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PUCL statement on the mass killings of Adivasis in Assam

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A vehicle burnt by protesters at Gossaigaon in Sonitpur district of Assam on Wednesday. Photo: PTI

A vehicle burnt by protesters at Gossaigaon in Sonitpur district of Assam on Wednesday. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has condemned Tuesday’s violence against tribal people in Assam and called for strong action to avoid a repeat of such incidents.

In a statement, it said unarmed tribal people in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar districts of Assam were shot dead by gangs of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (Songbijit).

“PUCL demands that the police and para-military authorities immediately ensure the safety, security and protection of lakhs of people in the districts of Kokrajhar, Sonitpur and other districts of the Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts adjoining the border areas of Assam – Bhutan. At the same time, it should be stressed that unless the roots of the conflict are addressed and resolved, such violent attacks are bound to recur.”

“We learn that the NDFB (Songbijit) faction itself is led by a non-Bodo and does not enjoy the support of wider sections of the Bodo people themselves. We also learn that there is great popular resentment, even amongst the Bodos, against the NDFB(S) faction due to their extortionist activities and illegal and forcible collection of taxes from all communities, including the Bodo. Despite public knowledge of such illegal activities, the state government has done nothing to curb the unlawful activities of this group which is using arms to terrorise local population. In such a situation, to cloak what is clearly criminal activities using the term `terrorist’ is to lend legitimacy to the group and give an impression as though they are pursuing a political demand.”

“At the heart of the Bodo conflict is the long simmering sense of frustration, anger, alienation and disaffection caused by decades of neglect and mistreatment by successive regimes, both at the state and centre, which has kept large sections of the Bodo people in a state of deprivation, impoverishment and backwardness.”

“There is also a perceived sense of historical injustice to the Bodos in their own homeland. The substantial influx of outsiders coming in as migrant labourers who eventually settle in the area has changed the Bodo – non Bodo population demographics. In turn this has created communal resentment and tensions which is cynically used by political forces to foster violence. This will need to be firmly put down.”

“The Governments, both State and Centre, should seriously initiate a major programme aimed at reassuring the Bodos of their historical identity and ensuring their inclusive development. At the same time, the governments should work to bring about greater community integration and harmony amongst different social sections in the area. Solutions cannot be found through enforcing police or military actions but only through genuine efforts at reconciliation and development which are actually seen to be implemented in the field. Equitable and inclusive development must be seen and felt to be occurring and benefiting all the communities, especially the Bodos. This can be the only sound basis for engendering communal harmony.”

“PUCL also calls upon all the political parties, especially the ruling Congress (I) party in Assam and the NDA at the Centre, not to indulge in games of finger pointing or apportioning blame but to work together to bring about communal harmony, reconciliation, amity and peace,” the statement said.

Report: Uprooted Muslims trapped in CAR

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Human Rights Watch says hundreds are trapped and living in deplorable conditions in enclaves after fleeing violence.

CAR-Muslims

by Al Jazeera

Hundreds of Muslims are “trapped” and living in “deplorable conditions” in enclaves in western parts of the Central African Republic, Human Rights Watch has said.

The international rights organisation said in a damning report released on Monday, that displaced Muslim residents, forced to escape the conflict in other parts of CAR over the past 12 months, were now trapped in camps in the western half of the country, living in abysmal conditions and under constant duress.

“Those trapped in some of the enclaves face a grim choice: leave and face possible attack from anti-balaka fighters, or stay and die from hunger and disease,” Lewis Mudge, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in the report.

“While there are good reasons to ensure that the country’s Muslim population does not diminish further, under the current circumstances, the government’s policy of no evacuations is absolutely indefensible.”

HRW said that both the interim government and the United Nations peacekeepers were failing to provide adequate security but were also blocking the displaced from fleeing abroad.

Muslim civilians were forced to flee after brutal attacks by Christian anti-balaka militia in late 2013 and early 2014.

Those who were not able to reach Cameroon or Chad became trapped in the enclaves, where they have spent months living in difficult conditions. Others made the journey across the Oubangi River into the Democratic Republic of Congo.

UN officials together with African Union (AU) MISCA and French Sangaris peacekeepers supported evacuations in late 2013 and early 2014.

In April, UN humanitarian agencies finally managed to evacuate besieged Muslims from the PK12 district in the capital Bangui. The country’s transitional government said the evacuation had not been approved and opposed any further evacuations without their consent.

HRW’s report comes as fresh clashes erupted in the country.

Fresh Clashes 

At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured in a series of clashes between armed groups, authorities said on Monday.

An official who spoke to AFP news agency on Monday on condition of anonymity said the violence broke out on Friday.

He said that anti-balaka fighters launched an attack against former fighters of the largely Muslim Seleka alliance in the central region of Bambari.

At least 12 people were killed in that attack,” the official said. He said ex-Seleka rebels and armed Peul herders – also known as the Fulani – launched a reprisal attack on Saturday on the village of Kouango, 90km south, killing at least eight people, injuring dozens and setting several homes on fire.

Last week 28 people were killed in clashes in Mbres, just days after a reconciliation ceremony organised by the UN peacekeeping mission there.

The former French colony has suffered numerous coups and bouts of instability since independence in 1960, but the March 2013 toppling of Francois Bozize’s regime by the Seleka rebel coalition triggered the worst upheaval to date.

Relentless attacks by the Muslim-led rebels on the majority Christian population spurred the formation of vigilante groups, who in turn began exacting revenge on Muslim civilians, driving them out of most parts of the country.

Several thousand people were killed in the tit-for-tat attacks, which plunged the population of 4.8 million into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

Exclusion and untouchability remain widespread and only 5% marry out of their caste: Survey

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caste

by International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN)

Report findings recently released from the India Human Development Survey, the India Exclusion Report and the Nepal Multidimensional Social Inclusion Index, document that caste discrimination is very far from being history. In almost all aspects of every-day life statistics indicate that caste discrimination is deep-rooted and widespread.

Merely five percent of Indians said they had married a person from a different caste, and 27 percent of households self-reported engaging in untouchability practices, according to the pre-released findings of The India Human Development Survey, conducted by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and Maryland University. When Brahmins (dominant caste) were asked, 52% self-reported to not allow a Dalit to use their kitchen utensils, a common practice of untouchability.

The survey also found that only 5% marry outside their caste, which is a clear indicator of the perseverance of caste segregation. The survey found that there had been no increase in this number since the survey was last conducted 10 years ago. In Madhya Pradesh state less than 1% reported marrying outside their caste.

The survey findings on untouchability were particularly stark in some states where untouchability across castes was found to be almost 50% in Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Bihar and just over 40% in Uttar Pradesh. As the survey only documents self-declared practices of untouchability, the true figures are thought to be even higher.

