Troy Davis’s execution – Abolish Death Penalty

I haven’t posted anything on my blog for a while because I was away in Ghana on a reporting trip. I’ll write about it later.  While I was away, Troy Davis was executed by the state of Georgia and this is what I want to write about. 

Davis was put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday September 21 for the killing of off-duty policeman Mark MacPhail in 1989, despite serious doubts about his guilt. He became the 34^th person executed in the US in 2011 – eight more death-row prisoners are scheduled to be executed this year.

Davis, 42, was sent to his death despite a mass of evidence casting his 1991 conviction in doubt, including recantations from seven of the nine key witnesses at his trial. No DNA evidence conclusively linked him to the murder.  His death was delayed for hours while the US Supreme Court considered an eleventh-hour appeal for clemency and his execution date had already been changed three times.

Outside the prison, hundreds of people gathered chanting: "They say, death row; we say, hell no".

Davis counted Pope Benedict XVI and former US President Jimmy Carter among his supporters, as well as US conservative figures like former member of the House of Representatives Bob Barr and former FBI director William Sessions. 

While on death row, he received up to 100 cards and letters a day from Amnesty International supporters. It helps to think he knew that people all around the world believed in his innocence and fought against his execution.

Davis maintained his innocence to the end, saying: “I did not have a gun. For those about to take my life, may God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls.”

As he lay strapped on the gurney, he told the family of MacPhail lined up behind a glass screen in front of him:  "I did not personally kill your son, father, brother.” 

After the Georgia pardons board denied clemency, Davis’ supporters – including  Amnesty International – began a public, viral campaign to encourage the local prosecutor and local judge to withdraw the execution order.

But it was in vain: it usually takes extraordinary circumstances and new evidence that decisively rules out the person convicted to change the legal presumption that the jurors made the correct decision and the defence lawyers and prosecutors did their jobs honestly and to the best of their abilities.

Davis’s execution has provoked an extraordinary outpouring of protest in the US and around the world, refocusing the debate on death penalty and the American south. 

Death penalty supporters are mostly from the southern or midwestern states. While the calls for Davis's reprieve poured into Georgia from all over the country and the world, few were likely to come from Georgia.   And that probably mattered more for the local prosecutor, judge and state-selected board than calls from more famous people out of state and abroad. 

Though 34 of the 50 states still have the death penalty, only 12 states carried out executions last year, and 80% of all executions take place in the south - and black people are over-represented.  Black males make up 15% of the population of Georgia, but they fill almost half the cells on its death row.

Davis’s execution has now created a groundswell in America of people "who are tired of a justice system that is inhumane and inflexible and allows executions where there is clear doubts about guilt,” says Brian Evans of Amnesty, which led the campaign to spare Davis's life. He predicted the debate would now be conducted with renewed energy.

Amnesty is urging people to re-double their commitment to abolish the death penalty worldwide.  Please sign their "Not IN MY Name Petition"  here.

Ten years after 9/11 – Journalism and the war on terror

As the world prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington, I am thinking of its impact on my profession and my colleagues.
 
These strikes have been followed by the so-called “war on terror” and its legacy on journalism is enormous.

On the plus side, coverage of foreign policy and global conflicts has increased significantly, but the new terror laws have also deeply affected freedom of speech and the way journalists can report events.  Journalists and media staff have also been among some of the war on terror most prominent victims.

The 9/11 attacks unleashed a decade of conflict and tragedy across the globe. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; terrorist strikes in Great Britain, Spain, Indonesia and Turkey; state-sanctioned torture in the name of democracy; and a range of unprecedented laws and policies that have enfeebled civil liberties and human rights protection everywhere.

The International Federation of Journalists ( IFJ) - the world's largest organisation of journalists - and its regional organisation the European Federation of Journalists, are holding a two-day conference in Brussels on September 10th and 11th to examine the legacy of 9/11 and the terror laws on journalism.

