Technologies that may undermine privacy rights and freedom of expression

In the past year, international scrutiny of companies in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector has increased in part because of revelations that several companies had provided surveillance technology to governments which undermined the rights of privacy and freedom of expression. While some companies actively marketed such technologies, others have struggled with the dilemma of supplying technology, which can have ‘dual-‘ and ‘multiple-use’...

The right of freedom of expression is not absolute, and governments have an obligation to protect people, for example from terrorism acts, for which courts recognize the state’s right to impose lawful intercepts.
Some companies in the ICT sector are required to maintain close relationships with governments and law enforcement agencies to provide the means for ‘lawful interception’ of communications in order to fight certain crimes. But some companies sell and market surveillance technology which may violate international human rights standards, such as mass intercept technology and ‘password sniffing’ software. These tools enable states to persecute human rights defenders, journalists, trade unionists, and other vulnerable groups, violating privacy and casting a ‘chilling effect’ on freedom of expression.
As the means to communicate digitally increase, a growing number of technology products originally intended to improve services and maintain the flow of data can also be used to scan private communications ( and the means to enable lawful interception can be misused by states intent on controlling and suppressing their citizens.
This year, the European Parliament states that it has to “stop the export of dual-use items and technologies that are used as tools of repression through (mass) censorship, (mass) surveillance, tracing and tracking of human rights defenders, journalists, activists and dissidents.”
In order to avoid being accused of being complicit in the potential human rights violations that dual-use technology facilitates, companies in the ICT sector will want to be even more proactive in 2013 and beyond to prevent and mitigate such risks.

Don’t turn blind eye to rights violations

Statement by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum on the Report on -Y´Operation Murambatsvina¡ by the UN special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe

July 26, 2005

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum welcomes the timeous publication of the report on the recent “Operation Murambatsvina” (Restore Order) by the UN Special Envoy and her team. The Report records the effects of the humanitarian disaster inflicted on the poorest and most vulnerable sections of the population in the height of winter and purportedly in the interests of arresting disorderly or chaotic urbanization, reversing inappropriate urban agricultural practices and stopping illegal foreign currency dealings.
The Secretary General of the United Nations himself describes “Operation Murambatsvina” as a “catastrophic injustice carried out indiscriminately and with disquieting indifference to human suffering”. In her “profoundly distressing report”, the Envoy records that the Operation “render (ed) people homeless and economically destitute on an unprecedented scale” and that “in addition to the already significant pre-existing humanitarian needs, additional needs have been generated on a large scale particularly in the shelter, water, sanitation and health sectors”
The Operation was carried out in a military fashion by armed police and the Army with minimal notification from the authorities and in contravention of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Zimbabwe is a signatory. Credible reports indicate that evictions are continuing in certain areas and that displaced persons are being harassed by the police and Army.
An “estimated 700 000 people in cities across the country lost either their homes, their source of livelihood or both”, which has indirectly “affected 2.4 million people in varying degrees”
While the Zimbabwe Government is said to have permitted unfettered access by the Mission to all areas, its response to the report has been characteristically critical, dismissive and accusatorial.
The Human Rights Forum would like to congratulate the Mission on the speed with which the exhaustive report was prepared and the sincerity and professionalism with which the Envoy and her team conducted their wide and energetic consultations with all stakeholders in Zimbabwe.
The Human Rights Forum calls on the Government to implement the recommendations of the Report with the utmost urgency in order to address the humanitarian crisis “Operation Murambatsvina” has left in its wake.

 

Don’t turn blind eye to rights violations

report from the News Day Editorial

The ongoing siege on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and human rights activists that culminated in the crackdown on the Prime Minister Office and the subsequent arrest of human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa should be cause for alarm.



