Translation

.يولد جميع الناس أحرارا متساوين في الكرامة والحقوق. وقد وهبوا عقلا وضميرا وعليهم أن يعامل بعضهم بعضا بروح الإخاء‎
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Monday, May 31, 2010

Scott Lively Struggles With Uganda’s Death Penalty

von Box Turtle Bulletin

Lively leads off with the boast that he was “one of the people that helped to start the pro-family movement there. … This was all new to them.” And so they asked him to speak. It’s an interesting boast.  Lively claims credit for parachuting into this lost country and setting up a “pro-family” movement. Those poor Ugandan’s couldn’t have done it without him. But criticizing him for firming up the conditions that facilitated the Ugandans who put forth and supported the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, well, that’s racist to suggest Ugandans weren’t capable of doing this all on their own. (Of course, nobody has suggested such a thing. We’ve only noted his active participation in the process.) Yet there’s not even the slightest hint that this glaring contradiction has ever crossed his mind.

This clip also provides clearer context to Lively’s statement in the documentary where he calls the bill the
“lesser of two evils,” the two evils being the bill itself or allowing the so-called “gay agenda” to take over Uganda. In the documentary, it wasn’t entirely clear whether the form of the bill he was endorsing as the “lesser of two evils” included or excluded the death penalty. In this clip, he’s more clearly against the death penalty, but he really has to struggle with it for quite a while before he gets there. After mulling over a few possibilities for its inclusion, he finally says, “I don’t believe that it’s… that I could support it that way.” Even still, it looked to me as though he was reluctant to say even this much against the bill. He looks as if he still needs some convincing.

Unofficial Rush Transcript
van Zeller:  Why did you go to Uganda?
Lively: Well, I went to Uganda because I was actually one of the people that helped to start the pro-family movement there. They were finding people there, primarily homosexual men from Europe and the United States coming into the country and working to try to change the social values. And they didn’t know what to do. They had never had a pro-family movement. This was all new to them. If we do nothing then we’re going to end up like the United States and Britain and Canada, you know, with a powerful gay movement just basically overwhelming everybody else’s values and forcing their agenda down everybody’s throats. So they wanted to draft some kind of law. And it wasn’t written at that point. It was just sort of the idea that they wanted to do something. So they invited me to come and speak along with a couple of other people from the U.S., and I did.

van Zeller: So then let me ask you very bluntlty. Dr. Lively, do you condemn this anti-gay bill in Uganda?

Lively: It’s my understanding they’re going to remove the death penalty. But if they keep the death penalty in it, yes, I condemn the death penalty for sexual crimes.

van Zeller: But all the other clauses, do you then support the rest of the bill if you remove the death penalty part?
Lively: I would not have written the bill this way. I said don’t emphasize punishment, emphasize rehabilitation. You could be the first country in the world to have a government-sponsored ex-gay therapy, where someone struggling with this would have the option of being able to go into this instead of being punished for it. And them I said, moreover, and as a separate matter, but within the law, you should emphasize marriage in your country. This is how you can deal with this. Nationwide, proactively, you begin the teach the value and the imports of marriage to every child in your schools from, at an age-appropriate instruction, all the way down to kindergarten, in which you help your children to see marriage as their goal.

van Zeller: Some people would even say it was written by some religious leaders such as Martin Ssempa.

Lively: I don’t think he wrote it. I think it was…

van Zeller: He was the influence of the writing of the bill.

Lively: Oh, I have no doubt. I have no doubt, I mean, politics works the same everywhere. There’s always a constituency that’s more interested than other people in a law being passed.

van Zeller: There have been a lot of American Evangelicals who have distanced themselves from this bill. What do you think of that?

Lively: Well I think that there’s, in the United States, the church is too heavily influenced by media opinion, and unfortunately, even pastors can go running for the hills when they think they are going to be smeared. Like I said, I would not have written the bill this way. But what it comes down to is a question of lesser of two evils, you know like many of the political choices that we have. What is the lesser of two evils here? To allow the American and European gay activists to continue to do to that country what they’ve done here? Or to have a law that may be overly harsh in some regards for people who are indulging in voluntary sexual conduct? I think the lesser of two evils is for the bill to go through.

van Zeller: Even with the death penalty attached to it?