The conference entitled "10 years after 9/11: Journalism in the shadow of terror laws", will bring together journalists, human rights advocates and campaigners, trade unionists, academics and politicians to discuss this crisis for free speech and for press freedom, and the risks for journalists covering conflicts.

Says IFJ: “In every corner of the world, journalism has been diminished by the shadow of terrorism. Unscrupulous politicians have taken advantage of public anxiety and, in the name of counter-terrorism, governments have introduced laws, forms of surveillance and monitoring of peoples' lives that increase the power of the state. Journalists have been subject to restrictions on their freedom of movement. Spies have infiltrated newsrooms. Telephones have been tapped. Prosecutions have been launched to discover sources of information.
 
At the same time there have been numerous incidents of secret governmental co-operation to increase covert surveillance of citizens travelling from country to country and, worse, to sanction and condone the detention and torture of people alleged to be implicated in terrorist activities.”

Speakers include:

• Mary Robinson, Chairperson of Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

• Martin Scheinin, former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism

• Sami Al Haj, Al Jazeera journalist imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for six years

• Moaiad Al Lami, President Iraqi Journalists’ Union

• Jason Parkinson, UK photographers’ campaign “I’m a photographer, not a terrorist”

 

The IFJ Federation represents around 600.000 members in more than 100 countries.

London riots – UK cannot just "arrest its way" out of the social breakdown.

The Government maintains that the riots, which spread through London and other cities two weeks ago,  “were not about poverty” – just mindless thugery.  But analysis of court-case data by the Guardian shows that most of the rioters were young, poor and unemployed.

A Liverpool University urban planning lecturer analyzed the Guardian’s data and found that the majority of the 1,300 people who have appeared in court so far live in poor neighbourhoods, with 41% of suspects living in one of the top 10% of most deprived places in the country. 

The findings are backed up the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), which looked at the relationship between different indicators of poverty and deprivation and the boroughs where violence and looting took place.


Researchers found that in almost all of the worst-affected areas, youth unemployment and child poverty were significantly higher than the national average while education attainment was significantly lower.

The report states: "While poverty is no excuse for criminality, it places additional pressure on families not only to make ends meet but also to spend time together … The political debate is likely to rage on for some time but there is also an urgent need to understand what is happening in communities where violence flared."

The country cannot just "arrest its way" out of the social breakdown.

But so far, all we have seen from the Government is a very punitive response.  Convicted rioters are being handed sentences that are on the average 25 per cent longer than normal ones – an average of 5 months for those charged with theft and handling stolen goods.  A mother of two was jailed for five months for receiving clothes stolen by a looter (she appealed) and kids posting messages inciting disorders of Facebook were handed a four-year sentence.  Have judges lost their minds?  

The Government instructed them to go hard on the rioters to set an example and deter further violence, and also because looting and similar offences are seen as more serious in the context of the riots.  This last argument is strange, considering that is it well known that people in groups do things they would never have done on their own.

I am not condoning the riots and I agree that rioters need to be punished, but these harsh, longer sentences will backfire. They will send hundreds of youngsters to already overcrowded prisons, where they’ll meet hardened criminals.  They will reinforce their views of a society that is unjust, biased, uncaring and punitive, and exacerbate heir feelings of alienation and resentment. 

Instead of handing them long prison sentences, wouldn’t it make more sense to ask the young people to clean up, repair and improve the neighborhoods they have trashed? 

And as a society, we need to address the causes of the riots; otherwise they will flare up again. 

 Ian Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, is advocating just that.  Taking an opposite view from the “zero tolerance” of No 10, he declared that the country cannot just "arrest its way" out of the social breakdown.

Young people needed support to help them leave gangs in equal measure to the tough sanctions they should face if they refuse to give up a life of crime, he said in an article for the Guardian.

Stand against rape - Send a butterfly to Nicaragua

 

"The butterfly (la mariposa) for us is a symbol of the desire to realise our dreams, spread our wings... fighting with the strength of our rights." Martha Munguiá, Nicaraguan Alliance of Women's Centres

Rape and sexual abuse is widespread in Nicaragua, and two-thirds of reported rapes are against girls and young women under the age of 17.

