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ablackwomansurvivingrape · 2 years ago

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Gambian Toufah Jallow tells of surviving rape by dictator - MyNorthwest.com

Toufah Jallow’s name resonates deeply in Gambia as one of the few women who has taken a public stand against sexual assault in the small West African state.

She gained fame at the age of 18 when she won a university scholarship in a national talent competition for young women. But in 2015 she fled Gambia, fearing for her life, after dictator Yahya Jammeh allegedly drugged and raped her, angry that she had turned down his marriage proposal.

She lived quietly in Canada, worried that Jammeh would persecute family members in Gambia. After Jammeh fell from power she later found the strength to go public with her story, despite Gambia’s culture of silence over sexual assault, she told The Associated Press.

The nation was riveted when she held a press conference to share her account via social media and in a human rights report in June 2019. She also testified months later to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Now, Jallow is telling her story in detail in a newly released memoir: “Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement.”

“In June 2015, Yahya Jammeh, then the president of The Gambia, raped me. He has never been charged. Never convicted … He thought he would get away with it, tried to erase me. I thought I would never speak of it, that I would remain invisible. We were both wrong, because I am here, shining like the sunrise of the melanated coast,” she writes. “I am Toufah Jallow. This is my story.”

In the book, co-written with journalist Kim Pattaway, Jallow describes her journey from the daughter and granddaughter of women who in their own way pushed against the country’s patriarchy to the evening of her alleged rape and her tense escape and the resulting traumas and challenges.

Jallow said she wants to be a role model for others who have experienced sexual assault and to help them deal with it.

“I wanted to make my life as relatable to young girls as possible so (they see) that what I did is achievable (and) is not seen as a miracle,” she said. “It takes an ordinary girl who grew up in a village somewhere in The Gambia with a mother and with 20 siblings in a polygamous home.”

Coming from a humble background, Jallow was swept into a high-profile role because of her scholarship, attending many public events with then-president Jammeh. After receiving gifts from Jammeh, who was already married, and rejecting his proposal to become one of his wives, Jallow was lured to the president’s private quarters, where she says he drugged and raped her.

Jammeh hasn’t reacted, but his party has denied everything.

Jallow didn’t tell a soul in Gambia, fearing the worst for herself and her family. She knew there were hundreds of people who had been arrested for daring to question Jammeh.

Terrified, Jallow fled Gambia. She hid her identity by wearing a niqab (head-to-toe veil) so that state agents wouldn’t recognize her. She went to Senegal and with the help of trusted allies made it to Canada where she now lives.

For years, no one in Gambia knew what had happened to Jallow. She lived as a refugee in Canada, working odd jobs to support her classes.

“For the longest time … I would always shove it aside,” she said of her trauma. But seeing statistics for sexual assault with so few being held accountable bothered her. “I have never felt more invisible,” she said of that period.

Speaking about sex and sexuality, “it’s just not done,” in Gambia, she said. There is not even a word for rape in her native Fula language, she explained to AP. Instead people use phrases like “Somebody fell on me.”

Jammeh lost elections and fled the country in 2017. Gambia then opened a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the reports of abuses and killings during his 22-year rule.

When Jallow came forward in 2019 about her assault, it unleashed a movement. More than 50,000 people were glued to social media when she first spoke. Women then marched holding banners saying “#IAmToufah” and there was an outpouring of others’ stories of rape.

Jallow speaking out was a “wind of change” in Gambia, said Marion Volkmann-Brandau, a women’s rights activist who helped guide Jallow and led the human rights investigation into sexual assault in Gambia that saw her come forward.

“There was this moment of support … women coming out generally about rape and having a story to share showed they weren’t invisible anymore,” she said. “Gambians realized too how widespread the issue was.”

That hope, however, has unfortunately dwindled, Volkmann-Brandau said, as the legal system must be reformed in order to take sexual assault seriously.

But the groundwork has been laid and Jallow has started the Toufah Foundation, set up to help support of survivors of sexual assault in Gambia. Her goal is to have Gambia’s first fully functioning women’s shelter.

Her name is now used to discuss rape in communities once unable to talk about it.

She travels to Gambia often, while studying in Canada to be a counselor for women and children victims, and is also working on a documentary that follows survivors of sexual violence.

And if Jammeh returns to Gambia, Jallow says she will fly there to confront him.

“I feel like I am too visible to be invisible anymore,” she said. “I have faced the worst fear … I have survived him physically.”

#Toufah Jallow #Gambia rape victims #“Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement.#Truth and Reconciliation Commission #rape #reporting rape #speaking out about rape #IAmToufah

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humanrightsupdates · 4 years ago

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Giving Gambia A Big Voice

Gambia's Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou speaks on the first day of hearings in a case against Myanmar alleging genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya population at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, December 10, 2019, as Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi looks on. © UN Photo/ICJ-CIJ/Frank van Beek. Courtesy of the ICJ.

Abubacarr Tambadou, who just stepped down as Gambia’s attorney general, was the right man at the right time for the country’s democratic transition. His tenure helped Gambia confront a legacy of abuse and his departure should not slow that progress.

Tambadou was the architect of Gambia’s far-reaching transitional justice policy, which has featured a dynamic truth commission examining crimes committed under the exiled former dictator Yahya Jammeh, an inquiry to recover Jammeh’s ill-gotten assets, and a draft constitution more protective of human rights. He defended women who came forward to accuse Jammeh of raping them, helped the United States arrest one of Jammeh’s alleged “death squad” soldiers, and made clear that if Jammeh tried to return to Gambia he would be arrested on atrocity charges. In his resignation speech, Tambadou predicted that Jammeh “will be brought to account someday here or abroad.” Under Tambadou’s leadership, Gambia rejoined the International Criminal Court and ratified core human rights treaties.

Human Rights Watch hasn’t always agreed with Tambadou. His decision to free some of Jammeh’s hitmen after their dramatic truth commission testimony implicating themselves and Jammeh in a series of murders, caused pain for family members who had just heard their loved one’s killing described, and made them question whether their killers would ever be brought to justice. But he always listened to Jammeh’s victims, and told them forthrightly why he made his decisions

What made Tambadou truly exceptional, though, was that he stood up for victims of abuse not only in his own country but those thousands of miles away in Myanmar. Last year, Gambia made the bold decision to address the plight of Myanmar’s beleaguered Rohingya minority by bringing Myanmar before the International Court of Justice in the Hague for committing genocide, a decision that grew out of Tambadou’s personal commitment to atrocity victims. The move demonstrated international leadership for the rule of law, and a sense of solidarity, uncommon these days.