With elections looming in the country, the unrepentant Zanu PF side of the inclusive government is at it again — violating human rights with the aid of a partisan police force.
Mtetwa was arrested on Sunday while trying to defend staffers from the Prime Minister’s Office who were under siege by the police. But in a contemptuous attitude towards the judiciary, the police refused to release her after High Court judge Justice Charles Hungwe ordered her immediate release.
This is not only a clear violation of human rights couched in blatant disregard for the rule of law, but indisputable disregard towards constitutionalism. We have a police force that operates outside the realms of the country’s Constitution, getting away with it in broad daylight.
With this kind of misbehaviour from the police force, we can safely foretell that even if the new constitution emanating from the referendum held last week is adopted, nothing will change.
Ironically, players in the inclusive government seem to be less concerned about this — to them it looks like constitutionalism has been relegated to a mere academic exercise.
But what boggles the mind more is the attitude of the international community that has erstwhile been among the harshest critics of human rights violations in Zimbabwe.
Our sister paper, the Zimbabwe Independent, yesterday reported that the British Embassy and those who call themselves “Friends of Zimbabwe” will meet in London next Tuesday to discuss aid as if nothing linked to human rights violations is taking part in Zimbabwe.
“All the major donors will be represented at the meeting which is basically part of the re-engagement process,” said British ambassador to Zimbabwe Deborah Bronnert.
“The EU (European Union) and all the major donor countries such as the UK, United States, Australia, Germany, Canada, Japan and Switzerland, among others, will be represented,” said the envoy.
What we find worrisome is that in the first place the fallout between the international community and the Zimbabwean government was triggered by the latter’s violation of human rights. The current crackdown on the likes of Mtetwa and NGOs shows nothing has changed. Is the international community now being complicit in the violations of human rights?
For the inclusive government partners it looks like business as usual. We expect these blatant violations to act as alarm bells so that the international community and partners in the inclusive government react appropriately, not the current scenario where everyone seems content to turn a blind eye.

Five priorities for Venezuela ahead of elections

At a Glance

Amnesty International urged presidential candidates in Venezuela to take action on:

• Public Security

• Prisons

• Freedom of expression and association

• Violence against Women

• International human rights scrutiny

As Venezuelans prepare to go to the polls on 14 April, Amnesty International has identified some of the key human rights issues that every candidate should prioritize in their plans.
Public Security
Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America due, among other factors, to the uncontrolled availability of firearms and ammunition.
Policing remains a challenge and while there have been advances in recent years, authorities must ensure that all human rights abuses by the security forces are investigated and those responsible brought to justice.
Moreover, official information on firearms and injuries resulting from them must be collected and available to the public and a national support system for victims of gun violence, established.
Prisons
For years, Venezuelan prisons have been overcrowded and violence has been widespread.
This has become particularly problematic in recent years and in 2012 at least 591 people died in Venezuela’s jails, where there is triple the number of inmates than the system was built to handle. Firearms, explosives, and other weapons are rampant throughout prisons, while violent clashes and riots are all too common.
Authorities must ensure all detention centres meet basic standards when it comes to infrastructure and personnel. The judicial system must also ensure that undue delays in processes do not lead to overcrowding.
Finally, measures must be put in place to prevent and punish violence in prisons, including preventing the proliferation of arms in detention centres and carrying out investigations into abuses.

Freedom of expression and association
Those who express opposition to government policies – including journalists and human rights activists - are frequently subject to baseless accusations from authorities and the state-run media in an attempt to delegitimize their work.
Some human rights defenders have even reported suffering physical attacks. Those responsible rarely face justice.
The Venezuelan authorities must respect the right to freedom of expression and association,  including by protecting the rights of people to protect human rights without fear of reprisal.
Violence against Women
As in many other countries around the world, violence against women is an endemic problem in Venezuela.
Even though the country has recently passed a Law on the Right of Women to Live Free of Violence, six years on, it still lacks a regulatory framework on how the authorities should handle these crimes.
Authorities should make efforts to implement the law and strengthen specialized tribunals dealing with violence against women and provide enough shelters with the necessary resources to deal with the needs of survivors of violence.
International human rights scrutiny
Last September, Venezuela officially removed itself as a signatory of the American Convention on Human Rights, initiating its withdrawal from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. As a result from September 2013 victims of human rights violations will be barred from bringing complaints before the highest court in the Americas.
A strong independent and impartial judicial system is crucial to deliver justice to all without discrimination. However, every country also needs regional and international protection human rights mechanisms to provide people with another channel for justice when their human rights complaints are not answered at home.
Venezuela must reinstate its commitment to regional and international human rights mechanisms to ensure all people can access international mechanisms, which is a constitutional right of all Venezuelans.

