Been Traveling

Apologies for the long delay in posting- I was traveling in Amsterdam, Turkey, and moved back to the United States. Upcoming posts will be on the ICC and Refugees in Turkey.

Blog Post Spots Supreme Court Ruling Mistake in Child Rape Case

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment is not constitutional for rape of a child in the case Kennedy v. Louisiana. A large part of the argument in Justice Kennedy's majority opinion was based on jurisdiction. The majority noted that a child rapist could face the ultimate penalty in only six states — not in any of the 30 other states that have the death penalty, and not under the jurisdiction of the federal government either. However, over the weekend, Dwight Sullivan, a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve who now works for the Air Force as a civilian defense lawyer handling death penalty appeals pointed out in his blog post (The Supremes Dis the Military Justice System) that Congress, in fact, revised the sex crimes section of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 2006 to add child rape to the military death penalty. The revisions were in the National Defense Authorization Act that year. President Bush signed that bill into law and then, last September, carried the changes forward by issuing Executive Order 13447, which put the provisions into the 2008 edition of the Manual for Courts-Martial.

First Pre-Kindergarten Program for Refugee Children in Georgia

CLASP (Child Care and Early Education):

While Georgia's pre-kindergarten program is universally available to all 4-year-olds, waiting lists persist and in many cases recently arrived immigrants and refugees, lacking knowledge about how to navigate the enrollment process or arriving late in the registration period, are effectively shut out of programs. Every year, Refugee Family Services assists and registers refugee children in Georgia Pre-K—but they are able to serve only a fraction of the families that need support.

In their interviews, RFS found that refugee families had different needs from other immigrant families, and that few programs had the information and resources to meet these needs. To fill this need, RFS applied to the state to become a provider of the pre-kindergarten program, and this August, Refugee Family Services will inaugurate the first pre-kindergarten program in Georgia intended for use principally by refugee children. This program will allow these children access to a high-quality pre-kindergarten program that is prepared to competently meet their cultural and linguistic needs and is situated in an organization that is experienced in meeting the family support needs of diverse refugee communities.

The pre-kindergarten class will be filled by children from Somalia, Sudan, Honduras, Congo, Burundi, Iraq, Burma, and Vietnam. Most of the children were born in refugee camps. For the first time, they will have the opportunity to participate in a pre-kindergarten program that is designed with them and their families in mind.

Lesotho Children Dialing 800- 22-345 for help

In the two months since the government of Lesotho launched the county's first national child helpline, almost 500 orphans and vulnerable children have picked up the phone to demand assistance and an ear. The government of Lesotho, with support from UNICEF, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the Lesotho Telecommunication authorities, opened the lines to the service on April 30, 2008. The toll-free number - 800 22 345 - opens a channel of communication between children and service providers, offering 24-hour counselling, support and protection services

467 calls had already been dealt with. In 160 cases the caller hung up immediately, and in 279 cases children were seeking information and general counselling.

Nelson Mandela, a Terrorist?

President Bush signed a bill removing Nelson Mandela and other South African leaders from the terrorist watch list yesterday. Mr Mandela and ANC party members will now be able to visit the US without a waiver from the secretary of state. The African National Congress (ANC) was designated as a terrorist organisation by South Africa's old apartheid regime.

NBC First Read:

Who knew Nelson Mandela was on the US terror watch list? Well as of today, he’s not anymore.
President Bush signed into law a bill granting Secretary Rice the authority to waive travel restrictions on President Mandela and other members of the African National Congress (ANC). The bill was sponsored by Democratic Sens. John Kerry and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with Republican Sen. Bob Corker.

The senators say Mandela and ANC members remained on the list “for activities they conducted against South Africa’s apartheid regime decades ago.” They also said in their written statement that the removal “end[s] an embarrassing impediment to improving U.S.-South Africa relations.”

Palestinian Refugee Children Dont Want a Holiday, They want a Home

The UNHCR and UNRWA took nine Palestinian children from the Al Tanf refugee camp on the Iraq-Syria border to the seaside to help them escape the monotony and hardship of their lives in limbo.

They are among a group of more than 750 Palestinian refugees who have been stuck for up to two years in Al Tanf, unable to enter Syria and unable to go back to Baghdad. They live in a tiny strip of no man's land where they must be on the alert for snakes and scorpions and endure the terrible heat, hoping that some country will come forward and offer them resettlement.
But:

"The sudden freedom of movement, the cool sea breezes, the abundant food and drink and the other laughing kids showed these nine children what they were missing and what they would miss once again when they returned to Al Tanf at the end of their week's holiday."