Young survivors face extra trauma if they become pregnant because of the rape. For these women and girls the idea of giving birth may be unbearable, and the younger they are, the greater the danger to their health. But in Nicaragua they have no choice.

Since 2008, the law has made all forms of abortion in all circumstances a crime, even where the health and life of the woman is in danger or where she is the victim of rape or incest.

2,000 people created butterflies for AI's campaign at the Hay festival, UK

 

There is little or no help from the government who have failed to prevent sexual abuse and to provide care to survivors or to guarantee they receive justice and reparation. An ineffective justice system often means cases collapse and attackers walk free.

Young rape survivors need psychological, medical and legal support and help to rebuild their lives.

On 28 September 2011, women's organisations and the Nicaraguan people will be marching to demand the repeal of the country's total abortion ban and an end to widespread violence against women and girls.

Please stand in solidarity with these young women and help make their voices heard by sending a butterfly and a message of hope in time for their demonstration in September.  

You can create a butterfly online  or make a paper one, but paper versions must be sent in to AI by 19 August.

 

Your butterfly will join the march in Nicaragua .

Some 31, 414 people in the UK have already created colourful butterflies. Together we can make the government listen and act to protect the rights of girls and women. Create a butterfly today.

 

UK Riots - mindless thugs, but why?

Rioters in Liverpool/BBC

Like everyone else in England, I am trying to make sense of the mindless violence, arson and looting that have spread first across London, then to other cities throughout the country over the last four nights. Four people have died as a result of the mayhem.

Video footages show young men and women in hoodies torching local businesses and family houses, smashing windows, overturning cars, taunting terrified shop owners and residents, ransacking shops, drinking and laughing at the police, who were clearly out-numbered and overpowered.

The images are terrifying and unsettling – especially because the looting and violence are so brazen, and because many of the young people involved, some as young as 14 or 15, seem to have such a good time smashing up the place, like it is all a big joke.

Many didn’t even bother to cover their face. Some have even posted pictures on social networking sites, proudly showing off their haul.

Two girls who took part in Monday night's riots in Croydon, London, boasted on the BBC that they were showing police and "the rich" that "we can do what we want". 

Looters, Birmingham/AFP

 And that is what it looks like. In some areas, young people pillaged for hours before the police arrived. And when the police did arrive, they seemed powerless to do anything.  This new and unexpected feeling of having power and being in control must have been intoxicating to young people who are used to feel powerless. This acted as a catalyst for more violence. 

The devastating riots, which are still spreading across the country, first flared on Saturday after a peaceful protest in Tottenham, London, over the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan, 29, by police.

Commentators say the ensuing violence has nothing to do with the fatal shooting: the riots are not a social protest, but random opportunistic thuggery.

It is true that the riots don’t look like a social protest – the young people are not marching for a cause or rioting with a message; they seem to be looting, burning and smashing things up for the sake of it.

But this doesn’t mean there isn’t a deep underlying cause.

The riots started in deprived London’s boroughs hit harder with unemployment. And the recent cuts in social and educational services and programmes have only made things worse. 

The gap between rich and poor is ever growing here. Britain is now one of the most unequal countries in the developed world. And many young people, especially Blacks and Asians, see the police as adversarial and biased.

Many of the rioters have no stake in conformity and feel they have nothing to lose.

"They have no career to think about. They are not 'us'. They live out there on the margins, enraged, disappointed, capable of doing some awful things," says Prof John Pitts, a criminologist who advises several London local authorities on young people and gangs.

Post-WOMAD blues and Ayarkhaan

I have been back from WOMAD (World music festival in Charlton park) for two days now and my head is still full of music from all over the world – and I want to keep it that way and don’t want to go back to work.

I love sitting in a field, drinking beer, listening to exciting music with friends or dancing in a warm sea of people –  dipping in and out of countries, musical influences and moods.

