Sudan

Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

US: Freezing Out Hamas No Longer Viable, Say Policy Heavyweights

A new report from a New York-based think tank and delivered to U.S. President Barack Obama by a signatory who is also a current adviser recommends that Washington forcefully reinsert itself into the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, calling for “a more pragmatic approach to Hamas.”  IPS

NETHERLANDS:  Dutch Police Get Tasers

Today, Holland starts a one-year trial of arming police with Tasers.  This sounds like a familiar story, but here’s the twist:  The Dutch police don’t want the them.  According to Dutch Public TV, the Federal Police issued a statement documenting their objections to using a weapon so rife with problems.  AmnestyUSA

MIDDLE EAST: Press Sudan on Darfur Aid

The League of Arab States should call on Sudan to urgently readmit humanitarian aid groups to Darfur, Human Rights Watch said in a letter released today. Arab League foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Sudan when they meet on March 30, 2009, at their annual summit in Doha, Qatar.  Human Rights Watch

BOLIVIA: Will the Rule of Law Apply to All Bolivians?

On March 7, a mob of Bolivians occupied the home of Victor Hugo Cardenas, an indigenous politician who served as vice president under former president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. The group, which justified the action as an expropriation based on a provision of the new constitution requiring that land holdings serve a social function, also acted roughly with Cardenas’ wife and children. The mob explicitly stated that they specifically targeted Cardenas due to his opposition to the new constitution. The responses of government officials to this seizure have been contradictory and unclear thus far. High-level officials including Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera and Deputy Interior Minister Marcos Farfan, however, have implied or stated outright their support for the action. Unfortunately, the incident is but one in a series of occurrences that have observers – even those sympathetic to the Morales administration – scratching their heads regarding the government’s relationship with the rule of law.  Freedom House

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

SUDAN: Kidnapped Doctors Without Borders Staff Released in Darfur

Four Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff kidnapped on March 11 in Serif Umra, North Darfur, Sudan, were safely released today, March 14, 2009.  Doctors Without Borders

U.S.: Kucinich Requests Investigation Into ‘Executive Assassination Ring’

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) Friday sent a letter to Chairman Edolphus Towns of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee requesting an immediate investigation into allegations made by the investigative reporter Seymour Hersh that the White House operated an ‘executive assassination ring’ that circumvented Congressional oversight.  Common Dreams

U.S.: Complaint Filed Against Former Dept. of Defense Lawyer William Haynes

The National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLGSF) is filing a complaint with the California State Bar today against former Department of Defense General Counsel William Haynes. The complaint against Haynes, who now works for the Chevron Corporation in San Ramon, states that he “breached his duty as a lawyer and advocated for harsh tactics amounting to torture in violation of U.S. and international law … advocacy that directly lead to detainee abuses at the Guantanamo Bay and Abu Grahib facilities.”  Common Dreams

EU: Demand Accountability for Gaza Conflict Laws of War Violations

The European Union should press for a comprehensive and impartial international inquiry into allegations of serious violations of international law committed by Israeli and Palestinian forces in Gaza and southern Israel, Human Rights Watch said today. Failure to do so would suggest an indefensible double standard in the application of international justice. Human Rights Watch

CUBA: More dissident arrests in Cuba

On the eve of the 6th anniversary of Cuba’s Black Spring, 15 opponents of the Castro regime were arrested in Santa Clara. Their crime? Demanding that Cuba respect Human Rights conventions the Castro regime has previously agreed to on paper. Cuba has signed the Human Rights Conventions, when will they implement them? Didn’t Raul Castro promise change?  Blog for Cuba

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

ZIMBABWE: More jail time for premier’s aide

A Zimbabwe judge says prosecutors can appeal a ruling granting bail to a jailed aide to the prime minister. Roy Bennett’s lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, says Supreme Court Judge Paddington Garwe ruled Thursday the appeal could go ahead because prosecutors had a reasonable chance of success. No court date was set. Bennett will remain jailed pending the appeal.  International herald Tribune

MEXICO: Stop Blocking Abortions for Rape Victims

Officials in the Mexican state of Guanajuato should stop preventing pregnant rape victims from having abortions, though the law guarantees them access, and should stop prosecuting other women seeking abortion services, Human Rights Watch and Centro Las Libres said today in letters to the state government.  Human Rights Watch

SUDAN: Health fears as Sudan expels NGOs

Aid agencies say thousands of lives are at risk after the Sudanese government revoked their licenses to operate in the country.  Al Jazeera

DRC: Uganda captures rebel commander

Ugandan troops have captured a senior Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) officer, the highest ranking prisoner taken in an offensive against fighters hiding in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Al Jazeera

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

US: Senate Committee Weighs “Truth Commission”

In a preview of the heated divisions likely be triggered by the formation of a “truth commission” to investigate detainee interrogation, warrantless wiretapping and other alleged violations during the administration of President George W. Bush, witnesses before a Senate committee Wednesday characterised such a body as either a “profoundly bad idea” or “critically important to avoiding the mistakes of the past.”  IPS

