|
 |
|
Support Caribbean authors and Hot Calaloo - Buy:
Our Price: $13.97
|
December 2004 UNDILUTEDHuman Rights Watch (the world's largest human rights organisation) Report Hated to Death: Homophobia, Violence and Jamaica's HIV/AIDS Epidemic
ON JUNE 9, 2004, Brian
Williamson, Jamaica's leading gay rights activist, was murdered in his
home, his body mutilated by multiple knife wounds. Within an hour after
his body was discovered, a Human Rights Watch researcher witnessed a crowd
gathered outside the crime scene. A smiling man called out, "B....man
[homosexual] he get killed!" Many others celebrated Williamson's
murder, laughing and calling out, "Let's get them one at a
time," "That's what you get for sin," "let's kill all
of them." Some sang 'boom bye bye,' a line from a popular Jamaican
song about killing and burning gay men. Violent acts against
men who have sex with men are commonplace in Jamaica. Verbal and physical
violence, ranging from beatings to brutal armed attacks to murder, are
widespread. For many, there is no sanctuary from such abuse. Men who have sex with
men and women who have sex with women reported being driven from their
homes and their towns by neighbours who threatened to kill them if they
remained, forcing them to abandon their possessions and leaving many
homeless. FINDINGS OF HUMAN
RIGHTS WATCH'S INVESTIGATION In Jamaica,
state-sponsored homophobia and discrimination against homosexual men and
women, sex workers, and people living with HIV/AIDS, the conflation of
HIV/AIDS with homosexuality and sex work, and the misguided fear that HIV
is transmitted by air or by casual contact are undermining an effective
response to HIV/AIDS. Police not only harass
and persecute people suspected of homosexual conduct, sex workers, and
people living with HIV/AIDS. They also interfere with HIV/AIDS outreach to
them. Men who have sex with
men and people living with HIV/AIDS face serious violence and are often
forced to abandon their homes and communities. Many are denied health
care; some cannot even seek health services because they are denied public
and private transportation services. And past experiences
of discrimination, coupled with the fear that HIV status or sexual
orientation will be disclosed and publicised, keep many people from
seeking health care in the first instance. POLICE ABUSE On the afternoon of
June 18, 2004, a mob chased and reportedly 'chopped, stabbed and stoned to
death' a man perceived to be gay in Montego Bay. Several witnesses
reported to Human Rights Watch that police participated in the abuse that
ultimately led to this mob killing, first beating the man with batons and
then urging others to beat him because he was homosexual. Fred L., () thirty,
described the incident as follows: "Me and another guy were sitting
on the beach . . .While we were there, some little teenager was on the
beach swimming, and Victor, the guy that was killed, was standing looking
at the boy. The boy said, 'Why are you looking me like that? You a
b....man.?' "Two rastamen
said, "Every day they come on the beach to look at men, b....boy
them." Two policemen and a female police officer were there. The two
male officers started to beat the man with batons. I turned to the female
officer and asked, "What has he done wrong?" She turned to me
and said, "Everyday me have to warn people about this guy coming on
the beach. I'm going to lock him up." I said, "For what?"
She didn't say. I said to her,
"If he did something wrong, lock him up, don't beat him."
[Victor] started to run from the two male officers toward the Old Fort
Craft Market. The two policemen said, "Beat him because him a
b....man." The crowd followed the police officers' lead, beating the
victim and throwing bottles and stones at him. Joseph W., (), 26,
told Human Rights Watch that he saw police hitting the victim with a baton
and with their fists, and that once persons from the crowd started beating
the victim: "The police
officers walked off. The crowd got thicker and more persons started
hitting the guy. Then I saw the guy run out of the road into the town. . .
. Then I woke up the next morning to hear that Victor was killed about a
mile and a half from the beach." Police abuse is a fact
of life for many men who have sex with men and women who have sex with
women in all of the communities that Human Rights Watch visited in
Jamaica. As in the incident described above, homophobic police violence
can be a catalyst for violence and abuse by others. It is sometimes
lethal.
