Olympics & human rights

“China Unveils Frightening Futuristic Police State at Olympics” (Naomi Klein, Alternet)

Amnesty International: China Olympic Legacy

CHINA: OLYMPIC SPIRIT?

Despite promises, the 2008 Olympics will be marred by repeated abuses of freedom of speech.

Undermining the “Olympic Spirit” and reneging on their commitments the Chinese government has detained journalists, limited access to information and violently suppressed protesters. International and National Olympic Committees have also discouraged athletes from exercising their right to free speech and ignored international human rights standards.

According to the IOC Fundamental Principles, “Olympism is a…respect for universal fundamental ethical principles…The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.”

RECENT ARTICLES IN THE PRESS:
» Athletes condemn China human rights
» China denies visas to Olympians that write about Sudan
» IOC official accuses IOC of “betrayal”
» Human Rights worsening in countdown to the Olympics

To find out more, see which activists and jounalists are in prison, visit the ARTICLE 19 campaign.

Other sites about China and boycott (via): Continue reading

job for the boys

interesting, this almost seems like “Challenging Rape Culture” (and v.a.w. in general) at an institutional level:

“A huge job for the boys” (Guardian, July 30 2008) – The minister for police, security and community safety tells Julie Bindel how he wants men to take a more responsible attitude towards domestic and sexual violence against women – and to spread the word to others

and he’s hitting mostly right notes!

“The majority of men don’t abuse women, but there is a responsibility on men to speak up and speak out about it,” he says. “The noise that men have made about it in the past has never been loud enough. I think that’s a perspective I can bring to the whole discussion.”

Coaker is pushing forward the need to debate tricky issues such as rape, sexual assault and male demand for prostitution, and repeatedly emphasises how proud he is to be part of a process of engagement with citizens about a topic as emotiveas violence towards women. “I have always tried to be frank and upfront about things, and to go out of my way to engage,” he says. “For me, it is not about just maintaining the status quo, but looking at effective ways to deal with the problems.”

“This is about the sort of society and communities we want to live in,” Coaker says. “It is about men challenging other men’s behaviour.” Although he has become well-respected among women’s organisations that deal with domestic and sexual violence, there is nothing arrogant in his approach. “The women’s movement has done a fantastic job foregrounding this work,” he says, “What I want to do is to continue making it mainstream.”

Again, the key issue for Coaker is public education. “You make the absolute assertion that rape is a criminal act, one of the most heinous we know, and there will be consequences. It is about teaching respect, and educating men to bring about attitudinal change. It is a massive step forward to discuss these things. Now the challenge is how we move things forward.”

What about Coaker’s plans for the future? While acknowledging the importance of legislation and the role of the criminal justice system, his aim is to prevent crimes from occurring in the first instance.

Colombia: community leader, mother killed after speaking out against violence

The leader of a poor community on the outskirts of the Colombian city of Buenaventura has been assassinated by suspected paramilitaries after speaking out against violence at an event held to prevent young people from becoming caught up in the Colombian conflict. Martha Cecilia Obando, 45, was killed in front of the church in the main street of the San Francisco neighbourhood at 7.45pm on Sunday 29th June as she walked home. She was shot three times.

Ms Obando, who was also the President of the Association of Displaced Women (ASODESFRAN), had just finished speaking to a community event attended by some 300 children where women from San Francisco neighbourhood had been teaching the youngsters traditional games from their communities. Virtually all of the people in the neighbourhood are originally from the Charco River basin but have been forced from their homes by paramilitaries with links to the Colombian Army.

Mothers in the area, including Ms Obando, were worried that their children were playing games that included simulated gunfights and other violence rather than traditional children’s games. As a result workshops for kids were established with the help of the Church and Ms Obando. Following her murder the future of the project is uncertain.

The US human rights organisation Human Rights First has set up a web page from which people can protest direct to the Colombian authorities about this most recent killing.

source: Justice for Colombia
via la chola

UK: Defending secular spaces

Posted on August 6, 2008
womensgrid
Filed Under Faith, London, Opinion Comment, Women’s Group
by Pragna Patel, chair of Southall Black Sisters and a member of Women Against Fundamentalism

In the rush to be tolerant or sensitive to religious difference, the space is created for the most reactionary and even fundamentalist religious leaders to take control

On 18th July 2008 at the High Court, Southall Black Sisters (SBS) won an important legal challenge affirming its right to exist and continue its work. At stake was a decision by Ealing Council to withdraw funding from SBS – the only specialist provider of domestic violence services to black and minority women in Ealing – under the guise of developing a single generic service for all women in the borough.

