CRINMAIL 1214:

In this issue:

To view this CRINMAIL online, click here. 

Latest news and reports

Update on inhuman sentencing 

News has reached us from Yemen that the country’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has issued an order to halt the execution of Mohammad Tahir Samoum, a young man who was sentenced to death for murder while he was a minor. Children’s rights organisations in Yemen had previously assembled several marches to first pressure the Justice Minister, then the Attorney General and finally the President. Last week the Attorney General issued a letter granting permission for an assessment of age determination to be conducted on Mohammad Tahir Samoum and 11 other juveniles currently on death row on the basis that their age was not properly assessed prior to receiving the death penalty. 

Read CRIN's report on inhuman sentencing of children in Yemen here. 

In relation to the case, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on 17 February in support of the request to reconsider the death sentence for Mohammad Samoum and Fuad Ali, as well as calling for a general moratorium on the death penalty, the introduction of comprehensive birth registration and facilities to allow for adequate age determination in cases where birth certificates are missing. Read the resolution here. 

State repression of civilian uprisings

Civil unrest continues across North Africa and the Middle East with the situation in Libya making the headlines around the world. More than 300 civilians have so far been killed in the country, with some estimates reaching 1,000, as protesters calling for an end to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year regime have been met with an artillery of air strikes and live fire by security forces. 

There were 61 casualties on Monday alone, with most occurring in the eastern cities of Tobruk, Benghazi, Albaida Darnah, while hospitals in the country’s capital Tripoli received 62 bodies. Full story. There are reports that African mercenaries have even been deployed to keep people from turning to the streets, shooting at protesters at random. Helicopter gunships and snipers from roofs have also fired on the streets, while Gaddafi supporters have shot at protesters from moving cars, as well as warning people not to leave their homes via loudspeakers. There are also claims that defected soldiers were executed at an army base for allegedly refusing to fire on civilians. Full story. While two air force colonels have reportedly defected to Malta upon being requested to shoot protesters from the air. More on the story. 

Women and children have also been among the casualties. There are reports that on Friday mercenaries opened fire in a protest camp in Benghazi which left 35 dead, including women and children who fled the shooting by jumping off a bridge, while others were shot in their sleep. Full story.

The protests have also been marked by the significant number of participating youths, with most demonstrators aged between 16-30 years. Yet in a speech given on Libyan state television on Tuesday, Gaddafi vilified protesters by calling them “drugged” youths, and urged their families to keep them from the streets. Gaddafi also threatened with conducting mass house-by-house detentions and inciting his supporters to attack protesters, as well as citing past cases of “justified” state repression such as China’s Tiananmen Square Massacre. Despite claiming that he has not yet ordered the use of force, Gaddafi said that “when I do, everything will burn.” Full story. 

In response to the violent crackdown, several Libyan diplomats in the UN and other countries have broken ranks with President Gaddafi, with the deputy ambassador to the UN describing the state violence as “genocide against the Libyan people”. Full story.

Human Rights Watch has also emphasised that anyone, including Colonel Gaddafi, ordering or carrying out atrocities will be held individually accountable for their actions. Full story. 

CRIN will continue to monitor the situation across North Africa and the Middle East, and updates will be available online here. 

Monitoring accountability

The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights has published a report documenting human rights abuses perpetrated by government forces in Morocco against civilians during the dismantlement of the Gdaim Izik protest camp in November 2010, and in its aftermath. The camp was set up by residents of Western Sahara in protest of the social and economic discrimination they experience. However, the report’s findings show that torture, arbitrary arrest and detention and a failure to follow criminal procedures are all too common in Western Sahara, which reinforces the need for impartial international human rights monitoring of the situation. Download the report. 

Press freedom failure

In its annual report, the Committee to Protect Journalists has concluded that the United Nations and other global and regional organisations responsible for guaranteeing press freedom has failed to do so in 2010, on account of the 44 journalists that were killed around the world this past year, while many others continue to be threatened and harassed with impunity. Download the report. 

A (gendered) step forward

The Taliban appear to be changing their attitude towards female education, according to the Ministry of Education of Afghanistan, after 42,000 girls enrolled in schools in the past ten months with no opposition from the militant group. According to Radhika Coomaraswamy, special representative of the UN Secretary-General for children and armed conflict, this development is a major step forward from the 1996-2001 period of Taliban rule when girls were banned from education and women from outdoor activities. Yet in recent years, female students and teachers have continued to be targets of violent attacks by militants, including 15 schoolgirls who were attacked with acid in 2008 and two others who were shot dead in 2007. Full story.  

