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Female Genital Mutilation Remains Widespread Practice Among Iraqi Kurds

By Dallas Steele
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Kurdish Girls and Women are at Risk of Forced Female Circumcisions. (Photo Courtesy of CNN)
Kurdish girls and women remain at risk of receiving forced circumcisions. (Photo Courtesy of AFP)

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq– In the autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan, female circumcision continues to occur, and has become increasingly prevalent in the last decade. The procedure, medically known as clitoridectomy, involves the partial or total removal of the clitoris.

In Kurdistan, the operation is typically performed by individuals who have not received medical training, and often conducted with an unsantized razor blade. The practice, which is neither mandated by Islam nor found in the Koran, is intended to deprive young girls and women of any sexual urges or desires in order to preserve their fidelity.

Although the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) does not keep statistics on female circumcisions or post-operative medical consequences, it is believed that at least forty percent of girls and women in Iraq’s Kurdistan region have undergone the procedure. Other studies have found that up to eighty percent of women fourteen years of age and older have had at least a partial clitoridectomy.

The KRG has received increasing pressure to enact legislation banning the practice on young girls and unconsenting adult women. The KRG’s Justice Ministry circulated an order in 2007 announcing that it would arrest and punish any practitioners of female genital mutilation. Furthermore, a draft law banning the practice was enacted by the Kurdistan Regional Parliament in 2007.  However, both efforts by the KRG to suppress the practice have largely been ignored.  

Kurdish women who have undergone the procedure have testified to the damaging effects that procedure has, physically and mentally. Baxcha A., a twenty-two-year-old married woman, relayed her nightmarish experience to members of Human Rights Watch as they conducted a survey on the topic in 2009. Baxcha told the advocacy organization how, at the age of five, she was held to the ground, and was forced to undergo the surgery. Baxcha reported that she only given water and ash to place on the wound after the procedure.

Human Rights Watch, and other human rights groups, have called on Kurdish authorities to outlaw the practice and enforce a ban on female genital mutilation. Kurdish officials have responded by downplaying the statistics of various studies concerning female circumcision in the area. Furthermore, Mariwan Naqshbandi, spokesman for Kurdistan’s Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs, has dismissed the surveys and stated that Kurdistan has “issues far more important” to confront than female genital mutilation.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Human rights group urges Kurds to ban female circumcision – 17 June 2010

BBC – HRW presses Iraqi Kurds to ban female circumcision – 16 June 2010

The New York Times – Kurdistan Is Urged to Ban Genital Cutting – 16 June 2010

U.S. Sponsors Mexican Drug Cartels

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                   Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

Masked police officers outside of a Ciudad Juarez, Mexico drug rehabilitation center after gunmen killed 17 last September. Photo courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – The above accusation came just two days ago from Mexican President Calderon in a video address to his nation while attending the World Cup. The Washington Post reports that President Calderon indicated Mexico’s deadly drug war stemmed directly from the fact that their neighboring country is “the biggest drug addict in the world,” feeding cartels with billions of dollars which have made them rich and bold.  He asked Mexicans to continue to support his effort to rid the country of drugs despite armed resistance from local cartels. Over 23,000 have died since President Calderon declared a war on drugs in 2006.

In the past 5 days, hundreds have fallen victim to the drug war which has resulted in targeted killings of police, drug addicts and young children. This past Tuesday, Mexican police raided a home after acting on a tip in Taxco, a popular tourist town. The Mexican army’s firefight with the suspected drug cartel resulted in the deaths of 14 gunmen. Earlier this week, armed gunmen set a bus on fire to act as a blockade on a major highway, ambushing 12 federal police officers and wounding 8. Thursday, a local drug rehabilitation center in Chihuahua was hit by two dozen armed gunmen. After being thrown to the floor, 19 of its patrons were killed execution style. One teenager was able to call his mother on his cell phone, being heard crying out, “Mommy, they’vecome to kill us!” The victims ages ranged from 16-63. In Mexico, patients at local rehabilitation centers are often low level workers in the drug trade. President Calderon issued another statement Thursday from Johannesburg condemning the gunmen’s “barbaric acts,” the Washington Post reports.

