News

Central African Republic Moves to Disarm Rebel Fighters

By Erica Smith
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

BANGUI, Central African Republic — As violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) mounts the government announced Wednesday that it will launch a campaign to disarm Seleka rebel fighters who overthrew the president in March.

A young Seleka rebel in front of the presidential palace after the March Coup ( Photo courtesy of Sia Kambou/AFP/Getty Images)

Minister of Public Security Jose Binoua announced the campaign in response to the growing concern over a surge in robberies, rapes, and murders throughout  the country. The campaign will focus on the capital Bangui around six designated military barracks where Seleka fighters will be given a location to hand in their weapons.  The city limits will be closed to cars for the duration of the program which is expected to last ten days.

The campaign is being carried out by the police in conjunction with Seleka leaders and the CAR military. A previous two month disarmament campaign led by the African regional force FOMAC had little success in decreasing the number of weapons in the streets.

There is a growing fear the the CAR will become a failed state. Prof. Emmanuel Yenshu Vubo, a political science lecturer at the University of Buea, Cameroon, told the Cameroon Tribune that the situation in the CAR is “a result of long standing instability in the country and the tacit understanding among Central African Republic elite that the force of arms can be a mode of getting to power. We can add the fact that the major international actors have been either accomplices or have actively supported the situation.” Yenshu Vubo went on to explain that the history of the CAR is one marked with continual military takeovers and the present leaders are unequipped to deal with the humanitarian problems the country now faces.

Even as the security situation in the country deteriorates the UN food agency is scaling up its operations to ensure that displaced persons will have food.  Humanitarian agencies are increasingly becoming a target for looting. There is also a concern that food and supplies will be harder to get into the country since Cameroon has closed its border with CAR after Seleka rebels attacked and killed a border guard.

For further information, please see:

All Africa — Central African Republic: Govt Moves to Disarm Rebel Fighters, Halt Violence — 4 September 2013

All Africa — Central African Republic: Tell-Tale Signs of Breakdown — 2 September 2013

All Africa — Central African Republic: ‘CAR Has Never Known Political Consensus’ — 2 September 2013

UN News Centre — Central African Republic: UN food relief agency scaling-up operations despite deteriorating security — 30 August 2013

Russia Plans to Discuss Removal of Children from LGBT Parents

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – Russian lawmakers will soon discuss a bill to remove children from homosexual parents. Among other issues, world leaders plan to express their concerns about Russia’s policy at the G20 summit in St. Petersburg.

Protesters demonstrate in over 33 cities upon hearing of Russia’s plan to remove children from homosexual parents. (Photo courtesy of the Moscow Times)

In June 2013, Duma Deputy Yelena Mizurina proposed both the “Gay Propaganda to Minors” bill—now law—and the idea of revoking parental rights from homosexuals.

Currently, under Russian law, sufficient grounds to revoke parental rights include alcoholism, drug addiction, and “premeditated crime against a child’s life.” If made law, the bill adds to such grounds the “fact of non-traditional sexual orientation.” Parental rights could be terminated whether one or both parents are homosexual.

With reference to the June 2013 law, Deputy Alexei Zhuravlev of Putin’s United Russia Party stated that homosexual “propaganda” must be prohibited in the public and “also in the family.”

In the bill, Russian lawmakers cited Mark Regnerus, an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas—Austin, who conducted a controversial study claiming that “gay parenting” results in psychological problems for children. Although the entire theory has been declared invalid by the American Sociological Association, Zhuravlev said, “The harm that could be inflicted on a child’s mental health if their parents are homosexual is immense.”

Head of the Kremlin’s Human Rights Council Mikhail Fedotov responded to the new bill, asking, “Will we deprive left-handed people of their driver’s licenses now too? They’re left-handed, you know, and all our vehicles have the steering wheel on the left side, so it’s harder for a left-handed person to drive.”

This law will create “unwanted tensions between Russia and the West”, predicted Leading LGBT activist Nikolai Alekseyev. “I cannot imagine how this initiative can be taken in the Duma. It is just another populist campaign [by Zhuravlev] to attract attention to himself. I don’t believe that such a law could possibly be signed by the President.”

While Putin attempted to cite Russia’s love for composer Pyotr Tchaiskovsky as proof that Russia appreciates its LGBT community, activists assert that fellow Russians are turning homosexuals into scapegoats for problems ranging from low birth rates to an HIV epidemic.

In anticipation of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, activists held protests in over 33 cities.

On the importance of challenging Russia’s anti-homosexual laws, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, “Britain cannot have a foreign policy without a conscience and I don’t believe it is ultimately in the nature of British people to act without a conscience.”

Without children in a household to be orphaned upon their parents’ arrest or disappearance, Russia’s new law enables the country to take the next step in removing rights from its LGBT community.

