Unfinished Revolution

The Unfinished Revolution

Hillary Clinton memorably proclaimed at the United Nations conference in Beijing in 1995 that, “women’s rights are human rights.” But around the world, this is a distant goal for millions of women and girls. In Saudi Arabia, women are banned from driving and many are forbidden from playing sports. In the Central African Republic and Afghanistan, it is not uncommon for childbirth to bring about a woman’s death. And in the United States, state governments fail to test essential DNA evidence collected from rape victims. Released on International Women’s Day, The Unfinished Revolution: Voices from the Global Fight for Women’s Rights (Seven Stories Press), is an anthology that includes essays written by 34 experts from around the world– including leading women’s rights activists, top policymakers, and former victims, as well as experts from Human Rights Watch. It brings fresh voices to the ongoing struggle for gender equality in the 21st century. It also maps out solutions, creating a timely roadmap to understanding how we can help end even centuries-old practices that abuse women. Two Nobel Peace Prize laureates contributed to the anthology. Shirin Ebadi writes how Islamic law weighs on women while Jody Williams addresses the impact of armed conflict on women and girls. Other chapters tackle religious dress or headscarves in Europe, uncertain access to birth control in Latin America, unequal property laws that oppress women in Africa, how in the United States, rapists remain free in part because DNA evidence from rapes is often not tested. The chapter on female genital mutilation touches on women’s right to health, while the chapter that details how certain groups, like the Taliban, fight to keep girls out of school highlights how women can be denied their right to education. The anthology also addresses the uncertain prospects for women in the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring. Edited by Human Rights Watch’s Minky Worden, the book does more than spell out the problems women face. It also discusses creative ways that modern technology can be used to advance the cause of women’s rights. For example, it explains how using mobile phones can help combat fistula, a preventable childbirth injury which affects some two million women and girls worldwide. Publishers Weekly calls the book, “a powerful overview of contemporary women's issues … a cohesive and eminently readable document that is simultaneously an inspiration and a call-to-action.” A six-part photo essay with hauntingly beautiful images shot by acclaimed photographers including Platon and Stephanie Sinclair vividly illustrates some of the topics discussed in the book, such as Egypt’s Arab Spring and high rates of maternal death in India.   As Christiane Amanpour writes in the book’s foreword, “It’s a time of change in the world, with dictators toppling and new opportunities rising, but any revolution that doesn’t create equality for women will be incomplete. The time has come to realize the full potential of half the world’s population.” To read more about The Unfinished Revolution go here To buy The Unfinished Revolution go here

Changes for Libya

Gaddafi's Death Ushers in a New Era
Libya's Government Should Focus on Rights, Rule of Law

The end of Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule over Libya offers a unique opportunity for the country to end an extraordinarily long era of human rights abuses. Today’s media reports say forces of the National Transitional Council or a NATO air strike wounded Gaddafi during fighting in his hometown of Sirte. He died soon after, the sources said.

Stretching over 42 years, the Gaddafi era accumulated an appalling human rights record, at home and abroad. The Libyan people now deserve to see justice for the many crimes committed on Gaddafi’s watch, and to see other high-level officials implicated in abuses face trial.

Gaddafi’s Libya was one of the region’s most thorough police states. Human Rights Watch has documented disappearances, politically-motivated arrests, and torture, as well as the near-total repression of freedom of expression and association.

Libya’s new authorities should seek independent investigations into the most serious crimes. The 1996 killing of an estimated 1,200 prisoners at Abu Salim – where Gaddafi locked up political prisoners – is one of the most notorious episodes.

Justice + the Ivory Coast

Skewed Justice in Côte d’Ivoire

The President Should Help Move Country Past Political, Ethnic Divides

The government of President Alassane Ouattara has taken noteworthy steps to ensure investigation and prosecution of leaders of the former regime implicated in grave crimes, including former President Laurent Gbagbo. But Ouattara has not taken action against his own troops accused of killing and raping during the fighting.

This glaring imbalance in justice threatens to rip apart Côte d’Ivoire at a time when Ouattara’s government should help move the country past the political and ethnic divisions Gbagbo exploited, a new report says. At least 3,000 were killed in the violence after Gbagbo lost last November’s presidential election but refused to step down. Many appear to have been targeted on political, ethnic, and religious grounds.

