News

Hundreds Starve in War Torn Libya

By Samantha Netzband 

Impunity Watch, Africa Desk Reporter

TRIPOLI, Libya– Hundreds of civilians are nearing starvation in a neighborhood of Benghazi, Libya.  Civilians are trapped due to the military blockade on the city and the on going fighting in their neighborhood, Ganfouda.  Residents are lacking food, water, and electricity.

Refugee children

Libyan children. (Photo Courtesy of Mirror)

According to Amnesty International, civilians are mainly living on rotten food and dirty water.  These supplies along with supplies of expired medicine are running out making the situation for Ganfouda residents dire.

Entry roads to the neighborhood have been blocked by Libyan National Army forces, and as airstrikes move closer and closer many are unwilling to leave their homes.  The Libyan National Army forces have been fighting off Islamic militants and in the process both sides have allegedly violated international humanitarian law.

Because of the danger of the conflict, getting humanitarian aid to the families is growing more difficult.  Islamic militants have also threatened to kill anyone under 14 in the neighborhood, which has added to the atmosphere of fear.  There are many young children and babies in Ganfouda who do not have proper access to the nutrients they need to grow.  As many of the residents have been trapped for 2 years, one resident was forced to give birth to her daughter 10 months ago.  The baby has never had access to clean water.  Magdalena Mughrabi, deputy director of Amnesty Internationals’ Middle East and North Africa Program is right when she says “time is running out for civilians in Ganfouda, who are being left to die trapped by the fighting.”  Amnesty International is leading the push for residents of Ganfouda to get the humanitarian assistance they need.

For more information, please see: 

Amnesty International – Libya: Civilians trapped in Benghazi in desperate conditions as fighting encroaches – 29 September 2016

BBC Africa – Libya: More than 100 Families at Risk for Starvation in Benghazi – 30 September 2016

Daily Star – Hundreds trapped in Libya’s Benghazi amid fighting: Amnesty – 30 September 2016

Fox News – Amnesty: Hundreds Trapped in Libya’s Benghazi Among Fighting – 29 September 2016

Mirror – Starving Children are Surviving on ‘Rotten Food and Dirty Water’ in war torn Libya – 30 September 2016

Ukraine Proposes Ban on Certain Russian Books

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

 

KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine is considering a proposed bill which would ban any book that contains “anti-Ukrainian” content.  The bill would see that all books imported into Ukraine from Russia are checked for such content.  In addition, any books that do not recognize the Ukrainian state or people, as well as those that “call for the overthrow of power” in Ukraine would be banned as well.

A Ukrainian soldier patrols the Ukrainian-Russian border (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian)

According to the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, the law proposes that the books will be assessed by a special council for “popularisation or propaganda of bodies of an aggressor state and their particular actions which create a positive image of the employees of the aggressor state, employees of Soviet state security bodies, justify or declare as legitimate occupation of Ukrainian territory.”  Halya Coynash, a member of the human rights group, brings attention to the fact that the bill does not cover anti-Ukrainian books published in other countries.

In opposition to the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, Vyacheslav Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, characterizes the bill’s intent as “humanitarian security.”  This past April, Kyrylenko initiated a movement to allow Ukrainian law enforcement to remove any books of Russian origin from Ukrainian bookstores.

Russian publishers do not expect the proposed ban to have an effect on their businesses should the bill be passed.  According to Oleg Novikov, general director of Russian publisher Eksmo, imports of Russian books into Ukraine are already at “historical lows.”

On the other hand, the proposed ban is being criticized by Ukrainian writers.  Some say that such a ban has the potential to transform Ukraine into a police state in which state authorities have control over the content seen by the population.  Oleg Ladyzhensky, a Ukranian science-fiction writer, alleges that the Ukrainian book industry is already in crisis, and would only suffer a larger detriment by the introduction of book bans.

The ban of Russian books in Ukraine is not a foreign concept.  In 2015, Ukraine banned 38 Russian-published books on the basis that they allegedly spoke to “hate ideology” and “separatism.”

A draft of the law was adopted earlier this month by Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers.

 

For more information, please see:

The Guardian — Ukraine Prepares to Ban ‘Anti-Ukrainian Russian Books — 28 September 2016

Publishing Perspectives — Latest Ukrainian Ban of Russian Book Imports Under Consideration — 26 September 2016

Channel NewsAsia — Ukraine Moves to Ban ‘Illegal’ Russian Books — 8 September 2016

BBC — Ukraine Bans 38 Russian ‘Hate’ Books Amid Culture War — 11 August 2015

South African Students and Police Clash

By Samantha Netzband 

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk 

CAPE TOWN, South Africa–Protests continue across South Africa as students act out against rising tuition costs.  Protests have been widespread and happening at many universities across South Africa.  Protests are becoming violent as police seek to put an end to the protests to allow universities to hold classes.  Many universities classes have been suspended in the mist of the protests.

The Associated Press

Police use stun grenades and rubber bullets to break up protests at the University of the Witwatersrand. (Photo Courtesy of US News)

University of Witswaterand students led a march to the Chamber of Mines on Wednesday September 28 in order to give a memorandum that called for officials to get behind the idea of free education. Students would like the Chamber of Mines to help lobby the government on their free education stance.  University of Wiswaterand, known as Wits, have been engaging in protests for over a week, in some cases vandalizing property.  In one incident a fire extinguisher was used in a campus building and a cleaner died as a result.  University officials have blamed students for the death.