For further information, please see:

The Moscow Times – Gays’ Kids Could Be Taken by State under Proposed Bill – September 6, 2013

Euronews – Draft Bill Could See Russian Parents Lose Custody of a Child – Because They’re Gay – September 5, 2013

Irish Times – Russian Duma to Debate Bill That Would Remove Parental Rights of Gay People – September 5, 2013

Washington Post – Russian Lawmaker Proposes Bill That Would Deny Gay Parents Custody over Children – September 5, 2013

The Independent – Tchaikovsky Was Gay But Russians Love Him, Says Vladimir Putin as David Cameron to Raise Concerns over Russia’s Controversial Policies – September 4, 2013

Paraguayan Bus Drivers Who Were Laid Off Crucify Themselves in Protest

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

ASUNCION, Paraguay – Eight Paraguayan bus drivers have nailed themselves to crosses in a protest against being laid off from their jobs two months ago. They have vowed to continue their protest until they are reinstated.

Eight bus drivers crucify themselves after getting fired in the city of Luque, Paraguay.
Eight bus drivers crucify themselves after getting fired in the city of Luque, Paraguay. (Photo Courtesy of Bernardo Agustti/Diario ABC Color)

They protested in mid-July outside the offices of the Vanguardia bus company, their former employer. After realizing they were not going to be reinstated they crucified themselves three weeks ago across the street from Vanguardia’s headquarter in the Paraguayan city of Luque, a town north of the capital, Asuncion.

The protesters are on their backs, nailed to wooden crosses laid out on the ground. Large nails pierce their hands at the base of the fingers.

The bus company says it has done everything in its power to try to find a solution to the labor conflict. The general manager of the Vanguardia bus company, Aufredi Paredes, said five of the drivers would be re-hired and the other three would receive legal separation payments and assistance in finding employment.

Paredes stated “we have done a little bit of everything to find a solution, including calling on the human rights commissions from the (Paraguayan) Senate and the Lower House. We have also met with the workers several times, but their leadership has been inflexible. We have followed labor regulations and will continue to abide by the law.”

However, Juan Villalba, one of the drivers crucified said they would not give up their protest until they all are reinstated. Villalba told Paraguayan media that his group is willing to take the protest “to the very end,” regardless of the consequences. Villaba, is also the secretary of the Paraguayan Federation of Transportation Workers.

Villalba alleged they were fired after asking for overtime pay, medical insurance and state pension contributions. “The drivers are tired of being exploited,” he said. Some of the drivers’ wives are taking turns being nailed to crosses alongside their husbands.

Damián Espinola, communications director with the Luque municipal government, has stated that the bus drivers are “also on hunger strike and some of them are in critical condition. They only drink water. They don’t consume any solid food. Their hands are perforated.”

There have been several meetings between representatives of the bus drivers, the company and mediators, but they have been unable to reach a resolution. The protest by the eight is part of a larger labor action by some drivers for Vanguardia. There are currently a total of 50 bus drivers on strike, but there has been no interruption of service.

For more information please see:

CNN – Fired Paraguayan bus drivers crucify themselves in protest – 31 August 2013

Reuters – Fired Paraguayan bus drivers have themselves nailed to crosses – 30 August 2013

The Telegraph – Sacked Paraguayan bus drivers crucify themselves in protest – 30 August 2013

ABC News – Laid-off Paraguay Bus Drivers Crucified in Protest – 28 August 2013

BBC – Sacked Paraguay bus drivers stage crucifixion protest – 28 August 2013

Indian Author Dragged out of her Home and Shot 15 Times by Taliban Militants

By Brian Lanciault

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

NEW DELHI, India — Taliban militants in Afghanistan shot and killed an Indian author, Sushmita Banerjee, whose memoir about marrying an Afghan and living under the Islamist militia was made into a Bollywood movie. The killing  was the latest in a string of attacks on prominent women in Afghanistan, adding to growing fears that women’s rights in the country will recede even more after foreign military  forces  withdraw in 2014.

Sushmita Banerjee, who was brutally killed by Taliban militants, is pictured holding a copy of her novel. (Photo courtesy of AP)

The militants arrived before dawn at Banjerjee’s residence in eastern Paktika province, which lies in Afghanistan’s east region, where the Taliban are particularly influential. According to provincial police chief Gen. Dawlat Khan Zadran, her husband, Jaanbaz Khan, answered the door and was immediately bound and blindfolded.  The militants then dragged Banerjee outside, and took her to a nearby road where they shot her at least 15 times, Zadran said.

Banerjee, who was in her 40s, was buried Thursday morning. She lived in Daygan Sorqala village, and was well-known as a medical worker in the area, with special training in gynecology. Originally from Kolkata, India, Banerjee wrote “A Kabuliwala’s Bengali Wife,” which later became the basis for the 2003 film “Escape from Taliban.” The book described how she met Jaanbaz in India and agreed to marry him despite her parents’ disapproval of the fact that he was Muslim while she was Hindu. According to an online synopsis of the book, Banerjee moved to Afghanistan as Jaanbaz’s second wife, only to find that life under the Taliban’s increasing hold over the country would be unbearable. The Taliban militia, which rose to prominence in 1994 and officially ruled from 1996-2001, placed severe restrictions on women, forcing them to wear all-encompassing burqas and banning employment and education opportunities.

