SACW 8 July 2011 / Afghan women / Pakistan's divided army / India: Salwa Judam outlawed; Forbesganj Silence/ Kashmir impunity / Post-conflict Sri Lanka / Algeria attacks on women /

[Harsh K]

    South Asia Citizens Wire - 8 July 2011 - No. 2720
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Contents:

1. Afghanistan: Can Afghan women count on Hillary Clinton? (Meredith Tax)
2. Pakistan: Blasphemy allegations, again (editorial, Daily Times)
3. India: Return of Hindutva (B G Verghese)

4. Content updates from sacw.net
  + Pakistan’s Army: Divided It Stands (Pervez Hoodbhoy) 
  + Who speaks for India — Gandhi or Modi? (Aijaz Zaka Syed)
  + Spotlighting Lankan Tamils (Anuradha Chenoy)
  + Indian Spiritualism Made for the Modern Age (Manu Joseph)
  + Culture of impunity in Kashmir (editorial, Kashmir Times)
  + Kathmandu Declaration on Challenges and Way Forward for Democracy and Peace in South Asia 
  + Delhi University on The Brink (Mukul Mangalik)
  + The ‘Hot Run’ in Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant Coincides with a ’Hot Report’ Published in Russia (S.P. Udayakumar)
  + India: Full Text of the Supreme Court Order of 5 July 2011 in the Salwa Judum (in Chhattisgarh) Case 
  + Online Petition: Children too have a right to say no to POSCO 

5. Recent content on Communalism Watch:
  - Out with the hate : pros and cons of communal violence bill
  - Kerala temple treasure: Should God's riches be used for public good?
  - Tax the temples
  - The treasure of Trivandrum
  - NGO seeks clarification over 'destroyed' Gujarat riot period data
  - Pakistan: Homophobic Muslim right condemns LGBT event
  - Ramdev: Swami without Sampradaya
  - Bhatt is the truth?
  - Gujarat's Modi'fied Society
  - Why Media's Silence on Forbesganj Killings in Bihar ?
  - Cultural memory and the politics of intolerance in Maharashtra
  - Kerala rationalist attacked by the Hindu right for speaking on public use of wealth found at temple

6. International: 
  6.1 Petition to Algerian Govt: Stop renewed attacks on women
  6.2 Turkey: “We Protest The Annulment Of The Ministry Responsible For Women!” 
  6.3 Is this the end of anonymity? (Zygmunt Bauman)
  6.4 Young Herbivore and Old Carnivore (Jasmina Tesanovic)

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1. AFGHANISTAN:

The Guardian, 4 July 2011

CAN AFGHAN WOMEN COUNT ON HILLARY CLINTON?

The US secretary of state promised to protect women's rights – she must be held to her pledge as talks with the Taliban begin

by Meredith Tax

The US is negotiating with the Taliban! What will happen to Afghan women? They have enough problems already, since the Karzai government is easily as misogynist as the Taliban.

But not to worry. Hillary Clinton is US secretary of state. A feminist will determine US policy in the "reconciliation, reintegration and transition process". Surely the women of Afghanistan can rely on Hillary?

She told them so in London in February 2010, when Hamid Karzai and Afghan ministers met with western and regional diplomats, who agreed to set up a fund to reintegrate "disaffected Taliban back into society", as long as they swore to uphold the constitution. The London conference was planned by the British government and the UN, which seemed to have no problem overlooking its own security council resolution (SCR)1325, mandating that all peace and post-conflict negotiations include a gender perspective. Only one Afghan woman was even invited – not their minister of women's affairs – and she was there to represent civil society in general, not voice the demands of women.

But the Afghan Women's Network, a 15-year-old coalition with 84 member groups and 5,000 individual members, could teach the rest of us a thing or two about organising. Despite the fact that they were not invited to London, four of them showed up, demanding "that the proposed reintegration process is not undertaken at the expense of women's hard-won human rights." They did intensive lobbying, worked with the press, and did their best to convince those present that "women are central to bringing peace and stability." In recognition of their work, Clinton invited them to her press conference and made a commitment to involve women in every stage of the peace process.

But that was last year. Now, Osama bin Laden is dead and the American people are sick of the war. They want out and so does the Obama administration. Last year, Clinton made protection of Afghan women's rights a principle; today, the principle appears to be negotiable.

In March, the Washington Post revealed that USAID was backtracking on a $140m project to help Afghan women own land. Though most Afghans live by farming, only men are landowners. The original USAID request for bids called for specific measures to increase women's access to land ownership, including legal aid, public education on women's rights and incentives to register land in the name of both spouses. But after intervention by the state department, USAID put out new guidelines with no teeth, requiring merely that the project study inheritance laws to see if they could be amended to include women, and then only if the Afghan government supported the initiative.

When questioned, a "senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity" said, "gender issues are going to have to take a back seat to other priorities … There's no way we can be successful if we maintain every special interest and pet project. All those pet rocks in our rucksack were taking us down."

Of course, USAID contradicted the story, saying how much money it was spending on Afghan women and, when put on the spot in Congress by Nita Lowey, Clinton told the House that US commitment to Afghan women was undiminished. But she didn't say the old USAID regulations would be restored. That's a pretty clear indication of which way the wind blows.

