CIHS – Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies

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US Figures Big On Human Rights Violations

Republicans & Democrats that point to rights violation and abuse elsewhere turn a blind eye on their own dubious record Neha Dahiya & Rohan Giri New Delhi US has turned out to be the biggest hub for racism, discrimination by colour, lack of freedom to express and is the biggest violator of basic human rights. While successive democratic and republican administrations at White House have made it their prime business to talk about purported rights violation elsewhere, they chose to turn blind eye to grave crimes in its own territory. Though several global organizations have been located in US, the country has failed miserably to stop wrong doings, ensure pluralism find uphold basic rights of its citizens. US has also been charged with massive rights violations in other countries While these crimes go either unreported or US administration has allowed racist violence to happen, the political leadership is now in a binge given that facts have come to light. Centre for Democracy, Pluralism and Human Rights (CDPHR), an Indian organisation working on human rights and democracy released a report on Wednesday highlighting massive violation of these basic rights in US. The well documented report running into over 140 pages has come into public domain at a time when American organizations have levelled charges against foreign governments on not enabling safeguard of religious freedom and human rights. Case in point is the routine reports released by United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that talk about human rights violations in other countries. These US organizations by design or connivance with the political leadership in Washington DC seem to have ignored wrongdoings back home that they seek to eradicate elsewhere. People in US seem to have been kept in dark on such violations with a purpose said CDPHR in its latest report by Prerna Malhotra (Faculty at University of Delhi) and Arvind Kumar (Civil Rights Activist and writer based in US). Restrictions on free expression & media, violence, threats of violence, and unjustified arrests are some of the grave crimes that go unreported in US, said the report. The report charges US with building structural racism as part of its Constitution itself. Three-fifth clauses in US constitution violate the principle of equality. Fugitive Slave clause does not permit people to escape slavery. Third clause of fourth article in US Constitution authorises the enslavers to seize enslaved people. No person held to service or labour in one state under the laws was allowed to escape to other states.  Unless discharged from such slavery, such labourers would be delivered back to the aggressors, as per US Constitutional provisions. Discrimination against those practicing non-Abrahamic faiths such as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jain was on the rise in US. The holy symbols of Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists were desecrated or denigrated by politicians. For instance in January 2021, New York Senator Todd Kaminsky introduced a bill in New York Senate that proposed making it mandatory for schools in his state to teach ‘Swastika’, an auspicious and revered sign of Hindu Dharma, as an example of Hate. The Bill titled Senate Bill S2727 conflates the Dharmic Swastika with the Nazi sign of Hakenkreuz or Hooked Cross and mandates that the Swastika should be taught as an emblem of Nazi Germany. Therefore it should be taught as a Hate symbol from grade 6 through 12 in schools. The report points to normalization of gender discrimination and sexual violence in the USA. A study conducted on 1965 students in grade 7 – 12 revealed that 48 per cent students had faced some form of sexual harassment. Girls get sexually exploited by men in Power. Statistics show that nearly one in every five American women has been victims of rape or attempted rape. Big political names have figured in sexual exploitation, including the Presidents of the country. According to a study, one out of every five women has been raped at some point in their lives and nearly half of rape victims in the United States are raped by an acquaintance. In the workplace, women were discriminated in the United States that boasts of providing equal opportunities. The report revealed that 42 per cent of working women had experienced gender discrimination in the workplace, and 25 per cent paid fewer wages vis a vis their male counterparts for the same work. Children were also not spared in America. As per a report, in 2014, there were an estimated 42 million survivors of child abuse. It is rampant among government officials and politicians, but such cases are either covered up or the perpetrators are let off with light sentences. Racism against Black is always at a peak in the USA. Blacks were always used as pawns and puppets by the White supremacists, even the organisations of black were also controlled by whites. In America, poverty is higher among Blacks. They were routinely targeted with the intention to cull their population. Black women have the highest abortion rate in the country. Native Americans were also caged to poverty by the US Government. They were not allowed to manage their own lands since 1831, yet tribes were unable to make good their losses. Native Americans have their income 68 per cent below the national average, 20 per cent households earn less than $ 5000 annually as against 6 per cent national average, rape rate of wome n is 2.5 times higher and child abuse rate double. USA that talks big on humanitarian crises in the world may have to take responsibility for such crises in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine. Over 241,000 people including 71,000 civilians were killed in the Afghan War initiated by the US in 2011on false pretext that it was in response to terror attacks against USA carried out on September 11, 2001. Taliban regime in Afghanistan itself was a creation of the US government. The takeover by the Taliban has precipitated another humanitarian crisis with 3.5 million Afghans internally displaced and another 2.2 million refugees with millions

