Newsweek -- Interview with Ali Gomaa on Muslim Extremism
The grand mufti in Cairo was recently interviewed by Stryker McGuire of Newsweek. He is among 138 Muslim leaders who are speaking out for greater dialogue with the world's Christian community. Programs like these are important to dampen the extremism that can lead to terrorism.
Newsweek -- Resolving Environmental Injustice on a Local Level
Seeing new reports that show "localized pollution is the leading contributing factor to disabilities and disease in communities across the world", the study of environmental injustice is becoming more and more relevant. If these issues are not addressed, the basic human right to life is threatened.
The Economist -- Dealing with Israel's Settler Movement
This article by the Economist displays the diversity of problems involving Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The next Israeli administration will have the difficulty of finding a solution to these issues.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Human Rights in the News
HRW -- HRW Report on Human Rights in Columbia Released
Human Rights Watch has released a report on the human rights situation in Columbia. The article notes that paramilitaries are the main obstacle to progress, particularly because they have been engaged in "mafia-style" agreements with many government officials. President Uribe's majority party has often been an obstacle, however, engaging in often baseless attacks against members of Columbia's Supreme Court.
NYT -- Franco-era Mass Grave to be Opened
A Spanish Judge has ordered that a mass grave, which is believed to be the site of poet Federico Garcia Lorca's body, be opened as part of an investigation. According to the article, however, "[Lorca's] family... believes the reputed grave should remain intact as a testimony to the atrocities committed there."
Newsweek -- Ethnic Tensions Endure Under Government Controlled Jaffna
Security concerns has moved the Sri Lankan government to impose large restrictions on freedom of movement in Jaffna, a Tamil majority area in the north. Tamils claim they are under constant suspicion, and many have "disappeared".
Human Rights Watch has released a report on the human rights situation in Columbia. The article notes that paramilitaries are the main obstacle to progress, particularly because they have been engaged in "mafia-style" agreements with many government officials. President Uribe's majority party has often been an obstacle, however, engaging in often baseless attacks against members of Columbia's Supreme Court.
NYT -- Franco-era Mass Grave to be Opened
A Spanish Judge has ordered that a mass grave, which is believed to be the site of poet Federico Garcia Lorca's body, be opened as part of an investigation. According to the article, however, "[Lorca's] family... believes the reputed grave should remain intact as a testimony to the atrocities committed there."
Newsweek -- Ethnic Tensions Endure Under Government Controlled Jaffna
Security concerns has moved the Sri Lankan government to impose large restrictions on freedom of movement in Jaffna, a Tamil majority area in the north. Tamils claim they are under constant suspicion, and many have "disappeared".
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Troy Davis and the Death Penalty Update
Checking my e-mail, I just received an update from Amnesty International on Troy Davis's death penalty sentence. The grave news is as follows:
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Troy Anthony Davis' appeal. His fate is back in the hands of Georgia authorities who may seek a new execution date at any time.
The Supreme Court's decision to deny Troy Davis' petition means that no court of law will ever hold a hearing on the witnesses who have recanted their trial testimony in sworn affidavits.
Doubts about his guilt raised by these multiple witness recantations will never be resolved. An execution under such a cloud of doubt would undermine public confidence in the state's criminal justice system and would be a grave miscarriage of justice.
The state of Georgia can still do the responsible thing and prevent the execution of Troy Davis:
- Write a letter to the editor calling on Georgia to stop the execution of Troy Davis!
- Call on the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider its previous decision and grant clemency to Troy Davis.
- Urge your friends and family to go to amnestyusa.org/troydavis or text TROY to 90999 to add their voices to the over 200,000 that have already taken action on this case.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Human Rights in the News
BBC -- Women Recruited for Suicide Attacks by Militant Groups in Gaza
BBC reports on a development in the tactics used by religious extremist groups in Gaza: recruitment of women to carry out suicide attacks. The article, and suicide attacks by similar groups in general, displays the perversion of Islam by a minority of believers that needs to be confronted on the way to peace.
NYT -- Hindu Extremist Violence and Threats Against Christians on the Rise in India
Freedom of belief is a fundamental right that all people deserve. The flaring of religious tensions in India needs to be contained. India has a strong tradition of secularism that has resulted in a rich, pluralistic society. Hopefully, that tradition will be able to overcome the threats posed to all of Indian society by the recent treatment of Christian minorities by radical groups in the State of Orissa.
HRW -- A Call to Defend Human Rights Supporters from Government Encroachment
Human Rights Watch notes the dangers of a new law being considered by Ethiopia's parliament. The statement from HRW notes that : "The CSO law would bar both foreign and Ethiopian organizations that receive more than 10 percent of their funding from abroad from undertaking any activities in human rights, gender equality, children’s rights, disabled persons’ rights, conflict resolution, and strengthening judicial practices and law enforcement, among related activities." Such regulation is unnecessary and its only application will probably be government action against groups seen as a threat to its policies.
BBC reports on a development in the tactics used by religious extremist groups in Gaza: recruitment of women to carry out suicide attacks. The article, and suicide attacks by similar groups in general, displays the perversion of Islam by a minority of believers that needs to be confronted on the way to peace.
NYT -- Hindu Extremist Violence and Threats Against Christians on the Rise in India
Freedom of belief is a fundamental right that all people deserve. The flaring of religious tensions in India needs to be contained. India has a strong tradition of secularism that has resulted in a rich, pluralistic society. Hopefully, that tradition will be able to overcome the threats posed to all of Indian society by the recent treatment of Christian minorities by radical groups in the State of Orissa.
HRW -- A Call to Defend Human Rights Supporters from Government Encroachment
Human Rights Watch notes the dangers of a new law being considered by Ethiopia's parliament. The statement from HRW notes that : "The CSO law would bar both foreign and Ethiopian organizations that receive more than 10 percent of their funding from abroad from undertaking any activities in human rights, gender equality, children’s rights, disabled persons’ rights, conflict resolution, and strengthening judicial practices and law enforcement, among related activities." Such regulation is unnecessary and its only application will probably be government action against groups seen as a threat to its policies.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Children's Drawings from Darfur Exhibit
Anne Frank Center Announcement
The Anne Frank Center, USA, located in New York, is holding a special exhibit featuring drawings from refugee children in Darfur. Dr. Jerry Ehrlich smuggled the drawings out of Sudan by hiding them in a copy of the New York Times as he left the country. He spent two months in 2004 providing medical assistance to refugees at a refugee camp.
The drawings demonstrate the profound psychological effects on the children who have and continue to witness the genocide going on in Darfur. Children, given no instruction on what to draw, depict scenes of extreme violence. This speaks to the very heart of the evil behind this crime against humanity.
Thanks to Norine Zapata for the link.
The Anne Frank Center, USA, located in New York, is holding a special exhibit featuring drawings from refugee children in Darfur. Dr. Jerry Ehrlich smuggled the drawings out of Sudan by hiding them in a copy of the New York Times as he left the country. He spent two months in 2004 providing medical assistance to refugees at a refugee camp.
The drawings demonstrate the profound psychological effects on the children who have and continue to witness the genocide going on in Darfur. Children, given no instruction on what to draw, depict scenes of extreme violence. This speaks to the very heart of the evil behind this crime against humanity.
Thanks to Norine Zapata for the link.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Human Rights in the News
Human Rights Watch -- Bush Signs Child Soldier Accountability Act
Last Friday, President Bush signed into law the Child Soldier Accountability Act. According to HRW, "The Child Soldiers Accountability Act makes it a federal crime to recruit knowingly or to use soldiers under the age of 15 and permits the United States to prosecute any individual on US soil for the offense, even if the children were recruited or served as soldiers outside the United States." The law was introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).
BBC -- China and the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize
The Chinese Foreign Ministry recently released a statement that it hopes the Peace Prize will go to the "right person". Rumors have suggested that two Chinese human rights activists top the list of candidates. The award comes recently after many in the international community cry out that the Olympic games in Beijing have only made the human rights situation worse, contrary to the government's promises.
Last Friday, President Bush signed into law the Child Soldier Accountability Act. According to HRW, "The Child Soldiers Accountability Act makes it a federal crime to recruit knowingly or to use soldiers under the age of 15 and permits the United States to prosecute any individual on US soil for the offense, even if the children were recruited or served as soldiers outside the United States." The law was introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).
BBC -- China and the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize
The Chinese Foreign Ministry recently released a statement that it hopes the Peace Prize will go to the "right person". Rumors have suggested that two Chinese human rights activists top the list of candidates. The award comes recently after many in the international community cry out that the Olympic games in Beijing have only made the human rights situation worse, contrary to the government's promises.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Human Rights in the News
BBC -- Growing Settler Violence In the West Bank
Olmert's words earlier in the week seem more powerful in light of this article from the BBC. A growing number of Israeli settlers, now a few hundred, in the West Bank are engaging in acts of violence against Palestinians. These acts of violence both contribute to a cycle of violence and hinder the Israeli military by forcing it to divert resources to intervene in these instances of violence. With more resources being spent on policing Israeli settlers, less resources are available to protect Israelis from militant attacks..
BBC -- Congo rebellion expands
A rebel general in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has shifted his goals. Formerly claiming to only seek the protection of his ethnic Tutsi group, he now claims, "We are going to liberate the people of Congo". The general announced he was walking out of a peace deal signed in January. There are 17,000 U.N. peacekeepers currently in the country.
NYT -- Zimbabwe: Life Under Hyperinflation
Zimbabwe's hyperinflation, stemming from irresponsible government practices, has dramatically damaged human rights in a country that was one of the most successful in Africa. The article explains the horrible conditions and denial of human rights that has resulted. Hyperinflation has denied education, health care, food, due process, and fair pay for work to a staggering number of individuals. Political wrangling over control of ministries between President Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, is delaying the process. The Finance and Home Ministry, which might have a shot at stopping the hyper inflation, is among the ministries Mugabe refuses to relase control over.
The Economist -- Somali Piracy, the Need for Government, and Human Rights
The failure of Somalia's government is apparent by the abuse of human rights which now extend from that country. Freedom of travel, and even the right to life, is becoming increasingly at risk because of the lack of government. The Economist provides strong analysis of the situation in this article. The danger demonstrated by Somali pirates seizing a ship full of tanks and other weapons demonstrates that the root of human rights abuses here also presents a threat to people living anywhere in the world.
Olmert's words earlier in the week seem more powerful in light of this article from the BBC. A growing number of Israeli settlers, now a few hundred, in the West Bank are engaging in acts of violence against Palestinians. These acts of violence both contribute to a cycle of violence and hinder the Israeli military by forcing it to divert resources to intervene in these instances of violence. With more resources being spent on policing Israeli settlers, less resources are available to protect Israelis from militant attacks..
BBC -- Congo rebellion expands
A rebel general in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has shifted his goals. Formerly claiming to only seek the protection of his ethnic Tutsi group, he now claims, "We are going to liberate the people of Congo". The general announced he was walking out of a peace deal signed in January. There are 17,000 U.N. peacekeepers currently in the country.
NYT -- Zimbabwe: Life Under Hyperinflation
Zimbabwe's hyperinflation, stemming from irresponsible government practices, has dramatically damaged human rights in a country that was one of the most successful in Africa. The article explains the horrible conditions and denial of human rights that has resulted. Hyperinflation has denied education, health care, food, due process, and fair pay for work to a staggering number of individuals. Political wrangling over control of ministries between President Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, is delaying the process. The Finance and Home Ministry, which might have a shot at stopping the hyper inflation, is among the ministries Mugabe refuses to relase control over.
The Economist -- Somali Piracy, the Need for Government, and Human Rights
The failure of Somalia's government is apparent by the abuse of human rights which now extend from that country. Freedom of travel, and even the right to life, is becoming increasingly at risk because of the lack of government. The Economist provides strong analysis of the situation in this article. The danger demonstrated by Somali pirates seizing a ship full of tanks and other weapons demonstrates that the root of human rights abuses here also presents a threat to people living anywhere in the world.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Troy Davis and the Death Penalty
Troy Davis's death penalty sentence points to a major inadequacy in our justice system's use of the death penalty. Despite many major pieces of evidence used against him being discredited, he still sits on Death Row, although the U.S. Supreme Court has just issued a stay of his execution. As Amnesty International explains:
Troy Davis was sentenced to death for the murder of Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail at a Burger King in Savannah, Georgia; a murder he maintains he did not commit. There was no physical evidence against him and the weapon used in the crime was never found. The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony which contained inconsistencies even at the time of the trial. Since then, all but two of the state's non-police witnesses from the trial have recanted or contradicted their testimony. Many of these witnesses have stated in sworn affidavits that they were pressured or coerced by police into testifying or signing statements against Troy Davis.One of the two witnesses who has not recanted his testimony is Sylvester "Red" Coles – the principle alternative suspect, according to the defense, against whom there is new evidence implicating him as the gunman. Nine individuals have signed affidavits implicating Sylvester Coles.
The case demonstrates the great danger our nation encounters with its use of the death penalty: taking the life of an innocent man. We must not be complicit in such an action and take action to ensure that no innocent people are killed for the crime of another. Our justice system can protect us from criminals without the death penalty, but as experience has proven, we cannot prevent the death of innocent people while we still use the death penalty.
The following is a letter from Troy Davis that Amnesty International sent out in an e-mail:To all, I want to thank all of you for your efforts and dedication to Human Rights and Human Kindness, in the past year I have experienced such emotion, joy, sadness and never ending faith. It is because of all of you that I am alive today, as I look at my sister Martina I am marveled by the love she has for me and of course I worry about her and her health, but as she tells me she is the eldest and she will not back down from this fight to save my life and prove to the world that I am innocent of this terrible crime. As I look at my mail from across the globe, from places I have never ever dreamed I would know about and people speaking languages and expressing cultures and religions I could only hope to one day see first hand. I am humbled by the emotion that fills my heart with overwhelming, overflowing Joy. I can't even explain the insurgence of emotion I feel when I try to express the strength I draw from you all, it compounds my faith and it shows me yet again that this is not a case about the death penalty, this is not a case about Troy Davis, this is a case about Justice and the Human Spirit to see Justice prevail. |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I cannot answer all of your letters but I do read them all, I cannot see you all but I can imagine your faces, I cannot hear you speak but your letters take me to the far reaches of the world, I cannot touch you physically but I feel your warmth everyday I exist. So Thank you and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated. There are so many more Troy Davis'. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country. I can't wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing, "I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!" Never Stop Fighting for Justice and We will Win! -- Troy Davis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Human Rights in the News
NYT -- J.L. Chestnut Jr, Civil Rights Activist and Attorney, Passes Away
J.L. Chestnut Jr., led an incredible life in the U.S. Civil Rights struggle. The struggle between civil rights and human rights are often one and the same, as is the case in his work defending the lives and livelihoods of the oppressed.
Human Rights Watch -- Missing Rendition Victims in Ethiopia and Kenya
Citizens from 18 different countries were illegally arrested in 2007 while in Somalia and Kenya, then extradited to Ethiopian prisons. In Ethiopia, they were subjected to deplorable living conditions and torture: forced to crawl on gravel. genitals being crushed, and being beaten to the point of unconsciousness. At night they were taken out of the prison and interrogated by U.S. officials for suspected terrorism links. They have been denied access to courts or communication with their families. Many are still held in Ethiopian prisons.
Chicago Tribune -- AIDS Traced Back 100 Years Ago
Understanding the roots of the AIDS crisis is necessary to finding a solution to the humanitarian and human rights problems it causes. HIV/AIDS has led people and governments to desperation in which human rights are often disregarded. The virus has been traced back to the rise of cities and close living conditions, with the disease presenting itself earlier than originally thought.
J.L. Chestnut Jr., led an incredible life in the U.S. Civil Rights struggle. The struggle between civil rights and human rights are often one and the same, as is the case in his work defending the lives and livelihoods of the oppressed.
Human Rights Watch -- Missing Rendition Victims in Ethiopia and Kenya
Citizens from 18 different countries were illegally arrested in 2007 while in Somalia and Kenya, then extradited to Ethiopian prisons. In Ethiopia, they were subjected to deplorable living conditions and torture: forced to crawl on gravel. genitals being crushed, and being beaten to the point of unconsciousness. At night they were taken out of the prison and interrogated by U.S. officials for suspected terrorism links. They have been denied access to courts or communication with their families. Many are still held in Ethiopian prisons.
Chicago Tribune -- AIDS Traced Back 100 Years Ago
Understanding the roots of the AIDS crisis is necessary to finding a solution to the humanitarian and human rights problems it causes. HIV/AIDS has led people and governments to desperation in which human rights are often disregarded. The virus has been traced back to the rise of cities and close living conditions, with the disease presenting itself earlier than originally thought.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Human Rigths in the News
Time Magazine on Olmert's Recent Statement about Israeli Borders
Good analysis of Olmert's comments, where the departing Prime Minister says that Israel needs to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza in order to achieve peace. A major dissent from his previous hard-line views.
NYT -- French Muslims Find Haven in Catholic Schools
Seeking to avoid hostility to their faith, and many just a stronger education, French Muslims are increasingly enrolling in Catholic schools, many of which do not enforce the headscarf ban that exists in French public schools. If religious freedom is a human right, then some level of personal tolerance is necessary between individuals. Does the French government neglect the need for tolerance with the headscarf ban? Furthermore, what roles do religious institutions have in protecting the liberties of others? In this instance, it seems that the Catholic institutions are taking a role in protecting Muslims' religious freedom.
Good analysis of Olmert's comments, where the departing Prime Minister says that Israel needs to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza in order to achieve peace. A major dissent from his previous hard-line views.
NYT -- French Muslims Find Haven in Catholic Schools
Seeking to avoid hostility to their faith, and many just a stronger education, French Muslims are increasingly enrolling in Catholic schools, many of which do not enforce the headscarf ban that exists in French public schools. If religious freedom is a human right, then some level of personal tolerance is necessary between individuals. Does the French government neglect the need for tolerance with the headscarf ban? Furthermore, what roles do religious institutions have in protecting the liberties of others? In this instance, it seems that the Catholic institutions are taking a role in protecting Muslims' religious freedom.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
UN to review Israel's human rights track
Sep. 8, 2008
Tovah Lazaroff , THE JERUSALEM POST
A three-country panel was chosen Monday to examine Israel's human rights record as part of a Universal Periodic Review this year of 64 countries by the United Nations Human Rights council in Geneva.
All 192 UN states are subject to review.
According to Israel's ambassador to Geneva Roni Leshno Yaar, the review will be conducted by Nigeria, South Korean and Azerbaijan at the council's December session.
The council, which opened its September session on Wednesday, offers countries a limited right to replace the panel with alternative countries.
Israel, along with other Western countries, chose to stick with the initial panel assigned to them, said Leshno Yaar.
Turning to the 2009 anti-racism conference, dubbed "Durban II," which was also raised in the council on Monday, Leshno Yaar said he was struck by the positive-sounding statement by Pakistan's Ambassador, who spoke on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Pakistan's Ambassador said that the anti-racism conference "should not turn into an exercise in anti-Semitism and that doing so would be a clear violation of the Durban declaration and program of action."
As plans for the conference proceed, "I hope we will find that the OCI member states will stick to that commitment," said Leshno Yaar.
Israel has said it is likely to boycott "Durban II" out of a fear that it would be a repeat of the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hate-fest that had characterized the first UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, which met in Durban, South Africa in 2001. Although the follow-up conference is to be held in Geneva, it has been nicknamed Durban II.
Canada has already said that it won't go, and the US, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands have also threatened not to attend.
Speaking Monday, in her first address before the Council since taking up her post at the start of December, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay urged all countries to attend.
"Allow me to welcome the progress achieved thus far in the lead up to the anti-racism review conference... and in particular the productive discussions of the two regional meetings in Brasilia and Abuja," said Pillay.
"I urge those governments that have expressed an intention not to participate in the conference to reconsider their position," said Pillay, adding that their attendance would improve the conference.
"Without that participation, the anti-racism debate and agenda will be impoverished," said Pillay.
Israel remains firm in its intention not to go, said Leshno Yaar. But he added that if significant changes in the conference's stance toward Israel were made, the possibility remained that Israel could change its mind. But at this point, he said, he saw no sign that such a change was in the works.
Tovah Lazaroff , THE JERUSALEM POST
A three-country panel was chosen Monday to examine Israel's human rights record as part of a Universal Periodic Review this year of 64 countries by the United Nations Human Rights council in Geneva.
All 192 UN states are subject to review.
According to Israel's ambassador to Geneva Roni Leshno Yaar, the review will be conducted by Nigeria, South Korean and Azerbaijan at the council's December session.
The council, which opened its September session on Wednesday, offers countries a limited right to replace the panel with alternative countries.
Israel, along with other Western countries, chose to stick with the initial panel assigned to them, said Leshno Yaar.
Turning to the 2009 anti-racism conference, dubbed "Durban II," which was also raised in the council on Monday, Leshno Yaar said he was struck by the positive-sounding statement by Pakistan's Ambassador, who spoke on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Pakistan's Ambassador said that the anti-racism conference "should not turn into an exercise in anti-Semitism and that doing so would be a clear violation of the Durban declaration and program of action."
As plans for the conference proceed, "I hope we will find that the OCI member states will stick to that commitment," said Leshno Yaar.
Israel has said it is likely to boycott "Durban II" out of a fear that it would be a repeat of the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hate-fest that had characterized the first UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, which met in Durban, South Africa in 2001. Although the follow-up conference is to be held in Geneva, it has been nicknamed Durban II.
Canada has already said that it won't go, and the US, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands have also threatened not to attend.
Speaking Monday, in her first address before the Council since taking up her post at the start of December, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay urged all countries to attend.
"Allow me to welcome the progress achieved thus far in the lead up to the anti-racism review conference... and in particular the productive discussions of the two regional meetings in Brasilia and Abuja," said Pillay.
"I urge those governments that have expressed an intention not to participate in the conference to reconsider their position," said Pillay, adding that their attendance would improve the conference.
"Without that participation, the anti-racism debate and agenda will be impoverished," said Pillay.
Israel remains firm in its intention not to go, said Leshno Yaar. But he added that if significant changes in the conference's stance toward Israel were made, the possibility remained that Israel could change its mind. But at this point, he said, he saw no sign that such a change was in the works.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Lost-boy Lomong to carry U.S. flag
Wed Aug 6, 2008 3:18pm EDT
By Mitch Phillips
BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States chose former Sudanese refugee Lopez Lomong to carry their flag at Friday's Olympic opening ceremony in a move that could embarrass Sudan and its ally China.
Lomong, who spent 10 years in a refugee camp after fleeing his native Sudan as a child, was given the honor after a vote by the team captains of the entire U.S. Olympic squad.
"This is the most exciting day ever in my life," Lomong said in a statement by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) on Wednesday.
"It is a great honor for me that my team mates chose to vote for me. The opening ceremony is the best day and the best moment of Olympic life," added the 23-year-old, who will race in the 1,500 meters.
Lomong fled on foot from rampaging government-sponsored Arab militias in southern Sudan at the age of six in 1991, becoming separated from his parents.
His escape took place during the height of a civil war between Sudan's Muslim, Arab north and its Christian and animist south.
He eventually reached Kenya where he lived in a refugee camp for 10 years, the USOC said.
Along with thousands of similar children, known as "the Lost Boys of Sudan", he was eventually resettled in the United States and became a U.S. citizen in July 2007.
"I'm here as an ambassador of my country and I will do everything I can to represent my country well," Lomong said.
"This is another amazing step for me in celebrating being an American."
Lomong will be one of three foreign-born athletes representing the U.S. in the 1,500 meters.
World champion Bernard Lagat, who won Olympic silver and bronze in the event for Kenya, and Leonel Manzano, who grew up in Mexico, complete the lineup.
While Lomong will no doubt be concentrating on trying to win his race, his selection is likely to provoke extensive debate about China's relations with Sudan.
China is a major investor in the Sudanese oil industry and sells arms to Khartoum. Critics say self-interest has led China to shield the Sudanese government from pressure over the conflict in the western region of Darfur.
Some 200,000 people have died and an estimated 2.5 million been made homeless in five years of conflict in Darfur, according to international experts.
Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.
Human rights campaigners are believed to be planning to highlight the plight of Darfur in the run-up to Friday's opening ceremony.
