Going Back to Baghdad

Two recent reports, one by the International Organization for Migration and one by the US Government Accountability Office, describe the situation of returning Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons, and it's not a pretty picture. While the overall security situation in Iraq has improved, attacks continue to occur, particularly in Baghdad, Diyala, and Ninewa governorates -- from whence ninety percent of recent Iraqi IDPs originate. Of the 1.6 million Iraqis displaced since 2006, less than half have returned home.

Those who do return face a grim existence. Returnees find it hard to secure shelter, let alone property restitution or compensation. One-third of the heads of returnee families are unemployed, and many lack adequate essential services such as food, water, sanitation, electricity, and health care. Violence against women and minorities occurs often and is rarely punished.
The IOM found that these challenges were exacerbated for female-headed households (see prior post). Over eighty percent of female heads of households are unemployed. Many of these families include children and elderly members, which leads forty percent of them to rely on others for assistance. One in four female-headed households lack access to health care and the same number include a family member with a chronic illness. Nearly three-quarters cite food as an urgent need. As domestic violence has increased in Iraq in recent years, many of these women have fled their husbands and must contend with the resulting psychological burdens and social stigmas.
While numerous projects have been established to address impediments to return, the GAO found significant coordination and strategic gaps. To start, the impact of these projects on reintegration is not consistently measured or reported, in part because American goals and outcomes are classified and Iraqi government efforts suffer from insufficient commitment and capacity.
At the international level, there is no integrated strategy to coordinate the various UN organizations and internationally funded assistance efforts. Basic definitional questions such as when the displaced are considered reintegrated have yet to be answered. There are troubling holes in the data gathered by these agencies; for example, nobody has taken inventory of and assessed financial assistance programs for IDPs and returnees to determine gaps, overlap, and impact. And there is turf warfare, with different UN bodies competing rather than coordinating there efforts. In one example, UNHCR has not shared its raw data on IDPs and refugees with other entities working in Iraq.
In short, it's a mess -- one that we helped to create and should help to resolve. As the GAO suggests, the Secretary of State and the USAID Administrator in Iraq should assist the Iraqi government in creating a coherent and integrated international strategy to reintegrate displaced Iraqis. In order to spur successful voluntary return, such a plan must not only overcome current coordination failures but should also address the particular needs of female-headed households and other vulnerable groups.

Protecting Women's Rights in the Reconstruction of Haiti

It is easy to forget, what with the millions of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, with scores of ethnic Uzbeks being killed in Kyrgyzstan, and with the blocking of vital aid to Gaza , that the humanitarian crisis sparked by January's earthquake in Haiti rages on.

Of the hundreds of thousands enduring an epic lack of food, shelter, and medical care, Haitian women and girls remain among the most vulnerable in the aftermath of that natural disaster. (credit for May 19, 2010, photo, © UNICEF/NYHQ2010-0779/LeMoyne, of mother who's just had her daughter vaccinated at health centre in Haiti)

The lack of security on Port-au-Prince's streets and temporary camps, all of which host thousands who have been rendered homeless, has catapulted the rate of violence against women in Haiti. Already endemic before the earthquake, the rate has reached new highs. Prior to the earthquake, violence against women in Haiti was described as "widespread" and "alarming." Over 90 percent of Haitian women were estimated to have experienced gender-based violence at some point in their lives.

The insecurity following the January 12 earthquake has not only exacerbated that state of affairs but presented an opportunity for change as well. Governments, donors, and international organizations -- if not the global citizenry -- are providing humanitarian assistance to the tiny Caribbean nation as it struggles to rebuild its homes, schools, and roads. In addition to the bricks and mortar work being done, development agencies have observed the need to rebuild Haiti's justice and security systems.

No one appreciates the absence of rule of law in Haiti better than its women, who have long struggled to access health care services, police investigations, prosecutions, and enforceable sentences against their aggressors.

On June 7, one of those women, Malya Villard-Apollon, testified before the U.N. Human Rights Council. Villard-Apollon is a member of KOFAVIV, a grassroots organization that has worked with victims of sexual violence in Haiti for six years. Since the earthquake, KOFAVIV has recorded 242 cases of rape but has yet to see a single prosecution. Villard-Apollon urged the Council to take action, saying:

Although violence against women is common, rape survivors like myself refuse to believe that it cannot be stopped and neither should the members of the Council.

She cited a lack of education and security as reasons for the alarming rates of violence against women, as well as "ineffective" aid distribution and aid agencies' failure to consult with local organizations. Villard-Apollon reminded donors of the United Nations' Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, and urged aid providers to consult with Haitian women in the delivery of aid. Principle 18 of the Guiding Principles calls specifically for the involvement of displaced women in the distribution of water, food, shelter, and medical care.

