Acid Attacks Against Women On The Rise

Acid Attacks Against Women On The Rise

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia — Viviana Hernandez still vividly recalls the acid attack that left her with burns on her face, chest, and hands, and took her eyesight in her left eye. “All of a sudden you see some liquid coming towards your face and you think that somebody might have slipped, or that they want to get you wet,” she said. “You never imagine that it can happen to you.”

Five Years Later, Hernandez is Still Suffering From the Aftermath of the Attack. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

The aim of these attacks is not to kill but to punish women. Hernandez, 28, noted that when her former husband wanted to get back together with her, she refused. She said, “he used to call me, to threaten me. On the day of the attack, he followed me.” While, her husband did not throw the acid himself, he did point her out to hired attackers.

Another young woman told BBC that “when they threw acid, they also told me: ‘it is your fault for being so pretty.” These attacks often result from domestic disputes or romantic rivals, and as a result, many of the victims are not given proper care, nor are they immediately hospitalized.

A plastic surgeon in Colombia, Dr. Linda Guerrero, explains that, “When a woman has little schooling and no job, she’s financially dependent on a man. That creates a situation where women are inferior, where men can say, ‘I’m the owner of that woman and therefore I have a right to do want I want with her.'”

Colombian Congresswoman Gloria Estela Diaz introduced a bill in mid-march to toughen the punishment for acid attackers. Currently, assailants can get a maximum ten-year jail sentence. Diaz’s bill will heighten the sentence from between eight-to-thirty years, without a possibility of reduced jail time. She also hopes to restrict the sale of the acids typically used against women–phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, and nitric acids.

Many women continue to struggle proving the identity of their attacker. Hernandez is one of these women. As a result, she was forced to flee to another city to protect herself. “We carry this tragedy with us every day,” she stated.

For further information, please see:

UPI – 3 Arrested in Bogota for Acid Attacks – 6 June 2012

BBC – Colombia Acid Victims Seek Justice as Attacks Spread – 30 May 2012

Care2 Make a Difference – Acid Attacks on Colombian Women – 21 May 2012

Fijilive – Acid Attacks on Women Grow in Colombia – 8 March 2012

Malawi Will not Attend African Union Summit

By Vicki Turakhia
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

LILONGWE, Malawi – The Malawi President Banda will not be attending the African Union (AU) Summit this year. Earlier this month, President Banda banned the Sudanese President from entering Malawi for the African Union Summit due to war crimes.

Malawi's president Joyce Banda has taken a number of bold steps to steer the country into donor-friendly waters. (Photo Courtesy of AFP)

The Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was told by President Banda that he would be arrested if he entered Malawi. Malawi is a member state of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and would be required to arrest President al-Bashir for war crimes.

The ICC is holding Bashir responsible for over 300,000 deaths in Darfur. President Ian Khama of Botswana agrees with the ICC and has stated in reference to al-Bashir, “His failed leadership is like a cancer in his country.”

Instead, the AU meeting will be held in Ethiopia where the Malawian President has refused to attend. President Banda is focused on economic recovery for Malawi and believes any association with the Sudan President would only discourage international donors.

Around 40 percent of Malawi’s development funding comes from foreign aid. President Banda is supported by the Malawi government and Vice President Khumbo Kachali has stated that Malawi will not bow to the AU’s conditions for hosting the summit.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor has asked that aid be cut to all countries that fail to arrest the Sudanese president. Other countries such as Chad, Kenya, and Djibouti have been reported to the United Nations Security Council for not arresting Bashir despite their involvement with the ICC.

33 African States have a duty to arrest Bashir due to the ICC rules. The ICC prosecutor is also asking the United Nations Security Council to hold all 193 member states of the UN responsible for issuing warrants for the arrest of President Omar al-Bashir.

However, reactions are mixed about the Sudanese President and his involvement in war crimes. Some have accused the ICC with getting overly involved in African affairs, causing more disruptions than beneficial actions.

