Tag Archives: Criminal Justice & State Violence

Ideology + Affiliation, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel News | Incarcerated Palestinians

Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli facilities win increased visitation rights following hunger strike
  • Incarcerated Palestinians were granted a second visitation day per month following a 41-day hunger strike in the lead up to Ramadan and the 50th anniversary of Israel’s seizure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
  • Nearly 1,000 protesters took part in the strike, which ended following a deal struck by Israeli prison officials, the Palestinian Authority, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
  • More than 6,000 Palestinians are incarcerated in Israeli prisons for offenses ranging from throwing stones to murder.
Read

“Mass Palestinian hunger strike in Israeli jails ends after visitation deal” (The Guardian | May 2017)

“Palestinian Prisoners End Hunger Strike in Israel After 40 Days” (The New York Times | May 2017)

“Palestinian prisoners end hunger strike, Israel says it met none of their demands” (The Times of Israel | May 2017)

(Image Credit: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters, via The New York Times)

Gender, Sexual + Gender Minorities

South Korea News | Gay & Bisexual Men

South Korean soldier convicted of same-sex sexual activity
  • South Korea’s military court sentenced him to a six-month suspended prison sentence under the Military Criminal Act, which will lead to a dishonorable discharge.
  • While same-sex relations are not illegal for civilians, the South Korean military code criminalizes homosexual activity by military personnel, among which all able-bodied men must serve for two years.
  • Human rights organizations have reported that military leaders have ordered the revelation and tracking of gay military members, though the army has denied the allegations.
Read

“South Korean military court hands army captain suspended prison sentence for having gay sex with fellow soldier” (The Independent | May 2017)

“Korean soldier convicted of gay sex” (The Korea Times | May 2017)

“South Korean soldier given suspended jail term for gay sex” (BBC News | May 2017)

Gender, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Indonesia News | Gay Men

More than 100 arrested and 2 publicly flogged as Indonesian authorities target gay men
  • Jakarta police confirmed that 141 men had been rounded up at a sauna party and jailed, subject to pornography charges.
  • In the conservative province of Aceh, two men, aged 20 and 23, were subject to public whippings after having been caught having sex, a new application of religious provincial law in a country that does not officially criminalize same-sex relations.
  • Increased anti-gay sentiment in the country is seen as part of a rising wave of hardline Islamism in the country, which has in recent years been praised for its secular, relatively liberal social gains.
Read

“Indonesian police arrest more than 140 men at alleged gay sauna party” (The Guardian | May 2017)

“Two men publicly caned in Indonesia for having gay sex” (Reuters | May 2017)

“Indonesian men caned for gay sex in Aceh” (BBC News | May 2017)

(Image Credit: via BBC News)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Indonesia News | Christian

Jakarta’s Christian governor of Chinese descent sentenced to prison for blasphemy
  • Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, was sentenced to two years in prison after having accused political opponents of using a verse from the Qur’an to mobilize opposition to his re-election.
  • His remarks drew massive protests in the Muslim-majority country and a religiously charged vote for the Jakarta governorship in April, where he lost to Muslim rival Anies Baswedan.
  • Judges cited fundamentalist religious groups in the ruling, shocking observers with a prison sentence for Ahok because he “did not feel guilt.”
Read

“Jakarta governor Ahok sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy” (The Guardian | May 2017)

“Jakarta’s Christian Governor Ahok jailed for two years for blasphemy” (The Sydney Morning Herald | May 2017)

“Jakarta’s former governor Ahok dropping appeal against jail sentence for blasphemy” (ABC | May 2017)

(Image Credit: Antara/Pool/Sigid Kurniawan, via The Jakarta Post)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Australia & Canada Feature | Indigenous

The Fight for Indigenous Equality, from Australia to Canada

As increased attention to negative outcomes in indigenous communities has pushed their governments to address racial disparities, Australian and Canadian indigenous advocates have drawn attention to the markedly similar ways in which English settler colonialism and systemic racial inequality unfolded in their countries. In both countries, indigenous peoples make up at least a quarter of the prison population, 40% of incarcerated children, and half of those in the child welfare system. Similar policies of forced family dissolution, detention, and delayed dismantlement of legal inequality have pushed advocates an ocean apart to come up with comparative solutions to the persistent indigenous/non-indigenous gap in their countries.

