Many of you have noticed that I have not posted a blog here in a while. A few people have sent me e-mails inquiring about my blog, so this is a response to those questions. No, I have not stop blogging. Instead, I decided that I only have enough time to properly maintain one blog right now. My primary blog, Silent All These Years, is located on WordPress. Feel free to stop by, read articles on human rights and other social issues of importance to me. I welcome all comments, even those I do not agree with. Smile. Feel free to subscribe.

Silent All These Years | WordPress

Every Wednesday night, Hissa Hilal steps on to the stage of the popular Abu Dhabi television show The Million’s Poet. As is required of Saudi women appearing in public, she is covered from head to toe in a traditional abaya. Facing an audience carefully segregated by gender, she recites poetry that brazenly calls out for women’s rights and the end of Islamic extremism.

A housewife and mother of four from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Hilal has become a sensation and a polarizing figure in the Arab world. One might think that, given her controversial subject matter, she would be thankful for the abaya’s anonymity. But she told the BBC that she (and her poetry) would be just as bold without it: “I am hoping my daughters won’t have to cover their faces and they’ll live a better life.”

Hilal’s poetry has, not surprisingly, led to death threats by Islamic extremists. She is admittedly worried for her children, but as for herself, she says simply, “I am not afraid.” And the Arab world’s response has primarily been supportive. “Most of the people loved what I said, from their hearts,” she continued, “They think I am very brave to say so, and that I said what they feel in their hearts.”

That feeling has shown up in the votes. Hilal has already gone farther in The Million’s Poet competition than any woman before her, and she received the highest overall score in last week’s semifinals, pushing her through to this Wednesday’s final (and its $1.3 Million prize for the winner). She was loudly applauded, and one of the judges praised her as “a courageous poet.”

My poetry has always been provocative,” she told The Associated Press. “It’s a way to express myself and give voice to Arab women, silenced by those who have hijacked our culture and our religion.” She has said that she “always dreamed” of a day when she could talk to the people directly.

A taste of that straight talk is below. It’s an excerpt from Hilal’s semifinal poem, translated by the Abu Dhabi newspaper The National, in which she decries the actions of conservative clerics in the Muslim world.

I have seen evil from the eyes
of the subversive fatwas
in a time when what is lawful
is confused with what is not lawful;

When I unveil the truth,
a monster appears from his hiding place;
barbaric in thinking and action,
angry and blind;
wearing death as a dress
and covering it with a belt

He speaks from an official,
powerful platform,
terrorizing people
and preying on everyone seeking peace;
the voice of courage ran away
and the truth is cornered and silent,
when self-interest prevented one
from speaking the truth.

How is Hilal able to get away with being so critical? In an interview with the New York Times, Lina Khatib, an Arab media expert at Stanford University, explained: “The show is at the heart of cultural conversations in the Arab world. Because it’s poetry, one of the most respected forms of expression in the Arab world, you can push the boundaries much further than you might with popular music.”

Hilal aims to do more than push boundaries–she aims to break them down. “My message to those who hear me is love, compassion and peace,” she has said. “We all have to share a small planet and we need to learn how to live together.”

Source: John Lundberg, Huffington Post

References: BBC, New York Times

The Lord’s Resistance Army killed about 300 people and kidnapped 250 more in a rampage in the Democratic Republic of Congo in December 2009, according to an international rights group and the UN. The previously undocumented massacre, undertaken over four-days in the remote Makombo area of DRC’s northeastern Haute Uele district, was highlighted in reports by Human Rights Watch and the UN on Sunday.

The killings of 321 civilians occurred between December 14 and 17, HRW said in a report after documenting the deaths in a visit to the region in February. The Ugandan anti-government group were said to have abducted 80 children among the 250 people kidnapped.

“The Makombo massacre is one of the worst ever committed by the LRA in its bloody 23-year history, yet it has gone unreported for months,” Anneke Van Woudenberg, HRW’s senior Africa researcher, said.

“The four-day rampage demonstrates that the LRA remains a serious threat to civilians and is not a spent force, as the Ugandan and Congolese governments claim.”

However, Obonyo Olweny, a former LRA spokesman, has told Al Jazeera that while the group is still active, it is not fighting civilians. “I want to say categorically to the world that the LRA is not responsible for the killings going on in the [Democratic Republic of] Congo or the CAR [Central Africa Republic],” he said from Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday.

“It is the UPD [the Ugandan armed forces] carrying out the killings – it is part of the government’s propaganda.”

Sources: Al Jazeera (News), Human Rights Watch (Report)

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — It’s there in their faces, in the dark night of their eyes and in the sag and slump of their shoulders. It’s unmistakable, the despair of the Rohingya, the fear for departed husbands and fathers, the daily abrasions of poverty, sadness and the world’s indifference.

More than a quarter-million Rohingya – an ethnic Muslim minority from western Myanmar – have come here to southern Bangladesh to escape the hunger, humiliation and official brutalities in their homeland. Many have landed in a place called the Kutupalong Makeshift Camp.

It is an obscenity, this camp, a festering hell of lost hope and inhuman squalor. No water, power, schools or medicine. Occasional stoop-labor jobs carrying bricks or making salt. Huts made of leaves and branches. There is no music.

“The worst conditions you could imagine anywhere on earth,” says a well-traveled international aid worker. “Total despair,” says another.

These are the luxuries in the camp: a packet of cookies, a crayon, a new battery for an old radio, a small breeze on a sweltering night.

Difficult enough are their journeys from Myanmar to the camp. Even more dangerous are the attempts by thousands of Rohingya men and boys to emigrate each year, starting with perilous sea voyages to Thailand. After that comes an overland trek to Malaysia, a country that has become a kind of Muslim El Dorado for the Rohingya. There might be friends or family connections there, and perhaps jobs that allow for money to be sent to families back in the camps.

These trips often begin in leaky boats that are underpowered and overloaded. Hundreds of Rohingya die at sea each year, and hundreds more are rescued, adrift at sea, by navies in the region. And thousands are detained each year by the Thai authorities. Human rights groups were outraged recently when it became known that the Thai military had roughly detained several dozen Rohingya men on a remote island, then packed them into a boat with few provisions and towed them back out to sea.

“Pushbacks” is what aid workers are calling this tactic.

How to measure or comprehend the terror – or perhaps it’s the love – that propels a man to leave his family, quite possibly forever, and climb penniless into a boat to find uncertain work a thousand miles away in a place where he knows he’ll be both unwelcome and liable to arrest? For that matter, what hellish existence could send a family fleeing to a refugee camp where conditions resemble, charitably, the 12th century?

The Rohingya number about 750,000 in Myanmar. But the military junta does not recognize them as one of the 135 “national races” in the mostly Buddhist nation. And so, in the face of forced labor, arbitrary arrest, stolen land and even starvation, they flee to the makeshift camp. (An adjoining settlement of 20,000 residents has water, electricity and other basic services. Run by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, it is known as the official Kutupalong camp. Some Rohingya have lived there for more than a decade.)

  Every day more Rohingya arrive at the Bangladeshi camps, stateless, sun-blasted refugees carrying their meager bundles. The newcomers, largely from Rakhine State in Myanmar, are often so traumatized that they’re unable to tell aid workers what they have fled.

Another one million Rohingya are scattered about the world – there has been a major diaspora from South Asia in recent decades – and they have flung themselves from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan to Thailand to Indonesia. The men lay asphalt and pour cement in Riyadh. They haul fishing nets in the Andaman Sea. They pull rickshaws in Jakarta. The children, with their small hands, peel shrimp and weave carpets in Karachi.

But no country claims the Rohingya. No country welcomes them. For many, Islam is the only sanctuary left. “They still have faith,” says an aid worker, “that Allah will protect them.”

This article was reported by a reporter for the International Herald Tribune in Cox’s Bazar and by Mark McDonald in Hong Kong. It was written by McDonald.

Source: New York Times

References: Al Jazeera, Human Rights Watch Report, Physicians for Human Rights

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March 8th is International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, IWD is a national holiday. The First IWD was run in 1911. Next year is IWD Global Centenary 1911-2011.

1908
Great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women’s oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman’s Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

1910
In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named a Clara Zetkin (Leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day – a Women’s Day – to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women’s clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin’s suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women’s Day was the result.

1911
Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women’s Day (IWD) was honored the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic ‘Triangle Fire’ in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women’s Day events. 1911 also saw women’s ‘Bread and Roses‘ campaign.

1913-1914 On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women’s Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Women’s Day ever since. In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women’s solidarity.

1917
On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for “bread and peace” in response to the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in war. Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date the women’s strike commenced was Sunday 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere was 8 March.