SUDAN: Rights Groups Applaud Bashir War Crimes Warrant

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, the first head of state to be indicted by the Hague-based International Criminal Court, now faces an arrest warrant issued Wednesday by the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.  IPS

EGYPT: Hundreds Still Held Over Gaza Protests

Egyptian authorities should immediately charge or free Diaa Eddin Gad, a blogger held since February 6, 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. Gad is among a number of bloggers and activists arrested in relation to protest in Egypt since the beginning of the Gaza offensive in late December 2008.  Human Rights Watch

SRI LANKA: Urgently Evacuate Civilians

The Sri Lankan government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should immediately agree to a plan of action to allow civilians trapped in the Vanni to leave the conflict area, Human Rights Watch said today. Some 150,000 civilians are at grave risk from fighting and aid shortages in the shrinking war zone in northeast Sri Lanka.  Human Rights Watch

COLOMBIA: Extradition of HH leaves hundreds of questions unanswered

The extradition of former paramilitary boss Hebert ‘HH’ Veloza — expected within 24 hours — leaves crimes against thousands and the disappearance of dozens unanswered. ‘HH’ will be taken to the United States where he faces charges for drug trafficking and is the fifteenth leader of the demobilized AUC to be extradited and face U.S. justice within a year. His extradition comes too soon for him to finish his collaboration with Colombian Justice and to confess the crimes he committed as one of the most feared leaders of the AUC.  Colombia Reports

ZIMBABWE: Forced Closure of Refugee Area Further Endangers Zimbabweans in South Africa

The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today denounced the decision by South African authorities to close the ‘showground’, a large open field in Musina town near the border with Zimbabwe, where 3,000 – 4,000 Zimbabweans line up to apply for asylum and seek refuge every night. The closure of the showgrounds demonstrates a flagrant disregard for the humanitarian and protection needs of Zimbabweans seeking refuge in South Africa, and will have extremely negative consequences as no allowances have been made to ensure their access to shelter, food, or medical assistance.  Common Dreams

ISRAEL: US denounces Israeli demolitions

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has criticised Israel’s plans to demolish dozens of Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem, describing the move as “unhelpful”.  Al Jazeera

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

EGYPT: Political Dissident, Imprisoned for Years, Is Suddenly Released

Egypt’s most prominent political dissident and a one-time presidential candidate, Ayman Nour, was unexpectedly released from prison on Wednesday after the United States and European governments had pressed for years to have him set free.  NY Times

U.S.: Court rejects Uighur freedom

A US federal appeals court has ruled against the release of 17 ethnic Chinese Uighurs into the US from its prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The three-judge panel said that a federal judge in an earlier hearing did not have the authority to decide who can legally enter the US, and that such decisions could only be made by the US executive branch under the president.  Al Jazeera

MOROCCO: Rights Activist Detained

Moroccan authorities should disclose immediately the whereabouts of a human rights activist, Chekib el-Khiari, who reported to the Judicial Police in Casablanca on February 17, 2009, in response to a summons and has not been heard from since. Early this morning, plainclothes police searched el-Khiari’s family’s home in the city of Nador and confiscated his computer and some documents, family members said.  Human Rights Watch

US: State’s ‘Personhood’ Law Would Hit Birth Control

Pro-choice groups have warned that a law passed by legislators in the US state of North Dakota recognizing the “personhood” of a fetus would not only outlaw abortion but could also bar access to birth control.  Common Dreams

BURMA: Junta Declares War on Lawyers, Jails Them

To be a lawyer in military-ruled Burma is to court danger, invite arrest and risk being jailed in the country’s notorious prisons.  IPS

SUDAN: Rebels accuse army of attacks

Sudan’s Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) has accused the army of attacks just hours after the rebel group signed a key agreement on Darfur with the government. Al Jazeera

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The daily update of human rights events around the world.

SUDAN: Sudanese Harassed for Cooperating with the International Criminal Court

FIDH is concerned about the repeated attacks against persons suspected of supporting or cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which have been registered in Sudan over the last months.  FIDH

U.S.: Time to Select U.S. AIDS Leader

As acronyms go, OGAC — the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator — is no memorable stand-out. However, its coordinator has the extraordinarily important job of setting U.S. AIDS policy and identifying spending priorities. With the U.S. investing more than ever in the global AIDS fight, it’s time to fill the position with someone with the knowledge, credibility and leadership to head up what is America’s largest global public health initiative, accounting for billions in annual spending. Remarkably, this office has been leaderless for over a week now.  Nicholas Kristoff – NY Times

CHINA: Human Rights Lawyer in Arbitrary Detention

The Chinese government should immediately disclose the whereabouts of Gao Zhisheng, a leading human rights lawyer who disappeared two weeks ago, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Human Rights in China said today in a joint statement.  Human Rights Watch

LATIN AMERICA: Human Rights Coverage Serving Washington’s Needs

A new Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) study finds that leading newspapers have been putting political considerations ahead of humanitarian concerns in their editorials on human rights in Latin America.  Common Dreams

BOLIVIA: Tight Grip on the Next Big Resource

In the rush to build the next generation of hybrid or electric cars, a sobering fact confronts both automakers and governments seeking to lower their reliance on foreign oil: almost half of the world’s lithium, the mineral needed to power the vehicles, is found here in Bolivia – a country that may not be willing to surrender it so easily.  NY Times

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The daily update of human rights events around the world.

