Our friends with the Micronesia Climate Change Alliance gathered this week at the Guam Legislature in protest of the Guam Power Authority's planned Liquefied Natural Gas power plant. In this climate crisis, we stand in solidarity for renewable energy. ... See MoreSee Less
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"One of the continuing tensions in Hela is that specialist police squads are assigned to secure the Exxon-Mobil PNGLNG facilities. “We currently have only 40 police for the whole province,” said Hela Provincial Administrator, William Bando, in the aftermath of the massacre. “Our Tari-based MS9 [police mobile squad] were taken by Exxon-Mobil to provide security, while our people are dying.”"
“There is a history to this fight [around Tari] which also needs better understanding so as to map a way forward,” says Dr Fiona Hukula, senior research fellow and leader of the Building Safer Communities program at the PNG National Research Institute.
Data is patchy, but violence against women in PNG in various forms – family, social, tribal – is among some of the highest rates in the world. Reports of the torture and murder of women accused of sorcery also appear regularly in local media.
“What is lacking is enforcement. This to me is a key hindrance to really seeing change in terms of sending a strong message about violence against women and violence in general,” says Hukula. “Having said this, it is extremely difficult to police rural and remote PNG due to lack of resources and geographical constraints. This is where the role of village courts and community leadership is vital in local dispute resolution.” ... See MoreSee Less
"But the most controversial tool by far comes after police have made an arrest. Say hello to criminal risk assessment algorithms.
Risk assessment tools are designed to do one thing: take in the details of a defendant’s profile and spit out a recidivism score—a single number estimating the likelihood that he or she will reoffend. A judge then factors that score into a myriad of decisions that can determine what type of rehabilitation services particular defendants should receive, whether they should be held in jail before trial, and how severe their sentences should be. A low score paves the way for a kinder fate. A high score does precisely the opposite." ... See MoreSee Less
The U.S. is in blatant violation of Article 31 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees: Non-penalization, Detention and Protection.
"Detention of asylum seekers which is applied for [illegitimate] purposes, for example, as part of a policy to deter future asylum seekers, or to dissuade those who have commenced their claims from pursuing them, is contrary to the norms of refugee law.
It should not be used as a punitive or disciplinary measure for illegal entry or presence in the country. Detention should also be avoided for failure to comply with the administrative requirements or other institutional restrictions related residency at reception centers, or refugee camps." ... See MoreSee Less
ICAAD joins the U.S. Human Rights Network and others calling for UN Member States, including the U.S., to fulfill their obligations to pay their dues. In addition to affecting funding for peacekeeping missions and critical aid provided by the UN, the budget shortfalls will severely curb human rights enforcement.
Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “told the committees that oversee compliance with 10 core multilateral treaties that they will probably need to cancel hearings set for later this year...Six of the committees likely to be affected oversee adherence to treaties that uphold children’s rights and combat civil and political repression, discrimination against women, torture and racial discrimination.”
See the open letter submitted to all Permanent Missions to the United Nations. icaad.ngo/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Open-NGO-Letter-Funding-for-Treaty-Bodies.pdf ... See MoreSee Less