The United States said on Wednesday it would protest to China over its decision to revoke the visa of Olympic gold medalist Joey Cheek, an activist on Darfur.
Speedskater Cheek is co-founder of Team Darfur, an international coalition of athletes campaign to draw world attention to the humanitarian crisis there.
(Additional reporting by Simon Denyer; editing by Keith Weir)
By Mitch Phillips
BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States chose former Sudanese refugee Lopez Lomong to carry their flag at Friday's Olympic opening ceremony in a move that could embarrass Sudan and its ally China.
Lomong, who spent 10 years in a refugee camp after fleeing his native Sudan as a child, was given the honor after a vote by the team captains of the entire U.S. Olympic squad.
"This is the most exciting day ever in my life," Lomong said in a statement by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) on Wednesday.
"It is a great honor for me that my team mates chose to vote for me. The opening ceremony is the best day and the best moment of Olympic life," added the 23-year-old, who will race in the 1,500 meters.
Lomong fled on foot from rampaging government-sponsored Arab militias in southern Sudan at the age of six in 1991, becoming separated from his parents.
His escape took place during the height of a civil war between Sudan's Muslim, Arab north and its Christian and animist south.
He eventually reached Kenya where he lived in a refugee camp for 10 years, the USOC said.
Along with thousands of similar children, known as "the Lost Boys of Sudan", he was eventually resettled in the United States and became a U.S. citizen in July 2007.
"I'm here as an ambassador of my country and I will do everything I can to represent my country well," Lomong said.
"This is another amazing step for me in celebrating being an American."
Lomong will be one of three foreign-born athletes representing the U.S. in the 1,500 meters.
World champion Bernard Lagat, who won Olympic silver and bronze in the event for Kenya, and Leonel Manzano, who grew up in Mexico, complete the lineup.
While Lomong will no doubt be concentrating on trying to win his race, his selection is likely to provoke extensive debate about China's relations with Sudan.
China is a major investor in the Sudanese oil industry and sells arms to Khartoum. Critics say self-interest has led China to shield the Sudanese government from pressure over the conflict in the western region of Darfur.
Some 200,000 people have died and an estimated 2.5 million been made homeless in five years of conflict in Darfur, according to international experts.
Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.
Human rights campaigners are believed to be planning to highlight the plight of Darfur in the run-up to Friday's opening ceremony.
The United States said on Wednesday it would protest to China over its decision to revoke the visa of Olympic gold medalist Joey Cheek, an activist on Darfur.
Speedskater Cheek is co-founder of Team Darfur, an international coalition of athletes campaign to draw world attention to the humanitarian crisis there.
(Additional reporting by Simon Denyer; editing by Keith Weir)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Seattle Doctor Climbing World's Highest Peaks for Charity, Successfully Completes First Ascent
By Fred Jacobs
Says Dr. Boyer, “I have so much admiration for people who overcome challenges. To an amputee in a poor country with no healthcare system, the idea of walking again is about as big a challenge as climbing Mt. Everest. The Prosthetics Outreach Foundation has provided prosthetics limbs to over 14,000 amputees around the world during the past 20 years. I want to do whatever I can to help.”
On July 2, Dr. Boyer completed the first stage of his quest, with his successful ascent of Mt. McKinley (also known as Denali). The remaining peaks, known collectively with McKinley as “The Seven Summits,” are:
Europe: ............. Mt. Elbrus ................ 18,519 ft. ...... Aug. 2 - 15, 2008
Africa: ............... Mt. Kilimanjaro ....... 19,340 ft. ...... Aug. 16 - 24, 2008
S. America: ........ Mt. Aconcagua ......... 22,841 ft. ..... Nov. 28 - Dec. 21, 2008
Antarctica: ......... Mt. Vinson ............... 16,067 ft. ..... Jan. 2009
Asia & World: ..... Mt. Everest .............. 29,002 ft. .... Mar. - June 2009
Oceania: ............ Mt. Carstensz and .... 16,024 ft ...... Oct. 2009
........................... Mt. Kociuszko .......... 7,310 ft. ....... Oct. 2009
In addition to the above-named mountains, on August 26 - Oct 14 2008, Dr. Boyer will climb Cho Oyu in Nepal, the world’s sixth-highest peak at 26,906 ft., if the Chinese government opens the Tibetan borders.
“When Dr. Boyer said he wanted to make these climbs supporting our work providing prosthetic limbs to amputees in developing countries, I thought, this is going to help a lot of people walk,” said Fred Jacobs, Director of Development at the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation. “The money Tom raises will help war victims, accident victims, and children born with severe deformities. A few dollars worth of metal and plastic lets an amputee walk again, literally picking them up off the ground so they can support themselves and their family. They feel whole again, both physically and emotionally. The transformation is miraculous. I’m so excited about the good which is coming from these climbs. Our goal is to raise $150,000 in this campaign. One of our donors called it ‘unambiguously morally positive’ – I like that.”
Dr. Boyer on Mt. McKinley
SEATTLE, Wa. — July 15, 2008 — Dr. Thomas Boyer, a physician specializing in emergency medicine, has successfully climbed Mt. McKinley, at 20,320 feet the highest peak in North America, the first in a series of ascents of the highest peaks on every continent in the world, including Mt. Everest. Dr. Boyer is climbing to raise funds to help amputees walk again, through his partnership with Seattle’s Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, an international humanitarian organization headquartered in Seattle. Only 45 other people in history have completed the challenge which Dr. Boyer has set for himself.
Says Dr. Boyer, “I have so much admiration for people who overcome challenges. To an amputee in a poor country with no healthcare system, the idea of walking again is about as big a challenge as climbing Mt. Everest. The Prosthetics Outreach Foundation has provided prosthetics limbs to over 14,000 amputees around the world during the past 20 years. I want to do whatever I can to help.”
On July 2, Dr. Boyer completed the first stage of his quest, with his successful ascent of Mt. McKinley (also known as Denali). The remaining peaks, known collectively with McKinley as “The Seven Summits,” are:
Europe: ............. Mt. Elbrus ................ 18,519 ft. ...... Aug. 2 - 15, 2008
Africa: ............... Mt. Kilimanjaro ....... 19,340 ft. ...... Aug. 16 - 24, 2008
S. America: ........ Mt. Aconcagua ......... 22,841 ft. ..... Nov. 28 - Dec. 21, 2008
Antarctica: ......... Mt. Vinson ............... 16,067 ft. ..... Jan. 2009
Asia & World: ..... Mt. Everest .............. 29,002 ft. .... Mar. - June 2009
Oceania: ............ Mt. Carstensz and .... 16,024 ft ...... Oct. 2009
........................... Mt. Kociuszko .......... 7,310 ft. ....... Oct. 2009
(There is debate over which seven peaks count as “the seven.” Some argue that Kosciuszko, the highest point in Australia, should be included. Others argue that Australia is not a continent, but that Australasia is, and that therefore Indonesia's Carstensz should be included. Dr. Boyer will climb all eight peaks.)
In addition to the above-named mountains, on August 26 - Oct 14 2008, Dr. Boyer will climb Cho Oyu in Nepal, the world’s sixth-highest peak at 26,906 ft., if the Chinese government opens the Tibetan borders.
“When Dr. Boyer said he wanted to make these climbs supporting our work providing prosthetic limbs to amputees in developing countries, I thought, this is going to help a lot of people walk,” said Fred Jacobs, Director of Development at the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation. “The money Tom raises will help war victims, accident victims, and children born with severe deformities. A few dollars worth of metal and plastic lets an amputee walk again, literally picking them up off the ground so they can support themselves and their family. They feel whole again, both physically and emotionally. The transformation is miraculous. I’m so excited about the good which is coming from these climbs. Our goal is to raise $150,000 in this campaign. One of our donors called it ‘unambiguously morally positive’ – I like that.”
........................................................................................................
The Prosthetics Outreach Foundation works tirelessly to promote the right to walk for the underserved in Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, and Vietnam.
