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LISA JUNG, ZEYNEP ECE KARSLI , HELENA PARISE SANVICENTE AND HAŞIM YILMAZ
Oct 17, 20227 min read

WEEKLY OVERVIEW - APR. 17, 2021

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BY LISA JUNG, ZEYNEP ECE KARSLI , HELENA PARISE SANVICENTE AND HAŞIM YILMAZ

THIS WEEK'S BLOG COVERS SEVERAL SYSTEMIC ISSUES LIKE POLICE BRUTALITY IN THE U.S. AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE AND HOMOPHOBIC VIOLENCE. VERY CURRENT ISSUES ARE COVERED, SUCH AS THE PEAK IN THE PANDEMIC IN INDIA AND THE ONGOING UNREST IN MYANMAR.

INDIA AND COVID-19 TODAY INDIA REPORTED A RECORD DAILY INCREASE OF 217,353 COVID-19 INFECTIONS. THIS HAS BEEN THE EIGHTH DAY IN A ROW THAT THE NUMBER OF DAILY NEW INFECTIONS HAS INCREASED. THE NUMBER OF DEATHS HAS NOW REACHED 174,308. WITH THESE NUMBERS, INDIA HAS BECOME THE COUNTRY WITH THE SECOND-HIGHEST AMOUNT OF CORONA CASES AFTER THE U.S. THE SECOND WAVE IS A CONSEQUENCE OF MASS RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS, POLITICAL RALLIES, AND LARGE CROWDS AT CRICKET MATCHES. DURING THE KUMBH MELA FESTIVAL, 900,000 DEVOTEES TOOK A DIP IN THE HOLY RIVER THE GANGES. MANY HAVE CRITICIZED THE GOVERNMENT FOR ALLOWING THE FESTIVAL TO TAKE PLACE AMID A PANDEMIC. THE BIGGEST CITIES, MUMBAI AND NEW DELHI, WERE FORCED TO IMPOSE NEW RESTRICTIONS. WHILE OFFICIALS, IN THE RUN-UP TO THE ELECTIONS, REGULARLY IGNORED THE RULES, PREMIER MODI NOW CALLED ON PEOPLE'S RESPONSIBILITY: "PUT ON YOUR FACE MASK, KEEP YOUR DISTANCE AND GO IN QUARANTINE IF YOU ARE POSITIVE." THE WIDESPREAD PARTICIPATION HAS ALSO CAUSED EXPERTS TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT NEW MUTANTS OF THE VIRUS THAT MIGHT BE MORE DEADLY. IN THE GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19, INDIA PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE, ACCORDING TO EXPERTS. EPIDEMIOLOGIST RAMANAN LAXMINARAYAN STATES THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON IS THE SIZE OF THE COUNTRY, ONE-SIXTH OF THE WORLD POPULATION. INDIA HAS ALSO PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN PRODUCING VACCINES. IT HAS EXPORTED 64,5 MILLION CORONA VACCINES TO 85 COUNTRIES. THE VACCINATIONS IN THE COUNTRY ITSELF, HOWEVER, ARE PROBLEMATIC. PATIENTS ARE OVERFLOODING THE HOSPITALS, AND MANY THEREFORE CALLED TO SPEED UP THE COUNTRY'S VACCINATION PROGRAM. THE GOVERNMENT HAS INJECTED 115 MILLION DOSES AND HAS CHANGED ITS ROLE FROM MAJOR EXPORTER TO SIGNIFICANT IMPORTER. HOWEVER, THIS IS WHERE THE SITUATION GETS CONCERNING. OFFICIALS CHANGED THE RULES AND ADOPTED SHORTCUTS TO GET APPROVAL FOR CERTAIN FOREIGN VACCINES, WHICH OMIT THE OFFICIAL TESTING ROUTE. BY NOT PUTTING IN THE NECESSARY CHECKS, PEOPLE'S HEALTH IS POTENTIALLY AT RISK. ANOTHER DISTURBING TREND IS THE NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE BEING BROUGHT INTO THE HOSPITAL. DOCTORS IN THE MOST AFFECTED CITIES STATED THAT THEY SAW THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS BELOW 45 AND INCREASE, PARTICULARLY IN CHILDREN. ADDITIONALLY, THE SECOND WAVE HAS LED TO A SHORTAGE OF HOSPITAL BEDS, LIFE-SAVING DRUGS, AND MEDICAL OXYGEN. MANY CREMATORIUMS ARE ALSO COMPLETE, MAKING THE BODIES PILE UP…