Meanwhile on Wednesday September 28th at Rhodes University in Grahamstown 10 students were arrested as a result of the protests.  Rhodes like Wits has been shut down since the previous week, and both students and professors alike are growing concerned that classes may not start up again.  Professors and students alike are growing increasingly concerned that the rest of the term will need to be cancelled, especially after the University of Cape Town was forced to cancel its graduation.

While students are mainly protesting for free education, they are also calling for the removal of Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande who called for the raise in tuition for the next year.  Protests started peacefully, but were met with police force late last week.  Police began firing rubber bullets and using stun grenades to stop the protests.  As of Friday September 30th protests were still continuing.

For more information, please see:

Citizen – Live Report: Wits Students March to the Chamber of Mines – 28 September 2016.

Daily Maverick – Student Protests Spread, While Wits Marks a Worker’s Death – 27 September 2016.

Fox News – South African Police Clash with Student Protesters – 28 September 2016.

Marxist – South Africa: Rising Anger as Mass Student Protests Return – 28 September 2016.

US News – Shuttered South African Universities Seek End to Protests – 27 September 2016.

UN to Discuss Report on US Police Killings of Black Americans

by Portia K. Skenandore-Wheelock
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

UNITED STATES — The United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent has released their final report based on a visit to the United States in January. A five-member group chaired by Filipino law professor Ricardo A. Sunga III made the trip to evaluate the human rights situation of African Americans. The report concludes that “Contemporary police killings and the trauma that they create are reminiscent of the past racial terror of lynching” during the 19th and 20th centuries and calls on the government to do more to protect its citizens. The Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit organization, reported in 2015 that 3,959 black people were killed in lynchings between 1877 and 1950.

The report has been released while two days of protests and a riot over the shooting of Keith Scott are taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina. Last Friday another incident occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma where an officer fatally shot an unarmed black man.

A UN Report on the state of the human rights of African Americans in the US has been released while demonstrations against police brutality take place in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo courtesy of AFP)

The report states, “the legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States remains a serious challenge, as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent. Impunity for state violence has resulted in the current human rights crisis and must be addressed as a matter of urgency.” The UN group says these killings go unpunished due to a number of factors. The initial investigations are often conducted by the police departments where the alleged perpetrators are employed, prosecutors have wide discretion over the charges, and the use of force is only subject to domestic standards, not to international standards.

The UN group recommends that the US create a national system to track excessive use of force and killings by law enforcement officials, end racial profiling, and have federal and state laws that recognize the negative impact of enslavement and racial injustice. The report finds education accompanied by acts of reconciliation key to improving race relations and the trust between African Americans and law enforcement officials. The report is being debated at the UN Human Rights Council on Monday.

For further information, please see:

Mint Press News – UN: Police Killings of Black Men Are Modern-Day Lynchings – 24 September 2016

PressTV – US Police Killings Redolent of Lynching: Report – 23 September 2016

Reuters – U.S. Police Killings Reminiscent of Lynching, U.N. Group Says – 23 September 2016

RT – Police Killings of Black People Reminiscent of Lynchings – UN Working Group – 23 September 2016

 

France Calls on Britain to ‘Play its Part’ in Refugee Crisis

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

 

PARIS, France — French President Francois Hollande has made clear his “determination” to maintain the UK’s assistance in the refugee crisis, as the Calais refugee camp is set to be shut down in the coming months.  Hollande emphasizes that despite Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, they are not relieved of responsibility in the migrant refugee crisis in Europe.  Rather, Holland considers Britain’s obligations to this issue increased in accordance with their decision to leave the EU.

French President Francois Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve meet officers of the French Gendarmerie in Calais (Photo Courtesy of The Telegraph)

Hollande explains that the objectives of France are clear in that they plan to close the camp in order to “guarantee the security of people in Calais, to maintain public order, and to assure proper conditions for the migrants.”  In addition to the interests of the people of Calais, the closing of the camp is expected to solidify the “firmness’ of the French-British border.  It is Hollande’s plan to disperse the migrants currently residing at the Calais jungle to other camps across France.

On his first trip to the Calais jungle since his election in 2012, Hollande insisted that border control in the area is “watertight,” despite evidence that suggest up to 200 migrants per week are being smuggled through Calais each week.

Britain has contributed an estimated £85 million towards reinforcement of security surrounding the Calais jungle camp.   In addition, Britain is in the process of funding the construction of a concrete wall to be built along the port in Calais in an effort to prevent migrants from crossing the English Channel.

Charlie Elphicke, Tory MP for Dover, believes that the French government needs to ensure the camp is actually dismantled as Hollande claims it will be.  Elphicke states that “Britain has already paid millions for walls and fences in Calais. Yet the French keep asking for more of our money.”  He believes the taxpayers’ money should be spent on increased security at the British port of Dover, and calls on Hollande to permanently return the migrants to their home countries.

The British Home Office responded to some of Hollande’s remarks, vowing to resettle “vulnerable” children.

 

For more information, please see:

Belfast Telegraph — MPs Hit Back at French President Over Criticism of UK Stance on Calais Migrants — 26 September 2016

Chicago Tribune — Hollande Says Britain Must Still Help with Migrants Post-Brexit — 26 September 2016

Evening Standard –Britain Must Play Part in Looking After Calais Jungle Migrants, Francois Hollande Says — 26 September 2016

The Telegraph — Hollande Sparks Row with UK by Saying it is Not Doing Enough to Help Calais Migrants — 26 September 2016