The EWL has drafted an E.U. alternative report that sets forth the E.U.'s actions, legislation, and programs used to implement the Beijing Platform for Action since 1995. The report reviews the progress made by E.U. institutions in addressing the twelve areas of concern of the Beijing Platform for Action. Since Beijing, significant progress has been made at the legislative level. The report finds that the position of women in decision making has improved, and that the action of women’s NGOs has led to an increased awareness of violence against women. The report also found developments that have slowed the progress of gender equality. The last decade has seen widespread reduction of funding for public services, and these cuts have a disproportionate effect upon women. The report also found that the EU has yet to implement its commitment to achieve coherence between economic and social policy goals—which has led to a greater feminization of poverty in Europe among other negative impacts.

With the enlargement of the E.U. to include Central and Eastern European countries, many women in those countries expected greater gender equality and new opportunities. However, the economic changes during the transition to E.U. accession held negative consequences for women. Their place in the labor market has become more insecure, there are less public services to support the care of children and dependants, and trafficking in women has also increased.

The report sees the most significant progress in the E.U. as the Amsterdam Treaty of 1999, which mandates the elimination of gender inequality, and calls for the promotion of equality in all activities. This development was also accompanied by the creation and implementation of various institutional mechanisms aimed at achieving gender equality. According to the report, there are several areas of concern that have yet to be addressed fully due to a lack of implementation of legislative framework. Other areas of concern are lacking a competent legal framework completely—such as violence against women. Recently, however, the EU Council decided to create a European Gender Institute, which will provide expertise and increase opportunities for an exchange of knowledge and ideas, as well as provide recommendations on EU policy and gender mainstreaming.

Compiled from: “EWL on Beijing +10,” NEWW Polska, 12 January, 2005.

The United Nations “Official Document System” is now open and free to the general public. The Official Document System (ODS) is a system for storing and retrieving U.N. documents using high-speed networks and the Internet. The ODS contains over 800,000 UN documents from General Assembly resolutions to UN agency memoranda, and is available in all six of the UN’s official languages.

The ODS can be accessed at http://documents.un.org. It covers all of the various types of UN documents beginning in 1993; however, older documents are being added daily. It also contains resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council from 1946 on. The ODS does not contain any press releases, sales publications, U.N. Treaty Series or information brochures.

Compiled from: “UN Official Document System Online,” NEWW Polska, 17 January, 2005.

A new book entitled, The World in Motion: Short Essays on Migration and Gender, looks at women's present and past experiences with migration.  The book includes several key themes such as labour migration, migrant remittances, trafficking, immigration, and identification and deals with issues unique to forced migration and women such as rape and female circumcision.

Number of pages: 114
Year of Publication: 2004
ISBN: 978-92-9068-228-8
Price: US$ 20.00

Orders may be sent directly to:
International Organization for Migration
Publications Unit
17 route de Morillons, Geneva
Email: publications@iom.int

The United Nation Member States have been negotiating “A Comprehensive and Integral Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities” since 2002. However, the needs of and discrimination against women with disabilities remain virtually ignored throughout the document. In order to make State Parties and society more aware of the problems facing women with disabilities, and to ensure that the gender perspective is included in the document, the organizations NETZWERK ARTIKEL 3 and Sozialverband Deutschland (SoVD) have begun a campaign. For more information, please visit www.un-disabledwomen.org.

Compiled from: “Disabled Women in the UN Convention,” NEWW Polska, 17 January, 2005.

Human Rights Watch recently released its annual World Report with detailed analysis on the human rights situation in countries across the globe. While the primary focus of the report is on the Darfur crisis in Sudan, the report also takes a strong stance on the shortcomings of the European Union (EU) in upholding human rights standards.

The report criticizes the EU’s efforts to limit human rights protection through migration and anti-terrorism legislation. In particular, it points to the proposed off-shore processing of asylum seekers and the under-funded and underdeveloped asylum and immigration procedures currently in place in the new EU member states. In addition, Human Rights Watch condemned the UK’s anti-terrorism act, allowing for indefinite detention of terrorist suspects and Spain’s policy of holding suspects in isolation.

The report also points to the human rights violations in many former soviet states. The report claims that Moscow controls all of Russia through President Vladimir Putin who has made moves to centralize power in the presidency. In Russia, the report states, police torture, military hazing, disappearances and extrajudicial executions of opponents in Chechnya remain the norm.

Belarus fares no better. In October, not one person from the opposition party gained a seat in the 110-member Chamber of Representatives. The report attributes this to severe repression of the media.

The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan continue violate human rights as well, as presidential elections in both countries were fraudulent and protest movements in response to such fraud were violently suppressed.

The report touches on the Ukraine as well. While the election of opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko is promising, much remains to be seen in terms of limitations placed on political freedoms by the new Ukraine government.

Please click here to read the report.

Compiled from:

• EU’s human rights protection critised, Lucia Kubosova, News, EUobserver, www.EUobserver.com, 14 January 2004.
• World: Human Rights Watch-Annual Report Paints Bleak Picture in Many Former Soviet States, Andrew Tully, Feature Articles, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, www.rferf.org, 13 January 2005.

