A Message from UNICEF: Myanmar Update

received via e-mail:

Because of your interest in the survival and well-being of children, I wanted to let you know how UNICEF is saving lives in Myanmar. In the past week, UNICEF has:

• Distributed pre-positioned oral rehydration salts, water purification tablets, family hygiene kits, essential medicines, first aid kits and shelter materials to the hardest-hit areas.
• Delivered additional supplies from its Copenhagen warehouse.
• Established child-friendly spaces within camps for children who have lost or been separated from their families.

But much more remains to be done for the hundreds of thousands affected by the cyclone, and I hope you will be able to help.

With 10 operational offices in Myanmar, UNICEF is the lead agency on the groundfor water and sanitation, hygiene, nutrition, education and child protection. We’ll keep you posted on our progress in these areas over the coming weeks.

As in any emergency, UNICEF will do whatever it takes to save children’s lives. Thank you for your commitment to this work.

Sincerely,

Caryl Stern
President and CEO, U.S. Fund for UNICEF

P.S. For a full report on UNICEF’s emergency response, click here.

Wanna Know What Muslim Women Really Think?

Please go to The Muslimah to read Umm Layth’s impassioned request for submissions and readers for the next Muslimahs Speak Up! Blog Carnival. We would like to make this a regularly scheduled Carnival, dedicated to highlighting the voices of practicing Muslim women, writing about the things that matter to practicing Muslim women.

If you have never read a Muslimahs Speak Up! Blog Carnival, this is a great opportunity for you to broaden your horizons and challenge your perceptions!

Please pass this on!

May 15 is Blog About Palestine Day

For details on how to get involved, go here. If you are a blogger, consider posting something about Palestine on Thursday.

Mother’s Day & the week forward: Action Alert - No mother should lose her child to a cluster bomb

also on Cure This

Check out this moving video on cluster bombs:

And this letter from Physicians for Human Rights and several other major human rights organizations in the US and abroad.

Time for action? CIVIC (The Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict) is making an urgent appeal to us to call our Senators and ask them to cosponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594/H.R. 1755). They’ve supplied us with the tools we need, and with a list of the Senators who have cosponsored the Senate bill and have made a goal of generating six new co-sponsors in the Senate in the next two weeks.

They say on this Mother’s Day:

No mother should lose her child to a cluster bomblet. Unfortunately, you - as a CIVIC supporter - know that children are drawn to unexploded cluster submunitions thinking they are toys. Kids between the ages of 5-15 account for almost half of the world’s cluster bomb deaths and injuries.

And here’s a short video with their Executive Director in Lebanon, talking about cluster bombs:

Alright let’s get to it. One or two phone calls. Common sense legislation.

Lastly — the author of the hit comic series Get Your War On, David Rees, wrote about the presidential candidates and cluster bombs (and about how they were the initial impetus for him to start his GYWO comic strip). He’s a huge activist in this area, and shared that Senator Clinton rejected a proposed ban on cluster bombs back in 2006 (a different proposed ban) because she didn’t want to seem soft on terror. On the other hand, Senator Obama strongly supported this ban. (on the Republican side, McCain rejected the ban).

Let’s give this gift of action to our mothers and to mothers around the world. And pass on this CIVIC action alert (remember, the goal is to get more cosponsors in the next two weeks!).

two years on, atenco still hurts

via the narcosphere

Of the 47 women arrested during the police riot in Atenco, twenty-six report being mentally, physically, or sexually tortured during their detention. To date, no police officer has been convicted of torture or sexual abuse.

One woman, María Paticia Romero Hernádez, remains imprisoned for her participation in Atenco. She reports being threatened by prison officials. Prison officials recently moved a prisoner who’s been harassing her into her cell. The deputy director of the prison also recently accused her of leading a prisoners’ movement against prison authorities. For this reason he says he is going to plant evidence on her “to aggravate her legal situation.”

This past week activists mobilized in Mexico City to commemorate and protest two years of impunity, repression, and unjust imprisonment.

On April 29, female ex-prisoners of Atenco protested outside the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Related to Violence Against Women to announce their petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)regarding the sexual torture they suffered while detained. The IACHR is considered an option of last resort, when citizens are unable to obtain justice through their own countries’ legal systems.

The women and their supporters protested outside the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Related to Violence Against Women to make clear that they were forced to seek justice in an international body because of the Special Prosecutor’s failure to act on their cases. Sufficient evidence exists to indict the police who tortured them, but the state has failed to do so.

