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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

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

Rome Statute Review Conference to Challenge Negative Perceptions

By Celeste Little
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda- Monday, May 31 begins a two week conference in Kampala, Uganda to review the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court hosted by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The conference will be attended by representatives of state parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in the Hague, the Netherlands. Fifteen hundred to two thousand delegates are expected to attend.

The Rome Statute is a treaty that established the International Criminal Court, its functions, jurisdiction, and structure in Rome, Italy on July 17, 1998 and was implemented on July 1, 2002. There are 110 states which are party to the statute and  there are 38 states which have signed and not ratified the treaty. The seven countries that voted against the treaty are Iraq, Israel, Libya, China, Qatar, the United States, and Yemen.

The ICC is defined by the Rome Statute, as a permanent tribunal to prosecute the most serious international crimes. The statute requires its own review, and in turn a review of the ICC, every seven years and the upcoming conference in Uganda is the first time since 2002 that the statute has been reviewed.

One of the two primary focuses of this year’s conference is to make changes to Article 125 of the statute, which deals with the crime of aggression, it’s definition, and the use of certain weapons to constitute war crimes. The second major focus is stocktaking, where non-governmental organizations and other key parties will discuss the impact of the Rome statute on four pertinent areas–the impact of the Rome Statute system on victims and their communities, cooperation, complementarity and peace and justice.

Currently, the ICC is prosecuting suspected war criminals in several situations. In the situation in Uganda, the top five members of the Lords Resistance are being prosecuted for war crimes. And in it’s prosecution of war criminals related to the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the individuals being prosecuted is the alleged founder of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC), Thomas Lubanga Dylo, who is being prosecuted for war crimes including “conscripting and enlisting children under the age of fifteen years and using them to participate actively in hostilities” according to the ICC arrest warrant.

The Sudanese president, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir is being prosecuted for war crimes which amount genocide.  In the Central African Republic, the alleged president and commander-in-chief of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, is being prosecuted for war crimes which include murder, rape, torture, pillaging, and outrages upon personal dignity and crimes against humanity,  including murder, rape, and torture. Furthermore, the situation in Kenya was recently opened for investigation.

Critics have said that the ICC has only prosecuted crimes committed in Africa, which evidences that it is a primarily European court, targeting Africans. The ICC has considered this negative perception in choosing to hold the review conference in Uganda as well as the revue the conference would bring to the country.

The ICC is launching a YouTube series of videos which will cover the review conference, for those who are interested in further education regarding the discussions that will occur during these next two weeks.

For more information, please see:

Voice of America– Uganda Hosts Review of Rome Statute Conference— 30 May 2010

AFP-ICC Seeks More Teeth at Kampala Meet-29 May 2010

Daily Nation-Nation Meets in Kampala to Chart Future of Hague Court-29 May 2010





Yemeni Soldiers Killed In Convoy Ambush

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – Armed separatists ambushed a military convoy on a road in southern Yemen on Saturday, killing two soldier and wounding four, a security official told Reuters.

“Two security escorts were killed and another four were seriously wounded when they returned fire against the armed attackers,” an official of the Interior Ministry told the Xinhua News agency on condition of anonymity.

According to the official, the accident took place Saturday afternoon in al-Habilain town in the province of Lahj, as the official convoy was traveling from the southern port city Aden to Sanaa.

“The Deputy Prime Minister al-Alami survived unharmed and his convoy managed to continue its way to Sanaa,” said the official, adding “the four injured soldiers were rushed to a hospital in Sanaa.”

“Security forces are chasing the saboteurs,” the security official said. A defense ministry website denied reports that Rashad al-Alimi, deputy prime minister for security affairs, was traveling in the convoy.

Several soldiers, separatist gunmen and bystanders have been killed in the recent months’ escalating tension in the south.

The government, struggling to stabilize a fractious country in which central authority is often weak, faces international pressure to quell domestic conflicts in order to focus on fighting a resurgent al Qaeda.

For More Information, Please see:

Reuters – Militants Kill Yemen Soldier In Convoy Ambush – 15 May 2010

Xinhua – Yemeni Deputy Survives, 2 Escorts Killed In South – 16 May 2010

Al-Jazeera – ‘Deadly Attack’ On Yemeni Convoy – 16 May 2010

Egypt Extends Emergency Law

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – The Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has issued a decree renewing the country’s emergency laws for a further two years.

Parliament approved the law while opponents protested outside amid rows of riot police. The government sought to defuse criticism by emphasizing that the measure would cover only terrorism and drug-related crimes. But critics accused authorities of making cosmetic changes to a 29-year-old system that gives police sweeping discretionary powers against political opponents.

The decision has led to criticism from political opponents and human rights groups, who say the laws stifle political freedom in the country.

“The new law is very ambiguous and can easily be manipulated,” said Hafez abu Seada, secretary-general of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. “The law still persecutes freedoms like gathering in public, which doesn’t fall under terrorism. We will also still have military tribunals and the government’s right to issue military orders.”

Extension of the emergency law, which was passed in 1981 after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat, comes as the government is under widespread pressure. Public anger is high, protests over low wages and for constitutional revisions are increasing, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei is enlivening the opposition with his new National Front for Change.

President Hosni Mubarak, 82 and in frail health, has yet to strike the right tone or inspire policies to calm the furor. Renewing the emergency law, but narrowing its powers, allows the ruling National Democratic Party to claim support for press freedom and human rights while simultaneously keeping mechanisms in place to combat dissent before this year’s parliamentary elections.

“We do not deny that we still have issues, but we are working to resolve them,” said Moufid Shehab, minister of state for legal and parliamentary affairs, acknowledging violations of civil liberties under the emergency law. “We aspire to one day have an end to emergency law.”

Shehab said the two-year extension, which passed by a wide majority, was needed to counter terrorism. He suggested that cases against bloggers and activists who have been jailed in recent years under the act for crimes unrelated to terrorism may be reviewed. The extension also will prohibit security forces from shutting newspapers and confiscating property. But security forces can still rely on an array of other laws to silence critics.

Shebab said the new emergency law means: “No trial, no indictment unless it’s a terrorist act.”

The government had promised to repeal the emergency law once it passed an anti-terrorism act, which has been bottled up in parliament for years. Emergency law has allowed authorities to detain suspects for long periods without formal charges. It has been used frequently against members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other opponents of the regime, many of whom have been tortured.

The opposition fears the law will be used to crack down on regime opponents ahead of parliamentary elections later this year. Egypt is also to hold presidential elections in 2011.

For more information, please see:

ABC – Egypt Extends Controversial Emergency Law – 12 May 2010

BBC – Egypt Renews Tough Emergency Laws – 12 May 2010

LA Times – Egypt Extends Emergency Rule – 12 May 2010