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Introduction and MethodologyThe report includes only the death toll of civilians that were killed by the main six influential parties in Syria:Syrian regime forces (Army, Security, local militias, Shiite foreign militias)Russian forcesSelf-management forces (consisting primarily of the Democratic Union Party forces, a branch for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party)Extremist Islamic groupsArmed opposition factionsInternational coalition forcesOther partiesMore… |
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by Yesim Usluca
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait — Law enforcement officials in Kuwait are investigating a video in which a woman films her Ethiopian maid falling from a window without making any attempt to help her.
It is believed that the maid was attempting to commit suicide at the time she climbed out the window. The twelve-second video, which surfaced online, showed the Ethiopian maid hanging from the window of a seven-story building in the Sabah al-Salem district of Kuwait City. The recording depicts the maid gripping the window with only one hand. The employer simply states “Oh crazy, come back” and subsequently moves away from the window. In response, the maid repeatedly screams “hold me, hold me[!]” Despite the maid’s pleadings for help, the employer continues filming while the maid’s hand slips and she falls onto a metal roof on an adjacent one-story building. The maid, who survived the fall, was rescued by paramedics and transported to a hospital for a broken arm and other injuries such as bleeding from her nose and ears.
A news crew at the site of the incident interviewed the employer, who reportedly stated that she filmed the fall to prevent being accused of her maid’s murder if she had died. Although the reasons for the maid’s apparent suicide attempt were not revealed, media outlets alleged that she had recently resigned, and as a result, had been tortured, locked in a room and deprived of food for two days before her attempted suicide. The employer was subsequently arrested by Kuwaiti police for filming the apparent suicide instead of trying to rescue her employee.
The Kuwait Society for Human Rights issued a statement that publicly decried the employer. The statement declared that the employer acted with “no care for [the maid’s] life,” and called for an official investigation. The rights organization indicated that the employer had a duty to rescue her maid, and noted that the country’s penal code dictates a sentence of up to three months’ imprisonment for “anyone who deliberately refrain[s] from coming to the aid of a person in peril[.]”
A Kuwaiti attorney, Ms. Fawzia al-Sabah, declared that she will be filing a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office against the employer. Viewers of the video expressed outrage on social media, using the hashtag “the fall of the Ethiopian[,]” and condemning the “inhumanity” of the employer.
Human rights organizations have long been advocating for better employment conditions for domestic helpers in countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, citing abuses, exploitations and slave-like circumstances. In a 2014 report issued by Amnesty International, migrant domestic workers were said to be “victims of a discriminatory system that denies them basic protections and leaves them open to exploitation and abuse, including forced labor and human trafficking[.]” Despite a 2015 Kuwaiti law providing domestic helpers with more rights, such as paid annual leave, a weekly day off and a twelve-hour per day work limit, protections are still weaker than those given to other professions. Employers of maids and other domestic staff are not subject to inspections of working conditions or other enforcement mechanisms. A report released by Migrant Rights indicates that 90% of the households in the country employ foreign domestic workers. The Gulf state, which has over 600,000 domestic helpers, has been plagued with complaints of abuse, mistreatment and non-payment of wages for several years.
For more information, please see:
BBC News—Kuwaiti woman ‘investigated over Ethiopian maid’s window fall’—31 March 2017
Middle East Monitor—Kuwaiti woman arrested for failing to help suicidal maid—31 March 2017
RT—Kuwaiti woman filmed Ethiopian maid’s suicide attempt, refusing to help—31 March 2017
R2P in Focus
R2P in Focus is a monthly publication from the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect designed to highlight recent events and political developments concerning the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).
Accountability and R2P: Achieving Justice for the Victims of Atrocities
Mass atrocity crimes continue to be committed against civilians in Syria, South Sudan, Yemen and several other countries. Accountability is not only essential for victims of past atrocities but can also act as a catalyst for post-conflict reconciliation and play a key role in preventing recurrence.
In the past year international justice mechanisms have found several notable individuals guilty of command responsibility for atrocities. Examples include the March 2016 genocide conviction of Radovan Karadžić by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the May 2016 war crimes conviction of former Chadian President Hissene Habre by the Extraordinary African Chambers, and the conviction of Jean-Pierre Bemba and Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali respectively.
In recent crisis situations, governments and the international community have utilized a variety of means to ensure accountability for mass atrocity crimes. During 2015 the transitional government of CAR passed a law on the establishment of a Special Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute atrocities committed in the country since 2003. In South Sudan’s August 2015 peace agreement, parties to the conflict agreed to the creation of a Hybrid Court for South Sudan (HCSS), which would include domestic and international personnel, to establish responsibility for atrocities perpetrated during the country’s recent civil war.
