A Voice for the Voiceless

Darfur Peace Talks Stall as Humanitarian Crisis Worsens

By: Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – The Sudanese government announced on Thursday that it would not continue to engage in peace talks with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Darfur’s main anti-government group.   Instead, the government is planning on prosecuting JEM leaders, a move which has heightened tensions between the parties in recent days.

Ahmad Hussain Adam, a JEM representative, commented that the group had anticipated the government’s decision.  Although the government signed a framework accord with JEM in February of this year, negotiations collapsed before the two parties could form a final peace agreement.   Despite international pressure to resume peace talks, negotiations are unlikely to restart in the near future as both parties continue to point fingers at each other.

But all hopes for peace are not lost.  Although the government has vowed to take a hard-line stance toward the JEM, the government will be attending a peace conference with another anti-government group, the Liberation and Justice Movement, on June 6th.  The parties hope to come to a final agreement by the end of June however, many remain skeptical of the parties’ intentions and are concerned that the upcoming negotiations in Doha, Qatar are simply a venue for more political maneuvering.

Despite the government’s optimistic tone, tensions between the government and rebel groups continue to escalate.  The conflict in Darfur is now in its seventh year and has claimed over 300,000 lives according to estimates by the United Nations.  Another 2.7 million people have been displaced from their homes and continue to seek refuge in neighboring countries.

U.N. officials grow increasingly worried about the scope of the humanitarian crisis in the Sudan.   Conflict continues to uproot thousands of Sudanese from their homes and starvation and illness remain significant causes of death among civilians.   Many non-governmental organizations have also ceased their aid efforts in recent weeks as a result of continued fighting.   According to the United Nations News Centre, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations John Holmes, after visiting Sudan this past week, remarked that the current circumstances in Sudan have compounded into a “recipe for disaster.”  Although a peace agreement is long overdue many contentious issue must still be resolved before Sudan can start recovering from the effects of this seven year war.

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg Businessweek – Sudan Army, Rebel Groups Clash in Western Darfur, UN Says – 31 May, 2010

UN News Centre – UN Relief Chief Sounds Alarm on Darfur’s Dire Humanitarian Situation – 29 May, 2010

Al-Jazeera – Sudan Shelves Peace Talks with JEM – 27 May, 2010

Sudan Tribune – Darfur Peace Talks to Resume in June – 27, May, 2010

Brazilians Exposed to Large Quantity of Agro-toxins

Brazilian Farmers Spread Agro-toxins (photo courtesy of http://freshproducejournal.com)
Brazilian Farmers Spread Agro-toxins (photo courtesy of http://freshproducejournal.com)

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil – In recent years, Brazil has become a haven for agro-toxins that are shunned by other industrialized countries.  According to O Estado de Sao Paulo, the National Agency for Sanitary Monitoring, the United Nations and the Brazilian Development, Industry and Commerce Ministry claim that Brazilian farmers make unabridged use of ten to twelve chemicals that are specifically banned in other parts of South America, the United States, and the European Union.

While legislation currently exists to limit the use of these dangerous toxins, the government is “dragging their feet” and has failed to take appropriate actions to reassess the chemicals or take them off of the market completely.  More specifically, the government has failed to act even though many of these substances, including metamidophos, have long been associated with endocrine problems in humans.

Despite Brazil’s movement toward genetically modified crops, the use of toxins have not subsided.  In fact, recent studies have shown that more toxins have been used to treat genetically modified crops than were used to treat non-genetically modified crops.  Businesses that sells genetically modified seeds, including Bayer and Dow, are the same companies who manufacture the agro-toxins.  These companies place a great deal of pressure on Brazil to purchase the chemicals along with the genetically modified crops.

Rosany Bochner, coordinator of Brazil’s National System of Toxic-Pharmacology, fears that Brazilians are being exposed to potentially dangerous substances that the rest of the world has rejected.  Although data does not currently exist that studies the health repercussions of these agro-toxins, few deny that they will have long-term negative side-effects.

According to Researcher Frioruz Marcelo Firpo, Brazil is under mounting pressure to keep up with the world’s economy.  As pressure mounts to ban these chemicals across the world, additional pressure is being put on Brazil to purchase the toxins.

While Firpo openly acknowledges that Brazilians are paying a heavy “invisible” cost as a result of ingesting these toxins, there does not appear to be a great deal of optimism that practices will change.

For more information, please see:


Merco Press – Brazil has become a “haven” for the use of world-banned agro-toxins – 31 May 2010

O Estado de Sao Paulo – Brasil é destino de agrotóxicos banidos no exterior – 30 May 2010

Check Biotech – Uruguay and Brazil: Genetically Modified Products and Agro-toxins Go Hand in Hand-18 August 2009

State of California Denies Legally Required Accommodations to Employees Who are Deaf

By Ali Sprott-Roen
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

SAN FRANCISCO, California – California state employees who are deaf and hard-of-hearing are regularly denied sign language interpreters for meetings, job training, performance reviews, and other work-related events such as meeting with the public and clients. In addition, deaf employees have been left behind during evacuation drills as well as during real emergencies due to a  failure to provide accommodations.