These findings will not come as a surprise to the authors of the comprehensive and highly collaborative India Exclusion Report 2013-2014, by the Centre for Equity Studies. The report analyses discrimination across labour, education and housing in India. Within all these areas Dalits, and particularly Dalit women, come out at the bottom of the tables.

“India is inherently prone to exclusion practices that make large quantities of people extremely vulnerable to a sliding path towards destitution. The excluded almost exclusively belong to the suppressed castes, religious minorities and tribal groups. Within these categories, women are perhaps the worst off.”

In relation to discrimination in the labour market the report states,

“Caste remains a key determinant of a person’s future. This is perfectly reflected in India’s labour market, which is more governed by laws of social origin than by statutory legislation. Moreover, violation of caste rules by Dalits seeking to break caste-related employment barriers is prone to severe punishment from dominant castes, including economic boycotts and even physical violence.”

Findings on bonded labour also echo clear links to the caste system,

“Traditional caste rules mandate forced labour from certain communities. Caste is one of the foundations of the bonded labour system and remains a key feature of bondage even in non-agricultural industries today. The lack of access to their own land, combined with this expectation to perform free labour and the threat of violence and economic boycott against those who challenge their expected social roles, keeps many Dalit families in bondage and a perpetual state of poverty.”

According to the India Exclusion report the Musahar Dalits are among one of the most vulnerable groups with less than 10% of Musahar Dalit children studying, a female literacy rate of just 2% and a school drop-out rate of nearly 100%.

Across the border in Nepal, Dalits also reign at the bottom of all tables in the recently published Nepal Multidimensional Social Inclusion Index, by Tribhuvan University’s Central Department of Sociology and Anthropology. The Index attempts to encompass all aspects of life and is a composite derived from six other indices: social, economic, political, cultural, gender, and social cohesion.

Across all counts Dalits are faring very poorly in Nepal and gender discrimination is also high across castes. There is a glaring gap between especially Tarai Dalits, and their dominant caste countrymen from the same region when it comes to all dimensions of the index. Muslims and other ethnic minorities are also represented at the bottom of the ranks.

The findings of these three recent reports counter popular assertions that caste discrimination is a thing of the past, or on the retreat, and beckon that all those with an interest in equality and inclusion take the caste dimension very seriously when engaging with caste-affected countries.

More information

Read caste-related selected extracts from the India Exclusion Report or download the full report

Read about the pre-released statistics from the India Human Development Survey

See the Nepal Multidimensional Social Inclusion Index and an article on the Index

UN agencies appeal for $8.4 million to address Syrian refugee crisis

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Displaced Syrian children stand in muddy water after heavy rains in the Bab al-Salama camp for people fleeing the violence in Syria on December 11, 2014, on the border with Turkey. AFP / Baraa al-Halabi

Displaced Syrian children stand in muddy water after heavy rains in the Bab al-Salama camp for people fleeing the violence in Syria on December 11, 2014, on the border with Turkey. AFP / Baraa al-Halabi

by Al Akhbar

The UN appealed on Thursday for $8.4 billion to provide emergency aid and longer-term help to nearly 18 million people in Syria and across the region hit by the drawn-out conflict.

Meanwhile, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF appealed for $900 million to help children affected by the war in Syria.

For the first time, the United Nations’ appeal includes funding for life-saving food, shelter and other humanitarian aid, as well as development support, as the bloody war in Syria heads towards a fifth year.

UN agencies said at the appeal launch in Berlin that $2.9 billion (2.4 billion euros) were needed to help 12.2 million people inside Syria in 2015.

A further $5.5 billion is eyed for Syrians who have sought refuge in neighboring countries and for more than a million people in host communities, it said.

The Berlin appeal for Syria is slightly higher than an indicative amount announced in Geneva earlier this month, which did not include funding needs of neighboring countries.

The UN is planning for up to 4.3 million refugees in countries neighboring Syria by the end of 2015, it added.

“For those that think that this is a lot of money, I don’t remember any bailout of any medium-sized bank that has cost less than this,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told reporters.

He warned that refugees and people displaced inside Syria had exhausted their savings and that host countries were at “breaking point.”

United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said Syria had slumped from a middle income country to struggling with widespread poverty.

“People affected by conflict need food, shelter, water, medicine and protection. But they also need support in rebuilding their livelihoods, maintaining education and health services and rebuilding fragmented communities,” Amos, UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, said.

“The conflict in Syria is not only destroying people’s lives today but will continue to erode their capacity to cope far into the future if we don’t take a more holistic approach now,” she added.

Germany hosted an international conference on the Syrian refugee crisis in October which vowed to extend long-term financial aid to countries such as Lebanon and Jordan struggling under the influx of millions of Syrian refugees.

“The humanitarian crisis in Syria and the neighboring countries poses a threat to the stability of the whole region,” Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Thursday.

“This is a call to the solidarity of all nations, and my country is willing to do its part,” he added.

UNICEF asks for $900 million for Syrian children

The appeal comes hours after the UNICEF said it needs more than $900 million to help children affected by the war in Syria next year, and appealed to donors for support.

“The Syria crisis represents the biggest threat to children of recent times,” UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Maria Calivis, said ahead of the major UN appeal for Syrian refugees. “By the end of 2015, the lives of over 8.6 million children across the region will have been torn apart by violence and forced displacement.”

Calivis said the agency’s plans for next year include doubling both the number of Syrian children with access to safe water and sanitation, and the number with access to education.

The agency will continue vaccination campaigns against polio, she said, and deliver care including cash grants and winter clothing to the families of some 850,000 children affected by the conflict.

“These commitments – costed at $903 million (732 million euros) – represent the bare minimum,” she said, calling on supporters “to help us make these commitments a reality.”

Earlier in December, UNICEF declared 2014 a devastating year for children with as many as 15 million caught in conflicts in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Central African Republic, and Ukraine.

A UN panel investigating war crimes in Syria cited in a report in November cases of abductions, rape and other forms of sexual and physical violence against women and children, including the forced recruitment of minors by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The UN report also said that the US-led airstrikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq “have led to some civilian casualties,” including scores of children.

Syria’s conflict, which evolved from mass demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to a war that has left more than 200,000 dead, has forced more than half of the country’s population to flee their homes.

A UN refugee agency (UNHCR) report published mid November shows that about 13.6 million people have been displaced by conflict in Syria and Iraq, many without food or shelter as winter starts. The 13.6 include 7.2 million displaced within Syria, in addition to the estimated 3.3 million Syrian refugees abroad.

On December 9, the World Food Program (WFP) announced that the UN will resume food aid to Syrian refugees in neighboring countries, following a campaign to raise funds for a halted program offering food vouchers.

The announcement came after a campaign by the WFP seeking funds to cover a $64 million shortfall which had forced the agency to suspend the program at the beginning of December.

