Go On! Languages @ War

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia and other events of interest)

An interdisciplinary and international conference entitled Languages at War: policies and practices of language contacts in conflict will be held April 7 to 9, 2011, at the Imperial War Museum in London, England.
Kicking off the conference will be a discussion of art and war inspired by "Baghdad Car," an installation featured a bombed automobile, by prizewinning artist Jeremy Deller. Delivering keynotes during the conference will be: Joanna Bourke (far right), Professor of History in the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology, Birkbeck College, University of London; Professor Mona Baker (near right), Professor of Translation Studies at the University of Manchester; and representatives from the British Council and the British Ministry of Defence. Panelists on the Provisional Programme hail from institutions in England, of course, but also in Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Macedonia, Slovenia, Spain, the United States, and Wales.
Questions to be addressed:
► What are the foreign language policies of government, military and multilateral agencies in conflict situations?
► What are the language-related experiences of those involved 'on the ground' in these conflicts?
► What are the implications for language intermediaries who work in conflict zones?
Details and registration here.

Minorities in Viet Nam

(It’s IntLawGrrls’ great pleasure to welcome back alumna Gay McDougall, who contributes this guest post)

This month I conducted a 10-day official visit to Viet Nam. My objectives for this, my 10th such country visit, were to hold consultations on minority issues and to examine the human rights situation of Viet Nam’s numerous minority groups. These goals conform with my mandate as the Independent Expert on Minorities for the United Nations: to promote implementation of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, and to identify challenges, as well as successful practices, in regard to minority issues.

I would first like to thank the Government of Viet Nam for extending an invitation to me and for the high level of importance that it attached to my visit, apparent in the assistance and access provided to me, at both national and provincial levels. My preliminary comments, excerpted in this post, will be followed by a report containing my full findings and recommendations to the U.N. Human Rights Council next March.

I began my visit in Hanoi before travelling to regions of significant minority populations, including the provinces of Dien Bien in the Northern Highlands, Tra Vinh in the Mekong Delta region, and Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces in the Central Highlands. (map credit) I met with senior Government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, community members, academics, and others working in the field of minority issues, social inclusion and promotion of equality and non-discrimination.

Overview

Viet Nam is a country of great diversity. The majority population consists of those who identify themselves as part of the “Kinh” ethnic group. There are 53 other ethnic groups as well, with unique religious, linguistic and cultural characteristics, and identities. Viet Nam recognizes its minority populations as important constituent parts of its nation, and it understands many of the challenges that it faces to ensure that the rights of minorities are respected, protected and promoted in every sphere of life. The establishment of dedicated Governmental bodies with responsibilities for minorities, including the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs, is a positive practice that is replicated on provincial and district levels.
Viet Nam has witnessed a remarkable period of economic growth, progress towards the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, and highly positive results in respect to poverty alleviation and economic development in general. The Government readily acknowledges that despite these achievements, most minority groups remain the poorest of Viet Nam’s poor.

The acknowledgment of the economic and social gaps that exist between the minority communities and the majority population is an important step towards putting in place the measures required to close those gaps.

Government programs over the past several years have established important initiatives to close those gaps through infrastructure projects, social protection programs and developments in the fields of health and education. The government should be commended for these programs and for the improvements that the programs have made in the lives of minorities.

I understand the challenges facing the government in achieving the rights of non-Kinh ethnic communities, particularly those in the most geographically remote areas. I welcome the government’s affirmation of its commitment to tackling those challenges as a matter of high priority. It is critical that:

► The Government ensures that its economic growth is achieved without negatively impacting on the lives of minorities or deepening their poverty; and

► Minorities share fully in the benefits of growth and prosperity, while maintaining their distinct cultures and identities.

