Preventing sexual violence means ending impunity

(United Nations) April 27, 2010 –Fresh from her visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which she described as the “rape capital of the world,” a senior United Nations official today urged the Security Council to make the prevention of sexual violence a top priority, and stressed the need to end impunity for the scourge.

“Women have no rights, if those who violate their rights go unpunished,” Margot Wallström, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, told the 15-member body.

Ending impunity for sexual violence is a critical part of the Council’s broader mandate to shepherd situations “from might to right, from rule of war to rule of law, from bullets to ballots,” she noted.

“If women continue to suffer sexual violence, it is not because the law is inadequate to protect them, but because it is inadequately enforced.”

Secretary-General seeks to bolster UN in Haiti

(United Nations) April 27, 2010 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged the Security Council to endorse a rapid strengthening of the technical capacity of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) to enable it provide better support to recovery efforts following January’s earthquake in the Caribbean island nation.

In his report to the Council, the Secretary-General noted that much of the required “surge” can be achieved by scaling up activities within the current mandate, while a few areas of the mission should provide greater technical, operational and logistical assistance to Haiti’s Government and State institutions.

“Whereas before the earthquake, the mission was entering a period of consolidation, a surge effort is now needed for the next 18 months to two years, in which the mission will help the Government preserve the gains of stabilization to date and enable a smooth transition to long-term reconstruction,” Mr. Ban said.

Congressman heads to Arizona to stand with immigrants

(Chicago) April 23, 2010 – U.S. Representative Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) announced that he would travel to Phoenix, Arizona to join immigrant and Latino leaders at a rally at the State Capitol on Sunday. He also reacted today to remarks delivered by the President of the United States at a Rose Garden naturalization ceremony where 24 immigrant servicemen and women were sworn in as U.S. citizens. The President addressed the Arizona state legislative measure (SB 1070) that Gov. Jan Brewer will either veto, sign, or allow to become law by Saturday afternoon and the President addressed comprehensive immigration reform.

The following is a statement from Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez:

We held a press conference this week at the U.S. Capitol, with my colleague from Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, calling the nation’s attention to the serious civil rights catastrophe that Republicans in Arizona are unleashing on immigrants and all Latinos in the state. Now the national spotlight is focused squarely on Arizona and people from all over the country are making their way to Phoenix to stand up with and stand up for immigrants and Latinos in the state.

I am going there to let the people of Arizona know that they are not alone in fighting against bigotry and hatred and thousands will join me this weekend at the State Capitol. I have not seen the Latino community nationwide react in such a forceful way to an attack on immigrants since 2006, just after House Republicans passed a measure to criminalize and deport all undocumented immigrants and their families. It is remarkable how citizens and non-citizens, faith leaders, labor unions, and community-based groups from across the country have responded to the call to help defend the people of Arizona from the short-sighted political stunts of their own legislature playing election year politics with people’s lives and families.

World Social Forum seeks translators

(Quito, Ecuador) April 22, 2010 – The World Social Forum on Migration is an event that takes part as component of the World Social Forum, and constitutes a space of democratic debate of ideas, reflection, proposal formulation, experience exchange and social movement articulation. The Forum becomes the meeting point for NGOs, networks and other civil society organizations that oppose the neoliberal scheme and back the recognition of civil, political, economical, social and cultural rights of migrants, IDPs, refugees and stateless people.

WSFM

Ecuador to host World Social Forum on Migrations

The World Social Forum on Migrations (WSFM) is an event that falls in line with the World Social Forums, which is a space for democratic debate of ideas, reflection, formulation of proposals, exchange of experiences and articulation of social movements , networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations that are opposed to neo-liberal globalization and the restriction of granting citizenship and civil rights, political, economic, social and cultural rights of migrants, displaced, refugees and stateless persons.

Ecuador is the site of the fourth edition of WSFM, in Quito from October 8 through 10, 2010. Thus, the social movements and networks on five continents that are part of the WSFM’s International Committee hope that the path traced by the Ecuadorian state towards the realization of their constitutional and legislative developments is reinforced by the process of the IV WSFM.

The organization of the IV World Social Forum on Migration, in Quito, has been delegated to the Migration, Communication and Development Plan, whose role as Technical Secretariat of the Forum is to form a National Preparatory Committee, among civil society organizations in Ecuador, to coordinate actions towards the IV WSFM.

If you wish to participate in the Fourth World Social Forum on Migrations 2010, you register as:

PARTICIPANT: Any person who is interested in the contents of the Forum may participate individually, or if he/she belongs to an organization that has already filled its two seats as delegates.

DELEGATE: In order to participate as a delegate a person must represent an organization or social movement of immigrants or refugees, an organization that develops projects related to immigration or refuge, or an organization that has any link with migration flows.

The register fee for an organization allows a maximum of two delegates; if an organization wishes to register a third member, it must be done as participants.

OBSERVER: The Charter of the WSF principles establishes that political party representations and military organizations are not allowed to participate. Political leaders, representatives of political organizations or government officials may participate as observers.

Learn more and then  register here.

Cardinal: Arizona immigration law is ‘retrogressive, mean-spirited, and useless’

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles Roger Mahony has penned an article both elegant and blistering in response to recent anti-immigrant legislation passed in Arizona.