1918 – 1999
Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women’s Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women’s rights and participation in social, political and economic processes. The United Nations designated ‘International Women’s Year‘ in 1975. Women’s organizations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on 8 March by holding large-scale events that honor women’s advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women’s equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

2000 and beyond
IWD is now an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother’s Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women’s and society’s thoughts about women’s equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that ‘all the battles have been won for women while many feminists from the 1970’s know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.

Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women’s craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more.

Many global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and through supporting external ones. For example, on 8 March search engine and media giant Google some years even changes its logo on its global search pages. Year on year IWD is certainly increasing in status. March is designated as National Women’s History Month in the United States.

So make a difference, think globally and act locally!! Make everyday International Women’s Day. Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.

Source: International Women’s Day 2010

On Saturday, February 27th an 8.8 earthquake hit just off the coast of Chile, killing over 700 people (to date) and causing tsunami warnings in over 50 countries near the Pacific ocean. And while the physical destruction is not nearly as significant as that seen in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake in January, millions of Chileans are homeless, confused, anxious and hungry. The following slides are a current list of the organizations working with or in Chile to restore order and normalcy. Click the picture(s) to go directly to the website.

Text Your Support for Chile: Text a donation to Chile through one of several organizations via the Mobile Giving Foundation.

• Text CHILE to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross

• Text CHILE to 23583 to donate $10 to Habitat for Humanity

• Text CHILE to 20222 to donate $10 to World Vision

• Text CHILE to 50555 to donate $10 to the Friends of World Food Program

• Text CHILE to 52000 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army

• Text REBUILD to 50555 to donate $10 to Operation USA

• Text 4CHILE to 50555 to donate $10 to Convoy of Hope <!--Session data-->

Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a Cuban political dissent imprisoned for disrespecting authority, died after a lengthy hunger strike at a clinic at Havana’s Combinado del Este prison.

Zapata Tamayo, 42, was arrested along with 74 others in 2003 for contempt and disrespect of authority. The year of his arrest, Amnesty International called him “prisoner of conscience.” He was originally sentenced to three years, said Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation. His sentenced was extended to 25 years, primarily because he continued to speak out against Fidel Castro while in prison. Zapata Tamayo went on a hunger strike on December 3, 2009 after accusing the prison guards of repeatedly beating him. He refused to wear a prison uniform, demanded a separate cell from the common prisoners and requested that his family be allowed to bring him food. His hunger strike lasted eleven weeks.

His family told reporters and human rights groups last week that the prison doctors said he was gravely ill. Word of Mr Zapata Tamayo’s death was first reported on Cuban exile radio stations in southern Florida, which broadcast an interview with his mother, Reina Luisa Tamayo.”The death of my son has been a premeditated murder,” Reina Luisa told the newspaper in a telephone interview.  News of his death drew a strong reaction among South Florida leaders who evoked messages of sympathy for his family.

“It is sad to note that this tragic death of Zapata Tamayo at the hands of the brutal Castro regime comes on the day before another anniversary of four other victims of the Castro dictatorship, the unarmed pilots of Brothers to the Rescue,” said Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement. “I offer my heartfelt condolences to Zapata Tamayo’s mother, his family and fellow prisoners of conscience. His life and sacrifice will never be forgotten. Let us take his sad and untimely death and renew our commitment to assure that the Cuba of the future is rid of the failed ideology which killed this brave man.”

Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Democrat who represents the 17th Congressional District, issued the following statement: “My thoughts and prayers are with Orlando’s mother, Reina Luisa Tamayo, and his family at this most difficult time. The Cuban government’s stunning lack of respect for human rights was highlighted by Orlando as much in his life as in his death. He stood for freedom in the face of indignity and joins those who have put their lives on the line for the reality of a free Cuba. His stand was an act of conviction – a call for freedom in the face of oppression.”

Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican who represents the 21st Congressional District, offered his sympathies to his family. “Like Pedro Luis Boitel, the martyrdom of Orlando Zapata Tamayo is now part of Cuba’s most glorious history. His murder by the tyrant Fidel Castro and his cowardly jailers will never be forgotten, nor will it be subject to any future statutes of limitations,” Diaz-Balart wrote. “Orlando Zapata Tamayo’s sacrifice will not be in vain, and he will be forever remembered with infinite honor by the Cuban Republic.”

U.S. Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson, of Florida, said in his own statement that ”freedom-loving people everywhere should hold the Cuban regime responsible for the fate of Orlando Zapata Tamayo.”

The last time an opponent of the communist government died in Cuba during a hunger strike was 1972 with poet and activist Pedro Luis Boitel.

Source: My Blog

UNITED NATIONS, NY — An international press freedom watchdog said that 2009 saw a record number of journalists jailed or killed, including the single worst massacre in the Philippines, as well as an increase in journalists jailed, fueled by the crackdown in Iran.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the massacre of 29 journalists and two media support workers in a politically motivated ambush in the southern Philippines on Nov. 23 claimed more lives than any single event since it started documenting attacks on the press 18 years ago.

In its annual report on freedom of the press released Tuesday, the committee also accused Iran of being one of the leading jailers of journalists last year, with more than 90 reporters arrested and at least 23 writers and editors still being held. That’s second only to China, where 24 journalists are in jail today, it said, though that’s a decline from a high of 42 in 2004.

“The tragedies of 2009 only make our challenge more clear,” the committee’s executive director Joel Simon said in the report’s introduction. “Creating vibrant and secure global media requires new strategic thinking to bring killers to justice, to reduce the number of journalists in jail, and to support reporters working in exile or in repressive environments.”

He said there has been progress, and strongly endorsed the “naming and shaming” of violators which has generated public attention and mobilized action to protect journalists.

The report names 70 journalists killed because of their reporting – including 32 in the Philippines, nine in Somalia, four in Iraq, four in Pakistan and three in Russia. It said 24 other journalists were killed but the motive couldn’t be confirmed, including six in Mexico and three in Pakistan.

Consistent with an overall drop in violence, the number of Iraqi media deaths fell sharply to just four from 32 in 2007 and 11 in 2008, but the committee complained of increasing government harassment and assaults on the media, even in the relatively secure Kurdish region.

Newsweek International’s Editor Fareed Zakaria said in the preface that the closure of many foreign bureaus and reliance on freelancers abroad means that these stringers are taking on added risks.

Sources: Huffington Post, Google AP News

Dear President Barack Obama:

You have the unique and absolute power as President of the United States to commute the sentence of any federal prisoner. I urge you to use your power to send Hamedah Hasan home to join her three daughters and two grandchildren. She is serving her 17th year of a 27-year prison sentence for a first time, non-violent crack cocaine offense. Were Hamedah convicted of the exact same crime involving the powder form of the drug, she would be home by now.

“The disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated.” These were your words in your “Blueprint for Change.” Even if Congress succeeds in its active legislative attempts to reform the sentencing laws that created this shameful and discriminatory disparity, Hamedah Hasan’s prison term will remain. None of the legislation contemplated on Capitol Hill will apply retroactively to those serving excessively harsh crack cocaine sentences. You – and you alone – can reunite Hamedah with her family by commuting her sentence and saving her from another decade in prison.

Hamedah Hasan knitting in prison. Photo: Handout

Were you to commute Hamedah’s sentence, you would join a long line of presidents who have robustly exercised their executive clemency power. Thomas Jefferson employed the pardon power to eliminate the sentences of those convicted under the shameful Alien and Sedition Acts. President John F. Kennedy granted over 100 commutations in less than three years in office. President Lyndon Johnson commuted 226 sentences. The time has come for you too, President Obama, to exercise your power of forgiveness on behalf of an exceptionally worthy person with much to contribute to the community to which she will return.

Even Hamedah’s sentencing judge, the Honorable Richard G. Kopf of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, has asked the President to commute Hamedah’s sentence. In a letter supporting her commutation petition, he says:

…I can say, without equivocation, that Ms. Hasan is deserving of the President’s mercy. I have never supported such a request in the past, and I doubt that I will support another one in the future. That said, in this unique case, justice truly cries out for relief.

Only you, President Obama, through the power of commutation, can stop Hamedah’s harsh sentence from running its long course. Doing so would not only help Hamedah and her family, it would provide much needed force to your administration’s statements opposing the crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity, as well as revive the executive clemency process to its noble and necessary function.

Respectfully Submitted,

Stephanie Williams, J.D.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Resources & Information:

• Hamedah Hasan’s Website
• Hamedah Hasan’s Letter
• ACLU’s Letter in Support of Hasan
• The Unjust Federal Crack Cocaine Law
• US Dept. of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney
• CAN-DO Clemency
• Change.org Blog

How You Can Help

• Send a Letter to President Obama
• Send a Letter to Congress

Nigerian police and military units carried out extra-judicial killings last year in the aftermath of clashes with members of a Muslim group in the north of the country, footage obtained by Al Jazeera appears to confirm.