Education

Access to quality and appropriate education is a gateway to development and poverty eradication for minorities. It is equally essential for the preservation and promotion of minority cultures, languages and identities. Education helps minorities to take control of their lives and to fulfill their potential as equal stakeholders in the development of the State. (photo credit)

Viet Nam has made significant progress in the provision of school structures to most Communes, in the option of boarding schools for students from remote villages, and in access to secondary schools for minority children. Nonetheless, I am concerned that minorities are achieving poor results in education relative to Kinh students.

One of the problems that has been identified is that minorities lack adequate opportunities to be taught in their own minority languages from the earliest years of education. They struggle with being taught only in Vietnamese.

With the ultimate goal of fluency in Vietnamese, bilingual education helps minority children to make better early progress in education and provides a strong and culturally appropriate foundation for their future schooling. I look forward to the results of a pilot programme of Mother-Tongue-based bilingual education currently being implemented by the Ministry of Education and Training and UNICEF, including in Gia Lai and Tra Vinh, 2 provinces I visited. Studies done worldwide endorse this approach. It is not sufficient that the Mother-Tongue language is taught as a subject. In preschool, and the first 3 years, it should be the language of instruction, which then transitions to be Vietnamese.

Enjoyment of rights
As in many countries with such diversity, numerous challenges exist to ensuring that members of minority groups can fully realize all their economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights and live in conditions of equality. The rights of minorities include:

► Freedom to practice their religions without restriction;

► Freedom of association and expression;

► Right of peaceful assembly;

► Equal right to own and use land; and

► Right to participate fully and effectively in decisionmaking regarding issues that affect them, including economic development projects and resettlement issues.

(photo credit) Concerns relating to these rights have been raised with me in the context of my visit; in turn, I have raised these issues directly with the Government of Viet Nam at national and provincial levels. I will study closely the information that I have gathered and the responses of the Government before commenting on these issues in my final report.

Conclusion
I believe that my visit marks an important step by the Government of Viet Nam to engage with the human rights bodies and mechanisms of the U.N. system. I welcome the Government’s undertaking to extend further invitations to other U.N. human rights experts in the months ahead, and I hope that these will include invitations to a wide range of mandate holders, including those with mandates in the area of civil and political rights.

On July 25

On this day in ...
... 1755 (255 years ago today), the British colonists in Halifax, Nova Scotia, decided to expel to expel their French-speaking counterparts, the Acadians, "and to disperse them among the English colonies on the Atlantic seaboard." The forced migration arose out of the refusal of the Acadians, who'd lived in the area since 1604, "to take an unqualified oath of allegiance to Britain." "Between 1755 and 1763, approximately 10 000 Acadians were deported," amid terror, burnings, starvation, and disease. Some Acadians took refuge elsewhere in Canada, including in indigenous communities. Others went back to France or to other colonies in North America, among them Louisiana, where Cajun culture persists to this day. (credit for sculpture of the subject of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Evangeline, about the Acadians' flight)

(Prior July 25 posts are here, here, and here.)

On July 4

On this day in ...
... 1997, the Council of Bimenes, Spain, declared Asturian an official language in its territory. This recognition of the local Romance language set off a chain reaction; other communities in Asturias (coat of arms at left), a coastal principality in northern Spain, followed suit. A year later the national government would accord legal protection as a "traditional language," though not official status, to Asturian, also known as Bable.

(Prior July 4 posts are here, here, and here.)

On May 11

On this day in ...

... 1950 (60 years ago today), at Paris' Théâtre des Noctambules, a new play, La Cantatrice chauve, made its début. The moment has meaning for this IntLawGrrl, whose 1st French textbook featured on its cover a drawing of the title character, The Bald Soprano -- a smooth-skulled stick-figure woman singing her heart out. (Must say, the 1993 cover at left may be even stranger.) The drawing, like the play contained within (the 1st by Eugène Ionesco, namesake of the 'Grrls Ionesco Awards), was absurd(ist). It offered an odd introduction into a new language for Middle America pupils.

(Prior May 11 posts are here, here, and here)

Intercountry adoption, final thoughts

(Part 3 of a 3-part IntLawGrrls guest contribution, an interdisciplinary conversation on intercountry adoptions between Professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin and Dr. Patricia Y. Jones. Part 1 discussed the case of Justin Hansen, the adoptive child who was sent back to Russia by his American adoptive mother. Part 2 considered the case of a boy arrested with guns at his Minnesota school).
Michele: Each year, over 1,500 Russian children can be expected to be brought into American homes. Generally, this process will cost Americans upwards of $30,000 per child. Some critics point out that it would be far less expensive to adopt children from less exotic locations, like Detroit and Milwaukee, than from abroad. Such concerns usually hint at race, as most children in foster care are black, and studies show that whites would prefer to adopt from abroad or adopt a child with severe disabilities than to adopt a black child.
Patricia: There are a number of reasons why this may be the case.
Many people would simply prefer to adopt a child who looks like they could be a part of their family. Some people are understandably uneasy about navigating the social waters that come with having a child that obviously might not be their genetically related child. That discomfort is part of the price of living in a racially polarized nation.
Perhaps the National Association of Black Social Workers has succeeded in identifying the skill sets and social capacities white parents would need in order to adopt a black child in America. Many white families may not be willing to change their customary social functioning to accommodate a black child. Children bring change -- even when they are your own biological children. Adopting transnationally also requires developing new skill sets, and perhaps making social changes in a family’s usual social network. Just because the Russian children share the same complexion as their prospective parents does not make this any less a cross-cultural adoption. This is especially critical when adopting older children.
Michele: But there are also some issues that policy makers and those interested in transnational adoptions would be wise to address, particularly given the profit motivations and financial incentives at play in international adoptions. Transnational adoptions are now a growing cottage industry. Each year the number of international adoptions by Americans increases -- despite language barriers, cultural differences, and financial costs.
Americans lead the world in adopting from abroad. Given what Americans are willing to spend financially, and expend emotionally, some agencies with less altruistic motivations have entered the adoption marketplace. In the worst cases, children not available for adoption, because they have families or were not sent to an orphanage, end up being sent to the United States. Some of these matters could be more easily dealt with when there are no language barriers. But given the significant number of adoptions from Korea, Ethiopia, China, Russia, Guatemala, and other countries where English is not spoken, the challenges become more obvious on inspection.
Patricia: The transnational adoption world would change dramatically if prospective parents were required to have conversational knowledge of the child’s primary language. Many of the abuses by those trafficking in children would stop if they knew prospective parents would be able to converse with their prospective children from another country.
Having a shared language would seem to be the rudimentary platform for which parenting a child from another country can begin. Children with a primary language are routinely placed in homes with parents who cannot communicate with them and unfortunately with parents who also have no desire to learn the child’s primary language. That is absurd.
Michele: The tales of Justin Hansen and Joey Jarvis are yet to fully unfold. Joey, the 14 year old on whose case we posted yesterday, is now in juvenile detention awaiting a decision from prosecutors as to whether he will be charged as an adult from threatening to kill his classmates and teachers. And as for 7 year old Justin, about whom we posted earlier. He has returned to his native country after an unsuccessful adoption by a woman who likely wishes that she had been better prepared for the challenges of adoption.
Exposed, however, are the weaknesses in the intercountry adoption system. Follow-up support is not always available. And support groups are not always local; rather, they are spread across the country (and world).

Intercountry adoptions, a conversation

(Part 1 of a 3-part IntLawGrrls guest contribution, an interdisciplinary conversation on intercountry adoptions between Professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin and Dr. Patricia Y. Jones. Inspired by a recent news story, it follows the publication this February of a book Michele edited, Baby Markets: Money and the New of Creating Families)
United States and Russian officials have been discussing what to do about U.S. adoptions from Russia. The meetings come on the heel of the story that Justin Hansen, a 7-year-old Russian boy, was sent back to Russia by his adoptive mother, Torry Hansen, a nurse from Tennessee. While most of the attention in the case has focused on her behavior, little has been explored about the complex issues associated with Russian adoptions.
Russia and former Soviet bloc countries have been a draw for Americans. Couples from the United States adopt more Russian children than any other nation.

