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	First UN envoy for sexual violence in war says rape must stop by James Kilner Reuters AlertNet   17 Mar 2010   Rape in wartime is a scar on modern society that must be stamped out by ending impunity and changing men''s attitudes towards women, says Margot Wallstrom, the United Nations'' first special representative on sexual violence in conflict.   Wallstrom, a 55-year-old Swede and a former European Commissioner, took the job because she sees it as an opportunity to make a difference.   "The whole world should stand up and say this must come to an end," she told AlertNet in a telephone interview.   Wallstrom officially starts the new role in April, but has already assumed many of the responsibilities that come with it. She plans to travel to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) later this month on her first assignment.   A five-year war in DRC officially ended in 2003 but violence lingers on. Millions have died and tens of thousands of women and young girls have been raped. The mineral-rich African state is regularly listed as one of the world''s worst humanitarian disasters.   Rape has followed conflict for generations across the globe. But Wallstrom says the atrocities committed in recent wars - where rape has been used as a weapon to spread fear and ethnically cleanse populations, particularly in Africa - have shocked people and were a driving reason for creating a U.N. special representative for sexual violence in conflict zones.   "We''ve seen some conflicts that have become more and more brutal and this has shocked the world," she said. "But this doesn''t only happen in Africa, it happens everywhere."   Christian Mukosa from Amnesty International has been tracking cases of rape in Chad, now home to hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighbouring African countries blighted by war. Armed bandits and gangs roam the borders and violence is common.   "In east Chad, woman are subject to rape and other violence," he said. "Not only when they leave the compound to collect water or firewood but also inside the camps."   Women who report rape are often told it is their fault for putting themselves in vulnerable situations. They are stigmatised, treated as outcasts, and their husbands demand new wives. "There is a culture of impunity for rapists," Mukosa said. "When you talk to people in Chad they think that rape is normal."   Wallstrom will report directly to the U.N. Security Council during her two-year mission. Her brief is to concentrate on sexual violence in conflict zones, but she told AlertNet she had also received reports from Haiti of rape in the massive camps that have sprung up since January''s devastating earthquake.   The earthquake killed about 250,000 people and made hundreds of thousands homeless. Many of the survivors are living in makeshift camps where security and privacy are minimal.   Anna Neistat from Human Rights Watch, the New York-based advocacy group, travelled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti''s destroyed capital, to investigate rape in the camps.   "Women have to bathe in public or wander to remote areas of the camps, usually after dark, and that is unsafe," she said. "One woman was gang-raped when she was returning."   Neistat said the HRW team uncovered a handful of rapes in the camps but many more are probably hidden by women who are too afraid or ashamed to come forward.   For Wallstrom, her new job is not only a mission to reduce violence against women but an opportunity to work towards a more humane world where conflict does not justify rape. "What type of society would tolerate it?" she said.
	UN urges Nigeria to address core issues behind repeated ethnic and religious violence by United Nations News   The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is calling on Nigerian authorities to tackle the underlying causes of repeated outbreaks of deadly ethnic and religious violence near the northern city of Jos.   “Ethnic hatred must not be allowed to foment in Nigeria,” said human rights expert Anwar Kemal, in his capacity as Chairperson of the Committee, which just concluded its 76th session in Geneva.   He urged the Government of Nigeria “to take all the appropriate measures to immediately stop the ethnic violence, to protect the victims, and to avoid the repetition of such killings in the future.”   As many as 500 people in the area around Jos may have been killed last weekend during the latest wave of clashes between Christians and Muslims, which followed similar attacks in January and in November 2009.   In a decision passed this week, the UN expert body urged Nigeria to investigate the massacres, bring to justice those responsible and to provide redress to the victims – which included children, women and the elderly – and their families.   Among its recommendations, the Committee called on all local, regional and national authorities in Nigeria to study the underlying causes of the ethnic violence in the country. The Committee also called on the authorities “to firmly address all underlying causes of tension leading to this repeated violence” and to promote dialogue between different ethnic communities to achieve tolerance and peace.   The expert group drew attention to the fact that Nigeria has ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of Alls Forms of Racial Discrimination, and is obligated to prevent and protect persons against acts of hatred, incitement to racial and ethnic violence or any form of violence based on ethnicity.   Over the last ten years, over 13,500 people have died in recurring acts of violence resulting from tensions between ethno-religious groups in the country.   Earlier this week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay voiced their concerns about the ethnic tensions in Nigeria.   The latest wave of clashes between Christians and Muslims, follows similar attacks in January and in November 2009.   “In both cases, women and children and elderly people were among those who were killed,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said.   She stressed that better security is clearly vital, but added that it would be a mistake to think of the situation as simply sectarian or ethnic violence, and to treat it solely as a security issue.   “What is most needed is a concerted effort to tackle the underlying causes of the repeated outbreaks of ethnic and religious violence which Nigeria has witnessed in recent years, namely discrimination, poverty and disputes over land,” she stated. “The Government needs to address these issues head-on.”   Ms. Pillay stressed that it was essential that the forces of law and order in the Jos region act in a “visibly even-handed fashion,” and that justice is seen to be done by all sides.   Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said the country’s political and religious leaders should work together to address the underlying causes and to achieve a permanent solution to the crisis. Visit the related web page
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