Asylum seekers returned to conflict

Despite the worsening security situation in Afghanistan, last month the Australian Government announced the signing of an agreement that will allow for Afghan asylum seekers fleeing the conflict back home to be forcibly sent back to Afghanistan if they are found not to be refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention. Of particular concern are the provisions for the return of unaccompanied minors, where in many cases reuniting these children with their families is simply not possible as whole family groups have fled to neighbouring countries. Full story.

Settlement for child deaths

The pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, has finally settled a lawsuit against it for conducting a drug trial with an experimental antibiotic drug, Trovan, on 200 children in Kano, Nigeria during an epidemic of bacterial meningitis in 1996, which plaintiffs claim led to the deaths of 11 children and serious injuries to many others. The plaintiffs agreed on Friday to settle all claims both in the U.S. and Nigeria because of indications that the cases would be dismissed. Although Pfizer claims that victims' families may receive up to $175,000, they must be able to prove death or permanent disability due to the 1996 trial. Full story. 

Accountability for sexual violence

Three members of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including a high-ranking army commander, have been accused of crimes against humanity and sentenced to between 10 to 20 years imprisonment for their involvement in the mass rape of over 60 civilians, including children, from a single town. That the verdict was issued by a military court sends a strong message to perpetrators that such conduct will not be tolerated and that accountability for sexual violence is possible. Full story. 

Increase in child prostitution

Child rights activists say that Malaysia is a haven for child prostitution evidenced by an increased average of 150 kids being forced into the industry every year. Prostitution is illegal in Malaysia but children’s rights groups claim that the child sex industry is a lucrative market where clients pay double the amount paid to an adult, which could be as much as 100 US dollars per child. Full story.  

Backing child labour

The European Union is facing accusations of supporting child labour after it approved a trade agreement with Uzbekistan on textiles – an industry known to involve at least one million child labourers a year. During the harvest season entire schools and colleges are shut, and parents who refuse to send their children to pick cotton receive threats. The Paris-based Association for Human Rights in Central Asia has stated that “the decision to trade in such textiles can only be interpreted as a silent and de facto encouragement of the practice of forced and child labour”. However, the European Council has declined to comment on the issue. Full story. 

Physical child abuse

Children in Sweden with chronic health conditions are 88 per cent more likely to suffer physical abuse than healthy children, a new study has found. Researchers from Karlstad University analysed 2,510 questionnaires completed anonymously by children aged ten, 12 and 15 from 44 schools, which revealed that forms of physical abuse include severe shaking, ear boxing and hair pulling by an adult to being severely beaten with a hand or device. Full story.

Voting for children's rights

With the upcoming 2011 General Election in Ireland, voters have been urged by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children to engage with candidates who are proposing developments in child welfare and protection. At the top of their priorities list is the need to hold a referendum to place children’s rights into the Constitution. Full story.

Call for abstracts

The Research Forum for the Child at Queen’s University Belfast welcomes the submission of abstracts for the forthcoming event: ‘Opportunities and Challenges: Implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child’. Scholars from any discipline whose work relates to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and/or children’s rights generally are warmly welcomed.

Please note that the deadline for submission of abstracts is 1 March 2011.

For more details, click here. 

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Forthcoming events

Human Rights & Democracy: ‘The 2011 Geneva Summit’
Date: 15^th March 2011
Location: Geneva, Switzerland 
Organisation: N/A
More details here. 

Children & Care: ‘Fourth Civil Society Forum on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child’
Date: 18-20^th March 2011
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Organisation: Civil Society Forum on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
More details here. 

Session 17 of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child will be held from 21-25 March. The agenda will be available here shortly. 

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Employment

Redd Barna/Save the Children Norway (SCN) – Consultant / Researcher

Redd Barna/Save the Children Norway is seeking researcher(s)/consultant(s) to lead a thematic evaluation of SCN's Partner Cooperation – Strengthening local and national capacity, and invites relevant institutions/consultants to respond with an Expression of Interest (EoI). Both individual researchers/consultants and established teams are welcome to apply. The consultancy period is for 80 days to start as soon as possible.

For more detailed information on the role and application process, click here.

Please send the EoI by email to: [email protected] with copy to: [email protected] and [email protected]

Application deadline: 25 February 2011 

Jargon of the week

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