Women in the Afghan Women's Network made a lobbying trip to Washington this June to try to convince officials that the only way to get stability in Afghanistan is support women's human rights. They brought specific recommendations on how to reintegrate the Taliban fighters, while at the same time protecting women and civil society. (Their programme can be downloaded here.)

The AWN recommendations are brilliant. According to Gita Saghal, former head of Amnesty International's gender unit, they "are an example for all UN agencies dealing with post-conflict situations because they are family-oriented rather than fighter-oriented" and "deal with inclusion of women in monitoring and many different processes rather than just in peace negotiations".

Ann Jones, an American writer who has spent years working in Afghanistan, says the US calls the shots there and could put such measures in place to protect women's rights if it insisted, but people in Washington don't get it. "They regard women's rights as an add-on that's unimportant, and won't face the implications of backing the same old warlords they have been backing since 1979. These guys are a disaster for both Afghanistan and us, because you can't establish a stable country with leaders who have no regard for the welfare of their own people."

The choice is clear: the US can either keep on with the same old policy of making deals with warlords, or try something new – empowering women and civil society. Official Washington apparently thinks the only realistic thing to do is what we have done before, even if it doesn't work. This is not really a choice between pragmatism and idealism. We have tried the warlords option for many years, and it has not brought stability or prosperity or peace.

Half the population of Afghanistan is female, with many households headed by women. These women are capable of farming, doing business, promoting education, safeguarding local people, stabilising their communities. They have lived with war, and they know what works and what doesn't. The AWL programme proposes concrete measures to strengthen the position of women; such measures, embedded into local and national political processes, are a better foundation for security and peace than anything the US has tried so far. Why not support them?

Is Clinton willing to fight for the principle of including women? She understands that it is a principle; as secretary of state, she is in a strong position. And she has enough political skills and support to do so effectively – if she is willing to stand up to the guys and take the risk of being branded a feminist rather than a "realist".


________


2. PAKISTAN:

Daily Times, 6 July 2011

EDITORIAL: BLASPHEMY ALLEGATIONS, AGAIN

Clerics in Lahore have issued yet another blasphemy fatwa (religious decree). This time it is against Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP’s) Samina Khalid Ghurki and one of her supporters, Haji Nasir, who the clerics have alleged to be blasphemers. As in most blasphemy cases, these allegations are not based on any concrete proof. In fact, they have deemed Ms Ghurki and Haji Nasir to be blasphemers because of some allegedly blasphemous remarks by a Shia cleric, Zulfiqar Naqvi, in a local imambargah. Naqvi was invited by Haji Nasir to deliver a sermon and since he is one of Ms Ghurki’s supporters from her constituency, they have labelled all of them blasphemers. On the other hand, Ms Ghurki claims that one of the clerics, Mian Attiqur Rehman, has a property dispute with Haji Nasir, which is probably the reason why he is now resorting to using religion as a weapon. This just shows how the flawed blasphemy laws are used as a tool to settle petty feuds and personal rivalries. In another case, a 25-year-old man in Karachi was accused of burning the Holy Quran even though his neighbours deny he could have been involved in such a blasphemous activity. The accused man’s family claim these allegations are a result of a disputed apartment complex. The police have linked this act with black magic. Such is the level of our police’s ‘investigative’ skills.

The debate on blasphemy laws died a silent death after the assassination of Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer on January 4, 2011. When Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti was also assassinated less than two months after Mr Taseer’s death, any discussion even on amendments to these laws ended. According to many human rights and minority rights organisations, the data collected over the years proves that most blasphemy cases are false. While some accused are either killed before or during the trial, a large number of them are still rotting in jails without any end in sight. On the other hand, those who level false allegations are not held accountable. The religious right is so strong that no political party is willing to even start a debate on the blasphemy laws. But how long will the state let the bigots dictate their terms at the cost of innocent people’s lives is something the ruling elite must answer. It cannot allow this injustice to go on forever.

________


3. INDIA:

Deccan Herald, 5 July 2011 

RETURN OF HINDUTVA
Political disconnect

by B G Verghese

BJP-parivar is preparing to take power from what it believes is a tottering Congress. Battleground of choice is to be the UP.

The prime minister has spoken belatedly and, rather than address a televised press conference, done so through a select group of print editors. This admittedly was not the ideal choice but it was a genuine effort at communication by an essentially reserved and soft-spoken leader. The outcome has been greeted with dismay by critics. But, despite the reservations expressed, it would be fatuous to dismiss Manmohan Singh’s remarks.
He warned against creating a climate of cynicism and despair, amplified by a media often  prone to playing God’s magistrate.

He cautioned against ex-post facto judgements on decisions taken much earlier in a world of uncertainty and a tendency to equate what might turn out in hindsight to have been erroneous judgment with wilful corruption. While the corrupt must be brought to justice, India should not become a police state or return to permit-licence raj. Nor should it be seen as investor-unfriendly when 10-12 million new jobs must be created annually and high growth sustained to eliminate stark poverty.

The government, he said, was sincere about legislating an effective Lokpal bill.  Here, if some political parties disdain prior consultation on the draft bill so be it. And if both Anna Hazare and Ramdev insist on continuing on what increasingly seems an ego trip, let them do so and not expect to be bailed out from much tom-tommed fasts.

