Tanneries in Dhaka allegedly poisoning workers and residents

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Dhaka, Bangladesh – A recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report alleges that tanneries in Bangladesh’s capital, that produce luxury leather goods sold around the world, are poisoning workers.

Worker carries tannery waste products. (Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune)

In Dhaka’s slum neighborhood of Hazaribagh, the tightly packed tanneries boast untreated waste water, which contains chemicals like sulfuric acid, chromium and lead as well as animal flesh.  The deadly cocktail of untreated waste water flows freely into open gutters near the tanneries which meanders its way through the city and into the city’s main river.

The tanneries employ roughly 15,000 workers including children as young as 11 years old.  The HRW report alleges a health and safety crisis that exists among the workers and their families.  Workers have contracted a host of health problems due to their occupation including a multitude of skin diseases, respiratory illness, diarrhea, and amputations caused by the operation of dangerous machinery.

Workers that were interviewed, like Sumon a 23 year old leather worker, reported shallow coughs and stabbing chest pains, most likely due to his exposure working at the tanneries.  He also reports that when he first started working at the tanneries, the fumes of the chemicals made him so ill he could not eat for 2 months, but now, the fumes don’t even register with him anymore.  Sumon believes that his occupation is hazardous to his health, but he has no choice because he is from an impoverished background.

Richard Pearshouse, author of the HRW report, saw firsthand how the residents of Hazaribagh lived.  Residents were reportedly bathing in black ponds in the slum neighborhood.  Young children employed in the tanneries were operating dangerous industrial machinery, cutting hides with sharp razor blades, and exposed to hazardous chemicals as they soaked hides.

Local authorities have allegedly ignored labor and environmental laws as well as court orders to clean up their acts.  The government’s hands off approach in the Hazaribagh area that houses approximately 90% of the tanneries in Bangladesh has created a dangerously unsafe environment teeming with hazardous chemicals.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association has attempted to alert the proper authorities of the state Hazaribagh is in without any luck of swaying the government into taking action.  The government has alleged that there is a possible plan being devised to relocate the tanneries out of the slum neighborhood.  It is believed, however, that the government is delaying this process due to pressure from the tannery owners.

The Hazaribagh tanneries and the leather industry in Bangladesh have emerged as a major source of economic wealth in the country.  Though the country is still highly impoverished, the leather goods industry has helped make a dent by hauling in an estimated $663 million in 2011.  The chief importers of Bangladeshi leather are China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain and the United States.

For further information, please see:

Accessories Magazine – Human Rights Group Warns of Toxic Leather Tanneries in Bangladesh – 9 October 2012

The Chicago Tribune – Photos: Toxic tanneries drive Bangladesh leather exports: report – 9 October 2012

Reuters – Toxic tanneries drive Bangladesh leather exports: report – 9 October 2012

The Times of India – Bangladesh: Tanneries harm workers, poison communities – 9 October 2012

Zee News – Bangladesh tanneries spew pollution, says report – 9 October 2012

The Himalayan – Workers pay high price at Bangladesh tanneries – 18 February 2011

ICTJ Press Release: Decision in Mau Mau Case

ICTJ Press Release

Peruvian Terrorists Attack Private Airstrip

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – Shining Path, making good on their threat to disrupt the flow of natural gas, have carried out an attack in the central region of Cusco that may threaten the nations gas production.

helicopter burnt down in a rebel attack in Peru
Destroyed Helicopter used to transfer gas personnel. (Photo Courtesy of the BBC)

Early Saturday morning, members of The Communist Party of Peru, more commonly known as the terrorist organization The Shining Path executed a daring raid on a private companies infrastructure and heli-transportation. Members axed through metal barriers and made their way directly to the airfield. Using crude explosive charges, the terrorists destroyed three helicopters, and a security control room before disappearing into the jungle.

These helicopters were used to transfer staff of “Transportadora de Gas del Peru,” (TGP) which monitors and operates the pipeline through Peru.

The attack seems to have had the desired effect as security personnel ran from the explosions terrified. Due to this destruction the TGP has announced that it has suspended all maintenance work on the pipeline until security can be reestablished.

Terrorist leader Martin Quispe Palomino took credit for the attack and announced that this was a reprisal for the companies’ refusal to pay “quotas” for working in the Cusco jungle.

While there have been reports that Shining Path has been severely weakened and a shell of its former 1980s self, their sudden surge of activity is giving the Peruvian military and government pause.  Despite the death of one of their leaders a few weeks ago, the Shining Path shows no signs of slowing down. As evident by this recent attack, and the kidnapping of dozens of gas workers in April, the organization seems to have branched out from merely ambushing and attacking the Peruvian army.

The US has remarked that the drug trade being pushed and pursued by the Shining Path are a detriment to Peruvian society and have offered any sort of assistance to the Peruvian government in their anti-terrorist crusade. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in a recent trip emphasized the need to work together on the issues of terrorism and drug trafficking. That the illegal drug business being conducted in the Peruvian valley has a detrimental effect on every country in the hemisphere. Leon Panetta reiterated his promise for the US to assist in protecting the inner security of the country.

It is unclear exactly what this damage will cause to the natural gas requirements and expectations of the Peruvian government, but what is known is this conflict is far from over.