Thanks to Tambadou and the work of awakened people across the country, Gambia – the smallest country on the African continent – has emerged from international isolation under Jammeh’s rule to speak with a giant voice in defense of global human rights. - Human RIghts Watch

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learningnewways · 2 years ago

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Random Thoughts...

Time for some more random thoughts from the depths of my brain... With less than three weeks to go here in The Gambia, I’m at that point of realising I’m going to have a lot to process when I get home, that it will be hard to reconcile what I’ve seen and experienced here with life back home.

This line from Brooke Fraser’s song Albertine has been playing in my head all week, “Now that I have seen, I am responsible, faith without deeds is dead”. One of my lifelong prayers has been, “Father, break my heart for what breaks Yours,” but it seems my heart is broken for too many causes, too many injustices, too many people. Kinda like His heart I guess? I read these quotes today and they definitely resonated with me.

“We are not simply to bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.” - William Wilberforce

I’m not sure what the solutions are, or even what the true problems are. I’m so fresh into this culture that it’s hard to know the roots and cultural ramifications. As I’ve said before with the issue of sex trafficking, there are so many areas where help is needed, yet how do you break the cycle completely when there is constantly a demand? There is undoubtedly a need for help in various ways overseas, but there’s also a need back in New Zealand too. I guess I’m trying to figure out what areas I’m most passionate about and gifted in, where I can best serve fruitfully, but also where God is asking me to be and what He is asking me to do.

An interesting thought came up in a sermon I listened to today. It was this: “When we consider a life of following Jesus, how literally should we take the Bible?” It was in the context of how we use our money and time. The speaker was joking like, “Whoops, sorry God, I took Jesus’ command to love my neighbour a bit too seriously...” and “Oh, did you not want me to actually give to the poor? Silly me!” It made me laugh but it also gave me a lightbulb moment, because I often feel a disconnect in what I read in the Bible and what I see in the lives of those around me, and in my own life! The point of the sermon was that we don’t need to worry about taking the Bible too literally, but rather we should worry about the consequence of not taking it literally enough. Jesus gave us some pretty clear commands, but do we believe enough to follow them?

How can I hear about causes or situations and get so upset I cry, yet do nothing about them? It’s not enough just to feel something, I have to do something. I can’t go home and simply forget about the people I’ve met here, about the beautiful girls I meet with weekly who are survivors of the sex trafficking industry. And I can’t forget the five million more that are still out there. I can’t forget the girls faces at the school I do presentations at, knowing that many of them have been sexually abused or raped, with no justice. But I also can’t forget the other injustices around the world that I read about. I can’t forget about overcrowded boats capsizing and innocent refugees drowning as they simply tried to fight to live. And I can’t forget about causes back home, of children dying at the hands of their caregivers in domestic violence and abuse. Of young adults and youth struggling with mental health and suicide at unprecedented rates. But how do I balance doing and being? Doing works or social justice, and just being with Jesus? How do I balance helping with practical solutions, while also knowing that spiritual solutions are what makes a truly eternal difference?

Antonia asked me if I’m going to continue my blog when I get home, which I think I will at least for awhile, as I adjust back into New Zealand life and wrestle with all this stuff. There’s so much I haven’t shared on this blog too that has been going on during my travels. Things going on with my church back home, issues with the leadership of the organisation here... Guess there’s only so much I can be vulnerable about in this context! Another thing that’s happened in the last few months is that I’m now dating someone... Yep, you read that correctly... Dating, in a relationship, courting, in an intentional committed friendship... Whatever you want to call it. No, he’s not Gambian! He’s a really good friend from back home in Nelson, who did the classic romantic-comedy film move of telling me how he felt a few weeks before I left the country. He has been my biggest encourager and supporter during my time here, which has been an incredible blessing. I wasn’t sure whether to include this in the blog, but this new relationship plays a large part into my life over here and how I feel. It’s hard to know what’s helpful to share on the blog and what’s not helpful sometimes... But just know there is a lot more going on in this brain than simply what you read!

I’ve had lots of struggles and challenges in life, as we all do, as well as many joys and blessings. But these past few months have been veeeeery challenging, that’s for sure. I have experienced so much fear, anxiety, doubt and confusion. I’ve struggled to trust in God and connect with Him. I’ve been here out of obedience but not in joy. I’ve also learnt how much I need Him, how weak I am. I’m a strong woman, who is also a scaredy-cat. I’m an independent person who also desperately needs community. I’m successful and yet I’m also nothing. I’ve been humbled, broken down. I’ve sobbed deep, gut-wrenching tears. I’m learning that I’m created uniquely for a special purpose, while also being humbled in the knowledge that we all are.

My personality is one that wants to be influential and be a change maker for God. But my pride and control can easily get in the way, thinking I know the best way to do things or wanting the glory and appreciation. But God loves the servant hearted and the humble. Of course some people are called to have more limelight to encourage others, people like Francis Chan, David Platt and Katie Davis who have changed my life through their work. I guess it comes down to the heart and intention behind what we are doing. Is it for Him, to bring Him glory and to serve Him, or is it to get glory from Him?

Something I’ve learnt is that we learn so much more by doing. I’ve been to countless church conferences, camps and seminars where we get fired up for Jesus, get convicted about doing amazing things, then go out and do nothing. We have to jump through so much red tape to get anything to happen in a church context, to have a simple women’s breakfast or start a young adults worship night. Yet nothing is stopping us from going out into the world, loving those we meet and filling the needs we see. We can’t wait until things are perfect before we do anything, otherwise we never do anything! We need to be equipped, sure, but to what extent? Surely if we are over-prepared, we’re not relying on God anymore? I’ve learnt so much more by being here than I have in most camps or seminars or church services.

So why don’t we do more? Why do we go to a seminar on how to share our faith, but never actually share our faith? Do we not take action because we don’t believe His words are for us today? Do we not pray for healing because we don’t believe God can heal? Or because He can’t heal through us? Because we’re not enough? We’re not spiritual enough? Called? Gifted? Equipped? Or are those excuses that are built on us not actually, truly believing God is who He says He is?