Combating discrimination against women Gender equality is essential for the achievement of human rights for all. Yet discriminatory laws against women persist in every corner of the globe and new discriminatory laws are enacted. In all legal traditions many laws continue to institutionalize second class status for women and girls with regard to nationality and citizenship, health, education, marital rights, employment rights, parental rights, inheritance and property rights. These forms of discrimination against women are incompatible with women’s empowerment. Women form the majority of the world’s poorest people and the number of women living in rural poverty has increased by 50% since 1975. Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours and produce half of the world’s food, yet they earn only 10% of the world’s income and own less than 1% of the world’s property1. Violence against women throughout the world and in all cultures prevails on an unimaginable scale, and women’s access to justice is often paired with discriminatory obstacles – in law as well as in practice. Multiple forms of discrimination based on gender and other factors such as race, ethnicity, caste, disability, persons affected by HIV/AIDS, sexual orientation or gender identity further compounds the risk of economic hardship, exclusion and violence against women. In some countries women, unlike men, cannot dress as they like, drive, work at night, inherit property or give evidence in Court. The vast majority of expressly discriminatory laws in force relate to family life, including limiting a woman’s right to marry (or the right not to marry in cases of early forced marriages), divorce and remarry, thus allowing for sex discriminatory marital practices such as wife obedience and polygamy. Laws explicitly mandating “wife obedience” still govern marital relations in many States. International human rights law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and includes guarantees for men and women to enjoy their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights equally. While the human rights machinery reaffirm the principles of non-discrimination and equality, Article 15 (1) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women explicitly provides that States who have ratified the Convention shall accord to women equality with men and article 2 commits States who have ratified the Convention “to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women.” Thirty years since the Convention’s entry into force, the recognition and enjoyment of equal rights with men still remains elusive for large sections of women around the world. CEDAW has been ratified by 186 States yet has the record number of reservations to core articles such as articles 2 and 6 which impact upon young girls and women’s personal and family life. Despite CEDAW requiring State who have ratified the Convention to eliminate discrimination against women “by all appropriate means and without delay”, too many States still pervasively retain their discriminatory laws which indicates that the pace of reform is too slow for women. Consequently, at the 12th session of the Human Rights Council, a resolution titled “Elimination of discrimination against women” was adopted requesting the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a thematic study on discrimination against women in law and practice on how the issue is addressed through the UN, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, in particular, the Commission on the Status of Women. The thematic study will be addressed at the 15th session and a half day discussion will be held to consider taking further action at that session. Activities of the UN human rights office Supports the activities of Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The Committee oversees implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Convention sets out, in legally binding form, internationally accepted principles on the rights of women. Assists the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women. The Special Rapporteur, who is an independent expert, publishes annual reports on violence against women, receives urgent appeals from individuals and undertakes fact-finding country visits. Assists the Independent Expert on Trafficking. Acknowledging that women in all regions of the world continue to be the victims of traffickers in order to be sexually exploited or exploited for their work force, the Independent Expert address these human rights violations. Through its Women’s Rights and Gender Unit, furthers the struggle against discrimination against women. The unit builds national capacity to eliminate gender discrimination through advisory services, conducts research and analysis, services intergovernmental and expert mechanisms addressing the situation of discrimination of women, and engages with the Human Rights Council and the wider community forging partnerships, raising awareness and mobilizing support for anti-discrimination measures, such as legislation, policies and programmes. In March 2008, the Women’s Right and Gender Unit published a commissioned report on laws that discriminate against women.