The report, based on more than 500 interviews, names military and political leaders implicated in serious crimes – eight were Gbagbo supporters while four backed Ouattara.

To help ensure justice, the International Criminal Court authorized an investigation. Its decision referred to Human Rights Watch’s documentation of war crimes and likely crimes against humanity.

Arrest Warrent for Gaddafi

Gaddafi Wanted by International Court

Charged With Crimes Against Humanity

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam, and Libya's intelligence chief, Abdullah Sanussi, sending a strong message to abusive leaders around the world.

They are wanted on charges of crimes against humanity for their alleged roles in attacks on civilians. After anti-government protests began in eastern Libya in February, Human Rights Watch documented instances in which government forces opened fire on peaceful demonstrators.

Concerns have been raised that a warrant against Gaddafi would hinder peace efforts and compel him to maintain his grip on power to avoid arrest. But even before the ICC process was set in motion, Gaddafi made clear he intended to stay until the bitter end, and his son’s February vow to “live and die in Libya” reflects that stance.

Human Rights Watch research shows that failing to hold high-level perpetrators accountable for serious international crimes can contribute to future abuses. In fact, issuing warrants for senior leaders can strengthen peace efforts by stigmatizing those who stand in the way of resolving conflicts. For example, indictments against Bosnian Serb leaders kept them sidelined during the Dayton peace talks, which led to the end of the Bosnian war.

Guinea's Future Hangs in the Balance

New President's Actions can Reverse a Legacy of Abuse

“For 52 long years, the people of Guinea have really suffered from the effects of impunity and corruption,” a Guinean man told us. “We have lived in darkness - no electricity, no water, no opportunities for our children. Those in power have ruined the lives of generation after generation.”

Guinea's future hangs in the balance, says a new report based on more than 200 interviews. President Alpha Condé's actions – or inaction – will either create a positive human rights trajectory or trap Guinea in a continuing cycle of abuse.

Since Guinea’s independence from France in 1958, its rulers have used militias and security forces to repress independent voices. Thousands have been tortured, starved, or beaten to death. Those responsible need to be held accountable. But judges and lawyers say they don’t have enough money to conduct investigations, adequately pay staff, or sometimes even feed prisoners. For effective prosecutions, Guinea needs to strengthen its judiciary.

Despite its wealth of ores and minerals, Guinea remains one of the world's poorest countries. Transparent budgets and natural resource contracts are necessary for Guinea’s entire population to benefit from this wealth.

A truth-telling commission should be established to uncover the roots of the abuse and help prevent new violence.

Tragedy at Sea

“We are witnessing a humanitarian tragedy, with now more than one thousand people possibly dead.” - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.

After weeks of airstrikes and bombings within civilian areas of Libya, the situation has taken a stark turn. Last Friday, May 7th, a boat carrying 600 refugees capsized while crossing the Mediterranean Sea in an effort to reach Europe. Although a few survived, it is believed most of these asylum-seekers have drowned.


As if this was not enough of a tragedy, UNHCR is receiving eyewitness reports from those who survived crossing the Mediterranean that African migrant workers are being forced onto overcrowded, unsafe vessels to face an uncertain fate on the sea.

“It is our shared obligation to be sensitive to the plight of these refugees and share the burden with Tunisia and Egypt," says Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Donate today. $350 will evacuate a stranded refugee to safety, away from the Libyan borders. Or, $100 provides a survival kit containing a blanket, a mattress, a kitchen set, a cooking stove and soap.

to the UN: Please do something about the situation in the Ivory Coast

Côte d’Ivoire: Crimes Against Humanity by Gbagbo's Forces
Both Sides Commit Grave Abuses as Crisis Deepens

In Côte d’Ivoire, a post-election deadlock has become bloodier and more violent by the day, and abuses committed by former President Laurent Gbagbo’s security forces very likely amount to crimes against humanity.