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International

AI Index: IOR 41/004/2005                                           17 January 2005

61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights: Amnesty International calls on Members to demonstrate unequivocal commitment to human rights

Amnesty International takes the opportunity of today’s election of the officers of the Bureau of the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights (the Commission) to urge governments to take careful account of the findings of the High Level Panel on Threats and Challenges about the Commission as they prepare for the upcoming session. Members of the Commission must act now to re-establish the credibility and professionalism of the Commission. Amnesty International calls upon Members of the Commission to end their use of double standards in dealing with human rights violations, to demonstrate a real commitment to human rights, and to enhance the human rights expertise of their delegations to the Commission.

Amnesty International urges the Members of the Commission represented on the Bureau, as well as the other Members of the Commission, to demonstrate unequivocal commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights by taking substantive measures both at the international and national levels.

Amnesty International calls upon the Members of the Commission to take the following measures at the international level:

- Ensure that protection and promotion of human rights in individual countries from all regions is a central function of the Commission;

- Establish objective and transparent criteria and procedures for the examination by the Commission of the human rights situation in individual countries. Such criteria and procedures should draw on the expertise of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and her Office and take into account the recommendations by the Special Procedures and the human rights treaty monitoring bodies as well as any country’s failure to cooperate with the human rights mechanisms of the UN;

- Create an effective system of monitoring and evaluating governments’ implementation of the determinations and recommendations of the Commission and its Special Procedures in order to increase governments’ accountability for their respect for human rights ;

- Support adequate funding from the UN regular budget for the human rights program in order that the resolutions and decisions of the Commission can be implemented fully, and that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights can adequately support the activities of the Special Procedures and the treaty monitoring bodies.

At the national level, each State’s measures should include:

- Extension of a standing invitation to the Special Procedures of the Commission and prompt implementation of their requests for visits; Full and prompt implementation of recommendations made by the Special Procedures;

- Full and timely response to urgent appeals and general letters of allegation from the Special Procedures;

- Ratification of the UN human rights treaties and the withdrawal of reservations;

- Full and effective national implementation of the human rights treaties to which the State is party, including through the development of a national action plan for implementation;

- Timely submission of periodic reports to the treaty monitoring bodies and full and prompt implementation of their recommendations;

- Prompt implementation of requests for interim measures made by the treaty monitoring bodies in connection with individual communications. Amnesty International encourages governments to inform the Commission about their initiatives to promote and protect human rights at the national level in their statements delivered during the Commission’s High-Level Segment.

View all documents on UN at http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maac46babdnZJbe1UKub/ ***************************************************************** You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the list subscription message may be removed. ***************************************************************** Past and current Amnesty news services can be found at . Visit for information about Amnesty International and for other AI publications. Contact amnestyis@amnesty.org if you need to get in touch with the International Secretariat of Amnesty International. Privacy policy

On 30 June and 1 July 2005 at the Barber Institute, University of Birmingham, UK, the Network for European Women’s Rights Conference will take place. The speakers at the conference will be: Mary Robinson, Yakin Ertürk, Hanna Beate Schoepp-Schilling, Malgorzata Fuszara and Veronique De Keyser.

The NEWR Final Conference proposes to all participants a chance to present their views and their research on a succession of many issues encompassing the five areas of trafficking, reproductive rights, political participation, social entitlements and crosscutting themes. The NEWR workshops have made apparent that further research needs to be done on numerous issues in each of the above listed areas. The issues are listed below and will be reviewed at different panels during the two days.

You are encouraged to submit paper proposals for any of the below listed panels. They are to be approximately 250 words long and should be emailed to Audrey Guichon at a.guichon@bham.ac.uk before February 15th, 2005. Please do not forget to give a title and the name of the panel you would like to participate in.

Trafficking
-The police, NGOs, and ‘victims’
-Root causes and long-term prevention of trafficking
-Approaches to trafficking and alternative policy models

Women’s Reproductive Rights
-Defining reproductive rights
-Access to contraception and abortion in Europe
-Women’s autonomy and changing concepts of motherhood in the context of new reproductive technologies
-Dilemma’s surrounding teenage pregnancy.

Women’s Political Participation
-Normative debates on gender equality
-Political parties, gender equality and strategies for change
-Images of women in education and the media

Women’s Social Entitlements
-Changing models of social entitlements across Europe
-Balance between work, family and personal life
-Towards a European model of Social Security?
-Violence Against Women

For further information, please visit: http://www.NEWR.bham.ac.uk

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International AI

Index: EUR 44/001/2005                                                    14 January 2005

Turkey: Closure of Torture Prevention Group shocking

Amnesty International has written to the President of the Izmir Bar Association, Mr Nevzat Erdemir, to express its shock at his 7 December 2004 decision to dissolve its Torture Prevention Group. The Group had been engaged in groundbreaking work in bringing justice to torture victims and its closure is a step-back in the struggle against torture. Amnesty International called for the decision to be reconsidered.

Amnesty International further stressed its great concern at reports that the administration of the Izmir Bar Association had seized files and computers from the offices of the Torture Prevention Group on 7 January. These contained confidential testimony, photos and other records related to some 575 applications from victims of torture. Amnesty International is concerned that applicants may subsequently face the risk of harassment, detention or even further torture and ill-treatment. It therefore sought urgent clarification as to the whereabouts of these documents.