Gender equality is essential for the achievement of human rights for all. Yet discriminatory laws against women persist in every corner of the globe and new discriminatory laws are enacted. In all legal traditions many laws continue to institutionalize second class status for women and girls with regard to nationality and citizenship, health, education, marital rights, employment rights, parental rights, inheritance and property rights. These forms of discrimination against women are incompatible with women’s empowerment.
Women form the majority of the world’s poorest people and the number of women living in rural poverty has increased by 50% since 1975. Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours and produce half of the world’s food, yet they earn only 10% of the world’s income and own less than 1% of the world’s property¹. Violence against women throughout the world and in all cultures prevails on an unimaginable scale, and women’s access to justice is often paired with discriminatory obstacles – in law as well as in practice. Multiple forms of discrimination based on gender and other factors such as race, ethnicity, caste, disability, persons affected by HIV/AIDS, sexual orientation or gender identity further compounds the risk of economic hardship, exclusion and violence against women.
In some countries women, unlike men, cannot dress as they like, drive, work at night, inherit property or give evidence in Court. The vast majority of expressly discriminatory laws in force relate to family life, including limiting a woman’s right to marry (or the right not to marry in cases of early forced marriages), divorce and remarry, thus allowing for sex discriminatory marital practices such as wife obedience and polygamy. Laws explicitly mandating “wife obedience” still govern marital relations in many States.
International human rights law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and includes guarantees for men and women to enjoy their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights equally. While the human rights machinery reaffirm the principles of non-discrimination and equality, Article 15 (1) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women explicitly provides that States who have ratified the Convention shall accord to women equality with men and article 2 commits States who have ratified the Convention “to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women.”
Thirty years since the Convention’s entry into force, the recognition and enjoyment of equal rights with men still remains elusive for large sections of women around the world. CEDAW has been ratified by 186 States yet has the record number of reservations to core articles such as articles 2 and 6 which impact upon young girls and women’s personal and family life.
Despite CEDAW requiring State who have ratified the Convention to eliminate discrimination against women “by all appropriate means and without delay”, too many States still pervasively retain their discriminatory laws which indicates that the pace of reform is too slow for women. Consequently, at the 12th session of the Human Rights Council, a resolution titled “Elimination of discrimination against women” was adopted requesting the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a thematic study on discrimination against women in law and practice on how the issue is addressed through the UN, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, in particular, the Commission on the Status of Women. The thematic study will be addressed at the 15th session and a half day discussion will be held to consider taking further action at that session.
Activities of the UN human rights office

• Supports the activities of Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The Committee oversees implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Convention sets out, in legally binding form, internationally accepted principles on the rights of women.
  
• Assists the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women. The Special Rapporteur, who is an independent expert, publishes annual reports on violence against women, receives urgent appeals from individuals and undertakes fact-finding country visits.
  
• Assists the Independent Expert on Trafficking. Acknowledging that women in all regions of the world continue to be the victims of traffickers in order to be sexually exploited or exploited for their work force, the Independent Expert address these human rights violations.
  
• Through its Women’s Rights and Gender Unit, furthers the struggle against discrimination against women. The unit builds national capacity to eliminate gender discrimination through advisory services, conducts research and analysis, services intergovernmental and expert mechanisms addressing the situation of discrimination of women, and engages with the Human Rights Council and the wider community forging partnerships, raising awareness and mobilizing support for anti-discrimination measures, such as legislation, policies and programmes.
  
• In March 2008, the Women’s Right and Gender Unit published a commissioned report on laws that discriminate against women.

Combating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities

Over 650 million people around the world live with disabilities. In every region of the world, in every country, persons with disabilities often live on the margins of society, deprived of some of life’s fundamental experiences. They have little hope of going to school, getting a job, having their own home, creating a family and raising their children, socializing or voting. Persons with disabilities make up the world’s largest and most disadvantaged minority. The numbers, according to the UN handbook “From Exclusion to Equality: Realizing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”, are damning: 20% of the world’s poorest people are with disabilities, 98% of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend school, around a third of the world’s street children live with disabilities, and the literacy rate for adults with disabilities is as low as 3%, and 1% for women with disabilities in some countries.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the International Community’s response to the long history of discrimination, exclusion and dehumanization of persons with disabilities. A record number of countries have signed the Convention and its Protocol, both of which were adopted on 13 December 2006 and entered into force in May 2008.
Activities of the UN human rights office

• Raises awareness, understanding and recognition of disability as a human rights issue.
  