Nearly 400 civilians have been killed, and hundreds of thousands more have fled the violence. Witnesses and victims interviewed by Human Rights Watch have implicated the same pro-Gbagbo groups as the main culprits. These groups have systematically raped, killed, and “disappeared” supporters or perceived supporters of Alassane Ouattara, who nearly the entire world agrees won the November presidential election.

Over state television, Gbagbo’s “youth minister,” demonstrating a government policy of encouraging violence, called on “real” Ivoirians to set up neighborhood roadblocks and “denounce” foreigners – citizens of neighboring countries and Ivorian citizens of different ethnicity from the north, Ouattara’s stronghold. West African immigrants gave detailed accounts of armed militias beating people to death, burning them alive, or chasing them from their homes.

On the Ouattara side, fighters killed at least nine civilians in a village of mostly Gbagbo supporters and have begun executing detained pro-Gbagbo forces.

UN Security Council action to impose sanctions against Gbagbo and his close allies is long overdue.

Fighting Escalates in Libya

Human Rights Watch witnessed hours of intense gunfire exchanges near Brega, Libya. Afterward, we collected evidence on the pro-Gaddafi forces’ weapons and saw several hundred civilians and armed rebels celebrating in front of the university.

Protesters were tearing down a large billboard of Gaddafi when a fighter jet fired a missile, which landed 10 meters from us and the crowd.
 
Go HERE to read more

On the Ground in Tunis- from Refugees International

Day One: Tunis
By Dara McLeod

We arrived in Tunisia yesterday evening – the place where it all started. It’s hard to imagine that the popular revolutions sweeping across the Arab world began with one Tunisian man and his modest fruit stand.

But driving in from the airport, you see signs that this country’s revolution is still fresh – military tanks and soldiers on the streets, barbed wire surrounding the central police station across from our hotel.

And it is the very newness of this country’s government that makes its response to the people fleeing across its eastern border with Libya remarkable. Today was our first and only full day in Tunis, and it was spent in meetings trying to better understand how Tunisia is coping with the recent influx of the tens of thousands of people fleeing the violence in Libya. And by all accounts, Tunisia’s transitional government has handled its first crisis professionally, and with a great deal of solidarity amongst the Tunisian people. The country’s military is keeping a solid control over the situation at the border. And we’re told stories of local communities in the area providing shelter and food – some 2000 – 3000 meals per day.

But in our meeting today with Radhouane Nouicer, Tunisia’s new Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, we are reminded that this is a difficult period for the fragile infrastructure in Tunisia. And this government in transition won’t be able to handle the burden of a large, unemployed population for too long. The international community must continue to pay attention to the problem of those leaving Libya. It is not going away. And if conditions within Libya continue to deteriorate, the world must be prepared for an influx of people seeking protection. Because it is too much to ask that this new government bears the burden alone.

Continue reading on RI's blog all this week for daily updates from Dara.

Live Middle East Updates from HRW

Middle East Protests Intensify

The HRW team in Libya Documents, Investigates Deaths

In Libya, Muammar Gaddafi has vowed to fight protesters “to the last bullet.” Human Rights Watch has documented more than 300 deaths, and the full toll is believed to be much higher.

Our team in eastern Libya viewed mobile phone footage from a witness in Benghazi of several dozen bound and blindfolded men – many in military and police uniforms. The person who took the footage said they were soldiers and police who were executed for refusing to attack the protesters.

Our Middle East and North Africa division director writes about tyranny in Libya »


In Bahrain, protests continue to grow, with demonstrators marching away from the original focus of anti-government demonstrations, Pearl Square, toward the financial district and disrupting traffic.

We witnessed the release of 23 political prisoners whose arrest sparked massive riots in 2010. Most were arrested for peaceful political activities. We’re pressing for the government to drop politically motivated charges against them.

Our researcher reports from outside the prison in Bahrain »


In Yemen, two anti-government protesters died after attacks by provocateurs. At least three were detained for several hours, and one said a police officer beat him for trying to deliver medical supplies to protesters.

After the attack, President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered all security forces to halt clashes and prevent direct confrontation between demonstrators.