 

For further information, please see:

La Republica – Helicopters Destroyed Three Businesses Operating in Camisea – 7 October 2012

La Republica – U.S. Reiterates That Drug Trafficking Is A Threat To Peru – 7 October 2012

The BBC – Peru Rebels Burn Helicopters At Jungle Airfield – 6 October 2012

The BBC – Peru Shining Path Rebel Comrade Williams Killed – 5 September 2012

Syrian Forces Advance into Rebel Areas

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria — Army and rebel sources said last Monday that Syrian forces attacked rebel controlled neighborhoods in Homs City and the nearby town of Qusayr in an effort to regain control of the Idlib and  Homs provinces.

Syrian forces expect to retake Homs City and Qusayr by the end of the week. (Photo Courtesy of Al Jazeera).

A Syrian security official said that the army now expects to take back the besieged areas by the end of the week, enabling troops to focus their attention towards northern cities such as the commercial capital of Aleppo.

“It is a huge operation, and we hope to finish it off by the end of the week,” he said, speaking under the condition of anonymity.  “After that, we will concentrate on the north of Syria.”

The revolt in Homs, Syria’s largest province, began as a peaceful protest that spiraled into warfare when Assad’s forces responded to the Sunni-led movement with force.  Activists refer to it as the “capital of the revolution.”  Located near both Lebanon and Damascus, Homs’ location is of strategic importance to the rebels. It is where they coordinated with sympathizers in northern Lebanon to smuggle supplies into the the province and wounded fighters into Lebanon.  Homs has seen some of the worst violence since the revolution to remove President Bashar Al-Assad began in March last year.  The army made numerous attempts to reclaim the region, but such sieges were unsuccessful.

On Friday, Syria deployed fighter jets in the Khalidiyeh neighborhood of Homs.  Videos posted online appeared to show the jets dropping barrels of explosives on the besieged areas.  Reinforcements were sent to Homs, where the army successfully stopped food and aid from reaching rebel-held areas.  Humanitarian conditions in the area are now worsening, and those who live there continue to lose hope.

“The siege is a huge problem for us.  We are dying every day, but nobody is paying attention to us,” said Raji Rahmet Rabou, an activist in Homs.

Meanwhile, clashes continue to take place in other provinces around Syria.  The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) told Al Jazeera that twenty people were killed, including at least five rebel fighters, in the town of Karak al-Sharqi.  SOHR also reports that Syrian troops are to blame for purposely targeting cars ferrying wounded people to field hospitals and clinics for treatment, but Al Jazeera has been unable to confirm this due to reporting restrictions.

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Syrian Forces Step up Attacks on Rebel Areas — 8 October 2012

The Business Recorder — Syria Army Steps up Homs Assault — 8 October 2012

The Daily Star — Syria Army Steps up bid to Crush Homs Rebels — 8 October 2012

Reuters — Syrian Forces Advance Into Rebel-Held Part of Homs — 8 October 2012

Human Rights Watch Researcher’s Life Threatened

By Alexandra Sandacz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe 

MOSCOW, Russia –Tanya Lokshina, a researcher in the Human Rights Watch’s office in Moscow, received anonymous life-threatening texts last week. The texts not only threatened her life, but also focused on her pregnancy. Lokshina believes the latest threats are related to her work in the North Caucasus region, calling it an example of pressure against rights and civic groups in Russia.

Tanya Lokshina, a HRW Reporter, receives life-threatening anonymous texts. (Photo Courtesy of RFE/RL)

Kenneth Roth, HRW executive director, said, “These threats demonstrate that the sender clearly was following Tanya’s every move. They knew where she lived, what she was doing. They made explicit reference to the fact of her pregnancy. They threatened harm to herself and to her unborn baby. They were clearly made with the intent of scaring Tanya and Human Rights Watch to stop our monitoring and reporting on human rights in Russia.”

Furthermore, Roth states, “Human Rights Watch worked in the Soviet Union in the darkest days. We certainly are not going to allow a cheap set of vile and depraved threats of the sort that were sent to Tanya to stand in the way of our continued work today.”

The threats consisted of confidential information, such as her due date, her unregistered home address and her relatives’ travel plans. Lokshina and a small group of friends would be the only individuals to know this information.

According to Human Rights Watch, this suggests that the information was acquired through surveillance, with potential involvement of law enforcement and security officials.

Lokshina’s recent death threats are not the first of threats activists and independent journalists received.

In 2006, Journalist Anna Politkovskaya, critical of Kremlin and its policy of Chechnya, was gunned down in the elevator of her apartment building. In 2009, Natalya Estemirova, who collected evidence of rights abuses by security forces in Chechnya, was abducted and found dead the same day. Last December, Khadzhimurad Kamalov, founder of a newspaper that was critical of authorities in Dagestan and that reported on police abuses was gunned down outside his office.

Lokshina is a leading expert on human rights abuses in the North Caucasus area. Unaffected by the recent threats, she vows to continue her work. Moreover, Lokshina attributes her recent threats to the new atmosphere that the new Kremlin-controlled parliament restrictions on non-government organizations’ activities created in Russia.

For further information, please see:

The Huffington Post — Russian activist blames officials for threats – 4 October 2012

The New York Times — Rights Group Says Its Researcher in Moscow Threatened – 4 October 2012

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — HRW Says Dangerous For Rights Workers In Russia – 4 October 2012

The Washington Post — Pregnant Russian rights activist blames security officials for anonymous text threats – 4 October 2012