But this story made headline news because of a controversial, and rather unorthodox decision made by his adoptive mother, along with his adoptive grandmother: They sent him back to Russia, with an “unaccompanied minor” ticket and a note. Their personal decision has become the subject of international policy and adoption politics, drawing significant scrutiny to international adoptions, and raising questions as to why Americans pass over plenty of children available for adoption in the United States. Critics and child advocacy groups wonder why the women did not try harder.

We endeavor here to discuss the underlying issues.

Patricia: It’s reported that the adoptive mother only had “Justin” in her home for six months. That's hardly enough time for either parent or child to get beyond any adjustment issues to a new home, family and culture. While we don’t know the full story and what she did try, sending him back is another rejection, and one that can be psychologically traumatizing. There are so many messages in that: “You are unloveable,” “You are not wanted,” “You are not worth investing in.”

When we have biological children, we don’t know what we are going to get, and we don’t get to send them back. The hopeful aspiration is that the commitment to adopted children will be the same as one we would have to a biological child.

Michele: In their defense, the mother and daughter pair asserted that they tried everything in their power to integrate the child into his new American life -- including changing his name from Artyom, and giving him a loving home. But ultimately they feared for their safety. They allege that the adoption agency lied to them about his emotional and mental health. In the note sent with the child, the adoptive mother wrote:

'This child is mentally unstable. He is violent and has severe psychopathic issues/behaviors. I was lied to and misled by the Russian Orphanage workers and director regarding his mental stability and other issues.'

Patricia: How would you (or your child) feel if you were taken to Russia? Given strange food, isolated from anyone who spoke your language? Told “you are lucky to be here” in a language you did not understand? And stripped of your name -- how was that understood by the child? A name is a source of identity and connection to culture. Stripping persons of their name is a means of culturally isolating them, and basically communicating that their culture or nationality is not acceptable. It was a common practice during slavery. While a loving home may have been the intent of these women, one could question the loving home premise. I am not sure the child felt loved; in fact his behavior suggests he was very unhappy and not adjusting. Because the adoptive mother did not know the child’s primary language, she was incapable of communicating with “Justin” about his discomfort.

As a psychologist, I am concerned that the mother was unfamiliar with her adoptive child’s native language. At 7 this is his primary language. A thorough assessment would have noted the language barrier as possibly interfering with the adequate parenting of this child. A good home assessment would also include some exploration of the parent’s familiarity with, affinity for, and capacity to affirm the child’s culture. The quality of preparation for prospective parents to adopt transnationally varies from agency to agency.
Michele: This case and others raise a number of urgent issues about international adoptions, including the:

► Exploitation of children,

► Vulnerability of adoptive parents,

► Market structure of adoptions, which incentivizes placements at all costs,

► Morality of “returning children” as if they are items from a store, and

► Lack of capacity for some adoptive parents to meet the challenges of raising children from different cultures.

(Still to come: Part 2 & Part 3)

Equality scorecard: Canada

(IntLawGrrls today welcomes alumna Gay McDougall, who guest posts on her recent 2-week visit to Canada in her capacity as U.N. Independent Expert on Minorities, during which she examined compliance with instrument such as the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities)

Canada is rightly proud of its richly diverse society, including citizens with over 200 ethnic backgrounds, numerous languages, religions and cultural practices. Many identify themselves as African and Caribbean Canadians, Arab and Asian Canadians; people of colour and religious minorities. These persons generally described Canada as a society open to and accepting of cultural, religious and linguistic differences, where they can express their identities, speak their languages and practice their faiths freely and without hindrance. (credit for photo of Toronto neighborhood) Canada was a leader among nations in fashioning a state policy of multiculturalism.
However, achieving a truly inclusive society requires constant vigilance. As I toured Canada members of various communities discussed with me significant and persistent problems that they face in their lives as persons belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, as people of colour or of particular religious beliefs. Many felt that the government had failed to respond adequately to their problems or to devise meaningful solutions, leaving them and their communities feeling discriminated against, neglected or as second class citizens.
Concerns included:
► Demographics. Although Statistics Canada has done excellent work, demographics are changing so rapidly that there are new demands for deeper levels of disaggregation to keep pace with shifts in the economic and social status of specific minority communities. African Canadians in particular felt that current methods lead inevitably to neglect of their specific identities and situations. In numerous discussions with government officials I had a feeling of constant confusion about what groups were being referred to -- officials talked about “immigrants”, “visible minorities” and “cultural communities” in ways that often seemed inter-changeable and overlapping. The word “race” was almost never used; almost as if it was being deliberately avoided. Yet, I came to understand that issues of race still have salience in this society.
► Poverty. Both federal and provincial governments acknowledged to me that poverty is a problem disproportionately faced by people of colour including African Canadian and specific Asian Canadian communities. Poverty alleviation programmes in Canada must be holistic and targeted towards racialized communities.
► Education. Members of African and some Asian Canadian communities, in particular, feared that their children are having negative experiences in public schools. Drop-out rates are particularly high among boys from these communities. Parents and community leaders described approaches to education that do not take into account their different cultures of learning, curriculum and textbooks that ignore their histories and contributions to Canadian society and a gross under-representation of minorities in the teaching and school administrative staff. Clearly there are examples of good practices and projects. But, it is vital for Canada’s future that more is done.
Equally, for some minority communities, including some sectors of the Asian Canadian and immigrant community, consistently higher than average educational achievements for young people do not translate into access to professional and skilled employment and wages commensurate with their educational outcomes.
► Employment. Income levels generally are significantly lower for minorities, unemployment rates are higher and minorities are disproportionately living in the poorest neighbourhoods and in social housing with relatively poor access to services. Standards and requirements must be better enforced and penalties must be imposed to ensure that Canada’s workplaces, both public and private, truly reflect the diversity present in society and live up to the promise of equality. Government must lead by example of robust efforts and measurable achievements in recruiting, retaining and promoting minorities to senior roles in the public service, ministries and departments.
► Underemployment. There is a deep level of frustration among minority communities that highly qualified and skilled workers have been encouraged to migrate to Canada, only to find on their arrival that their qualifications are not recognized at the provincial level. They are unable to gain employment in their former professions despite critical shortages, including of doctors and nurses in some regions. The cliché of ‘doctors driving taxi cabs’ resonates as reality for many minority professionals in Canada. Effective solutions should be put in place as a matter of urgency.
► Political participation. At the federal, provincial and municipal levels minorities are extremely poorly represented in political structures and institutions in Canada. Minorities themselves must be more proactive in their own engagement and participation in political processes. However more must be done to ensure that minorities are empowered to do so.
► Policing. Every community I talked with raised serious issues of policing. The concerns included racial profiling as a systemic practice, over-policing of some communities in which minorities form a large percentage of the population and disturbing allegations of excessive use of force leading to deaths particularly of young Black males. Minorities feel that the justice system is failing them and that mechanisms of redress, including Human Rights Commissions are inaccessible, underfunded and under threat. It is essential that investigations into serious allegations of police misconduct are carried out by bodies that are perceived by the communities to be independent and that mechanisms of civilian oversight are established.
► Treatment post-9/11. Members of the Muslim communities reported that they feel there is certainly freedom to practice their religion in Canada. (credit for photo of Ottawa mosque) Yet government policies post-9/11 have made them feel targeted, profiled and harassed. Muslim and Arab communities described to me deep anxiety and fear. They are concerned about racial profiling and the unsubstantiated use of Security Certificates. They perceive they have a second-class citizenship as compared to non-Muslim Canadians when they are abroad and require the support and assistance of the Canadian authorities and consular services. Steps must be taken to address these concerns.
► Human rights and federalism. Canada’s Constitution recognizes the authority of provincial governments in such fields as education, employment, the delivery of health care, social housing, and social services. The Federal government of Canada, however, has the unavoidable responsibility for ensuring that Canada meets its international obligations in all fields of human rights. The current practice has created an uneven and unclear enforcement system that varies between provinces. Officials must work towards stronger mechanisms of cooperation to guarantee consistent enforcement with respect to obligations under the provisions of international treaties to which Canada is a party, particularly in the area of non-discrimination and equality and the implementation of the rights of persons belonging to minority groups. (credit for photo of Toronto neighborhood)
These are preliminary observations. My findings and recommendations will be fully developed in my report to the U.N. Human Rights Council next March.

