A Voice for the Voiceless

Humanitarian Situation Worsening in Niger

By Kylie M Tsudama

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NIAMEY, Niger – Niger is in need of at least $190 million in international assistance in order to meet the food needs of its people.  In a matter of weeks that number has risen more than $65 million.

Poor harvests have left the people of Niger in desperate need of food.  Half of Niger’s population are already vulnerable to food shortages and that number only increases as food shortages increase.  Children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable and more likely to succumb to malnutrition.  Relief officials scrambled to prepare an emergency action plan.

These severe food shortages are also causing children to stop going to school.

“Because of the food insecurity that prevails in our country, cases of mass abandonment have been registered in some schools,” said a government statement.

Abandonments came specifically in the central southern Zinder region.  The government has called this a “very worrying” situation, adding that “the departures are the consequence of the exodus of families” facing this crisis.  The food crisis has had the worst impact on the Zinder region this year.

According to Oxfam International, almost 10 million people can be affected by this crisis.

Today, UN aid agencies and organizations in Niger appealed for $132 million to support West African humanitarian programs.  The total amount of aid needed is $190.7 million.  $57.8 million has already been secured, leaving a shortage of $132.9 million.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a revised emergency humanitarian action plan that estimates 4.7 million people so far have fallen victim to malnutrition.

Later this month, OCHA will conduct a comprehensive humanitarian survey, which could cause funding requirements to increase depending on the findings.

The humanitarian team in Niger has aligned its priorities with those of the government, prioritizing “food security and nutritional aid, and support in health, water, sanitation, hygiene, and logistics.”

Food shortages also fuel the country’s political instability.  Niger’s military rulers, who staged a coup and took charge in February, understand the risk of famine and are afraid that famine may disrupt future plans for elections.  The military government has appealed for international assistance.

While Lo N’Diaye and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon both acknowledge the importance and necessity of resolving the government’s political crisis, they agree that the food shortage crisis is a top priority.

“The main focus for the UN is to save lives in Niger… this support would go directly to the population and allow them to participate fully in the democratization process,” said Lo N’Diaye.

Executive Director of the UN World Food Program (WFP), Josette Sheeran, called the food crisis a “major humanitarian challenge.”

The WFP has already increased its food aid to more than double.

For more information, please see:

UN News Centre – UN Appeals for More Funds to Assist People Facing Food Crisis in Niger – 05 April 2010

AFP – Famine Closes Schools in Southern Niger – 02 April 2010

ReliefWeb – Niger Emergency Humanitarian Action Plan: Food Crisis – 02 April 2010

VOA – Humanitarian Need in Niger Growing – 31 March 2010

ReliefWeb – Press Conference by Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator on Situation in Niger – 30 March 2010

UN Dispatch – Niger: Can Political Changes Help Alleviate Food Crisis? – 26 March 2010

VOA – People in Niger Heading Toward Capital in Search of Food – 26 March 2010

Oxfam – Failed Rains Put 10 Million People at Risk of a Food Crisis Across West Africa – 17 March 2010

Ethnic Minorities in Russia Fear Retributive Backlash in Wake of Terror Attacks

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – In the aftermath of last week’s twin suicide bombings in the Moscow metro, ethnic minorities living in Russia have expressed concern over the potential for violent backlash. The Moscow-based Sova Center, which monitors racially motivated attacks, already recorded assaults on at least five members of ethnic minorities since the attacks, and estimate that the true number is much higher.

Among those attacked were three women, including a seventeen-year-old Armenian girl, and two women wearing headscarves. Galina Kozhevnikova, deputy director of the Sova Center, reported that the seventeen-year-old girl “was beaten up in the street, her hair torn, face injured, her clothes torn,” because she appeared Muslim.

Kozhevnikova also said that the number of attacks is undoubtedly higher, as minorities are often afraid to report attacks, and the police are frequently hesitant to investigate attacks.

She said: “We know that many people who don’t have a Slavic appearance have consciously avoided going out in public in the days following the attack. They are afraid of attacks.”

