Stop the death Penalty

STOP DEATH PENALTY This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country. (TROY DAVIS, executed on 21st September 2011 in the United States) The issue of Death Penalty has always been a contentious one, on which to take a call, for or against based on the existing standards of morality, crime and punishment and above all the barrage of media driven legal dispensation, colours the judgement of even the ardent supporters of human rights who would like to transcend all the boundaries of nationality, race, religion, language and gender. But yet in history it is the struggle for a humane and just society which has made the world modern and progressive, travelling arduously from barbarism of the past. It is a fact that world over the state and establishments have transgressed and trampled upon the fundamental human rights in their anxiety to safeguard their iniquitousrule over people. Especially when it is the issue setting “examples” against rebellious events which challenges their concept of a Nation State. The question one has to ask; is death penalty the remedy to the crime and the cycle of violence that is inherent in the societies that we live. Is it not the case that most of the times the acts of violence especially against the oppressive state comes from the situation of despair and helplessness. Presently the most talked about cases of death penalty in India are of the three Tamils facing execution; Perarivalan, Murugan and Santhan. All of whom are charged and convicted in the gruesome Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. All these three have served 19 years of jail sentence out of which 12 happens to be the most hateful years expecting the death any day, any hour. Even though the courts and the judicial system of this country have pronounced their verdict, it is yet debatable whether the justice has been done, For example Perarivalan, who was charged with 'conspiracy to murder' , the prosecution's evidences are highly suspect, the very fact that he was qualified electronics engineer, and “gave” a 9 volts Battery cell to the perpetrators of the crime, touting this as the clinching evidence against him is nothing but travesty of justice. It is time that the civil society rise up to the occasion to defend the human rights and to see that the practice of Death Penalty which is otherwise a blot on democratic principles of justice is done away with. Death Penalty is no deterrent to the crimes that are perpetrated on a regular basis, it has to be replaced with more humane democratic mechanism of justice system against outlaws, it is fundamentally a question and challenge before us to create a society and system which ends all forms of systemic violence, practised both by the state and non-state actors. Stop Death Penalty Public Meeting Speakers: Ashok Mathew – Director SICHREM will chair the meeting Thirumurugan Gandhi-May17th Movement Dr. Vijayamma, leading journalist, feminist thinker Dr. Sitharamam Kakarala, Senior Fellow at CSCS Gauri Lankesh, Editor Lankesh Patrike Uthaya Senan- International coordinator , Tamil Solidarity VenueSCM House, Mission Road, (Behind Priyadarshini Handlooms), Bangalore. Date1stOctober 2011. Time1.30pm to 5pm The meeting will be followed by a protest demonstration @ Town Hall ,5.30pm 1st October 2011 Organised by New Socialist Alternative (CWI-India) & Tamil Solidarity New Socialist Alternative Mobile:+91 9448394365 Phone: +91 80 26742616 Skype: horaata

Say no to ragging

Mumbai ICSE board plans anti-ragging squads in schools Deepti Khera, Hindustan Times Mumbai, September 30, 2011 Email to Author First Published: 01:44 IST(30/9/2011) Last Updated: 01:45 IST(30/9/2011) Share more... 0 Comments Email print After a prank played on a 14-year-old student of an ICSE school went horribly wrong last week, the ICSE board is considering setting up anti-ragging squads in its schools in the city. The Class 9 student landed in hospital after the prank. The boy, from a reputed school in south Mumbai, had taken a sip of water from his bottle and soon after, complained of pain in his throat. When he started to choke, the school authorities panicked and called a doctor, who advised them to rush the teenager to a hospital. During an endoscopy at Jaslok Hospital, the doctors found a soft board pin lodged in the boy’s intestine. The school later found that one of the boy’s classmates was responsible for putting the pin in his water bottle. The boy was suspended for 15 days and the family had to pay compensation of around Rs25,000. Perin Bagli, secretary of the association of ICSE schools in Maharashtra, said they were planning to form anti-ragging squads to prevent such incidents and discipline children. “I will meet all ICSE school principals and discuss this issue with them,” said Bagli, who is also the principal of Activity High School at Peddar Road. “Disciplinary action is important to put an end to such pranks. Setting up anti-ragging squads may be the solution. We will also form a committee to take care of such complaints.” Bagli is also in talks with the police department and its anti-ragging squad to give lectures to school students.