Lively: Even with the death penalty… well, if it’s clearly restricted to pedophiles… I still don’t… No, I’ve told them I won’t support it if it has the death penalty in it. So even with that, I think that would do more harm… It’s, it’s, it’s just that’s the sort of vice that you’re sort of trapped in here. It’s two very extreme positions, and they’re… The Ugandans could have gone the middle course, and they didn’t have to go this far. So you’re sort of… people like myself are sort of stuck. Am I going to endorse something that goes too far to protect the whole society? You know, and I guess I have to say just on my principles I don’t believe that it’s… that I could support it that way.

van Zeller: Martin Ssempa said to us that he thought that all of these American Evangelicals that were now distancing themselves from the bill, and particularly Rick Warren, were “wimpy.” That’s what, the word he used. What do you think?

Lively: Well, I think he’s right. I think there’s a lot of the wimp factor in American Christianity. I wrote an essay on that theme several years ago called “Masculine Christianity” And it bemoans the sort of effeminacy that’s sort of crept into Christianity where Christian men, especially, don’t stand up for right and wrong and they run away when pressed with controversial issues. It’s just unfortunate. It doesn’t mean they don’t have good theology. It doesn’t mean they aren’t doing great things in their churches with the families that are there. But the real problem in American today isn’t what’s happening inside the church buildings. It’s what’s happening in the culture.
If I had been Rick Warren and I had been presented with this situation, I would have defended Martin Ssempa…

van Zeller: So you’re still a good friend and supporter of Martin Ssempa?

Lively: Yes. I think Martin Ssempa is a good man. He’s trying to protect all the children of his country from being homosexualized.

van Zeller: Do you think that your ideas regarding homosexuality are better received in Uganda than they are here in the United States?

Lively: [Laughs] Of course. Yeah, that’s a… well, Uganda is a Christian country and America is really not a Christian country anymore. There’s a lot of Christians still, but the people who are the gatekeepers sitting in the seats of power generally are not. And they’re following a very humanistic value system that is anti-Biblical in many ways.

Copyright © Box Turtle Bulletin. All rights reserved.

Friday, May 28, 2010

The Sound of South African House

Shows how SA producers have responded to international attention.

South African house captured the world’s attention a couple of years back when Township Funk by DJ Mujava, a producer from the Pretoria township of Atteridgeville, became a breakout hit. A cut of lithe bleep house with a video that pictured the kids of Pretoria – Mujava included – busting breakdance moves on street corners, it picked up a global release on Warp Records and was hailed as “one of the biggest global dance hits of the last year” in the New York Times.

Ayobaness! - The Sound of South African HouseAyobaness!, the first major collection of South African house, reveals that while the scene is not all cast from Township Funk’s starkly minimal, Afro-futuristic mould, it is certainly a regional offshoot with its own distinct character. House first emerged from the streets of Johannesburg in the form of Kwaito, four-to-the-floor rhythms slowed and crossbred with rap and African hip hop. Ayobaness!, however, suggests that South African producers have responded to international attention by cleaning up their sound slightly, building a percussive, distinctly African house hybrid that’s nonetheless flexible enough to slot into any internationally-minded DJ’s set.

It is, much like its distant cousin UK funky, a party music, packed with rattling percussion and group sing-alongs. The album’s title-track, by one Pastor Mbhobho – a performer who wears a wig and priest’s dress – is thumping house with thick 80s synths, jazzy keyboard runs and a rabble of kids singing the chorus, while Mujava’s Mugwanti/Sgwejegweje matches booming sub-bass with enough percussion to equip a mid-sized carnival.

Fun, but when not full-on, the music explores some more interesting, original areas. DJ Sumthyn’s Wena is a fairly robust cut of minimal house bathed in cold synths, poetess Ntsiki Mazwai offering a stern spoken-word narration lashing out at a cheating man. Aero Manyelo’s Mexican Girl, meanwhile, mixes tense deep house with a swinging bassline apparently influenced by Mbaqanga, a traditional Zulu guitar style. That won’t, of course, be evident to most of the clubbers that get sweaty to it – but it does make for a local variation that stands out on its own in the bustling global village that is 21st century dance music.

India police say Maoists sabotage train, 65 killed

Maoist rebels sabotaged a high-speed train in eastern India on Friday that killed at least 65 people after it derailed and smashed into the path of a goods train, a top Indian police official said.

At least 200 people were injured and the death toll could rise as rescuers continue to free passengers trapped in the wreckage.

