CRINMAIL 808

22 August 2006 - CRINMAIL 808

 

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- LEBANON: Returnees need sustained help to rebuild livelihoods [news]

- SRI LANKA: Warring sides must let aid reach civilians [news]

- DISABILITY: Youth with disabilities participate in UN treaty process [news]

- CHILDREN AND VIOLENCE: Violence against young children [publication]

- AFGHANISTAN: Domestic violence against women endemic [publication]

- DISAPPEARED/ABDUCTED CHILDREN: Special Rapporteur’s Report [call for information]

** NEWS IN BRIEF **

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Your submissions are welcome if you are working in the area of child rights. To contribute, email us at [email protected]. Adobe Acrobat is required for viewing some of the documents, and if required can be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html If you do not receive this email in html format, you will not be able to see some hyperlinks in the text. At the end of each item we have therefore provided a full URL linking to a web page where further information is available.

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LEBANON: Returnees need sustained help to rebuild livelihoods [news]

[NABATIYAH, Lebanon, 21 August 2006] – As a UNHCR team from the UN refugee agency met with the head of the municipality of Upper Nabatiyah, angry people gathered outside the office to ask when relief items promised by the national authorities would arrive. The town is crowded not just with returning residents, but also with people from further south whose villages were totally destroyed.

"It is a difficult situation," said Dr. Mustafa Badredin. "The items are not being delivered as fast as they should from Beirut to the provinces and the municipalities. As a result, we are getting families from south of the Litani River that are moving to our areas, because they are not receiving aid. "The population of some of the villages south of the Litani has swelled considerably. All these people demand to be assisted," he added. With roads blocked by damage and unexploded ordnance, assistance is only just starting to reach some areas.

In the countryside, fields of tobacco, cactus and olives that were the main source of income are also littered with unexploded shells and bombs. The British-based Mines Advisory Group estimates emergency clearing of explosives in Lebanon will take three months, with comprehensive work an additional six months.

With the extensive needs and growing urgency, the heads of the municipalities urged UNHCR and aid agencies to honour promises to deliver aid quickly. They stressed the need to coordinate to ensure the right material arrives. "If HCR gives us blankets and plastic sheeting today, we do not want to see another agency come with the same offer," said an official in Sharqeya. "The needs are tremendous, and it is important that agencies fill the gaps and do not duplicate efforts."

By the end of Sunday, UNHCR reported 140,000 Lebanese had crossed the border from Syria. If the number who used unofficial entry points are included, UNHCR estimated only a few thousand of the 180,000 Lebanese who found shelter across the border were still in Syria. UNHCR teams were visiting those left behind, probably vulnerable individuals, to see if they need assistance.

A similar situation was reported inside Lebanon, with most of those who fled fighting returning in the first few days after the August 14 ceasefire. However, with many discovering that they had lost their homes or livelihoods, or both, they may require considerable assistance as they rebuild.

After focusing last week on the distribution of assistance to people as they return, UNHCR is shifting emphasis to their needs back in the villages. Assessment teams were checking areas of heavy damage, including a string of villages along the Israeli border that were at the centre of the war. One team passed through nine villages, four of which were largely destroyed. Rubble was everywhere, buildings rased, and there was an eerie feeling. The very few people who were seen urgently need relief items.

[Source: UNHCR]

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9885

Further information

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SRI LANKA: Warring sides must let aid reach civilians [news]

[COLOMBO, 21 August 2006] – The Sri Lankan government and the armed opposition Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) must allow humanitarian aid to reach thousands of civilians trapped in the embattled northern Jaffna peninsula, Human Rights Watch said.

Fighting in Jaffna since August 11 has left the peninsula’s 500,000 residents with dwindling supplies of food and water and no ability to go to safe areas. There has been little or no electricity or fuel. About 40,000 people in Jaffna are believed to have fled their homes but remain in the conflict area.  

According to international aid agencies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the humanitarian situation on the Jaffna peninsula is reaching crisis levels. The Sri Lanka armed forces and the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers, have closed the main access road to the peninsula, which goes through LTTE-controlled territory. Aircraft flights except by military helicopters have also ceased due to the fighting. The government has loaded a ship to carry relief supplies to Jaffna but its departure from Colombo has been postponed several times. 