ARLINGTON, VA Sept. 28, 2004: In the wake of Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne, the most efficient and effective way to help the people of the Caribbean is to make a monetary donation to a humanitarian organization that is implementing relief programs in the affected region. There are many groups around the country collecting clothing, food and other supplies. Many of them have not made arrangements to transport these items, nor do they have the funds to pay to have them sent to the Caribbean. Most groups do not have a distribution plan in place. With damage to many of the roads in the affected areas it is important to make arrangements beforehand for local trucks and personnel to reach those in need.Through funds provided by the United States Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID), The Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) is pleased to offer the general public, "Guidelines to Appropriate International Disaster Donations." These guiding principles, listed below, provide answers to questions and concerns individuals have when an international disaster occurs. MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO ESTABLISHED RELIEF AGENCIES ARE ALWAYS THE MOST USEFUL RESPONSE TO DISASTERS Financial contributions allow professional relief organizations to purchase exactly what is most urgently needed by disaster victims and to pay for the transportation necessary to distribute those supplies. Unlike in-kind donations, cash donations entail no transportation cost. In addition, cash donations allow relief supplies to be purchased at locations as near to the disaster site as possible. Supplies, particularly food, can almost always be purchased locally - even in famine situations. This approach has the triple advantage of stimulating local economies (providing employment, generating cash flow), ensuring that supplies arrive as quickly as possible and reducing transport and storage costs. Cash contributions to established legitimate relief agencies are ALWAYS considerably more beneficial than the donation of commodities. CONFIRM THERE IS A NEED FOR ALL ITEMS BEING COLLECTED Do not make assumptions about the needs of disaster victims. Exactly what is needed can be confirmed by checking with an established relief organization that has personnel working on-site. Do not send what is not needed; unneeded commodities compete with priority relief items for transportation and storage. Organizations that receive in-kind relief donations can help this process by clearly communicating what items are required (in what size, type, etc.) as well as clearly stating what items or services are NOT needed. Please remember, certain foods, particularly in famine situations, can make victims ill. In most cases, donations of canned goods are not appropriate. The collection of bottled water is highly inefficient. It is important to have an accurate analysis of need before determining response. DELIVER ITEMS ONLY TO ORGANIZATIONS HAVING LOCAL DISTRIBUTION CAPACITY Distributing relief supplies requires personnel and financial resources within the affected country. To efficiently distribute relief commodities, staff, warehouses, trucks and communications equipment are required. It is not enough to gather supplies and send them to an affected region; a sound partnership with a reliable local agency having transport and management capacity is mandatory. DONATE ONLY TO ORGANIZATIONS HAVING THE ABILITY TO TRANSPORT COLLECTED ITEMS TO THE AFFECTED REGION Immediately after a disaster, many local organizations will spontaneously begin collecting miscellaneous items for use in disaster relief. However, at the time that these collections are begun, agency officials will not have thought about to whom, or how, the items will be sent. It is not unusual for community and civic groups to have collected several thousands of pounds of relief supplies only to find that they do not know whom to send the supplies to and that they do not have viable transportation options for shipping the goods. At this juncture, it is often advisable for those collecting the goods to auction them off locally, converting commodities into cash to be applied to the relief effort. NEVER ASSUME THE U.S. GOVERNMENT OR ANY RELIEF AGENCY WILL TRANSPORT UNSOLICITED RELIEF ITEMS FREE OF CHARGE It is important to make arrangements for the transportation BEFORE collecting any kind of material donations. NEVER assume that the government or any relief agency will transport donations free of charge (or even for a fee). In the majority of cases, the collecting agency will be responsible for paying commercial rates for the transportation and warehousing of items gathered. VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISASTER RELIEF ARE EXTREMELY LIMITED Volunteers without prior disaster relief experience are generally not selected for relief assignments. Candidates with the greatest chance of being selected have fluency in the language of the disaster- stricken area, prior disaster relief experience, and expertise in technical fields such as medicine, communications logistics, water/sanitation engineering. In many cases, these professionals are already available in-country. Most agencies will require at least ten years of experience, as well as several years of experience working overseas. It is not unusual to request that volunteers make a commitment to spend at least three months working on a particular disaster. Most offers of another body to drive trucks, set up tents, and feed children are not accepted. Keep in mind that once a relief agency accepts a volunteer, they are responsible for the volunteer's well-being -i.e., food, shelter, health and security. Resources are strained during a disaster, and another person without the necessary technical skills and experience can often be a considerable burden to an ongoing relief effort. For more information, log on to: www.cidi.org. Center for International Disaster Information Suzanne H. Brooks Director pressrelease@caribpr.com pressrelease@caribpr.com phone: (703) 243-8900
|
