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Torture in Wartime: Growing Awareness—a Human Rights Council Focus

In Being a World Citizen, Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, International Justice, NGOs, Solidarity, The Search for Peace, Track II, United Nations, War Crimes, Women's Rights, World Law on December 19, 2023 at 12:19 PM

The Association of World Citizens (AWC) first raised the issue of the use of sexual torture in time of violent conflicts in the United Nations (UN) Commission on Human Rights in March 2001, citing the judgement of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which maintained that there can be no time limitations on bringing the accused to trial.

The AWC presentation highlighted sexual violence in the conflicts in what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire. Conflict related sexual violence refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced abortion and other ways to humiliate. To the best of my knowledge, no person in Zaire/DRC was tried. Awareness building and enforcement measures develop slowly.

The UN Human Rights Council, the current incarnation of what was once the Commission on Human Rights, has developed a pattern of having Special Rapporteurs on specific topics or countries. The Special Rapporteur is not a UN or a national civil servant and is not paid, though work-related expenses are covered and UN Secretariat help is given. This independence, it is hoped, gives greater freedom to speak out. There has been a Special Rapporteur on Torture nearly from the start of Special Rapporteurs.

The current Special Rapporteur on Torture is Prof. Alice Jill Edwards, originally from Australia and now an academic research fellow in Geneva. She has worked in the past both for the UN and for Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs). She has worked with rape victims in Bosnia-Herzegovina and has long argued that rape should qualify as a form of torture.

Prof. Alice Jill Edwards

She was recently in Ukraine, a first mission in time of war. As she said,

“We are living in an era of war, and we have lost the art of mediation, compromise and acceptance of each other.”

While her findings have not yet been presented, she gave an overview of persons met and situations faced. She was concerned with the use of torture both by Russian military and by Ukrainian military and police. From her interviews in Ukraine, she holds that it is Russian state policy to use torture for military ends – whether to obtain intelligence, to humiliate and debase the enemy, and to keep the community in a state of fear.

The Ukrainian military and police are also willing to use torture on Russian prisoners of war as well as on alleged collaborators – Ukrainians who would have helped the Russian forces in different ways or who had administered areas that came under Russian control.

There are also NGO representatives who are collecting information, but many victims of torture have been traumatized and recalling accurately specific events is often difficult.

It is difficult to know what the state of justice will be once the armed conflict ends. In many cases, there is a reluctance to bring perpetrators to trial in order not to “open fresh wounds”. It is a vital issue that we must follow closely.

Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.

Nobel Peace Prize honors “Woman, Life, Liberty” and human rights endeavors

In Being a World Citizen, Current Events, Democracy, Human Rights, Middle East & North Africa, Solidarity, United Nations, Women's Rights, World Law on December 13, 2023 at 12:40 PM

By René Wadlow

On the traditional date of December 10, the Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded to the Iranian woman human rights activist Narges Mohammadi. She is in Evin Prison in Iran, called by some “The University of Evin” for the large number of intellectuals held there. Thus, the award was received by her twin children Ali and Kiana who live in exile in Paris with their father Taghi Rahmani, also a human rights activist.

Narges Mohammadi was put in prison for her human rights writings in 2016 and liberated in 2020, only to be put back in prison in November 2021 where living conditions are very difficult and her health has weakened.

In honoring Narges Mohammadi, the Nobel Committee was honoring the many women (and some men) who have taken to the streets and the school yards to protest the death at the hands of the “morality police” of Mahsa Amini with the battle cry of “Woman, Life, Liberty.”

Source: CBS News

The protests began on September 3, 2022 at the announcement of the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, having been arrested by the “morality police” for having some of her hair beyond the hijab (veil). She was an ethnic Kurd. The protests began in the Kurdish areas but soon spread to all ethnic groups and to many parts of the country.

Women have been a central focus of the social policy of the Iranian Islamic government. Even before coming to power in 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini from his exile in France had said that the overly great liberty of women was a chief obstacle to his policies. Repressive policies against women with compulsory veiling laws were quickly put into place once in power.

Unlike what happened in Afghanistan because of the Taliban, women have not been barred from higher education. It is estimated that some 65 per cent of university students are women. Many women play important roles within society but must keep a low profile, dress according to the dress code, and be under the control of a man at least when visible in public.

However, things are changing. Increasingly, the symbolic themes of the protests are shifting from a focus on the restrictions on women to the nature of the clerical regime itself. The conservative president Ebrahim Raissi is called into question. As Narges Mohammadi has said, “Can you hear the first sounds of the walls which are cracking? Soon you will hear the walls falling into dust by the strength and determination of the Iranians.”

Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.

