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Women from Africa and the diaspora call for action to protect women and girls in Sudan from conflict-related sexual violence

Posted on 25/09/202427/09/2024 by cswpress in Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan

As women from Africa and the diaspora, we have signed this open letter to express our solidarity with women and girls in Sudan who are being targeted in a relentless campaign of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and to appeal for the urgent initiation of international protection measures and accountability mechanisms.

The war in Sudan began in April 2023 and has been described as a conflict fought on the bodies of women and girls. A total absence of protection for women and girls heightens the risk of sexual and gender-based violence.

Distressing reports have emerged of rape, gang rape, and forced ‘marriages’, with many of these violations occurring in people’s homes.¹

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UN International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances: Honouring Eritrea’s Missing Voices

Posted on 30/08/2024 by cswpress in Eritrea, Sub-Saharan Africa

On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, CSW shares a guest blog post from our friends and partners at Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRC-E).

As the world marks the UN International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, we stand in solidarity with the countless Eritrean families who have endured decades of pain, uncertainty, and fear. This day is a poignant reminder of the grave human rights violations committed by the Eritrean government, which continues to use enforced disappearance as a means to silence dissent and control its population.

Eritrea is one of the most repressive states in the world, where enforced disappearances are not isolated incidents, but part of a systematic campaign to quash opposition. Thousands of Eritreans, including political dissidents, journalists, religious figures, and ordinary citizens, have been forcibly disappeared—detained without trial, often in secret prisons, leaving their families in the dark about their fate or whereabouts.

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‘More that unites us’: Bridging the border between Indians, Pakistanis, Hindus and Muslims

Posted on 29/08/2024 by cswpress in Asia, India, Pakistan

This month marked 77 years since one of the world’s most violent religious conflicts: the partition of India and Pakistan, which claimed more than a million Hindu and Muslim lives and displaced over 15 million people. A people that once lived together were now forced to choose sides. Families were torn apart. The bloodshed didn’t end there and neither did the hatred, as the countries fought several more wars in the years to come.

On either side of the border, my generation grew up hearing the worst of each other. Most of the narratives we read in newspapers or watched in the cinema portrayed the other in bad light. The enmity and hatred was and continues to be so deep rooted that it affects religious groups in both nations.

I cannot count the number of times I have heard an Indian Muslim being called a Pakistani in a derogatory tone. Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) first came to power in 2014, these slurs have only become more frequent and toxic.

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Every Sunday…

Posted on 21/08/202421/08/2024 by cswpress in Cuba, Latin America

Every Sunday, between 12:30pm and 1pm, Berta Soler Fernández prepares herself. She and her husband, Ángel Moya Acosta step outside their home, a square, two story building painted red, with a light green porch. They have every intention of making their way to a Roman Catholic Church in the Miramar section of Havana, Cuba. The church is named for Saint Rita of Cascia, the patron saint of abuse, loss, peace, desperate cases and lost causes. They will attend Mass and offer up prayers.

Berta is dressed all in white.

Every Sunday, between 12:30pm and 1pm, Berta and Ángel open the door of their home and are met by National Revolutionary Police (NRP) officers and Department of State Security (DSS) agents. Mobs of paramilitary members, some holding signs with offensive and insulting messages, hold up mobile phones as they record the couple’s movements. The two are forced into DSS cars with private license plates and, instead of going to Mass, they are taken to an NRP station. They are ordered to undergo an intrusive medical examination. They refuse because they have not asked for an examination and know that they will not be provided with the results anyway. Those will go to the DSS. Berta and Ángel are then sent to semi-dark prison cells where they will be held until the following morning. They will be taken by car and dropped off near their home, which also serves as the national headquarters for the Ladies in White, a dissident group that has been holding peaceful protests in support of political prisoners since 2003.

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Cada Domingo…

Posted on 21/08/2024 by cswpress in Cuba ES, español, Latin America ES

Cada domingo, entre las 12:30pm y las 13:00pm, Berta Soler Fernández se alista. Ella y su marido, Ángel Moya Acosta, salen de su casa, un edificio cuadrado de dos pisos pintado de rojo, con un porche verde claro. Tienen la intención de dirigirse a una iglesia católica romana en la sección Miramar de La Habana, Cuba. La iglesia lleva el nombre de Santa Rita de Casia, la santa patrona de los casos desesperados, del abuso, de la pérdida, de la paz, y de las causas perdidas. Asistirán a misa y ofrecerán sus oraciones.

Berta está vestida toda de blanco.

Cada domingo, entre las 12:30pm y las 13:00pm, Berta y Ángel abren la puerta de su casa y son recibidos por oficiales de la Policía Nacional Revolucionaria (PNR) y agentes del Departamento de Seguridad del Estado (DSE). Multitudes de paramilitares, algunos con carteles con mensajes ofensivos e insultantes, sostienen teléfonos móviles mientras graban los movimientos de la pareja. Los dos son obligados a subir a coches del DSE con matrícula privada y, en lugar de ir a misa, los llevan a una comisaría de la PNR. Les ordenan que se sometan a un examen médico invasivo. Se niegan porque no han pedido el examen y saben que, de todos modos, no les proporcionarán los resultados. Éstos irán al DSE. Berta y Ángel son enviados a celdas penitenciarias semioscuras donde permanecerán retenidos hasta la mañana siguiente. Los llevarán en coche y los dejarán cerca de su casa, que también sirve como sede nacional de las Damas de Blanco, un grupo disidente que lleva realizando protestas pacíficas en apoyo de los presos políticos desde 2003.

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