An estimated 1,000 people were killed as Nigerian government forces fought Boko Haram in Borno, Yobe, Kano and Bauchi states in July and August of 2009. But the footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows that many of the deaths occurred only after the fighting was over. Elements of the security forces staged a follow-up operation in which house-to-house searches were conducted and individuals were apparently selected at random and taken to a police station.

“Shoot Him in the Chest”

In the video, a number of unarmed men are seen being made to lie down in the road outside a building before they are shot. As one man is brought out to face death, one of the officers can be heard urging his colleague to “shoot him in the chest not the head – I want his hat”. As the executions continue another man is told: “Sit properly we want to take your picture.” The shootings continue as a crowd gathers further up the street in front of the police station. Voices can be heard saying: “No mercy, no mercy.”

Two officers seen in the video can be clearly identified by the name tags on their chests. The family of Baba Fugu Mohammed, a respected community leader, told Al Jazeera that he was among those put to death outside the police station. “He was killed, he was killed, that’s what we believe. He was shot by the police,” one relative said. Fugu Mohammed was the father-in-law of Mohammed Yusuf, the Boko Haram leader whose group had battled the police, but the two had become estranged. His family said that he had come to help police restore order, but was shot.

Killings of Innocents
In the days following the clashes between the police and Boko Haram, the government, police and military repeatedly denied that civilians had been killed by their personnel. But Nigerian officials have since acknowledged that extra-judicial killings took place and an inquiry was set up to investigate the incident. “It was obvious [from] what we have seen and from the eye witnesses that the government police were doing the killings of the innocent,” Abubakar Umar Garda, a senator and a member of Nigeria’s ruling People’s Democratic party, told Al Jazeera.

“The government is investigating the incident and as we go along the perpetrators will be put in front of the law and the law will take its course … the government acknowledged that this was a crime against humanity … you cannot shoot an unarmed civilian.” Fugu Mohammed’s family have given their story to the government commission set up to investigate the events that took place, but they are still waiting to receive an official explanation for the deaths. Senator Umar Garda could not confirm to Al Jazeera whether there had been any arrests relating to the killings and there have been few tangible signs of the inquiry bringing anyone to account.

Boko Haram Leader Killed
Aster Van Kregten, a Nigeria expert with rights group Amnesty International, told Al Jazeera that the group’s research suggested extra-judicial killings were widespread in Nigeria.

“Our research shows that the Nigerian police are getting away with murder, they killed hundreds of people a year without any investigation – any investigation on whether the use of force was lawful or not,” she said. “What we saw on the footage happened seven month ago and we haven’t heard anything from the government whether they have arrested anyone and how far the investigation is going.” Among those killed in the aftermath of the clashes between Boko Haram and the police, was Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf.

In the Al Jazeera footage, he is seen wearing handcuffs and surrounded by heavily armed police officers. Nigerian police have said that Yusuf was killed while attempting to escape, but he died still wearing the handcuffs.

In another video, which was made available shortly after last year’s fighting, Yusuf is shown inside the police station, his body covered with marks and bruises, as he is questioned about the organisation that he led. It is not known whether the injuries were caused during the fighting, arrest, or detention.

Extra-judicial Killings
The New York-based Human Rights Watch described Yusuf’s death as “an extra-judicial killing”. “The extra-judicial killing of Mr Yusuf in police custody is a shocking example of the brazen contempt by the Nigerian police for the rule of law,” Eric Guttschuss, the organisation’s Nigeria researcher, said.

Boko Haram, which means “Western education is prohibited” in the local Hausa dialect, has called for the nationwide enforcement of a strict interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, even among non-Muslims. Last year’s clashes took place after suspected Boko Haram members, armed with machetes, knives, bows and arrows, and home-made explosives, attacked police buildings and officers.

Nigeria’s 150 million people are nearly evenly divided between Christians, who dominate the south, and the primarily northern-based Muslims. Islamic law was implemented in 12 northern states after Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 following years of military rule.

Source: Al Jazeera

A PROCLAMATION

The United States was founded on the principle that all people are born with an unalienable right to freedom — an ideal that has driven the engine of American progress throughout our history. As a Nation, we have known moments of great darkness and greater light; and dim years of chattel slavery illuminated and brought to an end by President Lincoln’s actions and a painful Civil War. Yet even today, the darkness and inhumanity of enslavement exists. Millions of people worldwide are held in compelled service, as well as thousands within the United States. During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we acknowledge that forms of slavery still exist in the modern era, and we recommit ourselves to stopping the human traffickers who ply this horrific trade.

As we continue our fight to deliver on the promise of freedom, we commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation, which became effective on January 1, 1863, and the 13th Amendment, which was sent to the States for ratification on February 1, 1865. Throughout the month of January, we highlight the many fronts in the ongoing battle for civil rights — including the efforts of our Federal agencies; State, local, and tribal law enforcement partners; international partners; nonprofit social service providers; private industry and nongovernmental organizations around the world who are working to end human trafficking.

The victims of modern slavery have many faces. They are men and women, adults and children. Yet, all are denied basic human dignity and freedom. Victims can be abused in their own countries, or find themselves far from home and vulnerable. Whether they are trapped in forced sexual or labor exploitation, human trafficking victims cannot walk away, but are held in service through force, threats, and fear. All too often suffering from horrible physical and sexual abuse, it is hard for them to imagine that there might be a place of refuge.

We must join together as a Nation and global community to provide that safe haven by protecting victims and prosecuting traffickers. With improved victim identification, medical and social services, training for first responders, and increased public awareness, the men, women, and children who have suffered this scourge can overcome the bonds of modern slavery, receive protection and justice, and successfully reclaim their rightful independence.

Fighting modern slavery and human trafficking is a shared responsibility. This month, I urge all Americans to educate themselves about all forms of modern slavery and the signs and consequences of human trafficking. Together, we can and must end this most serious, ongoing criminal civil rights violation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 2010 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, culminating in the annual celebration of National Freedom Day on February 1. I call upon the people of the United States to recognize the vital role we can play in ending modern slavery, and to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

BARACK OBAMA

Source: WH Press Release

Release Date: January 04, 2010

Summary: Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) 2009

Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

The United States’ Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), as amended, guides efforts to combat human trafficking. The most recent amendments to the TVPA were enacted in December 2008. The purpose of the law is to punish traffickers, protect victims, and prevent trafficking from occurring. Freeing victims from this form of modern-day slavery is the ultimate goal of this report—and of the U.S. Government’s anti-human trafficking policy.

Human trafficking is a multi-dimensional issue. It is a crime that deprives people of their human rights and freedoms, increases global health risks, fuels growing networks of organized crime, and can sustain levels of poverty and impede development in certain areas.

The impacts of human trafficking are devastating. Victims may suffer physical and emotional abuse, rape, threats against self and family, and even death. But the devastation also extends beyond individual victims; human trafficking undermines the health, safety, and security of all nations it touches.

A growing community of nations is making significant efforts to eliminate this atrocious crime. The TVPA outlines minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. Countries that do not make significant efforts to comply with the minimum standards receive a Tier 3 ranking in this report. Such an assessment could prompt the United States to withhold non-humanitarian, non-trade-related foreign assistance.

In assessing foreign governments’ efforts, the TIP Report highlights the “three P’s”— prosecution, protection, and prevention. But a victim-centered approach to trafficking also requires attention to the “three R’s”—rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Sharing the best practices in these areas will encourage governments to go beyond the initial rescue of victims and restore to them dignity and the hope of productive lives.

Human Trafficking Defined

The TVPA defines “severe forms of trafficking” as:

a. sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or

b. the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

A victim need not be physically transported from one location to another in order for the crime to fall within these definitions.

The Scope and Nature of Modern-Day Slavery

The common denominator of trafficking scenarios is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to exploit a person for profit. Traffickers can subject victims to labor exploitation, sexual exploitation, or both. Trafficking for labor exploitation, the form of trafficking claiming the greatest number of victims, includes traditional chattel slavery, forced labor, and debt bondage. Trafficking for sexual exploitation typically includes abuse within the commercial sex industry. In other cases, individuals exploit victims in private homes, often demanding both sex and work. The use of force or coercion can be direct and violent or psychological.

A wide range of estimates exists on the scope and magnitude of modern-day slavery. The International Labor Organization (ILO)—the United Nations agency charged with addressing labor standards, employment, and social protection issues—estimates that there are at least 12.3 million adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and commercial sexual servitude at any given time.

Of these victims, the ILO estimates that at least 1.39 million are victims of commercial sexual servitude, both transnational and within countries. According to the ILO, 56 percent of all forced labor victims are women and girls. Human traffickers prey on the weak. Targeting vulnerable men, women, and children, they use creative and ruthless ploys designed to trick, coerce, and win the confidence of potential victims. Very often these ruses involve promises of a better life through employment, educational opportunities, or marriage.

