By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon – On August 26, Human Rights Watch called on the Lebanese government to address the high rate of unnatural deaths of migrant domestic workers.  Since January 2007, at least 95 migrant workers have died in Lebanon.

Of these 95 deaths, 40 are classified as suicide, while 24 others were caused by workers falling from high buildings, often while trying to escape their employers. By contrast, only 14 domestic workers died because of diseases or health issues.  Key factors pushing these women to kill themselves or risk their lives are forced confinement, excessive work demands, employer abuse, and financial pressures.

A 2006 survey quoted by HRW showed 31% of 600 domestic workers interviewed were not allowed to leave the home they worked in.  “Many domestic workers are literally being driven to jump from balconies to escape their forced confinement,” said Nadim Houry, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“Domestic workers are dying in Lebanon at a rate of more than one per week…All those involved – from the Lebanese authorities, to the workers’ embassies, to the employment agencies, to the employers – need to ask themselves what is driving these women to kill themselves or risk their lives trying to escape from high buildings,” said Houry.

In early 2006, an official steering committee was established to ease the problems of domestic workers. The committee has three main goals.  First, to create standardized employment contracts in Arabic, English, French and the native language of the worker. Second, to publish a booklet detailing the rights and obligations of employers and employees, to be distributed at airports, ministries and recruitment agencies.  Lastly, to formulate a new law for migrant workers.

But according to Houry, “to date” the committee “has failed to deliver any concrete reforms … it’s time for the Lebanese government to show real leadership and actually deliver” these promises, he said.

For more information, please see:

The Daily Star – Domestic Workers Risking Death to Flee Employers – 27 August 2008

BBC – Lebanon Maid Deaths Cause Alarm – 26 August 2008

HRW – Annex: Deaths of Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon – 26 August 2008

HRW – Lebanon: Migrant Domestic Workers Dying Every Week – 26 August 2008

By Ted Townsend
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

JUBA, Sudan – The Ugandan Government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Rebels signed a deal over the weekend. The deal will include a permanent cease-fire to the twenty-two year war that killed thousands of people and displaced another one to two million. The agreement requires one final step: agreement on the disarmament, demobilization and re-integration of the rebel fighters. The official cease-fire will go into effect once the comprehensive peace deal is signed, an event most expected to occur by next weekend. However, negotiators such as UN envoy Joaquim Chissano see this past weekend’s events as “the laying down of arms. . . the end of the war.”

Peace talks began in mid-2006 when the parties signed a cessation of hostilities agreement that required both parties to stop shooting at each other and remain with their weapons. Last week, the peace agreement talks picked up steam when the two parties reached agreements on how to prosecute alleged war criminals and how rehabilitation efforts in war-torn regions would proceed. The progress made was almost lost Friday of last week when members of the LRA stormed out of the peace talks over demands for government positions.

The cease-fire agreement creates a temporary staging area in the southern part of  Sudan where rebels will remain prior to demobilization. The area creates a buffer of six miles (ten kilometers) around the area, which will be guarded by Sudanese troops. The rebel assembly area is on the border between  Sudan and Congo, in a town called Ri-Kwangba. The town has been used previously in the talks as one of the two locations the rebels were to assemble after the initial cessation was signed in 2006. However, the government contends the rebels never honored the assembly area and roamed throughout southern Sudan causing havoc.

Further, in the agreement a provision was left for the UN to play a policing role, assisting in compliance with the cease-fire. This cease-fire has “raised expectations that up to 500,000 of the (estimated) 1.3 million internally displaced people created by 20 years of war could go home in 2008,” according to a U.N. news released. Some refugees have returned to the areas they were displaced from, but aid agencies expect the cease-fire will lead to a “mass return” once finalized.

The revolt against President Yoweri Museveni, aimed at destabilizing the government, has torn apart Northern Uganda since 1986.  The LRA became infamous for their brutal tactics and methodology, including mutilation of their victims and recruitment of child soldiers. The Acholi people of North Uganda have been especially hard hit, suffering from not only the rebel attacks and recruitment but also from rape and other abuses by the military in refugee camps.

As the talks come to a close, LRA leader Joseph Kony is still at large. Kony claimed his power from spiritual authority, and his rebels demanded the Ugandan constitution be replaced with a version of the Ten Commandments. The International Criminal Court has had an outstanding arrest warrant for Kony since 2005. The warrant charges Kony with twenty-one counts of war crimes, including sexual enslavement, rape, directing attacks against civilians, and forced enlisting of children to fight.

For more information, please see:

Washington Post.com – Voting Starts in Remote Areas – 24 February 2008 (free registration required)

International Herald Tribune – Major Step Toward Final Peace Deal in Uganda – 24 February 2008

CNN.com – Ugandan Peace Deal Looms as Rebels, Rulers Sign Cease Fire – 24 February 2008

allAfrica.com – Govt, Rebels Sign Permanent Ceasefire Agreement in Juba  – 24 February 2008

Sify.com – Uganda Signs ceasefire with rebels – 24 February 2008

Impunity Watch – Brief: Second Breakthrough in Uganda Peace Talks this Week – 22 February  2008

By Ted Townsend
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

The Sudanese government-backed attacks on local rebel groups in Darfur have displaced many people and resulted in an alarming number of missing children. A steady flow of Sudanese refugees has arrived in neighboring Chad since the February 8^th attacks, called the “worst violence in the region in months.”  They have joined the estimated 240,000 refugees already in Chad.

The attacks, carried out by local militia on horses, camels, and in trucks, were designed to eradicate Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel forces from the towns of Abu Surouj, Sirba and Seleia. While the Sudanese government claims the militia acted independently, residents say the militia was mobilized by the Sudanese army. Between twelve and thirty-thousand residents left their homes, fleeing to Chad and towns along the border.

The raids killed an estimated 100 civilians, a number the Sudanese government disputes, claiming many killed were rebels in civilian clothing.

The United Nations Refugee Agency and similar agencies have struggled to assist the refugees, many of whom are “destitute and terrified.” Aid teams are attempting to help provide basic needs, such as food and medicine, but other concerns have developed. Many children, especially boys ages 12 to 18, have gone missing. An initial UNICEF assessment showed 800 children unaccounted for. While that figure may actually be lower, the missing children and care of orphan children has become a high priority.

As aid agencies try to bring assistance to the region, those who have been displaced wonder when they can return. In the border town of Kondobe, many residents who expected to return are now revising their plans and trying to build makeshift homes for themselves. Many can still “hear shooting day and night.” The Sudanese government has also begun bombing emptied refugee camps.

A joint United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force is attempting to bring stability to the war-torn country. However, it has faced significant setbacks which include “stonewalling” from the Sudanese government.

For more information, please see:

Allafrica.com – Sudan: Hundreds of Children Mission after Darfur Attack – 14 February 2008

NY Times.com – Attacks Pushing Darfur Refugees into Chad,  – 11 February 2008

Reuters – Sudan bombs empty Darfur camp – rebels, – 18 February 2008

Reuters –Thousands of villagers flee after Darfur offensive, – 18 February 2008