Recent remarks and provocative rhetoric by Russian politicians have added further fuel to fears. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged, on the day after the attacks, that the Russian government would “drag” terrorists “from the depths of the sewer.”  On Thursday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told police and security forces in Dagestan to use tougher, “more cruel” measures to fight the “scum” who are responsible for the terrorist attacks.

According to Radio Free Europe, State Duma Deputy Aleksandr Gurov claimed that concerns over ‘political correctness’ were preventing Russian authorities from effectively dealing with terrorism. He said:

“How much can we play with this so-called tolerance?”

Aleksandr Verkhovsky, director of the Sova Center, said that the “over-the-top rhetoric” by Russian politicians “is destructive.” He added: “It encourages negative emotions. This is the prime minister speaking, not some common citizen talking in the kitchen.”

Abdullah Duduyev, editor of the Chechen-language magazine “Dosh,” said that the Chechens in Moscow were “saddened” the metro bombings.

He added: “Attitudes toward us have gotten worse . . . When two Muslim women were beaten up in the metro, not a single person in the crowded wagon stuck up for them. This shows the mood of society. Stress, fear, and grief are visible on people’s faces. It is impossible to hide the aggression people feel toward outsiders.”

For more information, please see:

Hurriyet Daily News – Moscow’s minorities fear retribution in bombing’s aftermath – 2 April 2010

AP – Russia’s Medvedev promises ‘crueler measures’ – 1 April 2010

Radio Free Europe – For Moscow’s Ethnic Minorities, A Fresh Sense of Fear – 1 April 2010

Dawn.com – Fear of anti-Muslim backlash after Russia blast – 30 March 2010

Department of Homeland Security I.G. Finds 287(g) Programs Defective

By Brenda Lopez Romero
Impunity Watch reporter – North America desk

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Local and national civil rights advocacy organizations have criticized the ill-enforced 287(g) agreements between local law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  However, last Friday, the Inspector General of Department of Homeland Security released a report that confirms many of the accusation against the 287(g) programs.  287(g) agreements deputize local and state police to enforce federal immigration laws.  Currently, there are 60 counties and state law enforcement agency with signed and authorized agreements which allow the law enforcement officers to determine immigration status and detain persons for deportation proceedings.

The report concluded that the local law enforcement is ill screened, trained, and supervised.  Further, it found that the immigrants’ civil rights are being denied in some cases.  The report qualified the oversight of the program as haphazardous and significantly inconsistence.   Further, it indicated “in the absence of consistent supervision over immigration enforcement activities … there is no assurance that the program is achieving its goals.”  ICE states that the program’s priority is targeting serious criminal “aliens.”  However, the report found no process to determine whether immigrants held for deportation had violated serious criminal offenses, beyond minor traffic violations.  The report admonished that ICE cannot be assured “that resources are being appropriately targeted … [to those] who pose the greatest risk to public safety and community.”

ICE acknowledged the widespread criticism and was aware of the report’s finding for over a year ago, but the agency claims it is addressing the issues.  Richard Rocha, the agency’s spokesperson, said, “since the audit was conducted, ICE has fundamentally reformed the program … strengthening public safety and ensuring consistency in immigration enforcement across the country by prioritizing the arrest and detention of criminal aliens, fulfilling many of the report’s recommendations.”  The report recognized the agency’s changes, however, it determined the most serious concerns continue unresolved.

The report found local law enforcement was not thoroughly examined, there were inadequate background checks, given “inappropriate or unauthorized access” to intelligence, and most alarming was the perfunctory training on the basic tenets of immigration law, including asylum.  The reported stated “one officer commented that after basic training, he came away with zero knowledge of how to process a case.”

Finally the report also concluded that civil rights of immigrants were “not formally included” in the basic training nor considered in the officers performance reviews.   Now, the civil rights advocacy organizations demand the termination of all 287(g) agreements.