This Seattle-based non-profit trains medical personnel in its focus countries to manufacture, fit, and distribute prosthetic limbs to amputees. The staff of Prosthetics Outreach Foundation adapts their methods to the local conditions of each target country, identifying which local materials will create the best prosthetic limbs. This organization also devotes their efforts to the eradication of clubfoot, an immobilizing birth defect, using the effective Ponseti treatment for early stage treatment and surgery when necessary. When medical care alone is not enough, Prosthetics Outreach Foundation offers microloans to its patients.
This Seattle-based non-profit trains medical personnel in its focus countries to manufacture, fit, and distribute prosthetic limbs to amputees. The staff of Prosthetics Outreach Foundation adapts their methods to the local conditions of each target country, identifying which local materials will create the best prosthetic limbs. This organization also devotes their efforts to the eradication of clubfoot, an immobilizing birth defect, using the effective Ponseti treatment for early stage treatment and surgery when necessary. When medical care alone is not enough, Prosthetics Outreach Foundation offers microloans to its patients.
Bangladesh: Prosthetics Outreach Foundation provides prosthetic and orthotic care to amputees and others with limb deformities.
Sierra Leone: Civil war created thousands of amputees. Mr. Gabrilla Sesay calls the microloan he used to start his bike shop "the life cable of my life."
Sierra Leone: Single Leg Amputee Sports Club, a partner of Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, presents the Makeni Amputee Soccer Team.
Sierra Leone: Single Leg Amputee Sports Club, a partner of Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, presents the Makeni Amputee Soccer Team.
Vietnam: A clubfoot patient before and after her corrective surgeries.
.
How to Support the Campaign
Donations are currently being accepted online at http://www.pofsea.org/ . Click on the “Donate” button at the top of the page. Or, mail donations to Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, 400 East Pine St Suite 225, Seattle, WA 98122
Learn more about Prosthetics Outreach Foundation and see pictures of Dr. Boyer’s Mt. McKinley climb at http://www.pofsea.org/ .
Donations are currently being accepted online at http://www.pofsea.org/ . Click on the “Donate” button at the top of the page. Or, mail donations to Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, 400 East Pine St Suite 225, Seattle, WA 98122
Learn more about Prosthetics Outreach Foundation and see pictures of Dr. Boyer’s Mt. McKinley climb at http://www.pofsea.org/ .
Karadzic Captured in Serbia: Faces War Crimes and Genocide Charges
Radovan Karadzic was recently arrested in Belgrade, thirteen years after being indicted by the UN War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague. He faces "eleven counts of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and other atrocities". These charges were made over Karadzic's alleged involvement in the killing of 12,000 civilians in the seige of Sarajevo and the massacre of over 7,500 Bosnian Muslims and Croats. While he is being held now in a special war crimes court in Serbia, he is to be transferred to the UN War Crimes Court in the Hague.
So what does this mean for Serbia and the nations and people of former Yugoslavia?
For Serbia, Karadzic's arrest is part a process towards gaining EU membership. France now holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, has already said that a major obstacle has been lifted. In a country with 18.8% unemployment and only $10,400 GDP per capita, EU membership would provide much needed economic benefits. It also casts a positive light over a country recently marred in its world image by the declaration of independence in Kosovo.
For Bosnians and Serbs, it is a step towards reconciliation. Haris Silajdzic, Chairman of the Bosnian Presidency, said of the arrest, "I am glad that this will now open the way for better co-operation and improvement in this part of the world." There are still Serbian extremists who see Karadzic as a national hero and promise backlash.
For international justice as a whole, this is great news. International courts have faced major difficulties in getting results from their actions. Recently the International Criminal Court released arrest warrants for high up members of the Sudanese government, but the Sudanese have simply ignored them. Having a major war criminal charged with genocide brought to the Hague is a major step. Karadzic himself refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the Hague, telling the Times in 1996, "If The Hague was a real juridical body I would be ready to go there to testify or do so on television, but it is a political body that has been created to blame the Serbs." As the Serbian government sends him to the Netherlands, though, Karadzic will have to cope with the fact the the court he will face is very real, and so are their charges.
Serge Brammertz, head prosecutor for the UN War Crimes Tribunal, expressed optimism for the implications of Karadzic's arrest. "It is also an important day for international justice because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law and that sooner or later all fugitives will be brought to justice."
So what does this mean for Serbia and the nations and people of former Yugoslavia?
For Serbia, Karadzic's arrest is part a process towards gaining EU membership. France now holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, has already said that a major obstacle has been lifted. In a country with 18.8% unemployment and only $10,400 GDP per capita, EU membership would provide much needed economic benefits. It also casts a positive light over a country recently marred in its world image by the declaration of independence in Kosovo.
For Bosnians and Serbs, it is a step towards reconciliation. Haris Silajdzic, Chairman of the Bosnian Presidency, said of the arrest, "I am glad that this will now open the way for better co-operation and improvement in this part of the world." There are still Serbian extremists who see Karadzic as a national hero and promise backlash.
For international justice as a whole, this is great news. International courts have faced major difficulties in getting results from their actions. Recently the International Criminal Court released arrest warrants for high up members of the Sudanese government, but the Sudanese have simply ignored them. Having a major war criminal charged with genocide brought to the Hague is a major step. Karadzic himself refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the Hague, telling the Times in 1996, "If The Hague was a real juridical body I would be ready to go there to testify or do so on television, but it is a political body that has been created to blame the Serbs." As the Serbian government sends him to the Netherlands, though, Karadzic will have to cope with the fact the the court he will face is very real, and so are their charges.
Serge Brammertz, head prosecutor for the UN War Crimes Tribunal, expressed optimism for the implications of Karadzic's arrest. "It is also an important day for international justice because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law and that sooner or later all fugitives will be brought to justice."
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Brown Takes Peace in Palestine Seriously
By Jackson Wyrick
In a bold step towards peace, United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the West Bank city of Bethlehem and met with Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Brown made some brave statements that aren't likely to increase his popularity in Israel.
Brown pledged the UK's support towards pursuing a peace with Israel based on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem being the capitol of both nations. For Israel, this would mean returning much of the land it seized in the 1967 war. It also leaves major problems to be solved, like sovereignty of holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. Also, this would leave much of the West Bank divided by the Israeli "Security Barrier", which goes far into 1967 Palestine.
The "Security Barrier" is a controversial issue in itself. In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled it to be illegal since it de facto annexed large portions of the West Bank into Israel and divided many Palestinian communities. Israel says they need the barrier because it has been effective in preventing suicide bombs, which it has. In general, Israelis prefer to call the barrier a fence, which it is for much of its length. Along major cities, though, the barrier is a 25 foot concrete wall, which is how most Palestinians refer to it. "But today the wall here is graphic evidence of the urgent need for justice for the Palestinian people and an end to the occupation," said Brown.
What is so bold about Brown's talk was that he approached it with one thing in mind: peace for Israel and Palestine. He did not worry about using the politically correct language or avoiding verbal taboos, which are all to common in the Middle East. He simply looked for how to make progress towards peace, and to do that, he was willing to call a wall a wall, or say that peace can't come until average Palestinians see improving economic conditions. He emphasized the importance of providing Palestinians with "jobs, housing, and basic services," something many Palestinians are without.
Another bold statement Brown made was his call on Israel to freeze settlements. In the poverty stricken West Bank, Israeli settlements, equipped with pools, dominate the mountaintops, and the Israeli government has not been freezing settlements. It's hard to imagine peace in the area, though, and few politicians have brave enough to discuss the issue of settlements.
During my time in Israel, I was dismayed by a predominant Israeli ideology that either peace is not possible or that Israel has done all it can towards peace and should do no more. Either way, the peace process is stuck in Israel. Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow at the Shalem Center, acknowledged that many Palestinians are being denied human rights, but their leadership left Israel no choice, so, "Too Bad".
Brown doesn't buy the "Too Bad" ideology. He is making bold steps towards reaching peace and ensuring the rights of not just Israelis, but Palestinians as well. It is promising to see a world leader committed to the peace process. Hopefully more will follow.
In a bold step towards peace, United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the West Bank city of Bethlehem and met with Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Brown made some brave statements that aren't likely to increase his popularity in Israel.
Brown pledged the UK's support towards pursuing a peace with Israel based on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem being the capitol of both nations. For Israel, this would mean returning much of the land it seized in the 1967 war. It also leaves major problems to be solved, like sovereignty of holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. Also, this would leave much of the West Bank divided by the Israeli "Security Barrier", which goes far into 1967 Palestine.
