1502, Rape Profits & You
Dear {As-of-Now Nameless CEO},
We are contacting you as a community of American women and men – moms, dads, grandmas, small business owners — who played a vital role in the passage of conflict minerals legislation last year. Please see the attached press clippings on our actions supporting passage of the conflict mineral legislation: National Public Radio’s Morning Edition; The New York Times; and The New York Times Magazine. Please note, our protests from last year are featured in an upcoming documentary. The filmmaker’s previous feature length film secured distribution in more than 120 cities.
We are deeply disturbed that {YOUR MULTI BILLION DOLLAR CORPORATION} may be supporting NAM and the US Chamber of Commerce in threatening a lawsuit against the SEC to challenge its rules and regulations enforcing the legislation.
Let us be clear how the US grassroots movement for Congo views the threatened lawsuit: Despite unanimous, bi-partisan support for the legislation, all companies backing the NAM and Chamber will be suing the US government for the right to rape profiteer. All credible estimates indicate the regulations will require extremely modest investment on the part of industry. By claiming these regulations are too “burdensome” or “expensive”, your company effectively declares your profits, business model, and brand are predicated on the mass rape of women and children in the Congo. US consumers will not tolerate “X Co: One Stop Rape Shop”.
We understand NAM and The US Chamber of Commerce are known to misrepresent the position of their members. We are approaching you to enlist your public statement against this remarkably risky move on the part of NAM and the US Chamber of Commerce. We urge you to issue a public letter asking NAM and The US Chamber of Commerce cease and desist, as attached here. Modifications will need to be reviewed by our attorneys. In so doing, you will clearly establish your brand as a compassionate, progressive industry leader we will celebrate.
Women’s security is not an optional extra in your business model. We urge your immediate, bold leadership in saying no to rape-based business by issuing this letter, by close of business Thursday Oct. 6. Otherwise, we look forward to continuing the dialogue in a public forum.
Sincerely,
Lisa Shannon
Founder & CEO, A Thousand Sisters
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/opinion/27kristof.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/magazine/24volunteerism-t.html?pagewanted=all
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/scrubbing-our-cell-phones-of-conflict-minerals/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127740457
[ATTACHED LETTER TO BE RELEASED THURS EVENING]
News to Know
This week’s must-read news stories
Congo
Is Your Mobile Phone Helping Fund War in Congo?
September 27, 2011 THE TELEGRAPH, Gordon Rayner
A new short film aims to ramp up pressure on the European Union to pass conflict mineral legislation. Full Story Here…
Congolese Parties Near Deal on Choice To Oppose Kabila
September 27, 2011 VOICE OF AMERICA, Peter Heinlein
Joint talks on avoiding further election violence provided an opportunity for Congo’s divided opposition groups to move closer to selecting a consensus candidate. Full Story Here…
Congo Journalists Face Danger Ahead of Election
September 28, 2011 ASSOCIATED PRESS, Saleh Mwanamilongo
The Congolese government has refused to enforce protection of journalists even as they are attacked, and radio and television stations are burned to the ground. Full Story Here…
Somalia
On Top of Famine, Unspeakable Violence
September 25, 2011 NEW YORK TIMES, Nicholas Kristof
Ethnic Somalis use the sparsely populated border region between Kenya and Somalia to rob and rape with impunity. Full Story Here…
News to Know
Some of this week’s must-read news stories
Congo
September 22, 2011 THE ECONOMIST
Will Congo’s mining industry become its economic engine or a squandered opportunity? Full Story Here…
September 21, 2011 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, Jason Stearns
The UN’s soft approach toward the government is hurting the election process. Full Story Here…
Somalia
Al-Shabab Returns Somali Victims to Famine-hit Villages
September 23, 2011 BBC
Despite promise of ration, aid workers fear for the families. Full Story Here…
‘Diplomatic Surge’ Needed To Deliver Aid To Somalia
September 22, 2011 ENOUGH PROJECT, Laura Heaton
Has the international response to the famine in Somalia been inadequate due to a lack of resources or a lack of political will? Full Story Here…
News to Know
This week’s must-read news stories
Congo
New Armed Groups Appear in South Kivu
September 15, 2011 CONGO SIASA Jason Stearns
Methods of disarmament, including cash payments and integration into the national army, appear to have become an incentive for the creation of more armed groups. Full Story Here…
In Congo, No Words to Describe the Atrocities
September 13, 2011 PBS
“I may not have a gun, but I have power.” PBS interviews Chouchou Namegabe, a Congolese journalist who was among the first to publicly report on sexual violence in eastern Congo. Listen Here…
Rwanda Open to Congo Warlord Nkunda Extradition
September 12, 2o11 REUTERS, John Irish
Rebel leader Laurent Nkunda may be finally brought to trial in Congo. But before Releasing him, officials in Rwanda, where he has been under house arrest since 2009, is seeking assurances he would not face the death penalty. Full Story Here…
Somalia
Famine Hits Somalia in a World Less Likely to Intervene
September 15, 2011 NEW YORK TIMES, Jeffery Gettleman
The memory of failed foreign efforts is keeping most nations from pursuing any kind of meaningful intervention – despite the face that an estimated 750,000 people are about to run out of food. Full Story Here…
News to Know
This week’s must-read news stories
Congo
Tshisekedi Files to Run For President in Congo
September 5, 2011 ASSOCIATED PRESS
Etienne Tshisekedi, founder of Congo’s first opposition political party, returns from three years of medical treatment to challenge sitting president Joseph Kabila. Full Story Here…
RELATED: Violence flared in Congo’s capital after Tshisekedi declared his candidacy. Full Story Here…
The UN’s Peacekeeping Force in Congo has a New Boss
September 2, 2011 VOICE OF AMERICA, Tom Turco
A French diplomat was appointed to lead the UN’s 120,o00 peackeepers serving around the world - the largest of which is stationed in eastern Congo. Full Story Here….