JUSTICE FOR DAUNTE WRIGHT


ON APRIL 11TH, DAUNTE WRIGHT SR. WAS FATALLY SHOT AND KILLED BY A BROOKLYN CENTER POLICE OFFICER DURING A ROUTINE TRAFFIC STOP. HE WAS ONLY 20 YEARS OLD AND A FATHER OF A 1-YEAR-OLD CHILD. HIS BODY WAS LEFT ON THE GROUND BY THE POLICE FOR MORE THAN 6 HOURS. WRIGHT WAS PULLED OVER FOR A TRAFFIC VIOLATION (HAVING AN AIR FRESHENER IN HIS REAR-VIEW MIRROR). POLICE DETERMINED HE HAD AN OUTSTANDING WARRANT. THE OFFICERS TRIED TO ARREST WRIGHT, AND THE POLICE SAID HE "RE-ENTERED" THE VEHICLE. ACCORDING TO THE POLICE STATEMENT, "ONE OFFICER DISCHARGED THEIR FIREARM, STRIKING THE DRIVER. THE VEHICLE THEN TRAVELED SEVERAL BLOCKS BEFORE STRIKING ANOTHER VEHICLE." HIS GIRLFRIEND WAS A PASSENGER IN THE CAR AND SUFFERED NON-LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES. SHE WAS TAKEN TO A LOCAL HOSPITAL. THE NOW-RESIGNED CHIEF OF POLICE FOR BROOKLYN CENTER, MINNESOTA, TIM GANNON, SAID THAT THE SHOOTING OF DAUNTE WRIGHT WAS DUE TO AN ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE. ACCORDING TO HIM, KIM POTTER, A 26-YEAR VETERAN OF THE FORCE, MEANT TO DEPLOY HER TASER. INSTEAD, SHE SHOT HER SERVICE PISTOL AND MURDERED DAUNTE WRIGHT. AT A NEWS CONFERENCE ON MONDAY, CHIEF GANNON PLAYED A SHORT VIDEO FROM THE BODY CAMERA WORN BY A POLICEWOMAN, WHICH SHOWS MR. WRIGHT TRYING TO GET BACK INTO HIS CAR AS OFFICERS ATTEMPT TO HANDCUFF HIM ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. A POLICE OFFICER WHO SHOT AND KILLED A BLACK MAN IN A MINNEAPOLIS SUBURB AFTER A TRAFFIC STOP HAS BEEN ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH SECOND-DEGREE MANSLAUGHTER IN THE CASE. PROTESTS, SOME VIOLENT, HAVE TAKEN PLACE EACH NIGHT IN AND AROUND BROOKLYN CENTER. WRIGHT'S FAMILY HAD CALLED FOR CHARGES AGAINST THE OFFICER. MORE THAN 3,000 MINNESOTA NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS HAVE NOW BEEN ACTIVATED IN THE TWIN CITIES AREA. IT PROMPTED AUTHORITIES TO ENFORCE AN OVERNIGHT CURFEW ON SUNDAY NIGHT, AND ON MONDAY, THE MAYORS OF MINNEAPOLIS AND NEIGHBORING ST PAUL DECLARED A LOCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY. ANOTHER CURFEW IS IN PLACE FROM 19:00 TO 06:00 LOCAL TIME ACROSS THE TWO CITIES. REACTING TO THE MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE, ONE OF THE WRIGHT FAMILY'S ATTORNEYS, BENJAMIN CRUMP, RELEASED A STATEMENT SAYING, "THIS (SHOOTING) WAS NO ACCIDENT. THIS WAS AN INTENTIONAL, DELIBERATE AND UNLAWFUL USE OF FORCE." MR. WRIGHT'S MOTHER, KATIE, SAID HER HEART HAD BEEN "BROKEN IN A THOUSAND PIECES... I MISS HIM SO MUCH". "HE WAS MY LIFE, HE WAS MY SON, AND I CAN NEVER GET THAT BACK," SHE SAID ON MONDAY. "BECAUSE OF A MISTAKE? BECAUSE OF AN ACCIDENT?" EARLIER, SHE TOLD HOW HER SON HAD CALLED HER DURING THE TRAFFIC STOP. HE SAID HE HAD BEEN PULLED OVER BECAUSE OF "AIR FRESHENERS HANGING FROM HIS REAR-VIEW MIRROR." SHE SAID SHE THEN HEARD SCUFFLING, AND THE PHONE LINE WAS CUT. "A MINUTE LATER, I CALLED AND HIS GIRLFRIEND ANSWERED, WHO WAS THE PASSENGER IN THE CAR, AND SAID THAT HE'D BEEN SHOT... AND MY SON WAS LAYING THERE LIFELESS."