Coming over here has been haaaaaaaard. When God convicted me, took hold of me, challenged me to come here, I had to really wrestle with this idea. Do I truly believe God is who He says He is? I’d like to believe I do, but actions speak louder than words. Was my life showing that’s what I believed? And if not, was I willingly to change everything for Him? It took a few months to practically action coming here, winding down my business, finding someone to rent my room, booking flights...etc, but it also took time to become mentally and emotionally ready to come. And even then, I wasn’t ready! I didn’t want to come, and cried most days for the month leading up to coming. At work, in the car, at church, with friends... I knew it would be hard. I was scared that I wouldn’t make it. That God wouldn’t pull through. But I’m learning that it’s actually me that can’t pull through, not Him. He wants to work, to use me, but am I willing to be used? Do I actually believe He can do powerful things through Christ in me? And do I want to be used in the ways He wants me to be? And what even are those ways?

John 12:25 says, “The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Maybe I’ll spend my whole life trying to figure out what losing my life looks like, and what it means to truly find it. All I know is that I don’t want to be a Christian who lives a “normal” and predictable life. I can’t just come to church on a Sunday with my perfect hypothetical family, smiling and pretending everything is fine when it’s not. I’ve never really been the kind of person to just go with the status quo, I don’t tend to give in to peer pressure. But now I feel like I’ve reached a new level of this within Christian circles. I feel like I’m beyond caring what people think about my life and what I do. Of course this is not completely true, I do care and I want people to like me and respect me, but there comes a point where sometimes following God doesn’t involve doing what others think is best or approve of.

I don’t want to look, act or behave how people want me to. I want to be who God wants me to be. I know people outside the church who are far more loving than some people inside the church, people who are Jesus’ hands and feet more than some who say they follow Him. I don’t want to be one of those people. I don’t want to be a hypocrite. I want to lay down everything for Christ’s sake, doing whatever He asks, for His glory. But... How do I balance that with what I want? Can both co-exist? Surely God knows the desires of our hearts? But we can’t have any idols other than God, we can’t put anything before Him... Yet we all do.

Realistically, I don’t think I could do overseas ministry long term. I feel like I was built for connection, for community and relationship. In NZ, I was surrounded by friends and family and the familiar. I know how to do “self care”, to look after myself, to pace myself so I don’t burn out. But over here, most of the things I do to revitalise my soul are gone. I can’t go to the beach for walks anymore, I can’t attend a weekly life group... But then life is not supposed to be comfortable, particularly when we follow Christ. So how do you balance laying down your desires for Christ’s sake, yet being realistic in knowing what you need? Even that statement, “knowing what you need” sounds ridiculous... Why do we think we know what we need? We know what we want, but surely only God knows what we truly need? So when I say I wouldn’t be able to do overseas ministry long term, do I really know what’s best for me? Why can’t God be all that I need? Why can’t He fill that gap of companionship and community in the loneliest places for me?

We’re supposed to have joy in suffering, to expect suffering, not run from it. In some parts of the world, they pray for suffering because they know it produces faith. In Romans 5:1-7 Paul says this: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Well... The Christian life is just too darn hard! It’s too hard to love like Jesus, to love Him most, to lay down everything for Him. But surely that’s the point... That it is too hard, therefore we need Him! John 3:30 says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” In our nice, comfortable lives, we don’t often find ourselves in or put ourselves in situations where we have to truly rely on God with our lives. I can honestly only think of two situations before this year: being in the Christchurch earthquake, and my marriage ending. Isn’t that crazy that I’ve followed Jesus my entire life, yet often haven’t had to truly rely on the Father, to trust Him with my life? Imagine if we lived in a way where we actually had to rely on His strength and not our own?

I often wonder what someone who simply reads the Bible would think about God and what kind of life we are to live. Someone with no Christian history or church or Sunday school. No community culture or unspoken rules. No societal expectations or preconceived ideas. What would their Christian faith and expression of that look like? Would they attend our Sunday services? Another thought... Do our church and youth services please God? Is our worship actually pleasing to Him? Could we do the same things we currently do, without God? Like if God didn’t show up, if we didn’t rely on His leading and guiding, on His power to change lives, would we even notice a difference? That’s a scary thought.

Well, that’s enough ramblings for one day... Sorry, I tend to jump around on lots of different ideas, so well done if you’ve read until the end! I won’t even begin to delve into my musings on money... Yikes... My brain and heart can get so overwhelmed sometimes with all my thoughts and confusions. I feel like God just wants me to be still sometimes, just to be with Him. So, I’ll end with a few lyrics from another song that’s been in my head for a few weeks, ironically a song from my youth days at Southern Easter Camp. It’s called Simply by Satellite.

“Simply you call me

Simply I come

Simply you ask me to meet with your Son.

You know my transgressions

I kneel in my shame

Simply forgive me as I speak your name.

Jesus your tears are mine

Jesus wholly divine

Jesus you love me the same

Jesus for my freedom you came.

I will sing Hallelujah, I will sing Hallelujah, I will sing Hallelujah”

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virginiaprelawland · 4 years ago

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Has Human Rights Law Failed?

By Samantha Little, Virginia Commonwealth University Class of 2021

September 10, 2020

Over the course of 2020, the plight of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, China has received international media attention. In May of this year, the United States Congress passed a bill into law that “condemn[s] gross human rights violations”[1] committed against Muslim communities in western China. Even before the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, October 2019 saw the United States join twenty-two other nations in a joint statement calling on the Chinese government to cease arbitrary detention of Uyghurs, abide by its international and national obligations, and permit the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and UN Special Procedures access to the detention facilities.[2] This issue may be new for the media and those uninvolved in international human rights, but the Uyghur’s situation is anything but new. Since 2002, the international community has had credible evidence for human rights abuses concerning the Uyghur population.[3] almost twenty years transpired before the international community rallied to even condemn the situation. The Uyghur is unfortunately reminiscent of other such allegations and instances of human rights abuses; Rwanda, the Rohingya, or Pinochet’s Chile. Over seventy years have transpired since the Nuremberg tribunals[4], the entry into force of the Geneva Conventions[5], and the creation of the UN Commission on Human Rights (hereby referred to as UNCHR).[6] One would not be blamed for asking whether these international human rights laws are defunct.