In a press statement dated 13 December Mr Nevzat Erdemir stated that one of the reasons that he was closing the Torture Prevention Group was because a project it was coordinating was receiving funds from the European Commission which he claimed was on a mission to divide Turkey and to damage its national interest, including through the creation of "an independent Kurdistan". He stated that the closure of the Group was necessary in order to prevent "disasters for our Republic, our Nation and People" and that he "violently denounces this initiative [the Torture Prevention Group], supported by the European Union, which is directed, under the name of human rights, at the unity and integrity of our country". He also criticized the Group’s cooperation with international organizations -- understood to include Amnesty International.

The decision to close the Torture Prevention Group appears to be against Article 95 of the Turkish Law on Legal Practice which states that one of the duties of Executive Boards of Bar Associations in Turkey should be to "protect and defend supremacy of law and human rights and to work to have these subjects applied".

Background:

The Torture Prevention Group was established in December 2001 by the Izmir Bar Association with the aim of providing legal aid to the victims of torture and to campaign to remove all obstacles in Turkish law and practice that might prevent the successful prosecution of perpetrators. The Group provides legal support to individuals who complain of ill-treatment and torture by police officers. It systematically monitors all stages of subsequent legal proceedings and intervenes when necessary including by lodging appeals and organizing medical documentation. The work of the Group is carried out by some professional staff but mainly by more than 250 lawyers from the Izmir Bar Association who work voluntarily.

By the date of the decision by the Izmir Bar Association to close the Group, 575 individuals had applied to it. Of these the Group had worked on 334 cases, in 116 of which perpetrators had been charged. The Group has also been active in sharing its experiences with lawyers throughout Turkey by organizing workshops. The tireless and groundbreaking work of the Torture Prevention Group is a model not just for lawyers in Turkey but around the world.

Official human rights bodies in Turkey like the Provincial and Local Human Rights Boards have been largely ineffective in investigating and monitoring human rights violations in Turkey. The work of the Torture Prevention Group has therefore been especially important in documenting the extent of torture and ill-treatment in Turkey. Despite Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoðan’s statement to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in October 2004 that "there is no longer any systematic torture in Turkey", his administration has failed to take sufficient steps to investigate and monitor patterns of torture for him to be able to make such a statement. Only in Izmir, thanks to the work of the Torture Prevention Group and human rights organizations, has the true extent of the situation in Turkey begun to be exposed in an objective fashion.

View all docuents on Turkey at http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maac43VabdnEzbe1UKub/

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In the wake of the devastating tsunami that has claimed the lives of over 150,000 people, new threats to the safety of women in the region are emerging. There have been numerous reports of rape and violence against women and children, and due to a lack of personal hygiene products and maternal care, women also face an increased risk of health problems. There are several groups working hard to raise funds and public awareness of the threats to the safety and well-being of women. Women’s rights groups working together in Sri Lanka issued a written appeal calling for public attention to serious issues concerning women’s safety which have yet to be addressed by relief efforts. The groups expressed appreciation for the outpouring of international aid efforts, but are urging for those efforts to address violence against women and the needs of vulnerable communities. Some of the most egregious reports of violence include incidents of rape, gang rape, molestation, and other physical abuse of women and girls during unsupervised rescue operations and while they are residing in temporary shelters.

Compiled from: “As Tsunami Recedes, Women’s Risks Appear,” Corrie Pikul, Women’s eNews, 7 Jan. 2005.

WomenWatch invites young women and men to participate in a series of online discussions leading up to the review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly, entitled Women 2000: Gender equality, development and peace for the 21st century, which will take place in New York from 28 February to 11 March 2005.

The online discussions will take place from 17 January to 6 February 2005 and will include the following weekly themes:

Week 1 (17-23 January): Share your views on gender equality and stereotypical attitudes and behavior.

Week 2 (24-30 January): Contribute your ideas on gender equality and peace, education and employment, health and HIV/AIDS, the environment, and other areas that concern young women and men.

Week 3 (31 January-6 February): Share your vision for gender equality in the future and your beliefs on the role of government and civil society, including young women and men, to promote gender equality.

To register for the online discussions, please click here to visit the WomenWatch website.

Compiled from: Invitation to Participate in Online Discussion "Vision of Young Women and Men for Gender Equality" (17 January - 6 February), Assiya Akanay, women-east-west Digest, Vol 9, Issue 10, 14 January 2005.

The OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje and the Union of Women’s Organizations of Macedonia recently organized a Gender Action Planning Workshop. This forum, attended by the Ministry of Labour, the Social Policy’s Unit for Promoting Gender Equality and 10 mayors, facilitated the public launching of an OSCE-sponsored project aimed at enhancing the capacities, mandates and profiles of the 10 Gender Equality Commissions (GEC). These Commissions, which serve to address local gender related issues, will inform policy making and help implement the National Action Plan for Gender Equality.

For more information on this initiative, please contact:

Maxime Filandrov Spokesperson
Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje
OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje
11 Oktomvri str. 25, QBE Building
The former Yugolsav Republic of Macedonia
Tel.: +389 70 358 012 (mobile) 
       +389 2 323 4619
Fax: +389 2 323 42 34
Email: maxime.filandrov@osce.org

Compiled from: OSCE Skopje mission promotes gender equality at local level, News, Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, www.osce.org, 13 January 2004.

