News

South Sudan to take Legal Action after Corruption Report

By Samantha Netzband

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

JUBA, South Sudan–The South Sudanese government is planning on taking legal action against the Sultry group after the publication of what they believe is an incorrect corruption report.  The Sultry group was founded by American actor George Clooney and activist John Prendergast.  The group was also a key player in gaining South Sudan’s independence.

President Kiir seen giving a speech. (Photo Courtesy of Aljazeera)

The report, which was published by the Nation Mirror, alleges that President Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar amassed wealth throughout the time of the Sudanese conflict.  This wealth includes luxury cars, foreign properties, and stakes in oil and business ventures.  Both President Kiir and Riek Machar’s spokespeople have said that these allegations are “rubbish”.  This then lead to the closing of the Nation Mirror and the pursuance of a lawsuit.

There are already calls to reopen the Nation Mirror, the newspaper that published the report.  Given the lack of independent and critical newspapers in the region those in the media in South Sudan would like to see the newspaper reopened.

Those who belief the report are suggesting that the United States threaten sanctions until reform is made.  This stems from the fact that George Clooney, the partner in the Sentry group, is an American actor.  Countries on the outside looking in are taking these allegations seriously considering war profiteering is a serious crime, and the conflict in South Sudan has displaced a million people.

For more information, please see:

Africa News – South Sudan urged to reopen newspaper that published corruption report – 16 September 2016

Al Jazeera – South Sudan to take legal action after corruption report – 13 September 2016

CNBC Africa – South Sudan: Actor George Clooney against the Kleptocrats – 17 September 2016

Fox News – South Sudan challenges US watchdog’s report on corruption – 17 September 2016

UK to Build Wall in Calais to Prevent Migrants from Entering

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

 

PARIS, France —  Construction will soon begin on a wall in the French city of Calais in order to prevent migrant refugees from entering the UK from France.  Calais is currently home to a migrant refugee camp known as “the jungle” which is known for its unsanitary living conditions.  Many of the migrants living in the camp refuse to register as refugees in France, because their preferred final destination is Britain.

The Calais wall will be built on the port’s main dual-carriageway approach road (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian).

The wall will be 13 feet high, run one kilometer long, and will cost an estimated $23 million to build.  The UK is funding the construction of the wall, while France is choosing the measures through which it is completed.  Set to be built in two sections on either side of the road, one of the goals of the wall is to protect lorries and other vehicles traveling in the area from migrants’ attempts to intercept the vehicles and climb aboard.  The wall will be constructed with smooth concrete in hopes of making it harder to climb, and will be landscaped with plants around it in an attempt to reduce its visual impact on the surrounding neighborhoods.

The wall is a joint project between Britain and France, and is one of many attempts at addressing security concerns and general displeasure with the migrant camp located on the English Channel, less than 30 miles away from the English port of Dover.  In addition to the construction of the wall, security measures have increased around the Channel Tunnel, making it more difficult for migrants to sneak on to ferries or trains which are traveling across the English Channel.

Local residents and groups question the effectiveness of the wall.  François Guennoc of Auberge des Migrants, a French aid group currently working in Calais, predicts that the wall will “just result in people going further to get round it.”  Richard Burnett, Chief Executive of the Road Haulage Association, called the construction of the wall a “poor use of taxpayers’ money,” and believes that that money would be better used on increased security in the surrounding area.

After visiting the camp last week, French Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, announced that French authorities would eventually completely dismantle the camp, however did not specify when.