The initial impetus of the UNCHR and its replacement, the UN Human Rights Council (hereby referred to as UNHCR), was the protection of human rights across the globe.[7] Neither organization has accomplished an eradication of human rights abuses, evident through the consistent reports of abuses from around the world. In fact it is basic human rights laws that are given special status as compulsory and obligatory for all nations.[8] From the Nuremberg tribunal[9] to the trial and conviction of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet,[10] the international community has shown its willingness to try and convict those proven beyond a reasonable doubt committed “crimes against humanity.”[11] Yet as far as international law is concerned there is no adequate enforcement of international human rights law.[12] Human rights law has no enforcing authority other than the UNHCR, who is not indwelt with any executive enforcement, and states who are expected, but not forced, to comply. In Do International Rights Treaties Improve Respect for Human Rights? Dr. Eric Neumayer, a political scientist, submits research that reveals an uncomfortable truth; human rights abuses are not less prevalent even with human rights conventions.[13]

However, international human rights law is not so doomed to dereliction. There has been much good done by international human rights law. For one, international human rights law, such as the Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Charter,[14] and the Geneva Convention, among many others, have extended an international obligation to the protection of minorities, women, and children. Conventions that bind party states to enact human rights legislation such as the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination or the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment have accomplished an international norm. That norm being the expectation that human beings be treated humanely by state governments regardless of their sex, gender, religion, sexuality, age, ethnicity, or language, etc. This includes the liability to state governments in the event that they fall short of these obligations.[15] Secondly, the enforcement of current human rights law is not necessarily preventative but intended for prosecution. This is the same as state laws penalizing murder or rape, the law itself is not an avenue of prevention but an avenue of justice. The victims of human rights abuses can be delivered justice because the international community has upheld universal adherence to human rights norms. Human rights law has become a basis from which the international community can hold violators accountable. Accountability and international norms are accomplishments of current human rights laws.

Human rights laws are neither defunct nor are they impeccable. The inability to enforce slights victims of human rights abuses but the prospect of prosecution permits justice. The complex issue of human rights law, its failings and achievements, affects real human lives. One thing is certain, human rights law will not remain stagnant as these allegations against China continue. Human rights law will need to reform and reshape in order to fit into the modern world.

________________________________________________________________

[1]Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020. 145 U.S.C S.3744.

[2]Pierce, K. (29 October 2019). Joint Statement on Human Rights Violations and Abuses in Xinjiang. Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Karen Pierce DCMG.

[3]Kellner, T. (2002). China: The Uighur Situation from Independence for the Central Asian Republics to the Post 11 September Era. UNHCR Emergency & Security Service.

[4]Nuremberg Trials (1946) 22 IMT 203

[5]Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. (1949) 75 UNTS 287. Entry into Force: 21 October 1950.

[6]General Assembly Resolution. Human Rights Council. 60/251. UN General Assembly. Session 60 (2006).

[7]General Assembly Resolution. Human Rights Council. 60/251. UN General Assembly. Session 60 (2006). A.60.L.48. A/RES/60/251.

[8]Epps, V; Cerone, J; Roth, B. R. (2019) International Law. Sixth Edition. 680 pp. ISBN 978-1-5310-1391-2

[9]Nuremberg Trials (1946) 22 IMT 203

[10]Pinochet Case (Regina v. Bartle and others ex parte Pinochet Ugarte , Regina v. Evans and others ex parte Pinochet Ugarte), No 3 United Kingdom House of Lords (1999) “This case gave the international legal doctrine of universal jurisdiction a lot of weight. Pinochet was a former Chilean dictator accused of acts of torture and forced disappearance. The court case also implements a restriction on government heads’ criminal immunity. Due to this case any nation technically has the jurisdiction to bring another nation or world leader to court for crimes against humanity. See the current ICJ case brought by the Gambia against Myanmar. https://www.icj-cij.org/en/case/178 In American criminal law or even civil law persons unaffected by the actions of the accused do not have proper standing in court. In international law, however, crimes against humanity are a special case because of universal jurisdiction.

[11]Epps, V; Cerone, J; Roth, B. R. (2019) International Law. Sixth Edition. 680 pp. ISBN 978-1-5310-1391-2 “Specifically crimes against humanity refers to the violent treatment of a large group of people. These crimes can be torture, sexual violence, murder, enslavement, or forced disappearance.

[12]Epps, V; Cerone, J; Roth, B. R. (2019) International Law. Sixth Edition. 680 pp. ISBN 978-1-5310-1391-2

[13]Neumayer, Eric (2005) Do international human rights treaties improve respect for human rights? Journal of Conflict Resolution, 49 (6). pp. 925-953. ISSN 1552-8766

[14]Charter of the United Nations, 24 October 1945, 1 UNTS XVI art 1, (entered into force 24 October 1945) [UN Charter]

[15]Epps, V; Cerone, J; Roth, B. R. (2019) International Law. Sixth Edition. 680 pp. ISBN 978-1-5310-1391-2

Photo Credit: Students for a Free Tibet

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bigyack-com · 5 years ago

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Maldives Hires Amal Clooney To Fight For Rohingya Muslims At UN Court

Amal Clooney successfully represented former Maldives president and secured a UN decision.Colombo, Sri Lanka: The luxury tourist destination of the Maldives has hired prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney to represent it at the UN's highest court in seeking justice for Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslims.The Maldivian government said Wednesday it will formally join the mainly Muslim African state of The Gambia in challenging Myanmar's 2017 military crackdown that sent around 740,000 Rohingya fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh.In a unanimous ruling last month, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Buddhist-majority Myanmar to implement emergency measures to prevent the genocide of Rohingya -- pending a full case that could take years.Amal Clooney successfully represented former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed and secured a UN decision that his 2015 jailing for 13 years was illegal.With the fall of strongman president Abdulla Yameen in 2018, Mohamed Nasheed, as well as several other dissidents in the Sunni Muslim nation of 340,000 have been cleared of any wrongdoing. Mohamed Nasheed is currently the atoll nation's speaker in the national legislature.The government said it welcomed the ICJ's decision to order provisional measures to secure the rights of victims in Myanmar and prevent the destruction of evidence in the ongoing case."Accountability for genocide in Myanmar is long overdue and I look forward to working on this important effort to seek judicial remedies for Rohingya survivors," Amal Clooney was quoted as saying by the Maldivian government.Thousands are suspected to have been killed in the Rohingya crackdown and refugees brought widespread reports of rape and arson by Myanmar's military and local Buddhist militias.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Read the full article

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accrafreepress · 5 years ago

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"You are seen as an idiot when you turn down sex as a man, even when a student offers it"

#Metoo in Ghana Sexual cross-border behavior is slowly being discussed in West Africa. A documentary started the debate. Many people are angry now. "The woman seduced the teacher. Fuck the codes of conduct. "

Students regularly invade the office of Michael Asante crying. The Ghanaian philosophy PhD student supervises students at the University of Ghana. "One female student was harassed by a teacher who called her in the evening and asked to come out. She didn't know what to do. "He advised her to ignore the teacher.

