International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

BY CARLOS QUESADA
GLOBAL RIGHTS DIRECTOR, RACIAL AND ETHNIC EQUALITY PROGRAM

Today, March 21, is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Why do we observe this day every year?  On this day in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa against the apartheid "pass laws". Designating this Day in 1966, the General Assembly of the United Nations called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.

Those of us working to combat racism and racial discrimination face both long-standing and newly evolving challenges, all of which are rooted in attitudes, opinions and behaviors that transcend generations.  In Latin America, denial, exclusion and marginalization against millions of people of African descent are pervasive. The civil and political rights, as well as the economic, social and cultural rights of Afro descendants are affected by a lack of laws and policies along with sufficient enforcement to address the problems they face. In Africa, the denial of ethnic discrimination is aggravated by the lack of documentation of bias, incidents and attempts at remediation. 

This situation stands in stark contrast with one we faced 14 years ago in Santiago, Chile. There, a Conference of the Americas took place in preparation for the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance held in Durban, South Africa in September 2001. During that Durban conference, governments of the world recognized that colonialism, slavery and other forms of servitude were a source of racism and racial discrimination worldwide. Because of that conference, many participating governments committed themselves to remediation and positive action through the Durban Declaration and Program of Action.

In the Americas, we have the opportunity to implement an Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance, approved during the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in June of 2013 in Antigua, Guatemala. Six countries have signed the Convention: Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Antigua and Barbuda, Uruguay and Ecuador. We encourage these countries to take the next step following their signing and ratify the Convention.  Their example will set the standard for all other countries of the Americas to step up their efforts to combat racial discrimination.  We at Global Rights, with our civil society partners, recommit ourselves, as we do every year, to remain at the forefront of this important work, building on the momentum created by the seven lead countries.

Sierra Leonean Youth Team Up to Combat Homophobia

Unclean. Abnormal. Bastards.

These are just a few of the epithets hurled with regularity at gay youth in Sierra Leone. One woman recounted how her uncle, upon discovering that she is a lesbian, told her that he didn't want to see her in his house again, adding: “I will not live with a beast and a bastard like you.”

Sierra Leone is among 38 of 54 countries in Africa that have laws against homosexuality. Although the law in Sierra Leone—a vestige of the British, colonial-era laws against “buggery”—is rarely enforced, it contributes to, and reflects, widespread homophobia in Sierra Leonean society.

Sierra Leonean youth leaders gather to discuss ways to combat homophobia in their respective villages.

Homophobia exacts a particularly heavy toll on Sierra Leonean youth who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). Many are abandoned by their families and left with nowhere to live. Others are forced to drop out of high school and university.

To address these issues, Global Rights and our Sierra Leonean partner, the Coalition for Equality and Gender, hosted more than 30 youth leaders from across Sierra Leone—many of whom are not gay—for a daylong conference in mid-February about sexual orientation and gender identity. The coalition, which grew out of Global Rights’ initial two-year project in Sierra Leone, comprises three LGBT-rights organizations and four mainstream rights groups. The coalition’s mission is to “fight discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.”

After participating in facilitated dialogue groups and discussions, the youth leaders emerged with suggestions about how to move forward with the campaign for LGBT rights.  The groups and discussions produced consensus about the need to educate and sensitize the wider public to the plight of the LGBT community, with particular outreach to religious leaders, tribal leaders, and the media, who wield broad influence over the public but are largely hostile to the LGBT community.

Furthermore, the youth recognized the major obstacles that LGBT persons in Sierra Leone face when trying to access health care. In September 2013, Global Rights released a report documenting these obstacles. The report highlights a pervasive situation facing the LGBT community in Sierra Leone, which receives less medical care than their heterosexual counterparts. The roots of this situation lie in part with doctors and nurses who simply refuse to treat people who have medical issues linked to homosexuality, and in part with LGBT people who are too embarrassed or fearful to see doctors because of the resulting humiliation and violence they will face if their sexual orientation is discovered. Among 80 participants in a survey, 33 percent said they did not go to doctors for fear of being discovered as gay; 39 percent simply “self-medicated” to avoid seeing doctors; and 28 percent were denied treatment because their ailments were linked to homosexuality.

The conference, which took place in city of Makeni, is part of a yearlong project that began September 2013 and is being funded by the U.S. Department of State. Global Rights’ initial two-year program in Sierra Leone, which lasted from April 2011 to June 2013, served to identify the challenges that the LGBT community faces, while this new project will focus on overcoming those challenges.