Employee requested professional interpreters are often substituted by insufficient or ineffective forms of communication such as lip reading, utilizing untrained co-workers as interpreters  and  email or videophone. The state of California claims budget limitations as an attempt to justify its failure to provide reasonable accommodations.

These practices have resulted in workplace “isolation, exclusion, prejudice and overall pervasive discrimination,” according to a suit filed in the San Francisco Superior Court against the State of California.

The suit was filed by Deaf and Hard of Hearing State Workers United and has seven named plaintiffs, including one woman who works for the Office of Deaf Access at the Department of Social Services. It alleges violations of California fair employment law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation act of 1973.  It seeks improvements in state policy, while asking for no money damages. The plaintiffs hope to turn it into a class action suit on behalf of the approximately 1,500 CA state workers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

For more information, please see:

 

SFGate.com – – Deaf State Workers Sue Over Lack of Services – 22 May 2010

KTVU – – Deaf Workers Suing State Over No Accommodations – 21 May 2010

SF Weekly – – Deaf Left Behind During Emergencies, Lawsuit Says – 21 May 2010

Libya: Execution of Eighteen Foreign Nationals Condemned

African migrants captured in Libya. / Photo Courtesy of BBC 
Many African migrants enter Libya hoping to eventually reach Europe.
Photo Courtesy of BBC Archives, 2009.
 
By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
 

TRIPOLI, Libya – Human rights group Amnesty International has condemned the execution of eighteen foreign nationals in Libya. The eighteen individuals, from Chad, Egypt, and Nigeria, were executed by firing squad on Sunday. According to the Libyan newspaper Cerene, those executed had been convicted of murder. 

Amnesty International’s condemnation of the execution focused on Libya’s trial standards, which fail to satisfy international standards for fair trial.  Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:

“In Libya we fear that death sentences are handed down after proceedings which fail to satisfy international standards for fair trial.”

Cerene reported that fourteen people were executed in Tripoli, Libya’s capital, and four were executed in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city.

According to Amnesty, foreign nationals are at a disadvantage in the Libyan legal system because they do not have access to lawyers, have no access to their consular representatives, and frequently do not understand the trial proceedings, which are in Arabic. Furthermore, foreign nationals have a harder time getting their sentences commuted because they often have limited financial means, and do not possess the family networks that are necessary for successful negotiation in Libya.

Of the more than 200 people currently on death row in Libya, a disproportionate number of those waiting to be executed are foreign nationals.

Each year thousands of African migrants make their way to Libya with the hope of eventually finding passage to Europe.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Libyan executions of foreigners are condemned – 2 June 2010

AFP – Amnesty condems Libya executions – 2 June 2010

Amnesty International – Libya: Amnesty International Condemns Executions of 18 People Including Foreign Nations in Libya by Firing Squad – 1 June 2010

Over 200 Protesters Detained in Moscow and St. Petersburg During Rallies for Right To Assemble

by Yoohwan Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – On Monday, May 31 the police cracked down on hundreds of protesters in two of Russia’s largest cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg.  The protesters’ called on the authorities and government officials to respect the people’s right to freedom of assembly, as stated in Article 31 of the Russian constitution.  Since last year, Russia opposition groups have been holding rallies on the last day of each month to defend their right of assembly.

At least 1,000 people gathered in Triumfalnaya Square on Monday evening, located in central Moscow.  The protesters chanted “Disgrace,” “Freedom,” and “Russia without Putin!”  Soon after the rally began, the police intervened and violently broke up the protest.  The police knocked down some of the protesters, beat them, and dragged them along the ground to the waiting police vans.

Triumfalnaya Square was occupied again on that night by 2,000 pro-Kremlin youths, from the Young Russia and Young Guard youth groups, who were hosting a patriotic concert.  As the protesters began to gather and chant anti-government slogans, the music from the concert grew louder.  A police official stated that the police had to use force after the protesters tried to disrupt the concert and block traffic.  About 180 protesters were detained in Moscow.

Photo: Russian police violently disperse rallies [Source: Courtesy of Reuters]

Police in St. Petersburg detained approximately 100 protesters after 300 members of the banned ultra-left National Bolshevik party gathered in the city center on Monday.  Protesters chanted pro-democracy slogans, such as “Russia will be free.”

Government authorities have shown little tolerance in recent years for any kind of protests, and officials in Moscow and St. Petersburg have repeatedly banned attempts by activists and political opposition to hold rallies.  According to Alexander Averin, an activist with The Other Russia opposition coalition, rallies in support of their right of assembly were held in 40 cities throughout Russia on Monday.

Two days before the protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin voiced his support for the people’s right to protest.  He stated that public protests “don’t hinder but, on the contrary, help” the government.  In addition, Putin said that the authorities should not “create impossible conditions for the expression of freedom of speech.”  His remarks gave some activists hopes that officials and police might respond more peacefully to rallies and demonstrations.  However, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, stated that his comments were distorted by the media and do not offer anyone the license to rally.

For more information, please see:

Moscow Times – 200 Protesters Detained 2 Days After Putin Backs Rallies – 01 June 2010

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – Over 200 Arrested at Russian Rallies for Freedom of Assembly – 01 June 2010

AFP – Moscow Police Violently Break Up Protest – 31 May 2010

Reuters- Police Crush Protests as Russia-EU Summit Opens – 31 May 2010