AFSP september bulletin

AFSP International Survivors of Suicide Day Saturday, November 19, 2011 Organizing a Conference Site: September E-Bulletin Over 225 of you have let us know that you’re definitely organizing sites this year. Thank you! Remember, you must register your site to receive the DVD and be listed online as a participating city. Register today so visitors to the AFSP website can learn about your conference. Not able to organize a site this year? We understand – just reply to this email to let us know if we should be in touch next year. The step-by-step guide at www.afsp.org/survivorconference provides information on every aspect of planning your day, but you can also reply to this message or call Rebecca Thorp at 212-363-3500 ext 2033 or Elizabeth Hish at 212-363-3600ext 2035 if you have any questions. We are here to help. « SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT « 2011 PROGRAM NOW AVAILABLE IN SPANISH, FRENCH & ENGLISH, in order to reach an even wider population of survivors of suicide loss. Please spread the word to Spanish and French speaking survivors and those who work with them. Anyone can now organize a conference site in Spanish, French, or English. And survivors who don’t live near a conference site can sign up at www.afsp.org/survivorday to watch from home in Spanish, French or English on or after November 19th. « SEPTEMBER FOCUS « IDEAS FOR LOCAL PROGRAMMING Simply showing the AFSP broadcast on November 19th is a meaningful service to the local community which shows survivors everywhere that they are not alone. For many, this is the first time they will meet another survivor of suicide loss. However, if you would like to add additional local speakers and/or activities to your conference, here are some ideas (updated for 2011). WRITTEN MATERIALS Looking for materials to distribute? You have two options: 1. You can print out the following free of charge and provide photocopies for your attendees: Poem: We Remember Them Surviving Suicide Loss: A Resource and Healing Guide Facts about Suicide Handling the Holidays Surviving a Suicide Loss Bibliography Talking to Children About Suicide 2. Additional materials may be ordered for a nominal charge by visiting the AFSP Store. Order before October 17th to be sure that you receive everything in time. Shipping & handling costs for U.S. orders are included in prices below. If you live outside the U.S.: Order by emailing ehish@afsp.org. Shipping and handling charges will apply. PLANNING YOUR DAY AFSP makes it easy for anyone to host a local conference site by providing the main program content on DVD. However, we recognize that every community has different needs, so in addition to showing the DVD, we encourage you to customize the day in a way that will best support your local attendees. See step 6 at www.afsp.org/survivorconference for detailed guidance, and Ideas for Local Programming. Keep these key points in mind: (Details available in step 6 at www.afsp.org/survivorconference ) Survivors overwhelmingly tell us that having the opportunity to talk with other survivors is one of the most helpful aspects of the day. Help survivors connect one-on-one by providing name tags, and colored coded ribbons, stickers, or mardi-gras style beads to signify loss relationship. Planned “sharing sessions” create a safe environment for self-expression and mutual support. These are informally facilitated by a survivor who is further along in his/her loss. Any local speakers, activities, or workshops should focus on bereavement. This day was originally created by U.S. Senate resolution exclusively for those who are grieving after suicide. This is not a day that focuses on suicide prevention. More information in FAQ. Recently bereaved survivors often feel that their lives have been turned upside-down and that the world no longer makes sense, so focus on helping attendees feel safe, secure, and cared for. Make sure you give accurate information about driving directions and parking, provide a day-of-event program, post a sign in front of the building, and have a volunteer greet attendees at the door. We are here to help, so please be in touch if you have any questions at all. Thanks, and take good care, Rebecca and Elizabeth Rebecca Thorp, Survivor Initiatives Manager - rthorp@afsp.org or 212-363-3500 x2033. Elizabeth Hish, Survivor Initiatives Assistant – ehish@afsp.org or 212-363-3500 x2035 ØIf you don't want to receive future emails about organizing a conference site, just let us know by return email. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention 120 Wall Street, 29th Floor New York, NY 10005 Fax (212) 363-6237