"This has been done by the Maoists," Bhupinder Singh, police chief of West Bengal state where the incident occurred, told reporters. Singh said the Maoists had claimed responsibility.

The incident will put further pressure on the Congress party-led government to bring in the military to tackle a four-decade-long Maoists insurgency that has spread across much of rural swathes of eastern and central India.

The crash occurred in an area known to be a stronghold of the rebels. Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and landless and want to overthrow the government, have stepped up attacks in recent months.
"It appears to be a case of sabotage where a portion of the railway track was removed. Whether explosives were used is not yet clear," Home Minister P. Chidambaram said in a statement.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier said a bomb had hit the passenger train, derailing it.

"As of now we have got information that 65 dead bodies have been recovered. There may be many more," Samar Ghosh, Home Secretary of West Bengal state, told NDTV news channel.

The Gyaneshwari Express, which was going to Mumbai from the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in West Bengal state, was derailed in the state's Jhargram area at around 1:30 a.m. (9 p.m. British time on Thursday).

"The cries of women and children from inside the compartments have died down. They (railway staff) are still struggling to cut through metal and bring out those trapped inside," Amitava Rath, a local journalist at the scene of the crash, told Reuters.

The incident comes days after a passenger airliner crashed in southern India, killing 158 people.

The Maoists have increased attacks this year. In April, 76 police were killed in an ambush in one of the heaviest tolls in years. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the insurgency as India's biggest internal security challenge.

More than 1,000 attacks were recorded in 2009 and 600 people were killed. The Maoists regularly attack railway lines and factories, aiming to cripple economic activity.

The insurgency has created a sense that India is not fully in control of its territories and increased the risks for mining firms that operate mineral-rich areas controlled by rebels.

Work on a $7-billion steel plant by India's third largest steel producer, JSW Steel Ltd, has been delayed. Frequent rebel strikes have hit production and shipment at firms such as India's largest miner of iron ore, NMDC Ltd's and state-run National Aluminium Co Ltd.

The Maoists have won some support by siding with villagers battling land seizures by large companies and their attacks are a major distraction for a government wanting to get on with its economic agenda, including fighting high food prices.

"The government will have to react strongly and there has to be a well thought-out strategy, but I don't see that happening now. It will be usual posturing and if that happens the situation can get worse," said security analyst Uday Bhaskar.

The Maoists started their struggle in 1967 with a peasant revolt, armed with bows and arrows and some stolen rifles, but have since grown to a militant insurgency armed with automatic weapons, shoulder rocket launchers, mines and explosives.

The rebels, with an estimated 20,000 combatants, including 6,000-8,000 hardcore fighters, aim to overthrow the government by 2050, say Indian officials.

In March, police suspected their hand in the derailment of India's most prestigious high-speed Rajdhani Express. Maoists have also taken over trains in past years in a show of strength, holding them for hours.

The decades-old movement is now present in a third of the country. They are mostly spread in rural pockets of 20 of India's 28 states and hurt potential business worth billions of dollars.

US: Act to End Lord’s Resistance Army Violence in Central Africa

President Barack Obama should move swiftly to implement landmark legislation he signed today committing the US to help civilians in central Africa threatened by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a coalition of 49 human rights, humanitarian, and faith-based groups said today. The rebel group has carried out one of the world's longest-running and most brutal insurgencies.

The Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009 was signed into law during a White House ceremony today that included key members of Congress and representatives of civil society organizations. It states that it is US policy to support efforts "to protect civilians from the Lord's Resistance Army, to apprehend or remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield in the continued absence of a negotiated solution, and to disarm and demobilize the remaining LRA fighters." It also requires President Obama to develop a comprehensive, multilateral strategy to protect civilians in central Africa from LRA attacks and take steps to permanently stop the rebel group's violence. Furthermore, it calls on the United States to increase humanitarian assistance to countries currently affected by LRA violence and to support economic recovery and transitional justice efforts in Uganda.


The coalition of supporting organizations includes groups in Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan - where communities face ongoing attacks by the LRA - as well as in Uganda, where the conflict originated.

Human Rights defenders in Niangara, a town in northern Congo deeply affected by recent LRA attacks, in a public letter to President Obama published last week, pleaded for concrete and urgent action against the LRA. "We feel forgotten and abandoned. Our suffering seems to bring little attention from the international community or our own government," the letter says. "We live each day with the fear of more LRA attacks. What chance do we have if no one hears our cries and if no one comes to our aid?"

