Nov 25 2008
Women Suffer Abuse Across Global as Migrant Domestic Workers
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To commemorate International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women today, Human Rights Watch is bringing to attention to the abuse of immigrant and domestic workers. Researchers have examined cases of physical and sexual violence committed against women from Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines who work in countries in the Middle East and Asia to conclude that governments largely fail in holding criminal employers accountable. Immigrant women employed in domestic work in countries such as Lebanon, Singapore and Malaysia away from their home often have little recourse for justice when instances of abuse occur. With their line of work generally excluded from official labor law protections, domestic workers are doubly vulnerable if they are immigrants. In many cases, employers who beat, rape and …
Earlier this month, political pranksters known as the Yes Men made headlines – literally – when they declared the Iraq War over in a fake publication of the New York Times. Collaborating with the group Improv Everywhere and anti-war organizations, the fourteen-page edition of the news as it should be and not as it is was, was distributed in major cities in the United States as a message to the incoming Obama administration to make good on its campaign promises. In addition to the bold headline about Iraq, the spoof version of one of the nation’s most prominent newspapers also featured parody articles written under appropriately humorous pseudonyms on how the course of the economy, health care, the war in Afghanistan and climate change …
Venezuelans went to the polls yesterday in important regional elections that will undoubtedly reshape the political future of the country. With 22 of its 23 state governorships, 328 mayoral races, and 233 regional legislative seats decided by Sunday’s vote, the opposition to President Hugo Chavez sought to make major political advances. The elections are a test of the newly formed PSUV Venezuelan United Socialist Party, in the first vote since Chavez lost a referendum in 2006. Though final official results have not yet been released, yesterday’s state and local elections boasted a record turnout of 65% of all eligible voters. Initial reports from the National Electoral Council show pro-Chavez candidates leading in 17 out of the 22 gubernatorial races. The anti-Chavez opposition, departing from their 2004 …
Earlier this month, thirty retired FBI agents went public in seeking clemency for the so-called “Norfolk Four.†In 1997, Derek Tice, Joseph Dick, Daniel Williams, and Eric Wilson were convicted in the brutal rape and killing of Michelle Moore-Bosko. The four sailors were found guilty on the basis of their confessions. However, soon after the trial, the four men recanted and claimed that their admissions were coerced through the threat of the death penalty. Corroborating these claims, the retired FBI agents argue that the confessions are not consistent with evidence in the case. They cite the fact that no physical evidence at the crime scene directly incriminates the four sailors, and that what evidence was available to investigators pointed to a sole perpetrator. Those …
Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were bailed out by the US Treasury have announced that they will halt all foreclosure and eviction proceedings during the holiday season. The pause is not simply a seasonal present from the two corporations – it is meant to allow time for the Bush administration’s mortgage rescue plan to work. That plan, called the Streamlined Modification Program, would help modify a narrow set of troubled mortgages starting December 15th, but stops short of direct financial government assistance. Meanwhile, the $700 billion Wall Street bailout approved by lawmakers is still apparently not going to be used to aid homeowners at risk of losing their homes. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has continued to defend his position on the issue against …
