Canadian citizen Omar Khadr is the only Westerner still being held at Guantanamo Bay military prison; he was detained in Afghanistan at the age of 15. He’s now 23.
International law says children captured on the battlefield must be treated as victims, and not as perpetrators. Child-soldiers are supposed to be rehabilitated and given the chance to re-enter society.
Please write to President Obama at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact and ask him to halt this trial, which is in violation of international law, and instead arrange for the repatriation and rehabilitation of Mr. Khadr.
Last week’s stoning of a 13 year old girl in Somalia occurred partly because the nation has no stable government, is terrorized by rival militias and is awash in arms. Individuals claiming to be eyewitnesses report that the girl begged for her life and that many people in the crowd at the stadium opposed the stoning but could not intervene because the militia in control had guns. People who attempted to intervene were fired upon. A 15 year old boy was killed.
Anarchy has prevailed in Somalia since 1991 when the central government collapsed. Constant warfare between rival warlords terrorize the people. The port of Kismayo where the stoning of 13 year old Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow took place was captured in August by a coalition of forces loyal to rebel leader Hassan Turki, and al-Shabab, the country’s main radical Islamist insurgent organisation.
In spite of an arms embargo, Somalia is awash in arms. According to the UN, arms arrive continuously in small shipments aboard fishing boats and small aircraft. These shipments originate or are routed through Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The main Somali entry points are Boosaaso, Marha, El Ma’an and Kismayo, along with the airstrips around Mogadishu.
Map of Somalia
Atrocities like the stoning of a 13 year old child will continue to take place in Somalia unless the international community intervenes to restore stable government and the rule of law and enforces the arms embargo already in place.
Last week I attended a panel discussion sponsored by UNANIMA on trafficking. The focus was the premise that reducing the demand for prostitution would reduce trafficking. A good case was made for this by comparing the experience of the Netherlands and Germany where trafficking is criminalized but prostitution has been legalized with Sweden where there are strong penalties against pimps, brothel owners and traffickers and those who buy sex acts, but no penalties for women who are sold.
Proponents of legalized prostitution argue that legalization makes it possible to manage prostitution. They say that legalization will stop pimps and organized crime figures from controlling women through abuse and violence, reduce trafficking by stopping the buying and selling of women and children on the black market, curtail underage prostitution and reduce HIV/AIDS transmission by requiring prostitutes to undergo regular medical examinations.
The experience of Germany and the Netherlands argues against these claims. Here is how legalized prostitution has worked in these countries.
Buyers continue to perpetrate violence against prostituted women and girls. In one study, 85% of prostituted women in the Netherlands reported having been raped in prostitution. Buyers can rate the performance of prostituted women and girls on-line. Women and girls who resist unsafe sex or perverted sex acts are punished by owners and pimps who still supply women and girls to “legitimate” brothels.
In 1960, 95% of prostituted people in the Netherlands were Dutch; currently 80% are immigrants from poor countries.
At least 70% of prostituted people in the Netherlands are undocumented.
ChildRight reports that between 1996 and 2001, the number of prostituted children in the Netherlands has increased from 4000 to 15,000. One-third are immigrants.
Over the last decade the sex industry in the Netherlands has grown by 25%.
Legalization has not reduced transmission of HIV/AIDS because most prostituted people remain undocumented and are therefore not tested and more significantly there are no laws requiring medical screening for buyers.
In contrast, there has been a decline in sex trafficking into Sweden. There, in addition to directing strong penalties against pimps, brothel owners and buyers, Sweden
Works to dismantle social attitudes that underlie the prevailing systemic inequality between women and men.
Funds services for those who have been trafficked
Has initiated an intensive public service campaign against the demand for trafficking
There are many things that you can do to stop the demand for trafficking in women and children.
Promote the passage of anti-trafficking laws that follow the Swedish model of punishing those who buy sex.
Participate in awareness-raising groups that make known the situation of human trafficking in your country or region.
Pray daily for an end to human trafficking.
Protest against the sexualization and commoditization of women and children in the media and on the Internet.
Promote the UNANIMA International campaign to Stop the Demand for Trafficking in Women and Children in your parish, school, club meeting, etc.
A colleague at the UN brought this brief film regarding the crisis in Orissa, India to our attention. This film was developed by Sr. Jane Livingston. It might help to inform us about the crisis there.
Maryanncp's Weblog 