South Sudanese Asylum Seekers Asked To Leave Israel

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel – On Wednesday, 31 January, Israel announced its plan to deport South Sudanese asylum seekers if they do not voluntarily leave the country by March 31, 2012.  If these asylum seekers leave before this deadline, they will receive a plane ticket home and a $1,300 grant.

South Sudanese asylum seekers outside their home in Tel Aviv. (Photo Courtesy of Haartez)

The Israeli Interior Ministry’s press statement said, “Now that South Sudan has become an independent state, it is time for you to return to your homeland.  While it is not a simple move, the State of Israel is committed to helping those who wish to return voluntarily in the near future.”  In July 2011, South Sudan became an independent state and a member of the United Nations.

Israel’s South Sudanese community was angry and confused about the government’s decision.  Matthew Deng, a pastor of two South Sudanese churches located outside Tel Aviv, commented, “South Sudan is dealing with many issues, how can people go back now?  We don’t even have hospitals, schools – nothing…All we have is what is in [the capital] Juba.”

The Israeli government will advertise the grant offer to the South Sudanese people via media broadcasts and leaflet distribution.

The United Nation’s High Commission on Refugees’ William Tall said in order for Israel to act consistent with its signed agreements regarding asylum seekers, the country must screen asylum applications individually to evaluate if the South Sudanese applicants are genuine refugees.

In December 2011, Israel’s Population, Immigration, and Borders Authority (“PIBA”) reported of the 51,125 African asylum seekers and economic migrants throughout Israel, 13,066 people are from South Sudan.  Since 2005, paid smugglers have assisted Africans sneak into Israel through its border with Egypt’s Siani desert.  Last month, the interior minister documented 2,295 people entered Israel through this border.

People fleeing persecution and abuse from Sudan and Eritrea find Israel attractive because the country offers them safety and employment opportunities.  Since many migrants live in the poor southern neighborhoods of Tel Aviv, the Israelis call the area “little Africa”.

The Israelis struggle with how to approach the influx of migrants.  Recognizing their country developed from the Nazi genocide of Jews, some Israelis do not want to turn people escaping prosecution away.  However, others want to maintain their country’s Jewish character without the social and economic burden associated with migrants.

Presently, Israel is developing a 150-mile fence along its border with Egypt, threatening harsh punishment on people to assisting illegal migrants, and enlarging its detention facility to combat the influx of illegal immigration.

Orit Marom of the Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel (“ASSAF”) said the people need a year or two to prepare to return to South Sudan.  Mr. Deng added the members of his community want to return to South Sudan, but they want to wait “until South Sudan is ready.”

For further information, please see:

The Jerusalem Post –South Sudanese Distressed By Looming Deportations – 2 Feb 2012

The Jerusalem Post – 2,295 Illegal African Migrants Enter Israel In January – 1 Feb 2012

Arutz Sheva – Israel Offers Assistance Basket For Departing Sudanese – 31 Jan 2012

The Boston Globe – Israel Says It Will Deport South Sudanese Migrants – 31 Jan 2012

Ecuador Continues Campaign to Close Rehabilitation Clinics Using Torture to “Cure Homosexuality”

by Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador – Recent revelations have exposed the reality of homosexuality rehabilitation centers throughout Ecuador.  Past patients of various clinics are coming forward and exposing the torture and abuse they endured in attempts to be “cured” of their homosexuality.

Rehabilitation centers in Ecuador are being shut down for trying to modify sexuality. (Photo courtesy of Queerlife South Africa)

Paola Concha, a 28-year-old woman was placed in one of these clinics by her family back in December of 2006.  Her family, who were not in support of her sexuality, had contacted a clinic called Puente a la Vida (Bridge to Life) that was promising to cure Concha of her homosexuality.

Concha was accosted at her house by workers from the clinic.  She was handcuffed, beaten and forcibly taken to the clinic which is located on the outskirts of Quito.  Over her three month stay at the clinic Concha was sytematically tortured in an attempt to “rehabilitate” her.