Meanwhile, the UN’s Human Rights Council (HRC) has authorized Commissions of Inquiry and fact-finding missions to document evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, most notably in Syria, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Burundi and Eritrea. On 24 March the HRC mandated the creation of an independent fact-finding mission to investigate crimes perpetrated by the security forces in Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine State, during “clearance operations” that started in October 2016. On 21 December 2016 the UN General Assembly also passed a resolution to establish an independent international mechanism to collect evidence of atrocities in Syria, in order to enable future prosecutions of perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
While some of these mechanisms have faced significant constraints in resources, and some continue to face political opposition, efforts to ensure accountability for grave international crimes should remain a global priority. The international community should continue to support the battle against impunity, including through providing funding for the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for accountability in Syria and encouraging the AU to establish the HCSS.
The Fight Against Impunity for Atrocities: Bringing Da’esh to Justice
On 9 March the Permanent Missions of the United Kingdom, Iraq, Belgium, Canada and Germany, in association with the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, co-hosted a high-level event entitled “The Fight Against Impunity for Atrocities: Bringing Da’esh to Justice.” Participants were briefed by the co-hosts along with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Zainab Bangura, UNODC Goodwill Ambassador and Yazidi Genocide survivor, Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha, and Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, Ms. Amal Clooney. Global Centre Executive Director, Dr. Simon Adams, moderated the discussion.
Speakers focused their remarks on efforts to hold Da’esh accountable for their crimes in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, including under universal jurisdiction. Dr. Adams, Ms. Murad and Ms. Clooney all called for the Iraqi government to request the UN Security Council establish an international mechanism to investigate Da’esh’s crimes in the country, including the genocide against the Yazidis.
Seventh Annual Meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points
The seventh annual meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points will be held in Doha, Qatar, from 24 to 25 June 2017. The Government of the State of Qatar will co-host the meeting along with the Global Centre. More than 50 R2P Focal Points from around the world were invited to attend.
Any Other Business
7 April
International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda
17 April
Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day
24-25 April
Seventh Meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points
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Democratic Republic of the Congo
Violence between security forces and the Kamuina Nsapu militia poses an escalating risk to civilians in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Local authorities reportedly found at least 40 police officers killed and beheaded on 25 March after their convoy was ambushed by the militia. Earlier in March two members of the UN’s Panel of Experts on the DRC were abducted along with four Congolese colleagues in Kasai-Central province. On 28 March the UN confirmed it had discovered the bodies of the two UN investigators near Kananga. At least 10 mass graves have been discovered in the region and more than 400 people have been killed by Kamuina Nsapu since July.
Violence and instability in eastern DRC is increasing as talks in Kinshasa on the implementation of a 31 December agreement regarding the country’s elections are falling apart. As the UN Security Council votes to extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC this week, it must consider the growing risk of further atrocities and ensure that civilian protection remains at the core of the UN’s mission in the DRC.
Yemen
Sunday, 26 March, marked two years since the escalation of the conflict in Yemen, where Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have been engaged in an ongoing armed conflict with the UN-recognized government backed by a Saudi-led military coalition. In the past two years over 4,700 civilians have been killed, including more than 1,500 children. Over 3.1 million Yemenis have been forcibly displaced, and an estimated 18.8 million people – over 75 percent of the population – require humanitarian assistance. According to the UN, approximately 7 million Yemenis are now at risk of starvation, including 462,000 children who are at risk of death due to severe acute malnutrition.
Yemen remains a politically neglected, and under-reported, crisis. It is imperative that the UN, the Security Council and regional powers facilitate a permanent ceasefire and a return to political negotiations; urge parties to enable unhindered humanitarian access; and establish a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate atrocities committed since the start of the conflict. UN member states must also immediately halt the sale of weapons to parties to the conflict who have been implicated in atrocities in Yemen.
Iraq
On 25 March the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported that the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) had temporarily paused military operations in western Mosul due to a sharp increase in civilian casualties. An estimated 500 civilians were reportedly killed in airstrikes during the week beginning on 19 March. Particular concern has also been expressed over reports of a massive airstrike in the al-Jadidah district of Mosul that took place on 17 March, where up to 200 civilians may have been killed. On 28 March a senior United States commander in Iraq conceded that that a US airstrike had likely contributed to civilian casualties.
The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who remain in control of most of western Mosul, refuses to comply with international humanitarian law and continues to commit war crimes, including targeting civilians as they try to flee.
As the battle for Mosul continues, members of the US-led coalition and the ISF must ensure their military operations fully comply with their obligations under international law. All potential violations, including possible war crimes, must be thoroughly investigated.
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