Construction of the wall is expected to begin this month, and end by the end of this year.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC — Calais Migrants: Work to Start on UK-Funded Wall — 7 September 2016

CNN — Calais Wall: UK to Build ‘Big New Wall’ in Calais to Stop Migrants — 7 September 2016

The Guardian — UK Immigration Minister Confirms Work to Start on £1.9m Calais Wall — 7 September 2016

NY Times — Britain and France to Begin Work on Wall Near Calais to Keep Migrants from Channel Tunnel — 7 September 2016

US Prisoners Launch a Nation-wide Strike in Protest of “Prison Slavery”

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

UNITED STATES — On Friday prisoners in 40 prisons in at least 24 states went on a coordinated strike, refusing to do their assigned jobs, and are demanding an “end to prison slavery.” This is one of the largest prison strikes attempted in decades. The date of the start of the strike coincides with the 45th anniversary of the 1971 Attica prison uprising. The Industrial Workers of the World’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) and the Free Alabama Movement organized and announced the strike in a statement, “Slavery is alive and well in the prison system, but by the end of this year, it won’t be anymore. This call goes directly to the slaves themselves.”

Prisoners in states across the US went on strike Friday to protest the exploitation of their cheap, and sometimes even free, labor. (Photo courtesy of the Independent)

As state budgets have been cut the over 2 million prisoners in the United States have been a source of cheap, and in some states free, labor. New work programs have prisoners repairing public plumbing, doing underwater welding, cleaning up roadkill, and maintaining public spaces. Prisoners’ jobs also go beyond public works and services. Corporations, such as Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Victoria’s Secret, McDonald’s, IBM, and AT&T, have tapped into prison labor by making deals with both private and public prisons. Prisoner laborers make 12 to 40 cents per hour yet the annual dollar value of their work output is estimated to run in the billions. “We want people to understand the economics of the prison system. It’s not about crime and punishment. It’s about money,” says Melvin Brooks-Ray, founder of the Free Alabama Movement and an inmate for 17 years.

Since labor law does not consider prisoners employees, they are not allowed to unionize. IWOC is trying to change that and encourages prisoners to join without charging union dues. IWOC’s site says, “You cannot change this situation through a grievance process that doesn’t work…or through courts that are clearly against you…or through petitions to lawmakers who don’t care about you because you don’t vote…or through hunger strikes against prison officials who want you to starve…or through letters to newspapers who have ignored this situation for decades.”

Prisoners in different states have other demands beyond fair wages for their work, such as an end to long-term solitary confinement policies, poor healthcare, poor quality of food, violent attacks, overcrowding, fairer parole policies, and reinstating educational courses for high school diplomas. “Different prisoners have different goals and aims, it’s looking like it’s going to be a state-by-state thing,” said Brianna Peril, co-chair of IWOC and a former prisoner. In response to these non-violent strikes, many prisons are engaging in lockdowns and barring prisoners’ access to communication.

For further information, please see:

Democracy Now! – Nationwide Prison Strike Launches in 24 States and 40 Facilities Over Conditions & Forced Labor – 9 September 2016

The Guardian – Inmates Strike in Prisons Nationwide Over ‘Slave Labor’ Working Conditions – 9 September 2016

The Independent – Inmates Launch Massive Nationwide Strike to Protest ‘Modern Slavery’ in US Prison System – 9 September 2016

Vice News – Prisoners all Over the US are on strike for ‘an end to prison slavery’ – 9 September 2016

Wired – How to Organize the Largest US Prison Strike Ever…From Inside Prison – 9 September 2016

Ukrainian Government to Ban Blacklisted Russian Singers from Eurovision

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian government has announced that it is planning to ban certain Russian artists from next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in Kiev, Ukraine in May 2017.  Ukraine is in the middle of an economic recession, however plans to spend $49 million on the competition through renovations to the host venue.

Crimean Tatar Jamala won the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest with her ballad about Stalin’s deportation of Crimean Tatars (Photo Courtesy of ABC).

This past year, a Ukrainian citizen named Jamala won the competition with a song about deportations of Crimean Tatar’s under the rule of Joseph Stalin.  Crimean Tatars are ethnic Muslims who were accused by Stalin of collaborating with the Nazis.  Stalin had them transported in cattle cars from Crimea to remote regions of the Soviet Union.

