Equality Now Reports: CNN ON LASHING OF SAUDI ARABIAN RAPE VICTIM

Taina Bien-Aime, Executive Director of Equality Now will be on the Glenn Beck show on CNN tonight, November 19th at 7pm, 9pm and midnight to discuss the case of the Saudi Arabian rape victim who has been sentenced to 200 lashes and 6 months imprisonment. See below for further information. We hope you can watch the show.

EQUALITY NOW CONDEMNS SAUDI ARABIAN COURT RULING
SENTENCING RAPE VICTIM TO 200 LASHES AND 6 MONTHS IMPRISONMENT


New York, November 19, 2007. A 19-year-old woman from Qatif, Saudi Arabia, was brutally attacked and gang raped by 7 men approximately 18 months ago, according to media reports. While seeking justice in her case, the woman was herself sentenced in October 2006 to 90 lashes for being in the company of an unrelated man at the time of the attack. She appealed this decision to a higher court, and the Qatif General Court announced on Wednesday November 14, 2007, that the victim's sentence had been more than doubled to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison, a gross violation of human rights including the right to be free from discrimination and from torture and other cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment. Following this decision the rape victim’s lawyer had his license to practice revoked. While the courts have not clarified why the sentence was increased, media reports suggest that the harsher sentence for the rape victim and the confiscation of her lawyer’s license were directly related to their decision to speak with Saudi Arabian media about the injustice in this case. If true, this retaliation clearly violates the fundamental human right to freedom of expression.

Equality Now is calling on the Ministry of Justice of Saudi Arabia to immediately revoke this sentence of lashing and imprisonment of the rape victim, which is a travesty of justice. Equality Now is also calling on the Ministry to restore her legal representation by rescinding its decision to revoke the license of her lawyer. Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director stated, "This verdict by the Saudi Arabian court is blatantly discriminatory and violates several fundamental rights of the victim as well as her lawyer. We urge the Saudi Arabian authorities to undo this injustice immediately. They need to ensure that the victim is treated as a victim and not as a criminal. The international human rights community will continue to closely monitor the case and provide solidarity to advocates on the ground until the victim is safe from state sponsored violence and discrimination.”

Equality Now is an international human rights organization based in New York, Nairobi and London that works to protect and promote the civil, political, economic and social rights of girls and women. Equality Now’s Women’s Action Network comprises 30,000 groups and individual members in over 160 countries. For more information please visit www.equalitynow.org.

TAKE ACTION
Please contact the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington DC, or in your country if not the US, as well as the State Department in the US or your country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Call on these officials to convey your concern over this injustice and to take whatever action is in their power to protect this Saudi rape victim from lashing and imprisonment. In the US, please contact:

Saudi Arabian Ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, in Washington D.C. at (202) 342-3800
Or
Consulates General in: New York at (212) 752-2740, Los Angeles at (310) 479-6000, Houston (713) 785-5577

VN, China work together to fight human trafficking, August 8

In anti-trafficking initiatives, it is important for destination and source countries to work with each other on combating cross national exploitation. An example in which organizations have taken up this ideology is evident in The Asia Foundation (http://www.asiafoundation.org/)

Article Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=05SOC080807

VN, China work together to fight human trafficking

(08-08-2007)

HA NOI — Vietnamese and Chinese police have stepped up co-operation in the battle against human trafficking.

Progress of the teams was reviewed at a workshop on the prevention and fight against human trafficking on Monday by the Vietnamese police and their Chinese colleagues.

Since 2006, police have uncovered 110 cases of trafficking women and children and arrested 214 suspects. In active coordination, Chinese police have rescued and returned 511 victims to Viet Nam.

In the review period, 149 cases of human trafficking to China were discovered, involving as many as 271 people, including 59 children. Victims were from rural and isolated areas in northern provinces.

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of victims from central, Central Highlands and southwestern provinces. — VNS

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AGAINST PORNOGRAPHY: Anti-Pornography Website

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Is the US Able to Combat Human Trafficking?

Polaris Project Provides Perspectives on Human Trafficking Movement: http://www.humantrafficking.com/humantrafficking/trafficking_ht3/what_is_ht.htm
CATW Resource on the Demand and the Debate
http://action.web.ca/home/catw/readingroom.shtml?x=53793

Exclusive: Is the US Able to Combat Human Trafficking?
Jim Kouri, CPP

Author: Jim Kouri, CPP
Source: The Family Security Foundation, Inc.
Date: August 6, 2007

The ability to eliminate human trafficking is critical to homeland security and human life. While Congress passes laws to protect against this crime, FSM Contributing Editor Jim Kouri reveals insufficient funding is holding us back from making real progress. Who is responsible?

