By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—Ethiopian women who have immigrated to Israel are allegedly being subjected to coerced long-term birth control. The contraceptive, Depo Provera, is given by injection and must be given every three months. Many doctors consider this method to be a last resort since the drug is known to have many uncomfortable side effects including severe headaches and abdominal pains.

These women, known as Falash Mura, who immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia just eight years ago told an Israeli Educational Television reporter that they were forced to receive these injections as a condition to allowing their immigration. The women also claimed that representatives from the Israeli Joint Distribution Committee as well as the Health Ministry coerced them by telling that raising large families in Israel is quite difficult. They also, allegedly said that if these women have too many children, it would be hard for them (the women) to find work to support them and that many landlords would refuse to rent apartments or homes to such large families.

The Falash Mura women further claimed that they were told that they must take certain vaccinations if they desired to continue to receive medical care from the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and continue with their plans to immigrate. One of these women told the television show Vacuum that she had been receiving the injections for over four years without being warned by doctors that the medicine may be dangerous for those taking it.

In the past ten years 50,000 Ethiopian Jews immigrated to Israel. In this time frame, the birthrate of this group has dropped by 50 percent.

In investigating these claims, a hidden camera was installed in an Israeli health clinic. The video revealed an Ethiopian woman being advised by a nurse that the injection is given only to Ethiopian women. The nurse was recorded saying, “It’s given primarily to Ethiopian women, because they forget, they don’t understand, and it’s hard to explain to them so it’s best that they receive a shot once every three months…basically they don’t understand anything.”

The government and Israeli authorities denied all of these allegations. David Yaso, the director of the Immigration Ministry’s Ethiopian Department noted that no women were ever told that they were forbidden to have large families in Israel. He also said that none of them were coerced into taking contraceptive shots against their will.

Professor Daniel Seidman, the chairman of the Israel Society for Contraception and Sexual Health, offered two explanations for the drop in the Ethiopian birth rate. He said that either the women are not better educated and are looking to have careers and not quite as many children, or they now recognize that with limited finances, they cannot afford to have very large families.

A member of the ADC also noted that “the medical team does not intervene directly or indirectly with economic aid and the Joint is not involved” in these types of procedures.

 

For further information, please see:

FailedMessiah.com – Forced Sterilizations? Ethiopian Women Claim the JDC and the Israel Health Ministry Forced Them to Take Sterilization Shots – 9 December 2012

Haaretz – Why is the Birth Rate in Israel’s Ethiopian Community Declining? – 9 December 2012

The Times of Israel – Ethiopian Women Claim Israel Forced Them to Use Birth Control Before Letting Them Immigrate – 9 December 2012

Topix.com – Israel Subjecting Ethiopian Women to Long Term Birth Control – 7 January 2010

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda – On Thursday, the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Africa took effect in 15 African countries. The first of its kind, this treaty is a legally binding instrument that compels states to protect and assist IDPs within the African region.

While refugees are given special status under international law since 1951, IDP’s haven’t been provided any such protection and assistance in spite of the fact that there are at least twice as many IDP’s in the world as refugees. Thus, sometime in 2009, the African Union conceived this treaty, otherwise known as the Kampala Convention, with the aim to provide standards for the protection of people from arbitrary displacement as well as the protection of IDPs while they are displaced. The Kampala Convention also aims to offer durable solutions for displacement.

According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, nearly 10 million people are internally displaced across Africa. These individuals make up one third of the world’s internally displaced population. Most of them were forced to leave their villages to escape increasing famine and continuing violence resulting from ethnic wars and other brutal conflicts in countries like Congo, Burundi, and Uganda.

In the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, when the rebel group M23 took over Goma last month,
some 300,000 local residents were displaced. According to Sebastian Albuja, IDMC’s Head of Africa Development, when M23 raided an internally displaced persons camp, the Kanyarucinya camp, around 50,000 people were forced to flee within a few hours.