Under international humanitarian law, parties to a conflict are required to provide for the basic necessities of the civilian population under their control. They are obliged to allow and assist impartial humanitarian agencies to supply food, medical supplies and other essentials to civilians at risk. The belligerent parties must consent to allowing relief operations to take place, and may not refuse such consent on arbitrary grounds. They can take steps to control the content and delivery of humanitarian aid, such as to ensure that consignments do not include weapons. However, deliberately impeding relief supplies is prohibited.  
 
Amid heavy fighting in the peninsula, there are serious concerns that civilians will not be protected from harm, Human Rights Watch said. International humanitarian law requires parties to a conflict to take all necessary precautions to protect civilians against the dangers resulting from armed hostilities. They must to the extent feasible avoid locating military forces near civilians and remove civilians from the vicinity of military objectives. It is unlawful to prevent civilians from leaving areas close to military targets.  
 
Human Rights Watch also expressed concern that sufficient humanitarian assistance has not reached conflict areas in the eastern districts of Trincomalee and Batticaloa, where thousands of displaced persons fled fighting earlier this month. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, at least 170,000 Sri Lankans have fled their homes in the north and east since the fighting in the country intensified.  
 
Local and international aid organisations have increasingly been the target of threats, harassment and violence that hinders their ability to assist the population. The possibility that international organisations might permanently depart contested areas in the north and east has fueled fears among civilians for their safety. 

Government officials and various political parties have contributed to an atmosphere of hostility against nongovernmental organisations by politically motivated criticism of aid agencies for delays in projects for victims of the 2004 tsunami.  
 
Human Rights Watch has called for an international human rights monitoring mission to Sri Lanka under the auspices of the United Nations to publicly report on violations of international law by all sides. An international monitoring presence could help deter abuses, provide systematic documentation of rights violations, and address the problem of impunity that has resulted in cycles of violence and reprisal in Sri Lanka.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9875

Further information

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DISABILITY: Youth with disabilities participate in UN treaty process [news]

[NEW YORK, 18 August 2006] – Youth from across the world are a driving force behind talks now taking place at United Nations Headquarters in New York [the 8th Session of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Drafting of the Disability Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities] aimed at finalising a treaty protecting the rights of persons with disabilities .

Born in Venezuela, Vincent Pineda has muscular dystrophy and Svetlana Kotova from Russia has a sight disability. While they come from opposite ends of the earth, with very different personal circumstances, both represent the new generation of young leaders hoping to make a difference through the drafting and, ultimately, carrying out the provisions of the proposed International Disbility Convention. 

The media is an important tool for both of the young leaders in their efforts to educate the public and uplift persons with disabilities. Mr. Pineda said it can serve to “empower people, inspire people and really push people to create the society in which justice and equality can prevail.”

He said the issue of disability must be viewed from a broader perspective. “If you look at the link between disability and poverty, it’s very much related to the Millennium Development Goals,” he said, referring to a set of time-bound targets adopted by leaders at a 2000 UN summit for addressing a host of global ills. “People that live in poverty because of harsh living conditions acquire disabilities and people that acquire disabilities slip into poverty so it’s a vicious cycle and at the core of that is access and policies that can remove those barriers and can keep people in that cycle of poverty.”

The treaty, he said, would pave the way for positive change. “If we can create the political and legal mechanisms that will allow these barriers to come down we can create the possibility for people to contribute their real talents, their real capabilities, their real visions and their real skill to making our world a better place.”

Delegates from all 192 Member States and representatives of more than 90 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are involved in talks on the 33-article draft convention.

At the outset of the two-week session, which began on Monday, the Chairman, Ambassador Don MacKay of New Zealand, voiced optimism that agreement was close at hand but cautioned that negotiators “are going to have to start compromising” in order to reach a final text.

The convention would obligate countries, among other measures, to gradually include disability-friendly features into the construction of new facilities, promote and improve access to education and information and introduce measures that eliminate discriminatory practices against persons with disabilities.