The importance of consulting with women in Haiti's reconstruction was echoed by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in her June 11 report on human rights during the rebuilding of Haiti.

Involving women in the reconstruction of Haiti does not simply satisfy international legal obligations, it also makes good development sense. Participatory development has been a buzzword in the field of international aid since the 1990s, when development agencies began shifting away from top-down programming to more bottom-up initiatives. Since this time, many aid organizations have been working with grassroots groups to set the development agendas for their own communities, understanding that such involvement leads not only to project ownership but also to initiatives that are more tailored to participating communities and ultimately, to more sustainable outcomes.

This development philosophy, together the international legal principles prescribing participation of women in humanitarian relief, may translate into reconstruction efforts in Haiti that will not only stem the current crisis of gender-based violence but also prevent its recurrence in the future.

Guest Blogger: Cecilia Marcela Bailliet

It's IntLawGrrls' great pleasure today to welcome Dr. Cecilia Marcela Bailliet (left) as today's guest blogger.
Cecilia is a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo in Norway, where she's Professor, Deputy Director of the Department of Public and International Law, and Director of the Masters Program in Public International Law. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she earned her doctorate at Oslo, based on her thesis entitled "Between Conflict and Consensus: Conciliating Land Disputes in Guatemala, A Study in Preventing and Resolving Internal Displacement." Cecilia also holds a combined J.D./M.A. degree, with honors, from the School of Law and the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Her fields of research and teaching include International Public Law -- her guest post below considers that subject in relation to the global phenomenon of kidnapping -- Human Rights, Women's Rights, Refugee Law, Counter-Terrorism, and Democracy and Constitutionalism, and Refugee Law. Among her many publications is Security: A Multidisciplinary Normative Approach (Brill 2009), an essay collection that Cecilia edited, authors of which include IntLawGrrls' own Naomi Cahn.
Cecilia dedicates her guest post to a woman about whom we've posted before, the French feminist and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir (below right). Cecilia writes of Beauvoir:

Her novels and autobiographies provide profound reflection on the life experiences of women, highlighting the importance of intellectually intimate connections between individuals (irrespective of gender), and the urgency of engagement in times of political and societal upheaval. The books that I hold most dear: All Men are Mortal, The Mandarins, Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, The Prime of Life, and The Second Sex.
In the last book mentioned, Beauvoir characterizes the dilemmas facing women as such: "Thus woman may fail to lay claim to the status of subject because she lacks definite resources, because she feels the necessary bond that ties her to man regardless of reciprocity, and because she is often very well pleased with her role as the Other."

Heartfelt welcome!

Haiti: Human Rights and Human Security

"Earthquake! We see the earth shake! But the soul of the Haitian people, It will never break!"