With the ratification of the Kampala Convention, members of the AU hope to put an end to what Albuja describes as a “cycle of violence and displacement”. Bruce Mokaya Orina of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the treaty actually “represents a significant step forward in the protection and assistance of internally displaced people” across Africa since it will be “potentially binding on all African countries – a quarter of world’s states.”

The Kampala Convention builds on international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as well as the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, promoting and strengthening regional and national measures to prevent, mitigate, prohibit, and eliminate the root causes of internal displacement. It sets out the rules and standards that determine the responsibilities of the African Union, multinational companies and private security actors in handling IDP cases.

37 of 53 countries in the AU have signed the convention, but have not yet ratified it. Among them are South Africa and the DRC.

 

For further information, please see:

Associated Press – African treaty to aid the displaced takes effect – 7 December 2012

Daily Maverick – Internally displaced people: An African solution to a huge African problem – 6 December 2012

Fox News – African treaty to aid the internally displaced comes into force 2 years after it was adopted – 6 December 2012

Think Africa Press – The Kampala Convention Enters Into Force Tomorrow – 5 December 2012

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – The Special Court for Sierra Leone postponed the appeals hearing in the case of former Liberian president Charles Taylor. The hearing was supposed to take place this week, but judges of the Special Court announced that it has now been moved to next year, January 22.

A possible reason for the postponement of Taylor’s appeals hearing is inadequate funding. According to recent press releases from the UN, the Special Court for Sierra Leone only has enough money alloted until the end of October 2012 since it never had a fixed annual budget from the government. By November this year, it will have to depend on pledges and contributions from countries like the United States, Switzerland, and Ireland to continue its work for a month.

If the Special Court will not be able to resolve its financial crisis, human rights groups and international organizations fear that Taylor’s appeal might be compromised. In a recent phone interview, the Special Court’s registrar, Binta Mansaray, said, “it [the appeals] will be affected, definitely, if the money doesn’t come through.”

Mariana Goetz, deputy director of programs at the London-based human rights and torture survivors advocacy organization REDRESS, expressed the same concern on the issue saying that the lack of funds could affect the prosecutor’s and defense counsel’s ability to prepare their teams despite the fact that the appeals briefs for both sides have already been filed and replies are due by the end of October. The lawyers have yet to present the grounds for their appeals in court. The appeals judgment will then follow next fall.

Much is at stake in an unprecedented case like Taylor’s. “It is the first time a head of state is convicted for 11 counts of international crimes, including rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence,” Goetz said in an interview. “This case, as well as others . . .  are slowly ensuring that violence against women in the conflict contexts are not laughed off in patriarchal societies as private acts.”

Without the necessary funds, the victims of Charles Taylor will have to wait for justice from the Special Court when the appeals case is finally over. “If we don’t get that funding we can’t fulfill the promises that we make to the people of Sierra Leone,” the Special Court’s president, Justice Shireen Avis Fisher, told the media.

Last week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon appealed to the Security Council for $14 million to fund Charles Taylor’s appeal. According to him, the unavailability of funds greatly affect the development of good governance in the region. “As I have said before, the legacy of the Special Court and the progress that has been made towards ensuring accountability and restoring peace and security in Sierra Leone and the region would be at risk,” the UN Secretary said.

 

For further information, please see:

All Africa – Sierra Leone: Taylor Appeals Hearing Postponed – 7 December 2012

Swit Salone – Sierra Leone Special Court is Broke – 6 December 2012

All Africa – Liberia: Appeals Hearing in Taylor Case Postponed – 5 December 2012

Times Live – Former Liberian president Taylor should be a “free man” – judge – 25 November 2012

WeNews – World Court Struggles to Finish Mass Rape Cases – 21 November 2012

All Africa – Liberia: 45 Legal Errors Identify in Taylor’s Verdict – 9 November 2012

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo—A United Nation’s spokesperson said yesterday that the humanitarian and security situation in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to be fragile even as the United Nations continues to aid the country on both fronts.

