The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Tuesday January 24th, 2023
U.N. Human Rights Rapporteurs Concerned by Rape, Forced Conversion and Marriage to Rapists in Pakistan by Rene Wadlow
The Human Rights Council, building on the earlier practice of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, has a number of Special Rapporteurs devoted to certain themes – usually specific violations of human rights – or to specific countries. These Special Rapporteurs are independent experts selected by the Council. They usually report their findings at each session of the Council. When violations concern more than one issue, there can be joint Reports to the Council or joint Appeals to a government. Such a collective Appeal to the government of Pakistan sent on 26 October 2022 was made public on 15 January 2023.
The joint Appeal by six Special Rapporteurs concerned the sequence of rape of young women, forced conversion to Islam, followed by marriage to the rapist. The Appeal was led by the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Special Rapporteur on Sexual Exploitation of Children, the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, and the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. The subject of the Appeal is not new, having been raised previously by non-governmental organizations, including by the Association of World Citizens.
However, the Appeal by the Special Rapporteurs clearly identifies a systemic problem on which the Pakistani government has failed to act. The girls raped are usually minors under 18 years of age and belong to Hindu and Christian minorities of the country, often rural and poor.
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Echo #poem & painting by Nikos Laios
“I searched for you
In the darkness,
I felt your soul
But you were
Missing.”
Continue reading HERE
A Picture of Global Complicity: Aiding Myanmar’s Military Regime by Dr. Binoy Kampmark
International relations remains the sum game of vast hypocrisies, a patchwork of compromises and the compromised. Every moral condemnation of a regime’s conduct is bound to be shown up as an exercise in double standards, often implicating the accusers. In the case of the military regime in Myanmar, double standards are not only modish but expected.
A number of international declarations and measures have targeted Myanmar’s regime for its blood-soaked brutality, its genocidal practices against the Rohingya, and its general contempt for the human rights of its citizenry. In a statement last November, US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken took note of the military’s “brutal campaign of violence against the people of Burma, carrying out lethal air strikes against the political opposition and the broader civilian population.”
In response, the US Department of Treasury designated Sky Aviator Company Limited and its owner and director, Kyaw Min Oo “for operating in the defense sector of the Burmese economy.” The company in question had “received multiple arm shipments from sanctioned entities”, while Kyaw had been responsible for facilitating “foreign military officers’ visits to Burma as well as the import of arms and other military equipment and provided assault helicopter upgrades.”
Continue reading HERE
Ma-Siri & Alexa #51 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas
For more Ma-Siri & Alexa HERE!
For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!
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