Reprinted verbatim with permission from Radio Prague.

Police investigators have filed additional charges against the choirmaster of the Bambini di Praga children's choir, for allegedly sexually abusing dozens of girls, all of whom are current or former members of the internationally known group. Choirmaster Bohumil Kulinsky, who was arrested in November, has been charged with 25 counts of having sexual relations with underage girls. Police have so far questioned over 100 former choir girls; the most recent charges relate to former members who are now adult women.

Cited from: www.radio.cz, (c)1996 - 2005 Radio Prague, Czech Radio 7.

A new Russian version of the Central Asian Network of Gender Studies website is now available. The website includes a large collection of texts on gender issues accumulated in the last five to seven years and is regularly updated.

Click here to visit the website.

Compiled from: New Site: www.genderstudies.info, World News, News, The Network of East-West Women-Polska/NEWW, www.neww.org, 3 January 2005.

From 28 February to 11 March 2005, the Commission on the Status of Women of the United Nations will take the opportunity to consider and review the Beijing Platform for Action at its 49th session. However, no world conference or special session of the General Assembly will convene, inhibiting the women’s movement and the international community from convening this year.

Therefore, INSTRAW would like to assemble brief commentaries on women’s experiences at one or more of the following conferences: Mexico 1975, Nairobi 1980, Copenhagen 1985, Beijing 1995, and the Beijing 5+ special session, 2000.

In addition, INSTRAW would like to receive insight on how these conferences affected the participant’s life or women’s/gender issues in the participant’s community. Such accounts may be anecdotal, may focus on the relevance of the conferences to the women’s rights agenda, or consist of critical reviews of the implementation of conference goals and will be featured on the Beijing Review Section of the INSTRAW website.

These commentaries may be submitted in English, French, or Spanish and should not exceed 1,000 words. The submission deadline is 15 February 2005. Commentaries may be sent to INSTRAW at instraw@un-instraw.org. 

Compiled from:  Gathering Women's Experiences, World News, News, The Network of East-West Women-POLSKA/NEWW, www.neww.org, January 2005.

Reprinted verbatim with permission from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Uzbek President Islam Karimov tolerates only state-sponsored Islam and has cracked down on unauthorized religious or political activity. While an estimated 6,000 religious and political prisoners serve time, their mothers, wives, and daughters are often left behind, forced to survive in hard economic conditions. But Uzbek human right activists say these women possess a strong spirit and are more active in defending the rights of the prisoners than their male relatives.

Fifty-seven-year old Saida's three sons are in prison in Uzbekistan after having been convicted of religious extremism and attempting to overthrow the government.

Two of her sons were detained after a string of deadly bomb explosions in the Uzbek capital in February 1999 that were blamed on Islamic extremists. They were eventually sentenced to 17 years each. Her third son was detained several days after a series of explosions in Tashkent and Bukhara last spring killed some 50 people. He was convicted of the same crimes.

Saida lives in Tashkent with her daughters-in-law and two grandchildren and maintains that her sons are innocent. She said that, with her sons in prison, the four women have trouble making ends meet.

"My three daughters-in-law are jobless. One of them bakes cakes and sells them," Saida said. "The others help neighbors clean their houses and gets paid for it. I am retired myself. My pension is very small -- only 17,000 soms [$17] a month. But they give me only half of my pension. The other half goes for utilities, which I can't afford to pay otherwise."

Saida visits her sons in prison regularly, but the trip is difficult and costly. Two of her sons are in prison in Qarshi, in southern Uzbekistan. It takes eight hours to travel from Tashkent to Qarshi by bus. Then it may take another eight hours before she and her daughters-in-law are allowed to see the men. Relatives of religious and political prisoners in Uzbekistan routinely have to wait longer to see their loved ones than the relatives of other prisoners and are restricted in the amount of food and clothing they can pass along.

The worst thing, Saida said, was when her eldest son disappeared last spring. She said she went to the police and the prosecutor's office, but was given no information on his whereabouts. Only three weeks later, Saida said, did she learn he had been detained.

Surat Ikramov, who heads the nongovernmental organization Center for Human Rights Initiative, said this is nothing unusual for Uzbekistan.

"First of all, it is the Internal Affairs Ministry, the police and the Prosecutor's Office who violate human rights," Ikramov said. "[According to law], when they detain someone, they must inform the detainee's mother or other family member within two to three hours. Then a suspect can be held in detention for 72 hours while the case is studied. If the suspicions seem sound, the prosecutor's office sanctions arrest."

Ikramov said that the women left behind by such detentions face particular challenges. One of the problems, he said, is that women like Saida are often unaware of their rights. Another problem is the stigma that is often attached to them, both by having family members in prison and because of their religious practices.

Saida and her daughters-in-law wear the hijab, the Muslim headscarf. This is part of the reason why they have trouble finding work. Ikramov said that Uzbek officials and many employers have negative attitudes toward traditional Muslim women.

Aza Sharipova never wore a hijab but said that she, too, felt stigmatized. In 2003, her son Ruslan was convicted of homosexuality and the sexual abuse of minors. International right groups, such as Human Rights Watch, say the case was politically motivated and that Ruslan was imprisoned for his independent journalistic activities. "Granny, they imprisoned Daddy. What are they going to do to us?"