Stem cell therapy in India

Chaitanya Stem Cell Center Chaitanya Stem Cell Center is a part of Chaitanya Hospital, an ISO 9001/2008 accredited organization. We have already treated more than 92 cases with the help of Stem Cells, out of which 70% cases have shown clinical improvements. We use cells of highest purity, viability and integrity from world quality laboratory. It has been proved that more transplantation cycles give better results. Chaitanya Stem Cell Center is a charity based organization and thus we provide the treatments at economical rates. Following are some of the highlights of Stem cell therapy: Stem cell therapy has shown significant positive results worldwide in conditions like Cerebral palsy, Mental retardation, Autism and many diseases over the last 3 -6 years. Stem cell therapy is used to treat incurable diseases like Cerebral Palsy, Brain Hemorrhage and Stroke, Spinal Cord Injury & Paraplegia, Autism, Parkinsonism and more than 75 diseases. Preliminary studies at our center have shown encouraging outputs. It is our aim to facilitate further scientific research of clinical application of Autologous Bone marrow Derived Mononuclear Stem Cells Therapy in economical rates. The stem cell therapy done at our center is from your own bone marrow and hence acceptability of the human body is more with no adverse effects. The exact treatment can change from patient to patient and is prescribed after a thorough analysis of the patient’s condition by our panel of expert doctors. Chaitanya Stem Cell Center Ph.: 020-24329666,24328600 Mo. No.: +91-80877 99091 Mo. No.: +91-90111 11222 E-mail: anantbagul@yahoo.com, chaitanyastemcell@gmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Neurogen- Dr Alok Sharma ---- Brain and Spine Institute ---9920200400, 022-25283706, Surana Sethia Hospital, Sion-Trombay Rd, Suman Nagar, Opp Corporate Park, Mumbai -71

Inauguration of National Association for Muscular Dystrphy

Inaugural function of the National association for Muscular dystrophy and commemorative function for Muscular dystrophy day held on 17 sept 2011 at Matunga gymkhana. Around 150 people gathered to celebrate their struggle with life and they included muscular dystrphy patients, family members, care givers, doctors from Neurogen, friends and well-wishers. A book on 'Stem cell therapy and other recent advances in Muscular Dystrophy ' was also released on the occasion. A website for the National Association for Muscular dystrophy was also activated on that day. www.musculardystrphyindia.com

IASP Suicide Prevention Day Activities 2011

Aasra’s Suicide prevention Day activities on 8th, 10th and 11th Sept 2011 10TH September is World Suicide Prevention Day. Every year, we ,at Aasra, over and above the other awareness activities that we organise around the year, try to spread awareness, about suicide in a special way on this special day . This year we are organising a workshop from 5 pm to 7pm on 10th September 2011 at Aasra(www.aasra.info for address). Anyone interested in attending this workshop is welcome. It would be kind on your part to r.s.v.p. via sms to 9820466726 so that we know the exact number of participants to facilitate better communication. The workshop titled ‘Understanding Suicide: The mind-body connect’ - will include. 1. Basic Psychology 2. Suicide (Batch strength 20) 11th Sept 2011, Sunday : 5 pm to 7pm- Workshop (repeat for the overflow)(Batch strength 20) Aasra’s director Johnson Thomas will also be making a presentation on ‘suicide Prevention’ to around 150 students, on 10th Sept at 10.30 am, at Vaze college Mulund . On the 8th of Sept 2011, Aasra’s Director Johnson Thomas will be talking to school-kids (around 200) on ‘Stress in Education’ at a school in Andheri, as part of Suicide Prevention Day program.

Book marks with information about ‘Help in times of distress’ will also be distributed at the abovementioned venues.

Hyderabad Human Rights Conference

Dear Friends We Human Rights Forum Hyderabad unit, will be organizing our general body conference on 10 September 2011. The venue of the conference is Bharat Degree College, Kachiguda, Hyderabad. The coference will be from 10 am to 3 pm with keynote address by Mr. Nikhil Dey, one of the founder members of MKSS and right to information activist . Dr. Ramanjaneyulu, of CSA will speak on Agriculture in crisis. There will be presenation of secretary report on activities of two years and talk by General Secretary and president of HRF. We request you all block Sept 10 in your diaries and attend the conference Karthik Navayan -- B.Karthik Navayan, http://karthiknavayan.wordpress.com/ https://sites.google.com/site/karthiknavayan/ __._,_.___ Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1) Recent Activity: New Members 2 Visit Your Group ________________________________________

International Covenant on Civil and Political rights & International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

