Worsening conditions draw attention

Worsening Conditions for Women in Iran Begin to Draw Attention

        It seems like every time things start to look up, it just does't quite get there. The President of Iran Hassan Rouhani spoke up against the worsening conditions for women in Iran. He said " we have no patriarchy nor matriarchy in Islam, what we have is a meritocracy", he is trying to convince people that men and women stand side by side but this is plenty of evidence to show that this is not true. Unemployment in Iran is a huge problem right now. The government has said that there is going to be a possible 2,284 government jobs available, these jobs are mainly for men. 16 of these spots are "women jobs" and there are hundreds that has unspecified gender but in reality these positions also go to men.

          People are unhappy that the president keeps making promises that are not kept. There has been talk about amending laws that band women from sports stadiums and other places however, whenever this ban seems to be getting lifted there is always someone who claims that this amending has not been decided yet.  Even though there has been talk about men and women becoming more equal and standing side by side, it seems like things are getting worse for women instead of better. In the past few years there has been more restrictions having to do with health care, social lives, ect, put on women. Militias were created to make sure that all women were dressed properly created many attacks on women. These militia were eventually stopped. 

          What I have noticed through out the past few weeks is that a lot of places around the world are having the same human rights issues, and many, but not all of them deal with women. In Iran the human rights issues against women kept getting pushed away because the focus was on nuclear weapons.  It seems that the government is not caring and paying enough attention to what is happening to its citizens. Citizens are suppose to be able to rely on their government for help and protection and so far all the government has been doing is making things worse. 

Eliana Berger

http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2015/04/rouhani-women-discrimination/

ISIS Escapes Describe systematic rape

ISIS: Crimes Against Humanity 

         There are certain things that are considered human rights and one of them is that women's bodies are theirs and not to be sold or abused. ISIS has partaken in events that are considered as crimes against humanity. Hundreds of women women have been taken and tortured by ISIS fighters, however there has been some that have escaped and have been interviewed so they can share with the world the horrific things ISIS is doing to women. Most of their stories involve  rape, sexual slaver, imprisonment, religious persecution, and forced marriage. An article of the interview with these girl has recently been published and their stories are awful. Girls as young as 12 are been raped by multiple ISIS fights, forced into marriage and then sold to other people as "gifts". ISIS has publicly stated that they believe it is okay to give their fighters women as "spoils" of the war. On top of being sex slaves and passed around to people, these women are tortured and abused. These women are human beings, not animals, and something needs to be done to help these poor women and children. 

The women who have been able to escape are in need of serious medical treatment, psychological and physically. These women are getting diseases and even pregnant.

       Abduction and detention of innocent people instantly goes against their human rights and doesn't just happen because of ISIS. This happens all around the world. Women especially, are raped, abused, and sold. Escapees have told Human Rights Watch that they didn't have choice, they had to do what they were told or they were beaten. They went through selection, which involved men examining their bodies and dragging off who ever they liked the most, raping them and then bringing them back to trade in for someone else. These stories are of women and children some as young as 8 being.   

        Human Rights Watch has been informed that less then 150 women and children have been able to escape and that not all of these women are unable to get medical treatment once they are free. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is trying to provide health and other services to these women but there are still huge gaps in medical care for this women. The whole world needs to know what is going on over there and needs to take a better look at the human rights violations that are happening around world. Not enough attention or focus is put on this and these people are getting away with their crimes.  

Eliana Berger

http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/14/iraq-isis-escapees-describe-systematic-rape

Human rights defenders under threat

Womens Humans Rights Defenders Under Threat

There has become a big problem in the would with human rights defenders being arrested for speaing up about what they believe. This Article in The Guardian is based off of a news podcast that is off multiple women human rights defenders. One women talks about how a wealthy man sued her and won, convicting her of the crime of defamation. In many places around the world women do not have very many equal rights however in Honduras they have none.These women came together to discuss how there seems to be a target against human rights defenders. Apparently in 1995, 189 different governments signed an agenda that was called " Beijing Platform for Action" this was suppose to protect women who spoke up about their right but 20 years later this seems to be ignored. The women activist are being called evil women or sex workers because they spoke about their right to openly work in the UN. There has been talk about how to kill these human rights defenders. 

People seem to think that there has been a huge crackdown human rights defenders especially in Chine; if one is prosecuted then they will surely be convicted. There seems to be a wave of extremest which has had a huge impact on women. although both women and male human right activist are under attack from the government women seem to be more vulnerable to violence and humiliation. These women said " that it is important that the protection of womens human rights defenders come hand in hand with human rights in general". If people cared more about human rights then these defenders would not be needed. 