“I was kept in handcuffs for more than three months. I would be left without food for more than three or four days. They would handcuff me in a bathroom to a toilet bowl facing a toilet that was used by 60 people at the center,” said Concha.

Patients at other clinics have released stories similar to Concha’s.  Paula Zirritt said that she was held at a clinic in sexual reorientation clinic in Guayaqui for two years.  Zirrit remembers being kept in cuffs and that the guards would throw urine and ice water on her.  Others have stated they endured both sexual and physical abuse at these clinics.

CNN reports that they visited the Puente a la Vida clinic recently, in December.  A director at the clinic denied that they were attempting to change the sexual orientation of patients.  He maintained the clinic’s goal was to “modify inadequate behaviors that are causing a particular individual to take inadequate attitudes.”      

Ecuador’s health ministry officials are taking steps to address the situation.  The government has released statements that they will actively investigate and shut down all clinics attempting to change individual’s sexual preferences.  The difficulty lies in the fact that many of these clinics are hiding themselves as alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers. 

This assertive campaign by the government follows a petition that garnered over 100,000 signatures around the world.  The petition was set up on the website change.org and called for Ecuador’s Minister of Health to take action against these clinics.  Since September of this year, roughly 30 of these “torture” clinics have been shut down.

Earlier this week a new Health Minister was appointed by President Rafael Correa.  Carina Vance Mafla is the new minister.  She is the former executive director for the gay rights group, Fundación Causana and an active gay rights activist. 

 

For more information, please see;

The Washington Post – Ecuador’s Government to Crack Down on Clinics Found Using Coercion to “Cure” Homosexuals – 26 January 2012

CNN – Ecuadorian Clinics Allegedly Use Abuse to Cure Homosexuality – 25 January 2012

MSNBC – Rights Groups Hail Ecuador’s Crackdown on Lesbian “Torture Clinics” – 25 January 2012

Change.org – Victory!  Ecuador Ministry of Health Investigates and Closes Ex-Gay Torture Clinics – 23 January 2012

Box Turtle Bulletin – Ecuador Closes 30 Ex-Gay Clinics – 12 September 2011

UAE Publishes Video to “Cure” Homosexuality

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – The United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) produced a six-minute video entitled “Be Yourself” to cure gay men of homosexuality.  This “tutorial” posted by the government last week on YouTube shocked the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

A scene from "Be Yourself", the UAE produced film. (Photo Courtesy of Instinct Magazine)

Link to the UAE film \”Be Yourself\”.

Set in a typical suburban area in the UAE, the video tells the story of five young men: Rashid Al-Muaini, Majid Al-Muaini, Ali Al-Ghaithi, James Al-Ghaithi, and Mohammed Eissa.  Two of the characters dressed in traditional Emirati greet a third character in a t-shirt and jeans.  In his apparent shy and effeminate manner, he says “Hi guys” to the other characters in a high-pitched voice while he plays with his long hair and daintily shakes their hands.

The final two characters wearing western-style clothing join the trio and greet them in a masculine manner.  The effeminate character receives an invitation to join the other characters in an adjacent villa.   In the villa, the men tell the effeminate character he needs to change his personality.  He agrees.

As part of his straight makeover, the effeminate man mimics manly gestures.  The other men scrub his hands and face, and they cut his hair and nails.  When the newly masculine man departs, he says “Bye guys” in a high-pitched voice.  The men slap him and command him to thicken his voice.

Once the makeover concludes, the men appear pleased and proud of their work.  They also thank Allah for enabling the man’s “change.”

24-year-old founder of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Rights UAE Abdullah responded the video “angers me to no end, but it also saddens me.”  The video reminded him of hot afternoons when he was a teenager.  He forcibly observed men interacting or drinking coffee, so he could mimic them and make his father proud.

