top of page
Search
LISA JUNG, AYÇA ZEHRA KARABABA, HELENA PARISE SANVICENTE AND SIAVASH GHASEMI
Oct 17, 20228 min read

WEEKLY OVERVIEW - MAY 30TH, 2021

AUTHOR

BY LISA JUNG, AYÇA ZEHRA KARABABA, HELENA PARISE SANVICENTE AND SIAVASH GHASEMI

THIS WEEK'S BLOG PRESENTS YOU WITH SEVERAL INTERESTING HUMAN RIGHTS-RELATED ISSUES AND CONFLICTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. IT CONTAINS THE NEWS OF THE RECENT VOLCANO ERUPTION IN THE DR OF CONGO, AN UPDATE ON THE ALERTING INCREASE OF CORONA VIRUS CASES IN TURKISH PRISONS. IT FURTHERMORE INFORMS ABOUT THE CURRENT EXPULSION OF MIGRANTS IN CHILE AND GIVES BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON GERMANY FINALLY RECOGNIZING ITS GENOCIDAL PAST IN NAMIBIA.

VOLCANO ERUPTION NEAR GOMA, DR OF CONGO SATURDAY, A VOLCANO ON MOUNT NYIRAGONGO ERUPTED NEAR THE VILLAGE OF GOMA IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. FORTUNATELY, THE LAVA STOPPED RIGHT BEFORE THE DENSELY POPULATED AREA CITY'S BUILT-UP AREA. WHILE THIS HAS LIMITED THE CONSEQUENCES OF DEATHS AND DESTRUCTION TO HOUSES AND BUILDINGS, NOT ALL GOT AWAY. ESPECIALLY THE BUHENE DISTRICT HAS BEEN HIT HARD, WHERE ALL THE HOUSES HAVE BEEN BURNED. THE BUHENE DISTRICT IS SITUATED ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF GOMA AND WAS THE FIRST PLACE OF THE HABITED WORLD FOR THE LAVA TO REACH. A 68-YEAR-OLD WOMAN, ERNESTINE KABUO, WAS UNABLE TO SAVE HER SICK HUSBAND BECAUSE SHE SIMPLY COULD NOT CARRY HIM. SEVERAL OTHER PEOPLE DIED OF ASPHYXIATION WHILE THEY TRIED TO CROSS PARTS OF THE LAVA THAT MIGHT HAVE COOLED DOWN. OTHERS DIED WHILE TRYING TO ESCAPE A PRISON, AND EVEN TRAFFIC HAS CAUSED SEVERAL DEATHS IN THE PANIC OF FLEEING THE LAVA. LOTS OF RESIDENTS ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR LOVED ONES IN THE REMAINS OF THEIR HOUSES. MANY CHILDREN HAVE BEEN SEPARATED FROM THEIR FAMILIES. UNICEF HAS STEPPED IN TO SET UP CENTERS FOR UNACCOMPANIED MINORS, WHERE THEY WILL BE LOOKED AFTER. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BUHENE DISTRICT WILL PROBABLY TAKE MONTHS SINCE BOTH HOUSES AND LARGER BUILDINGS ARE SWEPT AWAY. PARTS OF THE N2 HAVE ALSO BEEN COVERED IN LAVA, ESPECIALLY PROBLEMATIC SINCE IT IS A CRUCIAL SUPPLY ROUTE THAT CONNECTS GOMA TO THE CITY OF BENI. THE CITY'S AIRPORT, FORTUNATELY, ESCAPED THE LAVA AND REMAINS UNTOUCHED. LUCKILY, BEFORE AN EVACUATION PLAN WAS EVEN ANNOUNCED, MANY HAD GOTTEN THEIR BELONGINGS AND WERE ABLE TO FLEE BY FOOT. AT NIGHT CROWDS WERE CROSSING THE BORDER TO RWANDA WITH MATTRESSES AND OTHER BELONGINGS. IT IS ESTIMATED ABOUT 3000 PEOPLE CROSSED THE BORDER. THE SPEED OF THE LAVA WAS ABOUT 1 KM/H, BUT IT DID NOT STOP. A VOLCANOLOGIST STATED THAT THIS PARTICULAR TYPE OF LAVA HAD THE POTENTIAL TO MOVE FAST. THE VOLCANO HAS NOT BEEN ADEQUATELY OBSERVED SINCE GOMA'S OBSERVATORY'S FUNDING WAS CUT DUE TO CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS. CURRENTLY, HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS ARE DOING EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO ADDRESS PEOPLE'S NEEDS IN THE AREA.

