By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States — Wyoming is expected to become the last state in the nation to ban human trafficking when the governor signs legislation into law by the end of the month.

Gov. Matt Mead will sign the law this week, according to the Huffington Post, once the state attorney general finishes a review.  The bill would outlaw human trafficking, given local police the ability to arrest anyone breaking the new law.

“We did not want to be the only state without that,” Mead told the Huffington Post.

International anti-human trafficking advocates made a last-week push before state lawmakers passed the law on Feb. 20.  According to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, the law passed nearly unanimously with a 29-to-1 vote.

The law would make it a felony to knowingly recruit, harbor, receive, or participate in any other way in forced labor or sexual servitude.  A similar ban already exists on the federal level, but supporters of the Wyoming law said a state ban was essential to punish perpetrators and help victims.

“In committee, we heard testimony of cases where human trafficking is happening and where law enforcement doesn’t have the ability to prosecute it as they should,” Rep. Kendell Kroeker (R-Evansville) told the Casper Journal.  “I think this legislation will fix that and give us a chance to bring justice to the victims by prosecuting the criminals.”

Lawmakers modeled the bill on laws already in place in other states, and they said the time for this type of law was now.

“In Wyoming, we don’t consider ourselves as a place where trafficking happens,” Rep. Cathy Connolly (D-Laramie) told the Huffington Post.  “This is a recognition that it does happen here.”

Fellow State Rep. Tom Walters (R-Casper) agreed.

“If all the other states have a law, it makes Wyoming a safe haven for this type of activity,” Walters told the Casper Journal.

“Like anything, there may be issues that come up that need to be ironed out, but this bill is good for the state of Wyoming,” Walters added.

Among those who pressed Wyoming for the law change was Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino, who is a United Nations goodwill ambassador focused on human trafficking.  In December, Sorvino criticized Wyoming while speaking at the National Conference of State Legislatures.  She urged State Sen. John Hastert (D-Green River) for a change during a meeting at the conference.

For further information, please see:

The Huffington Post — Wyoming Human Trafficking Ban to Become Law Next Week — 23 February 2013

KULR8 — Wyoming Senate Passes Human Trafficking Bill — 21 February 2013

Casper Star-Tribune — Wyoming Legislature Passes Bill to Outlaw Human Trafficking — 20 February 2013

Casper Journal — Human Trafficking . . . in Wyoming ­– Bill Would Outlaw Nasty Crime — 18 February 2013

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Political observers in New Zealand say the future of Richard Prosser does not look promising after an anti-Muslim rant has mired him in a national controversy.

Prosser, who is a House of Representatives member for the NZ First party, recently wrote in a magazine column that all young men “who are Muslim, look like Muslims, or come from a Muslim country” should be banned from flying “Western airlines,” according to TV NZ.  The New Zealand Herald also reported that the rant referred to Muslims as “troglodytes” and that Islam was a “stone-age religion.”

“He’s [upset] the party [to] no end,” an anonymous source familiar with the party told the Herald.  “The biggest issue is his total lack of judgment.”

So far, the NZ First party leader Winston Peters has said he does not believe Prosser should resign.  But criticism has been widespread, and the feeling around parliament is that Prosser may serve only one term.

“He’ll be so far down the list next time, you won’t see the top of his head,” the Herald’s source said, discussing Prosser’s future party standing if he survives the next election.

Prosser, who joined Parliament in 2011 fourth on the NZ First party list, has apologized for the comments.  He told the Herald that he believes his willingness to acknowledge he was wrong would go over well with voters.

“I think New Zealanders are essentially fair people,” Prosser said.  “[I]f you make a mistake but admit it, undertake not to do it again, and undertake to correct some of them . . . people will give you a fair go.”

Most people, however, do not appear to share that sentiment.  The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand lodged a formal complaint against Prosser with the Human Rights Commission.  Association leaders called Prosser ignorant and undeserving of being an MP.

“You can maybe excuse it on a street corner on a drunken night, but not from a Member of Parliament,” said the association’s Jamal Green.  “This was not just an outburst.”

Judith Collins, who is New Zealand’s minister for both Ethnic Affairs and Human Rights, called Prosser’s comments “appalling and irresponsible.”  She called on the party to “avoid causing further embarrassment to New Zealand.”

Prosser’s rant was reportedly sparked by a recent incident when he was stopped from carrying his pocketknife on a flight to Christchurch.  This also is not Prosser’s first bought with controversy.  He previously called for a ban on burqas in public, mandatory army training for all citizens, and New Zealand’s South Island to become a separate state.

For further information, please see:

New Zealand Herald — MP Richard Prosser’s Future Looks Shaky — 16 February 2013

MSN NZ — Richard Prosser Faces a Bleak Future — 15 February 2013

TV NZ — Prosser to Be Reported to Human Rights Commission — 14 February 2013

3 News — Collins Slams Richard Prosser’s ‘Anti-Islamic Rant’ — 12 February 2013

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States — By a more than 3-to-1 margin, U.S. senators voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act on Tuesday, expanding the anti-domestic-violence protections to include lesbians, immigrants, and Native American women for the first time.

The 78-to-22 vote authorizes $659 million during the next five years for various programs, including more attention to sexual assault prevention and efforts at reducing a backlog in processing rape kits.  The issue now moves to the House of Representatives before the law takes effect.

Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron, CEO of the YWCA, released a press statement saying that House members should followed the Senate’s lead “so that YWCAs across the country can continue to provide safe harbor for the many women who seek protection from violence.”

Sarah Schmidt, Chairwoman of the Lesbian Superpac, went a step further, calling on supporters to lobby their representative.

“This is a hugely important moment for women and LGBT people across the country,” Schmidt said in an email to Women’s eNews.  “We all deserve protections against violence.”

The act expired in 2011, which stalled efforts to strengthen its federal programs.  While both chambers of Congress passed renewal bills last year, the two sides were unable to reach a compromise bill that could become law.

This year, House Republicans appear more willing to ensure the issue succeeds.  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R­–VA) has led an effort to negotiate the House bill, according to the Associated Press.

Among those who have reached out Cantor is Vice President Joe Biden.  In 1994, Biden—then a senator from Delaware—successfully helped negotiate the original Violence Against Women Act.

An apparent sticking point with the renewal is whether tribal courts will be allowed to prosecute non-natives who are accused of assaulting Native American women on reservations.  Republican senators argued that would be unconstitutional, but their efforts were defeated.  But observers say this issue could be a hurdle still, as lawmakers try to reconcile the Senate version of the bill with a House version that is likely to pass.

All 20 women members of the Senate voted for the VAWA bill, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D–VT), which also drew support from 23 Republican votes.  The Senate also voted 93 to 5 to include a provision that targets human trafficking, and 100 to 0 to include a provision that ensures child sex trafficking victims are eligible for grant assistance.

For further information, please see:

All Voices — Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Clears Senate in Significant Gender-Split Vote — 12 February 2013

Huffington Post — Senate Approves Anti-Violence Against Women Act — 12 February 2013

Women eNews — VAWA Passes Senate, Turning Attention to House — 12 February 2013

The Paramus Post — Rape Survivor Demands Congress Extend the Violence Against Women Act Immediately — 11 February 2013

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — The United Nations called on leaders in Papua New Guinea to end the practice of killing people accused of witchcraft, after a young woman was accused of sorcery and publicly killed earlier this week.

On Wednesday, Kepari Leniata was stripped, tortured, doused in gasoline, and set afire in front of hundreds of spectators.  Leniata, 20, was accused of using sorcery to kill a six-year-old boy in the provincial capital of the country’s Western Highlands.  The boy’s relatives carried out the public killing, and the crowd reportedly prevented police officers and firefighters from intervening.

“The case adds to the growing pattern of vigilante attacks and killings of persons accused of sorcery in Papua New Guinea,” said Cecile Pouilly, a spokesperson for the Office of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The U.N. human rights office in Geneva added that it was disturbed by Leniata’s killing, which came after three women and two men were accused of using sorcery to kill another person last November.  Vigilantes held the five alleged witches for nearly three weeks, torturing them with iron rods and knives heated with fire before killing them.

Rashida Manjoo, a UN investigator who visited Papua New Guinea last March, said sorcery accusations are commonly used to deprive women of their land and property.

“I was shocked to witness the brutality of the assaults perpetrated against suspected sorcerers,” Manjoo said in a statement after her visit.  “Any misfortune or death within the community can be used as an excuse to accuse such a person of being a sorcerer.”