Human Rights Day: A Time for Celebration – and, More Than Ever, for Action

In Being a World Citizen, Human Rights, NGOs, Solidarity, The Search for Peace, Track II, United Nations, World Law on December 10, 2023 at 7:23 PM

By René Wadlow

In this time when there are violent conflicts and real dangers, it is vital to come together to champion positive values and plan for common actions on this December 10: Human Rights Day.

Citizens of the World believe that building respect for human rights will help to ensure the dignity to which every individual is entitled. We are dedicated to the development of a global ethic and a consciousness of humanity as one community. Thus, we develop a deep awareness of the oneness of life.

It was in the ruins caused by the Second World War (1939-1945) that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights began to be written. The Declaration was presented to the world on December 10, 1948 from Paris, France where the United Nations (UN) General Assembly was meeting that year. In the first years of its existence, the General Assembly met in different cities until the UN had a permanent headquarters in New York.

The principle aim of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was to create a framework for a world society that was in need of universal codes based on mutual consent in order to function. The early years of the UN were characterized by the division between the Western and the Communist conceptions of human rights. Neither side called into question the concept of universality. The debate centered on which rights – political, economic, and social – were to be included in the Universal Declaration.

It was Eleanor Roosevelt who helped to craft the Universal Declaration. She was appointed the United States (U.S.) representative to the UN Commission on Human Rights and was then chosen as its chairperson. Mrs. Roosevelt’s work as chairperson was critical in integrating the world’s ideologies into a truly universal conception of human rights. There were strong-minded representatives as key members of the Commission which wrote the Declaration: Dr. Peng-Chun Chang of China, Dr. Charles Malik of Lebanon, Professor René Cassin of France, Dr. John Humphrey of Canada, Dr. Alexander Bogonolov of the Soviet Union. Mrs. Roosevelt helped to bring together into one document the political and civil rights that are the core of the Western liberal tradition with the economic, social, and cultural rights that had been at the fore of the struggles for social justice in the 1920s and 1930s.

Eleanor Roosevelt holding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Today, human rights have become one of the pillars of the world society. People, no matter where they live, increasingly demand respect for their human rights. They judge the institutions of government by how well these institutions respond to a comprehensive vision of human rights. Food, shelter, employment, education, and access for health care go hand in hand with demands for equitable and effective justice, the right to participate in government, to express one’s thoughts freely, and to live by one’s own moral and spiritual convictions.

We know that there are many obstacles to the full enjoyment of human rights. However, on this UN Human Rights Day we rededicate ourselves to creative action. We know that humanity is advancing toward the full development of the person and that human rights serves as a strong goal.

Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.

Gaza Hostilities Renewed: New Mediation Efforts Needed

In Being a World Citizen, Conflict Resolution, Current Events, Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, Middle East & North Africa, NGOs, Solidarity, The Search for Peace, Track II, United Nations on December 3, 2023 at 12:43 PM

By René Wadlow

On Friday, December 1, 2023, with Hamas firing rockets into Tel Aviv and Israeli forces renewing airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, the “humanitarian pause” in the Gaza fighting came to an end.

Martin Griffiths, head of the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said, “Over the past seven days, hostages were released, families were reunited, and more patients received some medical care. The volume of aid into and across Gaza increased… Now, in a matter of hours, scores were reportedly killed and injured. Families were told to evacuate again. Hopes were dashed. Almost two months into the fighting, the children, women, and men of Gaza are all terrified. They have nowhere safe to go and very little to survive on. They live surrounded by disease, destruction and death. This is unacceptable… We need the fighting to stop.”

Thus, we see the need for increased mediation among groups and governments to maintain international humanitarian law and human rights standards. The taking of hostages is a violation of international humanitarian law. Therefore, the International Committee of the Red Cross which is the chief organization to maintain international humanitarian law was directly involved in the release of the hostages. Many of the Palestinian persons in Israeli prisons have not had fair trials – in some cases no trials at all only administrative detention – in violation of international human rights provisions.

There is a need for more go-betweens, third-party mediators who can help to overcome barriers and to start negotiations. Mediation is an effort to change perceptions of both the nature of the conflict and the nature of the enemy. There is a need to lessen misconceptions and exaggerated fears. Small realistic steps must be taken on the long road to stable peace.

Currently, there are real dangers that the violence will increase on the frontier with Lebanon and in the West Bank area between Israeli settlers and Palestinians. An increasing number of people are being displaced, adding to the vast number of people uprooted in the Gaza Strip.

The pain and suffering already undergone should be an increased motivation for strong efforts for peace and justice. The negotiations which led to the “pauses” and the exchanges were largely carried out by the representatives of a few governments, Qatar, Egypt, and the USA. There is a potential role for nongovernmental efforts. We must cooperate on such possibilities by exchanging information and possible contacts. There may be ways of increasing the nongovernmental efforts of mediation through “pilot projects”. The times require strong and coordinated efforts.

Prof. Rene Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.