Read more about the attacks in Yemen »

Also,
DON'T FORGET TO TAKE THE POLL! --->

UPDATE on the Middle East- HRW

Protests have ignited across the Middle East

Many Demonstrators Beaten, Arrested, Some Even Killed

Across the Middle East, peaceful protesters took to the streets. Many have been arrested and beaten by authorities, and some have been killed.

Early this morning in Bahrain, without warning, riot police attacked sleeping protesters, firing teargas, rubber bullets, and pellets.
Police surrounded an area where up to 3,000 protesters, including families with children, were sleeping, leaving no means of escape, said Maryam al-Khawaja, of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. Three were killed and scores injured, she told us.
Read details of the attacks in Bahrain --->


More than 1,000 demonstrators marched in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Tuesday. Several hundred paramilitaries carrying bats, assault rifles, stun guns, and tear gasguns, charged the protesters, witnesses said.
Mizar Baggash Ghanem told Human Rights Watch that the security forces shocked him with a stun gun. His back bore several fresh red wounds.
Read the accounts of protesters in Yemen --->


Thousands of Iranians gathered Monday to protest a wave of arrests and a clampdown on telephone and internet access. Security forces broke up crowds with teargas and batons, witnesses said.
One demonstrator said he saw many people injured from blows with batons and sticks by riot police and paramilitary forces.
Read eyewitness accounts of attacks in Iran --->

 
Libyans in Benghazi staged protests after authorities arrested key activists. Authorities used teargas and batons, as well as attackers in street clothes, to disperse them. Sources told us that one person was killed. Human Rights Watch has compiled a list of those arrested.  
Read about the arrests in Libya --->

Visit HRW.org to keep updated on these events!

There's still a lot to do in Egypt...

beautiful Cairo at dawn- a new day rises

Vital Work Remains in Egypt, Across the Middle East

President Hosni Mubarak has resigned, but human rights remains a critical issue in Egypt and the Middle East.

In Iran, Yemen, and Bahrain, government security forces have cracked down violently on peaceful protesters demanding their rights and showing their solidarity with Egyptians. Demonstrators have been killed, arrested, targeted with stun guns, and beaten.

Human Rights Watch is actively monitoring developments in the Middle East, and we will continue to report our findings.

The victories won by the peaceful protest movements in Egypt and Tunisia have given many people hope for a better future. But we need more than just a change in leadership – we need an end to repression. The military should lift the state of emergency in Egypt, and we’re calling for Tunisia and Egypt to stop using torture and allow freedom of expression and assembly.
 

Go HERE to read HRW's recommendations for change in Egypt

The world's newest country

JUBA, Sudan — The mud-hut town of Juba has earned a promotion to world capital later this year. Only Southern Sudan needs far more than its own currency and a national anthem: Most of the roads here are dirt and even aid workers live in shipping containers.

In a little more than five months, Southern Sudan is slated to become the world's newest country. Final results from last month's independence referendum announced on Monday show that 98.8 percent of the ballots cast were for secession from Sudan's north.

Juba is oil-rich but lacks the embassies and skyscrapers of other world capitals. There was only a mile or two of pavement here just a year ago, and the local archives are stored in a tent. Many, though, see great potential, and are excitedly looking forward to controlling their own destiny.

Entrepreneur Soloman Chaplain Lui, 42, is overseeing the construction of 160 apartments and hotel rooms on a rocky bluff overlooking Juba. The country's largest swimming pool sits here, though its water is murky. His arm points toward empty fields where he hopes to one day build a mall and a golf course.

"As I talk to you now there are many people flowing here," he said. "A new country is being born."

Two decades of war between the predominantly Muslim north and rebels in the Christian-animist south killed at least 2 million people before a 2005 peace agreement was reached. Residents are jubilant to have their own country at last, though much work remains.

Decades of war and poverty have kept Southern Sudan in a decrepit state, and its 8.7 million people live in one of the least developed regions in the world. The U.N. says a 15-year-old girl here has a higher chance of dying in childbirth than finishing school. An estimated 85 percent of the population is illiterate.

Go to GlobalGiving to find projects that are making a difference in Sudan.

Helping Egypt: GlobalGiving Projects

Here are 4 projects from GlobalGiving that will directly help the people of Egypt, especially over these next few difficult years ahead of them.