Amnesty International announced this month that wealthy nations have only taken in a “pitiful” number of the millions of refugees uprooted by Syria’s conflict, placing the burden on the country’s ill-equipped neighbors.

“Around 3.8 million refugees from Syria are being hosted in five main countries within the region: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt,” said Amnesty.

“Only 1.7 percent of this number have been offered sanctuary by the rest of the world,” the rights group added.

It is worth noting that the US House of Representatives adopted a $584.2 billion annual defense spending bill on December, which includes emergency funding for military operations against ISIS and training and equipping the so-called “moderate” Syrian rebels. However, it doesn’t include providing any humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees.

The US annual defense bill could secure WFP’s humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees for roughly 700 years.

(AFP, Al-Akhbar)

Leaked internal CIA document admits U.S drone program "counterproductive"

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Document published by Wikileaks reveals agency’s own internal review found key counter-terrorism strategy “may increase support” for the groups it targets

Wikileaks has released a 2009 internal CIA review of its clandestine "targeted killing" operations. (Image: Screenshot with overlay)

Wikileaks has released a 2009 internal CIA review of its clandestine “targeted killing” operations. (Image: Screenshot with overlay)

by Jon Queally, Common Dreams

Wikileaks on Thursday has made public a never-before-seen internal review conducted by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency that looked at the agency’s drone and targeted assassination programs in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and elsewhere.

The agency’s own analysis, conducted in 2009, found that its clandestine drone and assassination program was likely to produce counterproductive outcomes, including strengthening the very “extremist groups” it was allegedly designed to destroy.

Here’s a link to the document, titled Best Practices in Counterinsurgency: Making High-Value Targeting Operations an Effective Counterinsurgency Toolocument (pdf).

In one of the key findings contained in the CIA report, agency analysts warn of the negative consequences of assassinating so-called High Level Targets (HLT).

“The potential negative effect of HLT operations,” the report states, “include increasing the level of insurgent support […], strengthening an armed group’s bonds with the population, radicalizing an insurgent group’s remaining leaders, creating a vacuum into which more radical groups can enter, and escalating or de-escalating a conflict in ways that favor the insurgents.”

Wikileaks points out that this internal prediction “has been proven right” in the years since the internal review was conducted near the outset of President Obama’s first term. And despite those internal warnings—which have been loudly shared by human rights and foreign policy experts critical of the CIA’s drone and assassination programs—Wikileaks also notes that after the internal review was prepared, “US drone strike killings rose to an all-time high.”

Reached by the Washington Post on Thursday for response, CIA spokesperson Kali J. Caldwell said the agency would not comment “on the authenticity or content of purported stolen intelligence documents.”

According to a statement released by Wikileaks:

The report discusses assassination operations (by various states) against the Taliban, al-Qa’ida, the FARC, Hizbullah, the PLO, HAMAS, Peru’s Shining Path, the Tamil’s LTTE, the IRA and Algeria’s FLN. Case studies are drawn from Chechnya, Libya, Pakistan and Thailand.

The assessment was prepared by the CIA’s Office of Transnational Issues (OTI). Its role is to provide “the most senior US policymakers, military planners, and law enforcement with analysis, warning, and crisis support”. The report is dated 7 July 2009, six months into Leon Panetta’s term as CIA chief, and not long after CIA analyst John Kiriakou blew the whistle on the torture of CIA detainees. Kiriakou is still in prison for shedding light on the CIA torture programme.

Following the politically embarrassing exposure of the CIA’s torture practices and the growing cost of keeping people in detention indefinitely, the Obama administration faced a crucial choice in its counter-insurgency strategy: should it kill, capture, or do something else entirely?

Given exclusive access to the CIA document ahead of its public release, theSydney Morning Herald’s Philip Dorling reported earlier on Thursday:

According to a leaked document by the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence, “high value targeting” (HVT) involving air strikes and special forces operations against insurgent leaders can be effective, but can also havenegative effects including increasing violence and greater popular support for extremist groups.

The leaked document is classified secret and “NoForn” (meaning not to be distributed to non-US nationals) and reviews attacks by the United States and other countries engaged in counter-insurgency operations over the past 50 years.

The CIA assessment is the first leaked secret intelligence document published by WikiLeaks since 2011. Led by Australian publisher Julian Assange, the anti-secrecy group says the CIA assessment is the first in what will be a new series of leaked documents relating to the US agency.

The 2009 CIA study lends support to critics of US drone strikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen by warning that such operations “may increase support for the insurgents, particularly if these strikes enhance insurgent leaders’ lore, if non-combatants are killed in the attacks, if legitimate or semi-legitimate politicians aligned with the insurgents are targeted, or if the government is already seen as overly repressive or violent”.

Drone strikes have been a key element of the Obama administration’s attacks on Islamic extremist terrorist and insurgent groups in the Middle East and south Asia. Australia has directly supported these strikes through the electronic espionage operations of the US-Australian Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

Israel detains Palestinian student, child as house demolitions continue

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Debris of a Palestinian building demolished by Israeli forces in annexed East Jerusalem on December 01, 2014. Anadolu / Salih Zeki Fazlıoğlu

Debris of a Palestinian building demolished by Israeli forces in annexed East Jerusalem on December 01, 2014. Anadolu / Salih Zeki Fazlıoğlu

by Al Akhbar

Israeli forces detained a 17-year-old student and an 11-year-old child in Jerusalem, witnesses told Ma’an news agency Wednesday, as Israeli demolition orders could leave 70 Palestinians homeless.

That same day, Israeli soldiers arrested a former Palestinian prisoner who had been previously been released as part of a prisoner swap deal.

According to witnesses, Israeli forces detained Dalia Murad Mohammed Qarawi, 17, while she was on her way home from school in annexed East Jerusalem.

Israeli forces claimed Qarawi sprayed “a substance” on a police vehicle and was thus taken for interrogation at an Israeli police station on Salah al-Din street.

Meanwhile, 11-year-old Baraa Issam Shahin was detained by Israeli forces on Ein al-Luza street in the Silwan neighborhood of annexed East Jerusalem and was taken to the Russian Compound detention center in West Jerusalem for interrogation.

It is still unclear why Shahin was detained.

Early December, Israeli forces detained two Palestinian children, 8 and 12, also in Silwan.

Unrest has gripped Jerusalem and the West Bank on an almost daily basis for the past five months, flaring up after a group of Zionist settlers kidnapped and burned a young Palestinian to death because of his ethnicity, and worsened by the deadly Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in July and August.

In late November, executive director of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) Abdullah al-Zaghari said Israeli forces detained nine-month-old Balqis Ghawadra and two-year-old Baraa Ghawadra during a visit to see their jailed father. The two children were released the following day.

At least 600 Palestinian children have been arrested in annexed Jerusalem alone since last June.

According to a recent report by the Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC), nearly 40 percent of these children have been subjected to sexual abuse during arrest or investigation by the Israeli authorities.