North Kivu Steps Up Crackdown on Illegal Mineral Exports
September 5, 2011 DOW JONES NEWSWIRE, Nicholas Bariyo
New checkpoints set up in North Kivu are an effort to comply with recent U.S. mineral regulations for Congo. Full Story Here…
Somalia
Somalia Famine Widens According to U.N.
September 5, 2011 NEW YORK TIMES, Jeffery Gettleman
As many as 750,000 people could die in the next few months due to the famine that was caused by drought, war, and the eviction of aid groups. Full Story Here…
News to Know
This week’s must-read news stories
Congo
Women Politicians Key to Promoting Rights in Congo
September 2, 2011 IRIN
As a new election law forces Congolese political parties to scramble for female members, most women still face obstacles to joining the political process. Full Story Here…
Congo Election May be Delayed on Logistics Setback, Costs
August 31, 2011 REUTERS, Jonny Hogg
Ballot boxes and voting booths remain stalled in transit, significantly raising the election costs of the elections and threatening delay. Full Story Here…
Congo Lawyers Threaten to Suspend Legal Aid
August 30, 2011 TRUST.ORG, George Fominyen
Lawyers in South Kivu say increased attacks are aimed at keeping them from participating in a number of upcoming and highly sensitive cases. Full Story Here…
Somalia
UN to Announce Somalia Famine Spreading
September 2, 2011 VOICE OF AMERICA, Gabe Joselow
The famine has spread to a major food producing region for the country, leaving more than 50 percent of the population at risk. Full Story Here…
Somalia: IDP Mom’s Quest for Food Ends in Abduction & Torture. How you helped.
Field report prepared by Fartun
In a society fraught with constant insecurities, where rapes, honour killings, bigotry, and humiliation are conventional factors in the lives of women and young girls in Somalia; what would otherwise be considered as morbid acts of inhumanity, have over the years been merely deemed acceptable. SISTER SOMALIA aims at changing that by foremost creating a support system for this demographic of neglected women and young girls.
“Nadifa”, two time widow and mother of four young children is one of the women whom is being supported by SISTER SOMALIA. Nadifa first heard of the program through the community outreach ELMAN social workers conducted in several IDP camps throughout {X} region. Nadifa described the outreach session she and many other young women from her camp received at the beginning of August as the light at the end of the dark tunnel; she visited the ELMAN center the following day in desperation seeking guidance and support.
Her eyes visibly puffy and red from tears, she limped into the private counselling room to share her story. 20 days prior, Nadifa was maliciously attacked and tortured by a group of young militia men whom intended to rape her eldest 11 year old daughter. Nadifa recollects she had gone to a neighbouring IDP camp that was receiving a food distribution that morning, where she had hoped to be able to receive some dry food rations to take home to her children. Without success and many hours later, on her way home in the late afternoon, she saw an armed vehicle at the gates of her camp with several young militia men on board. As she passed them without much regard, she saw three other armed young men in front of her makeshift hut. Nadifa rushed into her home to find a young man inside her hut forcing himself on her 11 year old daughter, with her crying siblings in the small room. As she painfully fights the tears away, Nadifa shares she tried to pull the man off her daughter, scream for aid from the neighbours whilst trying to protect her younger children in the room from the other militia men whom had stormed into the hut right after her.
Nadifa shared with much frustration that several neighbours came out and idly stood by because they were afraid of the militia men.
“The man got off my daughter, grabbed me by the arm and took me out of the entire camp and the other men followed him, forcing people back into their huts that tried to say anything or get in the way…”
Once outside of the confines of the camp, Nadifa was taken to an abandoned and destroyed house in close distance of her home where two of the young men, whom she described to be no older than 28 years of age, began to beat her relentlessly. She was pistol whipped, kicked and punched numerous times before they tied her hands behind her back, tied her feet together and covered her head down to her shoulders with a large woven bag. “I was sure they were going to kill me” Nadifa shared with a blank, distant expression on her weary face. The brutality continued and escalated to unforeseen torturing. The young men began pinning plastic bags down on certain parts of her body and proceeding to burn it. They commenced on to burning plastic bags with torch lighters and watched as the scorching plastic dripped on to Nadifa’s skin; from her back to her stomach, her private areas down to her legs.
