Saudi Women to Argue Cases in Court

Saudi Women to Argue Cases in Court

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia– Saudi Arabia may soon allow women lawyers to appear in court to argue cases for the first time.

Justice Minister Mohammed al-Essa said the law was part of King Abdullah’s plan to develop the legal system.  As one official suggested, the proposed new law may be issued “in the coming days.”

The proposed new law would allow women to appear in court on family related cases, including divorce and child custody ones.  Currently, female lawyers can only work behind the scenes in government and court offices.  Additionally, if the new legislation passes, Saudi women will be allowed to complete certain legal procedures without the presence of a witness.

Under a system of male guardianship currently in place, Saudi Arabian women are required to be kept separate from men they are not related to.  All women must be veiled to some degree in public.  They are not allowed to drive, and women under the age of 45 must receive permission from a male when they travel.  Opportunities for education and employment are subject to similar restrictions.  Recently however, measures have been taken to ease these and other constraints.

The plan to increase women’s access to courts comes after a Saudi reformer told American media that empowering women in Saudi Arabia is the key to spreading democracy throughout the Arab and Muslim world.

“Democratizing Saudi Arabia is the key to democratizing all Arabs and Muslims,” said Dr. Ali Alyami, the director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia.  He added that “the best, easiest, cheapest and quickest way to achieve this formidable undertaking is to empower Saudi women…Empowering Saudi women will resonate through Arab and Muslim societies.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News- Saudi Women to be Allowed to Argue Cases in Court– 21 February 2010

Daily Times- Saudi Arabia to Allow Women Lawyers in Courts Soon– 21 February 2010

The Washington Post- New Saudi Law Would Allow Women Lawyers in Court– 20 February 2010

West Papuan Human Rights Lawyer Calls for Peaceful Solutions

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

MANOKWARI, West Papua – A prominent West Papuan human rights lawyer, Yan Christian Warinussy, plans to go on a speaking tour throughout Australia to promote the need for a peaceful solution to the problems in Indonesia’s troubled Papua region.

Warinussy, who won Canada’s John Humphrey Freedom Award in 2005 for his promotion of human rights and democracy, says that the situation in West Papua has been “left to deteriorate far too long.”

He says that the Special Autonomy status granted to Papua by Indonesia in 2001 has proven a failure. Not only that, the heavy militarization of the region has worsened the security situation.

Warinussy stressed the need for dialogue between Jakarta and Papuan representatives.

The need for dialogue became more apparent with the death of Kelly Kwalik, the West Papuan leader and advocate for human rights, on December 16, 2009. A press released from the Indonesian Human Rights Committee (IHRC) called for New Zealand’s support for dialogue in the wake of Kwalik’s death.

Since the death of Kwalik, the territory has experienced an outpouring of grief and anger within the Papuan community.

The IHRC called on Prime Minister John Key and Foreign Minister Murray McCully to support the calls for dialogue to avert further tension and violence in West Papua.

Similar to Warinussy, the IHRC stressed the need for mediated dialogue between Papuan representatives and Jakarta.

However, not much change has happened since the IHRC made its press release public, and Warinussy fears that the human rights situation in Papua continues to deteriorate even more.

He stated: “The human rights situation in West Papua is not good until now. The Special Autonomy, we cannot use that to solve the problem. We need to make peaceful dialogue between Indonesia and Papua – to think again, to plan again, to make sure.”

For more information, please see:
Solomon Star – West Papuan rights lawyer calls for peaceful dialogue with Jakarta – 25 February 2010

Radio New Zealand International – West Papuan rights lawyer calls for peaceful dialogue with Jakarta – 25 February 2010

Scoop Independent News – West Papua: Dialogue Needed Between NZ and Jakarta – 24 December 2009

Colombia’s Indigenous Indians at Risk

By Ryan C. Kossler                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – Amnesty International reports that the indigenous population of Colombia is at risk of disappearing.  Increasing abuses and a lack of government protection has forced thousands of indigenous Indians to flee their homes.  Amnesty International credits this influx in dispersion of nearly 1.4 million Indians to the changing nature of the four decade conflict between the military, leftist rebels, armed gangs, and drug traffickers.

Since the Colombian military increased its offensive against the rebels, the conflict has moved away from the urban centers where the conflicts originally occurred, and more toward remote rural and jungle areas where many indigenous groups live in designated reservations.  The shift in the fighting has increased the indigenous groups’ exposure to attack by armed groups who operate on their lands.  Marcelo Pollack of Amnesty International said, “part of the reason for the increase in human rights violations is to do with the way the conflict in Colombia has changed.  The conflict has been pushed to the margins, to rural areas where many indigenous peoples live.”