Is the US Able to Combat Human Trafficking?

By Jim Kouri, CPP

Human trafficking is a transnational crime whose victims include men, women, and children and may involve violations of labor, immigration, antislavery, and other criminal laws.

To ensure punishment of traffickers and protection of victims, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), which is subject to reauthorization in 2007. The Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) lead federal investigations and prosecutions of trafficking crimes.

The Government Accountability Office reviewed strategies, reports, and other agency documents; analyzed trafficking data; and interviewed agency officials and task force members.

Since the enactment of the TVPA in 2000, federal agencies have investigated allegations of trafficking crimes, leading to 139 prosecutions; provided training and implemented state and local initiatives to support investigations and prosecutions; and established organizational structures, agency-level goals, plans, or strategies.

For example, agencies have trained new and current personnel on investigating and prosecuting trafficking in persons crimes through their agency training academies and centers, provided Web-based training, and developed and disseminated guidance on case pursuance. Agencies have also sponsored outreach and training to state and local law enforcement, nongovernmental organizations, and the general public through a toll-free complaint line, newsletters, national conferences, and model legislation.

Finally, some agencies have established special units or plans for carrying out their anti-trafficking duties. Federal agencies have coordinated across agencies on investigations and prosecutions of trafficking crimes on a case-by-case basis, determined by individual case needs, and established relationships among law enforcement officials across agencies.

For example, several federal agencies worked together to resolve a landmark trafficking case involving over 250 victims. However, DOJ and DHS officials have identified the need to advance and expand U.S. efforts to combat trafficking through more collaborative and proactive strategies to identify trafficking victims.

Prior GAO work on interagency collaboration has shown that a strategic framework that includes, among other things, a common outcome, mutually reinforcing strategies, and compatible polices and procedures to operate across agency boundaries can help enhance and sustain collaboration among federal agencies dealing with issues that are national in scope and cross agency jurisdictions.

To support U.S. efforts to investigate trafficking in persons, the Bureau of Justice Assistance has awarded grants of up to $450,000 to establish 42 state and local human trafficking law enforcement task forces.

BJA has funded the development of a train-the-trainer curriculum and a national conference on human trafficking and taken further steps to respond to task force technical assistance needs.

Nevertheless, task force members from the seven task forces we contacted and DOJ officials identified continued and additional assistance needs. BJA does not have a technical assistance plan for its human trafficking task force grant program.

Prior GAO work has shown the need for agencies that administer grants or funding to state and local entities to implement a plan to focus technical assistance on areas of greatest need. BJA officials said they were preparing a plan to provide additional and proactive technical assistance to the task forces, but as of June 2007, had not received the necessary approvals.

# #
Family Security Matters contributing editor Jim Kouri, CPP is currently vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). He�s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by
read full author bio here

� 2003-2007 FamilySecurityMatters.org All Rights Reserved

If you are a reporter or producer who is interested in receiving more information about this writer or this article, please email your request to pr@familysecuritymatters.org.

Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of The Family Security Foundation, Inc.

Other Articles by Jim Kouri, CPP...
Postal Security: Detecting Bio-Chemical Hazards and Weapons
Is the US Able to Combat Human Trafficking?
Homeland Security Attempts to Enhance Security of Passports and Visas
Third Suspect Arrested in DOD Bribery Cases in Iraq and Kuwait
Financing the Global War on Terrorism
US and Mexico Resume Voluntary Interior Repatriation Program Jim Kouri
Homeland Security Dept. Facing Manpower Shortages
Justice Department Unveils Measures to Enhance National Security Oversight
Counterterrorism: US Aids Colombia with Protection of Oil Pipelines
Task Force Arrests 22 Gang Members in "Operation Valley Star"

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More details on95 women arrested for alleged human trafficking, August 4, Benin

More details on trafficking in the Republic of Benin: http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Benin.htm

http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=08/04/2007&qrTitle=95%20women%20arrested%20for%20alleged%20human%20trafficking&qrColumn=NEWS

95 women arrested for alleged human trafficking
• Saturday, Aug 4, 2007

Ninety-five women suspected to be human traffickers were arrested by the Lagos State Police Command in the metropolis in the last one week.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Muhammed Abubakar, yesterday paraded 53 other persons allegedly involved in violent crimes within the period.