Sharipov was eventually released and received political asylum in the United States earlier this year.

Sharipova recalled the detention of her son: "I experienced such stress that I had to consult a psychotherapist afterward," Sharipova said. "It was awful when I went to the GUVD [the Internal Affairs department where Ruslan was being held]. Ruslan had a fever. They refused to give him medicine. I was so stressed because I was not allowed to give him food or anything else."

Ikramov said that, despite the obstacles, it is the women of Uzbekistan who fight most passionately for the rights of their imprisoned relatives.

"In 99 percent of cases, the mothers or wives [of convicts] seek our help," Ikramov said. "There are almost no fathers or brothers [who do so]. I believe it is because of the fear they have. I asked several men about this, and they openly admitted they were scared. They think officials will be less cruel toward women than men."

In Uzbekistan, women have also been more active in campaigning against the death penalty. Tamara Chikunova is a founder of the nongovernmental organization Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture. She started her campaign after her son Dmitrii was executed in 2000.

As he has done in the past, Karimov earlier this month declared a prisoner amnesty in honor of Constitution Day (8 December). He announced his decision at a session of parliament in Tashkent.

"With today's decision, we are releasing 5,040 people from jail," Karimov said. "In general, the decree will also affect 8,000 to 9,000 people [who will have their sentences reduced]."

The amnesty applied mostly to people convicted of minor crimes, however, and Saida's sons were not among the 9,000. The amnesty never includes members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir movement, who have been accused of unconstitutional activities.

"An amnesty has been announced three times since [my sons] were imprisoned," Saida said. "But they were never granted it. I contacted the Internal Affairs Ministry. [They] said the crime was too serious and that my sons must ask the president's pardon. How can they beg pardon for something they didn't commit?"

Saida said that the hardest thing for her is to answer her grandchildren's questions about the future.

"The kids are growing up with negative feelings toward the government," Saida said. "They ask me why their fathers are in prison. The other day, my 4-year-old grandson asked me: 'Granny, they imprisoned daddy. What are they going to do to us?' I said, 'They are not going to do anything to you.' And he said: 'I don't want to be imprisoned.'"

It has been five years since Saida's two sons were imprisoned. There are 12 years left on their sentences. Saida said she fears she might not live long enough to see their release. (Gulnoza Saidazimova)

Copyright(c) 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036, www.rferl.org.

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International

AI Index: IOR 40/001/2005
11 January 2005

Human rights imperative for mental health reforms

The only way to ensure respect for human rights in mental health systems and in-patient facilities is through effective enforcement of international human rights standards, principally through rights-based national legislation, Amnesty International said on the eve of the World Health Organization's (WHO) European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health in Helsinki, Finland, on 12-15 January 2005.

In Europe, one fifth of children and adolescents experience developmental, emotional or behavioural problems, and one in eight have a mental disorder. Many of these disorders are recurrent or chronic. Mental disorders affect one person in four in their lifetime, and can be found in 10 per cent of the adult population. It has been estimated that mental disorders and problems will increase by 50 per cent by the year 2020. Yet, according to the WHO Regional Office for Europe: "All countries [in the region] have to work with limited resources. Too often, prejudice and stigma hamper the development of mental health policies, and are reflected in poor services, low status for care providers and a lack of human rights for mentally ill people."

Protecting the rights of people with, or at risk of, mental health problems or intellectual disabilities (hereafter referred to as people with mental disabilities), particularly those placed in mental health in-patient facilities, is at the core of recommendations which Amnesty International has addressed to a number of European states. Concerns about the treatment of people with mental disabilities, in Romania and Bulgaria in particular, have been the subject of Amnesty International reports.

"Mental health services must take into account that patients have rights too - it is essential that people with mental illness have a right to inform and participate in all decision-making and policy formulation that affect them," Amnesty International said.

International human rights standards protecting the dignity and human rights of people with mental disorders should be incorporated into mental health laws and practice of all European states. All states should also ensure their allocation of resources to mental health services is sufficient to allow human rights standards to be met. Amnesty International urges all states, to review and reform their mental health systems and laws to ensure compliance with international human rights norms and best professional practice. Mental health service users should play a part in that process.

At the Helsinki Conference, the 52 countries in the WHO European Region are expected to agree a Mental Health Declaration and Action Plan for Europe. Amnesty International considers that these commitments must be underpinned by human rights in international treaties that provide: important protections to people with mental health disabilities, including the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; protection against discrimination; protection against torture, inhuman, or degrading treatment; protection against arbitrary detention.

 Amnesty International urges Member States of the WHO European Region to engage meaningfully in follow-up actions arising from the Helsinki Conference, to ensure national laws and mental health services respect and promote the basic rights of all people with mental health problems, especially those placed in mental health facilities, and that they are provided with treatment and care that is in line with international human rights standards and best professional practice.

"Even if the Helsinki Declaration and Action Plan adequately reflect human rights standards, its implementation will require concerted and well coordinated action by all relevant ministries and other authorities. It is essential that detailed programmes of action follow from governments which also promote human rights, with clear timeframes and dedicated resources," Amnesty International said.

The organization urges the institutions of the European Union (EU) to support a human-rights-based approach to the Declaration and Action Plan, and its implementation.