The UAE has enacted federal legislation that prohibits homosexual acts throughout the country.  The country can punish men engaging in consensual sodomy with fines, ten to fourteen years in prison, deportation, flogging, or death.

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual Rights UAE activist network informed the Canadian Prime Minister and Human Rights Minister, the United Nations, and various media outlets of the continued persecution their community faces.  For example, the network stated UAE officials used hormonal treatments to “cure” homosexuals.

Dubai resident and gay activist Omar said, “This is the only way to enable our rights as citizens because activism on the ground here will lead to our arrest and jailing.  We struggle.”

For further information, please see,

Albawaba  – UAE Gay “Cure” Video Causes Sting in LGBT Community – 31 Jan 2012

International Business Times – Gay Man ‘Cure Video’ Sparks Outrage in UAE – 31 Jan 2012

Huffington Post – United Arab Emirates’ ‘Be Yourself’ Video Shows Gay Men Being ‘Cured’ of Homosexuality – 30 Jan 2012

Pink News – Video: UAE ‘Straight Makeover’ Video Slammed – 30 Jan 2012

2nd Journalist in Six Weeks Killed in Somalia

By Tamara Alfred
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

Hassan Osman Abdi, 29, was shot outside his home in Mogadishu on Saturday and died on the way to the hospital.  Abdi was the director of Shabelle Media Network and had done some freelance work for CNN, according to the National Union of Somali Journalist (NUSOJ) and Reporters Without Borders.

Hassan Osman Abdi is the second journalist to be killed in the last six months in Somalia. (Photo Courtesy of Shabelle Media Network.)

“This is a terrible tragedy, both for Hassan Osman Abdi’s family and for the Somali journalist community,” said Omar Faruk Osman, secretary general of the NUSOJ.

Abdi is the third Shabelle Media Network director to be murdered, said Reporters Without Borders.  Shabelle Media Network director Bashir Nur Gedi was murdered in 2007, and his successor Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe was killed in 2009.  Local journalists believe that Abdi was likely killed because of his role in reporting on politics and corruption cases.

Abdi’s colleagues and friends told the Associated Press they were too scared to attend his funeral because militants in Somalia have targeted such gatherings in the past.

Journalist Mohamed Bashir Hashi, 23, read a death threat sent to his mobile phone: “If God wills it, you will be the next apostate to be killed.”

“Deciding to stay here is so discouraging,” said Hashi.  “We can’t even pay respects to our fallen colleague since al-Shabaab is threatening us.”

Somalia is the deadliest country in Africa for media personnel, and Mogadishu ranked as one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists in 2011, according to Reporters Without Borders.  In 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists ranked Somalia as the most dangerous for journalists when nine journalists were killed.

Abdi’s murder was the second targeted killing of a Somali journalist in less than two months.  Abdisalan Sheik Hassan, a journalist with Horn Cable TV, was shot dead in December.

“We trusted the situation would improve but it’s getting worse now.  Nowhere is safe,” said Mu’awiye Ahmed, a producer and photographer at Horn Cable TV.  However, he vowed to continue working: “They can’t prevent me from my work.”

Amnesty International is urging the international community to call on the Somali authorities to bring to justice those responsible for the attacks on journalists.  “The numerous attacks on journalists in Somalia have been part of an attempt to silence reporting about human rights abuses by all parties to the conflict in the country,” said Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International’s Director for Africa.

A major international conference on Somalia will take place in London on February 23.  Meanwhile, Somalia’s president strongly condemned the killing of a leading journalist as a “senseless murder,” suggesting that Al-Shabaab may have been responsible.  In a statement, President Sharif Ahmed condemned and expressed grief and sorrow at the murder.  He also urged the public to help the police investigate the killing.

“It has long been the strategy of groups like Al-Shabaab to target public figures in our society with the aim of spreading fear and panic,” said President Ahmed.  “We will not be intimidated or threatened by such odious acts.”