CORONAVIRUS CASES ARE WORSENING IN PRISONS IN TURKEY DURING THE JULY 15 COUP ATTEMPT IN TURKEY, MILITARY SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO WERE LOADED INTO BUSES AND TAKEN OUT OF THEIR BARRACKS AT THE ORDERS OF THEIR COMMANDERS, WHO WERE NOT INVOLVED IN THE COUP, WERE SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT. ABOUT 350 MILITARY SCHOOL STUDENTS HAVE BEEN IN PRISON FOR ALMOST FIVE YEARS. MELEK ÇETINKAYA (KNOWN BY THE TURKISH CITIZENS FOR HER ACTIONS TO EXPLAIN THAT HER SON IS INNOCENT) ANNOUNCED ON HER TWITTER ACCOUNT THAT MANY OF THE CADET STUDENTS HELD IN SILIVRI PRISON WERE SICK WITH THE NEW TYPE OF CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19). SPEAKING TO THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, ÇETINKAYA SAID THAT MANY STUDENTS WERE IN A DIFFICULT SITUATION. ONE OF THEM FAINTED, AND THE OTHER VOMITED DURING THE PRISON VIEW. ÇETINKAYA USED THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS IN THE VIDEO SHE PUBLISHED: "I AM CALLING OUT TO THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, I WANT YOU TO SPREAD THIS VIDEO. I LEFT MY SON'S PRISON VISIT. THE CHILDREN ARE ALL VERY SICK. MY SON'S WAIST IS VERY PAINFUL. HE SAYS THAT HE CAN ONLY RELIEVE HIS PAIN BY GIVING AN INJECTION. HE SAYS, "I CAN'T SLEEP, I CAN'T SIT." ONE OF THE OTHER CHILDREN FAINTED DURING THE VISIT, WAS VERY TIRED, AND COULD NOT STAND UP. ANOTHER BOY VOMITED AT SIGHT. THERE WERE THOSE WITH FEVER. " MELEK ÇETINKAYA, WHO DEMANDED THE EVACUATION OF THE CHILDREN, SAID, "STOP THIS PERSECUTION NOW, PLEASE. I DON'T KNOW WHO TO CALL ANYMORE. WE ARE SO TIRED OF WAITING NOW. PLEASE EVACUATE OUR CHILDREN NOW," SHE SAID. SOME PRISONERS WHO CAUGHT CORONAVIRUS A MONTH AGO HAVE STILL NOT BEEN CONTACTED WITH THEIR FAMILIES. THE NUMBER OF CASES INCREASED IN SILIVRI PRISON. THE DEATH OF ERDAL KILINÇ, WHO DIED AFTER CATCHING CORONAVIRUS IN SILIVRI PRISON NO. 5 ON MAY 12, 2021, WORRIED THE RELATIVES OF THE PRISONERS. THE PRISONERS IN THE C3 WARD, WHO TESTED POSITIVE ON MAY 4, HAVE NOT BEEN CONTACTED WITH THEIR FAMILIES FOR NEARLY A MONTH. A PRISONER RELATIVE "42 LIVE IN A PLACE FOR SEVEN PEOPLE. THEY EAT THEIR MEALS TOGETHER, THE TOILET AND THE BATHROOM ARE SHARED. EVERYONE IS SICK. EVERYONE IS COUGHING. THE MASK IS NOT DISTRIBUTED. NO EGGS SINCE LAST MARCH, NOT GIVEN DUE TO CORONA." SAID. THE PRISONER'S RELATIVE SAID THAT TELEPHONE CALLS WERE NOT MADE AND SAID, "WE ARE NOT GIVEN ACCURATE INFORMATION. VISITS ARE PROHIBITED. WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE INFIRMARY. IT IS SAID THAT THE MEDICINE IS GIVEN, THEY GIVE THE MEDICINE BY HAND. THEN WE SEE A PERSON DIES. WE LEARN THAT HE SLEPT IN INTENSIVE CARE. THE SAME IS SAID TO THE FAMILIES OF THE DECEASED."

