G8 Agree War-Time Rape Is a Violation of Geneva Convention | Trustlaw

Nzigire Chibalonza lives in Minova. She is 60 years old. She was raped by three men on the night of 22 November 2012, when soldiers went on the rampage in the town. They were so brutal, she says, that she thought she would die. Image © Fiona Lloyd-Davies. DRC, 2013.

The world’s eight richest nations have reached a historic agreement to work together to end sexual violence in conflicts, Britain’s foreign minister William Hague announced on Thursday. Hague called the “horrific” use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war” one of the greatest and most persistent injustices in the world”. From Bosnia to Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo, rape has been used against hundreds of thousands of women and girls – inflicting unimaginable suffering, destroying families and fueling conflict, he said.

“To my mind, this cause is the slave trade of our generation,” said Hague, who was been hosting a two-day meeting of G8 foreign ministers in London.

Flanked by Zainab Bangura, the U.N. special representative on sexual violence in conflict, and Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, another U.N. special envoy, Hague said G8 states had agreed on six major steps to tackle the culture of impunity. He also announced nearly $35.5 million (£23 million) in new funding from the G8 for the issue, including more than £10 million from Britain.

Declaring war-time rape a breach of the Geneva Conventions – also known as the laws of war – gives G8 nations the responsibility to seek out and prosecute perpetrators regardless of their nationality and wherever they are in the world.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia will also back an international protocol setting out ideal standards for investigating rape and sexual violence. The aim is to increase the number of successful prosecutions by collecting the strongest possible evidence. Amnesties for sexual violence must never be included in peace treaties, the group agreed, pledging to improve training for military and police deployed to war zones. They are often the first to come into contact with survivors of rape.

G8 Reaches ‘Historic” Agreement to End Rape as Weapon of War | Trustlaw

Aftermath of a Mass Rape in Congo | Fiona Lloyd-Davis (Photo Gallery)

 

U.N. Carries Out First Review of U.S. Human Rights Record| Washington Post

GENEVA — The United States on Friday disavowed torture and pledged to treat terror suspects humanely, but set aside calls to drop the death penalty, as the United Nations carried out its first review of Washington’s human rights record.

As part a groundbreaking commitment to improvement under the Obama administration, the U.S. joined the 47-nation Human Rights Council in 2009. And in doing so, submitted to more international scrutiny.

State Department legal adviser Harold Koh outlined nine key improvement areas Friday, encompassing about 174 of the 228 recommendations the community had urged on Washington in an initial report last November. Nations are held accountable for what they agree to improve.

He said the U.S. would agree to improvements in areas ranging from civil rights to national security to immigration, including intolerance of torture and the humane treatment of suspects at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.

But in some areas the U.S. stance was unchanged, particularly on the death penalty, which had led to a chorus of objections from many European nations.

Critics say the law is inhumane and unfairly applied. But Koh said capital punishment is permitted under international law.

“To those who desire as a matter of policy to end capital punishment in the United States — and I count myself among those — I note the decision made by the government of Illinois on March 9 to abolish that state’s death penalty,” Koh told the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council.

Cuba, Iran and Venezuela complained the U.S. was brushing too many recommendations aside, while China and Russia said the U.S. was not going far enough on Guantanamo, and called for it to be shut down as President Barack Obama had promised.

Other nations urged the U.S. to reduce overcrowding in prisons, ratify international treaties on the rights of women and children, and take further steps to prevent racial profiling. Koh said Obama also would push to ratify additional measures under the Geneva Conventions and add protections for anyone it detains in an international armed conflict.

Civil society groups have praised the U.S. for involving itself in the review process, which all U.N. member states have to undergo every four years. Japan, France and Cameroon had led the writing of the report on the U.S.

However, Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s human rights program, said one of the biggest U.S. shortcomings is that it has still has not created an independent human rights monitoring commission as has been done in over 100 countries.

“While the Obama administration should be commended for its positive engagement in this process, in order to lead by example, this international engagement must be followed by concrete domestic actions to bring U.S. laws and policies in line with international human rights standards,” he said.

Reprint: U.S. Agrees to Improve Human Rights Record in First Assessment, But Death Penalty Remains –By Assoc Press | Washington Post

U.N. Carries Out First Review of U.S. Human Rights Record | WikiNews

 

Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution: People Power & Social Media Networks

New and social media was one of the driving forces that kept the protests alive, giving Tunisians an effective way to coordinate/ Photo: Al Jazeera

Contrary to civil unrests in Tunisia during the last few years, the dramatic death of 26 year old university graduate Mohamed Bouazizi sparked off angry protests in many parts of the country and have attracted international media attention thanks to social media networks. The dramatic events have escalated into more riots in Bizerte, Jandouba, Gasserine, Baja, Sfax, Nabeul, Hammamet, and even in the capital Tunis, among other towns and cities.

This emergency situation has compelled the government to say that they will swiftly kick-start development projects, namely in the southern deprived areas of the country.

President Ben Ali initially pledged 5 billion Tunisian dinars for the development of Sidi Bouzid and other towns. He then promised the creation of 300,000 new jobs for the next two years. In another major step, he sacked key ministers from the cabinet in an attempt to calm down his critics and buy time to bring the country back to order.

Faced with even more growing unrest (and in a latest move) the president promised to open up freedom of expression in the media, to free up political life, to bring to justice corrupt politicians and above all free the media and remove all restrictions on the internet.

Yet all these measure came in the eleventh hour. The mounting pressure, which turned into a revolution, has forced the president to flee the country.

The Role of New Media

In light of the dramatic development of events, on a considerable scale, it has become evident that new media have been playing a key role this time around in keeping the momentum going, and bringing the voices of the disengaged Tunisian youth to the attention of world media, and hence to international public opinion.

Mobile phones, blogs, YouTube, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds have become instrumental in mediating the live coverage of protests and speeches, as well as police brutality in dispersing demonstrations.

The internet in this case has assumed the role of a very effective uncensored news agency from which every broadcaster and news corporation have been able to freely source newsfeeds, raw from the scene.

Such developments have proven very significant in changing the rules of the game, of journalism production and dissemination of information in a country where the government historically keeps tight control on the media and where almost no platform is available for opinions critical of the political elite.

Decades of State Media Control

Article 1 of the Press Code in Tunisia provides for “freedom of the press, publishing, printing, distributing and sale of books and publications”. The Tunisian constitution asserts that the “liberties of opinion, expression, the press, publication, assembly, and association are guaranteed and exercised within the conditions defined by the law”.

Yet as early as 1956, with the birth of the first republic under the leadership of President Habib Bourguiba, the ruling government gained control over the press - and later over broadcasting. As a result almost all the media outlets remained propaganda tools in the hands of Bourguiba’s government and ruling party.

Under Ben Ali (who came to power through a coup in 1987) the media and government relationship got even worse. For a short period of time a few independent newspapers appeared, but their existence was short lived.

Television and radio have remained state controlled and primarily serving the ruling government. The Tunisian Radio and Television Establishment (ERTT) is state-run and operates Tunis 7 (satellite channel), and Canal 21 (terrestrial channel). However, the audiovisual landscape witnessed the launch of the first private TV channel (Hannibal TV) headed by Larbi Nasra on February 13, 2005. The channel broadcasts via satellite and terrestrially, and is aimed at expanding the audience’s choice by producing a variety of programs.

Increase of State-Owned Radio Channels

Three ‘independent’ radio stations have also been licensed which include: Radio Mosaique FM, Jawhara FM (caters mainly for youth programs), and Zitouna FM - owned by Mohamed Sakhr Almatri - launched on September 13, 2007 and was dedicated to the recitation of the Quran, the Prophet Mohammad’s life and broadcasting tarawih prayers during Ramadan.

