if justice is to be served. Corruption and low professional standards seem to have plagued the tribunal as the ECCC failed to disqualify a judge, Ney Thol, known to have presided over cases with little respect for due process. Similarly, the government’s concern about protecting members of the current administration that were members of the Khmer Rouge by selecting a few key figures to be brought to justice raises important questions about the government’s commitment to the tribunal. With this disposition, those who await justice may end up getting their hopes crushed by exemplary trials organized to absolve the government of any accusations of not having addressed the issue while sentencing the lowest number of perpetrators. The Yale Cambodian Genocide Program estimates that 1.7 million people were killed during Cambodia’s genocide, Amnesty International estimates the deaths at 1.4 million, while on the conservative end, Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge movement until his death in 1998, estimated 800,000 lives lost. In all cases, the death toll crippled Cambodia and continues to haunt the victims and survivors. On July 18, 2007, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), commonly know as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, a hybrid court of Cambodian and international judges took shape to consider the finding evidence of “crimes against humanity, genocide, grave breaches of the Geneva Convention, homicide, torture and religious persecution.”
Sri Lankan Disappearance Cases Top the World Community “Two people came to our door, in uniforms. They were armed. Another man was dressed in an army T-shirt and jeans. I asked where they were taking my husband. The person in civilian clothes showed me a pistol. I asked where they were taking him again and he showed the pistol again, and then they took him out. I ran after them, and they had two vans, white and blue.” from Colombo In a recent report, the United Nations recorded more disappearances in Sri Lanka than in any other country. This discovery led the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and other countries to push for an International Human Rights Monitoring Mission, but the Sri Lankan government refused, downplaying the problem. The importance of this report is underscored by the withdrawal of The International Independent Group of Eminent Persons from Sri Lanka after the government failed to cooperate on a series of human rights abuse cases. This lack of political and institutional will to investigate abuses and hold the perpetrators accountable are causing the international community to doubt the Sri Lankan government’s commitment to its international commitments. Disappearances occur when a state “takes a person into custody and denies holding them or disclosing their whereabouts.” These disappeared persons are commonly subject to torture and extrajudicial execution. In Sri Lanka, ost of the disappearance victims have been ethnic Tamils, but Muslims and Sinhalese have also been targeted. In many cases, the security forces “disappeared” individuals because of their alleged affiliation with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE). While Human Rights Watch blames the Sri Lankan government, other non-governmental organizations have laid the blame on both sides of the conflict, on both the government and the rebels. It is estimated that over 1,500 people have disappeared in Sri Lanka since 2006. No members of the country’s security forces have been held accountabile despite evidence of their participation in these disappearances.
Colombia: Escalation of Conflict Follows FARC’s Prisoners Release Colombia’s separatist guerilla movement, known as FARC, was at the root of a breakdown in diplomatic relations between Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Considered a terrorist organization by many countries, and labeled as “insurgents” by Venezuela and Cuba, the FARC recently released prisoners who were in captivity for years. But this joyous moment was soon followed by an escalation in tensions between the Colombian, Ecuadorian, and Venezuelan governments. While the release was orchestrated with the help of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, suspicions soon arose that he was funding the guerilla group after the death of two prominent FARC members in a cross-border attack in Ecuador. Colombian president Alvaro Uribe threatened to bring charges against Chavez before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Briefly the South American countries came close to what may have led to a war. Luckily, the leaders quickly moved to reconciliation, and reopened their respective embassies in each other’s countries. FARC emerged in the 1960s as the military wing of the Colombian government but eventually separated from it as it became more involved in the drug trade. The FARC is estimated to be behind many kidnappings and terror acts, including attacks on civilians and placing land mines. In addition, the FARC has recruited child combatants and it is estimated that up to 30% of its rank is made up of children under 18 years of age.
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