New Report -Thousands of Indian Women Dying in Childbirth


By Megan E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

LUCKNOW, India- A report released on October 7, “No Tally of the Anguish: Accountability in Maternal Health Care in India,” reveals that tens of thousands of women and girls in India are dying during pregnancy, childbirth, and the weeks that follow. Human rights activists are concerned with this finding which suggests that government programs that guarantee free obstetric health care are unsuccessful in their efforts.

Family mourns death of adolesent girl who died after giving birth. Courtesy of Care2.

The research for the report was conducted between November 2008 and August 2009 by the Human Rights Watch included field research and interviews with victims, families, medical experts, officials and human rights activists in Uttar Pradesh (located in Northern India) and surrounding areas. Researchers reviewed government surveys and reports by local and international nongovernmental organizations. The area was selected because it has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in India, though government surveys show it is not alone in struggling with these problems, including recordation errors such as statistics indicating the number of women actually dying from pregnancy related complications.

The report includes breakdowns that show how specific cases were failures and the result that occurred. For instance, Kavita K. is tracked in the report and indicates that she developed post-partum complications, that the local community health center was unable to treat her. Testimony from her father, Suraj S. was also included, in which he states that the family tried to bring her to three different governmental hospitals, but none wanted to admit her. The fourth hospital took Kavita in as a patient, but an hour after treatment she died.

While India has created programs such as, the National Rural Health Mission, to improve rural health, with a specific focus on maternal health, the report illustrates the shortcomings and gaps in these governmental sponsored programs. The “concrete service guarantees,” including free care before and during childbirth, in-patient hospital services, comprehensive emergency obstetric care, referral in case of complications, and postnatal care clearly is not reaching the tens of thousands of Indian women and girls still dying from these and related child birthing complications. One of the biggest criticisms is accountability.

2009 Peace Summit Highlights the Cost of War in Colombia

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Organizations representing under-served sectors of the Colombian population and a group of thirty-one experts and activists from twenty countries met for a peace summit created by Bogotá’s leftists mayor and Father Francisco de Roux, head of the Jesuit Order in Colombia. Throughout the four day summit, experts made proposals for resolving the current humanitarian crisis and the armed conflict in Colombia.

The summit was created to spawn a “citizens’ movement” for peace, and culminates with the adoption of the “Bogota Manifesto for World Peace” and the presentation of a petition to nominate the indigenous communities from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains for a Nobel Peace Prize.  The meeting was held in Colombia because, according to Bogotá Mayor Zaragoza, in Colombia “force needs to be replaced with words and negotiation.”

Colombia has been in a state of civil war for almost fifty years and the day that the Summit began, twenty-six FARC guerrillas were killed in a bomb attack by the air force and the army in the central province of Tolima.  An undetermined number of peasant families were killed trying to flee the attack.

Civilians are often trapped in the crossfire, accused of siding with either side of the conflict and rights organizations estimate that approximately ten percent of the population of Colombia has been displaced by the war. Despite this, Colombia is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the americas and the third largest recipient in the world, receiving more than five billion dollars since 2000.

The activities of indigenous “peace communities” were highlighted at the summit. Videos showed the suffering that the people from San José de Apartadó, Tiquisio, Cavida and Toribio had endured over the last two decades. This included “mass murders, displacement, years living in places like stadiums and later the return (to their village) as a peace community, where (they) have faced forced disappearance and harassment.” Peace communities have declared themselves neutral in all armed conflict.

A principle concern among experts and citizens is the proliferation of military power in Colombia and globally occurring alongside situations of extreme poverty. “We have to fight to assure a progressive change from this unbridled, disproportionate military spending to investment in a renewable energy and food production”, said Bogotá Mayor Zaragoza.

Experts recognized American President Barack Obama’s decision to cancel the anti-missile shield project in Europe and to take the lead in nuclear disarmament as a vital step towards peace. However, concern remains over the use of Colombian military bases by U.S. soldiers.

Experts in attendance urged the world to recognize that such steps towards toward peace will facilitate a shift towards sustainable world development, via the United Nations and a multilateral system in which all countries, not only the most powerful, are taken into account.

Mayor Zaragoza stated that, “we will build peace, because it is the greatest legacy that we now have to bequeath to future generations.”

For more information, please see:

IPS: COLOMBIA: Talking About Peace in the Middle of War – 5 October 2009

Pressenza – The World Peace Summit Condemns the “Colossal Military Expenditure Throughout the World – 11 October 2009

La Cumbre Mundial – La Cumbre Mundial de Paz Reúne en Bogotá a Expertos y Activistas de 20 Paises – 30 September 2009

Election Reform Needed in Kenya to Eliminate Post-Election Violence

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan went to Nairobi to assess the status of implementing agreements made during the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation (KNDR) process.  There he met with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga in Kenya to discuss, in particular, those institutional reforms under Agenda Item Four dealing with land reforms, ending poverty, employment and historical adjustments.

His visit comes as Kenya is facing increased international pressure because of its slow response in implementing agreed reforms.

Both President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga signed a power-sharing deal to end last year’s bloodbath.  They have both expressed their commitment to introducing necessary reforms to the country.  Annan said he is encouraged by their commitment.

Annan was instrumental in mediating an end to last year’s violence.  He has said that the country should form a local tribunal to try the suspected perpetrators.  He believes that this would require both a Kenyan court and the International Criminal Court (ICC).  The President and the Prime Minister, however, believe that this would only require the ICC and not a Kenyan court.

While the President and Prime Minister have made progress toward implementing the reforms, Annan said “the pace of the reforms must be accelerated.”

