Ontario amends Human Rights Code to extend protections to transgender people

BY KEITH LESLIE, CANADIAN PRESS JUNE 13, 2012

TORONTO — Ontario’s Human Rights Code was updated Wednesday for the first time since the 1980s to extend protections to transgender people, something Manitoba was expected to do Thursday.

Members of all three parties in Ontario’s legislature voted to amend the code to add the terms “gender identity” and “gender expression” to prevent discrimination against transgender people.

It was the first change to the code since it was amended to add the words “sexual orientation” to protect gays and lesbians.

New Democrat Cheri DiNovo, who tried for six years to amend the code with three previous private member’s bills, called the vote historic, and said it would prevent discrimination against transgender people looking for a job or a place to live.

“A long time coming, but it’s a very good day,” a beaming DiNovo told reporters after the vote.

“There’s a whole host of things that will be opened up for trans people because of this, and really this recognizes them simply as humans, with all the rights of every other human in Ontario.”

A similar amendment to Manitoba’s Human Rights Code to include gender identity was expected to pass into law Thursday.

The Ontario legislation was called Toby’s Act, in honour of the late musician Toby Dancer, who led the choir at the Toronto United Church where DiNovo was a minister before she became a member of provincial parliament.

A large percentage of transgender people attempt suicide and nearly half live below the poverty line, which DiNovo said shows they are a marginalized and vulnerable community in need of the same protections from discrimination as everyone else.

Liberal Yasir Naqvi, a co-sponsor of the all-party bill, said politicians thought they had covered all the bases when they amended the code in the 1980s to protect homosexuals.

“We thought at that time that by just adding “sexual orientation” we were covering all kinds of people, but we recognized soon after that was not the case, that we had excluded members of the trans community,” Naqvi told the legislature during third reading debate.

“Today, we’re taking that very important historic step forward by adding gender identity and gender expression ... so that no human being is left outside the scope, the protection, of the Ontario Human Rights Code.”

Deputy Progressive Conservative Leader Christine Elliott, the other co-sponsor, said DiNovo’s persistence on the issue helped persuade her colleagues about the need to protect transgender people.

“We have been educated in this process, and we have a much deeper understanding of some of the things that people in the trans community go through,” Elliott told the legislature.

“That’s why we’re here today, to make sure that we amend our Human Rights Code to properly reflect the need to protect the rights of everyone in our society, and that’s what this is all about.”

DiNovo credited the fact Ontario now has a minority government that makes it easier to get opposition bills brought forward for debate for her success in finally getting Toby’s Act passed into law.

“This shows minority government working as I think the electorate wants it to work, which is to work together,” she said.

Ontario is the first major jurisdiction in North America to provide human rights protections for transgender people. The Northwest Territories passed a similar bill, and DiNovo expects other provinces and American states to soon follow suit.

“The reality is this is very exciting, and I’m already getting calls from New York state, from North Carolina, so hopefully it starts a wave of moves across jurisdictions for trans,” said DiNovo.

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Source:http://www.canada.com/news/Ontario+amends+Human+Rights+Code+extend+protections+transgender+people/6776765/story.html

WHAT IS GENOCIDE?

THE TERM "GENOCIDE"

The term "genocide" did not exist before 1944. It is a very specific term, referring to violent crimes committed against groups with the intent to destroy the existence of the group. Human rights, as laid out in the US Bill of Rights or the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, concern the rights of individuals.

In 1944, a Polish-Jewish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959) sought to describe Nazi policies of systematic murder, including the destruction of the European Jews. He formed the word "genocide" by combining geno-, from the Greek word for race or tribe, with -cide, from the Latin word for killing. In proposing this new term, Lemkin had in mind "a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves." The next year, theInternational Military Tribunal held at Nuremberg, Germany,charged top Nazis with "crimes against humanity." The word “genocide” was included in the indictment, but as a descriptive, not legal, term.

THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE

On December 9, 1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust and in no small part due to the tireless efforts of Lemkin himself, the United Nations approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This convention establishes "genocide” as an international crime, which signatory nations “undertake to prevent and punish.” It defines genocide as:

[G]enocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

While many cases of group-targeted violence have occurred throughout history and even since the Convention came into effect, the legal and international development of the term is concentrated into two distinct historical periods: the time from the coining of the term until its acceptance as international law (1944-1948) and the time of its activation with the establishment of international criminal tribunals to prosecute the crime of genocide (1991-1998). Preventing genocide, the other major obligation of the convention, remains a challenge that nations and individuals continue to face.

"This article is taken from the website of 'United States Holocaust Memorial Museum" for detail information on Genocide Studies you can refer to http://www.ushmm.org

Human Rights Watch: Liberia Militias Attacking Ivorian Villages

Groups who supported former president have killed at least 40 civilians, says human rights group

Laura Burke Associated Press

June 07, 2012

ACCRA, Ghana(AP) -- Armed groups in Liberia who supported Ivory Coast's former president have killed at least 40 civilians in cross-border raids into Ivory Coast since July and are recruiting children as young as 14 into their ranks, a human rights group said Wednesday.

Human Rights Watch says the armed men, most of whom fought for Ivory Coast's former president and flooded over the border to Liberia following his arrest, carried out at least four attacks targeting ethnic groups who support Ivory Coast's current president, Alassane Ouattara.