Read

“‘It’s the same story’: How Australia and Canada are twinning on bad outcomes for Indigenous people” (The Guardian | April 2017)

(Image Credit: Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images, via The Guardian)

Gender, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Russia News | Gay Men

Scores of gay men reportedly sent to concentration camps in Chechnya
  • According to reports from human rights organizations, more than 100 men have been imprisoned in camps the Russian republic of Chechnya where they have been tortured.
  • The abducted men have ranged in age from 16 to 50, some having been lured via social media and with three among them having reportedly been killed.
  • The abductions began as an LGBT advocacy group began applying for permits to hold parades in provincial cities around the country, although the group avoided applications in much of the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region given the volatile climate.
Read

“Chechen Authorities Arresting and Killing Gay Men, Russian Paper Says” (The New York Times | April 2017)

“Chechen police ‘have rounded up more than 100 suspected gay men’” (The Guardian | April 2017)

“More than 100 gay men ‘sent to prison camps’ in Chechnya” (The Independent | April 2017)

(Image Credit: Musa Sadulayev/AP, via The Guardian)

Gender

Russia News | Women

Putin signs law reducing punishment for domestic violence in Russia
  • Perpetrators who physically assault family members but do not cause broken bones will now only be subject to 15 days in prison or a fine if the violence only occurs once a year.
  • Previously, the crime had carried a maximum jail sentence of two years, but conservative politicians and advocates argued the state was intruding in private affairs.
  • A spike in reports of domestic violence in Russia’s fourth-largest city following the passage of the law has sparked concerns that the law has increased women’s vulnerability to violence in a country that sees 12-14,000 women die a year as a result of domestic violence.
Coverage

“Putin approves legal change that decriminalises some domestic violence” (The Guardian | February 2017)
“Domestic violence reports soar in Russian city following partial decriminalisation” (The Independent | February 2017)
“Majority in Russia See Domestic Violence as Serious Problem” (Gallup | February 2017)

 

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

France News | Black

Protests erupt in Paris suburb following violent arrest and sodomization of black man
  • A police officer was charged with using his baton to sodomize Théo L., a 22-year-old black man, while arresting him in the northern suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois.
  • Police accused the man, who had no previous criminal record, of resisting during a check of his identity papers, but the brutal force used led to the suspension of all four officers involved.
  • Protests took place across the ethnically diverse northern suburbs, including marches, clashes with police, and arrests as protesters called for justice.
Coverage (English)

“French police brutality in spotlight again after officer charged with rape” (The Guardian | February 2017)
“A French Police Officer Allegedly Raped A Man With A Baton During A Check Of His Papers” (BuzzFeed News | February 2017)
“Protesters target police in Paris suburb unrest” (Reuters | February 2017)

Coverage (French)

“A Bobigny, un rassemblement contre les violences policières tourne mal” (Le Monde | February 2017)
“A Aulnay-sous-Bois, la tension est redescendue d’un cran” (Radio France Internationale | February 2017)

(Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images, via BuzzFeed News)

Health + Ability, Other

U.S. Feature | Prisoners with Disabilities

Video

Seeking Justice for Prisoners with Disabilities in the U.S.

Source: Disability Rights Washington YouTube

The failure of prisons to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, ruled applicable to prisons in 1998, has created a quagmire within the criminal justice system: although people with disabilities are incarcerated at rates far higher than their demographic proportion and comprise nearly a third of the total prison population, they are funneled into systems that refuse to follow the law when it comes to adapting their protocols and facilities to those disabilities. Beyond the mass incarceration of people with disabilities, once incarcerated, disabled people face longer sentencing, solitary confinement, inaccessible vocational training, poor education administration, and limited medical access, exacerbating the negative effects of physical and mental illnesses and creating cycles of re-marginalization and inadequate preparation for release.

VICE News examines the impact of incarceration on people with disabilities and attempts to advocate on their behalf given the numerous conflicts of interest present in the reporting and petitioning process.

Read:
“Punished Twice” (VICE News)

Related reads:
“Making Hard Time Harder” (The AVID Prison Project, June 2016)
“Disabled Behind Bars: The Mass Incarceration of People With Disabilities in America’s Jails and Prisons” (The Center for American Progress)
Know Your Rights: Legal Rights of Disabled Prisoners (The American Civil Liberties Union)

Other

Cameroon News | Anglophones

Violent police response to protests by Anglophone Cameroonians leaves at least four dead
  • The killings took place when security forces fired live rounds in the air at a local market in Bamenda, the country’s second-largest Anglophone city.
  • Anglophone Cameroonians have demonstrated in recent weeks over perceptions of second-class status across issues including the dominant use of French in schools, police brutality, and unequal distribution and application of resources.
  • Cameroon’s bilingual administrative structure—a result of the colonial period when the country was split between Britain and France—has marginalized Anglophone Cameroonians, largely clustered in only two of the country’s ten administrative regions.