[Source: UN News]

Information on the status of negotiations

Ambassador Don MacKay warned yesterday that negotiations had to accelerate in order to reach an agreement on the final text of the Convention by the end of this week. Continuing contentious issues include:

  • the establishment of an international monitoring mechanism
  • the definition of disabilities
  • legal capacity
  • sexual and reproductive rights

Specific areas of concern for child rights organisations were expressed in an amendments proposal submitted (within the International Disability Caucus) to the Committee for the 8th session. Revisions and amendments proposed are:

  • the retention of Article 7 ("Children with disabilities") as a separate article, rather than as an additional paragraph under Article 4 ("General Obligations")
  • the addition of a provision prohibiting the sterilisation of children on the basis of disability in Article 23
  • the addition of a provision preventing the institutionalisation of a child on the basis of disability (of the child or of the parent/s) in Article 23

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9889

NB: A special CRINMAIL edition will be sent out next week, at the end of the Ad Hoc Committee meeting.

Further information

 

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CHILDREN AND VIOLENCE: Violence against young children [publication]

[THE HAGUE, 18 August 2006] - The Bernard van Leer Foundation recently published its latest edition of Early Childhood Matters on violence against young children. It features interviews and articles covering such issues as corporal punishment, child abuse and violence in schools. It includes an interview with Jaap Doek, chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and contributions from Bulgaria, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Colombia, Kenya and Jamaica.

Published at least once a year, Early Childhood Matters reviews specific issues pertaining to the development of young children, in particular from a psychosocial perspective. It draws on current theory as well as recent practical experience. Also included are reports on the work of foundation-supported projects throughout the world.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9880

For more information, contact:
Bernard van Leer Foundation
PO Box 82334, 2508 EH, The Hague, Netherlands
Tel: +31 70 331 2200; Fax: +31 70 350 2373
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.bernardvanleer.org

Further information

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AFGHANISTAN: Domestic violence against women endemic [publication]

[14 August 2006] - Domestic violence against Afghan women appears endemic, and attacks against them usually take place with impunity, according to a disturbing new report by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

Uncounted and Discounted, a study of more than 1,300 cases reported to authorities between January 2003 and June 2005, found that violence against women — whether sexual, physical or psychological — affects all branches of Afghan society, regardless of the woman’s marital status or her level of education or employment.

At a briefing in Kabul this month, UNIFEM’s Afghanistan Director Meryem Aslan told reporters that local women seeking help from violence need improved access to public services, given that the traditional support structure for women — the family — is often the source of the violence.

“I would guess if Afghanistan progresses better economically, and women and men in this country get a better economic situation, women will at least be able to seek help more easily,” she said.

More than eight out of every 10 acts of violence is committed by a family member such as a husband, father-in-law, son or cousin. In many of the remaining cases the perpetrator is someone known to the woman. The study found that women committed about 10 per cent of the violent acts.

Ms. Aslan cited several examples of cases examined in the study, including one where village elders ruled that a six-year-old girl who had been promised in marriage to an older man who then died should marry another member of his family instead, despite the girl’s refusal. In another case, a woman who was charged and jailed for adultery was then raped by prison guards and not allowed to see her children.

The study was conducted in part because there is very little research or formal records of violence against women, Ms. Aslan added, and most experts suspect that the violence is widely under-reported.

But she said there are limited attempts to tackle the problem, including safe houses for victims of domestic violence in the cities of Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif and some legal aid programmes.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9856&flag=report

For more information, contact:
UNIFEM
304 East 45th Street, 15th Floor
New York, NY 10017, United States
Tel: +1 212 06 400; Fax: +1 212 06 705
Website: http://www.unifem.org

Further information

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DISAPPEARED/ABDUCTED CHILDREN: Special Rapporteur’s Report [call for information]

A questionnaire has been circulated by the Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography in preparation for his report to the Human Rights Council in 2007. The report will focus on the sale of organs (country legislative framework and factual context) and rapid response programmes for disappeared or abducted children (country legislative framework and factual context).

Deadline for submitting information: 31 October 2006

Information should be sent to Thierry Del Prado: [email protected]

Further information:

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** NEWS IN BRIEF **

ETHIOPIA: African Union appeals for help for flood-stricken Ethiopia
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9892&flag=news

NEW ZEALAND: Dark secret of family violence
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9874&flag=news

CHINA: Child policy increases gender imbalance
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9853&flag=news

DR CONGO: UN peacekeepers again accused of sex abuse
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9845&flag=news

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