The other way around, he also experienced it, Asante says on a campus sidewalk. One of his students needed extra lessons. "She said," I will come home with you in exchange. "Asante was ashamed of her directness and said no such thing was necessary. "Never ever."

The University of Ghana is a leading African university with forty thousand students. If they do not pass a course and have to take a year, it costs money that they often do not have. "They don't dare tell their parents. It then takes even longer to find work and pay off debts. There are female students who suggest such a thing out of desperation. ”They also know it sometimes works.

For years, starting teachers at the university have been required to attend a seminar on cross-border sexual behaviour, Asante says. He did too. But the definition of sex is broad. "Many people think that penetration must take place before you can't call sex. You are seen as an idiot when you turn off sex as a man, even if it is a student who offers it. We have to talk about that gigantic grey area."

Hidden cameras

Everyone knows that things go wrong on campus - but until recently no one spoke about it. That changed when the BBC documentary Sex for Grades was released last October . The film has been viewed more than three million times on YouTube alone and has unleashed a lot at universities in West Africa. With hidden cameras, journalists exposed some male teachers, by name and by name, who forced themselves on to potential students. A teacher pulls a young woman towards him and tries to kiss and touch her in his office. Another tells a student that he wants to be her " side-guy" . Two of them teach at the University of Ghana.

The controversial film received a lot of criticism. Character killing, many teachers called it. They thought it was going too far for colleagues to be embarrassed. Pharmacy teacher Ama Opoku-Agyemang thought it was high time the bell rang. "I don't want to say it too loudly, but I was very happy when I saw the documentary," she says. On Facebook, she wrote to colleagues that day: "Even if a student goes to your office naked and you go into it, you are the person who made a mistake."

Opoku-Agyemang is now sitting in one of the many white buildings with orange dormer windows on the university grounds. She has no idea how many teachers push the boundaries. There are no numbers. "But I think the majority accept certain forms of sexual cross-border behavior. A teacher can tell a student here that she 'looks sexy' and think that he makes a nice compliment. The entire power discussion is forgotten. "

She still remembers well as a student, more than ten years ago, being pinched by a teacher. She suspected that a fellow student went to bed with a teacher. "The culture leads to gossip, fear and abuse. Now there is at least a conversation. "

Some teachers were angry that it was the British BBC that focused on universities in Ghana and Nigeria. Why didn't they study Western universities?

Opoku-Agyemang finds that argument nonsense. "Ghanaian media could have beat this story much earlier, but then they should also look at cross-border behaviour on their own editors." And they don't want that, she thinks. "This problem really does not only occur at universities but at all our institutions and companies."

Abuse of power and sex

Ghana is not the only country in West Africa where abuse of power and sex is discussed these years. Also in Nigeria, The Gambia and Sierra Leone stories are told about women who have been raped or assaulted by powerful men. When they say something about it, they often get the most trouble themselves, The New York Times wrote in November. Nigerian photographer Busola Dakolo (34) told the newspaper that she had been raped twice by a famous church leader, Biodun Fatoyinbo, when she was a teenager. Subsequently, an investigation was launched against her for criminal conspiracy. Pastor Fatoyinbo was soon able to lead services again.

In Ghana, 29-year-old radio station Felicity Nelson is trying to change that culture. In her weekly feminist radio program Straight Talk , she discusses issues such as sexual harassment. This afternoon she puts on her headphones and gives her guest a reassuring wink.

"I'm ready," she replies the producer on the other side of the glass window.

They count down: three, two, one. "Welcome to Class FM 91.3 . We are going to talk today about violence against women ... "

Talking about domestic violence or sexual cross-border behavior is difficult all over the world. In Ghana, many people even pretend it doesn't exist, Nelson says after her broadcast. "When it comes to allegations of rape, suspects just have to say," No, I didn't do that. " If you question their words, you are a bitter person, and paranoid. ”According to her, the # metoo discussion is still far away in Ghana. "Men say they respect their mother and sister. The end of the conversation."

After the interview, she walks down the stairs with the photographer to take pictures outside. Her producer, Korletey Obuadey, walks a few meters behind her. Has he seen the documentary Sex for Grades ? Yes, of course, he says. "As if this sort of thing doesn't happen at western universities! And why is the man automatically responsible? "

Nelson hears her producer expressing increasingly loathing about the documentary. She turns around, looks at him, and shakes her head. But Obuadey is not ready yet. "Western universities look for African students with money. That is why they want to destroy our university institutions. "

Only: Kiki Mordi , the 28-year-old investigative journalist who made the film, is Nigerian. In the film, she cries that she discontinued her studies after a teacher asked her to go to bed with him several times.

Korletey Obuadey: "Why didn't she go to a Nigerian medium? Don't listen to those BBC people. They are thieves! These teachers have worked hard to get to where they are. And then handsome undercover journalists with breasts are sent to them. What do you expect? "

Felicity Nelson (who can no longer hold back): "Do they sometimes have to send a woman without breasts? What are you talking about?"

Korletey Obuadey: “The woman seduced the teacher. Fuck codes of conduct. Our instincts go for being human! ”

Felicity Nelson: "You sound like someone who is already assaulting or capable of doing so."

Korletey Obuadey: “No, I am also a victim! Of character murder by the British Broadcasting Corporation."

After the documentary, the University of Ghana investigated the two suspect teachers. They can continue to do their work. Because the undercover journalists were not students of the university, he sees no reason to dismiss the teachers.

Yet pharmacy teacher Ama Opoku-Aygemang thinks that the documentary has already changed a lot. "Teachers will be more attentive to their behaviour from now on."

Source: https://www.nrc.nl/

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xtruss · 5 years ago

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Rohingya Hail UN Ruling that Myanmar Act to Prevent Genocide

— Mike Corder | January 23, 2020

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court on Thursday ordered Myanmar to do all it can to prevent genocide against the Rohingya people, a ruling met by members of the Muslim minority with gratitude and relief but also some skepticism that the country’s rulers will fully comply.

The ruling by the International Court of Justice came despite appeals last month by Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the judges to drop the case amid her denials of genocide by the armed forces that once held the former pro-democracy champion under house arrest for 15 years.

Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, president of the court, said in his order that the Rohingya in Myanmar “remain extremely vulnerable.”

In a unanimous decision, the 17-judge panel added that its order for so-called provisional measures intended to protect the Rohingya is binding “and creates international legal obligations” on Myanmar.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the court’s order and “will promptly transmit the notice of the provisional measures” it ordered to the U.N. Security Council, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Diplomats said the U.N.‘s most powerful body is not expected to take any action until it sees how Myanmar is implementing the court’s order.