• Encourages States and regional integration organizations to become party and implement the Convention.
  
• Supports the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as the independent body mandated to monitor the implementation of the Convention.
  
• Encourages and supports the human rights system in its entirety to mainstream the rights of persons with disabilities in its work, in line with the Convention.
  
• Promotes the coordinated action of the United Nations mechanisms in support of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
  
• Through its Disability Unit, furthers the struggle against such discrimination by building national capacity through advisory services, conducting research and analysis, servicing intergovernmental and expert mechanisms. It also engages with the wider community to forge partnerships, raise awareness and mobilize support for anti-discrimination measures such as legislation, policies and programmes.

The story of the Honourable Al Shaymaa J. Kwegyir

Al Shaymaa J. Kwegyir, a Tanzanian member of parliament describes albinism as a “disability just like any other form of disability” but in Tanzania it's a condition where many sufferers are forced into hiding for fear of their lives.
Not only do many Tanzanians believe albinism is a curse, the body parts of albinos are sought by witch doctors for use in potions sold to bring wealth and good luck.
Kwegyir was speaking at Voices: ‘Everyone affected by racism has a story that should be heard', a daily side-event at the Durban Review Conference in Geneva .
She was born into a family with nine children, three of whom are albinos. Kwegyir was more fortunate than many in the albino community. “We were loved by our parents and relatives. There was no stigmatization within the family”, she said.
When Kwegyir asked her mother why she was white, what was the problem, her mother always assured her there was no problem.
For many other albinos it's a very different story. Not only are they often cast out by their own families, in some tribes they are killed immediately after birth, and they are commonly hunted down and murdered because their body parts are used by witch doctors.
There are no figures on the numbers of albinos in Tanzania but albinism is more common in Africa than the rest of the world. Around 1 in 20,000 people world-wide have albinism, a genetic disorder which results in significant reduction or absence of pigmentation in the skin, eyes and hair.
In Tanzania very few albinos manage to go beyond primary school level and they have few opportunities to compete for jobs. The incidence of poverty amongst albinos says Kwegyir, is alarming.
Their poverty also makes it impossible to access appropriate medical care including the preventative medications for skin cancer which is common amongst albinos especially in tropical zones.
With the support of her family Kwegyir managed to go on through secondary school despite the daily taunts she faced on the streets and to a career in the civil service. For many years she has campaigned for the recognition and rights of albinos in Tanzania and last year her efforts were recognised by the President who appointed her a member of parliament.
With the support of the government, Kwegyir now campaigns on behalf of all disabled persons but particularly for albinos.
At the first of the Voices side-events, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kang reminded delegates that, “amid all of this great and important weight of words, we must never forget that such words must both convey and address real experiences in the lives, struggle and suffering of individuals.”
Over the course of the week, 15 individuals will offer their personal experiences of racism at scheduled sessions each day. The “Voices” event was inaugurated at the 2001 Durban Conference against Racism.
Kang spoke of the participants in Voices as the “main event” of the conference. “Your stories represent the challenges that we are all here to confront. They will inspire and remind us of the very real effects of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance on lives everywhere.”