The law was introduced into the US Senate and House of Representatives in May 2009, and has since become the most widely supported Africa-specific legislation in recent Congressional history. The law was cosponsored by a bipartisan group of 65 Senators and 201 Representatives, representing 49 states and 90% of US citizens. Tens of thousands of Americans mobilized in support of the legislation, participating in hundreds of meetings with Congressional offices across the country. 

"For years civilians in central Africa have suffered immensely from LRA violence," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "This legislation gives President Obama a clear mandate to work with international and national partners to apprehend indicted LRA commanders as part of a comprehensive strategy to permanently stop LRA atrocities."

"President Obama should move swiftly to take advantage of this historic opportunity to help bring closure to one of the worst human rights crises of our day," added Van Woudenberg.

LRA violence has plagued central Africa for more than two decades. In northern Uganda, thousands of civilians were killed and nearly two million displaced by the conflict between the rebels and the Ugandan government. In July 2005, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the senior leaders of the LRA for crimes they committed in northern Uganda, but the suspects remain at large. Though the rebel group ended attacks in northern Uganda in 2006, it then moved its bases to the northern Democratic Republic of Congo and has since committed acts of violence against civilians in Congo, Sudan, and the Central African Republic. Kony and his top commanders sustain their ranks by abducting civilians, including children, to use as soldiers and sexual slaves.

In December 2008, following the collapse of a negotiations process, Sudan, Uganda, and Congo began a joint military offensive, "Operation Lightening Thunder," against the rebel group, with backing from the United States. In the subsequent 17 months the LRA has dispersed into multiple smaller groups and has brutally murdered more than 1,500 civilians and abducted over 1,600 people, many of them children. LRA violence has often targeted churches, school and markets, and includes the massacre of over 300 Congolese civilians in an attack last December.  

"If left unchecked, the LRA leadership will continue to kill and abduct throughout central Africa, threatening stability in four countries and potentially undermining the referendum in southern Sudan. The LRA is a clear threat to international peace and security," said John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project. "The US now is tasked with leading a global effort to end this threat once and for all."

The law also aims to help secure a lasting peace in Uganda by increasing assistance to war-affected communities in northern Uganda and supporting initiatives to help resolve longstanding divisions between Uganda's north and south. It seeks to increase funding for transitional justice initiatives and calls on the Ugandan government to reinvigorate its commitment to a transparent and accountable reconstruction process in war-affected areas.

"Until now the world has turned its back to the suffering of our people," said Bishop Samuel Enosa Peni of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan's Nzara Diocese, which has been deeply affected by LRA violence. "We are praying for US and international leaders to hear our cries and end this violence once and for all."

Supporting organizations include:
Human Rights Watch
Resolve Uganda, USA
Enough Project, USA
Invisible Children, USA
Refugees International, USA
Athletes for Africa / GuluWalk, USA
Genocide Intervention Network, USA
Global Action for Children, USA
Citizens for Global Solutions, USA
Institute on Religion and Democracy, USA
International Center for Religion & Diplomacy, USA
Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, Uganda
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment, Uganda
Grassroots Reconciliation Group, Uganda
Centre d'Intervention Psychosociale (CIP), Niangara, Democratic Republic of Congo
Voix des Opprimes, Niangara, Democratic Republic of Congo
Commission Paroissiale Justice et Paix, Niangara, Democratic Republic of Congo
Société Civile Niangara, Democratic Republic of Congo
Société Civile Faradje, Democratic Republic of Congo
Commission Justice et Paix (Dungu-Duru), Democratic Republic of Congo
Encadrement des Femmes Indigènes et Ménages Vulnérables (EFIM), Democratic Republic of Congo
Centre de Recherche sur l'Environnement, la Démocratie et les Droits de l'Homme (CREDDHO), Democratic Republic of Congo
Action Humanitaire pour le Développement Intégral (AHDI), Democratic Republic of Congo
Centre d'Appui pour le Développement Rural Communautaire (CADERCO), Democratic Republic of Congo
Fondation Mère et Enfant (FME), Democratic Republic of Congo
Campagne Pour la Paix (CPP), Democratic Republic of Congo
Fondation Point de vue des Jeunes Africains pour le Développement (FPJAP), Democratic Republic of Congo
Action Sociale pour la Paix et le Développement (ASPD), Democratic Republic of Congo
Programme d'Appui a la lutte contre la misère (PAMI), Democratic Republic of Congo
Groupe d'Hommes pour la Lutte Contre les Violences (GHOLVI), Democratic Republic of Congo
Association des Jeunes Engagés pour le développement et la santé (AJDS), Democratic Republic of Congo
Action Globale pour la Promotion Sociale et la paix (AGPSP), Democratic Republic of Congo
Union d'Action pour les Initiatives des Développement (UAID), Democratic Republic of Congo
Africa Justice Peace and Development (AJPD), Democratic Republic of Congo
Synergie des Femmes pour les Victimes des Violences Sexuelles  (SFVS), Democratic Republic of Congo
Ligue pour la Solidarité Congolaise (LSC), Democratic Republic of Congo
Collectif des Organisations des Jeunes Solidaires du Congo (COJESKI), Democratic Republic of Congo
Nzara Diocese, Episcopal Church of the Sudan, South Sudan
Tombura-Yambio Diocese, Catholic Church, South Sudan
Nabanga Development Agency, South SudaMaridi Service Agency, South Sudan
Young Women Christian Association, South Sudan
Mundri Relief & Development Association, South Sudan
New Sudan Women Association, South Sudan
Gbudue Construction Company, South Sudan
Yubu Development Association, South Sudan
Zande Cultural Association, South Sudan
Yambio Farmers Association, South Sudan
Joint Effort for Support of Orphans, South Sudan