According the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), 114 indigenous people were killed last year.  This is a forty percent increase as compared to 2008 figures.  ONIC estimates that armed groups have killed more than 1,400 indigenous Colombians over the last decade.  Right wing paramilitary groups, drug gangs, and Colombia’s security forces have all been accused of committing human rights violations against indigenous tribes such as kidnappings and sexual abuse of women.

Colombia is home to one of the world’s largest displaced population, at an estimated 3.2 million internally displaced people.  According to the U.N., although indigenous groups make up around 3.4 percent of Colombia’s population, they account for seven percent of the country’s total displaced population.  The U.N. estimates that nearly 20,000 indigenous people were uprooted in Colombia last year.  The most recent threat contributing to displacement of indigenous people has been the danger of rebels kidnapping children to fight in their dwindling ranks.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Indigenous Peoples in Colombia, Facts and Figures – 23 February 2010

Colombia Reports – Amnesty International is too Critical – 23 February 2010

Reuters – Colombia’s Indians Face Worsening Human Rights Situation – 23 February 2010

Canada Appoints New President to Rights and Democracy

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

OTTAWA, Canada – Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Lawrence Cannon, announced that he would be nominating Gerald Latulippe for president of Rights and Democracy, a government-funded human rights organization. Latulippe will replace Remy Beauregard who died of a heart attack at age 66 last month.

Latulippe is a former Cabinet Minister who was in Parliament during the 1980’s. He currently works in Haiti for the Democratic National Institute, a group dedicated to promoting democracy around the world.

Latulippe will take over as President of Rights and Democracy during a period of heavy turmoil. Members of the group have accused the current administration of overloading the board with conservative members in order to promote issues relating to the Middle East and Israel. The sharp divide has compelled former Presidents of the organization to call for the resignation of some senior board members.

Lawrence Cannon expressed his full confidence in Latulippe to lead Rights and Democracy at a press conference on Monday, February 22. “I fully believe that Mr. Latulippe is the ideal candidate to return Rights and Democracy to the promotion of Canadian values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” said Cannon.

Latulippe’s appointment stands in stark contrast to recent officials appointed to Rights and democracy. The current administration has typically appointed conservative members to serve on the board. In contrast, Latulippe was a member of the liberal party during his tenure in parliament.

Liberals have criticized the move saying it will only bring more turbulence by pitting a liberal director against a predominantly conservative board. “Our view is that the Conservative government started this process of chaos by appointing a board of governors that basically waged war on the organization it was charged to look after,” said liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.

For more information, please see:

Winnipeg Free Press – Feds Install New Head to Besieged Rights Group – 23 February 2010

CBC – Rights & Democracy: How Much has Changed? – 22 February 2010

National Post – Human Rights Group Choice Disputed – 23 February 2010

Congress Questions Military Leaders on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

By Stephen Kopko

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON D.C., United States – Last month, President Obama called for congressional leaders to repeal the United States military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in his State of the Union address. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law bars homosexual soldiers from serving openly while they are in the military. Since then, congressional leaders have worked quickly in examining whether and how the law should be repealed. Both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Armed Services Committee conducted hearings to assess the views of top military leaders on the repeal of the law.

The U.S. top military leaders are in agreement that the policy should be reexamined. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, in a congressional hearing early in February, believed that Congress should act slowly to determine whether and when the law be repealed. Secretary Gates stated that it would take a Pentagon up to a year to study how a repeal of the law would affect the military. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, favors the repeal. He stated “allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military would be the right thing to do.” Admiral Mullen was troubled by the policy because it requires soldiers “to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”

Other top military officials believe that Secretary Gates’ stance on the issue is the correct way to examine the repeal of the law. Army Chief of Staff, General George Casey, agreed with Gates’ belief that the repeal of the law should be examined carefully and deliberately. While being questioned by the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, General Casey stated a major concern congressional leaders need to consider in repealing the law. General Casey believed Congress should assess how the repeal of the law would affect the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and the success of the operations in those nations. General Norman Schwartz, the Air Force Chief of Staff, echoed General Casey’s concern in front of the House Armed Services Committee. He stated; “This is not the time to perturb the force that is, at the moment, stretched by demands in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere without careful deliberation. Also, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Marine General James Conway, agreed that the law should be examined slowly and that any decision on repeal be based upon the United States’ ability to fight wars.

As congressional leaders move forward they will take into strong consideration the views expressed by the United States top military leaders. They will have to balance the careful study of the repeal expressed by Secretary Gates and a majority of the leaders of the different branches of the military with President Obama’s hope of repealing the law within the year. All of the leaders of the different branches of the military did state they would follow and implement any decision made by Congress.

For more information, please see:

Los Angeles Times – Military chiefs voice concern over ending ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ – 24 February 2010

Miami Herlad – Top Marine softens stance on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ – 24 February 2010

NY Times – 2 Generals Wary About Repealing Gay Policy – 23 February 2010