Voice of Victims – Transitional Justice in Nepal

“Peace is the most important thing for Nepal. Only when victims get justice and our voices are heard can we have lasting peace,” says Laxmi Khadka, whose husband disappeared during the decade-long conflict that killed thousands and ruined many more lives in the Himalayan country.
Khadka, 40 and a mother of three, tells a story of sorrow and pain. She has been searching in vain for her husband. “It was 8:15pm one evening six years ago; two Maoists came to our house and asked my husband to come with them. I didn’t see him ever after.”
But it is also a story of courage and strength. Khadka works with other conflict victims in Bardiya, Western Nepal, to get their voices heard in the transitional justice process. She is an active member of a local Conflict Victims Committee (CVC), a group established with the support of the United Nations human rights office in Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal).
“When I first heard of a big gathering in the village about conflict victims in Bardiya, I went but I was very afraid and worried. There were many ‘state victims’ and I’m a Maoist victim,” Khadka says, referring to the continuous division between victim groups in Nepal after the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government and the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist.
“But we’ve come a long way. We are not scared of asking for our rights. We will get justice one day.” She works closely with the Chair of the local Conflict Victims Committee Bhagiram Chaudhari, whose brother disappeared after being taken away by state agents.
“We’ve realized if we go to the government in two groups and become politicized ourselves, it will be very difficult for us to get justice. The Committee is a platform for all the victims. We’re not state victims or Maoist victims anymore. The bottom line is that we’re all victims first. Our needs, pain and sorrow are the same,” says Chaudhari.
It is estimated that over 1000 people were disappeared, by the state and the Maoists, during the conflict in Nepal. In Bardiya alone, OHCHR-Nepal investigated 156 cases of enforced disappearances and published its findings in December 2008.
OHCHR-Nepal’s work in Bardiya is one of the many telling examples of its efforts to promote and protect human rights in the country. It launched a nation-wide “Peace through Justice” project in July 2009 to help achieve accountability and sustainable peace in Nepal.
The project, funded by the UN Peace Fund for Nepal, supports the establishment and effective functioning of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a Commission of Inquiry on Disappearances. It also provides grants to conflict victim groups and civil society organizations, especially those working with women, children and the indigenous communities at the grassroots level, to bring their voices into the process of transitional justice.
“We have established a good reputation. We protected many lives during the conflict and our presence continues to bring a sense of reassurance. The people of Nepal appreciate our work. Nepal is going through great changes. In order to remain relevant, we have had to change as well,” says Richard Bennett, head of OHCHR-Nepal.
He says the Office now works to help partners in Nepal tackle the root causes of the conflict, such as discrimination, lack of economic, social and cultural rights, weak rule of law institutions and impunity.