The teenagers, among them the women, he said, would be handed over to the appropriate authorities for rehabilitation, while the adults would be prosecuted.

“These teenage girls were brought into Lagos from the South-South for trafficking to neighbouring Benin Republic for child labour,” he said.

“Investigations revealed that the trafficked children have been sexually abused.

“They alleged that their masters used them for commercial sex business in brothels where they make returns of N1,000 to them per day,” Abubakar said.

He said 18 suspected armed robbers were arrested, with three killed in different parts of the state within the period, adding that nine arms and 34 ammunition were recovered.

Abubakar said 48 motorcycles were impounded for contravening traffic regulations, 10 bullion vehicles for illegal use of siren, and nine suspected stolen vehicles recovered.

He said 1,955 persons were arrested during raids of some black spots and that 1,241 of them had been prosecuted.

He added that three pipeline vandals were arrested with 33,000 litres of fuel in a tanker and fuel in 85 jerrycans.

Abubakar regretted the death of three policemen early yesterday during a robbery at one of the new generation banks in Lagos.

He said: “Though the policemen died, but the robbery did not succeed.”

He said the command honoured 11 policemen for their gallant performance.

Study to examine extent of people trafficking in Ireland, August 2

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/article2826440.ece

Study to examine extent of people trafficking in Ireland

Thursday, August 02, 2007

A new research project is set to examine the true situation surrounding the trafficking of women and children into Ireland's sex industry.
The Immigrant Council of Ireland has commissioned the year-long study, which will assess the extent, causes and ways of responding to the problem.
The council says it believes that the number of women and children being trafficked into Ireland is far bigger than the authorities are aware of.
Support groups also say the trafficking of people to work in the sex industry is a significant problem.

Rape and Post-Conflict Justice, August 2, 2007

http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/242217

Rape and Post-Conflict Justice

Aug 02, 2007 Noeleen Heyzer

The lengthy prison terms for war crimes and crimes against humanity handed down by the Special Court for Sierra Leone last month have been greeted with widespread praise. Two senior members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council were sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment and another to 45 years for atrocities, including rape, committed during the country's civil war.
Indeed, calling senior military leaders to account for sexual crimes against women is a historic achievement. The July 19 sentencing reaffirms that rape is among the gravest violations of international law, on par with acts of mass murder and terrorism.

The precedent set by the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, as well as the investigations into Central African Republic and Darfur being conducted by the International Criminal Court, suggests that post-conflict justice for sexual violence may at last be becoming the rule rather than the exception.

Yet during the 11 years of brutal civil war in Sierra Leone, more than 50 per cent of the country's women and girls suffered sexual violence. Five years later, only 11 suspects have been indicted.

This means that thousands of women will never see their rapists brought to justice. They will, instead, continue to see them in the streets, parks and marketplaces of their communities. For these women, there is no closure to the trauma of wartime rape. Peace brings no peace of mind. And there is no equality before the law.

The women of Sierra Leone look to the Special Court as an emblem of hope for ending impunity. But beyond the high-profile cases that the Court is mandated to take on, it is also hoped that it will help bolster the capacity of local courts to convict the thousands of lower-ranking rapists who walk free. This is indeed the best hope for resurrecting the rule of law in a war-ravaged nation.

Regrettably, international support for the rehabilitation of justice systems and the rule of law has not prioritized women's access to justice. This has generally been sidelined in favour of market-oriented reform, such as revising corporate laws to improve the investment climate.
Such an approach overlooks the fact that age-old social and economic inequalities – including those between women and men – are often the root causes of conflict, instability or economic stagnation.

So while provisions for prosecuting rape are firmly established in international law, a lack of political will and financial support leads to foot-dragging. For women living in the midst of their tormentors, justice delayed is more than justice denied – it is terror continued.
We must urgently ensure that laws on paper are matched by action. Appalled by reports from clinics in war-torn countries of genital injuries caused by rape, and aware of the need for global action, 12 UN organizations, including UNIFEM, have come together in the UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Alongside women's groups and NGOs worldwide we are working to break the silence surrounding sexual abuse, build communities that say no to violence against women and enhance women's access to justice.

