ICTJ In Focus June 2012 Issue 21

Courtney Schuster
Special Contributor, Blog Entry #3

My most recent adventure was being assigned to a fact-finding team that was given the assignment of inspecting rural health facilities.    We were sent to the very rural, and very poor state of Bihar to examine how health facilities complied with the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) standards.  The federal government instituted the NRHM in 2006.  It set the standards for care and operations at government health facilities.  Additionally, it established dozens of requirements for health facilities including: the number of staff that should be at a facility at any given time; drugs that should be present; the number of beds each facility should have; and basic medical hygiene that should be provided.

The fact-finding team spent a week in Bihar traveling to five districts and looking at twenty-five different health facilities.  The medical equipment and beds that these facilities had were mostly old and very rusted.  In every single facility we visited, there were numerous concerns that went far beyond the superficial issues like rusting bed frames.

First, every facility had a layer of dirt on the floor.  Government facilities cannot afford to have air conditioning so they depend on windows and fans to cool the place.  Unfortunately, open doors and windows also mean that the dust and dirt get in and covers every surface.  There are no regular cleaning staff employed at any of the facilities, save the few large district hospitals; and even in those, the method of cleaning is simply sweeping with a grass broom, which is ineffective and unsanitary.

Second, poor cleanliness of supplies, bedding, and buildings is prevalent.  In every room, of every facility, the floors, and often times walls, were covered in old blood stains.  Sheets were also old and stained.  There were beds and operating tables without any sheets at all.  Medical supplies were not sterilized between uses.  Many of the larger health facilities had running water but none had the means to heat water or an autoclave.  A majority of the facilities we saw in rural areas did not even have running water.

Third, unsafe medical waste disposal and poor garbage disposal was the norm.  Inside the facilities, used medical supplies littered the floors.  Medical waste, including blood and fluids, from births and operations were not disposed of in a proper or timely manner.  Most facilities threw delivery fluids, like after birth and the placenta, out the window.  At one center, a birth had taken place five hours before our arrival.  As we began our tour, that delivery room was still waiting to be cleaned.

The perimeter of each facility was much worse.  Every one we visited had garbage covering the lawns.  There were water drainage ditches outside buildings full of garbage, medical waste, and sometimes even human waste.  The more rural and remote health facilities had animal feces from cattle, goats, and sheep on the ground outside and on the steps leading into the building.   Old vials, used needles, blood soaked material, used gloves, and plastic packaging were littered everywhere.  Many facilities had people, including children, waiting outside right next to the medical waste.

I left Bihar stunned and dismayed at the unsanitary conditions and poor management of every health facility we visited.  None of them were consistent with the NRHM standards and it became clear to me why India continue to struggles with high maternal mortality rates.

Courtney Schuster is a third-year student at Syracuse University College of Law.  She is currently working as an intern in India for the summer.  She will be contributing personal blog entries throughout her internship, documenting the challenges of solving human rights issues in international settings.  

ICC Office of the Prosecutor Weekly Briefing 12-19 June 2012, Issue #125

Press Release
Hermitage Capital

18 June 2012 – A number of US religious organizations from different denominations have called on the U.S. Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act. The leaders of nine US religious organisations have written to members of Congress urging the swift passage of the Magnitsky Act in its current form. In their letter, they point out that the Magnitsky Act gives the United States an important and effective policy tool to address serious human rights abuses around the world.

“It is one thing to talk about the human rights and religious freedoms and quite another to actually do something about it. Because of the well thought out terms of this legislation, we believe that this bill will become an effective lever that the United States will have in dealing with this pernicious and growing problem of human rights abuses around the world,” said the religious groups in their joint letter.

“Magnitsky’s sacrifice will hopefully lead to an important and new method for fighting human rights abuses which could have a dramatic effect everywhere,” said the letter.

The letter is signed by religious groups of various faiths and denominations, including the Action for Post-Soviet Jewry, the Union of Councils for Jews in the former Soviet Union, American Islamic Congress, Hindu American Foundation, International Institute for Religious Freedom, Church of Scientology, United Macedonian Diaspora, Partners for a Progressive Israel, and Human Rights Law Foundation, as well as prominent figures in the field of religious freedom.

“As representatives of a wide number of religions and faiths across the United States, we do everything possible to make sure that all people can practice their faith around the world without restriction or interference. For this reason, we strongly support the passage of the ‘Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act’,” says the letter.

Under the Magnitsky Act currently in front of the U.S. Congress, visa bans and asset freezes will be imposed on those involved in the torture of 37-year old whistle-blowing lawyer and the corruption he had uncovered in Russia, as well on those who kill, torture and otherwise repress the defenders of freedoms of religion, expression, association and assembly and of the right to a fair trial and democratic elections.

“Coming to America is a privilege and not a right, and when foreign officials are involved in torture, murder, restrictions of religious freedom or other human rights abuses, they should have that privilege taken away. We believe that this law would not only create an effective punishment for people who have violated human rights, but also a powerful deterrent for people not to do these things in the future,” says the religious freedom activists.

“As discussions on the Magnitsky bill progress in the U.S. Congress, we are seeing more and more outpouring of support for this legislation inspired by the courage and dignity of a young Russian man who gave his life for his belief in truth and justice,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.

For further information please contact:
Hermitage Capital
Phone:              +44 207 440 17 77
E-mail:              info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Website:           http://lawandorderinrussia.org
Facebook:        http://on.fb.me/hvIuVI
Twitter:             @KatieFisher__
Livejournal:       http://hermitagecap.livejournal.com/