ICTJ World Report January 2012 Issue 8
Woman Flees Forced Sterilization
By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
BEIJING, China– A woman in China has narrowly avoided being forcibly sterilized after giving birth to her second child.
The attempt was carried out by family planning officials in the Chinese province of Fujian who held the woman down on an operating table.
The woman, Huang Yongchun, explains her experience by stating “they took me over there this morning, and about eight of them held me down on the operating table.”
Huang has already given birth to two children which exceeds the one child allowed under Chinese law. Huang reported that this attempt was preceded by an initial attempt made in 2010. While the first attempt was thwarted by Huang’s health problems, the second attempt was cancelled by a doctor after seeing Huang’s frantic reaction.
“The doctor didn’t want to do the operation because I was terrified…I was shuddering there on the operation table because I felt so helpless” reports Huang.
In response, Village chief Chen Renhe explained that, “they didn’t comply with family planning regulations…in our country the policy is that people who don’t comply are not forced, but we have to do ideological work with them.”
Forced sterilization and abortion have become common in rural areas of China where family planning officials attempt to avoid being fined for exceeding local birth quotas.
Rights lawyer Tang Jingling has reported that sterilizations, peer pressure and financial incentives are commonly used to convince women to comply with the one-child policy. For example, “if one person in a work unit has an extra child, then the whole organization…could lose out on economic benefit” stated Tang.
China’s one-child policy was instituted by the Communist government in the 1970’s to curb the growing population. Under this policy, couples living in urban areas are allowed only one child while couples living in rural areas are allowed two children if the first child is a female.
The one-child policy has sparked controversy not only internationally but nationally as well. One of China’s most well-known activists, rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng, has endured over six years of harassment, persecution and physical abuse because of his investigative reported of forced sterilization and abortion in China.
Chen and his wife are currently under house arrest and have been forbidden from leaving their home for over a year. During this time they have suffered beatings and frequent raids on their home by Chinese authorities.
In December American actor Christian Bale was criticized by the Chinese government for engaging in an altercation with Chinese police who physically thwarted his attempts to visit Chen while he was in town to attend the opening ceremony of his latest filed “The Flowers of War”.
For more information, please see:
Radio Free Asia – Woman Flees Forced Sterilization – 12 January 2012
Lifenews – Biden to Head Obama China Policy but Ignored Forced Abortions – 3 January 2012
New York Daily News – China Says Christian Bale Should be Embarrassed – 21 December 2011
The Guardian – Chen Guangcheng: Amnesty Urgent Action – 12 November 2011
Nigeria Fuel Strike Appears Over with Subsidy Reinstated
By Zach Waksman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
LAGOS, Nigeria – The past week in Nigeria was marked by a nationwide labor strike that began after the government ended a subsidy on gasoline, which caused its price, and that of many other essentials, to more than double. On Monday, President Goodluck Jonathan announced a partial rollback on the cost of fuel, which led unions to suspend the strikes for now. Labor leaders warn that they are willing to resume strikes at a later date.
For Africa’s most populous country, the announcement comes as a small return to normalcy as the country’s markets reopened for the first time since the strike began on January 9. But the situation remains fragile, as the partial rollback does not address the full effect of the initial revocation. The subsidy’s removal on January 1 marked the beginning of a chain reaction in the economy of Africa’s most populous country. Products such as onions, peppers, and watermelon seeds also saw a substantial increase in price due to the cost of transporting them to market.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of oil, but it must import most of its refined fuel products due to a lack of its own refineries. Despite this wealth, most Nigerians live on about one dollar per day, while the petroleum profits are spread among the elite. The only benefit that most see is a lost fuel cost, the result of a national subsidy. The subsidy’s suspension caused the price of gasoline to jump from N65 (N is for “naira,” the national currency.) per liter on December 31 to N141-145, the equivalent of a spike from $1.70 per gallon to $3.50 per gallon in the United States.
“Government will continue to pursue full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector,” Jonathan said in a televised address. “However, given the hardships being suffered by Nigerians, and after due consideration and consultations with state governors and the leadership of the National Assembly, government has approved the reduction of the pump price of petrol to N97 per litre.”
Following Jonathan’s announcement, Nigeria Labour Congress chief Abdulwahed Omar said that the unions would formally suspend the strike, protests, and rallies. The decision comes in part due to fears that the rallies could be hijacked for other purposes. At least ten people were killed during the week-long strike, and at least 600 were treated for injuries.