THE ARBITRARY EXPULSION OF MIGRANTS IN CHILE UNDER THE MOTTO "CLEAN THE HOUSE," THE NEW MIGRATION LAW HAS BEEN ADOPTED IN CHILE AFTER EIGHT YEARS OF OPEN DEBATE. IT HAS RECEIVED PLENTY OF CRITICISM FROM THE OPPOSITION AND PRO-MIGRATION ORGANIZATIONS AS THE NEW LEGISLATION IMPOSES HIGHER RIGIDITY IN THE BORDERS AND SEEKS TO SPEED UP DEPORTATION. SEBASTIAN PINERA, THE CURRENT PRESIDENT OF CHILE, HAS DECLARED THAT THE OBJECTIVE OF THE LEGISLATION IS TO "SEEK ORDER IN OUR HOUSE WITH THE USE OF AN ORGANIZED, SAFE AND REGULAR LEGISLATION WHICH PERMITS LEGAL MIGRATION AND FIGHTS THE ILLEGAL." THE NEW LAW, WHICH WAS FIRST PROPOSED BACK IN 2013, SEEKS TO MAKE DEPORTATIONS MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD AND REQUIRES MIGRANTS TO POSSESS A VALID VISA BEFORE ARRIVING IN CHILE. THE PRESIDENT ARGUES THAT THE LAW INTENDS TO AVOID ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BY MAKING IT HARDER TO COME INTO THE COUNTRY AS A TOURIST AND LATER STAY. HOWEVER, THE OPPOSITION ARGUES THAT FORTIFYING THE BORDERS WOULD ONLY INCREASE IMMIGRANTS WHO CROSS BORDERS BY NON-HABILITATED PATHS. RODOLFO NORIEGA, THE GENERAL SECRETARY FOR THE NATIONAL COORDINATION OF IMMIGRATION, STATED, "THIS LAW REPRESENTS A CLOSURE OF POSSIBILITIES FOR MIGRANT WORKERS, AND IT GOES AGAINST DE BILATERAL AGREEMENTS IN THE REGION."

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPULSIONS THE NEW LAW MAKES IT FACILITATES "ADMINISTRATIVE EXPULSIONS," WHICH MEANS THAT IT IS NO LONGER A REQUIREMENT TO HAVE A CRIMINAL COMPLAINT AGAINST A MIGRANT TO START THE PROCESS OF DEPORTATION. SINCE APRIL 20, THE FACT THAT MIGRANTS CAME INTO THE COUNTRY IN AN UNREGULATED WAY IS ARGUMENT ENOUGH TO BE EXPULSED. MOREOVER, THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION IN CHILE HAS CONTRACTED 15 COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES, WHICH WILL BE USED TO DEPORT 1.500 PEOPLE IN 2021. THE FIRST FLIGHT TOOK PLACE IN APRIL WITH 55 CITIZENS OF VENEZUELA WITH DESTINATION TO CARACAS. DISDAIN OF HUMAN RIGHTS THE UNITED NATIONS HAVE CALLED TO THE IMMEDIATE STOP OF COLLECTIVE DEPORTATIONS OF MIGRANTS AS THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO AN INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT OF THEIR CASES WHILE STAYING IN THE COUNTRY WHILE BEING EVALUATED, AS THIS IS IN LINE WITH THE NORMS AND STANDARDS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS. FURTHERMORE, THE DIRECTOR OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL IN CHILE, ANA PIQUER, STATED THAT THE PEOPLE BEING EXPULSED ARE NOT ONLY MIGRANTS BUT PEOPLE WHO ARE SEEKING INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION DUE TO THE CHALLENGING CRISIS SOME NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES ARE FACING.