Ivory Coast was brought to the brink of civil war when former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power to Ouattara in a 2010 election. The U.N. estimates at least 3,000 people were killed in the six months of violence that followed. Gbagbo was arrested with the help of U.N. and French forces in April 2011, and is now facing charges of war crimes at The Hague.

Both sides handed out weapons and recruited young men to fight during the conflict. Several thousand Liberian mercenaries joined the fight, the vast majority for Gbagbo's side, Human Rights Watch says. Following Gbagbo's arrest, many of the mercenaries and militiamen who fought for him fled across the porous border into Liberia's forests, or clandestinely, into its refugee camps.

The New York-based rights group says the Liberian government has failed to respond to the presence of armed groups on the border or to the recruitment of child soldiers.

``Rather than uphold its responsibility to prosecute or extradite those involved in international crimes, Liberian authorities have stood by as many of these same people recruit child soldiers and carry out deadly cross-border attacks,'' said Matt Wells, West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.

There was no immediate reaction to the report by the Liberian government, though Ivory Coast deputy defense minister Paul Koffi Koffi said the Ivorian and Liberian authorities are collaborating to prevent further attacks.

``We're working with the Liberians and we have reinforced patrols along the border,'' Koffi Koffi said. He said there was a joint military program in place, but that it was secretive and he could not provide details.

Human Rights Watch said it had documented armed groups recruiting Liberian children and residents of several Liberian border towns also described seeing children at a training camp for fighters. A 17-year-old boy told the group he led a unit that included other children and that they had participated in cross-border attacks.

The rights group says the government is also responsible for releasing ``war criminals'' from prison. In April, Liberian authorities released Isaac Chegbo on bail, a mercenary better known as ``Bob Marley'' for his long dreadlocks. Chegbo is accused of leading massacres in Ivory Coast last year that left more than 120 people dead.

News Courtesy:http://theskanner.com/article/Human-Rights-Watch-Liberia-Militias-Attacking-Ivorian-Villages-2012-06-07

Problem of Human Right in India: Special reference to “Violation of Human Right in Assam”

This article is contributed by Mr Priyanku Narayan Baruah. He is a research scholar at CMJ University, Shillong, Meghalaya. You can contact Priyanku @ 08822797237 & alwayspriyanku@gmail.com

India’s experience in enforcement of human right is not very significant. There are many social, political, economic constrains in this field. Thousands of cases of violation of human right suffering from the dirty bureaucratic RED TAP. Although in theory Indian constitution emphasizes socio-economic, political justice, liberty of thought expression, belief, faith and worship, equal status and opportunity, fraternity and dignity of individual. There are many recognized and accepted human rights like freedom of information, association, political right of women and children, social security of discrimination, elimination of all forms of slavery and torture and ensuring of freedom. Within Indian context the Constitution empowers the Supreme Court and High court to enforce the rights. Similarly the Constitution also leaves scope to ensure empowerment and good governance. The Constitution (Art 23) and Indian Police Act forbid torture similarly the Indian Panel Court (IPC) expands the protection of rights. Such as the rape of the women in police custody carries none enchants punishment.. There are many laws and regulations expanding the orbit of social security. Tribal have been given special protection and effective action and laws are aimed that removing discriminations. In addition laws and regulation the Government of India has set up NHRC as acquired by as HR Protection 1993. The states have said their HR Commission. A National Women’s Commission has also been set up. We have specific Commission for STs and SCs, minorities as well as backward classes. Apart from all these the civil commission studies issues of HR from time to time and enumerates new laws and amendments to existing laws. Much more important are the institution of free press, strong impartial judiciary who play very important role.

Surprisingly even if these sorts of provisions are enumerated in Indian Constitution, tragic truth was that these laws are never implemented properly till now. Many women, children and other vulnerable sections of society have suffered. While in theory human rights are guaranteed to all the citizens, in reality only a few obtain the benefits of the rights. Even after more than five decades of independence, land reforms have not been implemented throughout the country. The peasant still suffers under tenancy laws. Primary education has not been imparted to all the children of the country. Unemployment has remained a major problem being faced by the youth .It can be critically say that the democratic process has become the monopoly of a class and is not the representative of the masses today. Cases of violation of human rights are more critical in Assam. In respects of Assam, grave violation of human rights occurs primarily because of the lack of primarily education, in effective delivery system, lack of awareness and due to extreme party politics, as well as ineffective administrative system sponsored top to bottom level corruption In Assam; blasting, bombing and corruption represents the modern Assamese culture in contemporary days. Open Murder, Rap, Dacoiti becomes the significant character of present Assamese social life. Administration turns to be the handicap spectator. Government frequently sounds of a Healthy and Wealthy Assam, but they even know their failure. It is a very shameful story that teachers were beaten by police; during democratic protest session, media persons have been victimized in many cases. Still Foreigners issue, Autonomy issues are unsolved, ULFA question is burning. Even if Assam government demanded that in Assam life and property of general public is safe, truth showed another picture. Still in Assam child workers have lost their right, still Nikita Jain, like girls are the victims of dowry, although the victims are punished very rarely. Bomb blast in Guwahati, Nalbari of Assam etc. indicates how the term human rights have been violating in Assam. As the public today are very professional and day by day as most of human being loss their moral sense, it becomes the important factor which inspires the evil groups to do the danger, as public have no time to sound against them. Luckily in recent days some protests are continuing against terrorism and other forms of violations of human rights.