Bringing a case against racial profiling

It was on their way back from a funeral 17 years ago that Robert Wilkins, an African American lawyer based in Washington, and his family were stopped by police on a motorway in Maryland in United States.
Speaking at an event on the sidelines of the Durban Review Conference - “Voices – Everyone affected by racism has a story that should be heard”, Wilkins said he would never forget that morning of May 1992. He was asked by police officers to stand in the rain while his car was being searched by a narcotics dog and motorway users watched the scene as they drove past.
Wilkins had rented a car to go to Chicago overnight. This detail may seem insignificant but, as Robert Wilkins later uncovered, it was one of the police’s primary reason for stopping the car. He also believed they had been the victims of racial profiling, a practice that still persists in law enforcement today.
Racial profiling is defined by the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action as “the practice of police and other law enforcement officers relying, to any degree, on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin as the basis for subjecting persons to investigatory activities or for determining whether an individual is engaged in criminal activity.” It is in essence a practice contrary to internationally recognised human rights norms and standards.
Racial profiling has proven to be an issue in the current political context because of its role in anti-terrorism measures. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin noted that since 11 September 2001 law-enforcement authorities across the globe have adopted measures based on “terrorist profiles” which include characteristics such as race, ethnicity, national origin or religion.
The issue of profiling was addressed at the Durban Review Conference and mentioned in the Conference’s Outcome Document.
At “Voices”, Wilkins recalled a police officer telling his cousin who was driving the car that he had “paced him” driving 60 miles per hour in a 40 miles per hour zone. The officer then took his driver’s licence and the rental car contract and returned to his police car. He returned a short while later and requested to search the car.
“I told the officer that we did not consent to him searching anything and that my understanding of the law was that he could not search our car unless he was arresting my cousin and was making a search incident to that arrest”, Wilkins recounted. He added that the officer informed him that such searches were routine and that there had been problems with rental cars on the motorway with drugs.
Wilkins offered to provide proof he was indeed returning from a funeral and not engaging in criminal activity. But the policeman insisted on bringing a dog to the scene.
The Wilkins eventually reluctantly agreed to the search. “It is hard to describe the frustration and pain you feel when people presume you to be guilty for no good reason and you know that you are innocent.”
Robert Wilkins and his family felt humiliated by the experience. They decided to sue the State of Maryland to seek justice and also to set a precedent which would stop such practices. It was at the beginning of the legal process that Wilkins received the Maryland State Police’s “Criminal Intelligence Report”, a document he described as a racial profile.
“The Criminal Intelligence Report discussed the crack cocaine problem in the Cumberland, Maryland area, and recklessly and indiscriminately advised state troopers that the traffickers “were predominately black males and females” and that these dangerous armed traffickers generally travelled early in the morning or late at night along Interstate 68, and that they favoured rental cars with Virginia registration. Well, we fit the profile to a tee.”
In court, Wilkins’ lawyers overturned the report, proving that profiles were irrelevant when controlling motorway drug trafficking. It appeared that drugs were found in all types of vehicles driven by people of all races and age.
The Wilkins eventually won their court case in 1995 with a financial settlement of US96,000 dollars. Among other provisions reached through the settlement were the prohibition of the use of race-based drug courier profiles as law enforcement tools and the training of officers on the new policy.
This landmark victory was tempered with reports of old habits enduring. In fact Wilkins said that another court ruling was made in 2003 in an attempt to ensure full implementation of the 1995 decision. “I still hear about troubling incidents on the highways in Maryland, including reports from African American motorists about illegal stops, searches of cars, and even strip searches by police”, Robert Wilkins said. “Almost 100 official complaints have been filed since 2003, but the Maryland State Police has never found a single one of those complaints to be sustained.”
Seventeen years after the incident with the police, he still wonders how much progress has been made to fight racial discrimination and whether legislation in America is strong enough to foster change.
“Racial profiling has taken a critical turn after September 11. Before that date, there was more acknowledgement that racial profiling had no appropriate role in law enforcement. After September 11, they started backing off on some of those statements.”

Twenty eight years on, people living with HIV still suffer discrimination

“It is wrong and unfair to assume that I or any other person living with HIV will get into your borders with the specific aim to transmit HIV. I am a responsible person and I am here to contribute to the fight against this epidemic, not to spread it, just like the majority of my colleagues living with HIV.”
Violeta Ross from the Bolivian, Network of People Living with HIV speaks passionately about the discriminatory nature of the HIV travel restrictions still in place in many countries. “Restrictions on the entry, stay and residence of HIV positive people are discriminatory. Even migratory birds have laws and treaties that protect them while moving across borders, but not human beings living with HIV. This is injustice.”
Ross was speaking at a special side event at the Durban Review Conference, “HIV-related discrimination: Travel restrictions on the entry, stay and residence of people living with HIV.”
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, organised the event to raise awareness about the existence of this form of discrimination and to highlight how the restrictions violate basic human rights.
Some 60 countries still impose restrictions on entry, stay and residence of people based on HIV status alone. The restrictions mean that people living with HIV can be prevented from seeking asylum, employment or study abroad, from conducting business or simply visiting foreign countries for tourism. In many of these countries testing for HIV is mandatory. The results are sometimes not communicated and are often not kept confidential. Those found to be HIV positive may be immediately detained and in may cases summarily deported with no offer of treatment even though infection may have occurred in the host country.
Maria Lourdes Marin from the organisation Action for Health Initiatives (ACHIEVE) described the impact of HIV testing on migrant workers. Rahul was in his third year of working as an assistant in a tailoring shop in a foreign country. When he was renewing his work permit, he went through a medical check-up. Rahul tested positive for HIV. He was arrested and kept for 15 days in a small cell at the hospital where he had been tested, with his hands and legs chained. Rahul was then deported. He was subsequently forced away from his family and divorced his wife. Rahul finally met a self-help group of people living with HIV and was assisted to set up a small business in his country of origin.
In a world where the search for employment is now global, Rahul’s story is not uncommon. For many the result of mandatory testing is devastating, work in destination countries is no longer a possibility, incomes disappear and standards of living fall drastically.
Additionally, there is very often no support of any kind for these individuals in either the host country or their country of origin. They are frequently isolated, rejected by their family and friends and unable to access information and treatment services.
The Outcome Document of the Durban Review Conference recommends that States “guarantee universal and effective access to all health services, including medications at affordable prices, particularly those required for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of HIV/AIDS”.
In her speech to delegates at the side event, the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kung said, “The United Nations Secretary-General, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS together with other UN partners and a number of civil society organizations have provided leadership on this issue calling for a change in the laws that restrict the travel of persons solely on the basis of their HIV positive status.”
Kang noted that last year alone some 900 million individuals crossed national boundaries. “It is regrettable,” she said, “that HIV positive people are impeded in their enjoyment of freedom of movement given what we know about HIV and how it is transmitted.” Kang indicated that such restrictions were discriminatory and urged a concentration of efforts, “in fighting the disease of HIV, rather than the people living with it. Indeed, people living with HIV deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, and are entitled to the full enjoyment of their human rights just as much as all other rights holders.”