--Wyclef Jean
The Fundamentals
First things first. Like all IntLawGrrls and people around the world, I express my deepest condolences to the hundreds of thousands who lost loved ones in the Haiti earthquake of 12 January 2010. Our true feelings are beyond written expression.
We—the transnational or global “community”—must continue to support the Haitian people in their struggle for survival against the natural and man-made challenges arrayed against them.
In the first moments and days of crisis and catastrophe, no one (should have) needed legal provisions or principles to understand certain aspects of "the right thing to do." And, from Port-au-Prince, we saw that the vast majority did not. Neighbors and family members used their bare hands, blowtorches, hammers, and whatever tools they could find to answer the cries of those trapped under rubble. Survivors shared what little food or water could be salvaged from destroyed kitchens. Instant caregivers stabilizing broken bones with wood and cardboard and string, then ran through the streets carrying survivors toward emergency help. Pick-up truck and cab drivers became ambulance and hearse drivers.
Husbands and mothers waited for their wives and children, hearing faint voices in reality or only in their hearts and would not give up for days past what seemed to be the limits of survivability. And miracles happened. A 5-year old boy, then a 15-year old girl, did not give up even though trapped under tons of debris.
Self-help, Social Media, and "Old" Media Too
Anxious relatives and friends in New York, Miami, Boston, and other Haitian-American enclaves tried downed phone lines, then flooded Twitter and Facebook with information and requests for information about loved ones. Radio Haiti stayed on the air, relaying information throughout the country and to radio stations in the U.S. People shared information through Skype, and when cellphone networks went back up, even transferred text messages from underneath the rubble to rescue crews.
A Transnational Community
Rescue teams, physicians, nurses, and health workers from Jamaica, Cuba, France, Israel, the United States, Venezuela, Poland, and elsewhere threw their gear into bags and hopped on planes.
Adoption agencies worked with governments to speed through adoptions for children and already vetted prospective parents. Once a few banks and cash transfer agencies opened, remittances from the Haitian diaspora flowed like water into the country—even though the thousands waiting in long lines to receive them often could not gain access. Pre-earthquake estimates put remittances to Haiti from emigrants at 1.5 billion U.S. dollars annually.
Lawyers and law students held training sessions to assist Haitians in the United States obtain “temporary protected status” (TPS). Members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other legislators worked to pass bills aimed at increasing aid or supporting the cancellation of Haiti's foreign debt.
And the U.S. President and First Lady, keenly aware of the ongoing failures surrounding Hurricane Katrina (see posts here), sent strong statements of support, aid appropriations, (controversial) military support, and set up a bipartisan fund for private donations.
Even the news media sometimes dropped their cameras, or used them to direct rescue workers or aid agencies to areas where they were needed. Of course, they were needed everywhere….
Hollywood and New York entertainers used their talent to hold telethons like "Hope for Haiti Now" that kept attention focused, spirits uplifted, and the material support flowing.
In amazing acts of faith, resilience, and defiance, the people, who had nothing but their spirit, sang and marched through ruined streets…
The Impact of History
Nevertheless, human history is also full of the worst expressions of cruelty, self-interest, and ignorance as well. The legacy of such horrors and abuse have left their mark on Haiti as well. Haiti, a former French colony, was initially a place for French planters and colonial elites to grow rich on the backs of African slave laborers. Those kidnapped to the island were often, and quite deliberately, worked to death. The trade in sugar, rum (see IntLawGrrl Marjorie Florestal’s series on “the story of rum” here), and African peoples made the country a focus of international policy and conflict from the beginning.
Astonishingly, only days after the earthquake, a few misguided and uninformed U.S. opinion pieces speculated that the country’s contemporary poverty and lack of disaster response infrastructure should be laid squarely at the feet of “culture” or even religious tradition.
Thankfully, historians, legal and human rights advocates, and Haitian-Americans of all walks of life continue to correct the record. Among other things, the Haitian revolution of 1791-1803, led by Toussaint L’Ouverture (left, image credit here; prior post) resulted in the first successful African-led rebellion against slavery and colonialism in the West. The reverberations of Haiti's independence in 1804 were, and are, enormous: the Louisiana Purchase that opened westward expansion of the United States; a demand that Haiti pay bankrupting war "reparations" to France for lost "property" that included the former slaves themselves; support for African-American and Latin American liberation struggles; U.S. occupation of the country in pursuit of commercial and strategic interests; the encouragement of racial and class divides based on color and language; foreign covert support for ruthless dictators like “Papa Doc” and “Baby Doc” Duvalier and their tontons macoutes; discriminatory migration policies toward Haitian “boat people”; and international aid and economic policies that further undermined economic and human development.
Selected Resources
There are many historical, political, cultural, and legal accounts of Haiti's complex legacy. A few recent opinion-pieces and books follow:
►Sir Hilary Beckles, “The Hate and the Quake—Rebuilding Haiti” The Nation (Barbados)
►Guy-Uriel Charles, “Stop Calling Quake Victims 'Looters'”
►Mark Danner, "To Heal Haiti, Look to History, Not Nature"
►Edwidge Danticat, The Dew-Breaker
►Edwidge Danticat, Brother, I'm Dying
►Paul Farmer, Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor
►Tracy Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains: Healing the World: the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer

►Randall Robinson, An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President
Guiding Principles
Positive initial reactions to disaster are often motivated by the best of what humanity has to offer. We’ve seen authentic miracles and authentic heroes and heroines go into and come out of the devastation. Their acts of courage and survival are beyond the confines of the law and legality. They rest firmly in morality and the resilience of the human spirit.
But even good intentions can be counter-productive or even harmful if states, humanitarian agencies, and ordinary people abandon the lessons of law and policy entirely. Transnational law helps to provide a much-needed framework for risk-reduction, preparedness, and responses that respect, protect, and fulfill human rights.
Here are a few key points from the “soft law” instruments (that draw on “hard” international treaties and customary norms) such as the “Hyogo Declaration on Disaster Reduction” (prior IntLawGrrls post) and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
State Responsibility. Although massive mobilization among charitable individuals and humanitarian organizations is essential and to be encouraged at a moment of crisis, the primary responsibility for reducing risk, preparing for disasters, and responding to them, rests with states. Where, as in the case of Haiti, there was significant logistical breakdown of the central government because of the disaster itself, the international community, in the form of the United Nations, must support legitimate governmental capacity in a coordinated way.
Why? NGOs, preferably those that are local or that have built long-term relationships with people on the ground often can move more quickly and determine key areas of need. They also have obligations to respect and protect human rights under the Guiding Principles. But it is governments that have the large-scale and sustainable capacity to provide earthmoving equipment, helicopters, planes, ships, and trucks, and to set up fully-equipped medical triage and treatment areas.
Obviously, individual small states, especially ones with already limited infrastructure, cannot do this alone where the needs of millions are involved. That is why, prior to disaster, all governments should be pressured to comply with their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law and to assist others in doing so. When called upon by a government in need or by an international body such as the UN, governments around the world should be ready to respond quickly, efficiently, and without inappropriate strings attached.
Preparedness and Risk-reduction
Some lessons have been learned from the South Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and other environmental disasters. Although certain disasters cannot be prevented, many can be prepared for. Building codes can be established and enforced, levees can be built to appropriate strength, tsunami warning systems can be established. Trade and agricultural policies that force rural to urban migration and urban overcrowding can be changed. Emergency supplies can be decentralized (a lesson of the tsunami) so that they can be better and more widely distributed even when roads are impassable. Evacuation plans should be in place. Governments and the international community need not wait for the heart-rending photos and videos to appear before taking action.
Coordination
Media and eyewitness reports in Haiti indicate that coordination has been haphazard and slow. Among other things, the UN peacekeeping mission to Haiti lost many of its most experienced people on the ground when a key office building collapsed. The initial outpouring of compassion is crucial, but so is coordination and planning. First responders, aid agencies, community leaders, the news media, local police, and the military must set up triage stations throughout the affected areas, assess the most urgent needs, and drop cross-organization barriers to the exchange of information.
“Vulnerable” Groups
I sometimes resist using the term of art “vulnerable groups” in humanitarian contexts because it seems to reinforce the popular perception that all survivors of disaster or displacement are helpless. The heroism of many Haitian survivors should demonstrate that that is not the case.
Yet, indeed, certain groups tend to be the most targeted or neglected in the days and weeks following a disaster.
Children: Thousands of children lost parents in the disaster. Speaking of culture and community, many are, or will be, cared for by surviving relatives or neighbors. But the Haiti disaster was so extensive that thousands of children may be left without adult care or supervision because so many adults have been killed or severely injured. Providing clean water, emergency medical care, food, and shelter to children must be at the top of the agenda.
As difficult as it is even to write, there are reports of actual or attempted child trafficking of unaccompanied or orphaned children. Needless to say, trafficking in persons is an international crime. It may also be so unthinkable to some that they forget or underestimate the risk. Both legal and practical strategies must be in place to prevent and stop human trafficking, reuniting children with their own relatives or placing them with responsible and loving adoptive parents after careful vetting. These, too, are "guiding principles."
The Elderly. Haitians who have lived to their 80s or 90s are, by definition, tough and resilient. They are also the bearers of culture, history, survival strategies, and family love. These mothers and fathers of the nation will need continuing medical care and emotional support. They will also be among those with the long memories and wisdom necessary to advise on transformative rebuilding.
Women. We've all seen the pictures in Haiti and elsewhere. After a disaster, as food aid and water trucks come in, the strongest young men push forward, leaving many women and children without. We've also seen that some are trying to provide for the women and children in their own families, but humanitarian workers know that distribution of aid to women is a partticular problem. There are reports that women-only aid distributions may finally be starting in Haiti, following the well-known truism that women tend to share the aid they receive within extended families and communities.
People with Disabilities. Unfortunately, the earthquake’s aftermath will increase significantly the number of people living with disabilities in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere in Haiti. Like others, they will need immediate medical care and other basic needs. But in a country where certain basic adaptive needs and jobs of all kinds are in short supply, they may experience social isolation, stigma, employment discrimination, and official neglect. Instead of warehousing the disabled in institutions, emphasis should be placed on rehabilitation, popular education about the capabilities of those with physical or intellectual disabilities, and even the creation of small businesses aimed at local adaptive needs.
Don’t Forget
By now, all readers are aware of the many organizations working toward a better life and human rights for the Haitian people. See posts by IntLawGrrls Diane Marie Amann; Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Naomi Norberg, Marjorie Florestal, and by me here.
Even if we are not in the region, we can pressure our own governments to enact or support just policies toward the country and its people. There will be other catastrophes, unfortunately, but don’t forget the joys and pain of Haiti.
In addition to Partners in Health, Oxfam America, TransAfrica Forum, and other groups previously mentioned in earlier posts, here are a few additional humanitarian and advocacy resources:

► CharityNavigator (to obtain information about charitable organizations)
► Hope for Haiti Now (telethon-based effort)

► Latin American and Caribbean Community Center (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.-based advocacy organization)
► ReliefWeb (“serving the information needs of the humanitarian community”)

► Save the Children (child-focused humanitarian aid)
►UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance

►UNICEF (UN body focused on children and child development)
►World Food Programme

Beyond the IDP Camps

The International Committee of the Red Cross has just released an unusually critical report on internal displacement in armed conflict. The report challenges the excessive labeling of forced migrants, a phenomenon that this author attributes to the legalization of humanitarian emergencies, and questions the international community's focus on camps as the locus of humanitarian aid to victims of forced displacement in armed conflict.
In 2008, there were 26 million internally displaced, many of whom were out of sight of the world and unreached by international organizations. Forced displacement has significant gender dimensions, including increased sexual violence against women and girls, restricted access to reproductive health care, and the proliferation of households headed by a single female. Forced displacement also carries serious consequences for children, who are at greater risk of separation from their families, face forced recruitment as soldiers, servants, and sex slaves, lack access to education, and are at increased risk of death from easily preventable and curable illness.
The ICRC notes that camps for the internally displaced are just the tip of the iceberg. Looking beyond the camps, many of the internally displaced receive food and shelter from residents who themselves are struggling to meet basic subsistence needs. Moreover, not all those harmed by conflict are actually displaced; some stay to care for the ill, the disabled, and the elderly -- and then cannot access humanitarian aid because of conflict. It is in this context that the report questions the overlabeling of forced migrants, which leads to an excessive focus of resources and energy on those who reside in camps to the detriment of those who don't. In particular, the ICRC expresses concern about the increasing tendency to consider the needs of the internally displaced as separate and distinct from those of resident populations, and notes that labeling people and compartmentalizing humanitarian aid leads to the neglect of some groups.
In other words, camps soak up scarce resources that may be more urgently needed elsewhere, a situation that creates not only economic but also political problems. IDP camps provide the displaced with higher quality medical care, education, water, and food supply than local residents, creating dependency & disincentive to return home on the part of the displaced. At the same time, those not in camps drain poor local communities, worsening their economic plight and causing tension. The report suggests that resources are channeled into camps rather than communities because funding requires visibility, and communities are relatively inaccessible and invisible -- while camps are easily reachable by humanitarian organizations and highly visible to the international community
Finally, the report turns to the end game, noting again the problems created by an overly legalistic approach to humanitarian aid. According to the law, displacement lasts only as long as the reasons justifying it (military imperatives or security of civilians) require -- but in reality, return and reintegration take much longer. The report proposes that conversations about resettlement, return, or reintegration should engage IDPs themselves, and critiques the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement for failing to mention this important point. It also notes the need for greater coordination and dialogue between international organizations to ensure there's no time gap between the withdrawal of humanitarian organizations and the entry of development agencies. Indeed, the entire report seems to push for an approach to forced migration that looks more like development aid and less like emergency relief, a prioritization that might put an end to artificial hierarchies of suffering in and after armed conflict.

(Hat tip to IntLawGrrl Diane Marie Amann for sending the report my way.)

ASIL International Refugee Law Interest Group

We welcome and celebrate the creation of a new Interest Group in International Refugee Law, launched through the American Society of International Law. As IntLawGrrls have often posted, the plight of refugees and internally displaced persons touches on a number of fields of study, including Human Rights Law, Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law, and the Law of International Organizations. We note that refugee law also hosts huge implications for gender and gender studies, as women and children vastly outnumber men as both refugees and displaced persons. The issues that impact refugees and displaced persons, such as lack of shelter and housing, lack of physical security, inability to receive an education, lack of employment options, lack of access to status determination processes, and the attendant psychosocial impacts of those difficulties therefore impact women to a greater degree than men, and arguably exacerbate existing gender inequality.
The interest group focuses on the few existing fora that exist for sharing information across issues related to refugee law and aims to fill that gap. It aims to provide a cyber meeting place to cross reference materials available through multiple resources, such as NGOs dealing with refugee and IDP topics, IGO networks for exchanging information on, e.g., the various national guidelines for refugee status determination, as well as academic scholarship and practitioner's observations on refugee law. The creation of this interest group fills a gap within the field of refugee law and should provide several tools for those concerned with refugees and displaced persons to better access and share information.

Post co-authored by Dina Francesca Haynes and Jaya Ramji-Nogales

There's No Place Like Home . . .

It's been some time since refugee organizations have reported on the situation of the Iraqi displaced. Last week, however, Refugees International released a study on female Iraqi refugees and their reluctance to return home given the absence of protections for women's rights and basic security needs.
The Iraqi refugee situation is still one of serious outflow: In Damascus, UNHCR registers around 2000 new Iraqi refugees each month. Moreover, of over 200,000 registered Iraqi refugees in Syria, only 900 signed up for voluntary return this year. Women are particularly reluctant to return; not one of the female refugees interviewed by the study's authors last month expressed an intent to return to Iraq. The reasons vary -- women whose husbands were killed in their homes fear return, especially given the dearth of avenues for economic survival; others, who were professionals before leaving, fear that increasingly conservative attitudes will prohibit them from resuming their prior occupations and social roles. Women who had suffered sexual abuse before leaving also feared return, while many others worried about the safety of their children.
Yet displaced Iraqi women are particularly vulnerable as well. In Syria and northern Iraq, the grave financial hardship faced by displaced families has led to an increase in forced early marriages, “temporary marriages” (muta), prostitution, and trafficking of women and girls. The frustrations of unemployed male Iraqi refugees have led to heightened levels of domestic violence, and female Iraqi refugees with uncertain legal status face serious obstacles in seeking police protection from sexual assault and other forms of sexual violence.
The report's authors recommend several steps to protect displaced Iraqi women: increased cash assistance to prevent poverty and resultant exploitation; reform of Iraqi laws on violence against women; provision of mental health services with special outreach strategies for displaced Iraqi women; education for displaced Iraqi children; and information on resettlement opportunities. It may be a challenge to implement these costly measures in the current economic climate, but the well-being of displaced women should be specifically analyzed and prioritized in efforts to assist and return Iraqi refugees.

War's End

While many in Sri Lanka celebrated the recent end of the country's decades-long civil war, the impact of the war's bloody finale on displaced and migratory Sri Lankans is no cause for cheer. The violence perpetrated by the Sri Lankan goverment and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the last months of the war dramatically increased forced migration within and without Sri Lanka. In an interesting twist on the typical tale of civil war-spurred migration, Sri Lankan diaspora communities, many former refugees themselves, are marshalling their political voice in support of those fleeing the violence.
In the last few months of the war, nearly 300,000 internally displaced people, including 80,000 children, were forced out of their homes and are now interned in refugee camps. Such camps are generally dangerous places, particularly for women and children, who risk not only disease but also sexual violence. To make matters worse, the Sri Lankan government has blocked the Red Cross and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from accessing some of these camps. For those able to escape Sri Lanka, the situation is equally grim; last week, fifty-five Sri Lankan asylum seekers whose boat drifted ashore in Indonesia (en route to Australia) went on hunger strike after being placed in prison.
These floating asylum seekers followed a well-worn path; throughout Sri Lanka's lengthy civil war, Tamils have fled in large numbers to Australia and Canada. In these two nations in particular, the diaspora have prospered and grown into a powerful political force. In Canada, Tamil leaders have asked the government to tell the Sri Lankan government that it must allow aid groups to access all refugees and that it should reach a political settlement with the Tamil minority. The Canadian government appears to have acceded to these requests, and has also been responsive to the diaspora's request to fast-track Tamil refugee applications. In Australia, where the war has resulted in violence between Sinhalese and Tamil communities, Tamil groups have requested that the government reinstate a humanitarian visa for Sri Lankans, a move that would minimize the dangers of illegal border-crossing.
So what impact will the unusually strong voice of the diaspora have on the war's end? If Tamil leaders abroad can leverage their political power in their nations of residence to successfully demand a political settlement from the Sri Lankan government, this power might prove a very valuable ingredient of long-term stability. It's also possible that the well-established Tamil diaspora might enable Sri Lankan Tamils to vote with their feet by emigrating, thus draining the island of its ethnic diversity -- a less appealing result. In the worst case scenario, if the government refuses to include Tamil interests in a political settlement, Tamils abroad might enable locals to resist such a decision and even revive the long-running ethnic conflict. We can only hope for the first outcome, in which case it will be interesting to see whether and when the Tamil diaspora might return to their native land.