Ethiopia: Government Repression Undermines Poll

International Election Observers Should Condemn Voter Intimidation
2010_Ethiopia_Voting-Elections.jpg
Ethiopians vote inside a polling station in the capital Addis Ababa on May 23, 2010.

Behind an orderly façade, the government pressured, intimidated and threatened Ethiopian voters. Whatever the results, the most salient feature of this election was the months of repression preceding it.
Rona Peligal, acting Africa director
(Nairobi) - Ethiopian government and ruling party officials intimidated voters and unlawfully restricted the media ahead of the May 23, 2010 parliamentary elections, Human Rights Watch said today.

In assessing the polls, international election observers should address the repressive legal and administrative measures that the Ethiopian ruling party used to restrict freedom of expression during the election campaign, Human Rights Watch said.

"Behind an orderly façade, the government pressured, intimidated and threatened Ethiopian voters," said Rona Peligal, acting Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Whatever the results, the most salient feature of this election was the months of repression preceding it."

In the weeks leading up to the polls, Human Rights Watch documented new methods used by the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) to intimidate voters in the capital, Addis Ababa, apparently because of government concerns of a low electoral turnout.

During April and May, officials and militia (known as tataqi in Amharic) from the local administration went house to house telling citizens to register to vote and to vote for the ruling party or face reprisals from local party officials such as bureaucratic harassment or even losing their homes or jobs.

The May poll was the first national parliamentary election in Ethiopia since the government violently suppressed post-election protests in 2005; almost 200 people, including several police officers, died after the 2005 poll and tens of thousands of people were arrested, including opposition leaders, journalists and civil society activists.

In a March 2010 report, "‘One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure': Violations of Freedom of Expression and Association in Ethiopia," Human Rights Watch described the complex and multi-faceted way in which the government has sought since 2005 to silence dissent, restrict the media and independent civil society, and leverage government resources such as civil service jobs, loans, food assistance and educational opportunities to encourage citizens to join the ruling party or leave the opposition.

The government's efforts to ensure the election outcome continued right up to polling day in Addis Ababa, according to Human Rights Watch's research in different areas of the capital, including in Merkato, Piazza, Wollo Sefer, Meskel Flower, Aya Ulet, Kera, Gotera, Hayat, Kotebe-CMC and Bole neighborhoods.

"Intimidation to register and to vote for the ruling party is everywhere," a resident of Addis Ababa told Human Rights Watch. "If the local administration is against you, they'll be after you forever. They can come and round you up at will."

Residents of Addis Ababa described numerous forms of intimidation in Addis Ababa in recent weeks.

Pressure to Register to Vote
Many people told Human Rights Watch that tataqi, local kebele (or neighborhood) militia members came house-to-house asking to see registration cards and checking if people were members of the ruling EPRDF party.