An indigenous community in Burundi battles for equal treatment

Joseph Kanani and his extended family live as squatters in extremely poor conditions in Musigati, a village north of Burundi’s capital Bujumbura.
“We do not have land. In the past we have had no representation in government and anyone could come and build right in the middle of our land. The public would treat us like dogs that cannot bite,” Kanani says.
The Batwa, a pygmy people, indigenous to the tiny Central African nation of Burundi, are marginalized. They want their rights recognized and are demanding equal access to land, education and health services.
The Batwa community, which constitutes one percent of Burundi’s population, traditionally served as servants. The perception of them in servitude continues to dominate their lives. The births of Batwa are unrecorded and so with no legal status they have no rights to public amenities such as health services. Authorities in Burundi acknowledge the age-old discrimination.
“For a long time the Batwa were not allowed to enter other people’s homes. They were seen to be backward, with no value and bright future. Things have changed, people visit them. But the only obstacle is that there’s no intermarriage with them, even now it cannot happen,” says Derogates Ntikazohera, a local official.
Vital Bambanze, a former indigenous fellow of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, now heads a local non-governmental organization promoting the rights of the Batwa. “We have realised the Batwa are being exploited, working as slaves for others. We got money from the UN human rights office slavery fund. We are trying to buy back land,” he says.
The Batwa were once dependent on the now depleted Central African rainforest as hunter gatherers but now most work as casual labourers.
“Our children, we send them to school but they do not complete more than one or two years. They drop out because of hunger…. This harms us so much,” Kanani says. He fends for his young family of three children by making bricks, earning US45 cents a day. He can barely afford one meal a day.
Désire Nanduri is fighting the odds. He scales the hilly Burundi countryside to secure a better life through education. The 19-year-old junior high school student walks for an hour to and from school daily. “I am a representative of the youth; I try to encourage other Batwa children to go on with school. And if God helps me I will continue with my studies. I will be able to help my community,” he says.
Liberate Nicayenzi is the community’s heroine. As the first woman Batwa Member of Parliament, she serves as a mentor. “We have this role, the responsibility to make the Batwa community aware of their rights to give them the access to social integration and to progress, like others,” she says.
The UN’s human rights office in Burundi is working with the government to open dialogue between the Batwa and local authorities about their rights. Isabel Kempf is OHCHR-s Regional Human Rights Advisor, she says:“OHCHR works with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region to address regional human rights concerns, in the case of the Batwa what we create a forum for them to learn about their rights and from each other, and to strategise.We provide them provide them space to advocate for their rights and dialogue with their governments and communities. and exchange best practises in the region.”
This year’s official theme for Human Rights Day is discrimination. Human Rights Day occurs every year on the 10th December – the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.