On August 5

On this day in ...

... 1925, Plaid Cymru, a new political party, was established in Wales. At the time it chief aim was to promote the Welsh language, then in danger over extinction. In ensuing years the party's goals have globalized, so that now they include the eventual attainment of "Full National Status for Wales within the European Union," as well as "membership of the United Nations."

... 1861, Congress adopted a statute that abolished flogging as a punishment that could be levied against U.S. servicemembers. Till that time, whipping of up to 100 lashes had been permitted -- a proposal to extend the number to 500 having been rejected.

(Prior August 5 posts are here and here.)

On July 19

On this day in ...
... 1799 (210 years ago today) , a soldier who'd accompanied French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte on his campaign in Egypt discovered "a black basalt slab inscribed with ancient writing near the town of Rosetta, about 35 miles north of Alexandria." On it were passages in 3 scripts, Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics, and Egyptian demotic, "all of identical meaning." The stone thus "held the key to solving the riddle of hieroglyphics, a written language that had been 'dead' for nearly 2,000 years." Seized from the French 2 years later when Napoleon was defeated, this Rosetta Stone (left) has been at London's British Museum for the last 2 centuries. (A prior IntLawGrrls post on Napoleon's Egyptian adventure is here.)
... 64 (1,945 years ago today), fire swept Rome while its Emperor Nero fabulously fiddled. "Fabulously," that is, because a near-contemporaneous account does not put that musical instrument in Nero's hands. Rather, historian Tacitus wrote in his Annals of Imperial Rome:

Now started the most terrible and destructive fire which Rome had ever experienced. It began in the Circus, where it adjoins the Palatine and Caelian hills. ...Fanned by the wind, the conflagration instantly grew and swept the full length of the Circus. There were no walled mansions or temples, or any other obstructions which could arrest it. ...
... A rumor had spread that, while the city was burning, Nero had gone on his private stage and, comparing modern calamities with ancient, had sung of the destruction of Troy. ... People believed that Nero was ambitious to found a new city to be called after himself.

In an aftermath that future residents of Chicago and San Francisco would find familiar, the charred city was rebuilt to greater glory. And whether Nero liked it or not, it kept its original name of Roma.

(Prior July 19 posts are here and here.)

On July 4

On this day in ...
... 1960, the 50th and final star was placed on the current U.S. flag in commemoration of Hawaii having become the 50th state on August 21, 1959, nearly 8 months after its closest predecessor, Alaska.
... 1971, a lowland gorilla named Koko was born at the zoo in San Francisco, California. As detailed here, since Koko was an infant Dr. Penny Patterson (right, with Koko) and colleagues have studied the language abilities of this member of an endangered species. They say that Koko has learned more than 1,000 American Sign Language signs.

(Prior July 4 posts are here and here.)

On February 21

On this day in ...
... 2009 (today), by declaration of UNESCO, the United Nations marks the 10th annual International Mother Language Day to "promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism." The chosen date coincides with the day in 1952 when, in Dhaka, in what was then Pakistan but now is Bangladesh, police opened fire on university students who were demonstrating for the right to speak their native Bengali language. That event is commemorated in this pamphlet from Bangladesh's Dutch embassy. (credit for 2009 poster)
... 1971, in conclusion of a 6-week, 71-country U.N. conference in Vienna, Austria, diplomats adopted the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, a treaty aimed at a global law enforcement response to drug trafficking. The convention would enter into force on August 16, 1976. Monitored by the International Narcotics Control Board, it now has 175 states parties.