The council sought to justify its decision on the grounds of ‘equality’, ‘cohesion’ and ‘diversity’. It argued that the very existence of groups like SBS – the name and constitution – was unlawful under the Race Relations Act because it excluded white women and was therefore discriminatory and divisive!
more

a link re: the intersection of sexism and speciesism

donnEanimali [en] / it / fr

Women and non-human animals: objects of oppression, subjects of liberation.

so far, the site (which is italian) hosts only a mission statement, a declaration in support of the mobilization of the 24th of november 2007 against violence towards women, a declaration in support of the mobilization of the 8th of march 2008, and a list of “friendly sites.” hopefully there will be more content in the future, but it’s still a pretty good read/start.

more on the general subject here [ro] and here, here, here, here or here [en]

h/t m.

make/shift

“Feminist Media Reconsidered: An Interview with make/shift

… It’s about making – making media, making change, making communities, making movements, making art, and making shifts – shifting power, shifting paradigms, shifting society. And it’s about doing it with what you’ve got, in a non-institutional, resourceful, do-it-yourself makeshift way.

via la chola

A reckoning for the women victims – rape recognized as war tactic

“A reckoning for the women victims of the Bosnian war?”

… We will never know how many women were raped in Bosnia and Croatia. What we do know is that mass rape occurred and it was not a specific aspect of Serb brutality. There has always been rape in war. What this war did was to bring it out of the shadows, out of the dismissive inattention that accompanies the phrase “war propaganda”, or “the fog of war”. Rape is as much a fact of war, of the control of civilian populations, as ethnic cleansing. It took a modern women’s movement to collect the data and a critical mass of women journalists to insist on writing about it. From then on, rape in war would be taken seriously.

With the arrest two days ago of Radovan Karadzic, and his forthcoming trial in The Hague, there might now be some debate about justice for the women so abused.

Scrisoare deschisa privind femeile rome si discriminarea in sanatate

[Open letter regarding roma women and discrimination in health care, english version; Campaign on Coerced Sterilization]

“… scrisoarea isi doreste sa atraga atentia cu privire la formele pe care le ia discriminarea femeilor rome in sanatate si a fost elaborata pentru a fi diseminata […] in cadrul conferintei mondiale a femeilor (Mundos de Mujeres/Women’s Worlds 2008) [la o] prezentare a eforturilor realizate in obtinerea compensatiilor ca urmare a incalcarilor violente ale drepturilor omului prin sterilizarea fortata a femeilor rome din europa centrala.” (fwd crina)

Discriminare multipla – Cazul femeilor rome

Motto: “Noi nu suntem de neatins!”

Am redactat aceasta scrisoare pentru a exprima ingrijorarea noastra in legatura cu discriminarea multipla ce exista de multa vreme si continua sa fie prezenta in toate aspectele vietii publice, dar si pentru a face cunoscute circumstantele ei in ce priveste femeile rome.

Ca femei rome si ca membri de organizatii rome si non-rome, dorim sa ne exprimam solidaritatea cu femeile rome din Republica Ceha si Slovacia care au trecut prin drama de a fi sterilizate fara sa-si fi dat consimtamantul si fara a avea la dispozitie informatii adecvate despre efectele care pot aparea[1]. Exista o ampla documentatie ce arata ca femeile rome din toata Europa sunt excluse in mod specific de catre sistemul de asistenta medicala si deseori au acces la ingrijire medicala numai in cazuri de extrema urgenta si/sau la nastere[2].

Alaturati-va campaniei de la Madrid adresata guvernelor Republicii Cehe, Ungariei si Slovaciei cu privire la indreptarea actelor de violare a drepturilor omului, accesand: http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=2965.

In orice interventie medicala, doctorul ar trebui sa se comporte fata de pacient ca o persoana ce presteaza servicii si un egal in fata legii; nu ca o autoritate publica superioara. Interventiile medicale sunt performante, servicii, nu acte de putere publica.

Din punct de vedere legal, aceste interventii de sterilizare fara consimtamantul pacientei sunt mutilari deoarece afecteaza organe sanataose si duc la daune permanente chiar daca au un scop permis de lege.

Dorim sa ne exprimam sustinerea ferma fata de femeile cehe care rup tacerea in privinta numarului mare de femei supuse de catre doctori la sterilizarea prin constrangere.

Este extrem de dificil pentru activistele rome, care sunt si sotii si mame, sa porneasca pe drumul plin de riscuri si nesiguranta al activismului contra opresiunii din afara dar si din interiorul comunitatii lor. Continue reading

fwd: Autonomous Feminist Womyn’s Gathering 2009

Easter 2009 an All-European Autonomous Feminist Womyn’s Gathering will take place in Vienna, Austria. We invite you to participate with workshops, actions and more.

Find details online on http://feministgathering.wolfsmutter.com

We are looking forward to your suggestions and ask for forwarding this invitation to interested women. Thanks.

feminist greetings from Vienna
the organizers

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Autonomous Feminist Womyn’s Gathering
April 9 – 14, 2009 – Vienna, Austria
http://feministgathering.wolfsmutter.com
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