The BJP-parivar is, meantime, preparing to take power from what it believes is a tottering Congress. The battleground of choice is to be Uttar Pradesh, which goes to the polls early next year. Uniquely, the parivar-BJP seems to believe that retreat is the best form of advance. Hence, back to Hindutva en route post haste to Nirvana. 

Hindutva has little to do with Hinduism, being a doctrine of narrow, exclusive “cultural nationalism”, far removed from faith, which it distorts. It is a political doctrine, imitative of fascism, espoused by Savarkar and Golwalkar. That such a negative and discredited doctrine has been resurrected is disquieting in this day and age. But this is the plain meaning of Uma Bharati’s reinduction into the BJP to carry the flag in UP and her proclamation nailing ‘Hindutva and Ram (Mandir)’ to her mast.

The Ayodhya issue is under appeal from a high court order that seemed to open the door to a fresh, forward looking solution to a well-worn legal wrangle. Rather than move forward, it would be a pity to move back to square one. This can only stir acrimony and divide communities who need and mostly wish to live and work together for the common good.

Revenge for attacks

The chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency against Swami Aseemanand and his co-conspirators in the Samjhauta express, Malegaon, Ajmer, Hyderabad and other terror bombings, allegedly in revenge for attacks on Hindus and Hindu shrines, is something the parivar should ponder. Nothing is as yet conclusively proven but the net is closing in on a group of people and a philosophy that are both distasteful and dangerous.

Meanwhile, even as the BJP is busy scoring brownie points against the government, sometimes stooping low to conquer, the Modi administration has again put its credibility and bona fides on the line by claiming – yet disclaiming – that it has shredded many of the vital documents and dossiers connected with the Sabarmati express-Gujarat pogrom of 2002 even while the Nanavati Commission and the Supreme Court are seized of the matter. If true, this would be an unpardonable offence and a deliberate effort to thwart independent investigation and justice.  

As worrying is a recent report, only one among many that disfigure news reports from time to time, that three young girls in Orissa were barred from entering a village temple as they are dalits. This is clearly an offence under the Prevention of Atrocities Act and flies in the face of constitutional guarantees. Yet, as all too often, fatuous inquiries are made and no action follows against the offenders. An FIR had not been filed for days. Some dalit leaders believe that the episode shows that the dalits have stood up and will no longer brook gratuitous insults to their citizenship.

This is welcome and true up to a point. But millions of dalits face daily indignities and are blatantly denied their rights of access, livelihood and enjoyment of statutory guarantees such as minimum wages.

The parivar and other self-appointed custodians of Hindu rights and culture like sundry sants and swamis, the Sadhu samaj  and other bodies seem disinterested, helpless and complicit through silence on such cruel conduct that is a dark blot on India. The Church too has not covered itself with glory for insisting on dalit Christian reservation - surely a contradiction in terms!

Social reform takes time. But it has been late and little. There is a limit to what the state can do. Much depends on society and social reformers, of whom, alas, there are all too few these days. A much needed uniform civil code (UCC) has been very long pending on totally false grounds. A UCC could do more for women’s rights than the will-o’-the-wisp women’s reservation bill, a good cause but sought to be clumsily legislated and subject to an OBC reservation veto. 

________


4. CONTENT UPDATES FROM SACW.NET


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    
+ Religious militants have fiercely turned upon their former tutors from the Pakistani Army 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++     

Although the army has been extremely reluctant to admit that radicalisation exists within its ranks, sometimes this fact simply cannot be swept under the rug. Last week, the army was forced to investigate Brigadier Ali Khan for his ties to militants of the Hizb ut-Tahrir, a radical organisation (...)

-> http://www.sacw.net/article2186.html


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    
+ Who speaks for India — Gandhi or Modi? 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++     

They say justice delayed is justice denied. In Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, justice is not just delayed and denied, it’s eliminated. Nearly a decade after the worst state-sanctioned massacre of Muslims since Independence in full view of the world, the mockery of justice continues (...)

-> http://www.sacw.net/article2185.html


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    
+ Spotlighting Lankan Tamils 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++     

Jayalalitha has submitted a memo to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that lists demands from post-conflict Sri Lanka. She has said that the Sri Lankan regime should be held accountable for war crimes during the last days of the fratricidal war with the LTTE, where thousands of civilians were (...)

-> http://www.sacw.net/article2184.html


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    
+ Indian Spiritualism Made for the Modern Age 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++     

Indians would argue that there is indeed a unique spiritual side to India, and as evidence they would present the many gurus here who find a ready market. But the fact is that many of these gurus are charlatans (...)

-> http://www.sacw.net/article2183.html


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    
+ Culture of impunity in Kashmir 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++     

Culture of impunity in Kashmir, with security forces and police always kept above the board and not held accountable for their gross acts of torture, it has always been known, is a systemic pattern that is patronised and encouraged from the top. (...)

-> http://www.sacw.net/article2182.html


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    
+ Kathmandu Declaration on Challenges and Way Forward for Democracy and Peace in South Asia 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++     

We, the delegates from all countries of South Asia representing various political ideologies, mass organizations, trade unions, civil societies, NGOs, academia, youths and people’s movements representing women, Dalit, indigenous peoples and other groups of people met together to deliberate on (...)