For centuries, women have borne the guilt and taint of rape in the absence of any formal attribution of liability. Now, the prospect of consistent, expedient justice according to law places this burden squarely where it belongs – with the perpetrators.

The sentences in Sierra Leone remind us that by calling for the effective prosecution of every perpetrator regardless of rank, we can all contribute to making rape a rule of law priority in national and international courts, in times of war and peace.

Noeleen Heyzer is executive director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

Police told to see prostitutes as victims, New Delhi, August 1

http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-28771420070801?sp=true

Police told to see prostitutes as victims

By Nita Bhalla

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Police must treat prostitutes as victims rather than criminals and crack down instead on clients and human traffickers who force women and children to sell their bodies, activists said on Wednesday.

Hundreds of thousands of women and girls in India are kidnapped, sold, coerced or trafficked for sex in a highly organised, yet illicit trade which is the world's third most lucrative after arms and drugs.

But activists say that while the children and young women are often trapped in slave-like situations, unable to free themselves from their pimps and brothel owners, police treat them as criminals while the real perpetrators get away.

"Hundreds of thousands of victims are invisible and are kept in captivity and have no access to any justice system whatsoever," said Ruchira Gupta, director of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, a local charity working against human trafficking.

"On the other hand, the perpetrators of this crime -- the profiteers and buyers that constitute the demand for human trafficking -- are visible and work with impunity."
In India, trafficking and profiting by selling a person for sex is illegal, but paying for sex with a prostitute is not unless she is under 18-years-old.

Almost 6,000 cases of trafficking were registered in 2005, but activists say the real number is much higher and on the rise.

Activists say that women are easy targets for police to arrest and round up in brothel raids and on street corners and police rarely investigate or arrest brothel owners or pimps.
Experts, speaking at the launch of a handbook to help police better enforce human trafficking laws, said police needed to understand the issue better.

"The real problem is not the absence of a legal infrastructure, but the importance of those that are empowered to impose the law to know what to do," said Gary Lewis, South Asia representative of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
According to the International Labour Organisation, 2.45 million people worldwide are exploited and treated like slaves every year, and another 1.2 million people are trafficked.
Lewis said that, according to some estimates, the global trade in human trafficking generated around $32 billion a year.

Sex-trafficked girls and women from south Asia have high prevalence of HIV infection, South Asia, July 31

Public release date: 31-Jul-

Sex-trafficked girls and women from south Asia have high prevalence of HIV infection
Nearly 40 percent of repatriated Nepalese sex-trafficked girls and women tested were positive for HIV infection, with girls trafficked before age 15 having higher rates of infection, according to a study in the August 1 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights.

“Trafficking across or within national borders for purposes of sexual exploitation including forced prostitution, i.e., sex trafficking, is recognized as a major gender-based human rights violation with significant individual and public health consequences and is increasingly discussed as a potentially critical mechanism in the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) across developing nations,” the authors write.

There are an estimated 150,000 girls and women trafficked each year within and across the countries of South Asia, with approximately 5,000 to 7,000 Nepalese girls and women trafficked to India’s commercial sex industry each year, according to background information in the article. Data on HIV prevalence among survivors of sex trafficking and roles of trafficking-related exposures in HIV infection have been limited.

Jay G. Silverman, Ph.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues examined the prevalence and risk factors for HIV infection among 287 repatriated Nepalese girls and women sex trafficked to brothels in India. Medical and case records were reviewed of the girls and women, who received rehabilitative services between January 1997 and December 2005.

The researchers found that among the 287 girls and women, 38.0 percent tested positive for HIV. Among those with complete documentation of trafficking experiences (n = 225), median (midpoint) age at time of trafficking was 17.0 years, with 33 girls (14.7 percent) trafficked prior to age 15 years. Compared with those trafficked at 18 years or older, girls trafficked prior to age 15 years had an increased risk for HIV, with 20 of 33 (60.6 percent) infected among this youngest age group.

Additional factors associated with being HIV positive included being trafficked to Mumbai (India’s second largest city) and longer duration of forced prostitution (indicating increased risk per additional month in a brothel). Additional analyses indicated that girls trafficked prior to age 15 years had five times the increased odds of having been detained in multiple brothels and more likely to be in brothels for a duration of 1 year or more vs. those trafficked at age 18 years or older.