           

  With active campaign and cooperation by all human rights organizations and government and the people, the cases of abuses can come down. Transparency in the functioning of bureaucracy is needed to provide credibility to the system. Number of human right organization (HRO) s has come up. Young men and women inspired by the spirit of human freedom should work at grassroots level among the deprived and exploited sections of the people, such as the tribal, dalits, women and landless labourers to make them aware and instigate to fearlessly fight for their rights.    

          For elimination of any kind of violation of human right; the awareness of the civil society is must.

Riot-hit western Burma province in state of emergency

Burma's president Thein Sein has announced a state of emergency in the western state of Rakhine, following a week of attacks in the area.

A spate of violence involving Buddhists and Muslims has left seven people dead and hundreds of properties damaged.

Trouble flared after the murder of a Buddhist woman last month, followed by an attack on a bus carrying Muslims.

Officials announced a curfew in four towns in the state earlier, expressing concerns about further clashes.

A state of emergency essentially allows the military to take over administrative control of the region.

State television said the order was in response to increasing "unrest and terrorist attacks" and "intended to restore security and stability to the people immediately".

President Thein Sein said the violence could put the country's moves towards democracy in danger.

"If we put racial and religious issues at the forefront, if we put the never-ending hatred, desire for revenge and anarchic actions at the forefront, and if we continue to retaliate and terrorise and kill each other, there's a danger that (the troubles) could multiply and move beyond Rakhine," he said.

"If this happens, the general public should be aware that the country's stability and peace, democratisation process and development, which are only in transition right now, could be severely affected and much would be lost."

A nominally civilian government was elected in 2010 and, in April this year, opposition politicians led by Aung San Suu Kyi entered Burma's parliament following historic by-elections.

However, the government is still dominated by the military and concerns over political repression and human rights abuses continue.

The violence began on 4 June when a mob attacked a bus in Taungup, Rakhine province, apparently mistakenly believing some of the passengers were responsible for the earlier rape and murder of a Buddhist woman.

The suspected perpetrators were later arrested in the town of Ramree in the far south of the province and are now on trial.

Ten Muslims died in the attack, which led to rioting in Maung Daw and Buthidaung townships on Friday and attacks on Buddhist properties.

According to state media, the rioting left at least seven people dead and 17 wounded.

Rakhine state is named for the ethnic Rakhine Buddhist majority but also has a sizeable Muslim population, including the Rohingya minority.

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group and are stateless, as Burma considers them to be illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18384929

World Report 2012: Iraq

Source:http://www.acus.org/content/iraq

Human rights conditions in Iraq remained extremely poor, especially for journalists, detainees, and opposition activists. In part inspired by peaceful uprisings elsewhere in the region, thousands of Iraqis demonstrated in the streets to demand better services and an end to corruption. Security forces and gangs responded with violence and threats.

Reports continued of torture of detainees unlawfully held outside the custody of the Justice Ministry. In late June or early July United States forces handed over the last of the 192 detainees in Iraq who were still under US control at the end of 2010, including some former members of Saddam Hussein's government. Attacks by armed groups killed hundreds of civilians as well as police. The US continued to withdraw troops as part of a 2008 agreement that calls for a complete US withdrawal by the end of 2011.

Freedom of Assembly

After thousands took to the streets in February to protest widespread corruption and demand greater civil and political rights, federal Iraqi authorities and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities both responded with violence.

On February 21, Iraqi police stood by as dozens of assailants, some wielding knives and clubs, stabbed and beat at least 20 protesters intending to camp in Tahrir Square in Baghdad, the capital. During nationwide demonstrations on February 25, security forces killed at least 12 protesters across the country and injured more than 100. Baghdad security forces beat unarmed journalists and protesters that day, smashing cameras and confiscating memory cards.

Anti-government protests started in Kurdistan on February 17. At this writing security forces had killed at least 10 protesters and bystanders and injured more than 250.On March 6, masked assailants attacked demonstrators in Sara Square—the center of daily protests in Sulaimaniya—and set the demonstrators’ tents on fire, but failed to evict the demonstrators from the site. On April 18, security forces seized control of Sara Square to prevent further demonstrations. On April 27 the KRG released a 19-page report that determined that both security forces and protesters were responsible for violence, and that security forces “were not prepared to control the situation.”

On June 10 in Baghdad government-backed thugs armed with wooden planks, knives, iron pipes, and other weapons beat and stabbed peaceful protesters and sexually molested female demonstrators as security forces stood by and watched, sometimes laughing at the victims.

Authorities also used legal means to curtail protests. On April 13, Iraqi officials issued new regulations barring street protests and allowing them only at three soccer (football) stadiums, although they have not enforced the regulations. In May the Council of Ministers approved a "Law on the Freedom of Expression of Opinion, Assembly, and Peaceful Demonstration" that authorizes officials to restrict freedom of assembly to protect "the public interest" and in the interest of "general order or public morals." At this writing the law still awaited parliamentary approval.

Freedom of Expression

In 2011 Iraq remained one of the most dangerous countries in the world to work as a journalist. Armed groups and unknown assailants killed at least five journalists and one media worker, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Journalists also contended with emboldened Iraqi and KRG security forces.

