The C.R.I.M.E. Report

ISSUE #43 CONTENTS:


SPOTLIGHT CASES:

Disposable Workforce: The Emirates Sends Workers Packing

In wake of global economic troubles, tens of thousands of foreign workers are being deported from the United Arab Emirates. While the past decade has seen a massive construction boom, wages and working hours are now being slashed. In January, construction companies postponed or abandoned nearly half of their projects, resulting in thousands of layoffs and the forced departure of workers, who are only allowed in the country under restricted work permits. In the rush, some are forced to leave behind cars and other large possessions.

The Guardian reports that as many as 250 workers a day are being sent home from labor camps. Others are being relocated to different projects in the Gulf Region. Many of these workers are being forced to take extended unpaid vacations, apparently a trick to dismiss workers without consequences. The labor attaché to the Bangladeshi Embassy in UAE calls these forced vacations “excuses to bypass the rules of terminating a contract.”

Informality in employment makes foreign workers particularly vulnerable. The lack of management in the labor market could mean thousands of unemployed migrants with no food or shelter and no means of getting home. Many workers who do make it home return indebted to job-placement agents, who sometimes provide unrealistic promises to potential workers for a steep fee.

The local press in Dubai, though increasingly vibrant, has toned down its report on the wave of deportations. One local journalist, who requested anonymity, told an Indian newspaper that his publisher has banned any negative reporting about the local economic situation: “Journalists will end up paying a hefty fine if they are responsible for doing so.”



Hunger Strike: Tensions Spike in Bahrain

Seven prominent Bahrainis have launched a high-profile hunger strike to protest the arrest and impending trial of activists challenging discrimination against Shi’a. Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Human Rights Center and coordinator of the strike, tells The CRIME Report that although one of the hunger strikers has been hospitalized, thousands of well-wishers have visited the strikers in a show of solidarity.

The immediate spark of the hunger strike is the recent arrest of dozens of activists who now face trial for allegedly challenging the political system and leading “anti-state activities.” On January 31, activists took to the streets to protest discrimination against Shi’a, in particular the biased naturalization policies. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and arrest of prominent activists.

Discrimination against native Bahraini Shi’a has fueled tensions within the country for years. Shi’a citizens comprise a substantial majority of Bahrain’s population, yet Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni monarchy and political elite. With limited political representation, Shi’a also face a range social and legal discrimination, including access to government jobs. Recent protests have highlighted the government’s decision to grant citizenship to members of Sunni tribes who live across the causeway in Saudi Arabia (as documented in a short film).

The hunger strike, although a passive nonviolent protest, marks yet another escalation in the struggle for civic equality in Bahrain.



WANTED for War Crimes: Arrest Warrant for al-Bashir?

BashirSeven months ago, International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with directing a campaign of mass murder that has left more than 300,000 civilians dead and driven more than 2.7 million from their homes in Darfur. Now, the three-judge ICC panel has apparently ratified the charges and will soon issue an arrest warrant for Bashir to stand trial. For the first time, a sitting Middle Eastern head of state may be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. The CRIME Report spoke with AIC’s Jana El-Horr, who has been involved with Darfur advocacy for several years, to analyze the news.

Who is Bashir and what are the allegations against him? General al-Bashir took power in a 1989 military coup and has ruled unelected for twenty years. After over a decade of civil war with southern Sudan ended with a 2003 peace treaty, violence flared in Darfur between rebels and the government. Bashir is being prosecuted for attacks on civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million displaced. The prosecutor accused Bashir of having "personally instructed" his forces to annihilate three ethnic groups in western Darfur, ordering troops "not to bring back any wounded or prisoners." It appears, though, that the ICC will only accept charges of crimes against humanity, but not genocide. And it is still not clear if or when an arrest warrant will be issued.

Has the ICC ever issued an arrest warrant for a head of state?No - a sitting head of state has never been the subject of an arrest warrant. Leaders, no matter how brutual, have been off-limits to international tribunals. It’s not clear how Bashir would actually get arrested. In the end it may be more of a symbolic gesture, designed to put more pressure on the Sudanese government. Already there are new reports that the government is working on a cease-fire with Darfuri rebels.

What does this mean for efforts to stop atrocities in Darfur?
Last week, activists – including a delegation of Darfuri refugees – had a meeting with National Security Council in Washington and presented 250,000 signatures from Americans calling on President Obama to fulfill his campaign promise to end the Darfur genocide. The demand is for a prominent high-level special envoy to Sudan who has the authority to broker a peace treaty in Darfur. Grassroots pressure will be vital to keeping the issue on the agenda of the President and other international leaders.

 

Quiz: Which city held mock weddings on Valentine’s Day?
Answer: Beirut, where inter-sectarian couples protested the country’s marriage laws by staging mock weddings at a trendy bar during Valentine’s Day. Civil marriages are not an option in Lebanon, as weddings require a religious authority. Lebanon has 18 officially recognized sects, and many aspects of life are still regulated by religious rather than civil authorities. For now, couples of different faiths can only get married outside the country - or at a bar in downtown Beirut.

BECOME A PARTNER IN CRIME:
Here is a list of quick ways you contribute to the Middle East civil rights movement: