moneymakermj's Media

HOPS: Interview with Marija Tosheva, Program Director

moneymakermj — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:13:33 -0800

Interview with Marija Tosheva, HOPS Program Director

Victory for Indigenous People's Rights in Kenya - Evidentiary Video Used in Landmark Case

moneymakermj — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:33:44 -0800

Victory for Indigenous People's Rights in Kenya

On February 4, 2010, in a landmark decision, the African Union adopted the decision by the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR), which found the Kenyan government guilty of violating the rights of the country’s indigenous Endorois community, by evicting them from their lands to make way for a wildlife reserve. The commission ruled, in May 2009, that the Endorois' eviction from their traditional land for tourism development violated their human rights. The decision creates a major legal precedent by recognizing, for the first time in Africa, indigenous peoples’ rights over traditionally owned land and their right to development.

The African Commission accepted the Endorois’ evidence that they have lived in the area surrounding Lake Bogoria since “time immemorial” and the lake was the center of their religion and culture, with their ancestors buried nearby. After being evicted from the fertile land around the lake, the Endorois were forced to congregate on arid land, where many of their cattle died. As a component of the case, WITNESS and the Centre for Minority Rights and Development (CEMIRIDE) provided video corroboration (the first ever at the Commission), as part of their evidence package. The video demonstrates how conditions on the ground breached articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, while also bringing the voices of the Endorois to the Commission.

Read the press release: Click here

Full video:
"Rightful Place:
Endorois’ Struggle for Justice"

RT: 16:19min.
In 1973, the Endorois community were evicted from their land by the Kenyan government to make way for a game reserve and tourist resort. From generation to generation, the community continues to struggle for reparation for their loss and restitution to their land. Yet, their efforts have been met by successive Kenyan governments only with denial, harassment and further eviction – this time to make way for mineral mining. Today, the Endorois community have taken their claim to the highest regional human rights body, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, demanding recognition as a distinct indigenous group and asserting their basic human rights. Rightful Place tells, through the personal stories of members of the Endorois community, of the impact of displacement on individual, identity and community and of the struggle of the Endorois to reclaim their rightful place.
©2007, Rightful Place is produced by CEMIRIDE and WITNESS in collaboration with Minority Rights Group.

Breaking the Silence

moneymakermj — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:13:25 -0800

“Breaking the Silence” chronicles the lives and injustices against the Akhdam women in Yemen. The ‘Akhdam’ , singular Khadem, meaning "servant" in Arabic, are a social group in Yemen, distinct from the majority by their darker skin and African descent. Although they are Arabic-speaking and practicing Muslims, they are regarded as non-Arabs and designated as a low caste group, frequently discriminated against and confined to unskilled and menial labor. In a society already riddled with patriarchy and poverty, the distain and discrimination against the Akhdam renders Akhdam women easy targets of violence and abuse. Akhdam women are subject to hate-based attacks and sexual assaults without any type of legal or social recourse.

This video, produced by Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights and WITNESS, featuring the stories and voices of these three women, Haddah, Qobol, and Om Ali recounting their stories of violence, injustice and forced poverty uncover the legacy of discrimination the ‘Akhdam’ live with daily and the necessity for urgent action against these atrocities.

WITNESS' 2009 Focus for Change Benefit Dinner and Concert

moneymakermj — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:27:52 -0800

This video highlights the evening's events that were co-hosted by Peter Gabriel, Christiane Amanpour and Susan Sarandon with performances by Cyndi Lauper, Citizen Cope, Yungchen Lhamo & Other Special Guests.

And we look forward to seeing at this year's Focus for Change Benefit Dinner and Concert on December 2, 2010. http://www.witness.org/gala

South African TV Broadcasts Interview with Zimbabwean Woman from Video 'Hear Us'

moneymakermj — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:59:52 -0700

In August, we asked you to join us in the Hear Us, Stand With Us campaign and support the women of Zimbabwe in their call for justice and accountability.

Your support has been truly amazing - in just two weeks, thousands of people added their voices to the campaign on Facebook and the Hub, more than 1600 people signed the petition and twitition, and hundreds of tweets and retweets on Twitter reached over 90,000 people across the world.

The message to the Zimbabwean government and to the members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was loud and clear: stop politically motivated sexual violence against women, end impunity, and provide assistance to the women who have survived this type of violence.

Last week, WITNESS' Bukeni Waruzi traveled to South Africa to meet with Memory - a Zimbabwean woman who shared her testimony in the video Hear Us - and with representatives from WITNESS partner Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) and the Institute for Democracy in Africa (IDASA).

Together, they delivered the petitions, held press conferences, and met with key members of SADC. In this video, Memory and Kuda are interviewed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

For a full update of the week's activities, watch this Dispatch from South Africa recorded by Kuda from our partner RAU and this Thank You message from Bukeni.

Stay tuned for more news as the campaign develops. In the meantime, THANK YOU for standing with us!

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BACKGROUND: In 2008, political violence erupted throughout Zimbabwe as a result of highly contested national elections. Between May and July alone, local organizations estimate that state-sanctioned groups abducted, raped, tortured, and beat over 2,000 women and girls due to their political affiliations. Local police have ignored these women's pleas for protection, justice, and accountability, and national leaders have been equally unresponsive. Hear Us - a video co-produced by Zimbabwean RAU and WITNESS - features four of these women who have come forward to demand justice from the Zimbabwean government and the SADC. The 2009 SADC summit was held in Kinshasa, DR Congo, from September 2-8 2009 and your messages of support were delivered to key SADC members in the lead-up to the meeting.

In the meantime, the campaign will go on and we'll conitnue posting new updates here as they become available. You can still show your support for the women of Zimbabwe by helping spread the word about this campaign and leaving a comment in the fields below.