"The EU has already adopted a wide number of instruments such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Charter on Social Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It cannot ignore the appalling situation of mental health patients in its deliberations on the proposed accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU."

Amnesty International urges that the inextricable links between respect for international human rights standards and national mental health systems be reflected in the Action Plan.

"Failure of government policies to respect the wider human rights of communities - to physical health, non-discrimination, housing, education or respect for one's culture for example - can have a profound impact on the mental health of individuals."

Background

WHO, the EU and the Council of Europe, and a number of member states of WHO European Region, are organizing a Ministerial Conference entitled "Mental health: Facing the challenges, building solutions" to be held in Helsinki, Finland from 12 to 15 January 2005, attended by invited representatives of all 52 Member States in the WHO/European Region and of selected organizations. The topics of human rights and the stigma attached to mental ill health and care services will be a central theme of the Conference.

Within the mental health systems of some states in the European region, particularly grave and systematic abuses of human rights have been documented by Amnesty International.

For further information see:

Romania: Memorandum to the government concerning inpatient psychiatric treatment http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maac3OHabddx2be1UKub/

Romania: Patients at the Poiana Mare psychiatric hospital AI Index: http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maac3OHabddx3be1UKub/

Harry Potter joins the fight to end Czech "cage bed" use http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maac3OHabddx4be1UKub/

Rough Justice: The law and human rights in the Russian Federation http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maac3OHabddx5be1UKub/

Mental Illness, The Neglected Quarter, AI Ireland, February 2004; Bulgaria: Far from the eyes of society http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maac3OHabddx6be1UKub/

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Reprinted verbatim with permission from Radio Free Europe.

5 January 2005 -- United Nations officials say they are concerned that children who were orphaned or separated from their parents by the Asian tsunami disaster could be kidnapped by human traffickers and sold into forced labor or sexual slavery.

UN officials said they had received unconfirmed reports that human-trafficking gangs may be seeking to exploit the disaster by grabbing youngsters, particularly in the devastated Indonesian province of Aceh.

Indonesia has ordered police to be on the lookout for trafficking and has posted special guards in refugee camps and temporarily banned children from Aceh from leaving the country.

Children are estimated to account for up to one-third of the estimated 150,000 people killed in the tsunami disaster, and aid workers say surviving children are now at risk from outbreaks of diarrhoea and other ailments.

(AP/Reuters)

Copyright (c) 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org.

Reprinted verbatim with permission of Radio Free Europe.

Lidiya Blokhina, president of the Russian Confederation of Women in Business, told Ekho Moskvy on 5 January that her organization believes that women should account for at least one-third of senior government decision makers. She noted that women currently make up about 10 percent of the State Duma. "However, there are virtually no women at the decision-making level," she said. "In the cabinet, where decisions are made, women are virtually nonexistent." Blokhina further criticized the government for failing to heed a UN recommendation to increase the representation of women in governing circles. "For balanced decisions to be made, women should account for at least one-third of the decision makers," she said. RC

Copyright 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rfrel.org

The U.N. recently appointed Ms. Sigma Huda to the post of Special Rapporteur on Trafficking. Ms. Huda, President of the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association and current Board Member of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Asia Pacific, will replace the post’s initial appointee, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. Ms. Sirleaf resigned from the position shortly after her appointment.

During the three-year appointment, Ms. Huda will report to the Commission on Human Rights on the state of international trafficking and the measures needed to protect the rights of trafficking victims and to curb the practice in the future.

Compiled from: Special Rapporteur on Trafficking Appointed, Trafficking News Monthly, Anti-Slavery International, www.antislavery.com, November 2004; CATW-AP Board Member is the New UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Women, What’s New, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia-Pacific (CATW-AP), www.catw-ap.org, 12 October 2004.

A new report by Siyanda entitled “Gender, the Millennium Development Goals and Human Rights in the Context of the 2005 Review Process,” is now available to the public. Inspired from important human rights documents such as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Beijing Platform for Action, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have the potential to serve important development goals, including those involving gender.

The report finds, however, that the MDGs have a number of shortcomings. Women are referred to as mothers and girls; important issues such as conflict, security and reproductive and sexual health and rights are left out, and; there is an imbalance of accountability mechanisms between developing and developed countries.

Through the review process of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in March and the progress on the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals in September, the report recommends a re-prioritization of the above human rights instruments within the MDGs and a mobilization of political will in favor of the MDGs to support human rights obligations that lack political clout.

In addition to the report above, click here to see the accompanying powerpoint presentation.

Compiled by: Report: Gender, MDG in 2005 Review Process, News, World News, The Network of East-West Women-Polska/NEWW, www.neww.org, 6 January 2004.

After the sexual assault scandals, which occurred in Iraq and at the Air Force Academy, the Pentagon has created new policies to end such crimes, to further examine these cases, and to improve treatment of victims.

According to the L.A. Times, the Pentagon plans to establish a sexual assault response coordinator at every U.S. military installation in the world, as well as at all the service academies and academic institutions. They are also working on defining sexual assault and harassment.

Many victims' rights groups strongly believe that the Pentagon should have independent groups monitor and investigate sexual abuse cases.

Fifteen percent of the overall military is composed of women.