In an effort to terrorize, drug cartels have also been responsible for many kidnappings throughout Mexico. Since 2006, kidnappings have exploded with approximately 2,450 taking place within three years of President Calderon taking office. High ranking officials, wealthy businessmen and ransom experts are among the many casualties. Just eight days after the kidnapping of former presidential candidate Diego Fernandez de Cevallos in May, authorities suspended their investigation pending an alleged willingness to pay ransom by his family. A public outcry ensued, as many believe the government is backtracking on its promise to end the popular tactic by prohibiting ransom payments to criminals.

Just across the border from El Paso in Ciudad Juarez, about eight people are killed each day from drug related violence and almost 1,200 deaths havebeen reported in the city this year alone. Mexican newspapers keep running tallies of the drug related violence’s victims reporting that 85 deaths occurred in a 24 hour period last week, a record high. Experts estimate that anywhere from $10-$25 billion dollars flow from the United States to Mexico as a result of the drug trade.

For More Information Please See:

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/…/AR2010061503174.html

 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704463504575300920373347404.html?KEYWORDS=mexico

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703280004575308730570231438.html?KEYWORDS=mexico

Kyrgyzstan Ethnic War Erupts From Politically Funded Massacres

David L. Chaplin II
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

OSH, Kyrgyzstan – Unmitigated violence, resulting in a significant death toll, has engulfed Kyrgyzstan.   The hostilities stem from a breakdown in government and effective security forces outside of Bishkek which precipitated quickly into a crisis waiting to happen, again. Similar violence was seen 20 years prior in 1990, where more than 300 people died during clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks over land ownership near Osh. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was forced to send in troops to quell the violence.

Kyrgyzstan vigilantes rampage government buildings with Crimson Kyrgyz flags in hand
Kyrgyzstan vigilantes rampage government buildings with Crimson Kyrgyz flags

The U.N. has found evidence of bloody intent behind the chaos in Kyrgyzstan, which continues to kill hundreds and leaves the nation’s second-biggest city a smoldering ruin.  Political violence has also sent more than 100,000 ethnic Uzbeks fleeing.  The declaration by the U.N. that the fighting was “orchestrated, targeted and well-planned” – set off by organized groups of gunmen in ski masks – bolsters government claims that hired attackers marauded through Osh, shooting at both Kyrgyz and Uzbeks to inflame old tensions.

Bakiev’s removal from power on April 7 after bloody clashes between police and protesters in the capital, Bishkek, has ignited old grievances between ethnic Kyrgyz and the minority Uzbek population.  Opposition leaders had accused Bakiev of corruption and consolidating power by keeping key economic and security posts in the hands of relatives or close associates.

The focal point of the current violence has been the south of the country, where Bakiev enjoys the bulk of his backing and where his supporters have sought to undermine the provisional administration in Bishkek led by Roza Otunbayeva.

“Well-armed people who were obviously well prepared for this conflict were shooting at us,” said Teymurat Yuldashev, 26, who had bullet wounds of different calibers in his arm and chest. “They were organized, with weapons, militants and snipers. They simply destroyed us.”

Over 200,000 Uzbeks have fled for their lives to neighboring Uzbekistan, and tens of thousands more, most of them women and children, were camped on the Kyrgyz side or stranded behind barbed-wire fences in a no man’s land where reports of rape and brutal beating consumes them.

A state of emergency has been declared in both Osh as well as the city of Jalal-Abad where the violence has now spread, with police given the authority to shoot to kill.

With more than 200,000 ethnic Uzbeks streaming into camps in neighboring Uzbekistan, according to the Uzbek foreign ministry, there has been a prompting to close a number of border crossings and ask for international assistance.

Fears mount as Uzbekistan may be forced to intervene militarily if the death toll across the border continues to climb, leading to further instability in Kyrgyzstan.  Other countries which border Kyrgyzstan, including China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, will also fear being drawn into the crisis.

Until the new central government has gained legitimacy in all the Kyrgyz Republic’s regions through free and fair elections in October, and equal distribution of land and property it is likely that there will be further unrest and possible deaths.  For its part, the interim government accuses Bakiev and his supporters of orchestrating the violence, a charge he denies.