The authors write, “Findings of the present study emphasize the critical need to strengthen efforts to prevent sex trafficking and to intervene to protect trafficking survivors so as to shield young girls and women, both from this form of sexual violence and from the high risk of HIV infection. Currently, relatively few such efforts exist, and organizations that do engage in this work often lack adequate political or financial support. Furthermore, the high rates of HIV documented herein support concerns that sex trafficking may be a significant factor in the expansion of the South Asian HIV epidemic, both within higher-prevalence nations such as India and also from such nations to their lower-prevalence neighbors (e.g., Nepal). Moreover, the current demonstration of the very young age of many of those trafficked and sexually exploited, and the further harm to these young lives through high rates of HIV infection, requires attention from public health researchers and strategists to better understand and reduce the demand for sexual services from prostituted girls and women.”

###
(JAMA. 20017;298(5):536-542. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org)
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
For More Information: Contact the JAMA/Archives Media Relations Department at 312-464-JAMA or email: mediarelations@jama-archives.org.

Cyber sex den 'operators' fall POLICE URGING PUBLIC TO

IN DUMAGUETE

BY JUANCHO GALLARDE
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2007/July/21/negor1.htm

The police appealed for public support in fighting the growing problem of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, after the arrest Wednesday of a couple who allegedly operated a cyber sex den in a village in the outskirts of Dumaguete City.

Armed with a search warrant issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 34, the operatives headed by Dumaguete deputy chief of police Chief Inspector Julius Muñez, swooped down on a residential house in the area, about six kilometers from the city proper. Muñez said at least four minors were made to perform nude in front of the computer camera for a fee from foreigners.

Police confiscated the computer and its accessories, telephone set and other paraphernalia, and assorted clothing of the minors.

Muñez said women and children are the most vulnerable victims of human trafficking, because of depressive conditions in their homes that force them to do anything to earn income.

The raid at the house of the suspects on Wednesday was a result of close surveillance and reports from minor victims who claimed they were made to undress and dance in front of the web camera for "clients" who connect to them via the Internet. Muñez, meanwhile, declined to identify the couple arrested and charged in court, citing a confidentiality clause in Republic Act 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

Section 6 of the Act states that the right to privacy of the trafficked person and the accused must be respected, and that at any stage of the investigation, prosecution and trial of an offense under it, the identities and personal circumstances of both the accused and the victim shall not be disclosed to the public, Muñez added.

The media shall also be held liable for publishing or airing information and causing publicity of any case of trafficking in persons. Because of these provisions, Muñez said the police could not freely discuss with the media the alleged cyber sex operations of the couple.

He, however, appealed to the public to help the police by monitoring and reporting unusual activities in their neighborhood, such as the constant presence of young girls, especially if scantily dressed and wearing make-up, at a particular house.

Muñez added that he believes cyber sex operations are syndicated and that those involved in the illegal trade usually move from one place to another, making it difficult for the police to arrest them.

Meanwhile, Commission on Human Rights special investigator Jess Cañete who witnessed the raid, said the four minors are now in the custody of the G-WAVE, but their names are being withheld. Cañete said the girls were told to remove their clothes and show their private parts in front of the camera.*JG

Nigeria probes mass human trafficking case

Wed 18 Jul 2007, 11:28 GMT

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian police intercepted a freight truck carrying 62 people, including babies and children, in a suspected case of mass human trafficking, the agency in charge of fighting such crimes said on Wednesday.

The 62, who include men, women, boys and girls, are all from the same community in southeastern Cross River state and they say they were on their way to various locations in southwestern Ogun and Ondo states to join relatives or find work.

"We are investigating because we think it is possible that human traffickers recruited these people to give them out as farm hands, house helps or for brothels," said Funke Abiodun, head of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) in Edo state, where the truck was stopped.

Human trafficking is a major problem in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation where the majority live on less than $1 (49 pence) per day, and victims are often made to swear oaths at traditional shrines, discouraging them from denouncing the traffickers.

Abiodun said police intercepted the truck on Sunday and detained the 62 people for two days in cells where they complained of ill treatment and refused food or water in protest.

She said NAPTIP had taken over the case on Tuesday and the 62 had initially been hostile to the agency's staff, but the women and girls were now in a NAPTIP shelter while the men and boys were in a holding centre and all were eating and drinking.

Some Nigerian victims of human trafficking are transferred within the country, but many are taken abroad where they work as domestic staff or prostitutes. Victims are often saddled with huge "debts" towards their traffickers and are unable to retain any earnings for several years.