The "Security Barrier" is a controversial issue in itself. In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled it to be illegal since it de facto annexed large portions of the West Bank into Israel and divided many Palestinian communities. Israel says they need the barrier because it has been effective in preventing suicide bombs, which it has. In general, Israelis prefer to call the barrier a fence, which it is for much of its length. Along major cities, though, the barrier is a 25 foot concrete wall, which is how most Palestinians refer to it. "But today the wall here is graphic evidence of the urgent need for justice for the Palestinian people and an end to the occupation," said Brown.
What is so bold about Brown's talk was that he approached it with one thing in mind: peace for Israel and Palestine. He did not worry about using the politically correct language or avoiding verbal taboos, which are all to common in the Middle East. He simply looked for how to make progress towards peace, and to do that, he was willing to call a wall a wall, or say that peace can't come until average Palestinians see improving economic conditions. He emphasized the importance of providing Palestinians with "jobs, housing, and basic services," something many Palestinians are without.
Another bold statement Brown made was his call on Israel to freeze settlements. In the poverty stricken West Bank, Israeli settlements, equipped with pools, dominate the mountaintops, and the Israeli government has not been freezing settlements. It's hard to imagine peace in the area, though, and few politicians have brave enough to discuss the issue of settlements.
During my time in Israel, I was dismayed by a predominant Israeli ideology that either peace is not possible or that Israel has done all it can towards peace and should do no more. Either way, the peace process is stuck in Israel. Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow at the Shalem Center, acknowledged that many Palestinians are being denied human rights, but their leadership left Israel no choice, so, "Too Bad".
Brown doesn't buy the "Too Bad" ideology. He is making bold steps towards reaching peace and ensuring the rights of not just Israelis, but Palestinians as well. It is promising to see a world leader committed to the peace process. Hopefully more will follow.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
One Big World
Written by Jackson Wyrick
What in the world could South Central Los Angeles have in common with Northern Ireland and the Palestinian Authority? A funny question I know, but hang with me. These three far apart places might seem completely different at first glance, but there is more to it.
South Central, the P.A., and Northern Ireland are all prime examples of how a lack of trust in law enforcement leads to a breaking point. In South Central, there were the Watts Riots in August of 1965 and more notably the L.A. Riots of 1992. Northern Ireland saw Catholic resentment towards the Royal Ulster Constabulary boil over in the Battle of the Bogside and Bloody Sunday. In the P.A., Palestinian, rose up against Israel in the first and second Intifadas.
Although all three situations are unique in their own rights, there are central themes that can be drawn out. The first is that these uprisings don't spring up overnight. They are breaking points that follow long periods of perceived human or civil rights abuses. Second, uprisings of this nature are only made when the oppressed group feels that progress is not being made in politics or other important arenas.
Let me also underscore some key words in that last paragraph. "Perceived" human or civil rights abuses is important because it is not always indisputable that abuses are occuring. Whether or not abuses are in fact occurring, though, is not important in explaining these breaking points. What is important is that a group of people feels they are being wronged. I'm not trying to justify the Intifadas or the L.A. Riots, just trying to understand why they happened.
In all three places discussed, a group of people felt, or still feels, that the judicial system was not there to look out for them. In protest, they resisted, first against the RUC, then the L.A.P.D., and now the Israeli army. According to Freud, people submit to the authority of groups and governments because they provide them with a sense of security. In the absence of protection from the government, other groups spring up for protection. The IRA, and later the Provisional IRA, would not have had support if it had not been for injustices against Catholics in Northern Ireland. We think of gangs nowadays as all bad, but long before the Crips and the Bloods, Blacks moving into South Central in the late 1940's were subject to abuse from white gangs, so gangs like the Businessmen sprang up to protect themselves and their communities. Indeed, the Economist reports that the majority of Palestinians who voted for Hamas in the last election did so because Fatah was so corrupt and had failed them.
While South Central Los Angeles, Northern Ireland, and the Palestinian Authority are geographically so far, there are common elements that all three areas share. What you might draw from those ties is a matter of opinion, but it seems clear that people, when it comes down to it, aren't so different after all.
What in the world could South Central Los Angeles have in common with Northern Ireland and the Palestinian Authority? A funny question I know, but hang with me. These three far apart places might seem completely different at first glance, but there is more to it.
South Central, the P.A., and Northern Ireland are all prime examples of how a lack of trust in law enforcement leads to a breaking point. In South Central, there were the Watts Riots in August of 1965 and more notably the L.A. Riots of 1992. Northern Ireland saw Catholic resentment towards the Royal Ulster Constabulary boil over in the Battle of the Bogside and Bloody Sunday. In the P.A., Palestinian, rose up against Israel in the first and second Intifadas.
Although all three situations are unique in their own rights, there are central themes that can be drawn out. The first is that these uprisings don't spring up overnight. They are breaking points that follow long periods of perceived human or civil rights abuses. Second, uprisings of this nature are only made when the oppressed group feels that progress is not being made in politics or other important arenas.
Let me also underscore some key words in that last paragraph. "Perceived" human or civil rights abuses is important because it is not always indisputable that abuses are occuring. Whether or not abuses are in fact occurring, though, is not important in explaining these breaking points. What is important is that a group of people feels they are being wronged. I'm not trying to justify the Intifadas or the L.A. Riots, just trying to understand why they happened.
In all three places discussed, a group of people felt, or still feels, that the judicial system was not there to look out for them. In protest, they resisted, first against the RUC, then the L.A.P.D., and now the Israeli army. According to Freud, people submit to the authority of groups and governments because they provide them with a sense of security. In the absence of protection from the government, other groups spring up for protection. The IRA, and later the Provisional IRA, would not have had support if it had not been for injustices against Catholics in Northern Ireland. We think of gangs nowadays as all bad, but long before the Crips and the Bloods, Blacks moving into South Central in the late 1940's were subject to abuse from white gangs, so gangs like the Businessmen sprang up to protect themselves and their communities. Indeed, the Economist reports that the majority of Palestinians who voted for Hamas in the last election did so because Fatah was so corrupt and had failed them.
While South Central Los Angeles, Northern Ireland, and the Palestinian Authority are geographically so far, there are common elements that all three areas share. What you might draw from those ties is a matter of opinion, but it seems clear that people, when it comes down to it, aren't so different after all.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Child bride gets divorced after rape, beatings
- Ex-child bride says, "I didn't want to sleep with him, but he forced me to"
- Yemeni girl, 10, say she was forced to marry man three times her age
- Now divorced, Nujood Ali is one of the few children to speak out against practice
- International aid group: More than half of all Yemeni girls are married off before 18
By Paula Newton
CNN
CNN
Editor's note: CNN does not usually identify children of alleged abuse, but in this case the girl and her family gave CNN permission to tell her story and use her name.
SANAA, Yemen (CNN) -- Nujood Ali is 10 years old, but she already has been married and divorced. It was an arranged marriage in which she said a husband three times her age routinely beat and raped her.
"When I got married, I was afraid. I didn't want to leave home. I wanted to stay with my brothers and sisters and my mom and dad," she said, speaking to CNN with the permission of her parents.
"I didn't want to sleep with him, but he forced me to. He hit me, insulted me."
As she plays marbles with her brothers and sister, Nujood is a portrait of innocence, with a shy smile and a playful nature.
But what happened evokes anger and shame. Asked if what she went through was torture, she nods quietly.
Nujood's parents married her off in February to a man in his 30s whom she describes as old and ugly.
Her parents said they thought they were putting her in the care of her husband's family, but Nujood said he would often beat her into submission.
Nujood then turned to her family for mercy.
"When I heard, my heart burned for her; he wasn't supposed to sleep with her," said Nujood's mother, who asked not to be identified.
But, initially, she also told her daughter she could not help her -- that she belonged to her husband now.
Nujood's father, Ali Mohammed Ahdal, said he is angry about what happened to his daughter. "He was a criminal, a criminal. He did hateful things to her," he said. "He didn't keep his promise to me that he wouldn't go near her until she was 20."
When contacted by CNN, the girl's former husband declined to comment.