A fundamental role the state TV does is to promote the image of the president as a competent, successful and progressive leader. Almost half of the main evening news program on TV7 or Channel 21 report on the everyday meetings, initiatives and engagements the president takes part in.

The emergence of a couple of ‘independent’ radio and television stations during the last few years has not improved the situation as the scope of freedom of expression remains controlled by the same regimental unwritten rules: No room for opposing opinions; it is a taboo to criticize the president, cabinet ministers, or government corruption; et al.

Civil society organizations, lawyers, academics, and trade unions do not have a platform to express their critical views on state media or ‘independent’ media.

The press has also had a stormy experience with tight censorship measures placed on them during the last few decades. Major newspapers in the country have developed self-censorship rules in order to survive, and they mainly report uncritically on the government policies.

Other international newspapers (Le Monde, Liberation, Le Figaro, Al-Quds Alarabi to name a few) that attempt to expose government corruption, human rights abuses and the country’s democratic deficit get censored.

According to Reporters without Borders, “journalists and human rights activists have been the target of constant bureaucratic harassment, police violence and surveillance by the intelligence services.” The government has direct control on the servers, and “the regime has become almost obsessive about control of news and information”.

Excerpt, read article: Tunisia: A Media Revolution? – By Dr. Noureddine Miladi |AlJazeera

 

Related:  U.N. Chief Calls Urges Efforts to Quell Tunisia Unrest –By Adam Schreck| Washington Post

The Key Players in Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution – By Dan Murphy | Christian Science Monitor

The Scent of Rage –By Anne Applebaum | Washington Post

Tunisia’s Crisis in Picture | MarketWatch Gallery

 

France Expels Roma Immigrants -By Lizzy Davies | Guardian UK

Outside No 431, rue de Lyon, the Mediterranean sun beat down on the pavement and an old man lay in wait for the police. Inside, behind the long grass and a dilapidated green gate, the women were preparing themselves for the worst. “We are getting things ready,” one explained, pointing at a half-packed suitcase. In among the ramshackle sheds and squealing toddlers, they took turns at holding a six-week-old baby in their arms.

Today, as the French government pushed forward with its mission to rid the country of foreign Roma it deems to be living there illegally, Marseille’s most marginalized community was in the grip of both fear and resignation: fear because the authorities have in recent weeks ratcheted up the pressure, and resignation because, after years of repeated expulsions and unrelenting social isolation, many of them have seen it all before.

“That’s France for you,” said one middle-aged woman, sitting dejectedly in pink flip-flops at the rue de Lyon squat. She, like all other Roma to whom the Guardian spoke, was unwilling to be identified. Intense media interest since the start of Nicolas Sarkozy‘s crackdown on crime and illegal immigration last month has made them uneasy in front of the cameras.

Known as the melting pot of the south, Marseille is home to a large proportion – possibly up to a fifth – of France’s total Roma population, itself estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000. Despite its reputation for successful integration, however, the city’s Roma, as in so much of Europe, live apart from mainstream society. Observers say routine expulsions and endemic discrimination have pushed them to the outer limits, both physically and psychologically.

But in recent weeks, ever since Sarkozy announced the imminent destruction of hundreds of squats and the return of Romanians and Bulgarian citizens living in France illegally, the situation has worsened. Police are making ever more regular visits. Across the country, dozens of illegal Roma camps have been broken up, and today, as part of the government’s “voluntary” return program, 1040 Roma flew home to Bucharest with €300 per adult and €100 per child in their pockets.

Roma men in a caravan pack up their belongings during an expulsion operation in Dompierre-sur-Mer. / Photo: Xavier Leoty/ AFP/Getty Images

Excerpt, read more: France Expels Roma Immigrants -By Lizzy Davies | Guardian UK

Stop EU Money Funding Roma Discrimination | Amnesty International Campaign