Talks between the government and labor leaders are still ongoing. Senate President David Mark held a meeting at his home on Sunday. After it adjourned, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, one of the attendees, spoke to the media and appeared certain that a permanent answer would be found soon.
“I believe that solutions would be found to the strike. I believe that we are at the verge of finding a solution to it,” he said. “We have held a meeting and we have looked at the solutions and we think that with Labour, we can find a joint solution to the problem and you must realize first that the President is patriotic in his decision and all of us in government are backing him. Labour agrees to deregulation. I don’t know if there is any point that they are not part of deregulation. Their argument is how and when and we are sorting out all those fine details and we will find [a] solution to it.”
What that solution is, however, remains unknown. But for the people of Nigeria, this move will not be sufficient to mollify an already disgusted population.
“When the equation is still Hobbesian, people are not going to participate,” said Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, a lecturer at Oxford University and an expert on Nigerian oil politics, referring to the grimness of daily life in Nigeria. “People perceive this as a raid on their resources.”
For more information, please see:
BBC — Nigerian Fuel Subsidy: Strike “Suspended” — 16 January 2012
Guardian — Jonathan, Govs, N’Assembly in Frantic Search for End to Strike — 16 January 2012
New York Times — Amid Strikes, Nigeria Rolls Back Gasoline Price — 16 January 2012
Nigerian Tribune — FG Pegs Fuel at N97 per Litre; Labour Suspends Protests, Continues Strike — 16 January 2012
Washington Post — Labor Union Announces Suspension of Strike over Fuel Prices in Nigeria amid Violence — 16 January 2012
In The Midst of Protests and Violence, Al-Assad Offers ‘Amnesty’ To Opposition
By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
DAMASCUS, Syria–In the latest developments coming out of Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has officially offered amnesty to anyone accused of crimes in connection with demonstrations and protests that have occurred in the last 10 months of anti-regime unrest and ensuing violence. al-Assad has previously made similar statements on three previous occasions in May, June, and November of 2011.
This time, al-Assad made the announcement on the official SANA news agency and broadcast on state television. According to the announcement, it would apply to army deserters who turned themselves in before the end of January, peaceful protesters, and those who handed in unlicensed weapons. The statement included the following segment.
“Amnesty is granted for crimes committed in the context of the events taking place since March 1, 2011, till the date of issuing the decree.”
Opposition groups did not respond immediately to the amnesty pledge, as this is the first time that al-Assad has made it since forces loyal to him have lost control of parts of Syria’s cities and towns.
Since the demonstrations and protests began in March 2011, SANA has reported that al-Assad has freed approximately 3,952 prisoners. The opposition claims that there are thousands more in Syrian prisons and said that 26 people had died on Sunday 15 January 2012, including a policeman and soldier killed by security forces for refusing to fire upon protesters. Among the individuals who lost their lives on Sunday 15 January 2011, five were factory workers killed when their bus was hit by a bomb in the northern province of Idlib.
In the past year, tens of thousands of people have been detained in the past year. The UN estimates that at least 5,000 people have been killed since initial peaceful protests against al-Assad’s regime turned violent. Many demonstrations and protests were met with brutal security crackdowns, which ignited an ongoing armed conflict that has seen both the military and the opposition orchestrate attacks.
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon released a statement on Sunday 15 January 2012 concerning the ongoing situation in Syria.
“Today, I say again to President Assad of Syria: Stop the violence. Stop killing your people. The path of repression is a dead end. The lessons of the past year are eloquent and clear. The winds of change will not cease to blow. The flame ignited in Tunisia will not be dimmed. Let us remember as well, none of these great changes began with a call for a regime change. First and foremost, people wanted dignity.”
Residents in the town of Zabadani, approximately 50 km (30 miles) northwest of Damascus, cheered as Arab League monitors visited their area. These residents, according to CNN, stated that their water and electricity had been cut off from the past three days and displayed fresh wounds from conflicts with pro-government forces.
When the monitors were ready to leave after their inspection of this designated area, many thousands of residents implored them to stay, stating that the attacks would resume once they had left. Many of the residents offered to show the monitors where Syria tanks were hidden in fields surrounding the city. al-Assad’s regime was required to pull its heavy weaponry out of the cities under the agreement that was signed with the Arab League in November 2011. But the residents of Zabadani claimed that the tanks were only absent when the Arab League monitors were present.