Negotiating Sexualities

via Kubatana.net

In recent discussions with several colleagues, we floated the idea of organizing a conference in Harare on sexualities. I would emphasize the full stop. Not reproductive and sexual health. Not HIV/AIDS, gender, and sexuality. Not violence against women and sexuality. Those are topics worthy of attention as well as a conference. Yet, conversations have had a slightly different focus, more an interest in exploring sexuality itself by examining, for example: How Zimbabweans understand and negotiate their own sexual selves. The rich histories of sexual practices and meanings in Zimbabwe. The ways discourses around sexuality make their way into projects of nation-building. The blending of Western and African ideas and categories in expressions of sexual rights and sexual liberation. Such a conference would continue to open up discussions about sexualities. Additionally, a meeting of the minds might lend insights into the ways sexuality relates to how day-to-day life happens, and is interwoven into economic, political, and social issues informing advocacy and challenges to the status quo.

The play Loupe, by Mandisi Gobodi, which ran during HIFA, is a good example of the ways sexuality can be an entry point to examine the landscapes and dynamics of the environments we live in. Or in this case a loupe, which is a type of magnifying glass. In the play, two brothers are at odds. One brother (Kilem) is a party commissar; he’s a comrade who likes beer, women, and power. Kilem’s younger brother (Sizwe) reveals he’s gay. In part, the play is about family bonds, while portraying a possible reaction to a family member acknowledging same-sex attraction. But the play is much, much more than a play with a “homosexual” theme. To a degree, the fact that Sizwe wants an intimate relationship another man is irrelevant. The overarching message of the play could have worked if Kilem was reacting to Sizwe having any goal he (Kilem) perceived as wrong. The play astutely unpacks, through Kilem and through sexuality, a mindset that seems present in Zimbabwe, and all over the world. It’s a mind-set driven by the desire to hold extreme and forceful power over people, ideas, and behavior. To manipulate facts, diminish individual rights, and selectively control what is acceptable. All the while building a power base to pressure others to conform. It’s a mindset that might be described as masculine, but not necessarily practiced by men only.

Gobodi’s writing is nothing short of amazingly masterful, particularly in capturing the complicated nuances of life in Zimbabwe. The play is extremely well directed and produced. And the acting . . . the performances were so powerful that when I saw the young man who played Kilem wandering around HIFA I was scared of him. Scared of the ways desire for power is exerted. The play will live on beyond HIFA as the British Council is currently working out plans for another run. It’s a must see for anyone interested in the economic, political, and social dynamics of Zimbabwe.

Immigration Detention=”gold rush”

Latest ICE raid

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Federal Immigration agents on Monday arrested more than 300 people during a raid at a Postville meat processing plant.

The raid by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was the largest in Iowa history, Matt M. Dummermuth, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, said at a news conference.

Dummermuth said the raid at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in northeast Iowa came after months of planning, beginning in October 2007. Federal agents were helped by state and local police.

Authorities said more than 300 workers were arrested on a variety of charges included fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and identity theft.

“Can’t speculate on if that number will go up,” said Claud Arnold, special agent in charge of ICE’s Bloomington, Minn., office. “We’ll have more information on that tomorrow.”

Of those arrested, 44 were released for humanitarian reasons, primarily because they must care for children. Those released were ordered to report to court later.

The hundreds of people arrested were held in local jails or driven by bus about 75 miles to the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo. Federal authorities previously leased the fairgrounds and have turned it into a secure center.

People arrested will be fed three meals a day, plus an evening snack, Arnold said. All those taken to the fairgrounds should be removed by Wednesday night.

Authorities said they notified Agriprocessors officials before the raid and that the company cooperated with the investigation. The company shut down its operation Monday before the raid to avoid safety problems.

Agriprocessors is the world’s largest kosher meatpacking plant.

Some have criticized a December 2006 Immigration raid at a Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Marshalltown, part of a larger action in six states. Asked if Monday’s action differed from previous raids, officials said no.

“We’re doing things the way we always do,” Arnold said. “Standard operating procedure. We’re doing things the right way.”

The raid began about 10 a.m. when agents entered the plant, looking for evidence of identity theft, stolen Social Security numbers and for people who are in the country illegally, ICE spokesman Tim Counts said.

Counts said a toll-free telephone number had been set up to assist family members of those arrested who have questions about their detention status and the removal process.

Sister Mary McCauley, a Roman Catholic nun at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, said family members of plant workers came to the nearby church in tears.

“The people right now are hearing and seeing the helicopters,” McCauley said Monday morning. “They are just panic-stricken and very frightened and some of them are coming to the church as a safe haven.”

The church is about five blocks from the plant, she said.

She said rumors began swirling around the community on Friday about an upcoming raid, leaving many people worried.