-> http://www.sacw.net/article2181.html


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    
+ Delhi University on The Brink 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++     

The crippling blow to Delhi University’s academic, intellectual and democratic integrity and standing has come however over the last two years from the arbitrary decision of the Administration, at the behest of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, to rapidly and thoughtlessly impose (...)

-> http://www.sacw.net/article2180.html


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    
+ The ‘Hot Run’ in Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant Coincides with a ’Hot Report’ Published in Russia 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++     

The “Hot Run” of India’s largest and the first reactor in the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) commenced on July 1, 2011 when anti-nuclear activists from all over Tamil Nadu organized a day-long hunger strike and a complete shutdown at Koodankulam. (...)

-> http://www.sacw.net/article2179.html


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    
+ India: Text of the Supreme Court Order of 5 July 2011 in the Salwa Judum (in Chhattisgarh) Case 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++     

Coming down heavily on involving vigilante group (Salwa Judum) in fighting Maoists, the Supreme Court of India restrained the Chhattisgarh government and the Centre from arming Special Police Officers (SPOs) calling the 5,000-strong force as "unconstitutional". 

-> http://www.sacw.net/article2178.html


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    
+ Online Petition: Children too have a right to say no to POSCO 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++     

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned at the recent developments of accusing POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the organization spearheading a peaceful, democratic movement for more than five years against forceful land acquisition for the proposed POSCO project in Odisha, for ‘using’ (...)

-> http://www.sacw.net/article2177.html


________

5. URLS OF RECENT CONTENT ON COMMUNALISM WATCH:

  - Out with the hate : pros and cons of communal violence bill
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/out-with-hate-pros-and-cons-of-communal.html
  - Kerala temple treasure: Should God's riches be used for public good?
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/kerala-temple-treasure-should-gods.html
  - Tax the temples
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/tax-temples.html
  - The treasure of Trivandrum
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/treasure-of-trivandrum.html
  - NGO seeks clarification over 'destroyed' Gujarat riot period data
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/ngo-seeks-clarification-over-destroyed.html
  - Pakistan: Homophobic Muslim right condemns LGBT event
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/pakistan-homophobic-muslim-right.html
  - Ramdev: Swami without Sampradaya
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/ramdev-swami-without-sampradaya.html
  - Bhatt is the truth?
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/bhatt-is-truth.html
  - Gujarat's Modi'fied Society
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/gujarats-modified-society.html
  - Why Media's Silence on Forbesganj Killings in Bihar ?
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/why-medias-silence-on-forbesganj.html
  - Cultural memory and the politics of intolerance in Maharashtra
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/cultural-memory-and-politics-of.html
  - Kerala rationalist attacked by the Hindu right for speaking on public use of wealth found at temple
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/07/kerala-rationalist-attacked-by-hindu.html

________



6. INTERNATIONAL :

6.1 

http://www.siawi.org/article2455.html

PETITION TO ALGERIAN GOVT: STOP RENEWED ATTACKS ON WOMEN

Violence against women in the southern city of M’sila, Algeria

Two more ’punitive’ actions against women have taken place in less than one month in the southern city of M’sila, Algeria (night of June 11 and July 2-3, 2011). Their houses were burnt down by hundreds of youth, and they barely escaped being lynched. The police did not intervene.

This is not the first time similar events take place (see background information below). Since the 80s, there were not just attacks on individual women but real pogroms against working women, living with or without their children, but definitely without the male guardians (wali) that the Family Code still prescribes for women. As Algeria suffers from growing unemployment, women are accused of ’stealing men’s or youth’s jobs’ when, widowed or repudiated, they have to earn their living and that of their children, sometimes by migrating where jobs are within Algeria, away from their family location, hence without their walis. Invariably, these women are accused by the perpetrators of being prostitutes, as if it were a licence to kill ! - an accusation relayed by many in the Algerian media. And invariably, the police watches without intervening to protect the women, nor arresting the perpetrators. Similarly, judges have taken very lenient measures against the few men that we actually brought to court.

This does not happen in a political vacuum, but in a context where the state has been negotiating the sharing of power with fundamentalist parties. In many instances, one can track the ignition of the pogroms to incendiary preaches by fundamentalist imams, urging their followers to ’chase the devil out of the city’. Fundamentalists have also demonstrated inside and outside courts in defense of the accused and justified their actions.

What we see here at work is the conjunction of several factors: the consequences of the legal provision forcing women to be under the ’protection’ of a wali; the economic circumstances that force women to internal migration within Algeria and the denial of their right to work; the unchallenged ideological power of fundamentalist religious leaders and parties, their instrumentalisation of poverty and unemployment, their promotion of moral order; and the political stand of the present government that would rather share the power with fundamentalists than emancipate the nation.