Fares Mohammed, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, claimed that about 100 armored vehicles had surrounded the city for three days. Also, that the power and water were cut off, while the city faced sub-freezing temperatures. A member of the Free Syria Army, which is composed primarily of deserters who are siding with the opposition, stated that there were about 70 lightly armored fighters in Zabadani. He gave this statement to CNN, asking not to be named for security purposes.
“The situation is very bad. The siege is choking us, and even air is running out.”
Despite its large presence, the Arab League continues to struggle with its mission of holistically quelling the violence in Syria. The current delegation in the country has not stopped drawing fierce criticisms from both sides of the conflict and a general consensus exists that the mission has failed. However, there is also a general consensus that it is important to keep away intervention from outside of the Arab world, the same intervention in Libya that helped bring down Muammar Gaddafi.
Amr Moussa, who left the Arab League leader’s chair last year, showed support for a Qatari proposal to send Arab troops in Syria to deal with the violence. He shared these sentiments with a correspondent from The Guardian.
“This is a very important proposal. The Arab League should begin to study this possibility and begin consultations on this issue.”
The ruler of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, shared these words with US news outlet CBS in his support of sending in Arab troops.
“For such a situation to stop the killing, some troops should go to stop the killing.”
It appears that the more al-Assad talks about making changes for his people, the more of them seem to suffer or be put at risk to suffer.
For more information, please see:
Ahram – Syrian President Grants General Amnesty – 15 January 2012
Al-Jazeera – Assad Offers ‘Amnesty’ For Opposition – 15 January 2012
BBC – Syria Crisis: Assad ‘Gives Amnesty For Uprising Crimes – 15 January 2012
CNN – Syria Toll Rises To 25; Monitors Cheered In Besieged Town – 15 January 2012
The Guardian – Syria Offers Second Amnesty to Anti-Regime Protesters – 15 January 2012
NYT – Fear of Civil War Mounts in Syria as Crisis Deepens – 14 January 2012
Kuwaiti Police Arrest and Torture Transgender Women
By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait — Police officers in Kuwait are drawing international scrutiny for having tortured and sexually abused transgender women under the protection of a law passed in 2007.
The law arbitrarily criminalizes “imitating the opposite sex.”
Human Rights Watch is calling for Kuwait to repeal the discriminatory law and hold the police officers accountable for their misconduct. A 63-page report released by the organization entitled “They Hunt us Down for Fun: Discrimination and Police Violence Against Transgender Women in Kuwait” documents the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and persecution that transgender women – individuals that were born male but identify as female – have faced at the hands of Kuwaiti police.
The report archives instances of abuses committed by members of the Kuwaiti police and the public, and concludes that the arbitrary, ill-defined provisions of the law have created an atmosphere that allows such abuses to take place.
Kuwaiti police have free reign to determine whether a person’s appearance corresponds with “imitating the opposite sex” without being given any criteria for the offense.
Transgender women have reported being arrested while dressed as men, and then being forced to dress as women later coupled with a claim that they were arrested that way. Some reported that they were arrested because the police said they had a “soft voice” or “soft skin.”
Transgender women that have been arrested report having faced degrading and humiliating treatment while in detention, including being paraded naked around the police station, being forced to dance for police officers, sexual humiliation, verbal taunts and intimidation, solitary confinement, and abuse that could amount to torture.
“No one – regardless of his or her gender identity – deserves to be arrested on the basis of a vague, arbitrary law and then abused and tortured by police,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The Kuwaiti government has a duty to protect all of its residents, including groups who face popular disapproval, from brutal police behavior and the application of an unfair law.”
International law dictates that Kuwait has an obligation to ensure the protection of its residents from arbitrary arrests or detention.
Kuwait is a signatory to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, under which sexual violence by police officers acting in an official capacity constitutes torture.
Human Rights Watch has also asked, pending repeal of the law, for the Kuwaiti interior ministry to issue a moratorium on arrests of transgender individuals, and to work to protect them.
For more information, please see:
Human Rights Watch — “They Hunt Us Down For Fun”: Discrimination and Police Violence Against Transgender Women in Kuwait — 2012
Al Arabiya — Kuwait police abused transgender women: HRW — 15 Jan. 2012
Arabian Business — Kuwait urged to crack down on transgender attacks — 15 Jan. 2012
Asia One — Kuwait police abused transgender women: HRW — 15 Jan. 2012
Human Rights Watch — Kuwait: End Police Abuses Against Transgender Women — 15 Jan. 2012
Kuwait Times — ‘They Hunts us Down for Fun’ – Police accused of transgender torture, sexual assault — 15 Jan. 2012