On February 20, dozens of masked men attacked the private Nalia Radio and Television (NRT) station in Sulaimaniya. They shot up broadcasting equipment and wounded one guard. They then doused the premises with gasoline and set fire to the building, according to the station's staff. NRT had begun its inaugural broadcasts of footage of the protests only two days before the attack.

On February 23 security forces in Baghdad raided the office of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, a press freedom group. Their destructive search lasted more than an hour and they seized computers, external hard drives, cameras, cell phones, computer disks, and documents as well as flak jackets and helmets marked “Press.”

More than 20 journalists covering protests in Kurdistan said that security forces and their proxies routinely threatened journalists, subjected them to arbitrary arrest, beatings, and harassment, and confiscated or destroyed their equipment. After quashing the daily protests in Sulaimaniya in April, KRG officials and security forces expanded their suppression of journalists through libel suits, beatings, detentions, and death threats. The threat of attacks and arrests sent some journalists into hiding.

On September 8 an unknown assailant shot to death Hadi al-Mahdi, a popular radio journalist often critical of government corruption and social inequality, at his Baghdad home. The Ministry of Interior said it would investigate his death, but at this writing no one had been charged. Immediately prior to his death al-Mahdi received several phone and text message threats not to return to Tahrir Square. Earlier, after attending the February 25 “Day of Anger” mass demonstration in Baghdad, security forces arrested, blindfolded, and severely beat him along with three other journalists during their subsequent interrogation.

In April Iraq’s parliament approved a Journalists’ Protection Law, intended to protect media workers and compensate them for injuries sustained while working. Critics say the law does not do enough to ensure proper protections for journalists.

In May the Council of Ministers approved adraft of the “Law on Freedom of Expression of Opinion, Assembly, and Peaceful Demonstration,” which contains provisions that would criminalize speech, with penalties of up to 10 years in prison. Under article 13, anyone who “attacks a belief of any religious sect or shows contempt for its rites”, or publicly insults a “symbol, or person who is held sacred, exalted, or venerated by a religious sect” would face up to one year in jail and fines of up to 10 million Iraqi dinars (US$8,600). The law provides no guidance about what might constitute an unlawful insult.

Secret Prisons and Torture

In February Human Rights Watch uncovered, within the Camp Justice military base in Baghdad, a secret detention facility controlled by elite security forces who report to the military office of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Beginning on November 23, 2010, Iraqi authorities transferred more than 280 detainees to the facility, which was controlled by the Army's 56th Brigade and the Counter-Terrorism Service.

The same elite divisions controlled Camp Honor, a separate facility in Baghdad where detainees were tortured with impunity. More than a dozen former Camp Honor detainees told Human Rights Watch how detainees were held incommunicado and in inhumane conditions, many for months at a time. Detainees said interrogators beat them; hung them upside down for hours at a time; administered electric shocks to various body parts, including the genitals; and repeatedly put plastic bags over their heads until they passed out from asphyxiation. On March 14 the Justice Ministry announced that it would close Camp Honor after a parliamentary investigative committee found evidence of torture during a spot inspection of the facility. Human Rights Watch has since received credible information that elite forces may still hold and interrogate detainees at Camp Honor.

At this writing the authorities had not prosecuted any officials responsible for torture at Camp Honor.

Women’s and Girls’ Rights and Gender-Based Violence

Iraq adjudicates family law and personal status matters pursuant to a 1959 Personal Status Code. The law discriminates against women by granting men privileged status in matters of divorce and inheritance.The law further discriminates against women by permitting Iraqi men to have as many as four polygamous marriages.

On October 6 Iraq’s parliament passed legislation to lift Iraq’s reservation to article 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Article 9 grants women equal rights with men to acquire, change, or retain their nationality and pass on their nationality to their children.

Violence against women and girls continued to be a serious problem across Iraq. Women's rights activists said they remained at risk of attack from extremists, who also targeted female politicians, civil servants, and journalists. “Honor” crimes and domestic abuse remained a threat to women and girls, who were also vulnerable to trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced prostitution due to insecurity, displacement, financial hardship, social disintegration, and the dissolution of rule of law and state authority.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is practiced mainly in Kurdish areas of northern Iraq and several official and non-governmental studies estimate that the prevalence of FGM among girls and women in Kurdistan is at least 40 percent. On June 21 Kurdistan’s parliament passed the Family Violence Bill, which includes several provisions criminalizing the practice, as well as forced and child marriages, and verbal, physical, and psychological abuse of girls and women.

Attacks on Civilians

Attacks by armed groups killed hundreds of civilians and security forces. Assailants targeted provincial councils and government officials, checkpoints, markets, and mosques. In one of the worst attacks, a string of over 40 coordinated assaults in 17 cities on August 15 killed more than 90 people, including many unarmed civilians and members of the security forces.

The ongoing attacks, along with injuries from abandoned landmines and cluster munitions, have created a disproportionately high number of persons with physical and mental disabilities, many of whom have not received rehabilitation or support for re-integration into their communities. On August 17 Iraq's parliament held a second reading of a resolution to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Two draft disability laws under consideration would create a national body to oversee disability issues. But the proposed laws have several deficiencies including language that is incompatible with the CRPD.