The nationalities of trafficked people are as diverse as the world’s cultures. Some leave developing countries, seeking to improve their lives through low-skilled jobs in more prosperous countries. Others fall victim to forced or bonded labor in their own countries. Women, eager for a better future, are susceptible to promises of jobs abroad as babysitters, housekeepers, waitresses, or models—jobs that traffickers turn into the nightmare of forced prostitution without exit. Some families give children to adults, often relatives, who promise education and opportunity but instead sell the children into exploitative situations for money. But poverty alone does not explain this tragedy, which is driven by fraudulent recruiters, employers, and corrupt officials who seek to reap profits from others’ desperation.

Source: U.S. Department of State; My Blog

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA.), Chairwoman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues, along with sponsors Senators Collins (R-ME) and Snowe (R-ME) and Representatives Bill Delahunt (D-MA), Ted Poe (R-TX), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) in the House and Senate.

Violence against women is a worldwide epidemic. Amnesty International reports that one in three women globally has been sexually, physically, emotionally or otherwise abused. In some countries the rate of domestic violence is as high as 70 percent. Violence against women includes, but is certainly not limited to: domestic violence/beatings, verbal abuse, mass rape, torture, acid attacks, false imprisonment, forced and arranged/dowry marriages, forced pregnancies, underage marriages, public lashings, female genital mutilation (FGM), human trafficking, stoning, and honor killings.

I-VAWA creates new institutional authorities, responsibilities, and funding to fight the scourge of violence against women and girls around the globe.

The bill addresses for the first time, violence against women and girls through all relevant US foreign policy efforts, including its international assistance programs. It would allocate $175 million a year over five years, for a total of $1 billion. The bill would support local efforts in up to 20 low-income countries, assisting in public awareness and health campaigns; shelters; education, training, and economic empowerment programs for women, as well as legal reforms. It would create a specialized office in the U.S. Agency for International Development and provide $40 million annually, for five years, to expand and modify emergency and humanitarian relief programs to address violence against women. The I-VAWA would also make the issue a diplomatic priority for the first time, asking the United States to respond within three months to horrific acts of violence against women and girls committed during conflict and war.

Senator Boxer said, “Every day, too many women and girls across the globe endure horrific acts of violence.  They are disfigured by acid, raped and beaten, or they are denied the opportunity to see a doctor.  This important legislation gives the United States government the tools to make international violence against women and girls a top diplomatic priority.”

“As the international community strives to respond to conflicts and humanitarian crises, such as last month’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, it is absolutely vital that we pay careful attention to those populations most vulnerable to violence and abuse,” said Senator Snowe.  “There is no question the federal government’s efforts to combat violence against women across the globe are hampered by a lack of strategic focus and integration with existing programs. With this bill, we will finally provide the State Department with the tools it needs to develop targeted, gender-based violence prevention and response activities in countries with significant levels of violence against women. There is no question women can and will drive social and economic progress in the developing world when they are afforded the same protections and opportunities.”

Senator Collins said, “I have long been concerned about the treatment of women and girls throughout the world, especially in places like Afghanistan.  This legislation is an important step toward ending gender-related violence in the world, which is a disturbing and unacceptable practice.”

“Worldwide, one in three women will be the victim of abuse, physical, sexual, or psychological, because of her gender at some point in her lifetime,” said Representative Poe. “Violence doesn’t recognize borders. It is imperative to the fight to end violence against women that we take the lead, not only by example, but by educating and providing opportunities for other countries to end the violence around the world.”

“This is a crucial year for Afghanistan, and the country’s future success will depend, in large part, on its women.  The women of Afghanistan, like women in all conflict zones, have borne the brunt of years of warfare; they will also form the underpinning of a stable and peaceful Afghanistan.  No woman should have to live her life in fear of attack.  U.S. leadership will be critical if we are to effectively fight abuses against our sisters around the world.  I am proud to support this important legislation, which will finally make halting violence against women and girls a U.S. foreign policy priority,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Co-Chair of the Congressional Women’s Caucus.

Support from the American public is strong. A 2009 poll found that 61 percent of voters across demographic and political lines thought global violence against women should be one of the top international priorities for the US government, and 82 percent supported the International Violence Against Women Act.

Larry Cox and Kerry Kennedy of Amnesty International USA aided in the drafting and advocacy of the bill. More than 150 U.S.-based experts and 40 women’s groups overseas gave advice on the bill.

Senators Brown, Burris, Cardin, Casey, Dodd, Durbin, Franken, Gillibrand, Johnson, Kaufman, Klobuchar, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Menendez, Mikulski, Murray, Schumer, Shaheen, Stabenow, Udall, and Whitehouse are co-sponsors of the legislation.

Costa Ricans have elected their first female president as the ruling party candidate won in a landslide after campaigning to continue free market policies in Central America’s most stable nation.

With most of the votes from Sunday’s election counted, Laura Chinchilla held a 22-point lead over her closest rival. Her 47% share of the vote was well beyond the 40% needed to avoid a run-off.

The 50-year-old protege of the current president, Nobel peace prize laureate Óscar Arias, promised to pursue the same economic policies that recently brought the country into a trade pact with the US and opened commerce with China.

“Today we are making history,” said Chinchilla, who will be the fifth Latin American woman to serve as president when she takes office in May. “The Costa Rican people have given me their confidence, and I will not betray it.”

The closest contender, Otton Solis of the Citizens Action Party, got 25% of the votes. He and the other main rival, Libertarian Otto Guevara, quickly conceded defeat.

It was unclear, however, whether Chinchilla’s National Liberation Party would gain a majority in congress.

Analyst Heather Berkman of the Eurasia Group said coalition building without a majority would likely delay or derail controversial fiscal reforms to shore up government finances and energy deregulation.

The third-place candidate, Guevara, congratulated Chinchilla as “our president”, but he also pointed out the new political muscle of his tax-bashing Libertarian Movement Party. He won 21% of the vote.

Arias’s economic policies helped insulate Costa Rica from the world economic crisis as he kept a high profile on the world stage as a negotiator in the Honduras political crisis after a coup deposed President Manuel Zelaya in June.

Critics of the Arias government, in which Chinchilla served as vice-president, contended its policies catered to big developers to boost the economy at the cost of the nation’s fragile ecosystems.

But most Costa Ricans were reluctant to shake up the status quo in a country with relatively high salaries, the longest life expectancy in Latin America, a thriving ecotourism industry and high literacy rates.

Chinchilla, the mother of a teenage son, is a social conservative who opposes abortion and gay marriage. She appealed both to Costa Ricans seeking a fresh face and those reluctant to risk the unknown.

As a female president, she would follow an increasingly common trend in many Latin American countries: Nicaragua, Panama, Chile and Argentina have all elected women as presidents.

Alfredo Fernandez, 77, said he has always voted for the National Liberation Party, but this time his ballot was special.

“It is an honour to be able to have a woman president,” he said.

Even Costa Ricans on the margins of society backed Chinchilla.

Heizel Arias, a 24-year-old single mother voted at a prison where she is serving an eight-year drug smuggling sentence.

“I voted for Laura Chinchilla because she has promised to fight for women,” Arias said. “She was the only one who visited us and told us her plans and I believe in her.”

Source: Guardian UK

Turkish police uncovered the body of a 16-year old girl who was buried alive by the male members of her family for speaking to a boy in an honor killing ritual.

Identified initially as M.M., Medine Memi was found in a sitting position with her hands tied, in a 2m-deep hole dug under a chicken pen, which had been cemented, outside her house in Kahta, a town in the southeastern province of Adıyaman, Southeast Turkey.

A subsequent postmortem examination revealed that Medine had a significant amount of soil in her lungs and stomach, indicating that she was buried alive and conscious, forensic experts told Anatolia news agency reported on Thursday. “The autopsy result is blood-curdling. According to our findings, the girl – who had no bruises on her body and no sign of narcotics or poison in her blood – was alive and fully conscious when she was buried,” one anonymous expert said.

An anonymous caller tipped off the police. The caller said the girl had been bound and buried alive following a family council meeting. She had been missing for 40 days when her body was discovered in December, according to authorities. Her mother was arrested along with the father, Ayhan, and grandfather, Fethi. The mother was released later and has not been charged.

The family has nine children, including the girl, and was reported to have told neighbors that she was missing. The girl complained to the police two months prior to her disappearance, claiming her grandfather beat her because she talked to boys. In fact, “she tried to take refuge at the police station three times, and she was sent home three times,” her mother, Immihan, said after the body was discovered in December. There is nothing to suggest police followed up on the girl’s complaints.

Family councils consist of family elders; honor killings are usually decided by such groups. Official figures estimate that more than 200 of such killings take place each year, accounting for half of all the murders in Turkey.

In December, a British court convicted a Turkish man for the murder of his daughter, Tulay Goren, whose body has still not been found after ten years. He was convicted after his wife gave evidence against him in court. Perhaps Medine’s mother will have the same strength and get justice for her beautiful young daughter.

