Germany Debates Banning Anti-Islam Film

By Alexandra Sandacz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe 

BERLIN, Germany – German politicians and Muslim groups are currently debating whether to prohibit a populist group, Pro Deutschland, from publicly showing an anti-Islam film, The Innocence of Muslims, in November.

A Muslim protester outside the US Embassy opposing “The Innocence of Muslims.” (Photo Courtesy of Spiegel)

This particular film attributed to violent protests in Pakistan to Sudan and has been deemed insulting to the Islamic religion, which has a large presence in Berlin. European officials have grown increasingly concerned in the past decade over the rise of extremism.

However, the German’s government’s potential ban of The Innocence of Muslims has sparked a wide criticism invoking the right of freedom of speech.

Pro Deutschland leader, Manfred Rouhs, states, “The public has a right to see this film and to make up its mind or express an opinion after having seen the film in full.” Additionally, German Social Democrat lawmakers maintain that a ban should be a last resort, and “a purely foreign-policy-related consideration is not enough to warrant limiting basic civil rights.”

Renate Künast, head of Germany’s the Green Party parliamentary group, state, “Freedom of expression is a prized value in German society, we won’t simply throw that away.” She believes instead of a government ban, the people of Germany should simply protest a public viewing.

Conversely, various German government officials refer to the film as an “abuse of free-speak laws.” German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who favors freedom of expression and the press, said that she fears the anti-Islam movie will generate violence, and her fear is a “good reasons” for issuing a ban. She further states, “It’s not about banning the film itself, but about whether the public screening would endanger public safety.”

German’s Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, expresses his concern as to the image of Germany as a country. He says, “Germany wants to send the signal that ‘we remain a tolerant country.’”

German officials have looked to anti-blasphemy laws, which state that anyone who publicly “insults the content of the religious or ideological views in a manner likely to disturb the public order, will be penalized with up to three years’ imprisonment or fined.”

German Interior Minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, says, “I want more respect for people’s religious beliefs.” He also believes such a screening would be a “political action” that would only serve to “pour oil on the fire”.

For further information, please see:

USA Today — Anti-Islam film controversy hits Europe, Asia – 20 September 2012

Channel News Asia — Germany wrestles with ban on anti-Islam film screening – 19 September 2012

Spiegel — Germany Mulls Ban on Showing Hate Film – 18 September 2012

The Times of India — Germany mulls ban on screening of anti-Islam film – 17 September 2012

 

Decades After Desegregation, U.S. Schools Still Largely Segregated, Report Says

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States — Nearly 60 years after segregation was ruled unconstitutional, a new study released this week claimed students across the United States still are learning in segregated classrooms.

A new study shows U.S. Schools are largely segregated, leaving black and Latino students racially isolated. (Photo Courtesy of Chicago Magazine)

The Civil Rights Project reported on Wednesday that black and Latino students are racially isolated because whites are largely concentrated in schools with other whites.  The Project, based at the University of California, Los Angeles, analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Education in drawing its conclusions.

“Extreme segregation is becoming more common,” said Gary Orfield, author of the report and co-director of the Project.

The study showed 43 percent of Latinos and 38 percent of blacks across the country attend schools where fewer than 10 percent of their classmates are white.  Moreover, roughly one in seven black and Latino students go to school where fewer than 1 percent of the class is white.

New York, California, and Texas were states where Latino segregation is most pronounced.  New York, Illinois, and Michigan were states where black segregation is most pronounced.

“Simply sitting next to a white student does not guarantee better education outcomes for students of color,” the report said.  “Instead, the resources that are consistently linked to predominantly white and/or wealthy schools help foster real and serious educational advantages over minority segregated settings.”

In the Chicago area, for instance, 70 percent of all black students attend schools that are more than 90 percent minority.  Nearly half attend schools that are 99 percent minority, making Chicago more segregated than Detroit, New York-Newark, and Los Angeles.

“These trends threaten the nation’s success as a multiracial society,” Orfield said.  “We are disappointed to have heard nothing in the campaign about this issue from neither President Obama, who is the product of excellent integrated schools and colleges, nor from Governor Romney, whose father gave up his job in the Nixon Cabinet because of his fight for fair housing, which directly impacts school make-up.”

The report also targeted charter schools for falling short of equal education promises.

The results come nearly six decades after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which marked the end of legal segregation in public schools.  The case involved a class action suit brought by 13 parents against the Board of Education of the City of Topeka, Kan.

Among states with most integrated schools for black students are Kansas, Nebraska, and Washington, according to the report.