For more information, please see:

CNN World – Concern over refugees grows as calm falls on Kyrgyzstan – 16 June 2010

Al Jazeera English – Kyrgyzstan toll ‘could be higher – 16 June 2010

The Huffington Post – Kyrgyz Violence: Red Cross Says ‘Several Hundred’ Killed In Ethnic Fighting – 15 June 2010

Rome Statute Review Conference Concludes, Making Important Progress

Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, President of the Assembly of States Parties, closing the Review Conference courtesy of www.icc-cpi.int
Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, President of the Assembly of States Parties, closing the Review Conference courtesy of www.icc-cpi.int

By Celeste Little

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa


KAMPALA, Uganda-Though fifteen hundred to two thousand delegates were expected, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Rome Statute Review Conference in Kampala, Uganda concluded on Friday, welcoming 4600 representatives of states, intergovernmental and nongovernmental agencies.

The conference spanned two weeks and though it covered many issues that were central to the functioning of the ICC, its primary focus was to define the crime of aggression and take stock of the the effect of the statute on international criminal justice.

The conference ended having accomplished the changes it aimed for–amending the Rome Statute, to include the crime of aggression and designating the ICC’s jurisdiction regarding the newly defined crime. The actual exercise of this jurisdiction must be decided on January 1, 2017 by a majority of State Parties.

The court also amended the statute to bring the use of certain poisonous weapons and expanding bullets, asphyxiating or poisonous gases under the jurisdiction of the court as war crimes even when used in a domestic nature, according to the ICC’s closing press release.

In taking stock of the statute, the conference considered the rights of victims to justice, determining that more outreach should be made to those victims and more donations should be made to the Trust Fund for Victims. The ICC put an important focus on states’ relationship with it, noting that in order to achieve justice, complementarity and cooperation from states would be important.


For more information, please see:

Second Convoy Attempts To Reach Oaxaca In Wake Of Recent Murders By Paramilitary Groups

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By Erica Laster
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

OAXACA, Mexico – In January 2007, Oaxaca, one of Mexico’s poorest states, declared itself a municipality despite the lack of support their declaration of independence received from Mexico. Since then, the state has been under constant pressure and for the last six months, has been under siege by various paramilitary groups, including ‘Union de benestar social de la Region Triqui’ (Ubisort).

In retaliation for Oaxaca’s declaration of autonomy, Ubisort has resorted to tactics which isolate Oaxaca, including kidnapping and murdering many of its residents.  According to residents, the paramilitary group damaged a pipe delivering water into the community, turning away all vehicles and restricting medical professionals and teachers access to the community. This denial of economic and social services has forced the community into complete isolation, leaving the community without incoming food, medicine and electricity for months. Earlier this year, one humanitarian convoy’s attempt to bring aid to local residents ended in an ambush by Ubisort, resulting in the death of one woman and a Finnish man.

Oaxaca is set to hold elections on July 4 of this year. Jose Sierra, a military affairs expert indicated that “paramilitary groups in Mexico continue functioning as a permanent preventive counterinsurgency mechanism”, Global Geopolitics reports.

Despite Oxaca’s government’s support of the paramilitary group, reports show that they have continued to use violence amongst the people of Oaxaca.  35 members of the Oaxaca municipality were threatened with execution if they attempted to bring food, medicine or other aid into the isolated community.  In an attempt to render aid, organizations, including the International Red Cross, are joining in a convoy to Oaxaca state. On June 7, Amnesty International asked government authorities in Mexico to ensure the second convoy headed towards the blockade received safe passage. The convoy is expected to deliver humanitarian supplies and staples denied them by paramilitary groups.

For More Information Please Visit:

Inter Press Service http://herewww.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51744 7 June 2010

Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR41/039/2010/en/e92d4927-d256-4b00-a7d5-dc51fcde5e7b/amr410392010en.html 7 June 2010

Global Geopolitics http://globalgeopolitics.net/wordpress/2010/06/08/mexico-humanitarian-convoy-braves-risk-of-attack/ 8 June 2010

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