16 January 2008 - CRIN Children and Armed Conflict 115
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EMERGENCIES: Top Ten Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2007 [publication]
KENYA: Genital mutilation used as a weapon of war [news]
UK: Informed Choice? Armed forces recruitment practice [publication]
PHILIPPINES: Uncounted Lives: Children, Women and Conflict [publication]
LIBERIA: Truth hearings launched [news]
AFGHANISTAN: Some schools more vulnerable to attack than others? [news]
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EMERGENCIES: Top Ten Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2007 [publication]
[NEW YORK, 20 December 2007] - People struggling to survive violence, forced displacement, and disease in the Central African Republic (CAR), Somalia, Sri Lanka and elsewhere often went underreported in the news this year and much of the past decade, according to the 10th annual list of the "Top Ten" Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories, released today by the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The 2007 list also highlights the plight of people living through other forgotten crises, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Colombia, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, and Chechnya, where the displacement by war of millions continues. It also focuses on the ongoing toll of medical catastrophes like tuberculosis (TB) and childhood malnutrition.
"Certainly, many members of the press go to great lengths to report on what is taking place in conflict zones around the world," said Nicolas de Torrenté, executive director of MSF-USA. "But millions of people trapped in war, forced from their homes, and lacking the most basic medical care, do not receive attention commensurate with their plight."
MSF began producing the "Top Ten" list in 1998 when a devastating famine in southern Sudan went largely unreported in the U.S. media. Drawing on MSF's emergency medical work, the list seeks to generate greater awareness of the magnitude and severity of crises that are not always reflected in media accounts. Often, media attention is critical for generating and improving responses.
Childhood malnutrition is an example. Increasing coverage of effective methods to treat malnourished children with nutrient rich ready-to-use foods is generating a growing awareness of the need for changes in international food aid policies.
The DRC and Colombia, both wracked by ongoing civil conflict and massive internal displacement of civilians, have dominated the list over the past decade, each appearing a total of nine times. The humanitarian consequence of war in Chechnya has appeared eight times. Somalia has appeared seven times, most recently because renewed fighting centered in Mogadishu in 2007 has killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, only to endure disease and extremely precarious living conditions.
According to Andrew Tyndall, publisher of the online media-tracking journal, The Tyndall Report, the countries and contexts highlighted by MSF on this year's list accounted for just 18 minutes of coverage on the three major U.S. television networks' nightly newscasts from January through November 2007.
This figure does not include coverage of Myanmar or tuberculosis; both generated significant media attention, but very little of it focused on the medical humanitarian aspects of either context. Chechnya, Sri Lanka and CAR — where many villages were burned to the ground in fighting between government forces and rebels and tens of thousands of people fled into inhospitable forests seeking safety—were never mentioned.
Coverage of TB was somewhat of an exception in 2007, when an Atlanta man was diagnosed with a multidrug-resistant (MDR) strain of the disease. However, increasing levels of MDR-TB globally, including extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB, and alarming rates of people with HIV and AIDS co-infected with TB, received little attention.
"Local angles of international stories can often drive coverage," said de Torrenté. "Unfortunately, the result is that the focus is not necessarily on the most vulnerable and desperate - precisely the people whose stories deserve to be told."
Top Ten
Displaced fleeing war in Somalia face humanitarian crisis
CRIN resource page on Somalia
Political and economic turmoil sparks health-care crisis in Zimbabwe
CRIN resource page on Zimbabwe
Drug-resistant tuberculosis spreads as new drugs go untested
CRIN resource page on health
Expanded use of nutrient dense ready-to-use foods crucial for reducing childhood malnutrition
CRIN resource page on health
Civilians increasingly under fire in Sri Lankan conflict
CRIN resource page on Sri Lanka
Conditions worsen in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
CRIN resource page on DR Congo
Living precariously in Colombia's conflict zones
CRIN resource page on Colombia
Humanitarian aid restricted in Myanmar
CRIN resource page on Myanmar
Civilians caught between armed groups in Central African Republic
CRIN resource page on CAR
As Chechen conflict ebbs, critical humanitarian needs still remain
CRIN resource page on the Russian Federation/ Chechnya
Further information
For more information, contact:
Médecins sans Frontières
Rue de Lausanne 78, CP 116 - 1211- Geneva 21, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 (22) 849 84 84; Fax: + 41 (22) 849 84 88
Website: http://www.msf.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=15913
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KENYA: Genital mutilation used as a weapon of war [news]
[NAIROBI, 15 January 2008] - For two terrifying hours, the woman crouched inside her shop, watching as a gang attacked five men in the street, pulled down their trousers and sliced their genitals with rusty machetes.