1.  Empowering Women with Disabilities in Egypt
This project will identify and train women living with disabilities in Egypt, empowering them to become leaders and advocates for the disabled both within their communities and at a national level.

What is the issue, problem, or challenge?


According to World Bank-based projections, the persons with disabilities (PWDs) population in Egypt, likely amounts to 4 to 7.2 million people. While PWDs are, in general, hidden from view considered a source of shame and a burden to their families, disabled women are even more marginalized than most. As women, they are segregated from male society, but, as women with disabilities, they are also isolated from the lives of other women. They are, for all intents and purposes, invisible.

How will this project solve this problem?

Training of Trainers (TOT) will identify women with disabilities to inaugurate them into systems of service provision and advocacy, equipping them with civil rights' language and providing them with the tools to become champions for women/PWD rights.

Donate HERE


2. Empowering girls to learn and lead with CARE 
This project will empower girls in 20 different countries by increasing the number of girls completing primary school, building girls' leadership roles, and advocating for girls' rights.


What is the issue, problem, or challenge?

Education is more than reading and math. Education also means thinking critically and solving problems, learning how to get along with others, overcoming challenges, accepting leadership responsibilities and planning for success. At least 75 million children who should be in primary school are not. About 55% of those are girls.Denying girls an education leads to lower family incomes, higher maternal and child mortality, and a lack of representation and leadership from half the population.

How will this project solve this problem?

Increasing the number of girls completing primary school through equitable, quality education; building girls' leadership skills through diverse extracurricular activities; and advocating for girls' rights.

Donate HERE


3. Use technology to improve education in Egypt
This project provides mobile PC carts that each have 25 PCs (for students) and a laptop (for the teacher), which can turn any classroom into a computer lab.


What is the issue, problem, or challenge?

In Egypt, many children, especially girls, have very limited acess to education. The problem is even more pronounced in the rural areas of the country, creating a tremendous challenge for students battling illiteracy and poverty. Girls often face restricted social spaces and an uphill struggle to get an education, due to factors such family pressures, inadequate facilities, and higher workloads at home. There is also often a shortage of teachers, and a lack of community involvement with schools.

How will this project solve this problem?

CARE will provide access to computers and train teachers to incorporate technology into education. Students will gain computer literacy skills and be able to link to other students globally to expand their world views.

Donate HERE


Any my favorite GlobalGiving Project of the Week:

4.Valuable Girl Project: Empower 1000 Girls in Egypt

This educational mentoring program empowers 1,000 at-risk girls in Egypt by creating and providing role models, increasing self-esteem, leadership skills, creativity, and educational attainment.


What is the issue, problem, or challenge?

Because of poverty, many girls and young women throughout Egypt must neglect their education in order to marry early, help in the fields, gain immediate employment or carry out domestic labor to meet family needs. When in school, they face gender bias in the classroom and lack positive, educated, female role models to support and inspire them. These conditions gravely limit their economic, political, and social empowerment. Through educational mentoring, VGP counteracts these forces.

How will this project solve this problem?

VGP trains young women in secondary school to mentor girls in primary school, providing academic assistance as well as education on nutrition, hygiene, girls’ rights, and civic participation. Mentors receive a monthly stipend for their efforts.

Donate HERE

Support the work in Egypt & Tunisia; a letter from HRW

Support Our Work in Egypt, Tunisia

Help Us Protect the Rights of Peaceful Demonstrators


Dear Reader,

Our teams on the ground in Egypt and Tunisia are charting events as they unfold, to maximize pressure on the governments to respect the demonstrators’ right to protest peacefully. Your donations help us continue this essential work.

In Egypt, having reported on years of routine torture by police - the kind of systemic abuse that fuels the ongoing protests - we're closely monitoring the security forces’ treatment of the demonstrators. For example, we've uncovered evidence that some looters were undercover policemen—an apparent ploy to suggest the need to impose order. And we're pressing the Army, in Cairo and via major Western capitals, to refrain from violence and protect demonstrators from violent attack.

