Guyanese
newspaper columnist Freddie Kissoon, widely considered a harsh
government critic, is among several Latin American media operatives
featured as part of the International Freedom of Expression Network's
(IFEX) International Day to End Impunity.
Kissoon told Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves.com)
that his inclusion is part of a growing body of international opinion
against the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration until
it implodes like the Peoples National Congress (PNC) in 1992 when it
lost Guyana's first free and fair elections in almost three decades.
"It
symbolizes the international community's interest in growing
depravities that are occuring in Guyana," he said, adding that the
interest by IFEX and other organisations is long overdue. He said IFEX's
intervention showed that efforts are being made to protect Guyanese
media workers.
Government
has targeted the privately-owned Kaieteur News,k Stabroek News,
Demerara Waves Online News and the pro-opposition Benschop Radio.
It was a
month-long campaign that recounts how reporters, human rights
activists, and artists from around the world have been forcibly silenced
for their advocacy on promoting freedom of expression. The campaign
culminated on Friday, Nov. 23.
The
campaign aims to raise awareness on what it describes as a culture of
impunity, which “exists when those who seek to control the freedom of
expression of others do so knowing that it is unlikely they will be held
accountable for their actions.”
“At
IFEX we chronicle free expression violations. We see journalists,
bloggers, artists whose rights are being violated and are forced to live
in fear, in jail or in exile, every day. While an International Day
might not be the solution, it is the opportunity to bring a global voice
together to demand authorities take responsibility and bring an end to
the violations,” IFEX executive director Annie Game told the Knight
Center for Journalism of the Americas.
Among
the tools developed for promoting the campaign include a website, a
short video, and 23 profiles of journalists and human rights activists
from around the world telling their stories about the different types of
threats they face from other people or from their countries’
government. IFEX featured the cases of the following four journalists in
Latin America:
Colombian
journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima was abducted and raped during a 2001
investigation into alleged arms trafficking ring at a Colombian prison
that involved state officials and members of the AUC paramilitary group.
In
a 2011 article written by the Atlantic, Bedoya described the dangers
women who work as journalists face. She recounted her experience of
being tortured and raped by three men, who then abandoned her in a
garbage dump on the side of the road. The lack of action of Colombian
authorities forced Bedoya to plea her case for justice to the
Inter-American Commission in Washington, DC.
“Before
there was the risk -- we always had a fear of something happening to us
when we covered conflict, but now I have the additional fear of what
can happen to me because I'm a woman, the specific vulnerability of what
can happen to my body because I'm a woman," Bedoya told the Atlantic
Lydia
Cacho is a prominent Mexican investigative journalist and author who
was forced to leave the country in August 2012 after receiving threats
following the publication of her book, "Slavery Inc: the Untold Story of
International Sex Trafficking." Cacho had also been a kidnapping victim
in 2005 following her investigations into a pedophile ring that linked
several Mexican politicians and businessmen. The Mexican Supreme Court
dismissed that case on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
"People
come up to me sometimes and say I'm their hero," Cacho said in an
interview with Amnesty International on Aug. 1. "But I’m not Superwoman…
I realize that I still live in a culture of impunity and that honors on
a wall can't protect me."
Guyanese
writer and and human rights activist Freddie Kissoon was fired from his
lecturer position at the state-run University of Guyana and is
currently involved in a $40,000 libel suit with the former Guyanese
President Bharrat Jagdeo. Kissoon wrote in an Aug. 12 op-ed piece for
Guyanese publication Kaieteur News how human waste has been thrown at
him and how his wife lost her job with a Guyanese state-owned company.
He states that these actions are in retaliation for his criticisms
against the government.
“I
am a human rights activist like so many others. I write an analytical
commentary that the Government frowns upon. But there are pro-government
commentators all over Guyana and I don’t see the opposition targeting
them and harassing them,” Kissoon writes in his op-ed piece.
Venezuelan
journalist and political cartoonist Rayma Suprani started to receive
threats following the publication of several cartoons for Venezuela’s El
Universal where she criticizes the Venezuelan government and its
policies. She even became the target on Twitter where supporters of
President Hugo Chávez used the hashtag #RaymaApatrida (“Unpatriotic
Rayma”) to post threats and insults.
In
an interview with online magazine Sampsonia Way, Suprani describes how
she criticizes the Chávez regime in her drawings even though she doesn’t
specifically draw him in her cartoons.