For further information, please see:

Chicago Magazine — Chicagoland Schools: For Blacks, the Most Segregated in the Country — 20 September 2012

The Huffington Post — American Schools Still Heavily Segregated by Race, Income: Civil Rights Project Report — 20 September 2012

The Root — Too Many Black Kids in ‘Apartheid Schools’ — 20 September 2012

The New York Times — Segregation Prominent in Schools, Study Finds — 19 September 2012

Growing up in Yemen Far from Pretty

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen – Political upheaval, civil war, and the presence of al-Qaeda have all largely been problems for Yemeni adults. Make no mistake, the existence of such conflicts have surely had a negative impact on the lives of the youth of Yemen.

Malnourished Yemeni children sitting in their slum house on the outskirts of Sana’a. (Photo Courtesy of the Guardian)

Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the Middle East. It has a weak infrastructure and a perpetually struggling economy. As a result, Yemen is facing a horrible humanitarian crisis where at least ten million people suffer from chronic hunger, making Yemen the country with the second highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world. Fifty-eight percent of the children there under the age of five experience chronic malnutrition. In an attempt to help, donors led by the British government met earlier this month in Saudi Arabia, where they pledged to donate a funding package of $6.4 billion.

While the children may not have much food, at least they have toys to play with. The truth is though that these toys could make the children just as sick as the malnutrition does. Children’s toys in Yemen have been linked to physical scarring, suffocation, and other invisible hazards that appear with the passage of time, like cancer.  Hazardous toys have infiltrated the Yemeni markets because the importers seek cheap toys and the government really can’t afford to monitor the process.

Abdullah Al-Sharfi, manager of the Identification Certifcate Issuance Unit and Brand in the Yemeni Standardization and Quality Control Organization explained, “The Yemeni importer buys from the Chinese market, contrary to other importers in the region. The Yemeni importer doesn’t directly deal with the manufacturer. The problem lies in lacking the test reports, health or chemical certificates.”

Most of the screening done on toys once they have entered Yemen involves making sure the toys do not offend the morals of Islam. Importers go out of their way to make sure the toys enter the market without being tested, because if the toys must travel to the labs, importers face paying a customs fee which defeats the purpose of buying cheap toys that are exempt from the fees. A “qualities official in Hodeida lost his post because he attempted to apply the law,” said Mustafa Nassar, chairman of Studies and Economic Media Center. Importers lobbied the local council until he was removed.

Although the youth do not get much to eat and their toys are not very safe, at least they can still go to school to learn and peacefully interact with their friends. That was generally true until the 2011-2012 uprising caused government forces and other armed groups to deploy troops into schools. Forces occupied Yemeni schools and used them as barracks, bases, surveillance posts, firing positions, a place to store weapons and ammunition, to detain prisoners, and to torture detainees often while students and teachers were present in the buildings.

Yemeni students ready to leave the Tarim School which had been occupied by at least three different armed groups. (Photo Courtesy of Human Rights Watch)

These occupations were not going to help raise Yemen’s literacy rate which was the lowest in the Middle East or its low enrollment rates. Besides for inhibiting education, these armed forces regularly put children’s lives at danger. Priyanka Motaparthy, a children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch stated that, “when soldiers and rebels deploy in schools, children and their education get put in harm’s way.”

The occupations also forced children to see things that they shouldn’t yet have seen. Ahlam, a thirteen year old student remembers how scared everyone was as the soldiers tortured an old man at their school. He recalls that, “they beat him [and] electro-shocked him right in the courtyard of the school. It was during recess.”

Many of these armed groups claimed that by using these schools they were also able to better protect the buildings, teachers, and students. International humanitarian law, however, states that in times of war, all feasible efforts are to be made to avoid civilians and that a school or other civilian structure cannot be attacked unless it is being used for military purposes. Motaparthy concludes that, “the moment soldiers enter a school, it becomes a military target and stops being a safe place for students.”

When these children grow a few years older and start attending university, life is still not safer. Security forces in Yemen often target students who engage in peaceful political protests. Theses students are then arbitrarily detained and are often subject to torture and other ill-treatment.

Life is not easy for the youth of Yemen.

For further information, please see:

Yemen Times – Yemen Toy Market Poses Danger – 13 September 2012

Human Rights Watch – Classrooms in the Crosshairs – 11 September 2012

Human Rights Watch – Yemen: Troops Used Schools, Endangering Children – 11 September 2012

Guardian – Donors Pledge $6.4bn to Address Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis – 6 September 2012

Amnesty International – Yemen Must end Intimidation of Southern Activists – 30 August 2012

 

Mass Graves in Kenya Found Empty

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya—Along Kenya’s southeastern Tana River Delta region, several mass graves have been discovered. This has shed new light on the ethic tribal violence in that region of the country. In the past month, over 100 people have been killed as a result of these tribal conflicts. This death toll was thought to continue to rise as the authorities attempted to identify and count bodies at these graves. However, no bodies were found.