In a statement on Friday, Amnesty International called violence against accused witches as being endemic across the country.  The human rights organization detailed a July incident in which police arrested 29 people accused of being involved in a witch-hunting gang that murdered and cannibalized suspected sorcerers.

A national police spokesperson said Deputy Police Commissioner Simon Kauba was incensed by the investigators’ failure to make an arrest by Friday.

“He was very, very disappointed that there’s been no arrest made as yet,” said spokesperson Dominic Kakas.  “The incident happened in broad daylight in front of hundreds of eyewitnesses, and yet [they] haven’t picked up any suspects yet.”

As many as 50 people are suspected of having “laid a hand on the victim,” Kakas said.  The prime suspect is Leniata’s husband, who is believed to have fled the area.  Kakas added that he was unsure of any relationship between the husband and the dead boy’s family.

For further information, please see:

The Age — UN Demands End to ‘Witch’ Deaths in PNG — 10 February 2013

ABC News — Accused Witch Burned Alive in Papua New Guinea — 8 February 2013

International Business Times — UN: We Condemn Witch Burning in Papua New Guinea — 8 February 2013

Sky News — Papua New Guinea: ‘Witch’ Burned Alive by Mob — 8 February 2013

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia — Queensland and Northern Territories both said on Wednesday that they would move forward with their plans to deal with alcohol bans in indigenous communities, despite federal pressure to keep the policies in place.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said his state has no intention of backing down from a planned review of what he calls the “discriminatory” booze bans, while acting Chief Minister of the Northern Territories Robyn Lambley rejected a call to reinstate the bans that she helped lift last year.

“I simply say the policy of discrimination against Aboriginal people is not appropriate,” Newman told reporters on Wednesday in Ipswich, a community about 40 km outside the state capital of Brisbane.

The ban prohibits possession and selling of alcohol in indigenous communities, including the 19 in Queensland.  Violators face penalties including jail time.

Queensland’s review of the alcohol bans, a campaign promise in Newman’s election last March, would allow individual communities within the state to determine whether to keep the restrictions.  The review is expected to last 18 months.

In the Northern Territories, state leaders dismissed calls to reinstate its Banned Drinkers Register law.  Eliminated last year, the ban required indigenous alcohol buyers to have a photo ID scanned and checked against a list of repeat drunks.  A match would prevent the purchase.

Both states’ decisions come after a warning from Prime Minister Julia Gillard to reconsider.  During her annual Closing the Gap Address, aimed at improving opportunities for indigenous Australians, Gillard said the federal government would act against any state or territory alcohol policy that she deems irresponsible.

“I have a real fear that the rivers of grog that wreaked such havoc among indigenous communities are starting to flow once again,” she said.  Big Pond News reported that Gillard was referencing, in part, the Northern Territories lifting its BDR and five recent alcohol-related deaths in Alice Springs.

But leaders from both states dismissed the Prime Minister’s comments.

“For Julia Gillard to start dictating from Canberra how we should implement alcohol policies and what they should be is an absolute nonsense, Lambley told ABC radio.  “I think that she should be listening to us more than we should be listening to [her].”

Newman said Australia as a whole needed to reconsider how to best address the problems related to alcohol because they are not limited to the indigenous populations.

“We need to tackle alcohol abuse issues across the board,” he said.  Newman added that the laws have not worked in reducing alcohol-related violence.

But Queensland’s minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Glen Elmes disputed that claim, saying the bans were effective in reducing crime and improving school attendance.  Elmes added that under the review, any community wanting to lift the ban will have to show it can ensure public safety and not reverse the school attendance rates.

For further information, please see:

The Australian — Abbott, Gillard United on Grog Bans — 6 February 2013

Big Pond News — Butt Out of NT Grog Decisions – CLP — 6 February 2013

Brisbane Times — Alcohol Bans Discriminatory: Newman — 6 February 2013

Townsville Bulletin — Alcohol Bans Discriminatory: Newman — 6 February 2013

Herald Sun — Aboriginal Alcohol Ban Not Solution, Says Member for Cook David Kempton — 10 October 2012

Courier Mail — Indigenous Councils to Rule on Liquor Bans — 3 October 2012