Women in Algeria are neither protected nor defended. We call on international women activists to take urgent action, not only by signing the below appeal on line, but also by leading delegations to protest at Algerian Embassies, republishing information in their national newspapers (available in the Algerian press, and on web sites such as siawi.org, hassi-messaoud.over-blog.com/, or wluml.org), and sending observers if and when such cases are brought to justice.

marieme helie lucas
Secularism Is A Women’s Issue (siawi.org)

July 7, 2011

PETITION:

The Algerian authorities and justice system persistantly failed in ensuring protection of and redress for the working women that were attacked, robbed, burnt, mutilated, burried alive, wounded, raped and gang raped, killed in Hassi Messaoud in 2001 and 2010 and for those attacked in M’sila in June and July 2011.

We demand an enquiry and the arrest of perpetrators. We will not tolerate that the accusation of prostitution be used as a licence to kill.

To be sent to:

President de la Republique: El Mouradia BP Alger Gare . fax: 00213 21691595

Monsieur Tayeb Belaiz, ministre de la justice, garde des Sceaux
 8, place Bir Hakem Alger; fax: 00213 21922956 ou 00213 21921701

Monsieur Dahou Ould Kablia,
 ministre de l’Intérieur et des Collectivités locales
 Pamais du Gouvernement, Rue Docteur Saadane, Alger
 Fax:00213 21737681

Me Nouara Saadia Djaffar,
 ministre déléguée auprès du ministre de la Solidarité nationale et de la -famille, chargée de la famille et de la Condition féminine
 125 boulevard Abderrahmane Laala El Madania 16075 Alger
 fax: 0021321667574
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

available, mostly in French, on:
 siawi.org
 hassi-messaoud.over-blog.com/
 wluml.org
 and in the Algerian media.

* June 22, 1989, after three women received threats to force them to move out of their houses, men decided to ’purify the area’ and burn to ashes the house of Oum Ali, mother of 5, a divorcee living on her own with her children. Her youngest handicapped son aged 3 dies in the fire. The Algerian feminist Zazi Sadou brought her testimony to the Women’s Tribunal at the Beijing World Conference on Women. It was published by WLUML.

* On April 11, 2001, hundreds of men attacked working women in the southern oil city of Hassi Messaoud; these women were mostly cleaning personel or cook helpers for oil companies. They are economic migrants from northern Algeria, whose salaries sustain up to 20 family members, in the region of Oran. See ’Ordinary fascism’ by Marieme Helie Lucas on siawi.org (http://www.siawi.org/article2454.html).

The pogrom started on Friday after the prayer, following an incendiary speech by the local imam. It lasted for three days in Hassi Messaoud, with police watching. It then extended to other southern cities. Women victims lost their jobs for not being present at work, while they were detained by the police, supposedly for protection - after the events. No union defended them.

In the first hearing, women plaintifs were threatened inside the court room. In the appeal case that took place in Biskra in 2005, only three perpetrators out of one hundred that were clearly identified by women victims mostly as their neighbors, were sentenced to a maximum of three years in jail. A whole book, in French, was published in 2010, describing the long struggle for justice and against impunity, waged by the only two plaintifs that stood up to the numerous threats they received to make them renounce to bring the case to court.

See Nadia Kaci, Laissees pour mortes, MaxMilo ed.

* On April 11, 2010, similar attacks took place in Hassi Messaoud and have gone on and off since then, in total impunity. (See dedicated web site: Women of Hassi Messaoud. See also: Statement on massacres in Hassi Messaoud, by European Feminist Initiative (15 April 2010))
Women’s organisations are prevented to enter the area. Women victims are very afraid to speak up and lose their jobs.
* On June 11, 2011, youth attack the area ’500 logements’ in M’sila. They burnt the houses of women living alone.
* On July 2-3, 2011, more than 400 youth attacked the area of Chebilia in M’sila, they burnt the apartments of women they accused of prostitution.
Sign the petition at: http://www.siawi.org/article2455.html

o o o

6.2 PRESS RELEASE: TURKEY: “WE PROTEST THE ANNULMENT OF THE MINISTRY RESPONSIBLE FOR WOMEN!” 

Source: Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR) - New Ways

21/06/2011

“Both the name and the substance of woman disturb them!  As women’s organizations when our countless appointment requests were completely disregarded, on June 6th, we appealed to the Prime Ministry with a petition including more than 3000 signatures collected within one week. Yet despite all these efforts, on June 8th, the annulment of the State Ministry responsible of Women and the Family to be replaced by the Ministry of Family and Social Policies was announced.
This implies the following:
•	The Women’s Ministry has vanished into history.
•	The Directorate General on the Status of Women (KSGM) has been placed under the umbrella of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies alongside family, children, disabled and elderly services, general directorate of social welfare and department of martyr’s families and veterans. Thus, KGSM, the only official mechanism responsible for developing policies to ensure gender equality, has been rendered an ineffectual and disempowered unit under the ministry.
•	The position of “Women’s Status Expert” in KSGM has been replaced with “Family and Social Policies” expert, thus completely undermining the women’s studies departments and centers at universities, which trains experts on women’s policies.
•	The Women’s Status Units that organize women’s activities and affairs working under Governorships have been repositioned to work under Special Provincial Administrations.
•	The Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK) has been closed down, the central organization has been abolished and the provincial organizations turned over to Special Provincial Administrations.
•	In addition to the specific problems women face as a gender, groups such as the elderly, disabled and children, once again half of which are constituted by women and girl children, have been further denied of their right to quality, free of charge, and accessible public services.  The privatization of social services has been impelled; the shift from “social services” to “social charity” has gained new momentum.

