HRW: the week in rights

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here. SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 Follow us on            A Victory Against Domestic Violence Human Rights Watch Pushed for a Stronger Convention To Fight Abuse Hamiyet, a member of Turkey’s Kurdish minority, was a 15-year-old newlywed when her husband began beating her every evening after work. He hit her when she was pregnant with each of their nine children, and he raped her almost nightly. She sought help from the police, but they always sent her back home, more concerned with preserving “family unity” than with her safety. But a new Council of Europe convention offers protection for victims of domestic violence like Hamiyet across Europe and beyond. For two years, Human Rights Watch worked closely with other nongovernmental organizations and governments to urge Council members drafting the convention to protect all potential victims, including migrant women, who are especially vulnerable. The effort succeeded.   The Convention on Domestic Violence –  launched in May and so far ratified by 15 countries – calls for establishing hotlines, shelters, medical and forensic services, counseling, and legal aid services. It is designed to help the estimated 25 percent of women in the European region who experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime. As the most comprehensive legal means of fighting domestic violence in Europe, the convention holds countries accountable by calling for an international body to oversee national efforts to provide these services. Our advocacy gave teeth to many of the key provisions, designed to keep women safe. Read more » Photo: © 2009 Getty Images Abuse in Fruit, Wine Industries South Africa's Farmworkers Receive Unfit Housing, Poor Wages South African fruit and wine are renowned around the world, and the industry contributes billions of rand to the economy. But authorities don’t enforce laws protecting workers, and many people laboring in the fields and vineyards are assigned housing unfit for living and earn some of the lowest wages in South Africa, a new report says. Workers and their families often live on farms, but sometimes in squalor. One farmworker showed us the former pig stall – without electricity, water, or even protection from rain – where he has lived with his wife and children for 10 years. Farmers sometimes use illegal tactics to get people living on farms to leave, like cutting electricity or water. On one farm, security guards harassed families with dogs in the middle of the night. Many workers are exposed to pesticides without proper safety equipment and don’t have access to toilets or drinking water while on the job. Workers are also sometimes blocked from forming unions. Conditions on farms vary, and some workers receive the benefits, wages, and safe housing guaranteed them by law. But South African authorities need to enforce their own laws to protect the people living and working on farms. Read more » Photo: © 2011 Marcus Bleasdale/VII for Human Rights Watch MOST POPULAR HEADLINES Libya: Gaddafi Forces Suspected Of Executing Detainees    Torture was rife in Gaddafi’s prisons but to execute detainees days before they would have been freed is a sickening low in the government’s behavior. The evidence we have been able to gather so far strongly suggests that Gaddafi government forces went on a spate of arbitrary killing as Tripoli was falling. India: Investigate Unmarked Graves in Jammu and Kashmir  An inquiry by the police investigation team of the Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission has found 2,730 bodies dumped into unmarked graves. These graves suggest the possibility of mass murder. Libya: Evidence Suggests Khamis Brigade Killed 45 Detainees  Sadly this is not the first gruesome report of what appears to be the summary execution of detainees in the final days of the Gaddafi government’s control of Tripoli. These merciless murders took place in the midst of Ramadan and those responsible should be brought to justice and punished. EDITOR'S PICKS Sudan: Southern Kordofan Civilians Tell of Air Strike Horror  The relentless bombing campaign is killing and maiming civilian men, women, and children. It is displacing tens of thousands, putting them in desperate need of aid, and preventing entire communities from planting crops and feeding their children. Poland: Reject Blanket Ban on Abortion   A blanket ban on abortion is an irresponsible move and will force women who need access to abortion to put their lives and health at risk. Poland’s restrictive laws should be liberalized, not made even more Draconian. Zimbabwe: Rampant Abuses in Marange Diamond Fields Shooting defenseless miners and unleashing dogs against them is inhuman, degrading, and barbaric. The diamonds from the Marange fields are tainted with abuse. PODCASTS Libya: How They DiedResearcher Sidney Kwiram reports on dead bodies found near Gaddafi's compound. PHOTOS Iraqi Kurdistan's Silenced Spring Researcher Samer Muscati monitored Iraqi Kurds' protests and the response of their democratically elected government. PUBLICATIONS World Report 2011 Purchase a bound copy of the edition Download PDF “Nobody Remembers Us”  Failure to Protect Women’s and Girls’ Right to Health and Security in Post-Earthquake Haiti Corruption on Trial?  The Record of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Home | Take Action | Donate