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Photo Above: The hole where a 16-year-old girl was buried alive by her relatives in Adiyaman, southeastern Turkey. Credit: HO/REUTERS

Hanim Goren Dishonors the Code of Silence at Honor Killing Trial

Mehmet Goren, 49, was found guilty of “honor killing” his 15 year-old daughter Tulay Goren who disappeared from her home in January 1999. He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 22 years in prison.

According to the Metropolitan Police, there were 129 honor-based crimes from April to October in London alone this year, compared to the 132 honor crimes committed in 2008-09. These figures are merely the tip of the iceberg because many honor crimes are never reported. Family and community members remain silent and thus make it exceedingly difficult to identify and protect victims or prosecute offenders. Even if the prosecutor pursues a case, the crown’s primary witness is usually a sibling or the mother.  Mothers seldom testify against their sons or husband. . .until now.

Enter Hanim Goren, the true protagonist of this drama. Refusing to hide behind a screen to protect her identity, Hanim told the jury that her marriage to Mehmet had been arranged by her parents and that he had been an abusive husband and father. She told the jury: “For thirty years I have kept a lot of things inside me. Only I know, and God knows.” What Hanim did not choose to keep inside of her were the events that led up to her daughter’s disappearance and presumed murder.

Hanim’s fragile stature disguised her strong desire to get justice for her daughter. In a voice filled with calm rage and raw pain, Hanim described how, on two separate occasions, Mehmet attempted to kill her and their family – first by gas and then by rat poison. The last time she saw her daughter was the night before she disappeared. Hanim Goren said: “In the children’s bedroom I saw Tulay lying on the floor face down. Her hands and her feet were tied. Her hands and her feet were all a purple black color.” At one point during her trial, Hanim peered directly at her husband in the dock and screamed: “Look at my face. Tell me what you did to Tulay!”

Hanim’s oldest daughter Nuray Guler best described her mother’s courage when she said: “In taking this action, she has confronted and accused the men of our family. No one should fail to realize what this means within our culture. These people do not forget.” Hanim’s courage to stand up and speak up for her daughter Tulay is only overshadowed by her pain. She will always remember her beautiful daughter who had her whole life in front of her as well as the pain of knowing her husband abruptly ended that life. I can only hope that other mothers and sisters in similar circumstances will follow her lead and step from behind the curtain of darkness to protect their children or assist with the prosecution of those who kill in the name of honor.

Photo Credit: AP

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Original print date: December 20, 2009

International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

• Amnesty International
• Anti-Slavery International
• Avocats Sans Frontières
• Breakthrough (human rights)
• Carter Center
• CCJO René Cassin
• Center for Economic and Social Rights
• Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)
• Committee to Protect Journalists
• CryptoRights Foundation
• Disabled Peoples' International
• Equality Now
• Every Human Has Rights
• Five Minutes to Midnight
• Food First Information and Action Network
• Forum 18
• Free the Slaves
• Freedom House
• Freedom Now
• Friends of Peoples Close to Nature
• GIRCA
• Habitat International Coalition
• Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
• Helsinki Watch
• Hindu American Foundation
• Hindu Human Rights
• Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation
• Human Rights Internet
• Human Rights Defence
• Human Rights First
• Human Rights Foundation
• Human Rights Internet
• Human Rights Watch
• Human Rights Without Frontiers
• Indian Institute of Human Rights (India)
• Institute for War and Peace Reporting
• Institute on Religion and Public Policy
• International Alliance of Women
• International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists
• International Center for Transitional Justice
• International Centre for Human Rights Research
• International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances
• International Commission of Jurists
• International Committee of the Red Cross (private, sovereign organization)
• International Federation of Human Rights
• International Federation of Human Rights Leagues
• International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance
• International Freedom of Expression Exchange
• International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
• International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (federation of 15 other human rights organizations, not included in this list, now bankrupt due to fraud)
• International Human Rights Association (IHRA)
• International Humanist and Ethical Union
• International Institute of Human Rights
• International League for Human Rights
• International Property Rights Index
• International Progress Organization
• International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
• International Tibet Support Network
• International Service for Human Rights
• International Society for Human Rights
• International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
• Islamic Human Rights Commission
• JUSTICE
• Medical Foundation for Care of Victims of Torture
• MindFreedom International
• National Labor Committee in Support of Human and Worker Rights
• No Sweat
• Norwegian Refugee Council
• Peace Brigades International
• People & Planet
• Physicians for Human Rights
• Point of Peace Foundation
• Release International
• Reporters Without Borders
• Reprieve
• Scholars At Risk
• Social Accountability International
• Society for Threatened Peoples
• Survival International
• Tahirih Justice Center
• The Advocacy Project
• UN Watch
• UNITED for Intercultural Action
• World Organisation Against Torture
• Witness (human rights group)
• Womankind Worldwide
• Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace
• World Future Council
• World Organisation Against Torture
• Youth for Human Rights International

Regional Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

• Asian Human Rights Commission (Asia)
• Asian Centre for Human Rights (Asia)
• Asian Legal Resource Centre (Asia)
• Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (Commonwealth nations)
• Council on Hemispheric Affairs (Americas)
• Derechos Human Rights (Latin America)
• Ecumenical Center for Human Rights (Americas)
• Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (Euro-Mediterranean region)
• European Roma Rights Centre (Europe)
• Federal Union of European Nationalities (Europe)
• Helsinki Citizens Assembly (Europe)
• Human Rights Foundation (Americas)
• Incomindios Switzerland (Americas)
• Journalists for Human Rights (Africa)
• Kurdish Human Rights Project (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran & elsewhere)
• Memorial (Ex-USSR)
• Washington Office on Latin America (Latin America)

National Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Afghanistan

• Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission

Argentina

• HIJOS
• Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo

Bahrain

• Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
• Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society
• We Have A Right

Burma (Myanmar)

• Burma Campaign UK
• Canadian Friends of Burma
• Free Burma Rangers
• Freedom Campaign
• Human Rights Defenders and Promoters
• U.S. Campaign for Burma
• Women's League of Burma

Canada

• Child Welfare League of Canada

Chad

• Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights

China

• Civil Human Rights Front (Hong Kong)
• Empowerment and Rights Institute
• Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor (Hong Kong)
• Human Rights in China
• Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy
• International Federation for Justice in China
• Tibet:
  • Free Tibet Campaign
  • International Campaign for Tibet
  • Political Prisoners Movement of Tibet
  • Students for a Free Tibet
  • Tibetan Youth Congress

Democratic Republic of Congo

• RAID (NGO)

Egypt

• Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights

France

• GISTI
• Ligue des droits de l'homme
• MRAP (French NGO)
• SOS Racisme

Guatemala

• ADIVIMA
• HIJOS
• NISGUA

India

• MASS
• Confederation of Human Rights Organizations
• Forum for Fact-finding Documentation and Advocacy
• Human Rights Documentation Centre
• Indian Institute of Human Rights (India)
• International Human Rights Association (IHRA)
• National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
• Vigil India Movement
• Kashmir Human Rights Commission

Iran

• Defenders of Human Rights Center
• Iran Human Rights Documentation Center

Israel/Palestine

• Israel:
  • Rabbis for Human Rights
  • Machsom Watch
• Palestinian territories:
  • Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Gaza Strip)
  • Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights
  • Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights

Kenya

• Cemiride

Lebanon

• Association Najdeh

Malawi

• Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation

Malaysia

• HINDRAF
• National Human Rights Society

Mali

• Association Malienne des Droits de l'Homme

Mauritania

• Association Mauritanienne des Droits de l'Homme

Morocco

• Association Marocaine des Droits de l'Homme
• Conseil Consultatif des Droits de l'Homme
• Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State

Niger

• Timidria

North Korea

• Liberty in North Korea

Pakistan

• Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
• Society for Human Rights and Prisoners Aid

Philippines

• Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines
• Philippines-Canada Task Force on Human Rights

Russia

• Glasnost Defense Foundation
• Moscow Research Center for Human Rights
• SOVA Center
• Chechnya:
  • Chechnya Advocacy Network

Saudi Arabia

• National Society for Human Rights

Sri Lanka

• Home for Human Rights
• NESOHR
• University Teachers for Human Rights

Sweden

• Stepchildren of the state

Tunisia

• Tunisia Monitoring Group

Uganda

• Uganda Conflict Action Network

Ukraine

• Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
• Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union

United Kingdom

• Liberty (pressure group)
• Northern Ireland:
  • Committee on the Administration of Justice

United States

• Center for Constitutional Rights
• Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
• Human Rights Campaign
• Human Rights Commission of Salt Lake City
• Human Rights First
• Humanitarian Law Project
• Jewish Voice for Peace
• Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute
• National Youth Rights Association
• Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• The Society for Human Rights (Disbanded)
• US Human Rights Network
• Workplace Fairness

Zimbabwe

• Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

United Nations

• Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
• United Nations Security Council
• Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
• United Nations Human Rights Council
• United Nations Commission on Human Rights (disbanded)
• International Criminal Court
• OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
• UNESCO
• United Nations Parliamentary Assembly

Human Rights Treaty Bodies

• Human Rights Committee
• Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
• Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
• Committee Against Torture
• Committee on the Rights of the Child

Judicial & Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGOs)

• African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
• African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
• Arab Organization for Human Rights
• Commissioner for Human Rights
• Commonwealth of Nations
• European Committee for the Prevention of Torture
• European Court of Human Rights
• OAS Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression
• Subcommittee on Human Rights
• Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Orphans in Haiti are being offered for sale to foreigners for as little as £30 amid warnings that up to one million children in the country have been left vulnerable to abuse and trafficking in the wake of the earthquake.