GERMANY RECOGNIZES GENOCIDAL PAST IN NAMIBIA ON FRIDAY, MAY 28, THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED THAT IT WILL FORMALLY RECOGNIZE THE COLONIAL-ERA MASSACRE OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN NAMIBIA AS GENOCIDE. IN OVER A CENTURY SINCE THE FACTS, IT IS THE FIRST TIME THAT GERMANY ADMITS THE TRUE NATURE OF THE CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST THE HERERO AND NAMA PEOPLE BY GERMAN SETTLERS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 1900S. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT COMES AFTER MORE THAN FIVE YEARS OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE NAMIBIAN GOVERNMENT. ALONGSIDE THE APOLOGY, GERMANY HAS ALSO PROMISED MORE THAN A BILLION EUROS FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN THE AFRICAN COUNTRY. HEIKO MAAS, GERMANY'S FOREIGN MINISTER, STATED: "OUR GOAL WAS AND IS TO FIND A COMMON PATH TO GENUINE RECONCILIATION IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS. THIS INCLUDES NAMING THE EVENTS OF THE GERMAN COLONIAL PERIOD IN WHAT IS NOW NAMIBIA, AND IN PARTICULAR THE ATROCITIES IN THE PERIOD FROM 1904 TO 1908, WITHOUT SPARING OR GLOSSING OVER THEM. WE WILL NOW ALSO OFFICIALLY CALL THESE EVENTS WHAT THEY WERE FROM TODAY'S PERSPECTIVE: A GENOCIDE". BETWEEN 1904 AND 1908, GERMAN SETTLERS AND SOLDIERS IN WHAT WAS THEN CALLED WEST SOUTH AFRICA SYSTEMATICALLY KILLED ALMOST 65 000 MEMBERS OF THE HERERO TRIBE AND ABOUT 10 000 MEMBERS OF THE NAMA TRIBE. THESE MASSACRES OCCURRED DURING THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ANTI-COLONIAL UPRISING IN THE AREA. THESE PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN MASS EXECUTIONS, EXILED TO LIVE IN THE DESERT (WHERE THEY DIED OF THIRST AND HUNGER), OR SENT TO CONCENTRATION CAMPS, SUCH AS SHARK ISLAND. THE ATROCITY OF WHAT HAPPENED HAS HAUNTED GERMAN-NAMIBIAN RELATIONS FOR MANY YEARS. GERMANY FIRST ISSUED AN APOLOGY FOR THE KILLINGS IN 2004, BUT NEGOTIATIONS ABOUT REPARATIONS ONLY OPENED IN 2015. NEVERTHELESS, THE AGREEMENTS ACHIEVED WILL ONLY HAVE SOMEWHAT OF A MORAL VALUE, AS MR. MAAS STATED THAT THERE CAN BE NO LEGAL CLAIMS TO COMPENSATION FROM IT. THIS STATEMENT MEANS THAT GERMANY'S ADMISSION TO GENOCIDE WILL ONLY HAVE A POLITICAL AND MORAL IMPLICATION AND THAT IT WILL NOT BE SANCTIONED BY ANY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS SUCH AS GENEVA. THE 1.1 BILLION EUROS PROMISED BY THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT "FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT" WILL BE RESTITUTED OVER 30 YEARS. THE SUM IS MEANT TO BENEFIT DESCENDANTS OF THE VICTIMS OF THE GENOCIDE, AND IT WILL SUPPOSEDLY FUND DEVELOPMENTS SUCH AS LAND REFORM, INCLUDING LAND PURCHASES, AGRICULTURE, RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE, WATER SUPPLY, AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING. GERMANY WILL ALSO CONTINUE ITS DEVELOPMENT AID TO NAMIBIA SEPARATELY. ACCORDING TO THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT NEGOTIATORS, HERERO AND NAMA REPRESENTATIVES WERE INVOLVED IN THE AGREEMENT, YET SEVERAL VICTIM'S RIGHTS GROUPS HAVE STATED THAT WHAT GERMANY IS OFFERING IS NOT ENOUGH. VEKUII RUKORO, HERERO PARAMOUNT CHIEF, CALLED THE REPORTED SETTLEMENT A "SELLOUT." HE SAID, "IS THIS THE KIND OF REPARATION THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE EXCITED ABOUT? THIS IS JUST PUBLIC RELATIONS. THIS IS A SELLOUT JOB BY THE NAMIBIAN GOVERNMENT. THE GOVERNMENT HAS BETRAYED THE CAUSE OF MY PEOPLE." ACCORDING TO RUKORO, REPARATIONS SHOULD BE MADE THROUGH A FUND DIRECTLY AVAILABLE TO THE REMAINING HERERO AND NAMA PEOPLE.

SOURCES:

VOLCANO ERUPTION NEAR GOMA, DR OF CONGO:

CORONAVIRUS CASES ARE WORSENING IN PRISONS IN TURKEY:

THE ARBITRARY EXPULSION OF MIGRANTS IN CHILE:

GERMANY RECOGNIZES GENOCIDAL PAST IN NAMIBIA:


0 views0 comments

Comments

bottom of page