The Lawyer Who Defends Convicted Homosexuals in Cameroon

Michel Togué is one of the few lawyers in Cameroon with the courage and conviction to defend Cameroonians charged with violating the country's anti-homosexuality law.

It is illegal in Cameroon to engage in same-sex conduct, with jail sentences lasting up to five years. In addition, Cameroonian society is hostile toward the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and to the few who defend their rights. Mr. Togué's office has been broken into and ransacked. He has received numerous death threats. He has even had to relocate his family to the United States to ensure their safety.

So why has Mr. Togué, himself a heterosexual man with a wife and children, chosen to put at risk his life and the lives of his family to defend LGBT Cameroonians? To Mr. Togué, the answer is simple: LGBT rights are human rights.

“It is for human rights," he said last week in an interview with Global Rights. "Until the law that punishes homosexuality will be changed in Cameroon, I will fight; I will struggle.”

Last Thursday, Mr. Togué spoke at Global Rights’ office in Washington about the challenges he faces when defending Cameroonians who have been convicted under the country’s anti-homosexuality law. About 35 people attended the talk, including representatives from the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and human rights organizations.

Mr. Togué (center left with the suit) requested the more than 30 attendees at last Thursday's event to get in a picture with him. The attendees obliged.

More people in Cameroon are prosecuted for homosexual conduct than in any other country in the world. In addition to time in prison, gay Cameroonians face a life of “perpetual danger,” forced to hide their sexual identities for fear of reprisals, Mr. Togué said. The jail sentence under the anti-homosexuality law is anywhere from six months to five years with a fine of $40 to $400.

The law explicitly defines the crime as having “sexual relations with a person of the same sex,” but because it is nearly impossible to provide credible evidence of same-sex conduct, Cameroonians are often convicted for merely dressing or acting in a way that is perceived as homosexual. For example, Mr. Togué said that a judge in 2011 convicted two transgender women of being gay because they were spotted wearing women’s clothing and drinking a liqueur that the judge deemed feminine. Roger Mbede, who made headlines in early January when he died after being in jail for three years, was originally sentenced for sending an amorous text message to another man.

A Cameroonian newspaper that depicts the fight for LGBT equality as a Western plot.	Another newspapers pits LGBT "lobbies" against Cameroon, featuring an editorial that calls homosexuality a "crime against humanity."

The arbitrary application of the law makes it extremely difficult for Mr. Togué to win cases for his clients. He has only won a handful of the more than 20 cases he has defended that involved the alleged violation of Cameroon’s anti-homosexuality law.

“Judges in Cameroon, I’m not sure that they’re judging according to the law,” Mr. Togué said in the interview. “Even if they are judges, they share the same homophobia as the society.”

Mr. Togué, however, remains optimistic about the future for Cameroon’s LGBT community. He said that society is at least willing to publicly discuss homosexuality and the discrimination against the LGBT community, something that was considered taboo only a few years ago.

To assist Mr. Togué in his quest for justice, Global Rights is currently partnering with him and the Cameroonian organization for which he works, the Association for the Defense of Homosexuals (ADEFHO), to provide legal assistance to persons detained and convicted under the anti-homosexuality law. We are also helping to promote a grassroots campaign to create a more favorable climate in Cameroonian society for the recognition of and respect for LGBT persons. In addition, Global Rights will conduct security training for LGBT activists and their supporters, many of whom suffer physical attacks—and in one case, alleged murder—for their LGBT advocacy. The two-year program will also empower more than 10 LGBT and mainstream organizations to monitor and document human rights abuses and how to more effectively advocate for the rights of LGBT people in Cameroon. To learn more about this program, please visit our Web site.

New Alumni Network Created for Graduates of Global Rights Human Rights Courses in Afghanistan

Since Global Rights began offering human rights courses to Afghan law students in 2005, about 2,800 Afghan men and women have graduated our programs. Many of these graduates have gone on to become leaders of influential Afghan human rights and women’s organizations.

But not until the recent founding of an alumni network was there an opportunity for all 2,800 graduates to share their knowledge, skills and experiences with one another. On December 1, 2013, about 300 participants from across Afghanistan gathered at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul to celebrate the founding of the new alumni network, including graduates of Global Rights courses, university law school deans, and senior Afghan judges and lawyers. Opening remarks were given by the Afghan Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Obaidullah Obaid, and the deans of the law faculties at Kabul and Herat Universities.

All those in attendance pledged their support for the alumni network, and a six-person management committee was assigned to develop a constitution and strategic plan for the network. Many graduates gave impassioned speeches, emphasizing the network’s critical role in sustaining the model of practical legal education championed by Global Rights in Afghanistan while highlighting the significant achievements Global Rights has already made to higher education in their country.

