Looking back, looking forward…

Jenni Wolfson — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:29:26 -0800

It's only a few days into the New Year, and the WITNESS team is already working hard around the world with our local partners, transforming powerful stories of human rights abuses into tools for justice through video. I would like to pause for a moment to take a look back at some of our successes in 2009, especially since many of you helped us get there.

In January 2009, "Outlawed," a video produced by WITNESS and 14 human rights partners was used in a campaign that resulted in the release of Binyam Mohamed. Mr Mohamed, an Ethopian native, had been held in Guantanamo Bay detention center without trial for almost seven years. In the same month, our advocacy drive to stop the recruitment of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo helped bring to trial Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Just a few months later, in response to our campaign on the murders of girls and women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, the Mexican government made an unprecedented commitment to review pending cases and prioritize policies related to feminicide.

We also launched new video advocacy campaigns in 2009 with partners such as the Research and Advocacy Unit in Zimbabwe on politically-motivated violence against women in Zimbabwe; the National Council on Aging in the U.S. about elder abuse; STAND, the student arm of the Genocide Prevention Network, on the need to implement the US Genocide Prevention Task Force's Recommendations; the Sisters Arab Forum in Yemen about the marginalization of Akhdam women and; Healthy Options Project Skopje to prevent violence against sex workers in Macedonia.

We know that human rights work is not easy. Change often takes longer than we would hope, and requires never-ending patience, persistence and courage. But each year we are encouraged by the concrete change that is created from the combination of powerful videos and strategic advocacy. I'm proud of the passionate WITNESS team and the dedication of our partners. We enter 2010 with a new strategic vision, fresh energy and a call to all of you to join us in fighting human rights abuses.

Lawyers appeal to President Obama on Guantanamo detainee

Jenni Wolfson — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:00:07 -0800

I'm Jenni Wolfson, the Deputy Director of WITNESS and I've just come back to work after 4 months on maternity leave. Here's my first blog post on the hub about an issue I feel passionate about - the closing of Guantanamo. There is now renewed hope that detainees will be released or prosecuted. However, no matter what happens, detainees will most likely be haunted by their painful and unjust experience. Read about one man's story below.

The New York Times has just reported that lawyers for Guantanamo detainee, Binyam Mohamed, have written to President Obama requesting that he make classified information about Mr. Mohamed's case public and transfer him to Britain, where he has been living since he was a teenager. Before being transferred to Guantanamo, Mr. Mohamed was held in secret detention in Morocco for 18 months and tortured.

Binyam Mohamed's harrowing story is featured in a WITNESS video where his family reads from his unclassified diary that he kept whilst in detention. Here's an extract:

The video is certainly disturbing but is crucial in putting a human face on the issue of extraordinary rendition, secret detention, and torture in a post-9/11 context. WITNESS produced the video Outlawed: Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Disappearances in association with 14 non-profit organisations worldwide, including Amnesty International & Human Rights Watch. Our goal is to draw attention to the post-9/11 phenomenon of renditions and the "war on terror" in a human rights context, and call for action end these human rights abuses.

According to the NYT article, Mr. Mohamed has been on a hunger strike since 5th January, along with 40 other detainees. Click here to watch the full video, learn more and take action.

Jenni Wolfson's Content

Looking back, looking forward…

Lawyers appeal to President Obama on Guantanamo detainee