Happy Sinterklaas!

Zero tolerance on all forms of discrimination.

It's time to reflect on own world.

Even if "Zwarte Piet" would never have been intended to be a reference to slavery, it is widely interpreted as being discriminating. Even the slightest suspicion or appearance of discrimination should not be tolerated.

If we do not recognize "tradition" as a justification for the infringement of human rights with for example female genital mutilation [referring to cultural relativism], why would we apply different standards to our Western "traditions"? 

The very first article of the Dutch Constitution entails the principle of non-discrimination. This means that no one can be discriminated against on any ground. As a human right this is being laid down in various international treaties. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the most famous treaty, serving as an inspiration for other international [United Nations] and regional human rights mechanisms. 

 

Non-discrimination is a non derogable right.

So let's respect, protect and fulfill this right. Beyond reasonable doubt.

Rwanda saying

Rwanda saying: 

"Bagarira yose ntuzi irizera n'irizarumba" (Kinyarwanda)

Translation: Help everybody because you never know who will be worth it

Rwanda Respect: 20 Years after the Genocide

Gorilla - Picture Sophie Poldermans

Hotel Mille Collines - Picture Sophie Poldermans

In April, it will be 20 years ago when the Rwanda genocide started to reach its appalling heat. In the ethnic conflict between the Hutu majority and Tutsi minority, it is estimated that between 750,000 and 1 million people [predominantly Tutsis and moderate Hutus] were killed within a hundred days. The methods that were used to kill, were horrifying. People were slaughtered with machettes, tortured to death, sexual violence was inflicted on a massive scale and in a systematic manner, people were intentionally infected with HIV. Next to the Holocaust, this is one of the classic examples of true genocide, where there was, thanks to the hate speech of Radio Mille Collines, legal proof that there was the intention to destroy a group of people in whole or in part. In addition, war crimes and crimes against humanity were every day’s reality.

During the study trip ”Transitional Justice in Post-Genocida Rwanda”, initiated by the NGO Together against Impunity in the Great Lakes Region and the universities of Tilburg and Kigali, that I participated in in 2012, I experienced a tiny little bit of the impact of the atrocities that had taken place in 1994. During this trip I visited some of the most important places during the conflict, among them the Kigali Memorial Center, the Murambi genocide memorial site [the site of a technical school where during the genocide 30,000 people were killed in one night], the Mpanga Prison, housing 5000 génocidaires, the Millennium Village and a demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants camp. In this line, I carried out research as to Gender and Transitional Justice: Sexual Violence in Rwanda.

Prisoners - Picture Sophie Poldermans

After this trip, I explored the country on my own. A beautiful country, with a breathtaking landscape - I am sure there were actually a thousand hills - and I followed Dian Fossey’s footsteps by hiking the jungle on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda in order to find some of the world’s very last mountain gorillas. The people I met were very nice. However, I was shocked that after so many years, I could still feel the ethnic tension around and this tension was in my experience so strong, that it could easily explode any minute. The conflict is not dead, it is still alive and is being nourished by ethnic tension in the entire region. I could see hatred and fear in people’s eyes, that is very hard to describe. I had only experienced that before when I was doing research in the Balkans. No surprise if you take into account that it takes generations [look at Europe after the Second World War] to move on.

Many ways have been explored in order to achieve peace and justice, both on an international, regional, national and local level. Reconciliation plays an important role, for example in the local gacaca tribunal trials. During my trip to Rwanda, I was happy to encounter numerous positive initiatives to embrace sustainable peace. The Millennium Village is an example of a village where the new generation of Rwanda will be brought up with the United Nations Millennium Goals, with the main focus on education and awareness raising.

Millennium Village - Picture Sophie Poldermans

Another example is an experiment where houses are built within a village in a structure where deliberately a perpetrator, victim and a third person will literally live next door to each other. Can you think of a more concrete example of reconciliation?

Neighbors: Tutsi victim and Hutu perpetrator  - Picture Sophie Poldermans

Although Rwanda has a long way to go, there is hope for today and the future. The keyword here is Respect in the richest meaning of the word.

Kigali Memorial Center - Picture Sophie Poldermans

Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act

Uganda recently adopted the Anti-Homosexuality Act, criminalizing acts of homosexuality.
See: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26320102

This clearly discriminates all LBGTs [lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender]. It violates very basic human rights of equal treatment and no discrimination on any ground, including sexual orientation that is laid down in various international treaties. For example the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights. But next to these global United Nations funded documents, this new act is in violation of the regional judicial mechanism of the African Convention On Human and Peoples' Rights. The human rights could be invoked in either a national court of law or at the African Court of Justice and Human rights, or could be addressed before the United Nations human rights committee.

I initiated community-based research, where I am supervising my students to analyze the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act and its impact on LBGT members of the Ugandan community in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and their refugee status. This research is being carried out in close cooperation with the NGO Pearl of Africa. Next to a thorough analysis of legal tools, political and social [civil society] mechanisms will be explored.

Zero Tolerance on Female Genital Mutilation day: 6 February

Combating Female Genital Mutilation in Europe 

 

Every year, 3 million girls and women are subjected to the harmful traditional practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Worldwide, the number of girls and women who have undergone this practice is estimated to lie between 100 and 150 million.

FGM is not only an important issue in Africa, the Middle-East, and Asia where it has been traditionally practised, but due to the arrival of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers from these countries to the West, to Europe, North America, and Australia, FGM has also become a Western concern. 

It is estimated that in the European Union alone, 500,000 girls and women are affected or threatened by the practice of FGM.

The magnitude and serious medical and social consequences of this practice in Europe and, moreover, the human rights that might be violated by it, should not be underestimated.

In my thesis, I would like to shed light on the harmful traditional practice of FGM

carried out in Europe, and explore how this practice can be combated most effectively, by means of legislative and/or preventative tools, in order to protect the women and girls concerned in the best possible way. 

Chapter 1 of this thesis sets out what the harmful traditional practice of FGM exactly entails; where, by whom and why it is practised, and which medical and social consequences it results in. Chapter 2 addresses the human rights that are applicable to FGM and the various instruments where they are enshrined. 

Chapter 3, 4, 5, and 6 contain a comparative analysis of legislative and preventative tools regarding FGM in the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, and

Austria. My Concluding Observations and Recommendations, in

terms of the most effective way to combat FGM in Europe, follow these Chapters.

See for thesis:
Combating Female Genital Mutilation in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Legislative and Preventative Tools in the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, and Austria, Sophie Poldermans, L.Lm, E.Ma, 2006:

http://www.stopfgm.net/wp-content/uploads/vor2013/grundlagen/SPoldermansFGMinEurope.pdf 

Hannie Schaft Commemoration

Annual Hannie Schaft Commemoration

For ten years I was a board member of the Hannie Schaft Commemoration Organization.  Hannie Schaft was a Dutch female resistance fighter during the Second World War. This NGO combats racism, fascism and discrimination. 

See for more information:
http://www.hannieschaft.nl/home

My book on Hannie Schaft:
http://www.hannieschaft.nl/webwinkel

Lionel Hun, Hope