At least 300 minors are currently behind bars.

Around 95 percent of detained children were subjected to beatings and torture by Israeli security personnel while in detention, while many were forced to make confessions under duress and undergo unfair trials, said Issa Qaraqe, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) committee on detainees.

More than 10,000 Palestinian minors in the occupied West Bank and annexed Jerusalem have been held by the Israeli army for varying periods since 2000, a PLO official said last month.

According to the UN children’s fund (UNICEF), over the past decade, Israel has detained “an average of two children each day.”

In its 2013 report, UNICEF added that Israel was the only country in the world where children were “systematically tried” in military courts and gave evidence of practices it said were “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.”

A report by Defense for Children International (DCI) published in May 2014 revealed that Israel jails 20 percent of Palestinian children it detains in solitary confinement.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces on Wednesday arrested Ibtisam al-Issawi, 46, during a raid on her home in the Jabal al-Mukkabir neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.

The head of a Palestinian committee dedicated to prisoners’ and detainees’ families, Amjad Abu Asab, told Ma’an that Israeli forces raided Issawi’s house before arresting her and taking her to the Russian Compound detention center.

Abu Asab added that Issawi was released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal after spending 10 years in Israeli jails, and that she is married and has six children.

Issawi is one of more than 70 former prisoners released in the 2011 exchange that have been re-detained by Israel since the summer.

The deal traded Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas fighters on the Gaza Strip border in 2006, for 1,027 Palestinians and Palestinian with Israeli citizenship being held in Israeli jails.

The detention and retrial of the released prisoners is a breach of the deal and could potentially have wide-reaching consequences for other freed detainees.

More than 6,500 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli jails.

On Wednesday, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said 21 Palestinian women, including three minors, are currently held in Israeli jails.

Israel threatens to demolish 62 percent of Silwan houses

Also in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, Israeli forces delivered Wednesday demolition orders to 11 Palestinian houses, some as old as 30 years, saying they have been built “without permits.”

Fakhri Abu Diab, a member in the committee for the Defense of Silwan Lands and Estates, told Ma’an that at least 70 people will become homeless if the houses get demolished.

Abu Diab said that in the past few days more and more orders have been delivered, and even in some cases to houses that were built before the 1967 occupation of Jerusalem.

Moreover, Abu Diab accused the Israeli authorities of seeking to displace Palestinian residents in order to take over the neighborhood, adding that over 62 percent of houses in Silwan are under the threat of demolition.

So far in 2014, Israel has demolished more than 543 Palestinian structures and displaced at least 1,266 people, according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

Local and international watchdogs have widely criticized Israel’s home demolition policy, saying that it contributes to a cycle of violence and merely inflicts collective punishment on family members.

Besides demolishing Palestinian properties, Israeli authorities have allowed Zionist settlers to take over Palestinian homes, have announced plans to build thousands of settlements strictly for Israeli settlers, and have generally looked the other way at rising violence by Zionist settlers against Palestinians.

According to Abu Diab, many Israeli settlers build houses without permits but none received demolition orders.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.

Jerusalem Palestinians also face discrimination in all aspects of life including housing, employment, and services, and although they live within territory Israel has unilaterally annexed, they lack citizenship rights and are instead classified only as “residents” whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city for more than a few years.

Similarly, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank suffer from the demolition policy.

In May, the European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah urged Israel to halt home demolitions in Area C of the occupied West Bank, describing such actions as “forced transfer of population.”

Israeli authorities rarely grants Palestinians permits to build in the Israeli-occupied areas, including in Area C, which amounts to 80 percent of the total land area.

The World Bank estimated in 2013 that Israeli control over Area C costs the Palestinian economy around $3.4 billion annually, or more than one-third of the Palestinian Authority’s GDP.

According to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, the Israeli authorities have demolished at least 27,000 Palestinian structures in the West Bank since 1967.

The roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict date back to 1917, when the British government, in the now-infamous “Balfour Declaration,” called for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Zionist state – a move never recognized by the international community.

(Al-Akhbar, Ma’an)

NHRC notice to Andhra Pradesh over assault on labourers

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labourers-Human-Rights

New Delhi: The NHRC has issued notice to the Andhra Pradesh government after some forest officers of the state brutally assaulted labourers from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, an official statement said Tuesday.

According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the victims were extremely poor and were felling trees in a forest situated on the border between the two states in order to earn a livelihood.

“The labourers were unaware that they had been hired by unscrupulous elements to acquire the high-value timber from the forest. The poor villagers were not aware of the legal consequences of their actions,” the NHRC said.

However, the Andhra Pradesh Police brutally assaulted the workers belonging to the border districts of Vellore, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri in northern Tamil Nadu, the commission said, adding that there was a video clip of the entire incident.

“The law enforcement agencies can exercise their powers only in accordance with the provisions of the law. The video clips display a dismal picture of unarmed workers who were made to strip and were brutally attacked by certain persons claiming to be forest officials of Andhra Pradesh,” said the NHRC.

A notice has been issued to the chief secretary and Director General of Police of Andhra Pradesh, calling for a report within four weeks.

(IANS)

No one should work this way – Asian domestic workers endure staggering abuse

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Over the past two years I traveled around Asia with Steve McCurry, a photographer known for fascinating faces, particularly the one on the cover of National Geographic magazine known as the “Afghan Girl,” to document the abuse some domestic workers endure at the hands of their household employers, either in their own country or abroad.

We found cases of child labor, forced labor, human trafficking, rape, starvation, excessive working hours, little or no pay and restricted freedom of movement or communication. We spoke with workers who had been beaten with a pot, a mop, a broom, a stick, a hanger, a cane and a metal pipe. We heard of women coming home in a coma or a coffin.

The victims were female and male, young and old, educated and illiterate (and their abusers also varied – female and male, rich and middle-class, living in Asia and in the Middle East). What linked them was a toxic combination of desperation, born out of poverty, and a lack of legal protection – in most countries, domestic workers are not protected by employment laws. In some societies, they are treated as “property” and not as individuals or even workers entitled to equal treatment and rights as most other workers.

We met a Nepali woman who had been blinded from repeated beatings by her female employer in Saudi Arabia and had had feces rubbed into her face. An Indonesian woman’s back was heavily scarred – almost in the shape of angel wings – by boiling water that her male employer in Malaysia had thrown on her. I tried to count the scars on another Indonesian woman’s body but lost track after reaching 20; she did not know what her male employer in Taiwan had used to cause many of them, including the slash across her face.

In Nepal we interviewed a pregnant woman who, when she told her female employer in Oman that her policeman husband had raped her, was thrown into prison for three months for seduction. Pregnant, she was in hiding because she feared her family would desert her. Another Nepali woman, hired by a family in Kuwait to look after 13 children, was beaten because she resisted working in the family’s brothel.