“Kenya cannot afford a recurrence of the crisis and violence that engulfed it after the 2007 elections.  But that is a serious risk if tangible reform is not achieved,” he said.  “Kenyans are concerned that the window of opportunity to deliver reform is rapidly closing.”  He continued, “Kenyans who are normally patient people are beginning to doubt whether their leaders can deliver.”

Violence last year was sparked by accusations that Odinga rigged the election so that Kibaki would win reelection.  What started as political violence turned into tribal killings based on poverty, long-held ethnic hatred, and unresolved land disputes.  It left 1,200 dead and another 350,000 displaced.

“My conversations with Kenyans during the last three days have underscored that there is a crisis of confidence in Kenya’s political leadership,” Annan said.

He believes that of reforms are not quickly implemented the next round of violence would not be committed with spears an machetes as usual but with firearms.  He warns that the 2012 elections are quickly approaching.

“[The nation] cannot afford another cycle of violence,” Annan said.

For more information, please see:

AFP – ‘Serious Risk’ of Fresh Kenya Unrest id no Reforms: Annan – 08 October 2009

The Standard – Follow-up Visit by Chief Mediator Shows Kenya Still on the Radar – 08 October 2009

VOA – Kenya Warned of Future Poll Violence – 08 October 2009

AP – Annan: Kenya Postelection Violence Tribunal Needed – 07 October 2009

Xinhua – Former UN Chief Lauds Talks with Kenyan Leaders – 06 October 2009

Displaced Kenyans Reluctant to Leave Safe Camps

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – Despite the deadline for the Internally Displaced Persons to leave the camp in Eldoret, many residents are reluctant to leave because they have no where else to go.

Just two weeks ago, President Mwai Kibaki ordered the closure of the camp at the agricultural showground in the town of Eldoret, which at at time housed over 500,000 people.  Currently, less than 2,000 people remain.

Each family has been offered 35,000 Kenyan shillings (about $470) for leaving.  But in order to receive the money they have to dismantle their tent.  Sources say that these “tents” are leaky structures made out of pieces of plastic sheeting and old sacks.

Many Kenyans do not want to leave the camp because they fear returning to the communities from where they were chased.  They would prefer to be given a large piece of land so they can all settle somewhere else together because safety in numbers is the preferred security option.

Without the land, many don’t know where to go once they leave.

“The government says you can’t be given that money unless you pull down the tent.  But if you pull down the tent you don’t have anywhere to go.  So you are confused,” says Elizabeth Wanja who is from the Kikuyu ethnic group that fled attacks from Kalenjin neighbors.

The Kikuyus were viewed as supporters of President Kibaki, who is from their community.  In their protest against President Kibaki’s controversial election in December 2007, their community was attacked by rivals.

This camp in Eldoret is the only internally displaced person (IDP) camp left in Kenya.  Naomi Shaban, the minster for special programs assures the public that the possibility of IDPs being forcefully removed from the camp once the deadline has expired is unlikely.

“The government is still in the process of acquiring land to settle the IDPs on.  I don’t think the process could have been done any faster as it is an extremely complicated exercise,” she added.

An 11-year-old girl, Sonny, remembers the day she fled her home recalling her father being brutally murdered and “slashed like grass.”

“They burnt our house.  They killed my  father . . . We cannot go anywhere because we need somewhere we can stay.  President Mwai Kibaki said they will give us land.  I have not seen the land yet,” said Sonny.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Kenyans Not Ready to Leave Camps – 9 October 2009

Capital News – Kenya IDPs Remain Adamant – 9 October 2009

UPI – Displaced Kenyans Not Ready to Return Home – 9 October 2009


Slow Response to Syrian Drought Causes Angst for Thousands

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria–  With a severe and persistent drought in northeast Syria entering its third year, the United Nations (UN) is gearing up to deliver some much needed assistance. However, the international community has not come up with the necessary funds, due in large part to Syria’s tense diplomatic relations with other countries.

In the three years since the drought has begun, more than 300,000 Syrians have been forced to leave their homes.  In addition to the drought, the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Syria has caused a considerable strain on the Syrian infrastructure.

As a result, many of these families have left behind the close knit communities to which they once belonged.  Crime rates are on the rise and the level of poverty has grown exponentially.  Many of these families have settled in and around Damascus, where they can be seen seeking shelter in makeshift tents, consequently creating new pockets of urban poverty.  Furthermore, the dropout rate of displaced children has skyrocketed in the past year.  Moreover, for those families that remain in the drought stricken area, drinking water is drying up, and unclean water sources heighten the risk for disease, especially as many people’s sustenance is bread and sugared tea.

Despite efforts to aid those affected by the drought, Syria is having significant difficulties.  Syria’s relationship with some western and Arab countries is still burdened by lack of agreement on a number of regional issues.  As a result, relief funds have been largely non-existent.  Last year, when the UN issued an emergency appeal for aid money, they were only able to raise nineteen percent of the funds they sought.  Despite the lack of contribution, the UN is moving full steam ahead.  They are seeking $53 million (US dollars) in emergency funds, but have yet to receive any money.

Many hope these measures taken by the UN can stall future migration.  They further hope that a long term plan can be implemented to encourage displaced persons to return to their lands.  However, such a plan may not be feasible until Syrian relations improve with other countries and aid money is donated.

For more information, please see:

Financial Times- UN Warns of Slow Response to ‘Disaster’ Caused by Syria’s Drought– 9 October 2009

Assyrian International News Agency- UN Warns Over Syria Drought ‘Disaster’– 8 October 2009

BBC News- Villages Struggle in Syria Drought– 7 October 2009