Read more:
“Cameroon urged to investigate deaths amid anglophone protests” (The Guardian)
“Bamenda protests: Mass arrests in Cameroon” (BBC)
“Mass protests in Cameroon are exposing the fragility of its dual French-English system” (Quartz)

(Image Credit: Reuters, via The Guardian)

Nationality + Migration

Indonesia & the Netherlands News | Indonesians

Dutch government announces inquiry into violent twilight of colonialism in Indonesia
  • Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced an investigation into the violent conflict between the Dutch military and Indonesians that took place from 1945 to 1949.
  • The Dutch government has begun to admit to a host of war crimes during the colonial war including mass killings, torture, and summary executions, with the conflict having brought about the death of at least 100,000 Indonesians.
  • Indonesia was a Dutch colony from 1800 to 1949 and is widely recognized as having contributed significantly to the contemporary wealth of the western European nation.

Read more:
“Dutch cabinet agrees to fund research into violence in Indonesia” (DutchNews)
“Dutch government backs new inquiry into colonial Indonesia” (Reuters)

Additional reads:
“Indonesian National Revolution Photos the Dutch Army Didn’t Want You to See” (The Creators Project, January 2016)
“Colonial atrocities explode myth of Dutch tolerance” (The Independent, May 1994)

(Image Credit: NIOD, via The Creators Project)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Native Americans

Tensions escalate in North Dakota as protesters and police clash in Dakota Access Pipeline protests
  • Protesters reported police wielding tear gas and water cannons in the 23-degree weather after claiming the protests had dissolved into a “riot,” heightening already pronounced concerns about hypothermia in the below-freezing conditions.
  • Reports indicated that more than 150 were injured and at least seven hospitalized as a result of the confrontation.
  • More than 400 activists have been arrested since the standoff began over the ongoing dispute over the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.

Read more:
“Standing Rock protest: hundreds clash with police over Dakota Access Pipeline” (The Guardian)
“Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Soaked by Water Cannons in Clash With Police” (The New York Times)
“Police, Protesters Clash Near Dakota Access Pipeline Route” (NPR)

(Image Credit: Stephanie Keith/Reuters, via The New York Times)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Myanmar & Bangladesh News | Rohingya

Hundreds of Rohingya flee Myanmar for Bangladesh as violence spreads
  • Clashes between government forces and militants have left at least 130 dead and sent hundreds of Rohingya Muslims fleeing across the border into Bangladesh.
  • Some reports indicated those attempting to cross the border were gunned down or had their boats pushed away.
  • The district at the border has been locked down by Burmese soldiers, cutting off aid agencies and independent observers as reports of mass rape and looting have trickled out.

Read more:
“Hundreds of Rohingya flee Myanmar army crackdown to Bangladesh: sources” (Reuters)
“Hundreds of Rohingya try to escape Myanmar crackdown” (BBC News)
“Violence in Burma Has Sent Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims Fleeing to Bangladesh” (TIME)

Ideology + Affiliation

Turkey News | Advocates & Critics

Turkey halts activities of 370 NGOs as “purge” continues
  • Following the failed coup attempt of July 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has banned the activities of hundreds of organizations, including human rights and children’s organizations, arrested opposition lawmakers, and shuttered more than 100 media organizations on charges of collusion with terrorists.
  • Of the suspended, 153 were allegedly connected to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen (whom Erdogan has accused of masterminding the coup), 190 with Kurdish militant group Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), 19 to far-left militant group DHKP-C, and 8 to the Islamic State.
  • More than 100,000 in the military, police, political administration, journalism, and academia have lost their jobs and tens of thousands have been arrested, prompting condemnation from human rights monitors and warnings from foreign governments.

Read more:
“Turkey halts activities of 370 groups as purge widens” (Reuters)
“Erdogan Renews Putsch Purge With Targets in Media, Academia” (Bloomberg)
“Erdogan’s ‘One-Man Regime’ Sacks 10,000, Closes Kurdish Media” (teleSUR English)

Ideology + Affiliation

Mauritania News | Writers

Mauritanian clerics push for application of death penalty for blogger convicted of apostasy
  • Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir was convicted in 2014 over a blog post discussing Mauritania’s racial stratification and the history of racial discrimination in Islam.
  • The Forum of Imams and Ulemas recently issued a fatwa calling for Mkhaitir’s execution in line with absolutist laws regarding heresy in Islam.
  • If carried out, Mkhaitir’s execution would be the first in the country since 1987, prompting international human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders to advocate for his pardon.

Read more:
“Mauritanian clerics urge for blogger’s death penalty to be applied” (Reuters)
“Millions of people rallied to the support of Raif Badawi – who will care for a poor young man in Mauritania?” (The Independent, August 2015)
“Death Sentence in Mauritania for Islam ‘Insult’” (Reuters via The New York Times, December 2014)