The AU meeting is set for July 15-16 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the AU headquarters. This meeting will elect a new commission chair after the January meeting which resulted in a deadlock.

 

For further information, please see:

Reuters Africa – Malawi Leader Banda Will not Attend AU Summit – 15 June 2012

BBC News – Ethopia to Host African Union Summit After Omar al-Bashir Malawi row – 12 June 2012

New York Times – Malawi: Summit Meeting Declined – 9 June 2012

The Herald Online – Malawi Cancels AU Summit Hosting Over al-Bashir – 9 June 2012

Syrian Revolution Digest – Sunday 17 June 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

Obama’s Legacy!

In the first major battle of Cold War II, Russia and its allies (the Assad regime, China, Iran, Belarus, Venezuela, etc.) are winning, so far. Forget about killing Bin Laden and ousting Qaddafi, if Obama loses Syria, that and the regional chaos that will ensue will be what he is remembered for. If Obama’s strategy is to wait for November, the battle might just be lost by then, and his legacy set in blood and stone.

Sunday June 17, 2012

Death tolls: 60. The Breakdown: 17 in Homs, 18 in Damascus (15 in Suburbs and 3 in City), 11 in Hama, 5 in Deir Ezzor, 5 in Daraa, 4 in Aleppo.

News

Associated Press journalist wounded in Syria

Op-Eds & Special Reports

Group of Tel Aviv Arabs post Anti-Assad signs in Nazareth: But Israeli Arabs remain deeply split over events in Syria.

The rebels risked a great deal in allowing journalists to embed with them, but they needed to get their message out, not through the opposition “leaders” in London, and in answer to the regime’s version of events. Commander al Sheikh told Shelton, “We want the people of the world to understand us as people, to see our revolution from a human prospective. The Syrian people cannot turn back. We must fight until victory.”

A great roundup by Rhonda Parker, with reference to the Digest and a personal interview

Excerpts

In an interview published yesterday by American PBS Newshour, self-proclaiming Alawite “Shabiha active member” Abu Jaafar, said he is “ready to kill women and children to defend his friends, family and president.” “Sunni women are giving birth to babies who will fight us in years to come, so we have the right to fight anyone who can hurt us in the future,” said the Alawite militiaman, a member of the ancient offshoot of Shiite Islam to which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the powerbase of his regime belong.

Syrian dissident and pro-democracy activist in exile, Ammar Abdulhamid, has been calling for more active international intervention in Syria, and added another addendum in his Syrian Revolution Digest Syria report last night.

Stated Abdulhamid, “I wouldn’t ask for intervention had it not been a reality of our lives already, had Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, Belarus and Venezuela not chosen to intervene from the onset in our affairs, siding with the Assads, arming them to the teeth, helping circumvent sanctions, (and) shielding them from accountability. Things need to be made equal. We need to be given a fighting chance. Assad is conducting a war of attrition against the rebels, while carving out his own personal fiefdom, hedging his bets. We only have one bet: staying the course, come what may.

Meanwhile, in an opinion piece for A&E the National had the soul-searching title, “When tanks crush children, Syrians must ask: who are we?”

The piece documents activists who feel there is a military strategy behind the madness and civilian carnage – including the brutal massacres and targeting of children.

“By outsourcing the dirty work to local militias, the regime distanced itself from the monstrosity of the crimes while deceptively placing the perpetrators within the blurry category of ‘armed gangs,’ said one hama activist.

Another activist from Homs said: “This is what they want to see: we are 20 massacres away from an opposition-free Syrian coast.”

Abdulhamid also stated in an email interview late tonight that he didn’t feel the Free Syrian Army had the time or resources to take civilian hostages, as some pro-Assad media have been alleging in regards to the Christian and Sunni civilians trapped in Homs.

“Basically, at this stage, the few local fighters in Homs City are locked in a fight for survival against pro-Assad militias, they do not have the time or the capacity to take hostages, and the regime does not care about the well-being of hostages anyway. Having hostages – even Alawites – will not stop pro-Assad militias, who, for months now, have been bombing both Sunnis and Christian neighborhoods, destroying mosques and churches, without any hesitation.”