The other day at UNCG two women from Bangladesh came and spoke about workers rights. They told us that many people who go out and try to gain rights or be compensated for the work they had done are either arrest or disappear. This shows that this is real and is actually happening around the world. 

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/apr/10/womens-human-rights-defenders-under-threat-podcast-transcript

Airstrikes with many Civilian Casualties

Yemen: At least six civilians burn to death

 in further airstrikes overnight

It seems that the Saudi - Arabian led military has decided to stop caring about civilian casualties and are look the other way to what has been happening. Over the past week there has been many airstrikes that has resulted in multiple civilian casualties including children.  The military led an airstrike on two patrol stations that led to the death several passengers in a car who decided to stop there and refuel. At the same a military base was target for an airstrike however, right next to this base was a market full of civilians. The airstrike was still ordered to happen and resulted in the death of 20 people including children and 16 people injured and hospitalized. Just last night at around 2AM a Huthi checkpoint was targeted which left 4 children, 2 women, six men dead, and 31 more civilians hospitalized due to burns and or shrapnel wounds. 

Although, yes there have been reports of Huthi fights near camps and other areas, that does not give the Saudi - Arabian military the right to forget about the 40 houses that are near where they are. Homes are getting hit and and civilians are burning to death because they are not properly warned of the strikes. There are laws which requires are parties at war to take all feasible precautions to spare the lives of civilians. This is not being done. These people need an advanced warning so that they can take precautions and the military should not be striking near high populated areas. Civilian casualties are almost inevitable while at war however it is not okay for civilians to not get any warning and for the military to just turn their head when they do happen. 

Eliana Berger

http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/yemen-at-least-six-civilians-burn-to-death-in-further-airstrikes-overnight

Attack on Citizens in Nigeria

                                  Nigeria: At least 1000 civilians dead since January 
Since January, at least 1,000 civilians have been found dead in Nigeria. The attacks are coming from the Islamist group called Boko Haram. There has been eye witness reporting of this group coming in to villages attacking and abducting the civilians. The Boko Haram have seized and are now incontrol of 17 villages. The Nigerian government needs to work on providing better protection for their citizens because each week there are more and more abuses against the civilians. The Boko Haram go into a village killing and burning down buildings while abducting women and children. Many of these women and child are forced into marriage, raped, or become victims of other abuses. Boy are forced to join the Boko Haram or face death. hundreds of thousands of civilians have had to flee do to force or in fear for their lives.
Schools have been taken over by Nigerian government forces cause the Boko Haram to target these schools. The soldier damage the schools and interfere with the education of thousands of children. These same forces attacked and burned down the village of Mundu which was near a Boko Haram base but the Boko Haram were not in the village during the attack. This left 5 civilians dead and 70 homeless.  The Nigerian forces did not provide appropriate protection for the civilian population during military actions.
There are places all over the world that are forcefully getting taken over by a single group leaving thousands dead. It is a governments responsibility to protect its citizens from harm. These civilians should not be afraid of their own governments army.



Eliana Berger

http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/03/26/nigeria-least-1000-civilians-dead-january-0

War crimes and crimes against humanity by ISIS

War crimes and crimes against humanity by ISIS

ISIS war crimes as well as crimes against humanity continue to grow. There has been report of ISIS carrying out genocide on the Yaziid people in Iraq. A report has been published from the Human Rights office that gives details of the horror that these people are going through. Killings, torture, rape, and sex slavery is ramped in the towns that are being taken over. The report that came out is based off of interview of 100+ witnesses and survivors of these awful attacks. Systematic and organized attacks are place on the Yazidi people.  The men and boys over the age of 14 are taken an executed while the younger ones are sent to become child soldiers. Women and girls are raped and or sold to the sex slave business.  Boys are forced to convert to Islam and are taught to be soldiers, watching videos of executions. The Yazidi people were not given choices like the Christians who got overrun got.  In other places people were given the choice to convert, pay a tax, or leave. Here they we just picked up and marched off to be executed.

The inhumanity that is taking place in these towns that are being taken over by ISIS is horrific. There is testimony from witnesses and victims that confirm that there are foreign fighters from many different countries within ISIS. One witness apparently described how people were executed and then cadets kicked around the heads of these people like footballs.   The Iraqi government has been seeking help from the UN rights office and is trying to assure that there will be accountability for these crimes that are taking place.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3002547/IS-likely-committing-genocide-against-Yazidi-minority-Iraq-UN.html

Childrens Rights in Egypt

          