The Mass Graves Were Found Along the Tana River Region, Near the Border of Kenya. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

This conflict began earlier this year, in mid-August, between the Pokomo people, who are mostly farmers involved in growing cash crops along the Tana River, and the Orma tribe, a group of semi-nomadic cattle herders. The violence between these two groups has often been attributed to disputes over water and grazing rights.

In the past, the root of many violent conflicts in Kenya stemmed from local tribal animosities. However, the country seemed to be a relatively peaceful and politically stable nation until only a few years ago.

In 2008, tensions over ethnic differences burst into violence after the round of contested 2007 presidential elections. The race stirred up much conflict between the incumbent’s tribe and their opposition. This developed into countrywide conflict and Kenya, as a nation continues to struggle with these types of ethnic and local tensions.

A team of pathologists and gravediggers began working earlier today to exhume the gravesites and look for bodies. At the outset, there was no real sense of what exactly they would find or how many bodies they would find. Police officials noted that any bodies found there are likely to have been buried there by a raiding party that carried off their comrades during an attack. Over 1,000 of paramilitary police have been sent to that region in order to quiet any future attacks.

The results of the search have resulted in only one human foot and no bodies. Aggrey Adoli, the regional police chief, suggested that the site may have been tampered with. He said, “We believed the bodies were removed to hide the identities. Our plan was to take fingerprints of the bodies and that would have led us to their origins.” Without any findings, the police decided to call off the operation.

After the continued violence that flooded the country since the contested elections several years ago, many people now fear a new surge of violence as the country prepares for another set of elections in March 2013.

 

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Kenya Tana River Delta: ‘Mass Graves’ Mystery – 20 September 2012

Capital News – No Bodies Found in Suspected Mass Grave in Kenya – 20 September 2012

The Telegraph – Mass Grave Fuels Kenya Tensions – 20 September 2012

International Business Times – Mass Graves Discovered in Kenya – 18 September 2012

Pussy Riot Supporting Deacon Defrocked

By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

TAMBOV, Russia – A former deacon in the city of Tambov has been defrocked for his support of the Russian punk bank, Pussy Riot, and their “punk prayer” stunt in Moscow’s main Russian Orthodox cathedral in February.  In an open letter, Sergei Baranov resigned in August in protest of the Russian Orthodox Church’s stance against three members of the band.  His subsequent defrocking will likely become official within weeks.

Baranov resigned as deacon in support of Pussy Riot, and was defrocked. (Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press)

Baranov was the first Russian Orthodox cleric to resign in outrage at how the church dealt with the members of Pussy Riot.

“Everyone prays as they can,” Baranov said, explaining his support of Pussy Riot. “And with their act they exposed the ills and blisters of society. We should have done that a long time ago.”

Baranov feels that the church handled Pussy Riot’s protest heavy handedly.  He feels that the church’s actions show that it cares more for president Putin and the government than the needs of its believers.  Its reaction to the protest demonstrates that the church is overdue for serious reform.

In his open letter, Baranov further explained that the “unlawful sentence to the members of the Pussy Riot band [] was passed with direct influence of the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church and the people who, by some strange accident, call themselves ‘orthodox citizens.”

Tambov regional clergy answered, accusing Baranov of rakish behavior and using the current rocky political climate and the Pussy Riot trial as an excuse to resign.

Unrest has grown in Russia since Vladimir Putin’s re-election to a third presidential term in March.  He received strong support from the conservative Russian Orthodox Church, which characterized Putin as a “miracle of God.”

Pussy Riot’s February “punk prayer” at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow was directed as a protest against President Putin.  Three of its members were arrested, found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, and sentenced to two years in a penal colony prison.  Russians are sharply divided over what some see as a government crackdown on dissent.

Other figures in Russia have also spoken out against the harsh treatment the Pussy Riot members.  Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev, while clarifying that he does not approve of their stunt, has called for leniency with respect to the three imprisoned members, arguing that they should be released.

It is possible the church will further purge Baranov by requesting his excommunication.  If this happens, Baranov will no longer be permitted to take any part in the services he has loved since childhood.

“When the media furor dies down, they will simply excommunicate me from Church,” Baranov said. “Once this happens, I won’t have the right to enter a church, I will lose the right to communion.”  Even so, Baranov says he does not regret his resignation.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Pussy Riot Supporter Priest to be Defrocked – 19 September 2012

Huffington Post – Sergei Baranov, Orthodox Russian Deacon, Stands Up For Pussy Riot – 18 September 2012

International Herald Tribune – Medvedev Says Rockers Have Served Enough Jail Time for Cathedral Performance – 12 September 2012

Impunity Watch – Two Members of Pussy Riot Flee Russia to Avoid Prosecution – 27 August 2012

Russia Today (RT) – Russian Church Denies Claims it Held own Pussy Riot Trial – 20 August 2012

Impunity Watch – Members of Punk Band to Continue Their Protest While Awaiting Band Mates’ Verdict – 14 August 2012