In a Hong Kong shelter Indonesian woman recalled how her female employer spoke to her: “Come here, dog. You are stupid. You are a dog. Helper, come here.” Also in Hong Kong we met another woman from Indonesia who had been given only bread in the mornings, instant noodles for lunch and leftovers (if there were any) for dinner. Her weight dropped more than 30 pounds before she finally ran away.

I met a Filipina who told me she had been given the top of the washing machine to sleep on. She giggled when explaining that her male employer liked to wash clothes at night time, so she had to lay there while the machine shook. She didn’t really think it was funny, but what could she do – the law in Hong Kong, one of the few places in the world that actually has legislation that covers domestic workers, requires them to live in the homes of their employers. Never mind that the “room” they may be given is a cupboard, a stairwell, a bathroom – or the top of a washing machine.

And we met an Indonesian woman whose employment agency staff tried to talk her into accepting a wage increase if she would stay with her mentally and physically abusive female employer. She feared for her life and wanted out. The employer had once said, “If I hit you and kill you, no one will know.” The agency then placed another woman in that home. Earlier this year, Hong Kong streets erupted in a massive protest against the abuse and inhumane conditions after a photo emerged of a young woman, Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, severely battered from beatings and medical neglect she endured by that same female employer. A different agency had placed her, but employment agents are also culpable in the abuse.

When another Indonesian woman we met had run away in Malaysia because of beatings by her young male employer, the police took her back and her employment agent threatened legal action if she tried to run again. Many domestic workers have their passports taken from them by their employer or agent after arriving in a foreign country, which is one reason why they find it difficult to leave when the abuse starts. Many don’t know where to go. Many are just so desperate to send money home that they endure as best they can.

That same woman who had run away had lost a front tooth when her male employer threw a shoe at her for heating up the “wrong” soup and whose ear is now permanently deformed from his constant twisting of it. She is reluctantly considering going abroad again as a maid because her husband can find no work.

These are not uncommon experiences.

Steve McCurry and I thought the general public needed to see how the abuse scars lives as much as bodies. We wanted to help make the case for labor law protection for domestic workers. We also know that decency cannot be legislated, so we wanted abusers to know the public is now aware of what is going on behind their doors.

Many women in this line of work have good experiences – though their hours may be excessive, without overtime pay, benefits or days off, they earn more than they could back home. And there are certainly many decent household employers in every country.

But the International Labor Organization, which is the United Nation’s specialized agency dealing with work-related issues and which funded our photography project, estimates that there are more than 52 million domestic workers in the world. So even if a minority of them experiences the staggering meanness or the criminal evilness that we found, that is still likely a vast number of abuse cases.

In 2011, a new International Labor Organization Convention (treaty) specifically covering the rights of domestic workers came into force. Thus far it has been ratified by only 15 countries – by only one (the Philippines) in the Asia–Pacific region and none in the Middle East. Ratifying Convention No. 189 is important because it obliges governments to bring their national laws and enforcement in line with the recognition of domestic workers as deserving of the same labor law rights and protection accorded to most workers.

No one should work the way the people we photographed have worked.

Text by Karen Emmons, photographs by Steve McCurry

Indra, now 30, from Nepal, abused in Kuwait. “Everyone has left me. My brothers spit on the ground when they see me…I will try my best to prevent anyone from ever going abroad for domestic work. I can work to stop it. I will do whatever it takes.” Indra went abroad to pay medical and education bills, after her husband abandoned her and their three children. She never went to school and cannot read or write. She was hired to look after 13 children, but her employers’ family also ran a brothel in their building and beat her to make her work there too. When she fought back they tried, and failed, to sell her to a family in Saudi Arabia. She eventually escaped by climbing down an elevator cable. Injured, she returned to Nepal on a stretcher. Her family has rejected her and her injuries make it hard to earn a living.

Saraswati, now 19, from rural Nepal, abused in Nepal. “She took me to my room and started beating me with her hand. Pulling my hair. With no one at home to stop her, she would beat me a long time…The Government should not allow children to be used as domestic workers.” Sarawati became a domestic worker aged 12 because her family could not afford to send her to school. A shopkeeper helped her escape from an abusive employer, but her next employer, in Kathmandu, was even more abusive. She has scars on her forehead and knee. She still works as a maid but is now finishing her education and helps other domestic workers learn about their rights.

Tutik, now 37, from Indonesia, abused in Malaysia. “After the first three weeks working there I tried to escape to the agent but the police took me back. The agent said, ‘If you try to escape again, I will sue you with legal action.’” For two years Tutik was only allowed to sleep for three hours a night. Every day she cleaned the house and every evening worked in the family bakery. Her young male employer knocked out her front tooth with his shoe. Her ear is deformed by his constant twisting. His mother hit her with sticks and a rattan cane, fracturing her wrist and backbone. When she asked to go home the employer refused to let her leave.

Sumasri, possibly in her 60s, from Indonesia, abused in Malaysia. “I go to the clinic regularly to get medication. Now it is not painful any more. It was most painful the first four months.” Sumasri’s back and thighs are heavily scarred from the boiling water her male employer in Kuala Lumpur threw on her. The story of exactly what happened to her often changes, each time she recounts it. Neighbors in her east Java village say she is no longer mentally stable.

Sritak, now 30, from Indonesia, abused in Taiwan. “He took a hot fork that he had heated on the stove top and he put it on my hand. He pressed the hot fork onto my hand…It’s quite strange, like he had the devil inside.” Sritak left her village because her family were too poor to eat every day. She worked from 6 am to midnight daily. Her passport was taken away and her freedom to talk to her family or outsiders was restricted. Her employer beat her, once with an iron pipe. He accused her of stealing and poured hot water on her body. She has more than 20 scars, including a long slash across her face.

‘Anis’, now 25, from Indonesia, abused in Hong Kong. Five days after ‘Anis’ arrived, the family’s barking dog woke – and enraged – her female employer. Shouting in Cantonese, the woman pulled Anis into the kitchen and grabbed a butcher’s knife. Anis jerked away, but the ring finger tendon was sliced and the bone fractured. She escaped with the help of a building security guard and another domestic worker.

Susi, now 29, from Indonesia, abused in Hong Kong. “My employer said she’s very rich. She said, ‘If I hit you and kill you, no one will know that’…The agent tried to calm me, saying, ‘I will give you a very good employer if you don’t tell anyone.’” Susi worked 20-hour days, only sleeping as the sun came up. Her Hong Kong Chinese employer frequently slapped her and made her sign a paper saying wages had been paid. After seven months without contact, her family forced a meeting, and Susi left. The agent then placed another domestic worker in that home. Note: Susi’s Hong Kong employer subsequently hired (through a different agency) another Indonesian maid, Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, whose eight months of ill-treatment made international headlines and resulted in criminal charges.