Nadifa could not withstand the pain and fell unconscious; the militia men abandoned her there. She shares she awoke in her home, without recollection of how she got there.
The ELMAN team classified Nadifa’s circumstances as critical and treated her condition in an emergency state. The support that ELMAN provided to Nadifa through the SISTER SOMALIA program was emergency relocation from the camp she and her children were formerly residing in. The ELMAN team feared the militia men might grow to worry that she will report the abuse and then go looking for Nadifa at her home and kill her. She and her four children were relocated to {X} in a large one bedroom home with washroom and kitchen in a much safer complex than the insecurity ridden makeshift hut they lived in before at the IDP camp.
Nadifa also received medical attention for her numerous third degree burns and medicine to help her heal. Nadifa and her young daughter have attended the center a few times for psychosocial support and trauma counselling; her beautiful daughter {X} has also been enrolled in the non-formal education program for the other young girls.
As Nadifa continues to recover physically, the SISTER SOMALIA program is making it possible for her to also heal mentally and emotionally and embark on the path towards rebuilding her life.
NOTE: You can support women like Nadifa by giving now! http://athousandsisters.org/somalia/donate-now/
News to Know
This week’s must-read news stories
Congo
Trial of Former Congolese Militia Leader Nears Conclusion
August 25, 2011 AFP, Nicolas Delaunay
As the first-ever trial at the International Criminal Court, prosecutors asserted Thomas Lubanga is “guilty beyond possible doubt.” Full Story Here…
Eastern Congo’s Rule by the Ruthless
August 25, 2011 WASHINGTON POST, Michael Gerson
Why a UN peacekeeper doesn’t arrest a man wanted by the International Criminal Court when he passes him on the street. Full Story Here…
UN Employee Suspected of Smuggling Congo Minerals
August 22, 2011 REUTERS, Jonny Hogg
The arrest comes as the mining industry tries to adjust to new U.S. regulations. Full Story Here…
Somalia
The Collateral Crisis in Somalia
August 26, 2011 TIME, Alex Perry
An in-depth look at how the conflict between Islamic militants and western nations led to the humanitarian crisis in Somalia. Full Story Here…
News to Know
This week’s must-read news stories
Congo
Congo Elections: Fears of Violence, Unity Doubts
August 14, 2011 ASSOCIATED PRESS
The race to lead the Congolese government officially kicked off this week with key opposition leaders calling for unity to defeat President Kabila and experts issuing warnings the country may not be ready come November. Full Story Here…
A Conflict Over Conflict Minerals
August 16, 2011 NEW YORK TIMES, Margot Wallstrom
The UN Special Representative for sexual violence commends the U.S. for the Dodd-Frank conflict mineral legislation. Full Story Here…
Mr. Copper
August 18, 2011 THE ECONOMIST
A profile of a Congolese mining millionaire-turned-governor in mineral-rich Katanga shows the challenges of the national government to exert its control over the vast nation. Full Story Here…
Somalia
Rape Another Risk For Somali Drought Victims
August 17, 2011 AFP, Jenny Vaughn
A look at conditions in one of Ethiopia’s refugee camps where overcrowding and idleness have increased the threat of sexual violence. Full Story Here…
Rights Report Accuses Police of Raping Somalis Seeking Refuge
August 15, 2011 DAILY NATION, Jacob Ng’Etich
Somali refugees seeking asylum face sexual assault and incarceration by Kenyan police. Full Story Here…
News to Know
This week’s must-read news stories
Congo
The conversation about the effectiveness of conflict mineral legislation in Congo heated up this week. The New York Times kicked it off, followed by perspectives from Enough and Congo Siasa—all critical reads for understanding the challenge of certification and the importance of advocacy.
How Congress Devastated Congo
August 7, 2011 NEW YORK TIMES, David Aronson
Full Story Here…
What Conflict Mineral Legislation is Actually Accomplishing
August 9, 2011 HUFFINGTON POST, Sasha Lezhnev
Full Story Here…
Thoughts About Conflict Minerals (Hint: the bill is good, the implementation imperfect)
August 10, 2011 CONGO SIASA, Jason Stearns
Full Story Here…
Somalia
Somali Women Bear Super Human Burden
August 9, 2011 IPS, Inaki Borda
In addition to bearing the main responsibility to care for children, Somali women face an increasing range of dangers as they try to survive the worst famine in decades. Full Story Here…
Rape Danger As Somali Women Flee Famine
August 12, 2011 SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, Nino Bucci
Women journeying to refugee camps in Kenya are under the threat of abduction, rape and forced marriage. Full Story Here…