While at the conference, Mandana Hendessi, Global Rights country director in Afghanistan, had a chance to speak with some Global Rights’ graduates (see below). To learn more about the human rights courses that Global Rights offers in Afghanistan, visit our Web site.

Monday, February 10: Global Day of Action Against Uganda's Anti-Gay Bill

BY SUSAN FARNSWORTH
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GLOBAL RIGHTS

On Monday, February 10, Global Rights and dozens of other human rights organizations will participate in an international “Day of Action” against Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill. 

This global advocacy campaign was initiated by the Ugandan Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitution Law, a coalition of 51 Ugandan human rights groups that was formed in 2009 to prevent the passage of the anti-homosexuality bill.

The notorious “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda was first introduced in 2009 but was quickly shelved due to international pressure. England and other European nations threatened to withdraw international aid if the bill became law. U.S. President Barack Obama called it “odious.”

Regrettably, however, the anti-gay bill did not disappear. Reintroduced without the death penalty clause, the bill passed with a majority vote in the Ugandan Parliament on Dec. 20, 2013. The bill includes life sentences for persons convicted of “aggravated homosexuality.”

The good news is that the bill has yet to become law, and we concerned human rights advocates can play a role to ensure that it never does.

As part of the planned events for February 10, Global Rights and other rights groups will hold a demonstration from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in front of Ugandan Embassy, located in Washington at 5911 16th St, NW. We and the other participating organizations have also launched a social media campaign to galvanize support to strike down the draconian bill. We encourage you to join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #stopAHB.

As was evident in 2009, the international community holds immense power to shape Ugandan legislation and safeguard the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons in Uganda. We at Global Rights strongly believe that in our role as human rights advocates, we must defend the rights of all marginalized groups, whether they are LGBT persons, women, or ethnic and religious minorities.

We are currently working with LGBT-rights advocates in Cameroon—where more people are prosecuted for being gay than anywhere in the world—to strengthen legal assistance for people charged or convicted for homosexuality.  In Sierra Leone, we are working with LGBT- and mainstream rights organizations on an advocacy campaign to advance the rights of LGBT individuals.  Our work in Sierra Leone is largely informed by the first-ever report about the discrimination faced by the Sierra Leonean LGBT population, which we drafted in collaboration with our local partner organizations.
 

Thirty-eight of Africa’s 54 countries have laws against homosexuality. Brave people there are fighting for equality, but they can’t do it alone. We encourage you to spread the word about the Ugandan bill and to help ensure that all Africans—irrespective of gender identity and sexual orientation—receive equal treatment under the law.

Ugandans Air Concerns About New Oil Industry

BY DON RUKARE
GLOBAL RIGHTS COUNTRY DIRECTOR, UGANDA

HOIMA, Uganda—Multinational oil companies are not likely to start tapping Uganda’s 2.5 billion barrels of crude oil reserves until 2018, but community leaders already have begun to address concerns they have with Big Oil’s plans to set up operations in their communities.

This week, Lien De Brouckere, Global Rights director of natural resources and human rights, and I traveled to the Albertine Graben districts of Hoima and Bullisa in southwest Uganda to meet with leaders in the communities where oil companies Tullow and Total plan to set up their operations.

Despite the excitement about the potential economic benefits from a profitable oil industry, local leaders identified several concerns they have with oil companies drilling near their communities. Many community members feel that they are largely unaware how the oil industry operates and how the new Ugandan oil industry will affect them. There are also concerns about whether people will be properly compensated for their land and crops that they will have to abandon to make room for the the refinery and related infrastructure. Even if people are compensated monetarily, they lack the knowledge how to use the money to start a new life once they leave their homes. Other issues include the exclusion of groups such as women, the elderly, persons with disabilities and youth; the lack of skilled laborers who could actually work in the refinery; and challenges immigrants from other African countries encounter when claiming rights to the land around the planned oil refinery. 

Lien De Brouckere discusses concerns about the nascent Ugandan oil industry with local community leaders

About 65 percent of Ugandans live on less than $2 per day and only 8.5 percent of Ugandans have access to electricity, according to the latest World Bank statistics. Ugandans see their oil reserves as a way to alleviate these societal problems, but the country lacks the resources to build the infrastructure needed to extract and refine the oil. Consequently, the country has struck deals with multinational oil companies Tullow, Total and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), which have begun laying the groundwork for operations but won’t start drilling until 2018.

In addition to meeting with local leaders, Lien and I also met with government officials, civil society leaders at the national and local levels, representatives of oil companies, and religious and cultural leaders—all of whom have a vested interest in creating a profitable oil industry in Uganda.