Key International Actors

The European Court of Human Rights issued two landmark judgments on July 7, 2011, which ruled that the United Kingdom’s human rights obligations apply to British acts in Iraq, and that the UK had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to adequately investigate the killings of five Iraqis by its forces there, and that its internment of Iraqis had amounted to arbitrary detention.

On September 8 a three-year UK inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa, a hotel receptionist who died in British custody following serious abuse by British soldiers, condemned inadequate detention procedures, leadership failures, poor training, a loss of discipline, and a lack of “moral courage” among soldiers to report abuse. Only one British soldier was convicted of any crime in connection with this killing, and he was sentenced to only one year in prison.

In September Wikileaks released thousands of classified cables from the US embassy in Baghdad, one of which called into question the results of a US military investigation of a 2006 incident in which US soldiers may have handcuffed and executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians.

In July the United Nations Security Council voted to extend the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) for another year. UNAMI’s 2010 Report on Human Rights in Iraq, released in August 2011, found that “significant problems remain with law enforcement and the administration of justice, especially in relation to the provision and respect for due process and fair trial rights,” and that “incidents of abuse and torture remain widely reported.” 

Source:http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-iraq

Genocide in Rwanda

In 1994, Rwanda’s population of seven million was composed of three ethnic groups: Hutu (approximately 85%), Tutsi (14%) and Twa (1%). In the early 1990s, Hutu extremists within Rwanda’s political elite blamed the entire Tutsi minority population for the country’s increasing social, economic, and political pressures. Tutsi civilians were also accused of supporting a Tutsi-dominated rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). Through the use of propaganda and constant political maneuvering, Habyarimana, who was the president at the time, and his group increased divisions between Hutu and Tutsi by the end of 1992. The Hutu remembered past years of oppressive Tutsi rule, and many of them not only resented but also feared the minority.

On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying President Habyarimana, a Hutu, was shot down. Violence began almost immediately after that. Under the cover of war, Hutu extremists launched their plans to destroy the entire Tutsi civilian population. Political leaders who might have been able to take charge of the situation and other high profile opponents of the Hutu extremist plans were killed immediately. Tutsi and people suspected of being Tutsi were killed in their homes and as they tried to flee at roadblocks set up across the country during the genocide. Entire families were killed at a time. Women were systematically and brutally raped. It is estimated that some 200,000 people participated in the perpetration of the Rwandan genocide.

In the weeks after April 6, 1994, 800,000 men, women, and children perished in the Rwandan genocide, perhaps as many as three quarters of the Tutsi population. At the same time, thousands of Hutu were murdered because they opposed the killing campaign and the forces directing it.

The Rwandan genocide resulted from the conscious choice of the elite to promote hatred and fear to keep itself in power. This small, privileged group first set the majority against the minority to counter a growing political opposition within Rwanda. Then, faced with RPF success on the battlefield and at the negotiating table, these few power holders transformed the strategy of ethnic division into genocide. They believed that the extermination campaign would reinstate the solidarity of the Hutu under their leadership and help them win the war, or at least improve their chances of negotiating a favorable peace. They seized control of the state and used its authority to carry out the massacre.

The civil war and genocide only ended when the Tutsi-dominated rebel group, the RPF, defeated the Hutu perpetrator regime and President Paul Kagame took control.

Although the Rwandans are fully responsible for the organization and execution of the genocide, governments and peoples elsewhere all share in the shame of the crime because they failed to prevent and stop this killing campaign.

Policymakers in France, Belgium, and the United States and at the United Nations were aware of the preparations for massive slaughter and failed to take the steps needed to prevent it. Aware from the start that Tutsi were being targeted for elimination, the leading foreign actors refused to acknowledge the genocide. Not only did international leaders reject what was going on, but they also declined for weeks to use their political and moral authority to challenge the legitimacy of the genocidal government. They refused to declare that a government guilty of exterminating its citizens would never receive international assistance. They did nothing to silence the radio that televised calls for slaughter. Even after it had become indisputable that what was going on in Rwanda was a genocide, American officials had shunned the g-word, fearing that it would cause demands for intervention.

When international leaders finally voiced disapproval, the genocidal authorities listened well enough to change their tactics although not their ultimate goal. Far from cause for satisfaction, this small success only highlights the tragedy: if weak protests produced this result in late April, imagine what might have been the result if in mid-April the entire world had spoken out.

source:http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm

Forty-eight women raped every hour in Congo, study finds

Research shows 12% of the country's women have been raped at least once, and the crisis is not confined to conflict areas

• Jo Adetunji
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 May 2011 16.39 BST

A rape victim in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The scale of rape has led some to define the conflict as "a war against women". Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

About 48 women are raped in the Democratic Republic of the Congoevery hour, a study has claimed.

The study, due to be published in the American Journal of Public Health in June, found sexual abuse was rampant not only in conflict areas but also in the home, with nearly one woman subjected to some form of sexual abuse every minute.

The DRC has been racked by war, with rapes widely documented in theconflict-hit east of the country. However, the study suggests the problem is bigger and more pervasive than previously thought, and goes further in documenting domestic sexual abuse.

It found 1,152 women are raped every day – a rate equal to 48 per hour. That rate is 26 times more than the previous estimate of 16,000 rapes reported in one year by the United Nations.

"Not only is sexual violence more generalised, but our findings suggest that future policies and programmes should focus on abuse within families," the study's researchers said.