DRC: International Court Begins First Trial

Children snatched from Congo streets were trained to kill and forced to fight in a brutal ethnic war, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor said Monday as the tribunal opened its historic first trial.  NY Times

RWANDA: Congo Presses for Extradition of Warlord

On Sunday, a bunch of former guerrilla fighters lounged around a hilltop army base, picking avocados and looking relaxed. Though their former commander, Gen. Laurent Nkunda, was captured Thursday by the Rwandan Army, the soldiers up here insisted that he was not in captivity but “in negotiations.”  NY Times

MIDEAST: Unconventional Warfare on the Rise

Violent conflict is hardly new to the Middle East, but increasingly it is taking the form of unconventional warfare.  IPS

COLOMBIA: Entire Battalion Dismantled Over Killings of Civilians

The purge of the Colombian army over killings of civilians passed off as guerrilla casualties continues, this time with the dismantling of an entire army brigade and the removal of 11 officers who served in another battalion.  IPS

DARFUR: Killing of 33 civilians in Darfur camp was unlawful, says UN report

A new UN report into the killing of 33 civilians and wounding of 108 others in a camp for displaced people in Darfur last August concludes that Sudanese government security forces violated international human rights law by using lethal force in “an unnecessary, disproportionate and therefore unlawful manner.”  UNHCR

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Massive forced civilian displacements, violence, and unmet medical needs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, and Pakistan, along with neglected medical emergencies in Myanmar and Zimbabwe, are some of the worst humanitarian and medical emergencies in the world, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported Monday in its annual list of the “Top Ten” humanitarian crises. .

The report underscores major difficulties in bringing assistance to people affected by conflict. The lack of global attention to the growing prevalence of HIV-tuberculosis co-infection and the critical need for increased global efforts to prevent and treat childhood malnutrition-the underlying cause of death for up to five million children per year-are also included in the list.

1. Somalia’s Humanitarian Catastrophe Worsens
2. Critical Need of Assistance in Ethiopia’s Somali Region
3. Critical Health Needs in Myanmar Remain Unmet
4. Civilians Killed and Forced to Flee as Fighting Intensifies in Northwestern Pakistan
5. Health Crisis Sweeps Zimbabwe as Violence and Economic Collapse Spread
6. No End in Sight to Violence and Suffering in Sudan
7. Civilians Trapped as War Rages in Eastern Congo
8. Iraqi Civilians in Urgent Need of Assistance
9. Millions of Malnourished Children Left Untreated Despite Advances in Lifesaving Nutritional Therapies
10. HIV/TB Co-Infection Poses Health Battle on Two Fronts

Many of the countries on this year’s list illustrate the ever-shrinking space for impartial humanitarian action, making it extremely difficult to deliver aid to those most affected and vulnerable. Aid organizations now operate with increased security risks and in generally more hazardous and threatening environments. In highly politicized and volatile conflicts such as those in Somalia, Pakistan, Sudan, and Iraq, MSF-despite its neutrality and independence-is limited in its ability to directly address immense medical needs.

In Somalia, intensified violence, including direct attacks and threats against aid workers, meant that MSF had to curtail some of its operations in 2008, including the withdrawal of its international staff, significantly reducing the quality of assistance provided to an already weakened population. In Pakistan, hundreds of thousands of people fled air attacks and bombings from a counter-insurgency campaign in the northwest area earlier in the year. After aid workers in the country were threatened, attacked, and kidnapped, MSF restricted the number of international staff in its projects.

In places such as Myanmar and Zimbabwe-where governments fail to make health care a priority or view NGO interventions with suspicion-humanitarian organizations are either limited in the type of assistance they can provide or are left to deal with overwhelming health crises on their own. In Myanmar, where MSF is the main provider of HIV care, hundreds of thousands of people are needlessly dying due to a severe lack of HIV/AIDS treatment while the government does far too little to help its own people.

Governments are also ignoring the crisis of childhood malnutrition. In Niger, the government in 2008 forced the termination of MSF’s child nutrition program in the region of Maradi, where tens of thousands of children were suffering from acute malnutrition. As a result, they have not received proven and highly effective treatment. The closure came at a time when efforts to make progress in the fight against malnutrition globally are more possible-and more necessary-than ever.

Support Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) by making a contribution.

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According to the Washington Post, “Sarah Palin is exaggerating her role in leading the Sudan divestiture in Alaska. The legislative record shows that her administration was late in embracing the campaign to sell stock in companies that do business with Sudan, and that it initially opposed the divestiture. The Alaska Permanent Fund still invests in companies blacklisted by the Save Darfur Coalition”

As I noted in my post on Sarah Palin on Sunday, she misrepresented her position on divestment from companies doing business in the Sudan, taking credit for doing so only after it was too late. What’s more, the state of Alaska still invests in companies doing business in the Sudan despite her claims.

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