Minister of Information Abdulkadir Hussein Mohamed Jaahweyne called the killing an “outrageous assassination.”  He called Shabelle “one of the most important and pioneering media houses serving the country.”

Shabelle is one of Mogadishu’s most popular radio stations.  It frequently reports on government corruption, abuses by al-Shabaab militants against civilians, and extortion by government troops.

Al-Shabaab appeared to claim responsibility for Abdi’s death, saying on its website that the killing would serve as a “lesson” to other journalists.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Somalia: Journalist killing highlights need for international action on impunity – 30 January 2012

The Washington Post – Fear in Somalia’s journalist community after 2nd killing in less than 2 months – 30 January 2012

CNN – Somalia president decries journalist killing – 29 January 2012

 

Mexican Ambassador and Wife Kidnapped in Venezuela

By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela  — Mexico’s ambassador to Venezuela, Carlos Pujalte, and his wife were kidnapped by armed men on Sunday night and then released four hours later. Pujalte’s abduction is a troublesome trend in the recent string of high-profile kidnappings in Venezuela, a country now considered one of the most dangerous in Latin America.

Police officials inspect the car of Mexico"s ambassador to Venezuela in Caracas. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters).

Pujalte’s and his wife were leaving a reception in a wealthy Caracas neighborhood on Sunday night when four armed men seized them in their car and held them for four hours before safely releasing them in a slum before dawn on Monday. The kidnapping has been dubbed an “express kidnapping” because of it’s short duration. In express kidnappings, abductors hold their victims for a short period of time for lower ransom demands or simply to rob the victims.

The details surrounding the kidnapping and if any ransom was paid remain unsealed by Venezuelan authorities. According to the Venezuela’s government, security forces launched an operation which forced the armed men to free the Pujaltes. The vehicle used for the kidnapping was found in another part of the city.

Pujalte’s kidnapping highlights a troublesome trend in Venezuela where violent crime is routinely named a top concern for Venezuelans. Leaked government reports have shown that since President Hugo Chavez first took office 13 years ago, crime has surged with the number of murders per year doubling since 1999. According to Venezuelan Violence Observatory, a non-profit organization, at least 19,336 people were killed in Venezuela last year.

Pujalte is the seventh foreign officer who has been held hostage in less than one-year term. Last November, Chilean consul, Juan Carlos Fernandez, was kidnapped in Caracas and severely injured by his abductors before being released. Within the same week, Major League Baseball player, Wilson Ramos was kidnapped during his visit home and released two days later with the help of Venezuelan security forces.

Chavez, who is seeking his third six-year term, denies that crime in Venezuela has increased since he first took office, and instead, blames high crime rates on historical roots of lawlessness dating back to the administration of former President Carlos Andres Perez in the late 1980s.

Despite souring crime rates and violent crime being a top issue for Venezuelans, a recent poll by the local Hinterlaces company shows that Chavez’s approval rating remains high. As of recently, Chavez has a 64 percent approval rating, with 50 percent of those surveyed saying they would vote for him again in the up-coming presidential elections.

“Chavez supporters have a strong emotional attachment to him and this has led some of them to fail to assess the situation objectively despite the statistics and the growing evidence of the government’s responsibility (for the crime problem),” says Diego Moya-Ocampos, a Venezuelan analyst of the IHS Global Insight thinktank.

 

For further information, please see:

El Universal – Seven Kidnapped Diplomats in One Year in Venezuela – 31 January 2012

CNN – Officials: Mexico’s Ambassador to Venezuela Kidnapped, Freed – 30 January 2011

CBS News – Mexican Ambassador in Venezuela Kidnap Drama – 30 January 2012

Reuters – Mexican Envoy Kidnapped, Freed in Venezuela – 30 January 2012

The Wall Street Journal  – Mexico Envoy to Venezuela Free After Kidnapping – 30 January 2012