In Turkey where the state falls short of even protecting women’s most fundamental human right to life, and 42% of women and girl children are systematically subject to violence, this decision will render the already imperfect equality and social support mechanisms entirely ineffectual and ultimately inoperative.
Is the JDP (Justice and Development Party) government, during whose administration violence increased 1400% and who is accountable for hundreds of women slaughtered by men as they failed to take the necessary measures, not aware that by putrefying the existent mechanisms with these changes they are creating a society where men’s violence will spread even further, becoming a time bomb?
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, signed only recently on May 11, which the government of Turkey boasts of being the “first signatory” openly recognizes that if there is violence in a country, this is due to the gender inequality and the state is responsible to prevent this violence. This re-organization of the ministry, which does not comply with the state’s obligations to this end, is also in blatant violation of all international conventions and treaties Turkey is signatory to.
We reject the approach “women don’t exist, only the family matters”!
Prime Minister Erdoğan announced the new ministry with the statement, “We are a conservative democrat party. Family is important to us.” As women we are defined as “citizens” in legislation, the constitution and international documents and we have rights.  Regardless of the fact whether we are a member of a family or not, first and foremost, we are individuals. Just as we are subject to inequality, discrimination and violence in all spheres of social life ranging from equal participation in politics to employment, we refuse to be deserted with the same inequality and violence within the family that we are attempted to be confined to. We reject this approach that pays no heed to women outside the family, and that sacrifices women and women’s human rights to the sustenance of the family!
We are not a mere detail; we constitute half of society
When asked about the future of KSGM following the annulment of the Women’s Ministry, the Prime Minister responded by saying “that’s a detail.” We are not a mere detail; we constitute half of this society.  We remind the architects of these policies that disregard women only four days before the election, that as women, we have a vote not just in this election, but in all elections, and declare that we will persist in our efforts to reverse the counter-reforms and backlashes in women’s issues and relevant policies in the newly elected parliament.
We will continue in our struggle until “Gender Equality” is established as a firm state policy.
Please sign our petition by clicking the link below:
http:wpem.wordpress.com
EQUALITY MECHANISMS PLATFORM
Anayasa Kadin Platformu
Avrupa Kadin Lobisi Türkiye Koordinasyonu Adana Kadin Danisma Merkezi (AKDAM)
Adana Kadin Kuruluslari Birligi
Adiyaman Kahta Kadin Dernegi
Ankara Girisimci Is Kadinlari ve Destekleme Dernegi
Akdeniz Kadin Kültür Isletme Kooperatifleri Birligi
AMARGI
Antalya Kadin Danisma ve Dayanisma Dernegi
Antalya Kadin Danisma ve Dayanisma Merkezi
Ayvalik Bagimsiz Kadin Inisiyatifi
CEDAW Türkiye Sekreteryasi
Cinsel Siddete Karsi Kadin Platformu
Çanakkale ELDER-Kadin Danisma Merkezi
ÇEKEV Izmir Çigli Evka 2 Kadin Kültür Derneii
Çukurova Kadin Platformu—Adana
Diyarbakir Ev Eksenli Çalisan Kadinlar Derne?i
ESITIZ Grubu
Eveksenli Çalisan Kadinlar Çalisma Grubu
Ev Eksenli Çalisan Kadinlar ve Sosyal Haklar Dernegi
Evkad—Adana
Femin & Art
Filmmor Kadin Kooperatifi
Hakli Kadin Platformu
Iris Esitlik Gözlem Grubu
ISTAR
Izmir Kadin Dayanisma Dernegi
Kadinlarla Dayanisma Vakfi (KADAV)
KA.DER Genel Merkez
KA.DER Adana Subesi
KA.DER Ankara Subesi
KA.DER Bursa Subesi
KA.DER Eskisehir Subesi
KA.DER Kadiköy Subesi
KA.DER Samsun Subesi
KA.DER Mersin Temsilciligi
Kadiköy Kent Konseyi Kadin Meclisi
Kadin Dayanisma Vakfi
Kadin Kültür ve Iletisim Vakfi
Kadin Partisi Girisimi
Kadinin Insan Haklari -Yeni Çözümler Dernegi
Kadin Yazarlar Dernegi
KAMER Vakfi
Kadin Girisimcileri Destekleme Dernegi
KAOS GL
Kapadokya Kadin Dayanisma Dernegi
Karadeniz Kadin Dayanisma Dernegi
Karatas Kadin Dernegi - Adana
KAZETE Bagimsiz Kadin Gazetesi
Kadin Emegi ve Istihdami Girisimi Platformu
Kadin Emegi Çalisan Feminist Arastirmacilar
Konak Kent Konseyi Kadin Meclisi
Kozadan Ipege Ev Eksenli Çalisan Kadinlar Kooperatifi
Mardin Ortak Kad?n ??birli?i Derne?i
Marmara Grubu Vakfi
Mersin Bagimsiz Kadin Dernegi
Mor Çati Kadin Siginagi Vakfi
Mugla Kadin Dayanisma Grubu
Mus Kadin Dernegi—MUKADDER
Selis Kadin Dayanisma Merkezi—Diyarbakir
Selis Kadin Dayanisma Merkezi—Ergani
Silvan Belediyesi Maya Kadin Merkezi
Sosyal Demokrasi Vakfi (SODEV)
Sosyalist Feminist Kollektif
Söke Kadin Siginmaevi Dernegi
Sahmaran Kadin Dayanisma ve Arastirma Merkezi Dernegi
TCK Kadin Platformu
Türkiye Homenet Çözüm Ortaklari
Türk Kadinlar Birligi
Türk Kadinlar Birligi Adana Subesi
Türkiye Soroptimist Kulüpleri Federasyonu
Turk Tabipler Birligi, Kadin Hekim Kolu
Ucan Süpürge Kadin Iletisim ve Arastirma Dernegi Van Kadin Dernegi (VAKAD)
Van Saray Kadin Dernegi
Van Yaka Kooperatifi
Yasamevi Kadin Dernegi-Urfa
Yaslilarla Dayanisma Dernegi
Yeditepe Kadin Dayanisma Dernegi”

