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The Human Rights Watch helps to remind all of us about the process of humanizing one another.  This article is by Christoph Wilcke and Nisha Varia, published in Al-Hayat.  Read on…

July 8, 2008

In its new report, “As If I Am Not Human,” Human Rights Watch presents an in-depth look into the lives of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. After two years of research and more than 140 interviews with Asian domestic workers, recruiters, and government officials, the report details cases of forced labor, human trafficking, and slavery-like conditions and the much more widespread abuses of non-payment of salaries, forced confinement, food deprivation, excessive workload, and instances of severe psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. Read the rest of this entry »

When did our Legal system justify the following?  Oh yes, we’ve always perpetuated the craziness of capital punishment!  From where do we derive our Ethics & how do we live in a world that continually perpetuates such practices of Ethics?  

Read on!  The Human Rights Watch comes thru again…

Iran: End Executions of Juvenile Offenders

29 Adults and Two Juvenile Offenders Hanged

(Geneva, July 29, 2008) - The Iranian judiciary should immediately halt all executions of juvenile offenders and Iran’s parliament should move swiftly to ban such executions, a group of human rights organizations said today.

The groups, which include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, joined by six other international and regional human rights organizations - named below - strongly condemned Iran’s continuing execution of juvenile offenders in a joint statement.  
 
“Iran is executing several children every year, despite the fact that it is banned under international law,” the organizations said. “It is cruel and inhumane to apply the death penalty even to adults, let alone to those convicted for crimes committed before the age of 18.”  
 
This follows the executions by Iranian authorities on July 22 of Hassan Mozafari and Rahman Shahidi, both juvenile offenders, who were defined as persons under 18 at the time of their crime.  
 
Iranian authorities executed Mozafari and Shahidi along with an adult offender, Hussein Rahnama, in the southern city of Bushehr. Bushehr Criminal Court had convicted them of rape, together with another juvenile offender, Mohammad Pezhman, and two other adults - Behrouz Zangeneh and Ali Khorramnejad. Iranian authorities executed Pezhman in May 2007 and the two other adults in October 2007.  
 
Iran leads the world in executing persons for crimes committed under the age of 18. As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iran is obligated to abolish such executions.  
 
However, in 2007, Iran carried out at least eight such executions. The recent executions of Mozafari and Shahidi bring the number of juvenile executions to four so far in 2008. No other country is known to have executed a juvenile offender in 2008.  
 
The situation of juvenile offenders facing execution in Iran has reached crisis levels, making Iran’s violation of international standards much greater than any other country. There are at least 132 juvenile offenders known to be on death row in Iran, although the true number could be much higher.  
 
Following intense international protests, two juvenile offenders facing execution for murder, Sa’eed Jazee and Reza Sheshblooki, were spared the death penalty last week after receiving pardons from the families of their victims.  
 
On July 8, 24 major international and regional organizations called on the Iranian authorities immediately to stop juvenile executions. In December 2007, the UN General Assembly expressed concern about the “execution of persons who were under the age of 18 at the time their offence was committed contrary to the obligations of the Islamic Republic of Iran under article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”  
 
“Iran’s insistence on executing juvenile offenders in the face of international law and international protests portrays an image of a judicial system bent on the application of state violence against juvenile offenders, but unconcerned about justice or international law,” the organizations said.  
 
The organizations calling on Iran to end juvenile executions are: Amnesty International; Human Rights Watch; International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran; Iran Human Rights; Iranian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LDDHI); Penal Reform International; Human Rights Association; Stop Child Executions; and Vivere.  
 
On July 27, the Iranian authorities hanged 29 adults inside Evin prison in Tehran. The authorities said the executed men had been convicted of drug smuggling and murder, but provided names for only 10 of them, and did not release the evidence against them or details of their prosecution. The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 62/149 on December 18, 2007, in which it called on states to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty, but Iran continues to fly in the face of this global trend toward abolition. Iran has executed 191 people already in 2008, making it likely to maintain its position as carrying out more executions than any country in the world but China, although its population is 18 times smaller than China’s.  
 
“Sending almost 30 people to their death by hanging in a single day invokes a grotesque image of Iranian judges,” the organizations said. “It is abhorrent that there is no information about those executed and it raises serious concerns about due process and the rule of law.” 