The Arizona legislature just passed the country’s most retrogressive, mean-spirited, and useless anti-immigrant law [SB 1070, awaiting the expected signature of Gov. Jan Brewer]. The tragedy of the law is its totally flawed reasoning: that immigrants come to our country to rob, plunder, and consume public resources. That is not only false, the premise is nonsense.

What led the Arizona legislature to pass such a law is so obvious to all of us who have been working for federal comprehensive immigration reform: the present immigration system is completely incapable of balancing our nation’s need for labor and the supply of that labor. We have built a huge wall along our southern border, and have posted in effect two signs next to each other. One reads, “No Trespassing,” and the other reads “Help Wanted.” The ill-conceived Arizona law does nothing to balance our labor needs.

Read Cardinal’s Mahony’s full article here. Jesuit Refugee Service/USA agrees with Cardinal Mahony that our focus should not be on exclusion, but on “passing a federal comprehensive immigration law which is forward-looking and which will help balance our need for adequate labor forces in the coming years.”

LA Times: Arizona’s anti-immigrant bill a reminder of fascism

Last week, Arizona lawmakers passed a strict anti-immigrant bill (SB 1070) that makes it a misdemeanor to lack proper paperwork in Arizona. The law would require police officers, if they have “reasonable suspicion” that someone is undocumented, to ask for the person’s documents.

Arizona lawmakers passed anti-immigration legislation that is unique in its stringency and harshness. The bill would strongly encourage police officers to engage in racial profiling by ordering them to check the status of people they merely suspect – suspect – of being in the U.S. illegally. Even legal immigrants, in a move that harks back to fascist Europe, would be required to carry their papers at all times or risk arrest.

(Read the Los Angeles Times editorial about “A Hostile Arizona.”)

“Alto Arizona!” is a targeted call to action that is asking opponents of AZ SB 1070 to contact Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) to ask her to veto this bill!

The passage of SB 1070 by the House of Representatives in Arizona will have chilling repercussions if signed into law by Governor Brewer. The bill dramatically expands police powers to stop, question and detain individuals for not having proper identification, a move that will instigate racial profiling and fear and driving a wedge between groups.

Click here to Take Action! Urge the Arizona Governor to Veto the Bill.

Take Action: Support Colombian Internally Displaced Persons

Colombia has one of the highest internally displaced populations in the world.  In 2009 alone, 280,000 civilians were newly displaced in addition to over 4 million already displaced.  Victims of forced displacement leave their homes and families to escape violence, intimidation, and rape from both legal and illegal armed groups.  Vulnerable groups such as Afro-Colombians, indigenous communities and women face the greatest consequences of the armed conflict.

In 2004, the Colombian Constitutional Court declared a State of Unconstitutional Affairs and ordered the Colombian government to address the needs and rights of the displaced population.  Despite the Constitutional Court’s demands, Colombia’s displacement crisis continues and the Colombian government has yet to implement these orders.  The resolution led by Representative Hank Johnson (GA) and 22 other co-sponsors calls on the Government of Colombia to fully implement the Constitutional Court’s orders.

Ms. Sascha Thompson, Rep. Johnson’s aide, stated at a recent WOLA event that “many internally displaced Colombian leaders, who have been brave enough to organize their communities to speak out about their rights and to demand the Colombian authorities to meet its obligations to protect them and restore their lands, have become constant targets of threats against their lives, harassment, additional human rights violations, and extra violence.” These leaders and their families need your help.

Many indigenous groups in Colombia are on the verge of extinction. Afro-Colombians’ livelihoods are threatened by the armed conflict and invasive government policies.  The precarious condition of women is exacerbated by gender based violence.  Vulnerable populations in Colombia are disproportionately affected by the consequences of the armed conflict and their human rights must be protected.
Send a message to your representative asking him/her to co-sponsor House Resolution 1224

First Lady Michelle Obama visits Haiti

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden arrived in a quake-battered Port-au-Prince, Haiti  this morning. The two landed at 10:40 a.m., taking a helicopter tour of the Haitian capital where more than one million people remain homeless, many living underneath tents and tarps.

Their visit comes a day after Haitians acknowledged the three-month anniversary of the Jan. 12th, 7.0-magnitude earthquake that ripped through the capital and four smaller southern cities.

The Obama administration released this statement about the visit, which was kept hush until the landing:

“First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden are visiting Haiti to underscore to the Haitian people and the Haitian government the enduring U.S. commitment to help Haiti recover and rebuild, especially as we enter the rainy and hurricane seasons, and to thank the women and men across the whole of the U.S. government for their extraordinary efforts in Haiti during the past three months.  They will also reach out to the UN and international relief communities in recognition of the truly global effort underway to help Haiti.”

UN registers 26,000 Colombian refugees in Ecuador

Under an innovative new program, United Nations-supported mobile teams have traversed difficult terrain in an isolated region of northern Ecuador for the past year to register 26,000 Colombian refugees.

“Registration is a vital step in the process towards being formally recognized as a refugee,” Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters today in Geneva.

The mobile registration scheme is considered a model for Latin America, where most refugees usually have to travel to towns and cities to be registered.

Mobile teams – comprising officials from the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry and UNHCR staff –reached out to people living in remote areas, shrinking the time it takes for a Government decision on asylum claims from several months to just one day.