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	Ending violence against women by United Nations News   March 2010   So-called ‘honour killings’ are an extreme symptom of discrimination against women, which – including other forms of domestic violence – is a plague that affects every country, the United Nations human rights chief says, calling on governments to tackle impunity for this crime.   “The reality for most victims, including victims of honour killings, is that State institutions fail them and that most perpetrators of domestic violence can rely on a culture of impunity for the acts they commit – acts which would often be considered as crimes, and be punished as such, if they were committed against strangers,” states High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.   In a statement issued for this year’s International Women’s Day, Ms. Pillay notes that traditionally, there has been some debate around the issue of State responsibility for acts committed in the private sphere.   “Some have argued, and continue to argue, that family violence is placed outside the conceptual framework of international human rights,” she says.   “However, under international laws and standards, there is a clear State responsibility to uphold women’s rights and ensure freedom from discrimination, which includes the responsibility to prevent, protect and provide redress – regardless of sex, and regardless of a person’s status in the family.”   It has been estimated that as many as one in three women across the world has been beaten, raped or otherwise abused during the course of her lifetime. And the most common source of such violence, Ms. Pillay states, comes from within the family, and amongst the most extreme forms of abuse is what is known as ‘honour killing.’   “Most of the 5,000 honour killings reported to take place every year around the world do not make the news, nor do the other myriad forms of violence inflicted on women and girls by husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, uncles and other male – and sometimes even female – family members.   “In the name of preserving family ‘honour,’ women and girls are shot, stoned, burned, buried alive, strangled, smothered and knifed to death with horrifying regularity.”   The UN human rights chief points out that the problem is exacerbated by the fact that in a number of countries’ domestic legal systems, including through discriminatory laws, still fully or partially exempt individuals guilty of honour killings from punishment. Perpetrators may even be treated with admiration and given special status within their communities.   “Honour killings are, however, not something that can be simply brushed aside as some bizarre and retrograde atrocity that happens somewhere else,” she adds. “They are an extreme symptom of discrimination against women, which – including other forms of domestic violence – is a plague that affects every country.”   Addressing the UN observance of International Women’s Day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointed out that injustice and discrimination against women persist around the world, manifesting in violence in some cases.   Over two thirds of women experience violence in their lifetime, most commonly at the hands of an intimate partner. “We sometimes hear it said that such practices are a matter of culture,” the Secretary-General said, strongly emphasizing that “they are not.”   “Whether it is domestic violence, sex trafficking, so-called ‘honour’ crimes or female genital cutting, violence against women and girls continues to be a horrific and all-too common crime,” Mr. Ban said.   In addition to causing personal suffering, violence against women undermines development, generates instability, and makes peace in society much harder to achieve, he noted.   “We all need to unite to demand accountability for the violations of the rights of women and girls. We all need to take concrete steps to end impunity. We must listen to and support the victims.   “We must address the roots of violence against women by eradicating discrimination and changing the mindsets that perpetuate it,” the Secretary-General said.   Mr. Ban noted that the Beijing Platform for Action, the outcome of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, identified putting an end to violence against women as critical to achieving equality, development and peace.   In a related development UNIFEM has launched a Global Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls. The one-stop centre aims to support practitioners around the world in effective design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes.   The web-based site brings together lessons learned to date and recommended practices gained from initiatives on ending violence against women and girls, whether originating from the women’s movement, civil society organizations, governments, the UN system or other actors.   Mar 2010   El Salvador: UN rights expert hits out against rise in killings of women and girls.   Violence against women and girls in El Salvador remains prevalent and pervasive, with the number of murders on the rise and kidnappings, sexual assaults and sexual harassment all too frequent, an independent United Nations human rights expert has warned.   Rashida Manjoo, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, wrapped up a three-day visit to El Salvador on Saturday by stressing that the Central American country still faces “significant challenges” in dealing with gender-based violence.   “Of particular concern to me is the growing prevalence and forms of such violence, especially the alarming rise in the numbers of murders of women and girls and the brutality inflicted on their bodies, which is often accompanied by kidnapping and sexual assault,” she said in a statement.   Ms. Manjoo expressed concern that the violence against women and girls is taking place in so many different settings.   “Domestic violence, sexual abuse against women and children in the home and the community, violence and sexual harassment in the workplace, particularly in the maquila sector [factories operating in duty-free zones] and the domestic sphere, police-related violence and sexual commercial exploitation” are all serious problems, the Special Rapporteur said.   She said that although El Salvador “has come a long way in institution-building and human rights protection since the end of the 12-year civil war in 1992,” impunity for crimes, socio-economic inequalities and a macho culture “foster a generalized state of violence,” as had been noted by her predecessor during a visit in 2004. 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	End the baseless prosecution of human rights defenders in Colombia by Human Rights First   Mar 2010   Colombian human rights activists are routinely targeted by prosecutors using trumped-up charges to stigmatize and silence them.   Human Rights First documented these abuses in a report last year and we have seen some progress: activists have been released and Congress passed an appropriations law that put a condition on U.S. aid requiring the Colombian government not to persecute human rights defenders.   But Colombia is not holding up on its end of the bargain. The State Department must enforce U.S. conditions to aid–-and protect human rights activists unjustly detained or harassed.   We are concerned about the Colombian government’s ongoin treatment of human rights activists--particularly the unjust detention of Carmelo Agamez--which violates the new condition on U.S. foreign aid to Colombia that requires the Colombian government to respect the rights of activists. We urge you to encourage the Colombian Prosecutor General to close the baseless prosecution of Agamez.   Agamez has spent over one year in jail in Sincelejo, based on the testimony of witnesses he helped put in jail. He has still not faced trial. He has spent his career exposing links between paramilitary leaders and corrupt local politicians.. Despite high level governmental recognition of numerous violations of his rights, to date Agamez remains in prison without any scheduled trial. His case is one of the many examples of a state policy of harassment designed to silence the voices of Colombian civil society.   Agamez"s treatment by the Colombian state breaches the condition contained in the 2010 Foreign Operations Appropriations Law, which requires the Colombian government to respect the rights of human rights defenders. According to the law, a proportion of US aid to Colombia shall be released only if:   “The Government of Colombia is respecting the rights of human rights defenders, journalists, trade unionists, political opposition and religious leaders, and indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, and the Colombian Armed Forces are implementing procedures to distinguish between civilians, including displaced persons, and combatants in their operations.”   Through its foreign assistance laws, the U.S. should encourage the Colombian government to end its judicial persecution of human rights defenders. Visit the related web page
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