o o o 

6.3

The Guardian
28 June 2011

IS THIS THE END OF ANONYMITY?

From micro-drones to the internet, technology is invading the private sphere – with our encouragement

by Zygmunt Bauman         

Two apparently unconnected items of news appeared on the same day, 19 June – though one can be forgiven overlooking their appearance… As any news, they arrived floating in an "information tsunami" – just two tiny drops in a flood of news meant/hoped to do the job of enlightening and clarifying while serving that of obscuring and befuddling.

One item, authored by Elisabeth Bumiller and Thom Shanker, informed of the spectacular rise in the number of drones reduced to the size of a dragonfly, or of a hummingbird comfortably perching on windowsills; both designed, in the juicy expression of Greg Parker, an aerospace engineer, "to hide in plain sight". The second, penned down by Brian Stelter, proclaimed the internet to be "the place where anonymity dies". The two messages spoke in unison, they both augured/portended the end of invisibility and autonomy, the two defining attributes of privacy – even if each of the two items was composed independently of the other and without awareness of the other's existence.

The unmanned drones, performing the spying/striking tasks for which the "Predators" have become notorious ("More than 1,900 insurgents in Pakistan's tribal areas have been killed by American drones since 2006") are about to be shrunk to the size of birds, but preferably insects (the flapping of insects' wings is ostensibly much easier to technologically imitate than the movements of birds' wings), and the exquisite aerodynamic skills of the hawk moth, an insect known for its hovering skills, have been, according to Major Michael L Anderson, a doctoral student in advanced navigation technology, selected as a not-yet-attained, but certain to be soon reached target of the present designing flurry – because of its potential to leave far behind everything "what our clumsy aircraft can do".

The new generation of drones will stay invisible while making everything else accessible to view; they will stay immune while rendering everything else vulnerable. In the words of Peter Baker, an ethics professor at the United States Naval Academy, those drones will usher wars in the "post-heroic age"; but they will also, according to other "military ethicists", push yet wider the already vast "disconnect between the American public and its war"; they will perform, in other words, another leap (second after the substitution of the conscript by a professional army) towards making the war itself all but invisible to the nation in whose name the war is waged (no native lives will be at risk) and so that much easier – indeed so much more tempting – to conduct, thanks to the almost complete absence of collateral damages and political costs.

The next generation drones will see all while staying comfortably invisible – literally as well as metaphorically. Against being spied on, there will be no shelter – and for no one. Even the technicians who send drones into action will renounce control over their movements and so become unable, however strongly pressed, to exempt any object from the chance of falling under surveillance: the "new and improved" drones will be programmed to fly on their own – following itineraries of their own choice in times of their own choice. Sky is the limit for the information they will supply once they are put in operation in planned numbers.

This is, as a matter of fact, the aspect of the new spying/surveilling technology armed with the capacities of acting-at-distance and autonomously, that worries most its designers and so also the two news-writers reporting their preoccupations: "a tsunami of data", already overflowing the staff of the air force headquarters and threatening to run out of their digesting/absorbing powers, and thus also out of their (or anybody's for that matter) control.

Since 9/11, the number of hours which air force employees need in order to recycle the intelligence supplied by the drones went up by 3,100% – and each day 1,500 more hours of videos and 1,500 more images are added to the volume of information clamouring to be processed. Once the limited "soda straw" view of drone sensors is replaced with a "gorgon stare" able to embrace a whole city in one go (also an imminent development), 2,000 analysts will be required to cope with the feeds of but one drone, instead of 19 doing such a job today. But that only means, let me comment, that fishing an "interesting", "relevant" object out of the bottomless container of "data" will take some hard work and cost rather a lot of money; not that any of the potentially interesting objects may insure oneself against falling into that container in the first place. No one would ever know when the hummingbird lands on his or her windowsill.