Sring, now 33, from Indonesia, abused in Hong Kong. “To help protect workers from physical abuse you need to educate them to understand the laws in their workplace. They don’t know that they have rights.” Sring’s first employer did not give her the legal minimum wage or her legally-entitled days off. For six months she had to give most of her salary to the recruitment agency. When her contract ended Sring was able to find another, better, employer. She still works for a Hong Kong family, but is now Chair of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union, where she is the first person called to help Indonesian workers in trouble.

Sring, now 33, from Indonesia, abused in Hong Kong. “To help protect workers from physical abuse you need to educate them to understand the laws in their workplace. They don’t know that they have rights.” Sring’s first employer did not give her the legal minimum wage or her legally-entitled days off. For six months she had to give most of her salary to the recruitment agency. When her contract ended Sring was able to find another, better, employer. She still works for a Hong Kong family, but is now Chair of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union, where she is the first person called to help Indonesian workers in trouble.

Siti, now 38, from Indonesia, abused in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Hong Kong. “She said, ‘Come here, dog. Come here. You are stupid. You are a dog. Helper come here’.” In Saudi Arabia, Siti worked 20-hour days, didn’t get enough to eat and had to sleep on a mattress on the floor of a storage room. In Oman, when she complained about being sexually harassed by her male employer, his wife slapped and abused her. In Hong Kong, she had to work at night, was verbally abused and her food was rationed.

‘Beth’, now 20, from rural Philippines, abused in Manila. “My employer would bang my head on the wall and she would throw hot water on me. She would burn my skin with cigarettes. She said this was the punishment for my sins.” ‘Beth’ was sold by her sister to a couple in Manila when she was 10. She worked from 4 am until late every day, cleaning and looking after their small child. She was not paid. Her female employer beat her frequently, with sticks, pots or pans, and, after the boyfriend once walked out, began burning her with cigarettes. After seven years locked in the house Beth escaped. She had never been to school, watched TV, or listened to music or the radio.

Mary Grace, now 35, from the Philippines, abused in Malaysia. “The owner of the agency is so bad. He said to me, ‘Fuck you. You bitch. All your family, your young son will die. You, fuck you. You are a bitch. Your son will die.’ Then he threw his coffee mug at my face.” Mary Grace needed to earn money for school fees and to feed her family. She had two employers, neither of whom gave her enough to eat. One day, she fainted while at a market. She woke up in an ambulance to find herself being sexually abused by the attendant. When she tried to report the assault at the hospital, a nurse told her to be quiet. She left Malaysia with no earnings.

Report on incidence of communal violence in Patan-Somnath town in Gujarat

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Representational Image

Representational Image

Alliance for Peace and Justice and All India Secular Forum decided to investigate the incidence of communal violence that occurred on 25th November 2014 in Patan-Somnath town in Gujarat between Hindus and Muslims and was reported in the press.

A team of Adv. Irfan Engineer, All India Secular Forum and Rafi Malek, Alliance for Peace and Justice (APJ) and Jagdish Bamaniya (APJ) was constituted. The team visited Somnath-Patan on 7thand 8th December 2014. They met Assistant Sub-Inspector of Shiv Police Chowki, Shri Babariya, Yusuf Hussain Kachara, President, Patan Ghanchi Samaj, Dadabhai, Secretary of Patan Ghanchi Samaj, Mohammed Haji Yakub, Treasurer of Patan Ghanchi Samaj, Suleman Kapadia, victim whose shop was attacked, Sarman Solanki, Presidant, Veraval Taluka President of BJP and Nusrat Panja. The team also tried to meet Hindu Victims and their representatives but they were not prepared to talk to the team officially. We also tried to meet Kanabhai, leader of the Koli community but he refused to meet us and even scolded the member of the team contacting him stating that he was under pressure and could not talk to the team.

Background:

Patan is a small town in Southern Saurashtra. Patan and Veraval are under a joint municipal body called Patan-Veraval Sanyukta Nagar Palika. Somnath temple in Patan is well known for two reasons – 1) it is one of the Jyotirling of Lord Shiva and therefore auspicious for Hindus, and 2) in 1992 L. K. Advani, the then president of BJP commenced his campaign against Babri Masjid on a rath yatra from this temple town which ultimately led to the demolition of the Masjid in Ayodhya. The Hindu nationalists use Somnath temple as a symbol of “aggression of Muslims” over Hindus as Mohammad Gazni, a Muslim warlord attacked the temple several times for looting its wealth. The Hindu nationalists represent the aggression as Muslim rulers desire to attack Hindu faith and idol worship.

Total population of Patan is around 60,000 with Muslim communities constituting roughly about 25-30% of the population. The two major communities that inhabit Patan are the Ghanchi (Muslims) – about 1,000 to 1,200 houses and Koli (Hindu) – about 1,500 to 2,000 houses. Besides the Ghanchis, there are other communities as well. The other Muslim communities are Patnis, Syeds, Pathans, Sheikhs, Memons etc. There are about 14 Muslim Jamats (communities). The Ghanchi and Koli communities are backward educationally and socially. Literacy rates are lower than the national average and dropout rates high. Roughly on 5% of them complete schooling. There aren’t three professionals – lawyers, doctors or engineers in both the communities. The other dominant communities in the Gir-Somnath and Junagadh are Kharwas, Karadia, Ahir and Patel.

Large number of people inhabiting Patan town are daily wage earners employed in Patan GIDC, in the fishing industry, port, ice factories etc. Every morning, labourers largely belonging to the Ghanchi and Koli communities travel in shared auto rickshaws hailed from Shiv Police Chowki junction to work. Ghanchis and Kolis live in wadis (residential neighbourhoods). The wadis belonging to both the communities are peculiarly interspersed and to reach any destination, they have to pass through each other’s wadis. The wadis are linked through common roads that are poorly illuminated and extremely narrow. We were told that one of the reasons why there were no communal riots in Patan is that any access to the town is passage through each other’s wadis.

The only communal incidence that occurred was in 1983 which began in Veraval between the Sindhis and Muslims and Patan was also affected. Hussain Kasam Kachra, the then Vice-President of Municipal Council had sustained 7 fractures. Other than the 1983 incident, there is no history of communal violence in Patan. People of Patan live peacefully in wadi area and share common culture and identity, exchange of food and participate in each other’s functions and festivals. The Hindu Muslim fabric was strong in this town but in last couple of years the bonds seem to have weakened.

The Ghanchi community leaders told us that the community did not take political stance either way. Both parties – Congress as well as BJP had opened their electoral offices with the help of members of the community to campaign within the community. They gave liberty to their members to vote for any candidate of their choice. However, informally the leaders preferred to ally with the BJP, particularly as the BJP candidate was Jasabhai Barad who was formerly from the Congress. The Ghanchis, in order to get even their routine and easiest work done, have to align with the ruling party without which they have to suffer. Kolis and Ghanchis – both are politically with BJP.