"The men were screaming and saying, 'Please don't kill me, don't cut me,'" the 35-year-old vendor told The Associated Press, asking to be identified only by one initial, K., because she feared reprisals by the gang.
In the violence that has followed Kenya's disputed presidential election, a notorious gang has been mutilating the genitals of both men and women in the name of circumcision — inflicting a brutal punishment on members of a rival tribe that does not traditionally circumcise.
The attacks do not appear to be widespread, but they drive home how a fight touched off by opposition allegations that Kenya's president stole the election has exploded into a broader conflict fueled by ethnic resentments in what had been one of Africa's most stable nations.
Many of the mutilation victims belong to the Luo tribe of opposition presidential candidate Raila Odinga, say witnesses and even a recruiter for the gang itself.
The gang, called the Mungiki, draws mostly from President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, which has long dominated politics and business in this East African country.
Mungiki, which means "multitude" in Kikuyu, originally promoted traditional Kikuyu practices, including female genital mutilation. But in recent years it has become involved in extortion and murder and it also provides hired muscle for politicians.
The recruiter called forced "circumcisions" simple revenge on Luos for attacks on Kikuyus since the 27th December election. More than 600 people have been reported killed in the upheaval.
"They must pay for the destruction and the deaths," the female recruiter said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the gang has been outlawed since 2002, after its members beheaded 21 people in a turf war with a rival gang.
Circumcision is a rite of passage for male members of the Kikuyu and most other Kenyan tribes, but the Luos do not practice it.
Millie Odhiambo-Mabona, a lawyer with a children's rights group who reported hearing of numerous such attacks, said mutilation is a "weapon of war" for groups that practice traditional circumcision.
"Because for the communities that don't practice circumcision, if you forcefully circumcise them, then it's meant to be degrading," she said from Nairobi in a telephone interview with the AP in New York.
[Source: Associated Press]
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=16180
Further information
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UK: Informed Choice? Armed forces recruitment practice [publication]
A career in the armed forces brings opportunities and risks unfamiliar in civilian life. This independent report, by David Gee, assesses whether the information provided to potential recruits enables them to make an informed choice about enlistment.
Outline of the report
A career in the armed forces brings opportunities and risks. Benefits can include challenging work, discipline, physical fitness, self-development, a sense of belonging and global travel. Risks include bullying and harassment, career dissatisfaction, the ‘culture shock’ of changing to a military lifestyle, mental health and relationship problems, serious injury or death, social and economic disadvantages after discharge, and unexpected ethical challenges.
Non-officer recruitment draws mostly on young people from 16 years of age living in disadvantaged communities, with many recruits joining as a last resort. Whilst this group may gain from an armed forces career, they are generally most vulnerable to its risks.
Career information provided to potential recruits and their parents is selective and often misleading. Recruitment literature for the army glamorises warfare, poorly explains the terms of service and largely omits to mention the risks of the career. It is common for recruits to enlist without knowing the risks or their legal rights and obligations.
The terms of service are complicated, confusing and severely restricting. New recruits may discharge themselves within a few months of enlisting but otherwise have no legal right to leave regular service for up to six years in some cases; reserve service liability follows, usually lasting at least six further years. The restrictive terms exacerbate the effects of low morale and magnify the risks of a forces career.
This report proposes improvements to recruitment practice in order to protect the rights of potential recruits more effectively. These include: improving information for potential recruits; de-linking military outreach to children from recruitment activity; and relaxing and simplifying the terms of service. To achieve these changes, it would be necessary to: emphasise retention over recruitment by improving the service conditions of existing personnel; reduce the number of soldiers discharged for ‘service no longer required’; and reduce bullying and harassment. A new Armed Forces Recruitment Charter could codify best practice and lay out the state’s legal and moral responsibilities to potential recruits.