Said Abdulhamid, “The truth of what is happening in Syria is quite simple: Assad and his militias are trying to re-subjugate their opponents using all means at their disposal, including resorting to ethnic cleansing along the coast and in central Syria in preparation for a possible breakup of the country.”

He also stated that Assad and his supporters realize “they have lost control of major swathes of the country, and that their opponents are committed to staying the course until Assad is brought down.”

 For this reason, Abdulhamid said, “…They are carving out a territory that will remain, by virtue of its ethnic makeup, completely loyal to Assad, and so it can serve as a base that will keep the Assads as active players in the regional scene even after the state falls apart.”

He added, “With the help of Russia and Iran, Assad is creating a win-win scenario for himself: reestablishing control over all the country, or becoming the undisputed leader of a critical chunk of it that might be declared as an independent state at a certain point in the future.”

Video Highlights

Qudsaya, West Damascus: the impact of shelling by pro-Assad militiashttp://youtu.be/Agn9qsreFTA , http://youtu.be/TgfOGvYQSkg Buildings catch firehttp://youtu.be/6X234GKD2xo

Zabadani, West Damascus: playing cat-and-mouth with snipershttp://youtu.be/Yjbzi6jAQy8

Douma, East Damascus: buildings catch fire due to shellinghttp://youtu.be/439C6HMQ4g8 Martyrs http://youtu.be/SJ4tbVaCzRE The pounding resumes at night http://youtu.be/wNhHQoZPreY

Dmeir, East Damascus: locals leaving the town at night to escape the shellinghttp://youtu.be/OpzmCM3mySU

Rastan, Homs: a child martyr http://youtu.be/EH40I07gJlQ Martyrshttp://youtu.be/vR1cgbITI5I The cemetery is pounded even as people try to bury their deadhttp://youtu.be/S20e3lCOc2Q The pounding continues http://youtu.be/HFnjOYeFL7E

Houla, Homs: pro-Assad militias set houses on fire http://youtu.be/KtMHHWr69CU At night, the pounding resumes http://youtu.be/7dQV5jtRs2g

Russian Journalists Detained After Passage of New Assembly Regulations

By Connie Hong
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe 

MOSCOW, Russia — On June 13, 2012, Natella Boltyanskaya, Olga Bychkova, Alina Grebneva, Vladimir Varfolomeev, and Alexander Podrabinek were detained by Russian police after engaging in peaceful, individual pickets.  The five journalists were trying to hold up posters to support their colleague, Sergei Sokolov, who had received threats from the head of the Investigation Committee, Alexander Bastrykin.  One of the detained journalists said that the police moved so rapidly to arrest them that only two of the journalists had time to unravel and display their posters.  Sergei Sokolov, the deputy chief editor of Novaya Gazeta, began receiving threats from Bastrykin after accusing Bastrykin and the rest of the Investigation Committee of aiding crime bosses in a recent article.

Russian police using new regulations to disrupt journalist's peaceful protest. (Photo Courtesy of RIA Novosti)

The journalists were protesting separately in front of Russia’s Investigation Committee, the state agency in charge of criminal investigations, when police officers forced them into a van.  Despite the fact that each of the journalists were careful to stand some distance away from the others, they were all taken to the Basmanny precinct in central Moscow.  There, they were questioned and forced to provide written statements explaining their actions before they were released without charge.

Bychkova told Human Rights Watch that demonstrating individually does not, by law, require authorization in advance.  The recent legislation on public rallies however, defined individual pickets as organized public events if they appear to “have attributes of planned collective action,” and therefore require prior authorization.  It is under the new regulations that the police found a basis for detaining the journalists.  Bychkova said that the police had warned them at the precinct “not to attempt any such thing in the future,” and continually referred to the new law.