Compiled from: Pentagon Issues New Policies to Prevent Sexual Assault in the Military, Feminist Daily News Wire, 5 January 2005, www.Feminist.org 

 Feminist Majority Foundation

The Central Asian Network of Gender Studies recently revised its website.  The site contains a large library of texts on gender issues (articles, collected volumes, dissertations) that have been published in the last 5-7 years.  The library's texts are published primarily in Russian.  The library is an ongoing project and is updated on a regular basis.

A report by Claudia Hasanbegovic of International Save the Children Alliance proposes a gender-based approach to tackling issues of violence committed on children. By doing so and complementing it with human rights and development critiques, the confluence of inequality in gender roles, power relations, and poverty that interact with each other to facilitate forms of gender-based violence.

Save the Children has released a report entitled "Children and Gender-based Violence," which examines the ways in which gender relations and attitudes affect how children experience violence. Gender-based violence or violence inflicted based on or suffered because the basis of gender differences is prevalent particularly among children who make up over half of the world’s refugees and displaced people and are thus less likely to have access to formal protection or support structures.  Using gender differences as a lens with which to examine problems of children and violence is a holistic approach that enables us to more fully understand the intersections of power relations, gender inequality, and poverty that affect how children experience violence.

Gender-based violence against children can include sexual exploitation, dowry-related abuse, recruitment into drug gangs or armed groups, domestic violence, genital mutilation, and self-inflicted violence, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. These are all instances in which gender plays a role in the violence perpetrated on children; thus, understanding gender relationships is useful to prevent further violence. Applying ideas of gender to human rights and development approaches enables activists to demand state action and to approach culture more sensitively. Together, this more holistic gender framework allows the violent intersection of gender, power relations, and poverty to be more fully understood and acted upon with greater success. 

A gender framework, the report argues, recognizes that violence and conflict is a gendered activity within a particular patriarchal system of ideology; therefore women, men, boys and girls all experience violence and conflict differently as victims and perpetrators. The analysis calls for gender sensitivity to allow gender power relations to be seen and understood as shaping influences in the institutions of the family, state and community.

Through this approach, the report recommends that treaties and conventions such as the 1989 U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, along with the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (2000) and the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (2000) be ratified and enforced.  By institutionalizing the human rights of children, gender-based violence against children can be prevented. By using this holistic approach, effective and appropriate measures can be taken to change harmful practices and transform those aspects of culture which sustain them.

Compiled from: Children and Gender-based Violence, Claudia Hasanbegovic, Save The Children, 1 July 2003 (PDF, 39 pages).

Children and Gender-Based Violence   Save the Children (PDF, 45 pages).

The Population Reference Bureau's (PRB) website contains country profiles for Central and Eastern Europe as well as Central Asia. Each profile includes a brief description of the specific country's important population and reproductive health issues and trends. The profiles also include relevant statistics on socio-economics and health, adolescent reproductive health and gender equality. 

Please visit PRB's website for access to these profiles.

Compiled from: Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia Country Profiles, Population Reference Bureau, www.prb.org, 2005.

In a new report, Womens Empowerment, Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals, the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) analyzes the eight goals of the MDG's Millennium Declaration in relation to womens human rights. Of the eight goals, only one specifically calls for the promotion of gender equality and womens empowerment. However, other goals are closely linked to womens rights, targeting extreme poverty, primary education, child mortality, maternal health, HIV/AIDS and other diseases, environmental sustainability, and development partnerships. Taken together, the eight goals, intended to remedy the above global imbalances by 2015, are described by the report as an additional means to monitor the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

Despite the progressive nature of these goals, the report underscores that any governmental attempt to promote the MDG's must stem from an analysis and understanding of the different positions of women and men in society. The report encourages readers to lobby their governments to ensure such perspective is taken into consideration. In addition, the report urges women's organizations to submit progress reports on governmental action in relation to the MDG's for MDG's review, as many of the government issued reports continue to be generated by male authorities. Tracking implementation of measures necessary to meet the MDG targets, developing a local version of the MDG's and bringing stakeholders together to review country-wide implementation processes are suggested means to build non-governmental reporting systems. The report includes a number of resources to which readers can refer.

To view the report, click here.

Compiled from: Womens Empowerment, Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals, Women's Environment and Development Organization, www.wedo.org (2004).

Press Release

The Council unanimously adopted a Directive implementing equal treatment between women and men aimed at extending the principle of equal treatment beyond the area of employment and professional life to other areas of everyday life (14438/04).

Today's decision follows the political agreement reached at the Council on 4 October (1).

Equality between women and men is a fundamental principle of the European Union, as laid down in Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty. Discrimination based on sex can act as a barrier to the full and successful integration of men and women into economic and social life. Sex discrimination not only takes place in the context of the workplace, where there is already Community legislation to combat discrimination, but also occurs in many other areas.

Under this Directive, the prohibition of discrimination will therefore apply to the persons providing goods and services available to the public(2) and offered outside the area of private and family life. The content of media or advertising and public or private education are sectors excluded from the scope of the Directive.

The Directive will apply to both direct and indirect discrimination, including sexual harassment. Less favourable treatment of women for reasons of pregnancy or maternity will be considered as direct discrimination and therefore forbidden.