She said Immigration officials arrived with buses, vans and two helicopters.

She said she went to the plant to help provide information and assist workers but was not allowed to get close.

“Some of the people that are going to be detained are up against a fence and now they’re tying their hands,” she said.

Many of the plant workers are Hispanic, mostly from Mexico and Guatemala, she said.

Asked about the raid during a Monday news conference, Gov. Chet Culver said both illegal immigrants and companies that knowingly hire them should be prosecute.

“Illegal means illegal, not just those who are crossing the border illegally but those who are responsible for helping to make it happen,” Culver said.

Culver added the importance in taking humanitarian concerns into account and said he’d raised this issue with Immigration authorities.

The governor said he’d been told last week there would be some kind of federal action.

ICE rents fairgrounds for a post raid detention center

May 12, 2008

Immigration officials descend on Postville plant

REGISTER STAFF REPORT

Federal agents at 10 a.m. this morning are at Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville.

Vehicles from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and at least eight Iowa State Patrol cars and vans are at the plant. A helicopter also is hovering.

There are reports of two moving vans on the scene, in addition to a large ambulance and two black Suburbans.

A number of agents have formed a perimeter around the Agriprocessors facility.

Postville Police chief Michael Halse said he did not know anything about the raid untll 10 a.m. today.

There will be a 2 p.m. press conference at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Cedar Rapids.

Agriprocessors produces kosher and non-kosher beef and other meat products.

Last week, federal officials ratcheted up rumors of an immigration raid when they rented the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo. The facility, rented by the U.S. General Services Administration, is leased through May 25.

U.S. lease of Waterloo fairgrounds raises questions

By WILLIAM PETROSKI
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Federal officials have imposed a news blackout at the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo, where they have leased almost the entire property through May 25.

Tim Counts, a Midwest spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, declined to say Monday whether an immigration raid is pending that would use the fairgrounds as a detention center.

“ICE never talks about our investigative activity or possible future enforcement actions,” Counts said. “Regarding the exercise in Waterloo, there is currently no publicly releasable information about that, so we aren’t releasing any.”

He declined to say whether the “exercise” involves training or an immigration enforcement operation.

“We expect that at some point there will be additional information available, but I can’t speculate at what point that might be,” Counts said.

In December 2006, ICE conducted an immigration raid at the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Marshalltown. Many workers were transported to Camp Dodge in Johnston, where military barracks were used as temporary detention facilities. A total of 1,282 Swift workers were arrested in Iowa and five other states in the biggest crackdown in history on immigration violations at one company.

The Waterloo Courier on Sunday reported that contractors have installed generators adjacent to many buildings at the fairgrounds.

In addition, windows on many buildings have been covered up, blocking views inside. A number of mobile-home-size trailers have been transported to the privately owned grounds.

Doug Miller, general manager of the Cattle Congress, declined Monday to release a copy of his group’s rental contract with U.S. General Services Administration. He also indicated he was in the dark about what’s happening inside the fairgrounds.

“I have no idea. They are conducting whatever exercise they are conducting without telling me all the details of it. I don’t have any information to share with you, really,” Miller said.

Representatives of Gov. Chet Culver and U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley said they had no information about what was happening at the Cattle Congress fairgrounds.

At Grassley’s request, his staff called ICE officials on Monday.

“During the call, the ICE officials would neither confirm nor deny anything to Senator Grassley’s staff,” said Beth Pellett Levine, a Grassley aide.

Armando Villareal, administrator of the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs, said he hadn’t heard any reports about impending immigration raids. But he added that many Latinos in Iowa are feeling tension and fear.

“Folks have resigned themselves that something terrible is going to happen between now and the election. It is more like a resignation that something is going to happen,” Villareal said.

Basic Health Care at Immigration Detention Centers: New Senate Legislation Introduced Today

BASIC HEALTH CARE AT IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTERS:

NEW SENATE LEGISLATION INTRODUCED TODAY

Menendez’s Detainee Basic Medical Care Act responds to reports on the lack of basic care and oversight that has lead to preventable deaths

WASHINGTON— U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today introduced the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act in response to recent news reports and lawsuits that have exposed seemingly systematic problems in the medical care provided at U.S. immigration detention centers. These reports and lawsuits demonstrate that detainees have in some cases died due to the poor quality or lack of medical care. Senators Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) are original co-sponsors of the legislation, which among other provisions would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish procedures for the timely and effective delivery of basic health care to all immigration detainees in custody and would require DHS to report all detainee deaths to the Office of Inspector General and Congress. The Senate bill is a companion to Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s (D-CA) H.R. 5950 in the House of Representatives.