Port, fishing and allied industries, particularly ice factories and ship building are the major industries in Veraval and Patan. There are two gangs of anti-social elements operating in these areas – the Magra Gang and Farookh Maulana gang. They often compete with each other.

The Koli community leaders in Gujarat have been asserting and organizing themselves with the objective of increasing their political representation. The dominant community in Gir-Somnath and Junagadh Districts are Kolis. Until recently they were with the Congress. Their strong organization and political assertion led to bagging large number of tickets from the BJP. In the last state assembly election unprecedented number of Koli MLAs had been elected. The Kolis are demanding 95 tickets for their community members and should that happen, they would decide the Chief Minister of Gujarat, however, that does not seem probable. BJP for the first time gave MP ticket to a member of Koli community – Rajesh Chudasama – elected in the 16th general election from Junagadh constituency in which Patan town falls. The renewed assertion Kolis is impacting on their social interactions. Every two or three months, there have been disputes between members of Koli and Ghanchi community over petty issues of payment to a rickshaw drivers etc. with potential of widening the conflict. However, the leaders of both the communities immediately intervened in the past and settled the dispute amicably. Mostly the Ghanchis would be made to pay some minor compensation.

Incident:

The team did not find material difference in the narration of the incidence of communal violence that had occurred on 25th November 2014 by various people they talked to. The ASI Babariya was present during the communal incidence on 25th November as the violence broke out near Shiv Police Chowki at about 8.30 am. The Police personnel of the Chowki had just resumed their respective duties when the violence occurred and they were completely unprepared. According to the ASIthere was a dispute about a Rs. 10 currency note belonging to a “Mohammedan” which was claimed by a Koli.

According to Yusuf Kachara, Muslim passengers were sitting in an auto rickshaw being driven by a Muslim. A Rs. 10 currency note belonging to Muslim passenger fell down, but was claimed by a Koli. According to Suleman Kapadia, who owns several shops, including a cold drink shop, youth had written his cell number to pass it on to his girl friend for her to call him. Girls are not allowed to keep cell phones with them so they exchange cell numbers in this way and use someone else’s phone to call. When the currency note was claimed by a member of Koli community, there was heated argument.In the scuffle, the Muslim passenger was hit bya tiffin box.This injured the Muslim youth and his head and started bleeding. SulemanKapadia further informed the team that the wound was deep and there were three stitches. The Ghanchi neighbourhood and the Koli neighborhood is separated by Veraval-Una Highway and the Shiv Police Chowki too issituated on the Highway. According to the ASI and all others the team talked to, elders of both the community intervened and separated those fighting.

However, after about half an hour, the Kolis from Shanti Nagar reassembled and started pelting stones on Muslim neighbourhood across the highway. We observed the shop facing the road located on the Muslim side had been damaged. ASI further informed the team that the bikes on the road were also burnt.In the attack by Koli youth, one fruit stall, and two refrigerators of cold drink shop owned by SulemanKapadia were damaged. They looted the chocolates, biscuits and other eatablesin the shop. SulemanKapadia claims that he suffered a loss of about Rs. 4-5 lakhs and has no insurance. One motorbike(pulled out from house by breaking doors) and two fruit stalls and a fruit shop were damaged in the attack led by the Koli youth.

Muslim youth too gathered and retaliated by pelting stones from the roof top. They burnt 8 motorbikes, damaged two fruit stallsand one fruit shop and 10 to 15 Kolis suffered minor injuries while 8-10 Muslims also were injured.

Yusufbhai informed the team that once every 2 – 3 months such scuffles happen over some minor issue or another, including payment of rickshaw fare. Elders of both sides intervene and do not let the violence escalate even if sometimes they have to compensate in order to settle the dispute. However, this time the Muslim youth did not listen to them. Yusufbhai along with the ASI and his team of two constables that were available at the time were trying to keep stone pelting mobs separate. The ASI was injured too as a stone hit him behind his right year causing swelling. Yusufbhai too was injured. The police team of three was hopelessly outnumbered and ill equipped, without even helmets for their protection. Half an hour later, police reinforcements came along with Dy. SP and Mamlatdar and they brought the situation under control. The police had to burst teargas shells near Vadli to disperse the Muslim mob. In the melee, someone snatched a mobile worth Rs. 500/- (five hundred only) of a policeman.

None from any community lodged any complaint with the police pertaining to the incident. Police suomoto registered an FIR. Later, the police arrested 42 Muslims and 14 Koli youth who were still in their custody. The police have charged all the 56 persons, amongst other sections for rioting, with S. 395 of IPC (dacoity) for loss of a mobile of the policeman.Ghanchi community members told the team that police arrested by-standers and innocents who happened to be there during the incident on both sides – Muslims as well as Hindus. The Ghanchi Community was taking care of all the expenses of the Muslims who were arrested and providing them food from a hotel. They also paid the family of the poor among the 42 who were arrested as their earning members were in police custody. The office bearers of the Patan Ghanchi Muslim Samaj were appreciative of the role of the BJP MLA Jasabhai Barad who promptly intervened when the police were arresting large number of Muslims. This stopped the police from being hostile to the community. Jassabhai Barad crossed over to BJP from Congress as he could not get any work done while in his former party. Jassabhai had polled votes from Muslims too.

A Hindu shopkeeper on the Muslim side of the Highway, who was sympathetic to RSS, talked to a team member but did not want to be identified. He derived satisfaction from the police action arresting large numbers of Muslims compared to Hindus.

Shops in the Patan area were closed on the day of the incident. However, the leaders of both the community met and decided to open their shops next day. Hindus were still afraid of opening their shops though Muslim shops had opened. Yusufbhai then called Kanabhai, leader of Koli community to open their shops as well. Similarly, the workers working in the GIDC from both the communities were afraid of getting out of their homes and travel to the GIDC area where factories are situated as they would have to negotiate “hostile” territories. However, here too, the elders of both the communities got together to persuade the workers to come out and go for work.

Our Findings and observations:

The communal riots in Patan seem to be spontaneous however, the root cause of the riots is continuous communal discourse in media and by communal organizations that is deepening communal consciousness. The Hindu communal forces have considerably succeeded in deepening Hindu communal identity based on “othering” of Muslims who are at best perceived as a problem to be tolerated and from time to time reminded that they are second class citizens living at the sweet will of Hindus. It is because of this that smallest and most insignificant conflict of daily occurrence takes communal turn and mobilizes non-Muslims against them. Patanriots is an excellent example of that. Why should ordinary dispute over payment of rickshaw fare or anything else become a cause for communal mobilization? The state and civil society both will have to do a lot neutralize these communal feelings, particularly, the “othering” of Muslims. Such propaganda are also an offence under s. 153A of IPC but the section has remained mute witness to offences committed against Muslims in Gujarat and indeed in India without being invoked ever. This time the riots could be easily controlled, but the violence may escalate and may be uncontrollable in future.