While the court has no ability to enforce the orders, one international law expert said the ruling will strengthen other nations pressing for change in Myanmar.

“Thus far, it’s been states trying to put pressure on Myanmar or using their good offices or ... diplomatic pressure,” said Priya Pillai, head of the Asia Justice Coalition Secretariat. “Now, essentially for any state, there is legal leverage.”

The orders specifically refer to Rohingya still in Myanmar and thus did not look likely to have an immediate impact on more than 700,000 of them who have fled to neighboring Bangladesh in recent years to escape Myanmar’s brutal crackdown.

Even so, Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya activist who lives in Vancouver and was in court for the decision, called it a historic ruling.

“Today, having the judges unanimously agree to the protection of Rohingya means so much to us because we’re now allowed to exist and it’s legally binding,” she told reporters on the steps of the court.

But asked if she believes Myanmar will comply, she replied: “I don’t think so.”

Myanmar’s legal team left the court without commenting. Later, its foreign ministry said in a statement that it took note of the ruling, but repeated its assertion that there has been no genocide against the Rohingya.

The court sought to safeguard evidence that could be used in future prosecutions, ordering Myanmar to “take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related” to allegations of genocidal acts.

At the end of an hour-long session in the court’s wood-paneled Great Hall of Justice, judges also ordered Myanmar to report to them in four months on what measures the country has taken to comply with the order and then to report every six months as the case moves slowly through the world court.

“I think this is the court maybe being much more proactive and ... careful in acknowledging that this is a serious situation and there needs to be much more follow-up and monitoring by the court itself, which is which is quite unusual as well,” Pallai said.

Rogingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh welcomed the order, which was even supported by a temporary judge appointed by Myanmar to be part of the panel.

“This is good news. We thank the court as it has reflected our hope for justice. The verdict proves that Myanmar has become a nation of torturers,” 39-year-old Abdul Jalil told The Associated Press by phone from Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar.

However, he too expressed doubts that Myanmar would fully comply.

“Myanmar has become a notorious state. We do not have confidence in it,” Jalil said. “There is little chance that Myanmar will listen.”

Rights activists also welcomed the decision.

“The ICJ order to Myanmar to take concrete steps to prevent the genocide of the Rohingya is a landmark step to stop further atrocities against one of the world’s most persecuted people,” said Param-Preet Singh, associate international justice director of New York-based Human Rights Watch. “Concerned governments and U.N. bodies should now weigh in to ensure that the order is enforced as the genocide case moves forward.”

The world court order for what it calls provisional measures came in a case brought by the African nation of Gambia on behalf of an organization of Muslim nations that accuses Myanmar of genocide in its crackdown on the Rohingya.

The judges did not decide on the substance of the case, which will be debated in legal arguments likely to last years before a final ruling is issued. But their order to protect the Rohingya made clear they fear for ongoing attacks.

At public hearings last month, lawyers used maps, satellite images and graphic photos to detail what they called a campaign of murder, rape and destruction amounting to genocide perpetrated by Myanmar’s military.

The hearings drew intense scrutiny as Suu Kyi defended the campaign by her country’s military forces. Suu Kyi, who as Myanmar’s state counselor heads the government, was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for championing democracy and human rights under Myanmar’s then-ruling junta.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long considered the Rohingya to be “Bengalis” from Bangladesh even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless. They are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.

In August 2017, Myanmar’s military launched what it called a clearance campaign in northern Rakhine state in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. The campaign forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh and led to accusations that security forces committed mass rapes and killings and burned thousands of homes.

Suu Kyi told world court judges in December that the exodus was a tragic consequence of the military’s response to “coordinated and comprehensive armed attacks” by Rohingya insurgents.

Thursday’s ruling came two days after an independent commission established by Myanmar’s government concluded there are reasons to believe security forces committed war crimes in counterinsurgency operations against the Rohingya, but that there is no evidence supporting charges that genocide was planned or carried out.

Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director, said the panel’s findings were “what would have been expected from a non-transparent investigation by a politically skewed set of commissioners working closely with the Myanmar government.”

At December’s public hearings, Paul Reichler, a lawyer for Gambia, cited a U.N. fact-finding mission report at hearings last month that said military “clearance operations” in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state spared nobody. “Mothers, infants, pregnant women, the old and infirm. They all fell victim to this ruthless campaign,” he said.

Gambia’s Justice Minister Aboubacarr Tambadou urged the world court to act immediately and “tell Myanmar to stop these senseless killings, to stop these acts of barbarity that continue to shock our collective conscience, to stop this genocide of its own people.”

Anna Roberts, executive director of Burma Campaign UK, called the order “a major blow to Aung San Suu Kyi and her anti-Rohingya policies.”

She urged the international community to press her to enforce the court’s order.

“The chances of Aung San Suu Kyi implementing this ruling will be zero unless significant international pressure is applied,” Roberts said. “So far, the international community has not been willing to apply pressure on Aung San Suu Kyi over her own appalling record on human rights.”