“I
have been threatened by pro-Chávez gangs, but the government does not
punish them for their actions because it supports them,” Suprani said.
“Sometimes it is difficult to express things, but the cartoonist’s
commitment is always with the readers and with the facts.”
The
International Day to End Impunity, started in 2011, marks the
anniversary of the Ampatuan massacre in the Philippines, when 46 people,
including 32 journalists and media workers, were murdered on Nov. 23,
2009. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called that massacre the
single deadliest day for journalists since it began keeping records in
1992. Several events—including ones in Mexico, Guatemala, and
Venezuela—are being held in conjunction with the International Day to
commemorate that massacre promote impunity issues in those countries.
Less
than two years after the Pakistani military drew down its
counterinsurgency operations in the picturesque Swat valley, Pakistan’s
frontier region is once again being rocked by suicide attacks and
targeted killings. While the country may appear to be locked in an
entrenched conflict, Pakistan’s civil society could hold the key for a
sustainable, peaceful future.
The World Organization for
Resource Development
and Education, a nonprofit, educational organization aiming to enhance
communication and understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim
communities, recently completed a yearlong study to understand the
capacity of Pakistan’s civil society for resolving conflict within its
borders. The WORDE team traveled to over 35 cities and villages – from
the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to interior Sindh – to interview
over 100 organizations countering radical narratives and fostering
social harmony.
Our research indicates that Pakistan’s civil society has the capacity
to promote peace and regional stability through five powerful
mechanisms. First, activists are leading bold public awareness
initiatives to educate the population about the threat of
radicalization. Public rallies, such as “Save
Pakistan
Conventions,” have galvanized the population and forged unity against
terrorism. In 2009, for example, conservative Muslim parties teamed up
with the
Christian Progressive Movement of Pakistan to hold a 25,000-man National Flag Day march in Islamabad to demonstrate national solidarity against violent extremism.
Following examples from the Arab Spring, Pakistani youth are also using new media platforms such as
Twitter and
Facebook
to promote peace – often at great personal risk. Just last month,
Malala Yousafzai, a female teenage blogger and girls’ education
activist, was shot by militants in the Swat valley for speaking out
against the Taliban.
Second, concerted efforts are under way across the country to empower
youth with alternatives to militancy. For example, schools such as the
Dar ul Uloom Okara in Southern Punjab organize intensive two-week
seminars on Quranic principles of peace and conflict resolution. Others,
like the Dar ul Uloom Bhera, conduct individually tailored
interventions for at-risk youth that refute the idea of violence in the
name of Islam. Where possible, large schools are also offering advanced
courses in English, sciences, mathematics and vocational training to
prepare students for professional careers after graduation.
Third, public statements are also a powerful mechanism to counter
violent ideologies. Since 9/11, dozens of fatwas in Urdu and local
languages have been issued to denounce terrorism at the theological
level. Given the high number of targeted killings in Pakistan, however,
many scholars are hesitant to address the issue of extremism directly.
Instead, they often embed their anti-terror messages within speeches on
broader social issues.
Fourth, religious scholars are organizing public lectures and debates
to deconstruct radical interpretations of Islam using the Quran, stories
of the
Prophets
and historical examples. In regions like southern Punjab, where robust
civil society networks exist, public debates and lectures are held on a
weekly basis. Those featuring prominent speakers such as Sayyed Arshad
Kazmi are televised or posted on YouTube.
Fifth, Pakistani faith-based organizations are using their social
networks to distribute humanitarian assistance to impoverished
communities at risk of militancy. For example, the Jamia Subhaniyya
Rizvia, a school bordering the tribal regions, recently teamed up with
the military and social welfare organizations to distribute emergency
kits and over 30 tons of goods to internally displaced peoples in
terrorism-affected regions.
In short, there are many examples of Pakistani civil society’s
constructive efforts to create change, and Pakistan’s future hinges on
replicating and expanding these efforts across the country. However,
security and a lack of funding and resources prevent activists from
creating a sustained national movement.
Today, with the public outcry following the attack on Yousafzai and
other peace activists, the international community – especially the
Pakistani diaspora – has been presented with an opportunity to provide
training in capacity-building, technical assistance and material support
to strengthen Pakistan’s civil society.
Ultimately, such support can further empower Pakistanis to peacefully push back against the tide of violent extremism.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2012/Nov-21/195733-civil-society-holds-the-key-to-peace-in-pakistan.ashx#ixzz2DON9mYZv
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