Human Rights For Child

  Egypt is taking steps towards improving children’s human rights around the country, however these are only baby step and there is a lot that needs to be done. The first thing that Egypt has done to improve their human rights with in the past few years is increasing the minimum legal age for marriage. It used to be that for boy the age was 18 and girls 16. Child marriage violates human rights because it affects the children’s chance of education, freedom from violence, consensual marriage, and sexual health. Although there is a new law passed for this child marriage is still happening all around Egypt, 11% a year. Adoption is illegal in Egypt so there was a law that made it so children under the age of 2 could not be raised by a foster family or “alternative care”. This age has now been lowered to three months so the children get better cared for at a younger age. Children have been put on trial as adults and because of overcrowding they are stuck in makeshift detention facilities or prison where they can be assaulted by guards and the adult inmates. In 2008, Egypt banned female genital mutilation, which is a common religious practice and can cause serious harm to the female even resulting in death. Although this is banned, the government doesn’t actually investigate and prosecute those of who practice this still. The government needs to take charge and put strategies into place to make sure that this practice is not continued. I strongly believe that it is the government’s duty to take care of its children and make sure that they are safe and getting the necessary needs to be healthy. Making laws that band things and changing the legal marriage age is a good start however nothing will get done unless these laws are actually enforced and investigated.

Eliana Berger

http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/03/04/egypt-small-forward-steps-child-rights

Human Rights in Venezuela

In Venezuela the fear for human rights has been rising. Security detained around 3300 people during demonstrations and many of them are still locked up. Many of these people are being held locked up on "politically motivated" charges. There has been 45 cases of human rights violations committed by the security forces. Some of these include beatings, electric shock or burns and other abusive treatments. The government has recently granted the military new rights to use force to maintain public order during meetings or demonstrations. As the situation in the country continues to get worse the president is turning to the armed forces to get control of the country.
All around the world the armed forces are turned to to gain control of people. People should be not arrested because of speaking about how the feel about a situation. And if they are arrested torturing and beating them while they are detained in jail goes completely against human rights.

Eliana




http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/65b88d8a-b772-11e4-8807-00144feab7de.html#axzz3SKlWRcvT

Immigration Detention Of Children in Australia

There has become a big problem in Australia having to do with Immigration Detention. A report, The Forgotten Children, has just been released stating that detention is dangerous for children. They have evidence that detention can have a negative effect on a child’s mental and emotional health as well and their physical development.  The average time that someone is in detention is aver a year and right now there is close to 300 children in immigration detention Nauru and more than 100 children held on Christmas Island. In the report it says “It is the fact of detention, particularly the deprivation of liberty and high numbers of mentally unwell adults that is causing emotional and developmental disorders amongst children”. These children are confined in small quarters with adults who are mentally ill. Not to mention the fact that having children crammed in a small place with hundreds of adults they do not know puts them at risk for sexual and physical abuses. These children resort to hurting or starving themselves because of what they conditions they are living in are doing to them.

There is no other place in the world that detains all of it non – citizens, Australia not only does this but also detains children if there is an ASIO finding against their parents. A minor should only be detained as a measure of last support but even then I don’t think a child who has not done anything should be detained and put into such bad conditions. Another issue with detainment is that not only are a bunch of children still detained there are also some who are released and end up on the streets unaccompanied. These children who are detained do not get the proper care and education that they need. It is known globally that detention is not good for children and the Australian government need to fix the conditions in which these children are put in.  

Eliana Berger

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/11/children-in-detention-scathing-criticism-in-human-rights-commission-report

Resignation of Human Rights Chairman

           Leader of War Crimes Inquiry into 2014 Gaza Conflict Resigns 

 Monday February 2, 2015 William Schabas, a Human Rights chairman of the United Nations resigned after Israel accused him of a “blatant conflict of interest”. Schabas was investigating possible war crimes within Gaza during the 50 day war in the summer of 2014. When accepting the job Shabas pleadged to leave his personal view at the door however once he was accused of being biased he decided to resign. A formal complaint was filed in January with the president of Human Rights Council with evidence of work Shabas had done for the Palestine Liberation Organization. He stated that this was only a tiny part of his academic work. When news of Shabas resignation hit Israel, it was highly welcomed.  Before Shabas officially resigned there was talk of whether he should be removed or not. He decided to go ahead and resign because “The Commission of Inquiry was at a decisive stage in its work” and he did not want to make it more difficult by having the question of whether he should be removed or not over their heads.

                  Human rights have always seemed to be an issue when it comes to the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Both sides are criticized for what happened to the Palestinians in Gaza during the 50 day war last summer. Human Rights is a problem all around the world and when ones job is to investigate the lives and rights of people, personal biases need to stay out of the job in order for the reports to be true and accepted.  Shabas says he resigned so that he wouldn’t be a distraction to the rest of the investigation and process but I wondering if it was also to stop the talk  going on about him.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/world/middleeast/leader-of-war-crimes-inquiry-into-14-gaza-conflict-resigns.html

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