For more information, please see:

AlterNet – Immigration Revelations Just The Tip Of The ICEberg – April 3, 2010

Democracy Now – DHS Report Criticizes 287(g) Immigration Program – April 5, 2010

New York Times – Report Faults Training of Local Officers in Immigration Enforcement Program – April 2, 2010

Samoa In Need of Shelters for Victims of Sexual Crimes

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

APIA, Samoa – A Samoan Supreme Court judge, Vui Clarence Nelson, has called for the Samoan authorities to consider building a facility to shelter victims of sexual crimes.

Judge Nelson recently sentenced two men for raping an eight-year old girl. He made his statement to the Samoan authorities after deciding the case.

One of the men was sentenced to ten years in prison, while the other was sentenced to three years in prison. Both men pleaded guilty to raping the child.

Concern for victims of sexual crimes in the Pacific region has been raised even more after the recent event in Auckland, New Zealand. A serial rapist was convicted for brutally raping numerous women and young girls.

Justice John Priestley, who sentenced the New Zealand man to prison for 19 1/2 years, said that the “damage caused to the victims was aggravated by their cultural factors, which caused law self esteem, financial loss, lack of trust and safety, and depression.”

Many of the victims, who were young girls, attempted suicide.

The victims in this “cultural context” that Justice Priestley mentioned regard themselves as being “irretrievably damaged.” According to the statements made by the victims, the damage is enormous and in some cases permanent.

Because of the severe damage caused to women and young girls who have been victims of sexual crimes, many judges, such as Justice Priestley and Judge Nelson, and community development leaders, such as the Samoa Victim Support Group, have urged more shelters and facilities for victims of sexual crimes.

Judge Nelson stated that given the increasing number of sex crimes involving young girls, the “time has come for the appropriate authorities to consider setting up a refuge for the victims.”

The Samoa Victim Support Group reaches out to young victims and helps care for them in the aftermath of the sexual crimes. Judge Nelson commended the Samoa Victim Support Group for its efforts to care for the victims of sexual crimes.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Samoa judge calls for facility for sex crime victims – 05 April 2010

Voxy New Zealand – Rape Victims Brave to Come Forward, Says Judge – 24 March 2010

Yahoo News – Rape victims brave to come forward, says judge – 24 March 2010

Lebanese Man’s Life Spared

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– A man from Lebanon, condemned to death for witchcraft by a Saudi Arabian court, will not be beheaded on Friday as originally planned.

Ali Sabat’s execution was scheduled for Friday after noon prayers, but a Lebanese minister has assured that the execution will not take place after a frenzy of media coverage and appeals by international human rights groups.  Sabat’s lawyer, May al-Khansa, said she is still unsure whether the execution by way of beheading had been waived or simply postponed.  Said Ms. Khansa, “The minister of justice for Lebanon called me and told me that nothing would happen on Friday.  But after that I don’t have an answer as to if he will be alive or not.”

Sabat, who is a Shiite Muslim, was the host of a popular television show in which he made predictions about the future.  In 2008, he traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform a religious pilgrimage when Saudi police who accused him of practicing sorcery arrested him.

Saudi Arabia does not have a legal definition of witchcraft although horoscopes and fortune telling are condemned and considered un-Islamic.

The human rights group Amnesty International has been trying to get Saudi Arabia to cease all instances of capital punishment.  Amnesty said that Mr. Sabat seemed to have been convicted for “exercising his right to freedom of expression.”  And Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program said it was “high time the Saudi Arabian government joined the international trend towards a worldwide moratorium on executions.”

Ms. Khansa had contacted Lebanese leaders to appeal on behalf of her client.  No leaders would speak publicly, but Ms. Khansa said she was told the Lebanese government did lobby for the release of Mr. Sabat.

Like in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon has a law against witchcraft.  In Lebanon, however, witchcraft is only considered to be a misdemeanor, punishable by at most a few months in jail.  The death penalty is also still legal in Lebanon, but used sparingly.

For more information, please see:

BBC News- Saudi ‘Reprieve’ in Sorcery Case– 2 April 2010

Los Angeles Times- Saudi Arabia: Factional Politics May be at Heart of Legal Dispute Over Psychic’s Fate– 2 April 2010

Voice of America- Beheading of Man in Saudi Arabia for Witchcraft Averted– 2 April 2010