In Tunisia, our researchers have investigated accounts of police killing of protesters by shooting into crowds. We are using this information to press for prosecution of those responsible and justice for the victims—a key step for preventing backsliding on behalf of repressive elements in the government.

Even after top news headlines focus elsewhere, we will continue to document violence and rights violations in these North African countries, bringing abuses to global attention so as to increase the chance for lasting reform.

It's your support that let us quickly respond to the emergencies in Egypt and Tunisia. Please send us a donation to help us keep researchers in the field during times of crisis.
 
Together, we can help lay the foundation for real change.


Thank you,

Kenneth Roth

Human Rights Watch

On the ground in Egypt

Human Rights Watch teams continue to send live updates from Egypt and gather on-the-ground information.

In Suez, Egypt: “Police and government officials have pulled out so there are no government services. People formed impromptu block committees to provide local security.”

In Alexandria, Egypt: “The most touching moment was when one of the youth leaders in Alexandria asked us to help him send an observer team to elections in Tunis [Tunisia’s capital]: “We will pay for ourselves, but we want to see how a real election happens."”

The massive protests in Egypt and Tunisia forced the issue of their governments’ oppression into sharp focus on the world stage and HRW is dedicated to being there throughout this process.

 

Learn more here

Tunisia's new government update...

Prime Minister Mohammad Ghannouchi, who declared himself interim president of Tunisia on January 14, 2011, following the departure of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, should immediately order security forces to end the use of unjustifiable lethal force against civilians and bring to justice those responsible for any criminal use of force, Human Rights Watch said today. The interim government should also begin releasing all prisoners held for acts of peaceful expression or peaceful political activities, Human Rights Watch said.


Tunisian police have killed dozens of protesters by firing into crowds in the inland cities of Kasserine, Thala, Regueb, as well as in the capital, Tunis, during political violence that has beset the country since December 17, 2010.

"Nothing can better signal the change that Tunisians have been demanding than concrete steps to end the bloody repression, allowing citizens to exercise their rights peacefully, and freeing political prisoners," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Read more here

helping Tunisia

...for the second step, you can make a donation to the Red Cross here. Thay have an aid camp in Tunis, the heart of Tunisia, and they're always taking donations!

Thanks!

A desperate situation in Tunisia

Under its beautiful surface, Tunisia is struggling under the weight of massive unemployment, corruption and civic unrest

On Dec. 17, Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old university Tunisian graduate who took to selling vegetables when he was unable to find work, set himself on fire after police confiscated his unlicensed vegetable cart. His desperate act has caused a spontaneous outpouring of public anger in Tunisia over economic conditions and the ruling family's endemic corruption. The riots started in Bouazizi's hometown, Sidi Bouzid, deep in Tunisia's interior, and spread across the country. Thousands marched, demanding jobs, better living conditions, and an end to uneven economic development and the corruption that drives it.

In the days that followed Bouazizi's tragic act, violence erupted and police killed an 18-year-old youth as they shot into a crowd of protesters around a police station. Then, on Dec. 22, Neji Felhi, 24, climbed an electrical pole in the same town and shouted, "No to misery! No to unemployment!" then touched the 30,000-megawatt pole, killing himself. Two more of Tunisia's young, disenfranchised and unemployed attempted to end their own lives in similar ways in the days that followed.

What kind of hopelessness drives young men to attempt suicide, making a spectacle of their deaths in desperate protest?

What is really happening in Tunisia behind President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's much-touted "economic miracle"?

I don't have all the answers, but I do know that Tunisia could use some help- and our awareness of this situation is the first step...

Teachers Killed in Pakistani Province

Pakistani students demonstrate against the killing of a school principal in Quetta, Balochistan's capital, on March 22, 2010

Pakistan: Balochistan Militants Killing Teachers

Attacks on Education Harm Students, Reduce Development Prospects
December 13, 2010

(Islamabad) - Militant groups in Pakistan's Balochistan province should immediately stop killing, threatening, and harassing teachers and other educators, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Attacks and bombings by various nationalist, sectarian, and Islamist armed groups have damaged schools and universities, killing and wounding students, and severely harming education in Balochistan.


Go here to continue reading