The study, carried out by three public health researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute at Stony Brook University in New York, and the World Bank, was partly financed by the US government and based on figures from a nationwide household survey of 3,436 Congolese women aged 15 to 49 in 2007.

The figures showed 12% of women had been raped at least once and 3% of women across the country were raped between 2006 and 2007. About 22% had also been forced by their partners to have sex or perform sexual acts against their will. The study also revealed alarming levels of sexual abuse in the capital, Kinshasa.

The UN has called the country the centre of rape as a weapon of war. Commentators have also described Congo as the worst place on Earth to be a woman.

Over the past 15 years, civilians have been drawn into the conflict, which has been driven by a weak government and rich mineral resources, often in remote, forest-covered areas.

The highest levels of rape were found in North Kivu, an eastern province ravaged by conflict, where nearly 7% of women were raped at least once between 2006 and 2007, according to the study.

Comprehensive statistics on rape in the DRC have been difficult to collate, although widespread anecdotal evidence has been collected on atrocities.

There have been many reports and witness accounts of the gang rape of young girls and elderly women by armed militia, and also accounts of men being raped. Because of the stigma of rape, many married women find themselves abandoned by their husbands.

"There are two big surprises in the study," said Anthony Gambino, a former mission director for the US Agency for International Development in the Congo.

"First, the magnitude of the problem – rates of rape that are much higher than seen elsewhere. And second, that these alarming, shockingly high rape statistics are found in western Congo as well as northern and eastern Congo."

Gambino said 40 years of "steady economic and political decline" may explain the high incidence of rape in the DRC.

While the authors have extrapolated their figures to show that as many as 1.8 million women out of the country's population of 70 million people have been raped, with up to 433,785 raped in a one-year period, some have urged more caution in the interpretation of the figures and their date.

Michael VanRooyen, the director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, which has sent doctors to Congo to treat rape victims, said there were "some limitations in the methodology, such as the sampling methods and the sample sizes" of the new rape study.

But, he said, "the important message remains: that rape and sexual slavery have become amazingly commonplace in this region of the DRC and have defined this conflict as a war against women".

However, Michelle Hindin, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who specialises in gender-based violence, said that because the figures were collected during face-to-face interviews – where women could be less forthcoming – the figures could be much higher.

Margot Wallstrom, the UN special representative for sexual violence in conflict, said the figures in the study were higher than the UN's because they covered all sexual violence, including domestic and by known partners.

She said UN figures tended to be conservative because they had to be verified by the UN itself. "The number of reported violations are just the tip of the iceberg of actual incidents," she added.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/12/48-women-raped-hour-congo

Rape as a Weapon of War: Women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

 

The inferior status of the Women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was embedded in the indigenous social system, reinforced in the colonial era and still prospers on today.  This general lack of respect for women, has caused them to be used as objects, more specifically weapons, in one of the most deadliest wars since World War II.  Over 5 million people have died in the last decade as victims in the Congo civil war, yet it still remains one of the most under-broadcasted tragedies of today.

Role of Women

Women in the DRC today still struggle to gain positions of equality and remain hindered by laws that illustrate the subordinate position of women in the society.  Although, since the Mobutu regime, there have been steps of progress towards women gaining more legal rights, such as the right to own property, and the right to participate in the economic and political sectors of the society.  Still, there are laws that remain in existence which demand that “a married woman must have her husbands permission to open a bank account, accept a job, obtain a commercial license, or rent or sell real estate. Article 45 of the civil code specifies that the husband has rights to his wife’s goods” (CIA world Fact book) even if the wife initially claims separate ownership to her own possessions.  Laws such as these that are still in effect today, sustains the repressive roles of women and revokes the significance of their voice.

Rural Women
Traditionally, women are responsible for the domestic work, tending to the family and children and performing laborious tasks around the house such as harvesting and agricultural work.  They are often encouraged to remain in the domestic sphere and not venture out to receive an education nor attain wage paying jobs.  In effect, this causes women to be socially impaired in comparison to men, who usually have received at least some type of minimal education and have control over money dealings, ownerships and political negotiations.  The steady deterioration of the Congo’s economy has led the government to support the increase in producing more cash crops  of coffee and quinine, in an effort to increase their amount of exports.  This has led to the reduction of the amount and quality of land available for local food crop production.  This process of the government and the elite consistently expanding the boundaries of their land has  respectively decreased the amount of communal land available; replacing necessary food crops for cash crops.  This has immensely increased the rural women's burden to provide when simply trying to fulfill her duty in growing and supplying her family with food to eat.
There have been instances however in which women have protested the rising tolls and taxes that the state continues to impose on them.  Katharine Newbury studied a group of Tembo women that protested who grew cassava and peanuts west if Lac Kivu.  Although the women could not elect a woman for local council representation, they elected men who were advocates of their beliefs. The men eventually succeeded in getting the heavy taxes and tolls that they were required to pay when going to markets to be suspended.

Urban Women

By the end of the twentieth century, women who lived in the urban environments of the Congo began to make strides in attaining positions in the professional workforce.  Even though they still remain underrepresented in higher level jobs, generally earn significantly less than their male-counterparts working the same jobs women are becoming more visually apparent in the military, universities and government service jobs.  In response to mens dominant control over the workforce and laws that require women to receive the permission of men to do things such as own property, or open up a bank account many urban women have rebelled.  They will “generally conduct business without bank accounts, without accounting records and without reporting all of their commerce.”  A study showed that 28 percent of Kisangani’s large business owners not dependent on political connections were women.