From these discussions, it is clear that there is still a lot to do to create awareness within the communities on the pros and cons of the oil industry. This needs to be done in a collaborative, inclusive and non-confrontational manner, preferably at the village and parish levels. Another viable option is community-based dialogue that brings together all relevant parties—civil society, the Ugandan government, and oil companies—including marginalized groups such as women, people with disabilities, the elderly and youth. It is also vital that the media, in particular the local radio hosts, disseminate appropriate messaging to the wider community. In addition to radio broadcasts, we need to design informational material about the oil business and land laws to then distribute to the people whose lives the oil refinery will impact.

Next week, we travel back to Kampala, Uganda’s capital, to meet with central government officials, oil company officials, civil society organizations and national conflict-resolution consultants. Following these engagements, we will write a report to assess the situation and that will include our next steps and future program to address these issues.

Our meetings in Uganda are part of a five-year project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) aimed at building peace and mitigating conflict among ethnic groups over competing claims to land and oil. Global Rights is working in partnership with the National Center for State Courts and Search for Common Ground.

African Organizations Band Together to Tackle Rights Abuses Linked to Business Activity

In Tanzania, improper management of a foreign-owned gold mine led to high levels of arsenic in a main water source for a local community. In Nigeria, local townspeople have received little or no compensation from companies responsible for oil spills that have poisoned drinking water and destroyed crops and livestock. In Kenya, 60,000 indigenous people who were evicted from their ancestral lands decades ago still wait for the Kenyan government to compensate them for what they lost.

Tanzanian man affected by poisoned drinking water, a result of negligent management of a foreign-owned gold mine.

Dozens of African human rights organizations fight every day for the rights of these disempowered and often vulnerable people. However, for most of these organizations, the fight is fought alone.

Unlike their counterparts in other regions, organizations based in Africa that tackle human rights issues related to business activity had never formed a broad coalition. They had never spoken with a unified voice.

That changed in late November 2013 when Global Rights brought together in Ghana representatives of 25 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from sub-Saharan Africa to have them share their experiences and knowledge and form a broad coalition that would foster more information sharing and solidarity. As a result of the meeting, the African Coalition for Corporate Accountability (ACCA) was launched. Coalition members identified the most pressing issues they face in their work today and articulated these in a declaration, which they then presented in December at the United Nations Second Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva.  Civil society leaders from across the world in Geneva praised the establishment of ACCA, and many other human rights groups around the world have already reached out to support the fledgling coalition—all signs that point to the power ACCA has to shape the corporate accountability agenda across Africa.

Representing a unified front, ACCA members will now have more bargaining power when lobbying corporations and their governments to properly address existing and potential human rights violations. In the declaration, ACCA Members emphasize four primary areas of concern for their constituencies and communities.  The first is the need for enhancing protection and respect for collective and individual rights in relation to the activities of business enterprises. One issue, in particular, is that businesses and governments frequently bypass communities entirely when planning the construction of a new operation, such as a mine. For example, from 1973-1986 the Kenyan government forcefully evicted about 60,000 indigenous people called the Endorois Community to make room for a ruby mine and a game reserve. The community was never consulted.

The second main concern is the need to enhance protection and respect for labor rights. ACCA members represent people who work in extremely hazardous conditions for very little pay. In Zamfara State in Nigeria, for example, more than 500 Nigerian children who worked in gold mines have died since 2010 from lead poisoning contracted at the mine.

Another pressing concern is the lack of effective and accessible means for victimized communities to seek redress for human rights violations perpetrated against them. Even if these methods exist, there is little or no assurance that the government or responsible companies will actually follow through with their obligations. For example, the African Human Rights Commission ruled in 2010 that the aforementioned Endorois Community deserved to be compensated by the Kenyan government; however, the community members have not had their land returned to them nor received proper financial compensation.

Finally, many African states fail to enforce their own laws, whether they are inscribed in their own legal codes or in regional or international conventions to which they are signatories. The United Nations, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the constitutions of many African countries include laws related to the protection of the environment, the rights of indigenous and minority populations, and other human rights-related laws that were put in place to avoid or remedy the very issues that communities in all regions of Africa currently face.

In our next steps, Global Rights will continue to work with the ACCA members to help them use their new, unified voice to more effectively lobby their governments and engage with companies to address these critical issues.

Global Rights and the members of ACCA are thankful for the continued support for this initiative from organizations that include: Human Rights Watch, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable, the Centre for Research on Multilateral Organizations (the Netherlands), and Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment (South Africa).