(Wo)Manifesto From Darfur

This week brought news of worsening conditions in the Darfur region. Woes have long extended to refugee camps in Chad as well. While all displaced Darfuris have suffered during weeks like this, the plight of Darfuri women has garnered particular attention throughout the conflict. It is in this context that Physicians for Human Rights recently launched a new blog, DarfuriWomen.
The website features entries from PHR staffers who work with the organization’s Darfur Survival Campaign, video of life in refugee camps sheltering displaced Darfuri people and messages from blog readers.
The most striking feature of the blog is a document entitled the Farchana Manifesto. Authored by a group of 8 Darfuri women who live in the Farchana camp in Eastern Chad, the document is a rare expression of the thoughts, feelings and outrage of this otherwise marginalized population. While the horrors endured by displaced Darfuri women have been well documented by outside observers, the Farchana Manifesto was written by women camp residents following a particularly brutal attack in which 7 unmarried, pregnant women living in the camp were herded together, tied up, and beaten publicly on charges that they'd engaged in prostitution -- when, according to the Physicians for Human Rights, they were likely raped. In response, the authors of the Farchana Manifesto, relay the “concerns and problems” faced by women living in the camp. Unlike the countless NGO and UN reports about violence against displaced Darfuri women, the Farchana Manifesto reflects the voices of Darfuri women themselves. It cites many problems, among them:
► lack of free movement;
► restrictions on education;
► forced marriages; and
► deprivation of property.
Unsurprisingly, many of these problems reflect violations of several major human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention Against the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Never let it be said that this is a group that needs to be educated about its rights!
Kudos to Physicians for Human Rights for providing the Farchana women a platform by which their crucial words can be heard. As the women write in their manifesto, one of Farchana’s problems is a

'[l]ack of opportunity for freedom of speech, and no one listens to what women say.'

Hopefully, with the release of the Farchana Manifesto, that will begin to change.

(credit for © Jane Beesley/Oxfam photo of women waiting for food distribution at Farchana, a camp in Chad filled with refugees from Darfur.)

ICC Prosecutor’s Application for Arrest Warrant for President al-Bashir of Sudan Highlights Rape and Sexual Violence as Evidence of Genocidal Intent

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that judges of the International Criminal Court had decided to issue a warrant of arrest for President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (right) of Sudan. Today, the Court issued a statement indicating that "[n]o decision has yet been taken by the judges." Despite the confusion, it appears that the Court is likely to make a decision on the ICC Prosecutor’s application for the issuance of an arrest warrant some time this month. (Prior IntLawGrrls posts.)
The application made by Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo (below left) contains 10 counts:
► 3 of genocide,
► 5 of crimes against humanity, and
► 2 of war crimes.
Even if the Court issues the arrest warrant, it is not clear whether the warrant will include all 10 counts. The counts of genocide, in particular, have been the subject of much debate. Indeed, several commentators have questioned whether the application presents sufficient evidence to support the legal characterization of the crimes committed in Darfur as genocide (see, for instance, the recent article by Alex de Waal).
Genocide is notoriously difficult to prove. Proving genocidal intent demands a showing that perpetrators not only targeted members of a protected group, but also that they did so specifically seeking to destroy the group, in whole or in part. It is generally not enough to show that an accused is aware that his acts will result in the destruction of the group; the accused must seek to achieve the destruction, in whole or in part, of the protected group. Recognizing the difficulty of proving genocidal intent, the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR) have determined that, in the absence of a confession, genocidal intent can be inferred from other facts and circumstances, such as speeches or statements against the targeted group, acts of violence against cultural symbols associated with the group, other policies of discrimination against members of the group, and the brutality, scale and/or systematic nature of the atrocities against the particular group. Of course, when inferential evidence is relied upon to prove genocidal intent, the tribunals have cautioned that the

inference must be the only reasonable inference available on the evidence.

Although there may be disagreement as to what inferences can be drawn from the evidence presented by the Prosecutor in support of the arrest warrant application, one of the remarkable aspects about the application is that -- unlike the analysis of genocidal intent conducted in 2005 by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) tasked with investigating violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Darfur -- it explicitly makes reference to pattern evidence of sexual violence as one of several factors that the Court should look to in assessing whether genocidal intent can be inferred. Indeed, in his submissions to the Court, the Prosecutor clearly stated that

the magnitude of the rapes and sexual assaults carried out by forces and agents under the control of Al-Bashir during attacks on villages and around IDP settlements and camps . . . indicates an intent to destroy the target group as such.

Although the COI had suggested an inference of genocidal intent was not warranted because, among other things, persons forcibly dislodged from their villages were not exterminated but rather "collected" in camps for internally displaced persons and allowed to receive humanitarian assistance, the Prosecutor has indicated that the attacks against the targeted group —particularly the widespread rapes — have continued in the camps, and that this suggests an intent not just to forcibly displace the targeted groups but, in fact, to destroy them. As he noted,

In view of the social stigma associated with rape and other forms of sexual violence among the [targeted groups], these acts [have] caused significant and irreversible harm, [not only] to individual women, [but] also to their communities.