The UK is increasingly at odds with the growing international consensus that minors should not be exposed to the risks of an armed forces career; existing safeguards for minors are only partially effective. It might be possible to phase out the recruitment of minors without affecting staffing levels; a feasibility study is needed. While minors continue to be recruited, safeguards need to be improved; in particular, it should be a requirement for recruiters to involve parents in the recruitment process more fully.
The report has been produced with financial assistance from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
For more information, contact: [email protected]
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16179&flag=report
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PHILIPPINES: Uncounted Lives: Children, Women and Conflict [publication]
[MANILA, 17 December 2007] - For decades the Philippines has been embroiled in armed strife with communist and Islamist rebel groups resulting in the deaths and displacement of thousands. But the victims most affected by these conflicts have been children, says a new UN-sponsored study, Uncounted Lives: Children, Women and Conflict in the Philippines.
Conducted for UNICEF by the IBON Foundation, the study looked into the various ways the armed conflicts have affected children, women and communities in the countryside. It peeked into the issue of "child soldiers" within the ranks of the rebels. It also asked other children for their perspective of the conflict.
"The research...gives a voice to the millions of children and women living behind the frontlines. (It) documents their stories as seen from their own eyes and spoken in their own words. (It) presents undeniable realities of the human rights situation in conflict-affected communities in the country," said Nicholas Alipui, UNICEF representative.
The military, however, said UNICEF should have been more discerning and said the political orientation of IBON was suspect. Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, army spokesman said the IBON Foundation is "widely believed to be allied" with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). He said the study ignored data from the government.
Calling the study one-sided, he said the military has "documents and living witnesses" to prove that the rebels exploit women and children, contrary to what the researchers were claiming.
IBON's research head Jose Enrique Africa responded to the army's attempt to link the foundation with the CPP, saying it only reflected ''the state of denial'' within the armed forces. ''This only works against the well-being of the children, women and communities adversely affected by armed conflict,'' he said in a statement.
IBON gathered data from eight communities in eight of the country’s 81 provinces for the study. The researchers said they did not interview military and police officials and personnel because of ''security concerns'' given the "reputation for hostility" of military men towards fact-finding missions.
It is evident, the study said, that children are not spared from human rights violations that result from counter-insurgency operations.
The study said that from 2001-2006, the Children’s Rehabilitation Centre was able to document 800 incidents of human rights violations involving 215,233 children. Of this number, 58 were killed, another 58 survived attempts on their lives and 17 were subjected to torture and humiliation. It also said 10 children became "desaparecidos" (disappeared), five were raped by members of the military and 40 were victims of physical assault.
For more information, contact:
Ibon Foundation; Children’s Rehabilitation Center;
Center for Women’s Resources; UNICEF Manila
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16178&flag=report
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LIBERIA: Truth hearings launched [news]
[8 January 2008] - Public hearings have started at a Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up in Liberia to look into violations in the conflict that ended in 2003.
The commission was established along similar lines to South Africa's post-apartheid body.
Since 2003, Liberia has inched forward, helped by the presence of thousands of peacekeeping troops.
The conflict saw the rise and fall of Charles Taylor, who is now on trial for war crimes in The Hague.
The BBC's West Africa correspondent Will Ross says Liberians are divided on the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
Some feel memories of the war are still too fresh.
Others, including Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, believe the country will never achieve lasting peace if the truth behind the turmoil remains speculation and hearsay.
Gruesome testimonies
Opening proceedings, Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf called on Liberians to be honest and truthful to "help the process of healing".
"We call upon all officials of government; all Liberians, the president included, to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission when called to do so, thereby obviating the need for the TRC to use its subpoena powers," she said.
The seven-member commission does not have the power to try cases but will investigate crimes; and victims, witnesses and alleged perpetrators will tell their version of events at the hearings.
In recent months the commission has taken statements from people around the country - some of them extremely gruesome testimonies of how lives were shattered as men, women and children with guns and crude weapons targeted civilians.
The first of three witnesses that appeared at the opening hearing described how his sister had died in 1995 after being raped by a group of 25 rebel fighters.