AHRC-PAP-002-2011 September 5, 2011 A Paper by the Asian Human Rights Commission Human Rights and Democratic Governance Basil Fernando (This is the text of a presentation at A Consultation on Peace and Security in Asia and Ecumenical Responses held on August 1-6, 2011, organized by WCC and CCA) As a start we may try to reflect on some of the concerns expressed by the participants of this meeting who have spoken so far. One of the presentations that impressed me was from the representative from Nepal. After a detailed presentation of the country situation and explaining the impasse that had arisen relating to the making of the constitution he observed that Nepal is facing the risk of being a dysfunctional state. If we reflect on the meaning of a state becoming dysfunctional I think we could grasp to some extent the problems relating to democratic governance as well as rule of law not only in Nepal but in many of the countries in the Asian region and, in fact, many of the countries which are usually labeled as less developed countries. The problem of the dysfunctional state and human rights is also very significant. The implementation of human rights requires functional public institutions of justice. These institutions, briefly, are: the civilian policing institution, which guarantees inquiries into all allegations of the violations of human rights; the competent and impartial agency capable of prosecuting the allegations for which the investigators have found adequate evidence; and a judiciary that is independent and capable of ensuring the rights of all parties, including the accused and the victims. If these institutions have not reached a stage of social acceptance of their awareness of the legal obligations of these institutions and of their proven capacity to implement their obligations that situation could be described as one that has reached dysfunctionalism. In short when the policing system, the prosecuting system and the judicial system are incapable or unwilling to fulfill their obligations to uphold the international norms of human rights, such a state is virtually dysfunctional. This situation has been described by the CEO of the International Justice Mission, Gary Haugen, in a speech made at Columbia University thusly: "Looking back at the story, one can see that two generations of global human rights work have been predicated, consciously or unconsciously, upon assumptions of a functioning public justice system in the developing world which, if incorrect, effectively undercut the usefulness of those efforts for their intended beneficiaries. Now, absent an effective enforcement mechanism, the great work of the first two generations of the international human rights movement can deliver to the poor only empty parchment promises." Empty parchment promises Have human rights become 'empty parchment promises' for the people in Asian countries? In answering that question let us look briefly at the basic human rights of everyone in terms of the human rights conventions agreed upon by the international community through the mediation of the United Nations. For the purpose of this presentation I will make a brief summary of the basic rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Under the ICCPR Equality before the law and prevention of all forms of discrimination The right to life and the right against extrajudicial killings The right against torture and ill-treatment The right to security which includes the right against illegal arrest and illegal detention The right of movement The right to a fair trial The right to information The right to freedom of expression and freedom of association The right to freedom of thought, freedom of conscience and freedom to practice the religion of one's choice The right to choose a government of one's choice Under the ICESCR The right to life, meaning the right to means of life to be lived with dignity The right to work The right to form trade unions The right to education The right to health The right to leisure (This list of ICCPR and ICESCR rights is not exhaustive but is meant to illustrate the basic rights). In looking as to whether the states are, in fact, protecting, promoting and ensuring the realisation of these rights, what one needs is to find out is whether the people in the relevant countries are, in fact, enjoying these rights. A brief survey of responses from the participants to this question was that, in fact, the rights which are in the mentioned in the parchments are not available in real life for most of the people in their respective countries, particularly the poor. How does this situation arise? The duty to investigate and prosecute violations of rights States are under obligation to ensure that complaints of violations of rights are being investigated thoroughly by competent investigation agencies. The competent agency for investigations is the police. It is the police who have the obligation to take the complaints from the people of the allegations of violations and to record such complaints faithfully. Thereafter they are expected to investigate these allegations within a framework of the law that ensures proper conduct of inquiries. The police are also under obligations to seek the assistance of experts and competent bodies in making inquiries, when necessary, in order to ensure that all facilities are used for the purpose of conducting a thorough and impartial inquiry. They are also under obligation to keep faithful records of all that they do and all that they find in the course of such inquiries. Finally, they are under obligation to hand over a complete file of their investigations to the prosecuting agency. The prosecuting agency is under obligation to make a thorough study of the files of inquiry through competent lawyers and to make decisions relating to the adequacy or inadequacy of evidence to prosecute the offenders. Where the legal criteria relating to adequacy of evidence is met, the prosecutors are under obligation to prosecute the alleged offenders under competent courts and, in doing so, the status of any other circumstances of the offender is not a relevant consideration.The prosecutors are expected to file the necessary indictments before the competent courts and to conduct the prosecution during the trial. They are expected to act without any subservience to any political authorities or any