Senator Menendez said: “We can never lose sight of the fact that everyone who immigrates to this country, whether they are documented or not, is a human being. A detention should never amount to a death sentence. This type of action to ensure humane treatment and prevent unnecessary deaths at these facilities is overdue. Let’s not forget that many in immigration detention are there for minor violations, many for administrative errors. At some point, this becomes more than a legal issue – it becomes a human rights issue, and it is our job to do all we can to secure our country while protecting the dignity of all human beings.”

Senator Kennedy said: “In the rush to detain tens of thousands of immigrants rounded up in worksite raids or appearing at our borders fleeing persecution or civil strife, we have lost sight of the need to provide those in our custody with even basic medical care and a modicum of decency and compassion. This legislation is a major step toward ensuring that our immigration detention system is governed by sufficient standards of medical care and accountability. It is critical that we establish rigorous standards so that we can restore a sense of humanity in our treatment of detainees that is fitting of our long tradition as a nation of immigrants.”

Senator Akaka said, “ICE has the obligation to provide every man, woman, and child taken into immigration custody humane and dignified treatment. Recent news stories have reported egregious failures to provide basic health care to those in ICE’s custody. ICE continues to deny the problems, so Congress must act to ensure that immigrant detainees receive the health care they need and to require that ICE disclose deaths of those in their custody.”

Senator Lieberman said: “Inferior medical care is one of the most egregious elements of inhumane conditions at immigration detention facilities. Our history as a compassionate nation requires that we meet and maintain far better standards at these facilities.”

DETAINEE BASIC MEDICAL CARE ACT OF 2008:

· Requires DHS to establish procedures for the timely and effective delivery of health care.

· Ensures that treatment decisions are based on professional clinical judgments. Currently, the medical decisions of on-site staff can be overruled by off-site officials without further review.

· Ensures continuity of care for persons with serious health conditions. The bill requires access to necessary medications upon detention and during any transfers.

· Requires DHS to report all detainee deaths to the Office of Inspector General and to Congress. DHS is not currently required to keep track of or report detainee deaths. The absence of a reporting requirement leaves Congress and the public in the dark.

In a recent case, a federal judge noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “own records [of a deceased detainee] bespeak of conduct that transcends negligence by miles. It bespeaks of conduct that, if true, should be taught to every law student as conduct for which the moniker ‘cruel’ is inadequate.”

EXAMPLES OF DETAINEES WHO HAVE DIED DUE TO LACK OF BASIC MEDICAL CARE:

· Failure to provide basic medical care: While in detention, 52-year-old Boubacar Bah fractured his head during a fall and started behaving erratically. On-site medical staff assumed Boubacar was acting out and shackled him to the floor as he moaned and vomited. He was then put in solitary confinement, where he lay untreated for more than 13 hours, despite repeated notations by staff that he was unresponsive and foaming at the mouth. Finally, he was sent to the hospital, where he underwent surgery for multiple brain hemorrhages. After 4 months in a coma, he died.

· Overruling of on-site medical staff decisions: In detention, 35-year-old Francisco Castaneda sought medical care for lesions on his penis. On-site medical staff repeatedly ordered biopsies, but the biopsies were denied by off-site officials. After 11 months in custody, ICE released Francisco so he could pay for his own biopsy, which revealed cancerous tumors. Despite penile amputation and several rounds of chemotherapy, he died at the age of 36. A federal judge recently noted that this case appears to present “one of the most, if not the most, egregious Eighth Amendment violations [cruel and unusual punishment] the Court has ever encountered.”

· Denial of life-saving medication: Upon detaining 23-year-old Victoria Arellano, ICE denied her the antibiotics she was taking to fend off infections caused by her HIV-positive status. Her health quickly deteriorated, marked by high fevers, severe cramps, and internal bleeding. As she neared death, ICE put her back on antibiotic treatment, but of the wrong type. Victoria received no other medical treatment and died under ICE’s watch—just two months after first being detained.

· Senseless detention of vulnerable people: Although he had a valid visa, 81-year-old Haitian Reverend Joseph Dantica was detained by ICE because he mentioned his need for “temporary” asylum upon arrival. ICE detained him even though he was 81, had serious medical conditions, and had previously traveled to the U.S. many times without overstaying his visa. ICE stripped the reverend, despite repeated pleas, of the medication he was taking for his high blood pressure and inflamed prostate. Within days, he became ill and started vomiting, but ICE officials assumed he was faking and refused to treat him. When his condition worsened, he was taken to a local hospital where he was not seen by a doctor for another 24 hours. He died soon thereafter.