As for the "death of anonymity" courtesy of the internet, the story is slightly different: we submit our rights to privacy to slaughter on our own will. Or perhaps we just consent to the loss of privacy as a reasonable price for the wonders offered in exchange. Or the pressure to deliver our personal autonomy to the slaughter house is so overwhelming, so close to the condition of a flock of sheep, that only few exceptionally rebellious, bold, pugnacious and resolute wills would earnestly attempt to withstand it. One way or the other, we are however offered, at least nominally, a choice, as well as a semblance at least of a two-way contract, and at least a formal right to protest and sue in case of its breach: something that in the case of drones is never given.

All the same: once we are in, we stay hostages to fate. As Brian Stelter observes, "the collective intelligence of the internet's two billion users, and the digital fingerprints that so many users leave on websites, combine to make it more and more likely that every embarrassing video, every intimate photo, and every indelicate email is attributed to its source, whether that source wants it to be or not." It took Rich Lam, a freelance photographer taking pictures of street riots in Vancouver, just one day to trace and identify a couple caught (by accident) passionately kissing on one of his photos.

Everything private is now done, potentially, in public – and is potentially available to public consumption; and remains available for the duration, till the end of time, as the internet "can't be made to forget" anything once recorded on any of its innumerable servers. "This erosion of anonymity is a product of pervasive social media services, cheap cell phone cameras, free photo and video web-hosts, and perhaps most important of all, a change in people's views about what ought to be public and what ought to be private". And let me add: the choice between the public and the private is slipping out of people's hands, with the people's enthusiastic co-operation and deafening applause. A present-day Etienne de la Boétie would be probably tempted to speak not of voluntary, but a DIY servitude.

o o o

6.4

Virtual Vita Nuova ~ 05 July 2011

YOUNG HERBIVORE AND OLD CARNIVORE
by Jasmina Tesanovic

Yesterday Ratko Mladic appeared in The Hague Tribunal, a month after he was arrested in Belgrade,  following sixteen years of successful concealment.  He was supposed to plead guilty or not to the 11 points of accusations for war crimes in Bosnia. He had claimed that his appointed lawyer would answer the charges, but he appeared at the  last minute as a war criminal star.

   Mladic wore a gray civilian suit with an elegant tie, but also his military billed cap, which he refused to remove when asked to do so by the  presiding judge. He stared defiantly at the audience, where the world press and the families of his numerous victims awaited  this historical moment of truth.  He ignored the admonitions of the judges speaking to him, and at a certain point he threw away his translator’s earphones with a gesture of contempt.

     Mladic hasn’t changed much; he hasn’t forgotten those years of genocide when he was the absolute judge of life-and-death over thousands of others.  Mladic was a Balkan warlord, not some creature of petty international legality, and his body-language showed that.  When I followed the trial in Belgrade of some of his men, who had obeyed his orders in the genocide in Srebrenica July 1995,  they mirrored this kind of swagger.   They called it manhood, a just war of Christianity against the Muslim invasion, brotherhood and patriotism.   It came from the barrel of a gun, not from a  Geneva convention war codex, or the tender emotions of a shocked world community.

  The leader of the paramilitary Scorpions looked at us straight from his witness box and said proudly:
  I have three values in my life and in this order; The Cunt, The Gun and the State.

Mladic in his first court appearance a month ago demanded to be addressed as a military general; like the rest of his marauders, he wanted the respect and the pageantry without the accountability.  Not just an outlaw, but an outlaw with Balkan attitude.

So much for the carnivore; now for the herbivore.

Novak Djokovic was born in 1987, the year when the criminal regime in Serbia came into power under Slobodan Milosevic, with Ratko Mladic as an ethnic warlord general.  And yesterday Novak Djokovic became the most famous Serb in the world.

The Serbian press is ecstatic about this young star’s tennis victory.  He’s become the number one player in the world, and, unlike the gaunt, ghastly, eroded Mladic, he’s handsome, funny and charming.

The Serbian press is agog about the charismatic “Djoker” and his welcome back ceremony in front of the Parliament.   
  No Serbian major press is reporting about the antics of  Mladic in The Hague.  Even B92 site, once the synonym of an oppositional free press in Serbia these days has a new owner and policy.

And Novak Djokovic didn’t merely defeat his opponent.  No, he fell to his knees after the match, made the sign of the cross on his chest and plucked up and ate some grass of the Wimbledon turf.

He then wryly explained that his boyhood dream had come true, and he couldn’t believe he was living it in reality,
 
Boris Tadic, the pro european Serbian president watched Novak fulfill his long dream. Not only Novak’s dream — some 24 year old jock and his fame fortune and global preeminence — but the dream of the president and 100.000 people in front of the serbian parliament where Novak addressed and thanked Serbia family and friends.

Modern Serbia means young sportsmen jumping out of limos instead of young marauders jumping out of trucks.   It means tennis rackets instead of AK-47s.

     But this bloodthirsty old monster, tossing his hat and shoving aside microphones when finally turned at bay — and this one-man charm offensive, this grass-nibbling guy who brilliantly mimics rival players on camera —  they are the same place at two different times.  
 That nightmare was one  we activists and pacifists from Serbia will never forget. Only by paying due respect to the dead, by recognizing the crimes committed in our name, will Serbia’s new world stars outshine the darkness that hung over their cradles.
I always disliked the word brand when it came to people. We are not cattle, people have no price or owners.

The brand of justice is the only one I trust and accept.

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South Asia Citizens Wire
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