LGBTQIA+ REFUGEE DIES AFTER ATTACK IN KAKUMA CAMP ON THE 12TH OF APRIL, A YOUNG MAN DIED FROM THE INJURIES INFLICTED UPON HIM IN A HOMOPHOBIC ATTACK IN THE KAKUMA REFUGEE CAMP, WHERE HE WAS RESIDING. CHRITON "TRINIDAD" ATUHWERA WAS A 22-YEAR OLD HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND REFUGEE FROM UGANDA. AFTER FLEEING HIS OWN COUNTRY BECAUSE OF LGBTQIA+ PERSECUTION, HE LIVED IN KENYA'S KAKUMA REFUGEE CAMP. THE ATTACK THAT ULTIMATELY CLAIMED HIS LIFE WAS PERPETRATED IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE 15TH OF MARCH WHEN A PETROL BOMB WAS THROWN IN BLOCK 13 OF KAKUMA 3 WHILE HE AND OTHER LGBTQIA+ REFUGEES SLEPT. THIS EVENT IS FAR FROM BEING THE FIRST VIOLENT EPISODE OF HOMOPHOBIA IN KAKUMA. THE SECOND-LARGEST REFUGEE CAMP IN KENYA, HOUSING OVER 160 000 PEOPLE, HAS ALREADY BEEN UNDER SCRUTINY FOR YEARS. IN 2018, THE UNHCR HAD TO RELOCATE OVER 200 LGBTQIA+ PEOPLE BECAUSE OF A SERIES OF HATEFUL ATTACKS. CURRENTLY, THERE IS AN ESTIMATE OF 300 LGBTQIA+ REFUGEES IN KAKUMA. IN 2021 THE UNHCR WAS URGED TO PROTECT AND RELOCATE LGBTQIA+ REFUGEES FROM KAKUMA 3. THE REFUGEES HAD ALREADY REPORTED AT LEAST FIVE ATTACKS SINCE THE START OF THE YEAR, INCLUDING ANOTHER ARSON. ACCORDING TO THE UNHCR, THERE HAS BEEN MUCH DONE TO IMPROVE THE PRECARIOUS SAFETY OF LGBTQIA+ REFUGEES IN KAKUMA. DESPITE THE CLAIMS OF INCREASED POLICE PATROLS, ASIDE FROM MEDICAL, LEGAL, AND PSYCHOSOCIAL HELP FOR THE COMMUNITY, LGBTQIA+ RESIDENTS OF KAKUMA 3 DO NOT FEEL THAT ENOUGH IS BEING DONE TO PROTECT THEM. ONE OF THE ISSUES CONCERNS THE RELOCATION OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THESE UNSAFE CONDITIONS. THIS PROCESS HAS BEEN DELAYED BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC. ADDITIONALLY, THE U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY IN KENYA APPROACHES RELOCATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL CASE BASIS, WHILE MANY PEOPLE FROM BLOCK 13 WOULD PREFER TO BE RELOCATED AS A GROUP FOR SAFETY REASONS. IN A JOINT STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE ACTIVISTS OF BLOCK 13 AND OTHER NGOS AND ASSOCIATIONS SUCH AS THE BLACK IMMIGRANT COLLECTIVE AND THE COALITION OF AFRICAN LESBIANS, THEY SAID: "TRINIDAD'S LIFE AND HUMAN DIGNITY WERE SUBJECTED TO ATTRITION AND A SLOW DEATH. […] THE LIVES OF LGBTQ+ REFUGEES AT KAKUMA ARE STILL IN DANGER. WE URGE THE UNHCR TO RELOCATE THEM TO A SAFE LOCATION OUTSIDE THE CAMP BEFORE ANOTHER BODY IS BRUTALISED OR ANOTHER LIFE LOST."