The most striking and moving music at the festival came from Ayarkhaan, an all-woman vocal group from the Sakha Republic. The republic, also called Yakutia, is at the far end of Siberia – slightly smaller than India, but home to less than one million inhabitants. 

Ayarkhaan/elen-music.com

Traditional music from this harsh arctic land is heading toward extinction, so Ayarkhaan trio have made their mission to revive the endangered sounds of their homeland.  And those sounds are strange and beautiful! 

Dressed in traditional costumes, the three women stand still, only moving their arms from time to time. Their voices are extraordinary and haunting, sometimes otherworldly. In addition to singing, the women play the khomus, a metal instrument that fits in the mouth like a Jew’s harp, but louder and can operate over three octaves.  The khomus, regarded as the national instrument of Yakutia, is said to have been made by gods and to possess a magical voice. 

Played by Ayarkhaan, the instrument is trance inducing and almost electronic sounding.  With their voices and the khomus, the women conjure up a far away world of galloping horses, icy wind, vast barren steppes, roaming wolves and snowstorms. And you really are there in this wild, ice-crested land. 


Listen to Ayarkhaan here and let me know what you think.

Child trafficking in India - Rubina's return

Rubina's emotional reunion with her beloved grandmother/Fjona Hill

India is the fourth most dangerous country in the world for women, right after Afghanistan, DRC and Pakistan, according to a newly released global survey by the Thompson Reuters Foundation (I wrote a blogpost about the report a couple of weeks ago).  This unexpected distinction for the world’s largest democracy is due largely to the high numbers of women and girls trafficked in the country every year.  

It is estimated that 100 million people, mostly women and girls, were involved in trafficking in India in 2009 alone, according to the report.  Across the world, some of 1.2 million children are trafficked every year into prostitution, forced labour, child marriage, begging and other slavery-like conditions.

Rubina is one of them.  She was just ten when her father took her away from their small rural village in India’s Andhra Pradesh and sold her as a domestic slave in nearby Bangalore.

Photographer Fjona Hill followed her return home, after the little girl ran away and was taken to a Government’s Girls Home. There, Oasis, an NGO working with trafficked children, gave her counselling, traced her parents and brought her home. 

Although Rubina was luckier than most trafficked children, her story is fairly typical.

She lived with her parents, two young sisters and an elder bother in Chinampalle, a small Muslim village of 500 mud huts, where people eke out a meagre living off farming and stone mining.

Her father, a stone miner, could only find work two or three days a week, while her mother worked as a coolie (carrier) and toiled in the fields.  The family often went without food, and was in debt.  Rubina frequently bunked school and her father was convinced she was mentally unstable.  

Rubina arrives at her village and looks for her family/ Fjona Hill

  

Like most trafficked victims, Rubina had no idea what awaited her in Bangalore. Her father had told her he was taking her to an Islamic school, but sold her to a lady as a domestic servant instead.

In her case, the “dalal”, as recruiters are known in India, was her father – and that is not uncommon. Many children from poor families are sold by parents and relatives, who might not grasp the full implication of their actions.   Dalals can also be friends, neighbours, people who have been trafficked themselves, as well as corrupt police officers, passport officials and taxi/rickshaw drivers.  They haunt bus stops, railway stations and streets of deprived areas looking for potential victims, and use drugs, abduction, kidnapping, persuasion and deception to catch them.

Rubina kneels at her mother's feet as she explains where she had been taken by her father. A woman from the village looks on/Fjona Hill

 Rubina managed to escape, something few achieve, and was welcomed back into her village. The village elders disciplined the father. If she had been trafficked as a sex worker instead of a domestic servant, she might have been rejected by her family or her family would have been forced to leave their village because of the stigma and shame brought onto the household.

Oasis workers have been visiting Rubina recently. “She is now doing well and going to school, and the whole village are keeping an eye on her,” says Anita Kanaiya, Oasis executive director. 

For more information on Oasis, click here and to donate to the charity, click here.