powerful forces. Finally, it is the obligation of the judges of competent courts to ensure fair trial within the framework of the law based on international norms. To be able to conduct such trials the courts must be able to ensure that they avoid undue delays or allow any other kind of corruption to hamper the conduct of a fair trial. To carry out this function the state must ensure that adequate funding is given for the administration of justice so that there will be an adequate number of judges with the required qualifications, who have all the necessary facilities for the carrying out of their obligations. Thus, it is the primary obligation of the state to ensure adequate funding for the functioning of institutions of investigation, prosecution and the judiciary. The failure to comply with state obligations as the cause of dysfunctionalism When the state fails to ensure the requirements mentioned above, those institutions cannot carry out the necessities to meet with their social obligations. When the policing, prosecutions and the judiciary fail to meet with the criteria of competent institutions, the people are unable to realise their rights. The problems described by Gary Haugen in stating human rights conventions becoming 'empty parchment promises' take place when there are no competent institutions to ensure the realisation of the norms enshrined in the UN conventions for which many of the countries have become signatories. Thus, the test of the availability of rights is not the government's ratification of the UN conventions or even bringing about domestic legislation to bring in such international obligations within the local law. A test of realisation is the availability of the functional public institutions of justice. It is in this that the governments in less developed countries fail. The people's obligations When there is a situation of dysfunctional public institutions of justice, it is the duty of people themselves to fight for the improvement of such public institutions. The civil society cannot survive without functioning institutions of justice. When there are arbitrary killings, such as forced disappearances and various forms of custodial killings, when torture and ill-treatment are widespread practices carried out by the police, military and paramilitary institutions, when illegal arrest and illegal detention takes place and when fair trial is denied, what comes into existence is a state of fear, intimidation and bewilderment for the people. This is deepened further when freedom of expression, association and publication are also brought under various restrictions and when the people are punished for engaging in any of the activities relating to the expression of their views. Politically, this situation is brought into sinister completion when the possibility of free and fair elections is denied. That is virtually the situation of many of the less developed countries, though the degree to which this happens may vary to some extent from country to country. In a situation of that sort the realisation of ICESCR rights is also not possible. The right to life can be deeply affected when the right to food and water and the right to housing are denied through various forms of economic measures. The right to health and education can also be denied in the same manner. Above all, the right to work can be denied both by unemployment and underemployment. When the process of transparency and accountability does not exist the people completely lose the capacity to participate in the process of determining the affairs of their own lives. The right to information is a fundamentally important aspect of guaranteeing a decent way of living within a society. The denial of the right to form trade unions and other workers' associations as well as students is also a way of creating a less than human environment for living. Participation and the existence of functioning public institutions of justice Democratic governance is based on the notion of the participation of the people themselves in their own governance. When the basic civil rights of the people mentioned above are denied, the people are in fact denied the right to participate in governance. Within that setup what emerges is a falsified version of representative governance. The representatives, in order to have legitimacy, must be chosen freely by people who live in a political environment within which they are able to express their consent or dissent in a well-informed manner and without coercion and fear. When the basic civil rights are denied such an environment of freedom does not exist. What takes place then by way of falsified versions of elections, or even by making constitutions without proper consultation with the people, is the generation of governments which are, in fact, authoritarian and arbitrary in character. In many of the less developed countries the governments have taken an absolutist mode, though they keep up the façade of being democratic governments. What exists is phantom democracy, which, like the phantom limb, is an illusion. The real nature of such governments has not yet adequately become the subject of studies. In a recent book entitled Gyges' Ring - the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka, I have tried to demonstrate this in terms of the situation in Sri Lanka. However, this is not just the political situation in Sri Lanka only but many less developed countries fall within this category. Thus, the discourse on the participation of people should incorporate an assessment of the peoples' actual capacity to enjoy their basic rights. Gender equality and the dysfunctional public institutions of justice Modern discourse on rights insists on the incorporation of the equality of women into all aspects of discourse on human rights as well as the political discourse on democracy. The participation of women in all aspects of social life is an integral part of this discourse. However, the problems discussed above about the situation of fear, bewilderment and alienation created by the denial of basic ICCPR and ICESCR rights prevents the participation of all, including that of women. For bringing the gender equality issue to public discourse beyond mere expression it is necessary to relate it to the problem of women's enjoyment of the basic Human Rights. Equality relating to any sector of