A couple living in the Meskel Flower area said they were visited on a weekly basis by members of the neighborhood militia who were checking whether they were registered as EPRDF members. The wife told Human Rights Watch:  "One of them approached my husband. ‘We know who you are,' he told him. ‘If you don't want to register, no problem, but then don't come to the sub-kebele and ask for your ID renewal, or for any other legal paper. We won't help you. It's up to you, now." The following day the couple registered.

Pressure to Join the Ruling Party When Registering
Different sources across the capital confirmed to Human Rights Watch that alongside registration, voters were requested to sign a paper, under a heading "Supporter of EPRDF," that included ID number, age, and address.


An Addis Ababa resident said, "There's a lot of pressure for you to obey. They have your name, they ask you to sign. If you don't, it means you're against them. And they can come back to you whenever they want. At the end of the day, you just have to do what they force you to do."

Pressure to Vote for the Ruling Party
Pressure to vote for the EPRDF appeared to take a number of different forms. Pressure was particularly acute among civil servants, people living in government-owned housing, and those living in poor neighborhoods.


An elderly resident living in state-owned housing said local government officials visited her house a few weeks before the elections asking to see her registration card. She said they wrote down her house number and told her, "We are going to check. And don't forget to vote for EPRDF. We provide you the house, we can have it back." She said that she was frightened by the threat and registered even though she had not intended to vote.

Civil servants are particularly pressured to vote for EPRDF, saying that ruling party officials remind them that it is the EPRDF government that employs them. Patterns of intimidation of teachers and others that were recently documented in Addis Ababa echo the examples previously documented across the country by Human Rights Watch in "‘One Hundred Ways Putting Pressure'."
 For example, a teacher in a public school in Addis Ababa said: "A few weeks ago my headmaster called us all. He asked us to show him our registration cards. He wanted to know whom we were going to vote for as well. I refused. He harassed me and said, ‘You better get your card, and vote properly, otherwise after the elections you might lose your job.'"

Residents also described an EPRDF pyramid recruitment strategy called One-for-Five. A coordinator (ternafi) had to identify five recruits or fellow voters (teternafiwoch) among family members, friends, colleagues or neighbors. Coordinators then tried to compel their five signers to go to the polling stations and vote all together.

A woman in Aya Ulet area said, "A neighbor came to me. He said: ‘I know you voted for the opposition last time. Are you going to vote for them again? Do I have to report it to the kebele?' I am a civil servant; I know that party officials and local administrators are the same thing. For fear of losing my job, the next morning I went to his place and signed."

Pressure on the Media and Foreign Diplomats
Simultaneous with the increased pressure on voters, in the weeks before the polls the Ethiopian government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi acted to restrict electoral scrutiny by independent media and foreign diplomats.


The government issued several codes of conduct covering media and diplomatic activity. Initial drafts of the media regulation restricted foreign and local journalists from even speaking to anyone involved in the election process, including voters on election day, in violation of the right to freedom of expression. Several journalists in different countries told Human Rights Watch that when they applied for media visas to cover the elections, they were extensively questioned by Ethiopian embassy diplomats.

The government told Embassy staff they needed travel permits for any movement outside of Addis Ababa between May 10 to June 20.

"The government has used a variety of methods to strong-arm voters and try to hide the truth from journalists and diplomats," said Peligal. "Donor governments need to show that they recognize that these polls were multi-party theater staged by a single-party state."

Repressive Context of the Elections
Since 2005, Human Rights Watch has documented patterns of serious human rights violations by the Ethiopian government. Members of the security forces and government officials have been implicated in numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity both within Ethiopia and in neighboring Somalia. The pervasive intimidation of voters and restrictions on movement and reporting are serious concerns for the integrity of the electoral process, but represent only one aspect of the Ethiopian ruling party's long-term effort to consolidate control.


The EPRDF's main instrument for stamping out potential dissent is the local administrative (kebele) structure, which monitors households and can restrict access to important government programs, including seeds and fertilizer, micro-loans and business permits, all depending on support for the local administration and the ruling party.

Since 2008 the government has also passed new laws to clamp down on independent civil society and the media. The Charities and Societies Proclamation restricts Ethiopian nongovernmental organizations from doing any human rights work, including in the areas of women's and children's rights, if they receive more than 10 percent of their funding from foreign sources. Since the law's adoption in 2009, the leading Ethiopian human rights groups have closed most of their offices, scaled down their staff, and removed human rights advocacy from their mandates. The new regulatory agency established by the Charities and Societies Proclamation froze the bank accounts of the largest independent human rights group, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council. At least six of Ethiopia's most prominent human rights activists fled the country in 2009.