The detention of the five journalists sparked media outcry and inspired other journalists to show up at the Investigation Committee building.  A policeman told one of the journalists that taking over someone else’s poster qualifies as collective action, and would give him the right to arrest her.  When asked if she could draw her own poster, the policeman replied: “If your new poster revolves around the same idea as the other poster, it will mean that this is an organized public action, not an individual picket.”

Noting their repressive and abusive nature, Humans Rights Watch has sharply criticized Russia’s new regulations on peaceful assembly.  It urged the Kremlin to revise the new law since it so starkly conflicts with Russia’s duty to respect and uphold freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration.  According to Tanya Lokshina, a senior researcher for Russia at Human Rights Watch, “Even if a law gives police powers of detention, to use them to suppress the legitimate exercise of fundamental rights makes that use arbitrary and abusive.”

 

For further information, please see:

Human Rights Watch — Russia: Five Journalists Detained — 14 June 2012

Gulf Times — Top Russian journalist flees ‘investigator’s death threat’— 13 June 2012

The Republic — Russian top investigator threatens reporter, paper says — 13 June 2012

Human Rights Watch — Russia: Reject Restrictions on Peaceful Assembly — 8 June 2012

 

Possession of Lemon Leads to Deaf-Mute Facing 25 Years in Prison

By Melike Ince
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ANKARA, Turkey — A Kurdish man who is deaf, mute, and illiterate faces twenty-five years in prison in Turkey for allegedly taking part in protests that support terrorism.

Mehmet Tahir Ilhan faces up to 25 years in jail for allegedly supporting terrorism. (Photo Courtesy of Hurriet Daily News)

On April 21, 2011, Mehmet Tahir Ilhan was on his way home from his job as a porter in the city of Mersin when he noticed protestors for the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) conducting a demonstration.  With the help of a sign language interpreter, Ilhan testified that “A friend [of mine] gestured at me to join them but I refused.”   He added, “I did not throw rocks, Molotov cocktails or fireworks at the police.”  He was arrested at the protest and later released in Mersin, only to again be taken into custody in the province of Adana, an area that happened to be looking into the case.

Ilhan, who is married and father to six children, has been deaf and mute his entire life.  His lawyer, Tugay Berk, believes that the charges defy logic.

“It is impossible for my client to chant slogans,” said Berk.  “It is against logic and reason to charge a suspect, who is lacking the physical abilities to make propaganda on behalf of an organization, with such an accusation.  The fact that İlhan is being put on trial for making propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization is tragicomic.  We request that this unlawfulness be ended immediately.”

The charges against Ilhan include committing a crime on behalf of a terrorist organization, making propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization, and resisting arrest.  The evidence the prosecutor intends to use consists of Ilhan’s possession of half a lemon, which is known to ease the effects of tear gas.  Turkish Courts been known to convict with little evidence to support a charge.

It is an offense to show any public support for the PKK in Turkey, even though the use of these anti-terrorism laws has been controversial.  Over the last year and a half many Kurdish activists, journalists, and politicians have been detained under the long arm of these laws.  The Council of Europe stated their concern by noting that the laws were having a “chilling effect” on freedom of speech.

To encourage Kurdish moderates–and to isolate the more extreme members–the Turkish government has taken steps to bridge the gap between the two cultures with efforts, including the offering of Kurdish language classes in schools. But with the tension so high, some worry that the actions taken by Turkey’s judiciary will ultimately threaten the already hostile relationship.

For further information, please see:

BBC News — Turkey: Kurd with Lemon Accused of Supporting Terror — 15 June 2012

Global Post — Deaf, Mute & Illiterate Kurdish Man Faces 25-yr Jail Term in Turkey — 15 June 2012

Hurriyet Daily News — Deaf, Mute Man Faces 25 Years in Jail For Terrorist Propaganda in Turkey — 14 June 2012

Today’s Zaman — Prosecutor Demands 25 Years For Deaf Man Over Illegal Slogan — 14 June 2012