(Prior February 21 posts are here and here.)

On February 3, ...

... 2008, we wish a very Happy Birthday to Tiernan and Léa, IntLawChildren who're turning 10 and 13, respectively, this week! Tiernan's the creator of the peace poster featured in October and reprinted at left.
... 1998 (10 years ago today), at 6:45 p.m. Central time, Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker, the 1st woman put to death that state since the Civil War. Tucker, on death row for 15 years, had become a born-again Christian. Although evangelicals had taken up her cause,

her final appeals to the Supreme Court and to Gov. George W. Bush for a reprieve were denied today. She became the second woman executed in the United States since the Supreme Court allowed the death penalty to resume, in 1976.

... 1916, a protest was led by French-speaking teachers whose pay had been frozen on account of their resistance to state-imposed language restrictions. The teachers' stirke closed 17 bilingual schools in Ontario, Canada.

On September 30, ...

... 2007 (today), multilinguals throughout the world mark International Translation Day. This year the International Federation of Translators has chosen to bring attention to a sad fact:

There are parts of the world where translators and interpreters literally risk death simply by doing their job. Some 261 translators and interpreters died in Iraq in 2006, and more in Afghanistan. Elsewhere, translators have been jailed for their work, and received death threats for daring to translate the works of authors such as Salman Rushdie. One was murdered.

This year's theme? "Don't Shoot the Messenger!"
... 1997 (10 years ago today), the Roman Catholic Church in France apologized "to the Jewish people ... for its silence in the face of French collaboration with the Holocaust." Bishops proclaimed a Declaration of Repentance that confessed to and asked forgiveness for the "mistake" of silence as the Vichy regime, which ruled in France after the Nazi conquest, imposed anti-Semitic laws and undertook "the deportation of tens of thousands of French Jews to Nazi death camps."
... 1960, U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) was born in Helena, Arkansas.

On September 26, ...

... 2007 (today), celebrate the 7th annual European Day of Languages. The Council of Europe set aside the day to "alert the public to the importance of language learning," "increase awareness and appreciation of all languages," and "encourage lifelong language learning" -- goals that ought to extend beyond that 1 continent. Indeed, they do: counted among the 307 languages of the European Community ("20 of which have over 2000 speakers") are languages like "Japanese which for a majority of students may, in fact, be second rather than first languages." Join the festivities, perhaps by taking this Council quiz, or curling up with a copy of An Béal Bocht, Saga af bláum sumri, or the like.

... 1936, Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela was born in a village in what was then called Transkei and is now the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. She received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Upon becoming politically active in the anti-apartheid movement, she was 1st detained in 1958, the same year she married African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela (left). Thereafter she was frequently subjected to detention and banning orders, as well as 5 years' imprisonment. After her husband's release from prison in 1990, allegations of misconduct by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela surfaced. The couple were divorced in 1996; thereafter, she was convicted of fraud, though a 4-year prison sentence was suspended in 2004.

On August 10, ...

... 1905, the 1st World Congress of Esperanto, "a neutral, international language" devised as a 2d-tongue-for-all in 1887, opened in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. Esperantists, as they call themselves, are "are internationally minded, concerned about social justice and peace, and are helping to preserve linguistic diversity." One thus suspects that these words -- "Mi estas multe pli internacia ol vi!" -- "I am more international than you!" -- are heard often where the Esperanto flag (left) is flown.
... 2000, in a Shari'a court in the Zamfara state of Nigeria, a woman named Amina Abdullahi was sentenced to 100 lashes for having had an extramarital affair. Among those citing the case was the U.S. State Department's 2001 country report on Nigeria.