By Kaitlyn Degnan Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
LONDON, UK — Mercer’s second annual “When Women Thrive” report has identified Latin America as the only region globally on track to reach gender workplace parity at the professional level by 2025.
According to the report, in Latin America, women account for 17 % of executives today, but current hiring, promotion and retention rates projects that that number will rise to 44% in 2025. Women’s representation at the professional level is 36%, rising to 49% by 2025.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet (L) and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (R). (Photo courtesy of Reuters)
The study also reports that Latin American women are twice as likely as men to be promoted from the senior manager level, and more likely to be promoted from every level.
Worldwide, women hold 28 % of profit and loss roles, breaking down to 47 % in Latin America, followed by 27 % in Asia and 25 % in Australia/New Zealand. Women only represent 22 % of profit and loss roles in the US and Canada and only 17% in Europe.
The study is based on a survey of 583 organizations in 42 countries (representing Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas), accounting for 3.2 million employees.
Pat Milligan, Mercer’s global leader of the “When Women Thrive” initiative called the under-representation of women in the workplace an “economic and social travesty.” Julia Howes, a Mercer principal involved with the project, said that although there has been focus on women at the top, the main issue is the lack of female talent pipelines.
Women are set to make up 40 % of the professional workforce by 2025. Most regions of the world “won’t even be close to gender equality” within the next 10 years.
28 January 2016 – Pro-Kremlin Russian nationalist politician, Eduard Limonov, has publicly called for the illegal rendition to Russia of UK-based Putin critic William Browder.
“The task of our special services is to catch Browder and bring him in a sack to Russia,” Eduard Limonov told to the pro-Putin news agency “Novy Den.” ?(http://newdaynews.ru/moskow/555722.html).
This is the second illegal rendition threat against Mr. Browder emanating from Russia. In the summer of 2014, Mr. Browder received a warning from the US Department of Justice of a similar Russian threat. The threat related to actions being put in place to “find” Mr Browder in London and “potentially return” him to Russia.
This most recent threat came just as Browder called on British Prime Minister Cameron to impose travel sanctions and asset freezes on senior officials in the Putin regime in response to the finding of the Russian state’s complicity in the Litvinenko murder which endangered lives of others in Britain.
In an open letter in the Guardian, William Browder said:
“You can’t undo an act of state-sponsored terrorism on British soil from 2006, but for the long-term safety and security of everyone in Britain you must act in a way that leaves no doubt that the UK government will not be cowed. You must stand firm and ensure serious consequences for anyone who dares to repeat such an atrocious act on British soil.“(http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/26/litvinenko-report-punish-russia-cameron-bill-browder)
Last month, on 15 December 2015, Russian General Prosecutor Chaika lashed out against William Browder, accusing him of working with Western special services to destabilise Russia by producing a corruption expose against the Russian General Prosecutor.
“I have absolutely no doubts that this mendacious movie has been ordered by W. Browder and intelligence services who are standing behind him… There is a global purpose – to compromise the Russian Prosecutor General, his regional subordinates, and once again to denounce our country as… the country worthy of economic and other sanctions,” said Russian General Prosecutor Chaika. (http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2876887)
By Samuel Miller Desk Reporter, North America and Oceania
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America — On Monday, President Obama announced a ban on solitary confinement for juvenile offenders in the federal prison system, stating the practice is overused and has the potential for devastating psychological consequences. President Obama said he came to his decision after a review by the Justice Department determined the practice reduces the chances that prisoners can be rehabilitated into society.
President Obama Announces Changes to the Federal Prison System. (Photo Courtesy of US News & World Report)
The reforms would affect about 10,000 inmates who are serving time in isolation in the federal system.
The department review yielded a series of recommendations and 50 guiding principles, which officials have said would aim to ensure solitary confinement was an increasingly rare punishment, to be used only as an option of last resort when inmates posed a danger to staff, other inmates or themselves. The new rules also dictate that the longest a prisoner can be punished with solitary confinement for a first offense is 60 days, rather than the current maximum of 365 days.
Obama said he would take a number of other executive actions, including banning the use of confinement as a punishment for inmates who commit low-level infractions. The president is also directing federal wardens to expand out-of-cell time for all inmates and ensure those in protective custody are housed in less restrictive conditions.
“The United States is a nation of second chances, but the experience of solitary confinement too often undercuts that second chance,” Obama wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post. “Those who do make it out often have trouble holding down jobs, reuniting with family and becoming productive members of society. Imagine having served your time and then being unable to hand change over to a customer or look your wife in the eye or hug your children.”
The President’s decision follows similar actions in some states, as leaders rethink their correctional practices for the first time in decades.