In a remote area north of Port-au-Prince, a man was reported to have offered to sell a young boy to a Canadian man for just $50.

The first confirmed case of a child being offered for sale since Haiti was devastated by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake on Jan 12 took place near Gonaives, 150km north of Port-au-Prince.

It was reported by Noel Ismonin, a Canadian pastor who rescues orphans in the area. A man offered to sell him the boy but the pastor refused.

Meanwhile, in camps around the capital there were several reports of men being lynched after being accused by earthquake victims of trying to steal infants from tents.

The incident near Gonaives raised fears that child trafficking gangs could move into desperately poor rural areas that have yet to be properly reached by aid agencies. The gangs are also be less likely to be picked up by authorities there.

Abduction of children by child traffickers was already a chronic problem in pre-earthquake Haiti, where thousands were handed by their families into lives of domestic servitude.

“There are an estimated one million unaccompanied or orphaned children, or children who lost one parent,” said Kate Conradt, a spokesman for Save the Children. “They are extremely vulnerable.”

As fears for the safety of Haitian orphans grew a group of 78 children sleeping in the street outside their shattered orphanage in the capital were being guarded at night by a group of local people.

The bodies of 56 other children remained buried under a three-storey section of the collapsed orphanage in the Carrefour slum area.

The youngest victims, Cedric Francois and James Alcius, were both just five months old.

Of the survivors, many had wounds to their heads and limbs. They sleep on blankets laid in the street. Three plastic sheets provided by Unicef have been strung from trees.

“If it rains it will be terrible,” said Eviline Louis-Jacques, 61, who runs the Notre Dame de la Nativite orphanage.

“There are 56 dead over there,” she said pointing to a pile of rubble. “Most of them were babies. That’s why they were in there, they were sleeping. But I have 78 left.”

Vanessa Line, three, was rescued after spending two days stuck in the rubble. She stares blankly ahead and does not speak, clearly traumatized by her ordeal.

Naika Simon, six, who suffered head wounds when timber fell on her, said: “It hurt me and I was crying. I could hear others crying as well. It was dark and I was scared. I miss my mummy and daddy.”

Another child, Reginald Gibbs, five, who has a broken leg, was brought to the orphanage by his parents after their home collapsed. He was already up for legitimate adoption before the earthquake and a family in France is waiting for them.
His father, Daniel Gibbs, 50, said: “He is suffering. We want him to go to France as soon as possible because he will get better care.”

Haiti’s orphanages have also become targets for people desperate for food, water and medical supplies. Maison de Lumiere, which has 50 orphans, came under attack from a group of 20 armed men but security guards drove them off.

Charities and aid agencies are only supplying the orphanages with a few days of food and water at a time in case they are looted.

Source: Telegraph UK

Amnesty International and UNICEF estimate that 300,000 Haiti children (10% of the total child population) were working as restaveks before the earthquake hit on January 12, 2010. The term “restavek” or “restavec” is derived from the French words – “rester” and “avec” or “to stay with” (“timoun ki rete key moun” in Créole) and is used to describe a long-standing practice, whereby an impoverished family sends their child or children to stay with an affluent “host” family. Guerda Lexima, a child’s right activist who has worked on behalf of restaveks for nearly twenty years, says restaveks are children from “extremely poor rural areas in particular; it’s a child whose parents don’t have the means to feed or send him to school.”

The host family may be a distant relative that lives in Port-au-Prince or some other urban area who agrees to provide the child with food, shelter, and an education in exchange for housework. But most restaveks live as indentured servants in abject poverty. Though it is not uncommon to find young boys working, the majority of restaveks are usually young, black females ages 9 or under who have suffered some type of physical, mental or sexual abuse. The child begins work immediately upon arrival and generally works from dawn to dust, leaving little time for rest and no time for school.

Leading indicators of restavek treatment include work expectations equivalent to adult servants and long hours that surpass the cultural norm for children’s work at home, inferior food and clothing compared to other children in the home, sleeping on the floor rather than in a bed, no time out for play, and a common expectation that the restavek child must use formal terms of address when speaking to social superiors including virtually all other household members. This expectation applies to restavek relations to other children in the household, even children younger than the restavek child, e.g., Msye Jak (“Mister Jacques” rather than simply “Jacques”).

Education is also an important indicator in detecting child domesticity. Children in domesticity may or may not attend school, but when they do attend, it is generally an inferior school compared to other children. Restavek children are also more likely to be over age for their grade level, and their rates of non-enrollment are higher than non-restavek children in the home.[1]

To make matters worse, many restaveks are completely isolated from their immediate family. They have no political voice and are terminated when they reached fifteen years old, the age Haiti’s laws mandates all workers must be paid.  As a result, urban cities are flooded with homeless children who either succumb to a life of crime or are the victim of serious crimes such as assault, rape and murder.

In 2008, UNICEF and CARE estimated that more than a 100,000 girls had been sexually assaulted and/or gang raped in Port-au-Prince. The Haitian Women’s Solidarity Movement, one of the few Haitian organizations that report sexual battery to authorities, documented 238 cases of rape during an 18 month period ending in June 2008. Of the 238 cases of rape, 140 (58%) of these cases involved girls that were between the ages of 19-months to 18 years old.

Restaveks are modern-day child slaves and there is a growing concern that this number may double in the aftermath of the earthquake. Children who have lost their parent(s) in the earthquake, children who were in orphanages that now lay in ruins, and adults who had little and now have nothing are all at risk of succumbing to the notorious child brokers who prey on large, poor families and convince them that their child or children will be better off living with an affluent host family. It is a tried and true con that has worked since Haiti’s independence from France in 1804.

Then the rich, light-skinned Haitians controlled the government and convinced the darker-skinned Haitians that they were too poor to care for their children and thus should send them to work for the elite families. The practice is so ingrained in the Haitian culture that, despite a 2003 law banning it, poor families continue to send their children away. A 2009 study by the Pan American Development Foundation revealed that 11% of household with restaveks send their own children to work as restaveks for other families. And the problem spans beyond the Haitian borders.[2]

Human rights organizations have documented restaveks being trafficked in the Dominican Republic as domestic servants and sex slaves. Authorities in the U.S. have been aware of the problem since the late 1990s. As one reporter noted, the phenomenon could not be ignored after October 2, 1999.

Florida officials working on a tip from neighbors removed a 12-year-old Haitian girl—filthy, unkempt and in acute abdominal pain from repeated rape—from the affluent suburban home of middle class Haitian-American merchants. Willy and Marie Pompee in Pembroke Pines. The girl, restavek, said she had been forced to have sex with the Pompee’s 20-year-old son Willy, Jr. since she was nine.[3]

The problem is further compounded by the silence that surrounds the issue and Haitians’ unwillingness to either see the practice as criminal or report to the police. Restaveks who want to escape their hellish environment have nowhere to turn. They “know cops in Haiti to be brutal and corrupt [and] are generally loath to approach police in the U.S. Plus, they fear that turning in their captors to authorities may elicit reprisals.” [4]

Child slavery and human trafficking are illegal under Haitian law, U.S. law, and international law. It is important that the United Nations, United States and other nations involved in the Haiti relief earthquake effort identify and protect Haitian children at risk.

[1] Pan American Development Foundation, Lost Childhoods (2009), http://bit.ly/5Hn3gn.

[2] Id.

[3] Tim Padgett, Of Haitian Bondage, TIME Magazine (May 4, 2001), http://bit.ly/6j2G7q.

[4] Id.

Video: Amnesty International's Javier Zuniga stresses the importance of protecting people

© Amnesty International

On January 12, 2010, a massive earthquake struck the nation of Haiti, causing catastrophic damage near the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Against the backdrop of unprecedented and unimaginable destruction and chaos, where the death toll may surpass 200,000, it is easy to overlook Haiti’s most vulnerable survivors: children.

Long before the four devastating hurricanes of 2008 or the recent catastrophic earthquake, Haiti was a country on the edge of the sphere.