Ukrainian Culture Minister Yevhen Nyshchuk said that Russian singers who have been blacklisted by Ukrainian state security for supporting the separatist cause between Russia and Crimea would be banned from the competition if Russia chose them to compete.  He noted that there are “many decent artists” in Russia who understand peace, however warns that Russia is capable of finding the would-be blacklisted singers and pushing them to win local competitions, which might lead to their entry in Eurovision.  Nyshchuk would consider this action by Russia to be a “deliberate provocation.”

Anton Gerashchenko, a parliament member for the ruling party in Ukraine, wishes to uphold the ban against Russian media as well, stating that it is for “Ukraine to decide” whether to block certain Russian media groups from covering the competition.

There are currently 10 Russian singers and actors whose work has been banned from Ukrainian media for its support of the Crimea annexation and Russian separatists.  Chicherina and Kobzon are two Russian singers who have been banned from physically entering Ukraine for performing songs that support Russia’s position in the Crimea annexation.

Jamala’s song in the 2016 event raised concerns in Moscow that the contest was charged by politics.  For this reason, some Russians have suggested that Russia boycott the 2017 Eurovision altogether.  There is still speculation regarding whether or not Russia will honor the ban, or will try to challenge it and send blacklisted artists to the competition.

 

For more information, please see:

EuroVisionary — Ukraine Confirms Russian Artists Still Banned From Entering 2017 Eurovision — 10 September 2016

ABC — Eurovision: Ukraine Names Names City to Host 2017 Song Contest — 9 September 2016

Reuters — Ukraine to Bar Some Russian Singers After Kiev Chosen to host Eurovision — 9 September 2016

EuroVisionary — Ukraine Threatens Russian Artists to Ban them from Eurovision 2017 — 21 May 2016

Black Lives Matter Protest Shuts Down London City Airport Runway

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

 

LONDON, England — Nine activists of Black Lives Matter UK (BLMUK) staged a protest on a runway of London City Airport in London last Tuesday.  Protestors reportedly swam or traveled via a dinghy across the Thames River from a dock across from the airport in order to reach the runway.  Once on the runway, the protestors constructed themselves into an interlocked tripod formation.

Law enforcement officers work to remove protesters from the London City Airport Runway (Photo Courtesy of CNN)

Flights at the airport were suspended until the protesters were arrested and removed from the runway.  According to local police, the seven of the nine protestors were arrested on charges of aggravated trespass, being unlawfully airside, and for breaching the bylaws of the London City Airport.  The remaining two protestors remained interlocked on the runway and continued to engage in negotiations with police officers.

BLMUK stated that London City Airport is planning to expand, which would likely impact the surrounding neighborhoods which are located in a highly deprived part of London.  One reason given by BLMUK for the protest was to highlight the economic disparity between airport travelers and the people who live in the neighborhoods surrounding the airport.  The activist group claims that the airport was “designed for the wealthy,” and compares the salaries of the average London City Airport user (€136,000) to the average population in the surrounding town of Newham (£20,000 or less).

In this same sense, BLMUK provides that the reason for the protest was to “highlight the environmental impact of air travel on the lives of black people locally and globally.”  The group estimates that by 2020, there will be 200 million climate refuges across the world.  They claim that in 2016, 3,176 migrants either died or went missing in the Mediterranean as a result of fleeing conditions they did not create because cheaper, easier, and safer avenues of travel have been blocked or ignored by the UK.

The protest aggravated many affected travelers at London City Airport.  One traveler whose flight was delayed said she understood the purpose of the protest and the concerns surrounding it, but highlighted that there are other ways the group can get their point across without impacting “young families.”  Another set of African American travelers recognizes that “many issues always affect the poorest in society…but it has stopped these two black lives from going on holiday.”

 

For more information, please see:

BBC — Black Lives Matter Protestors Close London City Airport Runway — 6 September 2016

CNN — Black Lives Matter Protesters Removed from London Airport Runway, Police Say — 6 September 2016

The Guardian — Black Lives Matter Protest Stops Flight at London City Airport — 6 September 2016

The Independent — Seven Arrested as Black Lives Matter Protest Hits Flights at London City Airport — 6 September 2016