In an interview with India’s Rediff news, Banerjee described trying to flee Afghanistan multiple times to get away from the Taliban, and how she was ordered executed as a result of her attempts. She made it safely back to Kolkata in  1995.

“I still remember the day I stepped on Indian soil for the first time after I had left,” she said. “It was raining outside. People were scurrying for shelter. But I didn’t run. I just stood there and let the rain wash off my pain. I felt if I could bear so much in Afghanistan, I can surely bear my motherland’s rain. I don’t know how long I stood there, but I won’t forget that day.”

Her book was published in 1997, nine years after her marriage.

Zafar Khan, the father of Jaanbaz’s first wife, said Banerjee was beloved in the area, and was known locally by the name Sahib Kamal. He told Indian reporters that many residents were upset that an unarmed woman had been targeted.

“She was a very kind woman. She was very educated — she knew the Internet,” he told them. “Myself, I am very sad. Believe me, I haven’t been able to eat.”

Militants have targeted prominent women several times in recent months in Afghanistan. Last month, officials confirmed that Fariba Ahmadi Kakar, a lawmaker who represents Kandahar province in parliament, was kidnapped and was being held hostage, to be exchanged for four insurgents detained by the government.

In August, insurgents ambushed the convoy of a female Afghan senator, seriously wounding her in the attack and killing her 8-year-old daughter. Senator Rouh Gul Khirzad’s husband, son and another daughter were also wounded in the attack.

For more information, please see:

India Times– Indian author Sushmita Banerjee executed in Afghanistan by Taliban — 6 September 2013

ABC News– Afghan militants shoot dead Indian woman Shushmita Banerjee, who wrote about escape from Taliban — 5 September 2013

Indian Express– Indian author who wrote on her escape from Taliban killed in Afghanistan — 5 September 2013

CBS News– Police: Afghan militants drag female author out of her home, shoot her dead –5 September 2013

Tunisian Rappers Sentenced to 21 Months in Prison

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TUNIS, Tunisia –  Rappers Ala Yaacoubi, known as “Weld El 15”, and Ahmed Ben Ahmed, known as “Klay BBJ”, were sentenced to twenty-one months in prison on Monday. The two were convicted of insulting the police and undermining public decency after their performance at a concert in Hammamet on August 22.

Ala Yaacoubi is a Tunisian rapper well-known for his criticism of the police. (Photo Courtesy of AFP)

The court’s ruling was in absentia as neither rapper appeared for trial. According to the rappers’ defense lawyer, Ghazi Mrabet, the two artists were never summoned to appear.

“We are surprised by this verdict…Our clients have not been summoned for trial as it is stipulated by law,” Mrabet told the privately-owned radio station Mosaique FM.

Following the concert, the artists were detained by police and questioned before being released. Mrabet added that his clients were physically assaulted by police during the detainment and that a doctor had documented Yaacoubi’s injuries.

Yaacoubi made headlines in June after he was convicted of insulting police and sentenced to two years in prison for his song “Police Are Dogs” (Boulicia Kleb). The anti-police song has a music video that contains a montage of police beatings. After outrage from various human rights and censorship groups, such as Human Rights Watch, Yaacoubi had his sentenced reduced to six months and suspended.

The authorities have accused Yaacoubi and Ahmed of performing “Police Are Dogs” at the August 22 concert. Varying reports have Mrabet denying that his clients performed the anti-police song to admitting that an excerpt was played.

Both rappers remain in hiding while they await the appeal process, despite demands to turn themselves in. Mrabet was adamant that the court’s decision violated free speech and would be appealed.

“I will speak to my clients to challenge this ruling, but jail sentences demonstrate that the relentless campaign against artistic freedom, freedom of expression, continues,” said Ghazi Mrabet, quoted by the AFP news agency.

Prime Minister Ali Larayedh denied that freedom of expression is an issue in Tunisia, pointing to Yaacoubi’s June conviction “for inciting hatred and calling for the death of police and magistrates”.

For further information, please see:

Index On Censorship – Tunisian rappers convicted of “insulting public servants” after concert arrest –  4 September 2013

ABC – 21 Months Prison for 2 Tunisian Rappers  – 2 September 2013

BBC – Tunisian rapper Weld 15 sentenced again – 2 September 2013

allAfrica – Tunisia – a New Prison Sentence for the Rappers “Weld 15” and “Klay” – 2 September 2013

Human Rights Watch – Tunisia: 2 Years in Prison for a Song – 15 June 2013