society has three different aspects. a) Equality as understood in the human sense, b) Equality before the law so that the equality is in fact ensured and implemented by the law as legal entitlements, c) as quality of opportunity. What is often discussed as the equality of women is usually on the first aspect of purely human terms but often the problem of equality before the law and equality of opportunity are not adequately emphasised in these discourses. The considerations of equality before the law require an understanding of complicated legal steps, legal processes and practices. Bringing about a structural framework within which women's equality could be realised is very different to making public declarations about such equality. The tendency to ignore the structural aspects of the realisation of rights is a common feature in human rights discourse and is not confined to women's equality issues only. Further the problem of equality of opportunity, which is actually the area in which rights are realised, requires basic guarantees of the ICCPR and ICESCR rights in general, but also regarding women's equality in particular. Thus, the question of the realisation of women's rights in less developed countries is bound to the resolving of the problem of creating functioning institutions of justice. Where such institutions do not exist, women's rights will also be only empty parchment promises. A few basic suggestions On the basis of these reflections, the basic conclusion we can make on the issue of human rights and democratic governance in less developed countries is that the central issue to be addressed is the way to undo the state of dysfunctional public institutions of justice, thereby turning them into functional public institutions of justice. In that regard, civil society organisations including religious and church organisations should take an interest in the study the problem of human rights and democratic governance from the point of view of understanding the role to be played by functioning public institutions of justice in transforming society and creating the actual possibility of the enjoyment of rights and the participation of persons in the affairs of governance. The religious and church organisations can also influence international partners and encourage them to understand the problems of less developed countries from the perspective of creating the possibilities for justice within the framework of functioning public institutions. The developed countries should be encouraged to make efforts to understand the difference the availability of functioning institutions of justice make in resolving the problems of underdevelopment. Funding in granting aid and providing funds and assistance to the creation of functioning public institutions should be made a priority. Within the local context, creating public opinion and generating civil society movements for reforms in the institutions of justice should become a priority in the human rights field as well as in the work towards creating democratic governance. With creative effort many active contributions can be made for the resolving of this all-important issue and thus to emerge from the culture of and fear and paralysis that exists in many of the less developed countries. The following observations of Gary Haugen are relevant in this regard. "Moreover, the absence of functioning public justice systems for the poor also tragically undermines the usefulness of $2.5 trillion worth of foreign aid sent to the developing world over the last half century, because there is no effective mechanism of preventing those with power from stealing it away, blocking access to it or rendering it useless for its intended beneficiaries. First of all, without rule of law and effective enforcement mechanisms, resources earmarked for aid efforts often never reach their intended beneficiaries. A World Bank study found that as much as 85% of aid flows are diverted from purposes for which they were originally intended. Indeed, unchecked human rights abuses undermine the effectiveness of even those resources and services that do manage to reach the poor in those communities. Farming tools, for instance, are of no use to widows whose land is stolen away. Vocational training is of no use to women and men who are rotting in jail for refusing to pay a bribe. Medical clinics in communities are of no use to slaves who cannot leave the brick factories even when they are sick. Microloans are of no use if the proceeds from the new sewing machine are stolen by the local police. Similarly, the inability to restrain human rights abuses has seriously undermined attempts to improve the health of the poor in the developing world. For instance, a World Bank report found that gender violence was the cause of more ill health among women and girls than malaria and traffic accidents combined. Another World Health Organization report found that in some countries, up to nearly 70% of women report having been physically assaulted, and up to 47% report that their first sexual intercourse was forced. Surveys of villages in India show that 70% of women had suffered at least two forms of domestic violence or abuse in that year. And 16% of all deaths during pregnancy are from domestic abuse. Studies from Peru report that about 40% of girls will be victims of rape or attempted rape by the age of 14. 70% of HIV-infected women and girls in South Africa report having been forced to have sex. AIDS education does little to help women and children who are contracting the virus from forced sexual encounters. Now given all this, one might expect that remedying the failure to provide the rule of law to the poor would become the central focus of human rights efforts. Yet few if any international human rights organizations or development agencies focus specifically on building public justice systems that work for the poor. These agencies do other very important work but none measures organizational success by its ability to help police and courts in the developing world bring effective law enforcement to the poor. None." (The full speech may be found at: TEXT:http://www.ijmnl.org/seminar/The%20New%20Mandate%20for%20Human%20Rights.pdf AUDIO:http://www.law.uchicago.edu/audio/by/title/gary_haugen_a_new_mandate_for_human_rights ) # # # About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.