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alexsmitposts · 5 years ago

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The Not so Subtle Moral Decay of the US Military At this point, there’s no hiding that a considerable number of MSM sources directly promotes the agenda of both US military contractors and the Pentagon, trying to advertise the US military as the ultimate combat force akin to those unvanquishable legions of Rome from two thousand years ago. Unsurprisingly, the military brass is more than willing to uphold this image, as it has recently been announced by the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph F. Dunford, that these days there’s no force able to withstand a joint assault mounted by the US military. Well, somehow the Department of Defense (DoD) wants even more money, even though there’s no logical explanation as to why the mightiest army on the planet would need to improve anything, when everyone else is obviously lagging far behind. However, it’s been rightfully pointed out by Global Research that: With he biggest military budget in the world, five times larger than the next six countries, the largest number of military bases – over 180 – in the world and the most expensive military industrial complex, the US has failed to win a single war in the 21th century. It would, indeed, be tempting to allocate all blame on those dubious weapons programs that draw mind-boggling amounts of resources without ever producing anything to show for them. But it’s far past this stage by now, as it’s obvious that the US military itself is undergoing a period of moral decay, where young men who enlisted to defend their country with honor and dignity are gradually turning into crooks. There’s more than enough facts that can be found both in the alternative and mainstream media to illustrate this notion, as there’s no shortage of war crimes that US servicemen have committed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and a number of other states. As a rule, Washington uses every trick imaginable to suppress such reports, but they come out nonetheless. For instance, it has recently been revealed that the chief prosecutor of the ICC from Gambia, Fatou Bensouda, stated that members of the US armed forces inflicted “torture, cruel treatment, and offenses against the dignity of persons, in Afghan territory,” acts that qualify as war crimes. The response of the United States was fairly predictable and prompt, as Bensouda was denied entry into the United States. This step was accompanied by the announcement made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which he indicated Washington’s intention to refuse entry to any and all ICC officials who were going to launch an investigation into the crimes US military personnel committed in Afghanistan. Moreover, not a single day goes by without revelations surrounding American soldiers engaged in drunk fights, drug smuggling, human trafficking and sexual violence. Just recently, those at the head of the most elite and combat capable unit of the US armed forces – Navy SEALs were forced to take urgent disciplinary measures to regain tighter control over the unit. This step was provoked by an announcement that the number of drug addicts and those contemplating suicide within the unit has been increasing steadily over the years. It’s been revealed by the commander of the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM), Raymond A. Thomas III during a senate hearing earlier this year that special forces operatives are unable to maintain the scale and frequency of the operations they were tasked to carry out after fifteen years of constant deployments, as men are mentally exhausted which makes them prone to suicidal thoughts. It came to a point when rising suicide rates have forced SOCOM to sign a two year deal with the American Association of Suicidology for the latter to create a suicide prevention program to be implemented in the US special forces. It has recently been announced that a total of sixteen Marines were arrested at Camp Pendleton for various illegal activities ranging from human smuggling to drug-related offenses, the 1st Marine Division said in a statement issued on July 25. On the very same day, SOCOM released a statement about an entire platoon of SEALs stationed in Iraq being recalled to its base in San Diego, amid allegations that they were drinking alcohol while on deployment. It was revealed that “a perceived deterioration of good order and discipline within the team during non-operational periods” resulted in this decision, as “the commander lost confidence in the team’s ability to accomplish the mission.” A recent study ordered by the Pentagon revealed that the number of sex crimes committed across the US armed forces has been going through the roof year-after-year. According to Reuters, the number of such crimes registered this year reached 6,053, which constitutes a 38% increase over the two year time span since the last time the Pentagon ordered a similar study to be conducted. The study has essentially revealed that one in eight women aged between 17 to 20 joining the US military will become a rape victim. Those are incredibly disturbing figures. It is also worth mentioning the recent “rape list” scandal that erupted aboard the USS Florida – the second US submarine to integrate enlisted women. As it’s been revealed by Military.com there were 32 women among the 173-person crew, with the male crew-members holding a vote every couple weeks to update the “rape list” that contained the names of every woman on board, ranked by a star system, their physical descriptions, and descriptions of various sexual acts the creators of the list wanted to perform with them. Moreover, just recently 52 year old Senator of Arizona, Martha McSally, revealed she was “preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer” while serving in the Air Force. Her testimony came out during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about preventing sexual assault in the military. There’s also the case of Air Force General John Hyten, the nominee to be the nation’s second highest ranking military officer, now facing sexual assault allegations prior to his appointment as the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The allegations were made by his former aide – Kathryn Spletstoser who claimed that in 2017 her superior officer came to her hotel room and “pulled her to him and kissed her on the lips while pressing himself against her,” and ejaculated. It’s hardly a secret that a great many high-profile Japanese politicians refer to the ongoing US military presence in Japan as “Okinawa’s burden”. There’s been a countless number of public protests against US servicemen being stationed across this island, as rape scandals involving American soldiers is a common occurrence in this part of the world. Last April, a US sailor stabbed a Japanese woman to death in the town of Chatan. Against this backdrop, it’s hardly surprising that Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe has recently announced that the government would no longer drag out the question about the US military base relocation in Okinawa. The US forces stationed in the Polish town of Powidzki have recently outraged the local community by showing complete disregard to environmental protection requirements established for Polish national parks such as Natura 2000 and Powidzki Landscape Park. The local population would go as far as to create a special Facebook group to express their outrage: Say No to Trump’s Fort in Powidzki. There’s no shortage of examples of the no-so-subtle moral decay of the US military, as there’s signs of protest and outrage in all of the 180 locations where US overseas bases are located. It’s safe to say that if there were some individuals who weren’t prepared to accept “US-style democracy” right away in some corner of our planet, the US military, in its present shape and form, has certainly assisted them in making the decision.

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photos-tell-stories · 6 years ago

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#Gambia - #Portraits4PositiveChange - Image ©Helen Jones-Florio: @jasonflorio making a portrait of Bintu, who was detained for five days, beaten and raped by three masked security officers at the Gambia Police Intervention Unit (PIU) HQ, after being arrested during a May 9th 2016 rally to demand the release of illegally detained protesters from previous rallies held on April 15th/16th, 2016. When asked if she would prefer that we keep her identity anonymous her adamant reply was “No, this was done to me, and I want justice…these men should be punished” From the series ‘Gambia - Victims and Resisters of a Regime’ @floriotravels/@florio_gallery _ A Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) began this month in The Gambia to investigate ex-president, Yahya Jammeh’s, 22-year authoritarian rule whereby mass human rights violations took place. A momentous, and historical, time for Gambia, and Gambians to be able to speak so freely once again. For the past two years, I have had the privilege of being able to photograph and record testimonies of victims, and resisters of the Jammeh regime. Bintu is just one of many… this is a work-in-progress. You can see more on my website: https://floriophoto.com/PORTRAITS/The-Gambia---victims-&-resisters---a-work-in-progress/1/caption _ If you would like to be part of #Portraits4PositiveChange, please check out https://www.gofundme.com/gambiavictims-of-a-regime (or use the link in my IG profile) _ _ _ #jasonflorio#gambia#jammeh2justice#westafrica#GambiaCentreforVictimsofHumanRightsViolations#portraits#YahyaJammeh#dictatorship#democracy#gambiahasdecided#victimsandresisters #victimsofjammeh #everydayafrica #helenjonesflorio#GambiaTRRC #humanrightsabuses@trrc_gambia #humanrights (at Banjul, Gambia) https://www.instagram.com/floriotravels/p/BsqUfFwA22V/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1lzhwlxy7e7kb

#gambia #portraits4positivechange #jasonflorio #jammeh2justice #westafrica #gambiacentreforvictimsofhumanrightsviolations #portraits #yahyajammeh #dictatorship #democracy #gambiahasdecided #victimsandresisters #victimsofjammeh #everydayafrica #helenjonesflorio #gambiatrrc #humanrightsabuses #humanrights

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ericfruits · 5 years ago

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A former beauty queen accuses Gambia’s former dictator of rape

WHEN FATOU JALLOW was crowned Gambia’s beauty queen in 2014, it was one of the happiest days of her life. But it was the prelude to a nightmare. Soon afterwards Yahya Jammeh, then the country’s dictator, asked the 18-year-old to marry him. Ms Jallow refused, but Mr Jammeh’s aides kept calling. After accepting an invitation to his home to attend a religious event, Ms Jallow says she was drugged and raped by Mr Jammeh. “He asked me what made me think that I could deny him,” she recalls. “I kept screaming and he kept telling me no one could hear me.”