Overview of the Congo Civil War and How its Affected the Women

The war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the longest occurred in Modern African history involving nine African nations and affecting over 50 million Congolese lives.  The Congolese population is made up of over 200 ethnic groups, separated regionally each with their own distinct language. Eventually, this great amount of diversity would lead to the continuation of disunity and conflict within the Congo.
By the year 1996, the mass genocide transpiring in neighboring Rwanda had begun to spill over into Eastern Congo.  Militias and rebel groups used the Eastern Congo land to set up bases in order to infiltrate attacks on Rwanda.  Soon, armed Rwandan  troops entered the DRC led by Laurent-Desire Kabila in intentions of removing Mobutu Sese Seko from governmental power.  This military campaign of ousting Mobotu was supported by both Rwandan and Ugandan governments and following failed peace talks, Mobotu fled the Congo in May 1997. Kabila replaced Mobotu and declared himself president, renaming the country the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formally known as Zaire).  After the strong Rwandan military presence was apparent in the Congo, the Congolese Tutsis ( an ethnic group), the governments of Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda expected protection from the operation of hostile rebel groups from Eastern Congo.  These groups included (As provided by Global Security.org, Congo Civil War) :

• The Interahamwe militia of ethnic Hutus, mostly from Rwanda, which fought the Tutsi-dominated Government of Rwanda;
• Hutu members of the former Rwandan Armed Forces, believed to be responsible for the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda, which also fought the Government of Rwanda;
• The Mai Mai, a loose association of traditional Congolese local defense forces, which fought the influx of Rwandan immigrants;
• The Alliance of Democratic Forces (ADF), made of up Ugandan expatriates and supported by the Government of Sudan, which fought the Government of Uganda; and
• Several groups of Hutus from Burundi fighting the Tutsi-dominated Government of Burundi.

By 1997, relations between Kabila and the neighboring governments worsened as Rwandan troops within the DRC rebelled and new ones from both Rwanda and Uganda came poring into the Congo.  On August 4, 1997 invaded Bas-Congo with the objective being to overthrow Laurent Kabila with Rwandan-backed rebel group: Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie.  This was only put to halt in intervention by Angolan, Zimbabwean and Namibian troops.   In 1998, Kabila ordered all foreign troops to remove themselves from the DRC, and in response the majority of them refused to leave. Rebel group Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie (RDC) retreated to Eastern Congo where they established control and continued to fight the Congolese army and its neighboring allies.  By 1999 a rebel group (Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo) backed by Uganda gained control over the northern third of the DRC.  By this stage at the turn of the century, the Democratic Republic of the Congo was virtually controlled and divided into three different sections.
The women of the DRC have unfortunately fallen most victim to the Congo’s civil war, their status as a woman sometimes being even more dangerous than that of a soldier in the war.   Rebels and soldiers alike have resulted to using a weapon that punctures far deeper than physical wounds.  Rape is now their weapon of choice. It is used to destroy, detach, humiliate and invoke fear within its victims, families, and communities.  By instilling fear in its victims and communities, the perpetrators gain a sense power and control over the minds of the people.  So there is not only physical damage that is left to set an example, but also a lasting emotional and psychological destruction.  This is done sometimes publicly as well privately as the quickest and most effective way to terrorize an entire community with no discrimination of age nor gender.  Many of the women are blamed for what has been done to them, alienated by their families, paranoid for fears of contracting HIV and never being eligible for marriage.

Grim Statistics

• 200, 000 Women and girls have been raped in Eastern Congo since 1998
• Majority of those who are raped are adolescent girls, 12-14 years old
• In the Congo’s South Kivu province estimated 40 women are raped in the region every day
• In May the United Nations handed over the names of 5 top military officers accused of rape  
• The non-governmental organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) reported that 75% of all rape cases it dealt with worldwide were in the eastern Congo
• Census by UNICEF and related medical centres reported treatment of 18, 505 people for sexual violence in the first 10 months of 2008- 30% of whom were children
• Reported cases represent only a fraction of the total- vast number goes unreported
• Of the women who reported to hospitals after being raped, 61 percent came from camps for people displaced by violence.
• of 749 women were treated for rape at hospitals supported by Caritas Most of the women (87 percent) were raped during the day. The rest were raped at night.
• Panzi Hospital in Eastern Congo- The oldest rape victim being 75 years old and the youngest 3 years old
• Dr. Mukwege in Eastern Congo says he's doing about five surgeries a day. His patients often have had objects inserted into their vaginas, like broken bottles, bayonets. Some women have even been shot between the legs by their rapists.
• U.N. report, the number of “excess deaths” in Congo directly attributable to the Rwandan and Ugandan occupation can be estimated at between 3 million and 3.5 million. This conflict has been the deadliest since World War II.
• In some areas of Congo, investigations by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) have shown that one in four children dies before the age of 5,- these areas have the highest mortality rates in the world
• A network of eight local nongovernmental organizations, supported by the International Rescue Committee, each month takes in nearly 1,000 women, girls, and boys who have been raped in North and South Kivu
• About a fifth of the 250 beds in Panzi hospital are occupied by women who undergo as many as six operations to repair the sexual injuries to their bodies, or be treated for mutilation and other wounds.
  • In this hospital, the sexually assaulted victims are two or three times as numerous as civilians treated for gunshot wounds, and four or five times as numerous as wounded soldiers.