A Baptist minister then alleged that rebel forces had destroyed his church when they entered the capital, Monrovia, in 2003, and used other church buildings to store their arms.
The last witness accused rebels in 1990 of killing his father, a Supreme Court judge.
"The occasion today elated my spirits because things that happen in this country are usually pushed under the carpet," one man who attended the opening session told the BBC.
"I think the process the TRC has put into place will help us so we can chart a better course in our future."
But our correspondent says the investigation will not be complete without also researching the appalling levels of corruption in Liberia which fuelled resentment and the war.
Mr Taylor was central to the conflict.
For now, he is unable to take part in the TRC public hearings as his war crimes trial is underway in The Hague, over his alleged role in the related conflict in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
[Source: BBC]
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=16177
Further information
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AFGHANISTAN: Some schools more vulnerable to attack than others? [news]
[KABUL, 2 January 2008] - Schools built and/or reconstructed by international forces are more vulnerable to attack by Taliban insurgents and other radical elements than those built by civilians, according to experts.
"Oxfam is aware of research which suggests that in some areas schools built by international military forces are twice as likely to be targeted by militants as those built by civilian agencies," Mat Waldman, policy and advocacy adviser for Oxfam International in Kabul, told IRIN.
At least 230 students and teachers have been killed and about 250 schools attacked by militants in the past three years, according to the Afghanistan Ministry of Education (MoE).
Owing to these attacks, over 400 schools remain closed, mostly in volatile southern provinces, denying education to thousands of students, MoE officials said.
Almost 70 per cent of school-age children are not attending schools because of insecurity in Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces, Haneef Atmar, the Afghan minister of education, told a meeting in Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand, on 9 December.
Confused roles?
NATO-led Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and US-led coalition forces have built and/or rebuilt hundreds of schools in different parts of Afghanistan and have spent large amounts of aid money on education support activities, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.
On 26 December, dozens of US forces inaugurated a girls' school in Aftabachi village, Kapisa Province, US military said in a press release. The project cost US$120,000 and took six months to complete.
"They [local people] don't have enough schools around here, so this one's a big one for them," Sergeant Henry Rodriguez, a US military official, was quoted in the press release as saying.
On 30 December, Afghanistan's education minister, teachers and US military personnel discussed education issues at Forward Operating Base Fenty in the eastern city of Jalalabad, a separate US press release said.
Experts - including Abdul Qader Noorzai, an official at the human rights commission in Kandahar - warn that the increased involvement of Afghan and international military forces in school-building efforts, and continued interactions with schoolchildren, could send the wrong signals to Taliban insurgents and other extremist militants who have repeatedly attacked schools and students as "soft targets".
Research carried out by the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC) in October said that in Afghanistan the role of the military is often confused with that of humanitarian and development non-government organisations (NGOs).
"There needs to be some space between them [NGOs and military]. They need to be independent. If not, we can end up with civilians being targeted," Gerry Barr, president of CCIC was quoted as saying by CTV Canada.
Sensitive logos
Donors' use of sensitive logos, flags and other markings in their funded projects and on aid items such as school bags, notebooks and books could also incite militants, observers - including Member of Parliament Shukria Barakzai - say.
"Every donor and every NGO also has a responsibility to consider whether using a logo or emblem of any kind would endanger the beneficiaries of a project. If in any way there is a significant risk that this could generate attacks or make people who use that project targets, or less secure, then I think that the logo should not be used," said Waldman of Oxfam.
Education Ministry disagrees
However, officials in MoE played down concerns that the involvement of the military in education projects, and the use of sensitive logos, may increase attacks on schools and students.
"Those who attack schools and schoolchildren will do so even if we were to put verses from the holy Koran on a school gate and a student's bag," said Siddiq Patman, deputy minister of education.
ISAF spokesman Carlos Branco also repudiated claims that military-built schools were more vulnerable to attack.
According to Branco, ISAF-led PRTs conduct school-building and other education projects in close consultation and cooperation with Community Development Councils (CDDs) and relevant government bodies. "No school that has been constructed through the respective CDC has been burned down," he said.
Patman gave assurances that aid provided by military forces would be stopped immediately if it were found to jeopardise schoolchildren's safety.
[Source: IRIN]
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16182&flag=news
Further information
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