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES BY MILITARY JUNTA IN MYANMAR THE MYANMAR MILITARY STAGED A COUP ON FEBRUARY 1, 2021, NULLIFYING THE RESULTS OF THE NOVEMBER 2020 ELECTIONS AND ARBITRARILY DETAINING HUNDREDS OF POLITICIANS, ACTIVISTS, AND CIVIL SERVANTS. THE SECURITY FORCES HAVE ARRESTED MANY PEOPLE SUSPECTED OF PARTICIPATION IN ANTI-COUP DEMONSTRATIONS OR THE OPPOSITION CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT DURING NIGHT-TIME RAIDS ON HOMES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. THE NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION, ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS, TOLD HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH THEY COULD CONFIRM THE LOCATION OF ONLY A TINY FRACTION OF THE MORE THAN 2,500 RECENT DETAINEES THEY HAVE IDENTIFIED. IN MANY CASES, FAMILIES HAVE ONLY RECEIVED INFORMATION INFORMALLY ABOUT THE LOCATION OF THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS, SUCH AS WHEN NEWLY RELEASED DETAINEES NOTIFY FAMILY MEMBERS OR LAWYERS THAT THEY HAD SEEN A PERSON WHO HAD BEEN DETAINED. SOME FAMILIES BELIEVE THAT BECAUSE A PRISON ACCEPTS A PACKAGE FOR THEIR FAMILY MEMBER, IT IS MOST LIKELY WHERE THEIR RELATIVE IS BEING HELD. HOWEVER, THIS IS CONJECTURE AND DOES NOT RELIEVE THE AUTHORITIES OF THEIR OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON A DETAINEE'S WHEREABOUTS, PRODUCE A DETAINEE IN COURT WITHIN 48 HOURS, AND ALLOW ACCESS TO COUNSEL AND FAMILY MEMBERS. ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES ARE VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, PARTICULARLY IN THE CASES OF A SYSTEMATIC ATTACK ON A CIVILIAN POPULATION. ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES ARE A TOOL THAT IS OFTEN USED BY AUTHORITIES TO SUPPRESS OPPOSITION. FORCED DISAPPEARANCES ARE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS OF THE INDIVIDUALS, AND IT CAUSES UNTOLD SUFFERING TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS. THEY ARE TOOLS USED TO DETER OPPOSITION BY SPREADING FEAR. THE CONDITIONS OF PEOPLE WHO DISAPPEARED ARE NOT OPEN AS WE DO NOT KNOW THE CONDITIONS THEY LIVE IN, OR EVEN IF THEY ARE ALIVE. THE PEOPLE OF MYANMAR FIND THEMSELVES ONCE AGAINST FACING THE MILITARY'S BULLETS, BUT THEY COURAGEOUSLY CONTINUE THEIR STRUGGLE, UNRELENTING. E.U. CONDEMNATION AND EFFORTS TO ADVANCE ACCOUNTABILITY AND JUSTICE FOR THE GRAVE, WIDESPREAD, AND SYSTEMATIC ABUSES BY THE MILITARY JUNTA ARE WELCOME AND ESSENTIAL. YET, WORDS AND PARTIAL STEPS ARE NOT ENOUGH. ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS ARE URGENTLY NEEDED. MYANMAR'S JUNTA NEEDS TO BE SHOWN THERE ARE BOTH IMMEDIATE AND LONGER-TERM CONSEQUENCES FOR THEIR GRIEVOUS CRIMES.

SOURCES:

INDIA AND COVID-19:

JUSTICE FOR DAUNTE WRIGHT:

LGBTQIA+ REFUGEE DIES AFTER ATTACK IN KAKUMA CAMP:

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES BY MILITARY JUNTA IN MYANMAR:


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