Current Developments

The Congolese government show little will and capability to deal with the bulk of rape cases that constantly keep presenting themselves. The true enforcement for the punishment of these rape crimes, which are also deemed as crimes against humanity would require a re organization in The Congolese justice system.  It would require “ increased civilian and military criminal penalties for sexual crimes, the strengthening of arrest, detention and prosecution capabilities, a system that the Congolese people trust staffed by competent, trained and air-minded people” (Grignon).  This however, is an implausible request which would demand a few decades of reconstruction.  Here are some of the steps towards progress that have been attempted:

• In 2006 Congo’s parliament passed a law criminalizing rape, with penalties ranging from 5-20 years. Penalties are doubled under different circumstances such as gang rape and if the rapist is a public official
• The army has started a zero tolerance campaign in which commanders have emphasized to troops that they must respect human rights and protect civilians from harm
• The United Nations maintains in Congo its largest peacekeeping force anywhere in the world
• United Nations Resolution 1820 passed in 2008 demands “the immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians-aiming to reduce sexual violence and bringing its perpetrators to book”

Source:http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~hargr22b/classweb/worldpolitics/worldpolitics.html

Another story of hatred.

Congo Soldier's perception of "Rape" as a weapon- Shame

Understanding "World Peace Day" - September 21

Peace for All -All for Peace

The International Day of Peace ("Peace Day") provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982.

In 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.By creating the International Day of Peace, the UN devoted itself to worldwide peace and encouraged all of mankind to work in cooperation for this goal. During the discussion of the U.N. Resolution that established the International Day of Peace, it was suggested that:

"Peace Day should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples…This day will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace."

Since its inception, Peace Day has marked our personal and planetary progress toward peace. It has grown to include millions of people in all parts of the world, and each year events are organized to commemorate and celebrate this day. Events range in scale from private gatherings to public concerts and forums where hundreds of thousands of people participate.

Anyone, anywhere can celebrate Peace Day. It can be as simple as lighting a candle at noon, or just sitting in silent meditation. Or it can involve getting your co-workers, organization, community or government engaged in a large event. The impact if millions of people in all parts of the world, coming together for one day of peace, is immense.

International Day of Peace is also a Day of Ceasefire – personal or political. Take this opportunity to make peace in your own relationships as well as impact the larger conflicts of our time. Imagine what a whole Day of Ceasefire would mean to humankind.

(internationaldayofpeace.org)

A Dreamless Night - "Being Human"

How far is Peace ? 

Year 1991-1992. A surprising year for the state of Assam. I was 13 years old than unaware of the political happenings. My daily routine used to include school, little bit study and a lot of cricket. That night I slept off without having my dinner as I was too tired. When I opened my eyes in the middle of the night I saw 3 Army jawans standing near my bed and other two were checking each and everything in the house throwing lot of things here and there. I was wondering who these guys are and why they are in here at this hour and why are they treating us like criminals? My parents were very scared as they have never faced such kind of situation before. After the raid is over my parents went out to see what exactly the scene outside. They took me along. The picture outside was shocking and I am back to my senses. Hundreds of army jawans were busy doing their duties. Each and every house in our locality was charged. Most of the young guys were taken to the army camps for interrogation. Being a kid I was just wondering .The feel good factor in that situation was that a jawan patrolling outside saw me and came to me and kissed me and than gave me packet of biscuit and that’s when I felt like a “Real Hero” among all. It was the most wired night of my life.

For next couple of days my whole town was dead. Many young guys from the surrounding village areas were taken to the camp and most of them never returned to their sweet home. Many were crippled. I started taking interest in listening to the talks and discussions of the aged people and started reading news paper to understand what exactly was happening.

The word “Rape” became a common topic of discussion. I was completely unknown at that age about this kind of hated Weapon of The Indian Armed Forces I was asked to leave the place wherever a group of people intended to talk about this topic. This word troubled me a lot. What is it? Why people sent me out when they talk about it? Etc etc. Finally I decided to ask my father about it as I couldn’t resist my curiosity. When asked, he politely replied “Son, this is not your age to understand this. There is a right time for everything”.

It was an Army operation named “Operation Rhino” by Indian Government to chase down the ULFA militants in Assam.  It’s now been 3 decades and things have not changed much in Assam & other north-eastern states of India. Attack and counter attack between the Arm forces and terrorist organizations have paralyzed the region. One can imagine the life of a man in that situation for 3/4 decades. Universal Declaration of Human Rights ; United Nations Charter, Indian constitution’s guarantee on human rights are still far away to  reach out to the region and do justice.

Woman rights and security is still a far cry in the largest democracy of the world call “India”. Instances of rape have continued unabated ever since women were first raped by CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) men in North Kamrup district in Assam in 1983 when the state was under President's rule.

I still look at this situation with the same eyes of wonder. Is it really impossible to bring peace to this war prone world? Is human right a failure concept? Isn’t “Being Human” is the only solution to the entire problem?