Ms Jallow’s torment was far from an isolated case. Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International, watchdogs based in New York and Geneva respectively, have detailed other allegations of sexual abuse by Mr Jammeh and his aides. Their report, released this week, includes disturbing accounts from two other women who allege that the former dictator sexually abused them. A spokesman for Mr Jammeh’s party denied the allegations in a written statement to the BBC.

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Mr Jammeh, who had seized power in a coup in 1994, was ousted in early 2017. But public anger against him lives on, stoked by a stream of new revelations about the horrors of his rule. Many have emerged in testimony before a Truth, Reparations and Reconciliation Commission established by Gambia’s new president, Adama Barrow, to investigate the old regime’s crimes and recommend prosecutions.

Mr Jammeh’s henchmen allegedly killed and tortured thousands. Journalists and activists disappeared in the night, never to be seen again. Dissidents were thrown into an airless dungeon, known as the “crocodile hole”, beneath the headquarters of Mr Jammeh’s intelligence agency.

The longer he ruled, the more erratic he became. His men once detained and drugged an estimated 1,000 villagers with a powerful hallucinogen because he thought that witchcraft was responsible for the death of a family member. He also claimed to be able to cure HIV with his bare hands.

In a poor country of about 2m people, he allegedly stole energetically. When he fled into exile in Equatorial Guinea he did so in his Rolls-Royce, leaving the state’s coffers empty. Campaigners are pressing Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Obiang, to hand him over for trial.

Reed Brody, an American lawyer working with Human Rights Watch, notes that many of Mr Jammeh’s victims came from other west African countries, including Ghana and Ivory Coast. These included 56 migrants who were massacred by his men in 2005. Mr Brody thinks that the latest rape allegations will add pressure. “It’s going to be harder and harder for Obiang to keep protecting Jammeh,” he says.

Ms Jallow managed to escape from Gambia and now lives in Canada, where she is studying social care. Talking about what happened “is my duty to other girls”, she says. “I am willing to open the gate and make sure that this man will one day face justice. I want to send a message to men in our society, that we’re not property, that we’re not goats.” ◼

This article appeared in the Middle East and Africa section of the print edition under the headline "Parade of horrors"

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bigyack-com · 5 years ago

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Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi told to ‘stop the genocide’ in UN court showdown - world news

Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi faced calls for Myanmar to “stop the genocide” of Rohingya Muslims as she personally led her country’s defence at the UN’s top court on Tuesday.Suu Kyi, whose silence about the plight of the Rohingya has tarnished her reputation as a rights icon, sat through graphic accounts of murder and rape in the wood-panelled courtroom in The Hague.Rights groups have criticised her decision to represent Myanmar at the International Court of Justice against accusations by the west African state of The Gambia that it has breached the 1948 Genocide Convention.Around 740,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh after a bloody crackdown by the Myanmar military in 2017 that UN investigators have already described as genocide.“This is very much a dispute between Gambia and Myanmar,” Gambian Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou told the judges of the court, which was set up in 1946 to resolve disputes between UN member states.“All that The Gambia asks is that you tell Myanmar to stop these senseless killings, to stop these acts of barbarity that continue to shock our collective conscience, to stop this genocide of its own people.” Tambadou, a former prosecutor at the tribunal into the Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, said Myanmar’s military operation involved “mass murder, mass rape and mass torture, children being burned alive in their homes and places of worship.” The Gambia is seeking emergency measures to prevent further harm to the Rohingya, pending a wider case at the ICJ which could take years.Suu Kyi listened to accounts by The Gambia’s lawyers of Rohingya victims, including a mother whose one-year-old son was beaten to death and an eight-month-pregnant woman who was stamped on and then repeatedly raped.Wearing traditional Burmese dress, the 74-year-old did not speak to waiting media after arriving at the court’s turreted Peace Palace headquarters in a motorcade with a police escort.A group of some 50 pro-Rohingya protesters gathered outside the gates of the ICJ for the hearing, carrying banners saying: ‘Say yes to Rohingya, justice delayed is justice denied” and “Stop Burma military attack Rohingya.” “Today is the start for our right to justice,” said Mohammed Harun, 49, who travelled from London for the hearings. “It’s international justice day for Rohingya,” he told AFP.A small group of Suu Kyi supporters also unfurled a banner outside the court with the Myanmar leader’s face on it saying: “ We love you, we stand with you!” “Suu Kyi is the only person who can solve this problem,” supporter Swe Swe Aye, 47, told AFP.“We are not denying that the Rohingya people suffered, but we are denying, like Suu Kyi, that there was a genocide in Myanmar.” Thousands of people have also turned out in Suu Kyi’s support in Myanmar in recent weeks since she announced that she would personally lead the southeast Asian nation’s case at the court.Suu Kyi is set to speak in Myanmar’s defence on Wednesday. She is expected to argue that Myanmar was conducting legitimate operations against Rohingya militants and that the ICJ has no jurisdiction in the case.The 74-year-old was once mentioned in the same breath as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, having won the Nobel in 1991 for her resistance to Myanmar’s brutal junta.After 15 years under house arrest she was freed in 2010 and led her party to victory in elections in 2015, but her defence of the same generals who once kept her locked up has since caused international condemnation.The case is also being watched in Bangladesh where the Rohingya remain in sprawling camps.“I demand justice from the world,” said Nur Karima, a Rohingya refugee whose brothers and grandparents were killed in a massacre in the village of Tula Toli in August 2017.ICJ judges have only once before ruled that genocide was committed, in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia.Myanmar, however, faces a number of legal challenges over the fate of the Rohingya, including a probe by the International Criminal Court -- a separate war crimes tribunal in The Hague -- and a lawsuit in Argentina. Source link Read the full article

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