Since the end of the Duvalier era in February 1986, the country has experienced over twenty years of an erratic and long lasting unsuccessful democratization process that has been interrupted by several periods of intense conflict and violence. Each period began with optimism and then plunged into chaos. Haiti, as the first black republic that emerged from a violent period of power struggle in 1804, has never managed to define its own path towards progress and development.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. It is ranked 12 out of 60 on the Failed State Index for 2009. Most workers earn $2 or less a day. A staggering 80% of the population is unemployed and living under the poverty line, 54% live in abject poverty. Almost half of the population is illiterate. Haiti is also overpopulated. There are over nine million people crowded into an area more suitable for 300,000. Two-thirds of the population depends on the agricultural sector, which is susceptible to natural disasters exacerbated by widespread deforestation. Haiti's history is one plagued by periods of political instability, high inflation, severe trade deficits, police corruption, gang violence, crime, a broken judicial system, and a crumbling infrastructure.

Before the earthquake, Haiti could do little to protect itself. It could do nothing to protect those most at risk. In such a culture, child slavery and human trafficking flourished. The number of sexual assaults against girls has increased since rape was criminalized in 2005, forcing girls to live in constant fear. In an effort to protect women and children from the threat of imminent violence, Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have called on the United Nations to put in place measures that will protect the most vulnerable survivors.   

The organization also asked for particular attention to be provided to ensuring respect for human rights and protection of children and those left orphans as a consequence of the earthquake. Girls in particular are at higher risk of sexual abuse and attack.

“The current situation of lawlessness in Haiti and the increased vulnerability of women and children creates the perfect environment for human rights abuses and crimes such as rape and sexual abuse to take place undetected and go unpunished,” said Gerardo Ducos, Haiti researcher at Amnesty International.

“Protecting vulnerable groups from sexual violence is as important as providing them with relief.”   

Sources: Amnesty International, Failed State Index 2009, & AlterNet

Other text-message words and codes for donations to various organizations include:

• Text the word "QUAKE" to 20222 to donate $10 to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
• Text the word “HAITI" to 20222 to donate $10 to the Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief Fund.
• Text the word "GIVE" to 25383 to donate $10 to the MTV telethon.
• Text "HAITI" to 25383 to donate $5 to the International Rescue Committee.
• Text "HAITI" to 85944 to donate $10 to the International Medical Corps.
• Text "YELE" to 501501 to donate $5 to the Yele Haiti foundation.
• Text "HAITI" to 52000 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army.
• Text "HOPE10" or "UNICEF" to 20222 to donate $10 to UNICEF.
• Text "HABITAT" to 25383 to donate $10 to Habitat for Humanity.
• Text "OXFAM" to 25383 to donate $10 to Oxfam America, Inc.
• Text "HAITI" to 40579 to donate $10 to the National Religious Broadcasters.
• Text "SAVE" or "SAFE" to 20222 to donate $10 to the Save the Children Federation, Inc.
• Text "GIVE" or "WORLD" to 20222 to donate $10 to World Vision, Inc.
• Text "CARE" to 24383 to donate to CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Inc.
• Text "AJWS" to 25383 to donate $10 to the American Jewish World Service.
• Text the word “LIVE” to 25383 to donate $10 to AmeriCares, Inc.
• Text the word “LWR” to 40579 to donate $10 to Lutheran World Relief.

 

Food for Life Network AIDS Marathon 2010

We would like to take a moment to remind you that the FFLN AIDS Marathon/Half-Marathon is on January 31, 2010.  The marathon is hosted by ING Miami Marathon and starts at 601 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami, Florida.

RUNNERS SIGN UP NOW!

If you would like to participate in the marathon/half-marathon but have yet to sign up, please take a moment to visit our website and do so now. Please use the following discount codes when registering with ING Miami Marathon:

Discount Codes

Marathon Code:                       FFLN2010F ($10.00 off)

Half-Marathon Code:               FFLN2010H ($5.00 off)

Registered Runners please be sure to review all of the race material and familiarize yourself in advance. All participants need to be in the runner corrals no later than 5:55 AM. Corrals will close at that time. The race will begin at 6:05 (wheelchair participants) and 6:15 a.m. (marathon participants).

Remember you must pick up your own race packet, bib and chip at the Nissan Health & Fitness Expo on Friday, January 29, 2010 or Saturday, January 30, 2010. The Expo will be held at the Miami Beach Convention Center – Hall A, located at 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach Florida. There is no packet pick-up on the race day. Don’t forget to take your ID to pick up your packet. No confirmation cards will be mailed out. Your bib number will be available at the “Runner Look-up Area.” For more information about packet pick-ups or the race in general, visit ING Miami Marathon.

MAKE A DONATION TODAY!

Not running but want to help? Live outside of Florida or the U.S. but want to help? Think it is a great cause and want to show your support? We’ve got a solution for you. Simply visit our website and use your debit or credit card to make a donation. To pay by check, download the donation form, filled it out and mail in your contribution. We know that these are tough economic times, but please keep in mind that Food for Life Network, Inc. never charges its clients for the services we provide. Instead, we rely on donations from socially responsible people like you. Remember that for as little as $40.00, you can feed one homebound client for a week or provide 21 meals for one food bank client. All contributions raised by the FFLN AIDS Marathon/Half-Marathon go directly to Food for Life Network, Inc., which allocates 86% to client services. Fundraising will continue until our goal is reached. All contributions are tax deductible.

VOLUNTEERS

We are always looking for dedicated and responsible volunteers for events and activities before and during the race. If you would like to volunteer for FFLN AIDS Marathon or Food for Life Network, Inc., please contact Deborah Hernandez at 305-576-1234.

Thank you in advance for your hard work, contributions, and unyielding support.

FFLN AIDS Marathon 2010

3510 Biscayne Blvd., Ste. 209

Miami, Florida 33137-3840

 (305) 576-FOOD Ext. 257

e-mail: fflnam@foodforlifenetwork.org         

website: http://www.fflnmarathon.org            

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~Margaret Mead

“If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” ~Mother Teresa

On January 12, 2010, a massive earthquake struck the nation of Haiti, causing catastrophic damage inside and around the capital city of Port-au-Prince. President Obama has promised the people of Haiti that "you will not be forsaken; you will not be forgotten." The United States Government has mobilized resources and manpower to aid in the relief effort. Here are some ways that you can get involved.

List of organizations active in Haiti

• Action Against Hunger, 877-777-1420
• Agape Flights, 941-584-8078
• American Red Cross, 800-733-2767
• American Refugee Committee, 800-875-7060
• American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, 212-687-6200
• American Jewish World Service, 212-792-2900
• AmeriCares, 800-486-4357
• Ben Stiller’s Stillerstong, Online
• Better Future International, Online
• Beyond Borders, 866-424-8403
• B'nai B'rith International, 202-857-6600
• CARE, 800-521-2273
• CarmaFoundation
• Catholic Relief Services, 800-736-3467
• Childcare Worldwide, 800-553-2328
• Church World Services, 800-297-1516
• Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund,
• Text "QUAKE" to 20222 to donate $10 to Haiti relief
• Clinton Foundation, 501-748-0471 Text "HAITI" to 20222 to donate $10 to Haiti relief
• Concern Worldwide, 212-557-8000
• Convoy of Hope, 417-823-8998
• Cross International, 800-391-8545
• CRUDEM Foundation, 413-642-0450
• CRWRC, 800-55-CRWRC
• Direct Relief International, 805-964-4767
• Doctors Without Borders, 888-392-0392
• Episcopal Relief and Development, 800-334-7626
• Feed My Starving Children, 763-504-2919
• Food for the Poor, 800-427-9104
• Friends of WFP, 866-929-1694
• Friends of the Orphans, 312-386-7499
• Habitat for Humanity, 1-800-422-4828
• Haiti Children, 877-424-8454
• Haiti Foundation Against Poverty
• Haiti Marycare, 203-675-4770
• Haitian Health Foundation, 860-886-4357
• Handicap International, 301-891-2138
• Healing Hands for Haiti, 651-769-5846
• Hope for Haiti, 239-434-7183
• International Child Care, 800-722-4453
• International Medical Corps, 800-481-4462
• International Rescue Committee, 877-733-8433
• International Relief Teams, 619-284-7979
• Islamic Relief USA, 888-479-4968
• Lambifund
• Lions Club International Foundation, 630-203-3836
• Lutheran World Relief, 800-597-5972
• Medical Benevolence Foundation, 800-547-7627
• Medical Teams International, 800-959-4325
• Meds and Food for Kids, 314-420-1634
• Mennonite Central Committee, 888-563-4676
• Mercy Corps, 888-256-1900
• Merlin USA, 202-449-6398
• Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, 800-306-9950
• NetHope, 703-388-2845
• New Life for Haiti, 815-436-7633
• Operation Blessing, 800-730-2537
• Operation USA, 800-678-7255
• Oxfam, 800-776-9326
• Partners in Health, 617-432-5298
• RHEMA International, 248-652-9894
• Rural Haiti Project, 347-405-5552
• The Salvation Army, 800-725-2769
• Samaritan's Purse, 828-262-1980
• Save the Children, 800-728-3843
• ShelterBox
• The Jewish Federations of North America, 212-284-6500
• UN Central Emergency Response Fund
• UN World Food Programme, +39-06-65131
• UNICEF, 800-367-5437
• United Methodist Committee on Relief, 800-554-8583
• White House
• World Concern, 800-755-5022
• World Hope International, 888-466-4673
• World Relief, 800-535-5433
• World Vision, 888-511-6548
• Yele Haiti, 212-352-0552

Wyclef Jean’s grassroots org Text Yele to 501 501 to donate $5 via your cellphone

The U.S. State Department Operations Center said Americans seeking information about family members in Haiti should call 1-888-407-4747. Due to heavy volume, some callers may receive a recording. “Our embassy is still in the early stages of contacting American citizens through our Warden Network,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement. “Communications are very difficult within Haiti at this time.”

