Haiti – Legal Petition on Sexual Violence in Camps of Displaced
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: October 18, 2010
WUNRN
HAITI – HUMAN RIGHTS ATTORNEYS
& ACTIVISTS FILE IACHR LEGAL PETITION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST
WOMEN & GIRLS IN CAMPS FOR THE DISPLACED
October
20, 2010
Diana Duarte, MADRE, (212) 627-0444
Vivian Todini, CUNY School of Law, (917) 747-7980
Jen Nessel, Center for Constitutional Rights, (212) 614-6449
Nicole Phillips, Esq., Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, (510)
715-2855
Erica Richards, Morrison & Foerster LLP, (917) 370-0132
Contact in Haiti: Annie Gell, Institute for Justice and
Democracy in Haiti, (509) 3610-2882
Today,
a group of advocates and attorneys for displaced women in Haiti submitted
a petition calling for urgent action to confront an epidemic of sexual
violence in the camps for displaced people. Evidence gathered through
multiple on-the-ground investigations has revealed a shocking pattern of rape,
beatings and threats against the lives of women and girls living in the
camps. This petition for precautionary measures before the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) calls for the IACHR to require that the
government of Haiti and the international community take such immediate action
as ensuring security and installing lighting in the camps.
Since the catastrophic January 12 earthquake took some 200,000 lives and
rendered 1.5 million people homeless, women and girls living in the camps have
faced bleak conditions and a constant threat of rape. Lawyers and
researchers, partnering with Haitian grassroots women’s groups, have documented
testimonies where women have been brutally attacked in their tents or while
walking down poorly-lit paths within the camps. Meanwhile, basic
preventative measures such as providing lighting, privacy, security and housing
have been critically lacking.
Lisa Davis, MADRE Human Rights Advocacy Director and professor of law at CUNY
School of Law, said today, “Women in the camps in Haiti have mobilized to
create immediate strategies to combat violence, such as establishing night
watch patrols and distributing whistles to deter rapists. But these
initiatives are no substitute for governments meeting their obligations to
protect women’s human rights. With the capacity of the Haitian government
badly undermined even before the earthquake, the international community must
join together in seeking a solution to the crisis of women’s human rights in
Haiti.”
Bill Quigley, Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said
today, “The ultimate solution here is permanent, safe housing for Haitians.
Unfortunately, the international community has reneged on its commitment to
provide essential funds for rebuilding and the U.S., in particular, has not
delivered even one cent of the reconstruction funding it pledged. Women
are being forced to live in extremely unsafe conditions for the foreseeable
future and it is a deplorable failure on the part of those who made such a show
about standing with the Haitian people in their greatest hour of need.”
Nicole Phillips, Staff Attorney with the Institute for Justice and Democracy in
Haiti and Assistant Director of Haiti Programs at the University of San
Francisco School of Law said today, “This epidemic of rapes will continue until
the international community and Haitian government address the underlying
housing crisis. The crowded tent and tarp encampments that house 1.5 million
Haitians in Port au Prince provide no security against sexual assault. The
Haitian government’s response to the housing crisis has been to assist
landowners in evicting families from displacement camps without providing any
alternative place to live, further exacerbating security issues. These forced
evictions must stop immediately and a comprehensive resettlement plan
protecting Haiti’s displaced population must be adopted.”
Lisa Davis served as the primary author of the petition; under supervision from
Davis, students from CUNY Law’s International Women’s Human Rights Clinic
joined the on-the-ground investigation. Documentation from their
interviews with Haitian women has become part of the petition’s record.
To view a redacted copy of the petition, click
here.
Available
for interviews:
Lisa
Davis, Esq. (MADRE and the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic
at CUNY School of Law) was the primary author of the petition for precautionary
measures and currently serves as the Coordinator for the Lawyers’ Earthquake
Response Network (LERN) Gender Working Group. She is a member of the New York
City Bar Association’s International Human Rights Committee and the National
Lawyers’ Guild Working Group on Haiti. Lisa is an Adjunct Professor of Law for
the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic at CUNY Law School. (Contact:
Diana Duarte 212-627-0444 or Vivian Todini 917 747-7980)
Bill Quigley (Center for Constitutional Rights) is the
Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and has a long history
of working with grassroots groups in Haiti. Bill joined CCR on sabbatical from
his position as law professor and Director of the Law Clinic and the Gillis
Long Poverty Law Center at Loyola University New Orleans. He has been an active
public interest lawyer since 1977. He has served as counsel with a wide range
of public interest organizations on issues including Katrina social justice
issues, public housing, voting rights, death penalty, living wage, civil
liberties, educational reform, constitutional rights and civil disobedience. He
has also been an active volunteer lawyer with the Institute for Justice and
Democracy in Haiti. (Contact Jen Nessel 212-614-6449)
Laura Raymond (Center for Constitutional Rights) is an
International Human Rights Education and Outreach Associate who traveled to
Haiti in anticipation of this petition’s filing. Prior to working at CCR
Laura was the National Student Organizer for the National Lawyers Guild (NLG)
and is currently a member of the NLG’s National Executive Committee. She is the
author of numerous articles on human rights issues and was the co-editor of The
Global Activists Manual: Local Ways to Change the World, published by Nation
Books in 2002. She holds a Masters Degree in Service, Leadership, and
Management, with a focus on Policy Advocacy, from SIT Graduate Institute.
(Contact Jen Nessel 212-614-6449)
Nicole Phillips, Esq. (Institute for Justice and Democracy
in Haiti) is a Staff Attorney and heads the Housing Rights Advocacy
Project. She is also Assistant Director of Haiti Programs at the
University of San Francisco School of Law and Board Member of Human Rights
Advocates, a non-governmental organization with consultative status to the UN.
Nicole’s practice included ten years with Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld in
the San Francisco Bay Area, where she served as general counsel to unions and
employee benefit trust funds across the country, arbitrated collective bargaining
disputes, and managed a caseload in federal and state courts involving labor,
employment, health insurance, and environmental regulations. (Contact: (510)
715-2855)
Annie Gell, Esq. (Institute for Justice and Democracy in
Haiti) is a Lawyers Earthquake Response Network (LERN) Legal Fellow, based at
the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) in Port au Prince, Haiti.
Annie supports grassroots women’s groups and helps coordinate the Rape
Accountability and Prevention Program. She holds a law degree and undergraduate
degree from Columbia University and is admitted to practice in New York. During
law school, Annie served as a board member of the Human Rights Law Review, and
interned at Human Rights Watch – U.S. Division, the Legal Aid Society of New
York’s Immigration Law Unit, and the Documentation Center of Cambodia. (Contact
in Port au Prince: (509) 3610-2882)
Erica Richards (Morrison & Foerster LLP) is an
associate in the Bankruptcy and Restructuring group in the New York office of
Morrison & Foerster LLP. In Morrison & Foerster’s Bankruptcy group, Ms.
Richards has assisted in a broad range of matters, including representation of
debtors, creditors and creditors committees, and court-appointed
examiners. She received her law degree from Washington & Lee University
and is admitted to practice in New York. (Contact (917) 370-0132)
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