Tag Archives: Human Rights Watch

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Stop the Anti-Women Gag Rule

08/23/2013 Nativegrl77

Afghan reactionary lawmakers are trying to pass a law to ensure that family members can never testify as witnesses. This is a green light for more women and girls to be abused at home, but some courageous politicians are fighting back and say our outcry could make the difference! Sign now to stand with Afghan women and tell everyone!

Sold into marriage at 12, Sahar Gul lived in a house of horrors. Her in-laws chained her in the basement, beat her with red hot iron pipes, starved her and pulled out all her fingernails when she refused to prostitute herself for them.
Her attackers’ sentence was reduced to a meager one year, and now they’re free again! Worse still, the Lower House of Parliament just passed a bill that would ban aggressors’ family members from testifying in court. This would prevent countless children and women from ever getting justice.
The Upper House has beaten back anti-women legislation before and high-level officials say the Avaaz community could tip the balance and help stop the bill before it goes to a vote. But to do that, we need to act fast. Click below to sign this urgent petition now — when we reach 1 million signers we’ll launch a massive local media campaign targeting key senators until the bill is dumped:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/justice_for_afghan_women_loc/?biEWLbb&v=28325
As a child, Sahar Gul was sold by her brother for $US 5,000 into a home of horrific abuse. When she was finally rescued, torture left her so weak that she came out of her basement prison in a wheelbarrow. Last year her tormentors received 10-year sentences, but a lower court judge just set them free.
Afghan women’s rights groups, aghast at the rolling back of their rights have been actively supporting Sahar Gul’s case and working to ensure that relatives aren’t banned from testifying against victim’s aggressors. If we join these brave women now, we can show the Afghan politicians that the entire world stands behind Afghan women.
In school now, Sahar Gul is courageously rebuilding her life — her dream is to someday lead a women’s rights organization. Her strength of spirit embodies the hope for a better future for women and girls in Afghanistan, and everywhere — let’s help her start fulfilling her dream by getting Afghan leaders to protect, not persecute women:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/justice_for_afghan_women_loc/?biEWLbb&v=28325
Afghan women’s rights advocates and extraordinary survivors of abuse have stepped forward time and again to fight for human rights. Over the years, Avaaz members from around the world have consistently rallied to back them up. Let’s do it again.
With hope and determination,
Luis, Alaphia, Alex, Ricken, Bissan, Mais and the rest of the Avaaz team
PS – Many Avaaz campaigns are started by members of our community! Start yours now and win on any issue – local, national or global: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bgMYedb&v=23917
MORE INFORMATION:
Sahar Gul: The fears of a tortured Afghan child bride (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23311414
Karzai: A legacy of failure on women’s rights? (Open Democracy) http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/massouda-jalal/karzai-legacy-of-failure-on-afghan-womens-rights
Afghan judges free three jailed for torture of child bride Sahar Gul (Guardian) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/11/afghan-judges-free-sahar-guls-torturers
Afghanistan: Escalating Setbacks for Women (Human Rights Watch) http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/07/16/afghanistan-escalating-setbacks-women
Women’s rights face new obstacles in Afghanistan (Global Post) http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/rights/womens-rights-face-new-obstacles-afghanistan

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Luis Morago – Avaaz.org

07/03/2013 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Dear friends,

We said never again

Most people didn’t know who the Rwandans were until 800,000 had been killed. Now, the fate of the Rohingya people of Burma is hanging by a thread as mobs attack them while the police look on. The Burmese President could stop the violence – all he has to do is approve a plan to protect them and ensure it is enforced, while granting them citizenship. Let’s appeal to European leaders to press him when he visits them in days, and stop the next Rwanda:

Most people didn’t know who the Rwandans were until it was too late, and 800,000 of them were dead. Right now, the fate of Burma’s Rohingya people is hanging by a thread. Racist thugs have distributed leaflets threatening to wipe out this small Burmese minority. Already children have been hacked to death and unspeakable murders committed. All signs are pointing to a coming horror, unless we act.
Genocides happen because we don’t get concerned enough until the crime is committed. The Rohingya are a peaceful and very poor people. They’re hated because their skin is darker and the majority fear they’re ‘taking jobs away’. There are 800,000 of them, and they could be gone if we don’t act. We’ve failed too many peoples, let’s not fail the Rohingya.
Burmese President Thein Sein has the power, personnel and resources to protect the Rohingya, all he has to do is give the word to make it happen. In days, he’ll arrive in Europe to sell his country’s new openness to trade. If EU leaders greet him with a strong request to protect the Rohingya, he’s likely to do it. Let’s get 1 million voices and plaster images of what’s happening in Burma outside his meetings with key EU heads of state:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/we_said_never_again/?biEWLbb&v=26500
Torture, gang rape, execution style killings — human rights groups are using the term “ethnic cleansing” to describe the brutality in Burma. Already more than 120,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee, many to makeshift camps near the border, while others have fled in boats only to drown, starve, or be shot at by coastguards from neighboring countries. Reports show that violence is escalating — earlier this year President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency after another round of deadly attacks, and it’s just a matter of time until there is a large scale massacre.
Genocides don’t happen when governments oppose them, but the Burmese regime has been leaning the wrong way. Recently, a government spokesperson admitted that authorities were enforcing a rule that limits the Rohingya population to having only two children and forces couples seeking to get married to obtain special permission. And experts report that government authorities have stood by or even participated in acts of “ethnic cleansing.” President Sein has finally been forced to acknowledge what’s happening to the Rohingya, but he has so far refused to implement plans to stop the violence and protect those at risk.
Until he does, the risk of genocide hovers like a dark cloud over not just Burma, but the world. Through their trade relations, UK PM Cameron and French President Hollande have massive leverage with Sein — if they press him to act when he meets with them this month, it could save lives. Let’s make sure they do. We’ve failed too many peoples, let’s not fail the Rohingya. Join the call now and share this with everyone:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/we_said_never_again/?biEWLbb&v=26500
Time and again, the Avaaz community has stood with the people of Burma in their fight for democracy. When the regime brutally cracked down on Buddhist monks in 2007, Avaazers donated hundreds of thousands of dollars/euros/pounds to provide technical support and training to activists to fight a communications blackout. In 2008, when a devastating cyclone killed at least 100,000 Burmese, but the venal military regime stopped all official international aid from coming in, our community donated millions directly to monks on the front line of the aid effort.
Our community didn’t exist when genocide was committed in Rwanda, 20 years ago. Would we have done enough to stop it? Let’s show the Rohingya our answer to that question.
With hope and determination,
Luis, Jeremy, Aldine, Oliver, Marie, Jooyea and the whole Avaaz team
PS – Many Avaaz campaigns are started by members of our community! Start yours now and win on any issue – local, national or global: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bgMYedb&v=23917
MORE INFORMATION
Burma riots: Video shows police failing to stop attack (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22243676
Burma: End ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of Rohingya Muslims (Human Rights Watch) http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/04/22/burma-end-ethnic-cleansing-rohingya-muslims
Video shows Burmese police standing by as Buddhists attack Muslims (The Guardian) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/22/burmese-police-buddhists-attack-muslims
The unending plight of Burma’s unwanted Rohingyas (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23077537
Dalai Lama Pleads for Myanmar Monks to End Violence Amid Damning Rights Report (ABC News) http://abcnews.go.com/International/dalai-lama-pleads-myanmar-monks-end-violence-amid/story?id=19013148#.UXV3vCt4a5w
Thein Sein to visit Britain, France in July (AFP) http://www.dvb.no/news/thein-sein-to-visit-britain-france-in-july/28815

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Stop Forcing People OFF Their Land

02/06/2012 Nativegrl77

Thousands of people are being forced out of their homes to make way for commercial agriculture. They receive little or no compensation for the loss of their land and homes, and are forced into villages without the basic facilities for new people. Stand up against this injustice! »
Because of the timing of the relocations, at the beginning of the harvest, and because no food or health resources have been made available for these people, malnutrition, illness and starvation are becoming endemic.
Human Rights Watch reports that any resistance is met with threats of violence. The thousands already moved are just the beginning; the Ethiopian government plans to relocate 1.5 million people by next year.

This violation of human rights cannot continue.
Please sign the petition to stop Ethiopia from continuing to force its people off their land! »