Is Anybody Listening?
Nov. 6th, 2004 12:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mcgillianaireI decided to spend some time and find out what the world should've been focussing on instead of wasting time, money and resources on the Iraq War.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
"The Congo Civil War is a conflict taking place largely in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). The widest interstate war in modern African history, it has directly involved nine African nations. According to the International Rescue Committee, nearly 3 million people have been killed since 1998 with millions more displaced from their homes or seeking asylum in neighboring countries. Despite several partially successful peace initiatives and agreements, some hostilities are still ongoing, as of autumn 2004."
~ Wikipedia, Congo Civil War ~
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NORTH KOREA
"According to U.S. and South Korean officials, up to 200,000 political prisoners are believed to be toiling in prisons, while non-political prisoners, whose number is unknown, are also mistreated and endure appalling prison conditions.
North Korea’s deadly famine in the 1990s reportedly killed as many as two million people. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans crossed the border into China for both political and economic reasons and many now live in hiding from North Korean agents who capture and repatriate them for the “crime” of leaving their country or from Chinese authorities who categorize them as illegal immigrants and forcibly return them to North Korea. Chinese authorities also routinely harass aid workers providing assistance to these refugees. Repatriated North Koreans can face detention, torture, and even execution, if they are found to have had contact with Westerners or South Koreans, especially missionaries."
~ Human Rights Watch, Human Rights in North Korea ~
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SRI LANKA
"Renewed fighting in the war, which since 1983 has claimed more than 60,000 lives, left hundreds of civilians dead, many more injured, and thousands newly displaced from their homes. Both the government and LTTE were responsible for serious abuses, including indiscriminate suicide bombings by the LTTE and torture and "disappearances" by government security forces and affiliated paramilitaries.
At the end of April (2001), for example, government aerial attacks on the Jaffna peninsula caused some 5,000 civilians to flee from their homes in Pooneryn north, adding to the estimated 800,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) island-wide.
In July, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) accused the LTTE of continuing to recruit and deploy child soldiers, some of them as young as twelve. Monitors in the north and east reported a sharp increase in conscription of children by the LTTE though October and said the LTTE had resorted to extortion and threats to families to comply.
A report by human rights lawyer N. Kandasamy indicated that some 18,000 people may have been arrested under emergency regulations and the Prevention of Terrorism Act from January to November 2000. The vast majority were Tamil, some of whom were ordered detained without trial for more than two years. Often the only evidence against them was a confession extracted under torture."
~ Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch World Report: Sri Lanka ~
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AFGHANISTAN
"The list of documented violations is extensive. Local security and police forces, even in Kabul city, are involved in arbitrary arrests, kidnapping and extortion, and torture and extrajudicial killings of criminal suspects. Outside of Kabul, commanders and their troops are implicated in extortion, intimidation of political dissidents, rape of women and girls, rape of boys, murder, illegal detention and forced displacement, as well as specific abuses against women and children, including trafficking, sexual violence, and forced marriage.
Women and girls bear some of the worst effects of Afghanistan's insecurity. Conditions are generally are better than under the Taliban, but women and girls continue to face severe governmental and social discrimination. Soldiers and police routinely harass women and girls, even in Kabul city. Many women and girls are afraid to remove the burqa. Because soldiers are targeting women and girls, many are staying indoors, especially in rural areas, making it impossible for them to attend school, go to work, or actively participate in the country's reconstruction. The majority of school-age girls in Afghanistan are still not enrolled in school.
The government of Hamid Karzai has been unable to adequately address Afghanistan's security and human rights problems, and in many cases has preferred to negotiate and cooperate with leaders implicated in abuses, as have U.S. government officials in the country, who continue to be influential actors in Afghanistan's political processes.
The international community generally has not done enough to address Afghanistan's security situation. The U.N.-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), a small body of security troops predominately comprised of Canadian and German troops, is still mostly limited to Kabul city. NATO, which commands the force, has stated that it wants to expand its geographic scope, but contributing nations have not promised enough additional troops."
~ Human Rights Watch, Human Rights in Afghanistan ~
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UGANDA
"Museveni has failed to end the long-running rebellion of the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda. This rebellion, led by the self-proclaimed prophet Joseph Kony, has ostensibly been waged for the sake of establishing a government founded on the biblical Ten Commandments, and at least 500,000 people are believed to have lost their lives so far. The northern districts of Gulu, Pader and Kitgum have seen an increase in the number of people driven out of their homes into refugee camps, the number currently stands at 800,000 people.
Under Museveni, Uganda is governed under the Movement system. All political activities are banned and although to some degree people are allowed to air their opinions, any public gathering whose purpose is political is considered treason."
~ Wikipedia, Yoweri Museveni~
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NEPAL
"The Nepalese People's War was launched by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on February 13, 1996. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) now controls most of the country, despite foreign aid to the government. In 2001, the Nepalese government began deploying the armed forces against the Maoists, and since then more than 10,000 people have been killed."