Human Rights Watch:  on the front lines w/ Burma….

US: Burma Gem Ban Strengthened

Profits From Rubies, Jade Finance Repression

(New York, July 29, 2008) - A new US law that bars gem dealers and jewelry retailers from importing rubies and jade from Burma is a major step in curtailing the unethical international trade in Burmese gems, Human Rights Watch said today. On July 29, 2008, President George W. Bush is expected to sign legislation unanimously approved by the US Congress earlier this month to tighten an existing ban on the trade in Burmese gems.

The international trade in Burmese gems helps finance repression and puts millions into the pockets of Burma’s abusive rulers,” said Arvind Ganesan, director of the Business and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “With the new law, US retailers can no longer legally profit from the trade in Burmese rubies and jade.”  
 
“Since 2003, the US government has banned products from Burma, but a loophole permitted the purchase of Burmese-origin gems that were cut or polished in third countries such as India or Thailand. The new law eliminates this loophole for rubies and jade, by far Burma’s top-selling gem exports. Contrary to some early reports, it does not cover other precious stones or forbid the sale of Burmese-origin gems legally imported to the US under prior rules.  
 
Gems constitute Burma’s third-most important export product, following petroleum (oil and natural gas) and agricultural products. Global gem exports from Burma in fiscal year 2007-2008 reached as high as US$647 million, according to reports citing official statistics, although Burmese data must be treated with some skepticism.  
 
The European Union and Canada already prohibit the import of Burmese gems.  
 

Rings and necklaces displayed at a jewelry fair in Bangkok. International pressure to block sales of rubies and sapphires from Burma increased after the country’s military rulers launched a brutal crackdown against peaceful pro-democracy protesters in 2007. © Reuters 2007

A few American retailers - notably Tiffany & Co. and Leber Jeweler Inc. - have long taken an ethical stand by refusing to buy Burmese-origin gemstones. Momentum for an industry-wide boycott grew following the August-September 2007 governmentcrackdown in Burma against peaceful protesters. Business associations, including Jewelers of America, encouraged their members to support the voluntary boycott while also calling on the Congress to impose a full legal ban.  
 
A congressional effort to close the US gem loophole in late 2007 was stalled over differences in versions of the legislation passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. The compromise bill approved by both houses of Congress this month will go into force 60 days after President Bush signs it into law. It mandates that retailers keep records documenting the origin of rubies and jade, to prove that they are not from Burma, and that gem dealers carefully screen the rubies and jade they import. The law applies to finished jewelry, such as rings, that include rubies or jade mined in Burma, as well as imports of loose rubies or jade.  
 
Beyond complying with the new US law on rubies and jade, Human Rights Watch said gem dealers and retailers should also carefully screen their purchases of other gems Burma is known to produce, such as sapphires and spinel, to guarantee that they do not support the unethical trade in Burmese gems.  
 
“Burmese gemstones are tainted by gross human rights abuses,” said Ganesan. “The jewelry industry should take firm action to assure its customers - as well as law enforcement officials - that it is doing all it can to avoid buying from Burma.”  
 
Human Rights Watch said that retailers should require their suppliers to identify the country of origin of gemstones on any invoices and to guarantee that gemstones were not mined in Burma. Retailers should also seek to verify the accuracy of their suppliers’ claims.  
 
Human Rights Watch repeated its call on retailers to immediately halt all purchases and sales of Burmese-origin gems, including existing inventories not covered by the new law. Human Rights Watch has previously called for a boycott and international sanctions on the trade in Burmese gems.  
 
“Jewelry stores should take all Burmese gems off their shelves,” said Ganesan. “Selling jewels that support human rights abusers doesn’t showcase luxury, only the military junta’s cruelty.”  
 
Human Rights Watch advised consumers to ask retailers about the origin of the jewelry they sell, and to decline to purchase from retailers who are not able to offer informed answers or who are unwilling to identify in writing the country where the gemstones were mined, such as on the sales receipt.  
 
The new gem ban forms part of the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008, a bill named in honor of the US congressman and champion of human rights who passed away in February 2008. The legislation also encompasses other measures, including expanded financial sanctions and a call for the Chevron corporation to voluntarily divest from acontroversial natural gas project in Burma.