As we were tracking through the narrow lanes of Patan, on the surface peace seems to have been restored and everything normal. Women belonging to the Ghanchi community and Koli community were treading on the street together and conversing with each other. Women belonging to both the communities were sitting next to each and hawking fruits and vegetables. However there is a deeper division below the surface and communal divisions are widening with each such incident. RSS affiliated organizations are active in the area resorting to communal discourse which “others” Muslims. Though the Muslims had voted for the BJP in the last elections, but as the BJP Taluka President SarmanSolanki told the team, they (the BJP) would not change their ideology and Muslims could not be trusted just because they voted for them. Solanki said he personally did not believe in casteism of communalism.

Though the police could control communal violence this time, their post riot action of arresting 42 Muslims and 14 Hindus seems to be arbitrary. We were told that the Muslims in custody were sharing their food with the Hindus. The real culprits may still be free on both sides. Police need to do thorough investigation of the incident and marshal evidence to see that the guilty of violence on both sides are punished as a deterrence for future such escalations. It appears that police are not investigating the offence with the degree of seriousness it requires. The signals it is sending to both the communities is that the police are taking some action for records and soon everybody will be out of the custody and go scott free. Community members too seem to be relieved that no one from “their” community would be punished, and indeed innocent bystanders seem to have been arrested. The real instigators of the riots and stone pelters should not be allowed to go unpunished.

Civil Society organizations would have to promote harmony and understanding between various communities respecting differences and learning and benefiting from the rich diversitythat prevails in India. Urgent and serious attempts are needed here.

UN officials demand prosecutions for US torture

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usa-torture

by John Heilprin, AP

Geneva: All senior U.S. officials and CIA agents who authorized or carried out torture like waterboarding as part of former President George W. Bush’s national security policy must be prosecuted, top U.N. officials said Wednesday.

It’s not clear, however, how human rights officials think these prosecutions will take place, since the Justice Department has declined to prosecute and the U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court.

Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said it’s “crystal clear” under international law that the United States, which ratified the U.N. Convention Against Torture in 1994, now has an obligation to ensure accountability.

“In all countries, if someone commits murder, they are prosecuted and jailed. If they commit rape or armed robbery, they are prosecuted and jailed. If they order, enable or commit torture – recognized as a serious international crime – they cannot simply be granted impunity because of political expediency,” he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hopes the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA’s harsh interrogation techniques at secret overseas facilities is the “start of a process” toward prosecutions, because the “prohibition against torture is absolute,” Ban’s spokesman said.

Ben Emmerson, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, said the report released Tuesday shows “there was a clear policy orchestrated at a high level within the Bush administration, which allowed (it) to commit systematic crimes and gross violations of international human rights law.”

He said international law prohibits granting immunity to public officials who allow the use of torture, and this applies not just to the actual perpetrators but also to those who plan and authorize torture.

“The fact that the policies revealed in this report were authorized at a high level within the U.S. government provides no excuse whatsoever. Indeed, it reinforces the need for criminal accountability,” Emmerson said.

Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth echoed those comments, saying “unless this important truth-telling process leads to the prosecution of officials, torture will remain a `policy option’ for future presidents.”

The report said that in addition to waterboarding, the U.S. tactics included slamming detainees against walls, confining them to small boxes, keeping them isolated for prolonged periods and threatening them with death.

However, a Justice Department official said Wednesday the department did not intend to revisit its decision to not prosecute anyone for the interrogation methods. The official said the department had reviewed the committee’s report and did not find any new information that would cause the investigation to be reopened.

“Our inquiry was limited to a determination of whether prosecutable offenses were committed,” the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an investigation. “Importantly, our investigation was not intended to answer the broader questions regarding the propriety of the examined conduct.”

The United States is also not part of the International Criminal Court, which began operating in 2002 to ensure that those responsible for the most heinous crimes could be brought to justice. That court steps in only when countries are unwilling or unable to dispense justice themselves for genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. The case could be referred to the ICC by the U.N. Security Council, but the United States holds veto power there.

In one U.S. case mentioned in the report, suspected extremist Gul Rahman was interrogated in late 2002 at a CIA detention facility in Afghanistan called “COBALT” in the report. There, he was shackled to a wall in his cell and forced to rest on a bare concrete floor in only a sweatshirt. He died the next day. A CIA review and autopsy found he died of hypothermia.

Justice Department investigations into his death and another death of a CIA detainee resulted in no charges.

President Barack Obama said the interrogation techniques “did significant damage to America’s standing in the world and made it harder to pursue our interests with allies.” CIA Director John Brennan said the agency made mistakes and learned from them, but insisted the coercive techniques produced intelligence “that helped thwart attack plans, capture terrorists and save lives.”

The Senate investigation, however, found no evidence the interrogations stopped imminent plots.

European Union spokeswoman Catherine Ray emphasized Wednesday that the Obama administration has worked since 2009 to see that torture is not used anymore but said it is “a commitment that should be enshrined in law.”

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was quoted as telling the Bild daily that Obama had clearly broken with Bush policies and, as a result, Washington’s “new openness to admitting mistakes and promising publicly that something like this will never happen again is an important step, which we welcome.”

“What was deemed right and done back then in the fight against Islamic terrorism was unacceptable and a serious mistake,” Steinmeier said. “Such a crass violation of free and democratic values must not be repeated.”

Bush approved the program through a covert finding in 2002 but wasn’t briefed by the CIA on the details until 2006. Obama banned waterboarding, weeks of sleep deprivation and other tactics, yet other aspects of Bush’s national security policies remain, most notably the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sweeping government surveillance programs.

U.S. officials have been tried in absentia overseas before.

Earlier this year, Italy’s highest court upheld guilty verdicts against the CIA’s former Rome station chief Jeff Castelli and two others identified as CIA agents in the 2003 extraordinary rendition kidnapping of an Egyptian terror suspect. The decision was the only prosecution to date against the Bush administration’s practice of abducting terror suspects and moving them to third countries that permitted torture.

All three had been acquitted in the original trial due to diplomatic immunity. They were among 26 Americans, mostly CIA agents, found guilty in absentia of kidnapping Milan cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr from a Milan street on Feb. 17, 2003.

In Geneva last month, a U.N. anti-torture panel said the U.S. government is falling short of full compliance with the international anti-torture treaty. It criticized U.S. interrogation procedures during the Bush administration and called on the U.S. government to abolish the use of techniques that rely on sleep or sensory deprivation.

The word “torture,” meanwhile, wasn’t mentioned in U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power’s statement Wednesday for Human Rights Day in which she criticized countries including North Korea and South Sudan.

Eric Tucker in Washington and Cara Anna at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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