Nujood's parents, like so many others in Yemen, struck a social bargain when they decided to have their daughter wed. More than half of all Yemeni girls are married off before the age of 18, according to Oxfam International, a nonprofit group that fights global poverty and injustice.
Many times girls are forced to marry older men, including some who already have at least one wife, Oxfam said. According to tribal customs, the girls are no longer viewed as a financial or moral burden to their parents.
"There is always a fear that the girl will do something to dishonor the family: She will run away with a guy, she will have relations with a boy. So this is always the phobia that the families have," said Suha Bashren of Oxfam International.
Bashren calls the tradition of child brides in Yemen a national crisis. She works with young girls to protect them from early marriage, abuse and one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.
The Yemeni government is holding legal and religious workshops to try to deal with the issue of early marriage. But experts say marrying off a young daughter is generally still seen as the right thing to do.
"A lot of people in the public don't think that this is wrong or that what happened to her was abuse," Bashren said.
In Yemen, there is nothing new or extraordinary about Nujood's story because children have been married off for generations. The country's legal minimum age for marriage was 15 till a decade ago, when the law was changed to allow for children even younger to be wed.
But what is most unusual is that this young girl took such an intensely private dispute and went public with it.
Nujood said she made up her mind to escape from her husband, describing how on a visit to her parents' home she broke free and traveled to the central courthouse across town and demanded to speak to a judge.
"He asked me, 'What do you want?' And I said, 'I want a divorce.' And he said, 'You're married?' And I said, 'Yes,'" she recalled.
What unfolded in those few days in April gripped the country on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Nujood got her divorce, but based on the principles of Islamic Sharia law, her husband was compensated, not prosecuted. Nujood was ordered to pay him more than $200. The human rights lawyer who represented her donated the money.
But for this determined spirit, it was still a sweet victory.
"I did this so that people would listen and think about not marrying their daughters off as young as I was," she said with a shy smile.
Now back at the family home, she said she won't go outside to play -- that all the attention bothers her. Some still condemn the young girl for speaking out, believing that she shouldn't have challenged convention.
Human rights advocates said it will take more than a generation if this practice is to change in Yemen for other children.
"These girls are living in a misery that no one is talking about," Oxfam's Bashren said.
| Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/15/yemen.childbride/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail |
Friday, July 11, 2008
Holocaust siblings meet after 66 years
Holocaust siblings meet after 66 years
- Story Highlights
- Brother, sister meet for first time since 1942, when Nazis separated them
- Brother in Ukraine never stopped searching: "Now I truly believe I can die satisfied"
- An American Red Cross volunteer helped bring them together
- Even after all this time, the siblings don't know what happened to their parents
By Matthew Chance
CNN
CNN
DONETSK, Ukraine (CNN) -- A frail Irene Famulak clutched her brother on the airport tarmac, her arm wrapped around him in a tight embrace, tears streaming down their faces. It was the first time since 1942 they had seen each other, when she was 17 and he was just 7.
That was the night the invading Nazis came to take her away from her Ukrainian home.
"I remember it well because I kissed him good-bye, and he pushed me away," she said of her brother. "I asked, 'Why did you do that?' And he said that he doesn't like kisses."
"The Nazis told my mother that I was being taken to work in a German labor camp for six months. But it was, of course, much longer. I was there for years."
Both siblings survived the Holocaust and grew up on different sides of the Iron Curtain, not knowing the fate of the other.
But after 66 years apart, Famulak, 83, was reunited with her long lost 73-year-old brother, Wssewolod Galezkij. They held each other close this time, cherishing the moment. 
"I don't believe anyone has ever known such happiness. Now, I truly believe I can die satisfied," Galezkij said.
Famulak made the long journey to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after being contacted by the American Red Cross. The organization told her they had located her only surviving sibling.
Famulak said she spent World War II in a labor camp in Munich, Germany, working in the kitchens. She had been taken to the camp with her older sister. When it was liberated in 1945, Famulak stayed in Germany for several years, eventually emigrating to the United States in 1956.
She never saw her parents again after that day in 1942 when Nazis separated her from her family. She and her brother still have no idea what happened to their mother and father. Some of their siblings lived through the war, but later died; others, they never heard from again after being separated.
But her younger brother never gave up hope of tracking his sister down. He, too, was sent to a German labor camp, but after the war, he moved back to Ukraine, then a republic of the Soviet Union. 
Under Soviet leader Josef Stalin, information on lost relatives was kept sealed, and Galezkij said it wasn't until reforms in the late 1980s, followed by the Soviet collapse, that he started making progress in finding his sister.
Even then, it took him more than 17 years to locate her in the United States. He broke down in tears as he spoke of his overwhelming happiness at finding her.
"When the Red Cross told me they had found her in America, it was such a joy," he said, sobbing.
In fact, he had to be taken to the hospital because he was so overcome when he first learned she was alive. At this week's reunion, there was a doctor on hand at the airport as a precaution.
Back in the United States, there were tears, too.
Linda Klein, the director of the American Red Cross Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center, said the volunteer who helped the siblings find each other got caught up in the emotion herself.
"When I showed her the picture, she stood there and wept," Klein said. "She was beside herself."
Klein's group has reunited 1,500 families since it began work in 1990. She said the former Soviet Union released records in 1989 of concentration camps it liberated, greatly helping organizers find information on Holocaust victims.
The organization has 100 volunteers -- a third of them Holocaust survivors, Klein said. The group also helps families find information about their loved ones who died during the Holocaust. They have brought together more than 50 families this year. All of their work is free. She says it's often like "looking for a needle in a haystack."
"We're playing beat the clock right now," she said, adding, "It's about families that one day they were together and then they were apart."
"When a connection is made, there are just smiles all around."
That was the case for this family in Ukraine. Years of trauma, of separation, of not knowing what happened to loved ones, have been replaced by celebration.
In a picturesque orchard overlooking rolling fields, Galezkij, his wife and their neighbors laid out a feast for his American sister. As the vodka flowed, he told her how he had survived for a lifetime without her.
"He says he always thought he'd see me someday. He dreamt lots about me," Famulak said, as she sat next to her brother.
"And he wrote a song for me. When he went to sleep, he sang every night and cried."
With that, Galezkij, weakened by illness and age, burst into song. But this time, he sang the words with pure joy.
CNN's Michael Sefanov and Wayne Drash contributed to this report.
original link: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/07/11/holocaust.reunion/index.html
Human Rights Advocate Silenced in China
BEIJING — Three weeks after the earthquake in Sichuan Province, five bereaved fathers whose children died in collapsed schools sought help from a local human rights activist named Huang Qi.
The fathers visited Mr. Huang at the Tianwang Human Rights Center, an informal advocacy organization in the provincial capital of Chengdu, where he worked and lived. They told him how the four-story Dongqi Middle School had crumbled in an instant, burying their children alive.
Mr. Huang soon posted an article on his center’s Web site, 64tianwang.com, describing their demands. They wanted compensation, an investigation into the schools’ construction and for those responsible for the building’s collapse to be held accountable — if there indeed was negligence.
A week later, plainclothes officers intercepted Mr. Huang on the street outside his home and stuffed him into a car. The police have informed his wife and mother that they are holding him on suspicion of illegally possessing state secrets.
“They’ve been using this method for a long time,” said Zhang Jianping, a contributor to the Web site who has known Mr. Huang since 2005. Nobody knows the grounds for his arrest, but many people have the same idea. Mr. Zhang said, “It may be because the schools collapsed, and so many children died.”
In the days after the earthquake, the authorities allowed reporters and volunteers to travel freely in the disaster zone. Some commentators even saw the dawning of a Chinese glasnost. In an interview with National Public Radio that aired in May, Mr. Huang said he believed that the human rights situation in China had greatly improved.
“He actually thought things were heading in the right direction,” said John Kamm, who is pressing for Mr. Huang’s release and is the executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation, which has helped free prominent Chinese political prisoners. “That’s one of the tragedies of his detention.”
A volunteer at the Tianwang center, Pu Fei, 27, was detained minutes after Mr. Huang. He said that the officers who interrogated him demanded that he hand over the password needed to post information on their Web site. They also wanted to know whom Mr. Huang had met and where he had gone in the disaster zone. Mr. Pu was detained in a hotel for two weeks and then released.