~ Wikipedia, Nepalese People's War~
The research is obviously far from over, but here's a start! More to come as I find time. Or would anybody like to assist? :)
"The Congo Civil War is a conflict taking place largely in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). The widest interstate war in modern African history, it has directly involved nine African nations. According to the International Rescue Committee, nearly 3 million people have been killed since 1998 with millions more displaced from their homes or seeking asylum in neighboring countries. Despite several partially successful peace initiatives and agreements, some hostilities are still ongoing, as of autumn 2004."
~ Wikipedia, Congo Civil War ~
-----
NORTH KOREA
"According to U.S. and South Korean officials, up to 200,000 political prisoners are believed to be toiling in prisons, while non-political prisoners, whose number is unknown, are also mistreated and endure appalling prison conditions.
North Korea’s deadly famine in the 1990s reportedly killed as many as two million people. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans crossed the border into China for both political and economic reasons and many now live in hiding from North Korean agents who capture and repatriate them for the “crime” of leaving their country or from Chinese authorities who categorize them as illegal immigrants and forcibly return them to North Korea. Chinese authorities also routinely harass aid workers providing assistance to these refugees. Repatriated North Koreans can face detention, torture, and even execution, if they are found to have had contact with Westerners or South Koreans, especially missionaries."
~ Human Rights Watch, Human Rights in North Korea ~
-----
SRI LANKA
"Renewed fighting in the war, which since 1983 has claimed more than 60,000 lives, left hundreds of civilians dead, many more injured, and thousands newly displaced from their homes. Both the government and LTTE were responsible for serious abuses, including indiscriminate suicide bombings by the LTTE and torture and "disappearances" by government security forces and affiliated paramilitaries.
At the end of April (2001), for example, government aerial attacks on the Jaffna peninsula caused some 5,000 civilians to flee from their homes in Pooneryn north, adding to the estimated 800,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) island-wide.
In July, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) accused the LTTE of continuing to recruit and deploy child soldiers, some of them as young as twelve. Monitors in the north and east reported a sharp increase in conscription of children by the LTTE though October and said the LTTE had resorted to extortion and threats to families to comply.
A report by human rights lawyer N. Kandasamy indicated that some 18,000 people may have been arrested under emergency regulations and the Prevention of Terrorism Act from January to November 2000. The vast majority were Tamil, some of whom were ordered detained without trial for more than two years. Often the only evidence against them was a confession extracted under torture."
~ Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch World Report: Sri Lanka ~
-----
AFGHANISTAN
"The list of documented violations is extensive. Local security and police forces, even in Kabul city, are involved in arbitrary arrests, kidnapping and extortion, and torture and extrajudicial killings of criminal suspects. Outside of Kabul, commanders and their troops are implicated in extortion, intimidation of political dissidents, rape of women and girls, rape of boys, murder, illegal detention and forced displacement, as well as specific abuses against women and children, including trafficking, sexual violence, and forced marriage.
Women and girls bear some of the worst effects of Afghanistan's insecurity. Conditions are generally are better than under the Taliban, but women and girls continue to face severe governmental and social discrimination. Soldiers and police routinely harass women and girls, even in Kabul city. Many women and girls are afraid to remove the burqa. Because soldiers are targeting women and girls, many are staying indoors, especially in rural areas, making it impossible for them to attend school, go to work, or actively participate in the country's reconstruction. The majority of school-age girls in Afghanistan are still not enrolled in school.
The government of Hamid Karzai has been unable to adequately address Afghanistan's security and human rights problems, and in many cases has preferred to negotiate and cooperate with leaders implicated in abuses, as have U.S. government officials in the country, who continue to be influential actors in Afghanistan's political processes.
The international community generally has not done enough to address Afghanistan's security situation. The U.N.-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), a small body of security troops predominately comprised of Canadian and German troops, is still mostly limited to Kabul city. NATO, which commands the force, has stated that it wants to expand its geographic scope, but contributing nations have not promised enough additional troops."
~ Human Rights Watch, Human Rights in Afghanistan ~
-----
UGANDA
"Museveni has failed to end the long-running rebellion of the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda. This rebellion, led by the self-proclaimed prophet Joseph Kony, has ostensibly been waged for the sake of establishing a government founded on the biblical Ten Commandments, and at least 500,000 people are believed to have lost their lives so far. The northern districts of Gulu, Pader and Kitgum have seen an increase in the number of people driven out of their homes into refugee camps, the number currently stands at 800,000 people.
Under Museveni, Uganda is governed under the Movement system. All political activities are banned and although to some degree people are allowed to air their opinions, any public gathering whose purpose is political is considered treason."
~ Wikipedia, Yoweri Museveni~
-----
NEPAL
"The Nepalese People's War was launched by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on February 13, 1996. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) now controls most of the country, despite foreign aid to the government. In 2001, the Nepalese government began deploying the armed forces against the Maoists, and since then more than 10,000 people have been killed."
~ Wikipedia, Nepalese People's War~
The research is obviously far from over, but here's a start! More to come as I find time. Or would anybody like to assist? :)