Another law, the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, has also been used to threaten with prosecution human rights activists and journalists for any acts deemed to be terrorism under the law's broad and vague definition of the term. Several journalists also fled in 2009, including the editors of a prominent independent Amharic newspaper, and in February 2010 Prime Minister Meles acknowledged that the government was jamming Voice of America radio broadcasts.

Human Rights Watch urged the international election observer teams from the European Union and the African Union to take into account in their public reporting the insidious apparatus of control and the months of repression that frame the 2010 polls.

Ethiopia is heavily dependent on foreign assistance, which accounts for approximately one-third of government spending. The country's principal foreign donors - the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, which provide more than US$2 billion annually in humanitarian and development aid, - were timid in their criticisms of Ethiopia's deteriorating human rights situation ahead of the election.

Human Rights Watch called on the principle donors and other concerned governments to publicly condemn political repression in Ethiopia and to review policy towards Ethiopia in light of its deteriorating human rights record.

"Ethiopia is an authoritarian state in which the government's commitment to democracy exists only on paper," said Peligal. "The question is not who won these elections, but how can donors justify business as usual with this increasingly repressive government?"

Lee DeWyze wins "American Idol"

Tribune rock critic Greg Kot has written a perceptive column on the vocal strengths, performance styles and career prospects of Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox. Since Greg has covered that ground (and I agree with his assessments of the singers), the column below isn't really about DeWyze, who won "American Idol's" ninth season Wednesday night, or about Bowersox (who was my favorite singer all season). It's more about the two-hour Season 9 finale and the state of the "Idol" franchise.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

California: From Foster Children to Homeless Adults

State Fails to Prepare Foster Youth for Adulthood

By failing to prepare youth in foster care for adulthood and cutting them off from support abruptly as they become adults, California is failing in its duty to these young people. These young people are capable of making the transition successfully, but they cannot do it without the state's help.
Elizabeth Calvin, senior advocate for children's rights at Human Rights Watch
(Los Angeles) - California is creating homeless adults by failing to ensure that youth in foster care are given the support to live independently as adults and by ending state support abruptly, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch said that the state should provide financial support, connections with adults, shelter, and other safety nets for young people as they make the transition toward independence.  

The 70-page report, "My So-Called Emancipation: From Foster Care to Homelessness for California Youth," documents the struggles of foster care youth who become homeless after turning 18, or "aging out" of the state's care, without sufficient preparation or support for adulthood. California's foster care system serves 65,000 children and youth, far more than any other single state. Of the 4,000 who age out of the system each year, research suggests, 20 percent or more become homeless.

"By failing to prepare youth in foster care for adulthood and cutting them off from support abruptly as they become adults, California is failing in its duty to these young people," said Elizabeth Calvin, senior advocate for children's rights at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. "These young people are capable of making the transition successfully, but they cannot do it without the state's help."

This month the state is considering dramatic cuts to child welfare services, which would eliminate an existing transitional living program, over 400 social workers, and other programs for foster youth preparing for adulthood.
"These proposed budget cuts would undermine foster youth's main defense against living on the streets," Calvin said. "The state will bear the costs of the predictable result - increased homelessness."

Most children enter foster care because abuse or neglect at home triggers the duty of the state to step in and protect them. The state becomes their parent and must ensure that children have adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, and education. But the responsibility to provide the guidance and support necessary for children in foster care to grow into independent adults is no less important, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch interviewed 63 young people who became homeless after they left foster care in California. Their stories shed light on the complex array of factors that led to their homelessness: missed opportunities to learn skills, lack of ability to support themselves, a shortage of second chances, and the fact that no one cared what happened to them.

Of those interviewed, 65 percent had not graduated from high school when they were forced out of state care; 90 percent had no source of income. These young people were expected to survive on their own, though the state had provided little training for adult living skills and was providing no support during the transition. In these cases, homelessness is a predictable outcome.

California state law requires child welfare agencies to develop, in conjunction with each youth in foster care, an "emancipation plan" for what the young adult will do when leaving foster care. But in practice, plans are often not made or are unrealistic and unlikely to prevent a youth from becoming homeless, Human Rights Watch said. Young people described to Human Rights Watch emancipation plans that lacked arrangements for housing or the income to afford it.