Differences in treatment may be accepted only if they are justified by a legitimate aim, such as the protection of victims of sex-related violence, reasons of privacy and decency, the promotion of gender equality, the freedom of association, or the organisation of single-sex sporting activities. Limitations should nevertheless be appropriate and necessary in accordance with the criteria defined by the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

Its scope includes insurance and related financial activities, as long as they are private, voluntary and separate from the employment relationship. In this context, equal treatment is the guiding principle to be applied, and thus the use of sex as an actuarial factor should not result in differences in individual's premiums and benefits. To avoid a sudden readjustment of the market, the implementation of this rule will apply only to new contracts concluded after the date of transposition of this Directive.

Nevertheless, Member States, in which the unisex rule is not yet applied, may permit proportionate differences in individuals' premiums and benefits where the use of sex is a determining factor in the assessment of risk. Any different treatment has to be based on relevant and accurate actuarial and statistical data that has to be made public and regularly updated. The use of these exceptions will be subject to review by both the Commission and the Member States.

In any event, costs related to pregnancy and maternity should not result in differences in premiums and benefits. Given the structure of the insurance market in certain Member States, a two-year transitional period is provided for in this connection.

To provide a more effective level of protection of persons subject to discrimination based on sex, associations, organisations and other legal entities will be empowered to engage in legal proceedings. When discrimination can be presumed from facts established before a court, it will be for the respondent to prove that there was no breach of the principle of equal treatment (reversal of the burden of proof).

The Directive, adopted on the basis of Article 13 of the Treaty, lays down minimum requirements, the Member States having the possibility to apply more favourable provisions. The Member States should provide for penalties in cases of breaches of the obligations under the Directive.

(1) See press release 12400/04.
(2) Goods and services should be understood as defined by the Treaty.

Published in: Council of the European Union, Press Release 15856/04 (Presse 350), 13 December 2004 (PDF, 3 pages).

PRESS RELEASE

Prof. Yakin Ertürk, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights today issued the following statement at the end of her official visit to the Russian Federation 17-24 December 2004.

During my visit to the Russian Federation, at the invitation of the Government, I held meetings with representatives of the Federal Government and Republican authorities of Ingushetia and Chechnya, as well as civil society organizations, in Moscow, Nazran and Grozny. I heard testimonies from victims of human rights violations, relatives of "disappeared" persons, as well as internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ingushetia and returnees living in a temporary accommodation centre near Grozny. I also visited female detainees at a pre-trial establishment in Grozny.

In the past ten years the Russian Federation has undergone administrative and legislative change that has contributed to improvements in the situation of women. I welcome the recent ratification of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW as an added commitment by the Government to address violence against women in the Russian Federation. Violence, particularly in the home, continues to cause injuries and claim the lives of thousands of women annually. Due to the registration system (propiska) and lack of financial means many women are compelled to share the same housing with a violent partner, even after an official divorce. The situation is further aggravated by the lack of sufficient shelters. Violence against women and sex discrimination are still low on the State agenda. A draft domestic violence bill, presented to the State Duma, was not adopted. Moreover, the Women's Commission, responsible for mainstreaming a gender perspective into State policies and programmes, was abolished earlier this year. Currently, a department within the Ministry of Health and Social Development is the only national machinery in place to address gender based discrimination.

With regard to the situation in the North Caucasus, the State is confronted with the challenge of ensuring security whilst observing human rights. In this regard, some positive steps have been taken by the Government towards normalization in the region. However, the day to day lives of people is far from normal, particularly in Chechnya. I heard first hand accounts of women being arbitrarily detained and tortured following targeted operations. This is said to be in response to women's involvement in terrorist attacks, particularly as suicide bombers. I also heard accounts from relatives of people who had been subjected to "disappearance", extrajudicial execution, torture, and ill-treatment allegedly by members of the security forces. In the absence of the rule of law, the civilian population suffers abuse by security forces and Chechen armed groups, leaving a climate of fear and insecurity.

Furthermore, the situation of displaced populations is also of concern. Chechen IDPs in Ingushetia do not want to return until security is established. The Ingush IDPs from North Ossetia complained of not being recognized as displaced people by federal authorities and the international community and receive limited humanitarian assistance.

In view of my observations, I would like to make initial recommendations to the Government of the Russian Federation:

· prioritize women's rights in judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, policies and programmes;
· amend legislation in conformity with international standards, enact legislation specifically criminalizing domestic violence and provide shelters for those in need;
· launch gender awareness campaigns and provide training to law enforcement officers and security forces;
· support politically and financially civil society initiatives promoting human rights including through research and advocacy;
· ensure that all laws, policies and practices to counter terrorism fully meet fundamental principles of international law and international human rights standards;
· investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible for violations of human rights and provide compensation to victims or their families;
· ensure safe and voluntary return of IDPs;
· establish a protection programme for human rights defenders, witnesses and victims who are at risk of harm;

I wish to thank the federal and local authorities for facilitating my visit. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the human rights organizations, individuals and victims of violence for valuable information provided. Finally, I would like to thank the UN country team for their logistical support to the visit.

I will present a full report of my findings and recommendations to the sixty-second session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 2006.

Published in: United Nations Press Release, UN Women's Rights Expert Concludes Visit to Russian Federation, 24 December 2004.