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Child Sexual Abuse: French Clergy Priests Turn Predators

Prachi Mishra / New Delhi Analysis of the Summary of the Final Report on Sexual Violence in the Catholic Church France 1950-2020, issued by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse by the Catholic Church (CIASE The report presents an overview of sexual violence committed against children and other vulnerable persons systematically by the Catholic Church and its affiliated institutions in France in the last seventy years. Based on their findings, the Commission has broadly classified incidence of sexual violence into the following three categories: 1950 to 1970 – this period witnessed the maximum number of cases, with incidents rising every year 1970 to 1990 – this period saw a fall in the number of incidents of sexual abuse and violence 1990 to present – this period witnessed resurgence in the number of cases and incidence of sexual abuse and violence The report suggests that prevalence of sexual violence against children was in regions where religious tenets were not followed. The Commission attributed this to lower levels of superintendence of priests and low intolerance for misconduct on behalf of the priests and other clergy. Most cases of abuse and violence have been documented well in such regions. As per the report, the victims of the abuse were predominantly pre-adolescent boys from all socio-economic backgrounds. Sexual abuse and violence have been classified into six categories based on the perpetrator: Parochial abuse – committed by a local priest; School abuse – committed by a priest, theology teachers, and others associated with the Church; Educational abuse – committed by scout leaders or patrons; Therapeutic abuse – committed by a priest or a Church authority acting as a healer or a psychotherapist; Prophetic abuse – committed by Church authorities within the new communities which were popular in the 1970s; and Family abuse – committed by a family member or a close family friend As per the Commission, three tenets of the Catholic Church were used as grounds to exploit children and other vulnerable sections of the society. These are: Religious sacraments A sense of vocation Charity (helping others through the Church) The Commission has also recorded sexual violence and abuse against adults committed by the Church. Nuns and seminarists were subjected to violation and exploitation owing to power and control of those who were superior in authority to them. The Commission concluded that 330,000 children suffered abuse at the hands of the Church staff including those employed at Catholic schools, persons providing chaplaincy services, scout leaders, Catholic youth movement organizers, and religious members. Of these children, 65% (216,000) were assaulted and violated solely by priests, deacons, and other religious workers of the Church. Over one-third of these cases were committed by laypersons associated with the Church. Of the total number of cases of sexual abuse on children, 1.16% were committed by the Church and those associated. The report claims that the share of Church-led abuse is higher than abuse committed in other social set ups. Table 1 highlights these. Table 1. Percentage share in cases of sexual abuse against children Social set up Percentage share in number of cases Holiday camps 0.36% State schools 0.34% Sports clubs 0.28% Cultural and artistic activities 0.17% Catholic Church 1.16% The report suggests that the number of perpetrators of these crimes were between 2900 and 3200. This implies that there were a very high number of victims per perpetrator. A few cases have not yet been investigated and hence the Commission issued a range rather than absolute numbers. After investigations, the Commission commented on the attitude of the Church during the last seventy years. From 1950 to 1970, the attitude of the Church was to protect itself from such scandals and to save the aggressors. Hence, it concealed the fate of the victims and urged them to stay silent. From 1970 to 1990, the Church sidelined the issue of sexual violence at the hands of the clergy and rather chose to address the priesthood crisis, wherein the clergy had begun to dominate internal structures of the Church, monopolizing decision making within the system. From 1990 to 2010 the attitude of the Church started to change. It started recognizing the abuse faced by victims and started identifying the victims. From 2010 onwards, the Church started reporting these cases to the judicial systems, imposed sanctions on aggressors based on the Canon Law, and acknowledged the fact that dealing with such cases should no longer be an internal matter. Why did the Church fail to address these cases of sexual violence against children? The Commission analyzed the structure and working the Church and realized that the shortcomings or inaction was rooted in an archaic Canon Law. As per the law, It is important to safeguard sacraments and to reform the sinner; The victim holds no importance in the law, hence, there can be no justice for the victim in the systems of the Church; Sexual violence is not mentioned in the law, making it ill-fit to repress the incidence of sexual violence. (Prachi is a research consultant at Center for Integrated and Holistic Studies. Views expressed are author’s own.)

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