For example, California settled a landmark lawsuit last year by agreeing to an overhaul of its prison system that included strict limits on the prolonged isolation of inmates. Additionally, Colorado and New Mexico have reduced the number of people in solitary confinement.
In recent weeks, Illinois and Oregon have announced they will exclude seriously mentally ill inmates from solitary confinement, and last month New York State reached a five-year, $62 million settlement with the New York Civil Liberties Union, in which it pledged to significantly cut the number of prisoners in solitary as well as the maximum time they could stay there.
Said President Obama: “We believe that when people make mistakes, they deserve the opportunity to remake their lives. And if we can give them the hope of a better future, and a way to get back on their feet, then we will leave our children with a country that is safer, stronger and worthy of our highest ideals.”
In his final year in office, Obama has said that he’d redouble his efforts on criminal justice reform, including improving conditions in federal prisons and encouraging states to adopt new rules that hew more closely to updated research on corrections facilities.
The executive order will only apply to federal prisons; most inmates in the US, however, are held in state prisons.
By Kaitlyn Degnan Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
NEW YORK, United States — The United Nations Security Council, led by the delegation of the United Kingdom, has approved a 12 month long mission to monitor the cease-fire between the Colombian government and FARC Rebels. The resolution was unanimously adopted, and had been requested by both parties.
The United Nations Security Council votes to create UN mission to oversee Colombia cease-fire at UN Headquarters, New York City. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon was reportedly “pleased by the strong commitment Council members had shown to the peaceful resolution of the armed conflict in Colombia.
Both parties have pledged safety for the members of the mission, who will be unarmed. The mission will include experts from Latin America and Caribbean States.
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will present details of the mission within 30 days of a final agreement being signed. He will then report every 90 days on the progress of the mission.
After the initial 12 month period, the mission may be extended with the consent of the Colombian government and FARC leadership.
The move was welcomed by Colombian officials. “The Security Council’s decision means we are no longer going alone, but hand in hand with the U.N., with the entire world, toward the end of this war,” said Colombia President Juan Manual Santos.
The disarmament is tentatively scheduled to begin on March 23, though it is uncertain if a final agreement will be reached before that time. The parties have so far reached agreements in the areas of drug trafficking, land rights, and punishment for human rights violations.
Although the Colombian government has agreed to hold a public referendum to allow Colombians to vote for or against the final agreement, FARC representatives have expressed concern over this method.
The violence between government forces and FARC rebels in Colombia is said to be the longest running conflict in Latin America – lasting for over fifty years. Over 220,000 people have died and 5 million others displaced throughout the conflict.
By Samuel Miller Desk Reporter, North America and Oceania
OTTAWA, Canada — The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled on Tuesday the federal government has discriminated against First Nation children on reserves by failing to provide the same level of child welfare services that exist elsewhere. In its ruling, the tribunal found First Nations are adversely impacted by the services provided by the government and, in some cases, denied services as a result of the government’s involvement.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, Located in Ottawa. (Photo Courtesy of National Post)
The government is committing to “significantly increase” funding for First Nations child welfare programs.
In its ruling, the tribunal found that funding formula used by the federal First Nations Child and Family Services Program and related agreements with the provinces and territories have resulted in the denial of child welfare services on reserves. The tribunal also found cases in which there was a financial incentive for the government to remove children living on reserves from their parents’ care and place them in foster care, even though that’s not the standard of care off reserves.
The decision was hailed as a “win not only for First Nations but for all of Canada” by Carrier Sekani Family Services director Mary Teegee.
“If you don’t give a child a good start at life, they don’t have that good of a chance to become strong adults…and if we are not providing what they need to live up to their human potential, that’s a loss not only for Canada but for the world,” Teegee said.
The decision goes on to state the government must cease the discriminatory practice and take measures to redress and prevent it. Furthermore, it calls for the redesign of the child welfare system and its funding model, urging the use of experts to ensure First Nations are given culturally appropriate services.
The quasi-judicial body was ruling on a 2007 complaint from the Assembly of First Nations and The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada (FNCFCSC), who had argued the federal government failed to provide First Nations children the same level of services that exist elsewhere.
Funding for on-reserve child welfare services has been pegged at 22 to 34 per cent lower than for provincially-funded off-reserve counterparts, the FNCFCSC said in a press release.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said the tribunal’s ruling presents an immediate opportunity to fix the system. He said he expects to see the funding gap addressed in the upcoming federal budget.
“In this great country there is no room for discrimination and racism. To all the young children that have gone through the failed system, we want to ensure them they’re not forgotten.” Bellegarde said during a news conference.