The province of North Kivu, in the eastern region, has been in a state of upheaval since the region’s capital city, Goma, has been occupied by the M23 rebel group. The group is composed of a number of soldiers who mutinied in April of this year against the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s own national army. The rebels have defeated the Congolese army in a number of battles earlier this year.

The insurgency of M23 rebels has lasted for eight months now and poses one of the biggest threats to the current Congolese President Joseph Kabila. Any new risks of this conflict developing into a war may even draw in armies from neighboring countries. Further, the fighting has displaced more than 100,000 people in the Congo’s North Kivu province, creating an even more unstable and serious humanitarian issue in the region.

As concerns were brought to the United Nations, the international organization began to send in its own peacekeepers to help with the stabilization of the region. Since the United Nation’s began its monitoring process, the M23 fighters withdrew from the city this past weekend—one of the requirements laid out by a local regional group, the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region. United Nations spokesperson Martin Kesirky told reporters that, “in North Kivu, the withdrawal of the M23 rebel group has continued. The Congolese army is deploying back to Sake, west of Goma.”

On another note, a panel of United Nations experts recently accused both Uganda and Rwanda of supporting the group. Both countries deny these allegations.

The United Nations is not the only group attacking this problem. The Congolese government and the eastern rebels are expected to get together later this week to being their own negotiation process, noted regional officials on Tuesday after the group finally withdrew from Goma.

 

For further information, please see:

Council on Foreign Relations – Congo’s Weak Peace Process – 6 December 2012

Voice of America News – Congo Government, Rebels Prepare for Talks – 6 December 2012

All Africa News – Situation in DR Congo’s Kivu Provinces Remain Fragile – 5 December 2012

The Telegraph – Peace Talks with Congo Rebels Expected This Week – 4 December 2012

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya—Two Kenyan presidential contenders have been indicted by the International Criminal Court for allegedly inciting violence after the election. The two candidates said that next year they would join forces and run together on the same ticket. According to their deal, the Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s first president after acquiring independence from Britain in 1963, will aim for the presidency, while his partner, the former cabinet minister William Ruto will run for vice president.

Thousands of people supporting the pair cheered as they unveiled their alliance at a rally in Nakuru, one of the worse hit regions by the post-election violence. Kenyatta said, “Our union is not to attack anyone, but to build Kenya, our work is to preach peace, and to make sure there is no blood spilt again.” He continued noting, “The journey to unite the country has started. We have the leadership that can bring Kenyans together…to build a country based on equality.”

However, alongside these hopes for peace, both Kenyatta and Ruto must stand trial at the International Criminal Court at the Hague for their role in orchestrating the post-election unrest that displaced more than 600,000 Kenyans.

Kenyatta alone faces five charges of crimes against humanity. These charges include murder, rape, persecution, deportation as well as other inhumane acts. Ruto also faces three charges of crimes against humanity. Both claim to be innocent of these allegations and remain free and willing to cooperate with the court.

Al Jazeera’s Reporter Mohammed Adow commented on the candidates’ political force in the country. He noted that Kenyatta comes from the larges ethnic group in the country while Ruto comes from the third most popular tribe in Kenya. He said, “So together, they actually make the winning ticket.”

Adow further commented on their situation with the International Criminal Court. “These are two men who’ve got charged of crimes against humanity hanging over their heads. Although they deny them, these are very serious charges and the International Criminal Court is trying to pin down convictions.”

The charges against these powerful political figures have shaken the country. Kenya’s political elite were once seen to be almost above the law. Now the country faces concerns and uncertainty as to any new violence that may erupt should the candidates be barred from running in the next election.

 

For further information, please see:

790 KGMI News – Kenyan Contenders Facing ICC Cases to Run Jointly in Vote – 2 December 2012

Al Jazeera – War Crimes Suspects Form Kenya Poll Alliance – 2 December 2012

News 24 – Kenya ICC-Indicted Leaders Do Poll Deal – 2 December 2012

Reuters – Kenyan Contenders Facing ICC Cases to Run Jointly in Vote – 2 December 2012