For those interesting in helping immediately, simply text “HAITI” to “90999″ and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill. You can also text “HAITI” to 20222 to donate $10 to the Clinton Foundation. (More information).

On January 16, Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama met at the White House. A new organization has been established to help with the relief efforts in Haiti. To donate $10 to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, text "QUAKE" to 20222. (More information)

UPS has donated $1 million dollars to Haiti. People are encouraged to take boxes of food 50lbs and under to your local UPS. They will ship the goods to Haiti free of charge.

The HuffPost reported that some credit card companies like American Express and Mastercard are waiving the fees normally charged to the organization to ensure that the full amount of your donation is given to the charity. Check with your credit card company for more information.

MSNBC and HuffingtonPost also have comprehensive lists of the charities. Finally, the FBI urges people who are looking for ways to help with earthquake relief to be wary of solicitations that could be from scam artists. If you receive an e-mail you believe is a scam, please forward the e-mail to: http://www.ic3.gov.

By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, December 22, 2009

When all is said and done -- and, yes, there is a bit more saying and doing to endure, which means that anything can happen -- the health-care reform legislation that President Obama now seems likely to sign into law, while an unlovely mess, will be remembered as a landmark accomplishment.


The bill making its way through the Senate by the slimmest of margins is imperfect, to say the least. But before listing its many flaws, let's consider the measure's one great virtue: For the first time, we will enshrine the principle that all Americans deserve access to medical care regardless of their ability to pay. No longer will it be the policy and practice of our nation to ration health according to wealth.


When you blow away all the smoke, that's what this fight is about. The Senate bill lacks a public health insurance option, the House bill is burdened by gratuitous abortion restrictions and the final product of a House-Senate conference will probably have both those failings. But once the idea of universal health care is signed into law, it will be all but impossible to erase. Over time, that idea will be made into reality.


The loose ends are so many and varied, in fact, that it will probably be necessary to revisit the health-care issue sooner rather than later. Even if it takes years to get it right, eventually is better than never. History suggests that major new social initiatives have to be perfected over time -- and that basic entitlements, once established, are rarely taken away.


Progressives who argue for killing the Senate bill and starting over should explain their position to the 30 million Americans without health insurance who would be covered under this insufficiently progressive legislation. They should recall that when Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress began this crusade, public opinion solidly favored reform. With polls now showing widespread wariness, with Republicans having confused and frightened many voters who already have adequate health insurance, why would anyone think that beginning from scratch is likely to produce a more progressive result?


It surely wouldn't. For anyone who believes it is shameful that the richest, most powerful nation in the world cares so little about the health and welfare of its citizens, this is the moment. It should be seized, not squandered.


Is it ridiculous that the Senate bill essentially bribes Sen. Ben Nelson with special Medicaid reimbursements for Nebraska alone? Yes. Is it galling that the public option and the idea of a Medicare buy-in fell victim to Sen. Joe Lieberman's whims? Supremely so. But our eyes should be kept on the prize.


The bill has been described as a gift to the health insurance companies because it provides them with 30 million new customers and no competition from a public plan. I don't believe it's a coincidence that the stock prices of health insurers are soaring. But I also don't believe the main point of this exercise was to stick it to the insurance companies, however satisfying that might be.


Someday, perhaps, we will deal with the perversity of having for-profit health insurance companies. Executives of those firms have a duty to maximize value for shareholders, which gives them the incentive to behave badly -- rejecting those who are most in need of health care, denying reasonable claims, raising premiums whenever possible. If health care is a fundamental right and a societal good, then why should its allocation be mediated by the private sector? But this is not the debate we've just had.


Eventually, we probably will ask that question. While the reform package nearing completion bends the curve of rising health-care costs, more bending is going to be needed. Ultimately, we're going to have to take a more fundamental look at how the health industry is structured.


So this isn't the end of a process that leads to a rational, sustainable, more efficient health-care system. It's the beginning. But when a reform bill passes, as now seems likely, Obama and congressional leaders will have achieved a goal that progressives have sought for decades. They will have established that quality health care should be for all, not just for those who can afford it.


We have a system now in which Americans go bankrupt trying to pay doctors and hospitals to keep them alive. When you have the opportunity to change this, you take it -- even if it means winning ugly.


Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/21/AR2009122102488.html?sub=AR

By Victoria Reggie Kennedy
Sunday, December 20, 2009

My late husband, Ted Kennedy, was passionate about health-care reform. It was the cause of his life. He believed that health care for all our citizens was a fundamental right, not a privilege, and that this year the stars -- and competing interests -- were finally aligned to allow our nation to move forward with fundamental reform. He believed that health-care reform was essential to the financial stability of our nation's working families and of our economy as a whole.

Still, Ted knew that accomplishing reform would be difficult. If it were easy, he told me, it would have been done a long time ago. He predicted that as the Senate got closer to a vote, compromises would be necessary, coalitions would falter and many ardent supporters of reform would want to walk away. He hoped that they wouldn't do so. He knew from experience, he told me, that this kind of opportunity to enact health-care reform wouldn't arise again for a generation.

In the early 1970s, Ted worked with the Nixon administration to find consensus on health-care reform. Those efforts broke down in part because the compromise wasn't ideologically pure enough for some constituency groups. More than 20 years passed before there was another real opportunity for reform, years during which human suffering only increased. Even with the committed leadership of then-President Bill Clinton and his wife, reform was thwarted in the 1990s. As Ted wrote in his memoir, he was deeply disappointed that the Clinton health-care bill did not come to a vote in the full Senate. He believed that senators should have gone on the record, up or down.

Ted often said that we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. He also said that it was better to get half a loaf than no loaf at all, especially with so many lives at stake. That's why, even as he never stopped fighting for comprehensive health-care reform, he also championed incremental but effective reforms such as a Patients' Bill of Rights, the Children's Health Insurance Program and COBRA continuation of health coverage.

The bill before the Senate, while imperfect, would achieve many of the goals Ted fought for during the 40 years he championed access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans. If this bill passes:

-- Insurance protections like the ones Ted fought for his entire life would become law.
-- Thirty million Americans who do not have coverage would finally be able to afford it. Ninety-four percent of Americans would be insured. Americans would finally be able to live without fear that a single illness could send them into financial ruin.
-- Insurance companies would no longer be able to deny people the coverage they need because of a preexisting illness or condition. They would not be able to drop coverage when people get sick. And there would be a limit on how much they can force Americans to pay out of their own pockets when they do get sick.
-- Small-business owners would no longer have to fear being forced to lay off workers or shut their doors because of exorbitant insurance rates. Medicare would be strengthened for the millions of seniors who count on it.
-- And by eliminating waste and inefficiency in our health-care system, this bill would bring down the deficit over time.

Health care would finally be a right, and not a privilege, for the citizens of this country. While my husband believed in a robust public option as an effective way to lower costs and increase competition, he also believed in not losing sight of the forest for the trees. As long as he wasn't compromising his principles or values, he looked for a way forward.

As President Obama noted to Congress this fall, for Ted, health-care reform was not a matter of ideology or politics. It was not about left or right, Democrat or Republican. It was a passion born from the experience of his own life, the experience of our family and the experiences of the millions of Americans across this country who considered him their senator, too.

The bill before Congress will finally deliver on the urgent needs of all Americans. It would make their lives better and do so much good for this country. That, in the end, must be the test of reform. That was always the test for Ted Kennedy. He's not here to urge us not to let this chance slip through our fingers. So I humbly ask his colleagues to finish the work of his life, the work of generations, to allow the vote to go forward and to pass health-care reform now. As Ted always said, when it's finally done, the people will wonder what took so long.

Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), is an attorney.
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/18/AR2009121803506.html