Mr. Pu and other volunteers said the authorities might have singled out Mr. Huang because he disseminated information about parents whose children had died in collapsed schools — a group whose protests began to snowball into something like a movement in early June.
There is no official figure on how many children died in schools during the powerful May 12 earthquake. Seven thousand schoolrooms collapsed, according to Chinese government estimates. Thousands of students may have died, if not more, leaving behind bereft parents looking for answers.
During the brief period of openness in late May and early June, parents marched with photos of their children and gathered at the wreckage of schools to hold memorial services. They held sit-ins outside government buildings. In one town, the top Communist Party leader got down on his knees and begged parents to stop a march, but they refused.
But with the Olympic Games in Beijing approaching, the issue increasingly looked like a time bomb for the authorities, and they scurried to defuse it. The Propaganda Department banned coverage of destroyed schools in the domestic press. Paramilitary police officers blocked foreign reporters from demonstrations. Activists who tried to gather and publish information about school construction were detained.
On June 2, The Sichuan Economic Daily published an article saying that substandard construction methods contributed to the deaths of 82 students at a middle school in Yinghua Township. Afterward, an editor at the paper said, two reporters and an editor who worked on that article were fired.
Two fathers of children killed in schools said in separate interviews that officials had told them public gatherings and petitioning the government were no longer permitted. Zeng Hongling, a local crusader who wrote three articles lashing out at the government’s earthquake response, was detained on suspicion of inciting subversion, according to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, a group based in Hong Kong.
Mr. Huang, who was detained on June 10, has not yet been formally charged with any crime. But if he is convicted on the murky charge of holding state secrets, it will not be his first time being jailed for a political crime.
In 1998, he and his wife, Zeng Li, founded the Tianwang Center for Missing Persons, an organization that focused on cases of human trafficking. Its name later changed to Tianwang Human Rights Center as its mission expanded.
In 1999, she and Mr. Huang helped the police rescue seven girls who had been sold into prostitution. The case gained the Tianwang center favorable attention in the state-run news media.
Mr. Huang also exposed a racket through which thousands of migrant workers sent to work on ocean-going fishing boats had been forced to pay for mandatory appendectomies at a government-run clinic. He published an article on his Web site. His wife said that Mr. Huang’s report stepped on the toes of high-ranking local officials who profited from the arrangement.
Mr. Huang continued to post articles about other taboo topics.
In March 2000, he wrote about a practitioner of the banned spiritual group Falun Gong who was beaten to death in police custody. The Chengdu police shut down his Web site days later, so Mr. Huang moved its content to a server in the United States.
Later that year, he posted an account of a 15-year-old boy who was detained in Chengdu during the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing. The boy later died in police custody.
The police arrested Mr. Huang shortly thereafter. He was held for an extended period without trial, and he was ultimately convicted on charges of inciting subversion and was sentenced to five years in prison. Ms. Zeng, who has lived apart from Mr. Huang since 2006, said the experience changed him.
“When he came out, you could see scars on his head,” she said. “He became irritable, and he would forget things.”
To the surprise of some friends, Mr. Huang took up where he had left off when he got out of prison. He revived his dormant Web site, found citizen journalists throughout China to contribute articles and resumed his role as an activist. “He started helping petitioners — people who had been harmed, people whose homes has been demolished, people whose rights had been abused,” Ms. Zeng said.
State security agents watched him, Ms. Zeng said, but they did not interfere with his work.
Then the earthquake hit, and foreign reporters flooded the devastated towns. Mr. Huang knew the terrain of Sichuan well and did his best to help. He accepted interviews with the foreign press. He and his volunteers rented a truck and handed out bottled water, instant noodles and crackers to refugees. In June, he helped reporters from a British television channel contact parents whose children had been killed in schools destroyed by the earthquake. And he began acting as a clearinghouse of information for reporters.
Mr. Huang kept in touch with the five fathers whose children had died at Dongqi Middle School. They joined a group of experts to investigate the wreckage for clues as to why the building crumbled. Mr. Huang posted a short article on his Web site saying that, according to the experts, the school was structurally unsafe.
It was one of his last postings before his detention. Mr. Huang’s lawyers and family said that the Chengdu police have denied their requests to meet with him on the grounds that his case involves state secrets. Officers with the Wuhou District Public Security Bureau declined to comment, saying they were not authorized to speak with the media.
A conviction for the crime of possessing state secrets can carry up to three years in prison.
It is unclear whether the pressure to arrest him came from central authorities in Beijing or from local officials, who regarded his criticism of the collapsed schools as threatening. Mr. Pu said that some of the officers who interrogated him spoke with a northern Beijing accent, which is unusual in Sichuan, an area with a strong dialect.
original article can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/world/asia/11china.html?ex=1373515200&en=924048ad56677dcf&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Saturday, June 7, 2008
U.S. distances itself from U.N. rights body
Original Article can be found at: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN06294689
WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - In an attempt to further distance itself from the U.N. Human Rights Council, the United States said on Friday it would only engage the body when there was an issue of "deep national interest."
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the decision, taken recently by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, reflected mistrust of the 47-member state forum, at which the United States currently has observer status.
"Our skepticism regarding the function of the U.N. Council on Human Rights in terms of fulfilling its mandate and its mission is well known. It has a rather pathetic record," McCormack told reporters.
"We will engage the Human Rights Council really only when we believe that there are matters of deep national interest before the council ... We are going to take a more reserved approach," he added.
Diplomatic sources said the United States had quietly informed Western allies on Friday of its intention to walk away from the council.
"They said they were going to disengage totally," said one representative of a rights watchdog group.
The U.S. delegation has observer status, with the right to speak at the forum when it meets in Geneva. Washington has never stood for election since the council was set up two years ago to replace the widely discredited U.N. Commission on Human Rights.
In a council debate on Friday on the situation in Myanmar, the United States failed to take the floor on a topic on which until now it has always been vocal, a sign that it had little further interest in the body.
Asked about the Myanmar debate, McCormack said Washington would decide on an "ad hoc" basis when to get involved.
The council is seen by critics as having fallen under the control of a bloc of Islamic and African countries, which have a majority when backed by their frequent allies Russia, China and Cuba.
"Instead of focusing on some of the real and deep human rights issues around the world, it has really turned into a forum that seems to be almost solely focused on bashing Israel," said McCormack of the council. (Reporting by Sue Pleming; additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; editing by Eric Beech)
----------------------------------------
Human Rights Watch and Human Rights Tribune both condemned the U.S.'s decision in the following articles:
Human Rights Watch Article
Human Rights Tribune Article
WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - In an attempt to further distance itself from the U.N. Human Rights Council, the United States said on Friday it would only engage the body when there was an issue of "deep national interest."
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the decision, taken recently by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, reflected mistrust of the 47-member state forum, at which the United States currently has observer status.
"Our skepticism regarding the function of the U.N. Council on Human Rights in terms of fulfilling its mandate and its mission is well known. It has a rather pathetic record," McCormack told reporters.
"We will engage the Human Rights Council really only when we believe that there are matters of deep national interest before the council ... We are going to take a more reserved approach," he added.
Diplomatic sources said the United States had quietly informed Western allies on Friday of its intention to walk away from the council.
"They said they were going to disengage totally," said one representative of a rights watchdog group.
The U.S. delegation has observer status, with the right to speak at the forum when it meets in Geneva. Washington has never stood for election since the council was set up two years ago to replace the widely discredited U.N. Commission on Human Rights.
In a council debate on Friday on the situation in Myanmar, the United States failed to take the floor on a topic on which until now it has always been vocal, a sign that it had little further interest in the body.
Asked about the Myanmar debate, McCormack said Washington would decide on an "ad hoc" basis when to get involved.
The council is seen by critics as having fallen under the control of a bloc of Islamic and African countries, which have a majority when backed by their frequent allies Russia, China and Cuba.
"Instead of focusing on some of the real and deep human rights issues around the world, it has really turned into a forum that seems to be almost solely focused on bashing Israel," said McCormack of the council. (Reporting by Sue Pleming; additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; editing by Eric Beech)
----------------------------------------
Human Rights Watch and Human Rights Tribune both condemned the U.S.'s decision in the following articles:
Human Rights Watch Article
Human Rights Tribune Article
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)