Human Rights Watch called on California to provide foster youth with a variety of options as they make the transition to adulthood, like their peers in family homes enjoy. These could include more time at home before moving out on their own, or somewhere to stay for certain periods, such as during college vacations.

The state should also maintain a spectrum of other options for housing, mentoring, and support for former foster youth, including transitional housing programs, mental health services, services for those with learning disabilities, and services for pregnant and parenting youth, Human Rights Watch said.

"The science of adolescent development shows that childhood does not end abruptly at a certain age," Calvin said. "In most US families, young people continue to receive a spectrum of support -  emotional and financial - as they make the transition to adulthood, and the youth in California's care deserve no less. "

Selected Testimony
The day I graduated from high school my foster mom told me, "You've been emancipated. You can't live here anymore." My social worker showed up - I was still in my little graduation dress and heels, my flowers, my cap on. My social worker had never talked with me. [She just] told me, "I've called around and found a shelter for you. You have a bed for four months."
- Karen D., age 21, San Francisco.

On the day of my so-called emancipation, I didn't have a high school diploma, a place to live, a job, nothing...The day I emancipated - it was a happy day for me. But I didn't know what was in store. Now that I'm on the streets, I honestly feel I would have been better off in an abusive home with a father who beat me; at least he would have taught me how to get a job and pay the bills.  
- Roberta E., age 24, Los Angeles

 "I wish I could have had ... someone to care about me ... like show me how to separate the whites from the darks [for laundry.] I would have hated it at the time, but I wish I'd had that. They never even asked me, ‘Is something wrong? Talk to me."
- Nikki B., age 18, Sacramento

 "If you're going to put kids in group homes, in foster care - at least give them what they need to survive and take care of themselves. [When I aged out of care] I was expected to know how to get a job, buy a car, all that stuff, but ... I didn't have any idea how to go about doing things. So, I ended up on the street."
- Tony D., age 20, Berkeley

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Kanellos the Greek Protest Dog

Kanellos, the dog that has been seen at nearly every demonstration in Athens over the last two years has turned up again during the recent protests against new austerity measures

Greek riots dog: 10 December 2009: A stray dog sits during a student demonstration
Kanellos stood guard over a line of protesters in December when students took to the streets to protest against a plan for policing at universities

Greek riots dog: 29 April: A dog barks at riot police in front of the finance ministry
Kanellos, the hound always seems to side with the protesters, whatever the dispute

Greek riots dog: 24 February: Police officers spray teargas against protesters in Athens
Kanellos has been a regular of scenes of social unrest for two years and is unfazed even by water cannon

Greek riots dog: 6 December 2009: A demonstrator throws a stone at riot police
At another protest in December, Kanellos appeared again

Greek riots dog: 6 April: A dog drinks from a bottle of free fresh milk
It scavenges from a bottle of milk dropped by farmers during a protest near Syntagma Square in central Athens

Greek riots dog: 4 March 2009: A dog sits in front of riot police during a rally in Athens
During a rally against an agreement between Piraeus port management and a Chinese company

Greek riots dog: 23 December 2008: A protester sits with a dog in front of police officers
Kanellos joins a single demonstrator in a sit-down protest

Greek riots dog: 18 December 2008: A protester tries to avoid tear gas thrown by riot police
Teargas explodes right in front of the curious canine

Greek riots dog: 8 December 2008: A stray dog crosses a street during riots in Athens
However ugly the confrontation, the dog is unperturbed

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The World in Words

I found this fascinating quote today:


5. Why Google Translate rules (and why human translators shouldn’t feel threatened.)  Google, as we’ve come to expect by now, does things differently. And that includes translation. We tend to think of translators as human or robotic. Google Translate combines the best of both. Which is why its translations can be poetic — yes poetic – as well as accurate. Of course, it’s still not difficult to outwit Google Translate, and make it fail. But with each new iteration, it’s getting better. However, it’ll only continue to improve so long as humans keep translating stuff (because Google Translate uses online human translations as its source material). Also, one day, Google may need to clarify that its translation tool,  however ubiquitous and accurate it becomes,  is no substitute for learning a foreign language. Humans live and thrive — and love and make money — by communicating  with each other. And they do that most effectively with their mouths, tongues and vocal chords.
You should read the whole article.