Additionally, while the COI also supported its conclusion that genocidal intent was lacking by pointing to the fact that not everyone who was targeted was killed, the Prosecutor has argued —and the jurisprudence of the ICTY supports his position — that the failure to kill every member of the group does not necessarily negate other evidence of genocidal intent. To the contrary, the Prosecutor has argued, attacking the surviving members of the targeted group via, among other means, the infliction of sexual violence, is actually an efficient strategy to achieve the eventual destruction of the group, given that the "slow death" and disintegration of the group via these means has given rise to more muted international outrage than outright killings of members of the group might have engendered.
Although it is ultimately up to the Pre-Trial Chamber of the Court to determine whether the evidence is sufficient to support the issuance of an arrest warrant for genocide, the Prosecutor’s consideration of pattern evidence of sexual violence as potential evidence of intent should be commended. Indeed, although sexual violence has been recognized as a means by which to destroy a particular group (see landmark ICTR case of Prosecutor v. Akayesu), it has rarely been recognized as one of the factors that should be considered in assessing whether genocidal intent can be inferred. For instance, as alluded to above, despite finding that rapes had been used to terrorize, demoralize, and humiliate the targeted population in Darfur, the COI essentially ignored this evidence when making its assessment as to whether the facts supported an inference of genocidal intent. In light of how difficult genocidal intent is to prove, ignoring potentially valuable evidence of intent does a disservice to all who suffered under the perpetrators' genocidal scheme, including, of course, the victims of sexual violence themselves.

... and counting ...

(Occasional sobering thoughts.)
Amid news:
► that 1 in 5 servicemembers "returning from Iraq or Afghanistan suffers symptoms of depression or post-traumatic stress," but that "barely half are seeking treatment";
► that "due to Iraq's lack of state capacity, the primary responsibility for taking care of refugees has fallen on militia leaders who, naturally, use that situation to consolidate their power"; and
► that "[f]ighting between security forces and Shi'ite militiamen" in March drove "civilian deaths in Iraq to their highest level" since August 2007;
we proceed with a count Iraq/Afghanistan casualties in the 4 weeks since we last reported.
According to Iraq Body Count, between 82,987 and 90,521 Iraqi women, children, and men had died in the conflict -- an increase of between 747 and 770 deaths in the last 4 weeks. Regarding servicemembers: by the U.S. Defense Department's figures, as of Sunday 4,045 American servicemembers had been killed in Iraq. Total coalition fatalities: 4,354 persons. That's 56 servicemember deaths in 4 weeks, all but 1 of them Americans. (Without explanation, the site appears to have stopped listing how many servicemembers were wounded.) Military casualties in the conflict in Afghanistan stand at 494 Americans and 305 other coalition servicemembers, an increase of 7 and 12, respectively, in the last 4 weeks.

The Forced Migration Count

Kelly O'Donnell and Kathleen Newland, both of the Migration Policy Institute, have just released a new report on the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. The facts and figures are grim:
► Between September and December 2007, over 45,000 Iraqis returned from Syria to Iraq. Almost 70 percent returned not because of improved security, but because they could not afford to live in Syria, as they faced stricter visa policies and difficulty finding work.
► As reported here, Syria introduced visa restrictions for Iraqis in October 2007. Prior to these restrictions, an estimated 2,000 Iraqis entered Syria each day. Jordan closed its borders in 2005, and Saudi Arabia is building a 560-mile border fence with Iraq to keep out undocumented immigrants. In Lebanon, Iraqis have no legal status; the government detains them indefinitely until they agree to return to Iraq.
► Of an estimated 2.2 million externally displaced, only 5,000 Iraqis had been resettled in third countries by December 2007. Although the United States allocated space for 7,000 Iraqi refugees and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) referred over 10,000 Iraqis to the U.S., only 1,608 Iraqis were resettled to the United States during fiscal year 2007.
► Iraqi asylum claims in the 36 industrialized countries that report data to UNHCR more than doubled in the first six months of 2007 compared to the first six months of 2006.
► UNHCR estimates that 60,000 Iraqis per month, or just over 80 people each hour, are being displaced within Iraq.
► Due to restrictions on internal movement within Iraq, many of the 2.3 million internally displaced are forced to return to neighborhoods plagued by the sectarian violence they were trying to flee. Former employees of the US government are particularly at risk. (photo credits here and here)
In the words of Newland (right) and O'Donnell, "the international response to the humanitarian crisis resulting from the war in Iraq is, thus far, wholly inadequate . . . [U]rgent action, beginning today, is needed to build toward an enduring, comprehensive solution . ..."
'Nuff said.