US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Tuesday criticized the poor human rights records of several US allies and denounced the genocide in Darfur while announcing the publication of the 2006 US State Department Country Reports on human rights. Despite the fact that Afghanistan and Iraq have received hundreds of millions of dollars in US aid for democracy and human rights programs, the reports indicate that widespread sectarian violence, weak central administrations and abuses of authority have thwarted respect for rights in those countries. Among the other countries with poor reports in the annual DOS exercise were North Korea, Pakistan, Cuba , Venezuela, and Myanmar.

In addition to Afghanistan and Iraq, the reports also criticized Russia and China, with which the US has recently worked in pressuring Iran and North Korea to abandon their nuclear programs. The State Department reports criticized those countries' records of cracking down on dissent and investigating the killings of government critics.

United Nations human rights experts Friday condemned a proposed Nigerian law banning gay marriage and tightening laws criminalizing homosexuality in the country. While engaging in homosexual acts in Nigeria is already punishable by death by stoning, the UN experts said the new law, which authorizes a maximum five-year sentence for any person found to be openly gay, will make persons engaging in, or perceived to be engaging in, same sex relationships in Nigeria more susceptible to arbitrary arrests, detention, torture and ill-treatment and expose them even more to violence and attacks on their dignity.

They also said the law would violate Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights specifying that all human beings are “born equal in dignity and rights.” Friday's statement was jointly issued by Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders Hina Jilani; Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Doudou Diène; Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences Yakin Ertürk; and Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health Paul Hunt.

Some speculate that the Nigerian law, which could pass both the House and Senate by the end of March, is a response to a civil unions law enacted by South Africa last November. With that legislation, South Africa became the first African nation to recognize same-sex unions.

BANGOR (Feb 19): A Native American group comprised of prison inmates is suing Maine State Prison Warden Jeffrey Merrill, among other prison officials, for refusing to permit the group reasonable accommodations to practice its religion.

The group, Sacred Feather, has 27 members and was formed in December 1998. It filed a similar lawsuit against Merrill in May 2003, but the case was dismissed seven months later in December of that year. According to the most recent lawsuit, the 2003 case was dismissed and attorneys for the Maine Department of Corrections and Sacred Feather entered into a settlement agreement, which expired, as stipulated, on Dec. 23, 2005.

Since that time, Sacred Feather alleges it has attempted to retain "religious freedom" and "quality of religious practices" afforded other religious faith inmate groups, to no avail.

One of the things that has not been in keeping with fair treatment, according to Sacred Feather, has been the requirement that smudging ceremonies take place in a location described as a high-traffic area of the prison grounds.

In a smudging ceremony, sacred tobacco and sweet grass are burned in a ceremonial smudge bowl. Then, as group members stand in a circle in prayer, the resulting smoke is blown onto each member's face and body with an eagle feather.

Holding the smudging ceremony between buildings in a heavily traveled part of the prison's outdoor yard results in "many onlookers and derogatory comments made both from passing non-Native American inmates and from prison guards," claims Sacred Feather.

In the court document, Sacred Feather states that its Native American members are entitled to practice their religion with dignity and with accommodations equal to those afforded to Catholic and Protestant groups. Sacred Feather alleges that continues to not be the case at Maine State Prison.

Sacred Feather points to the prison's provision of a chapel where Catholics and Protestants can privately practice their religions and of office space and funds to purchase office supplies and other items needed to practice their religious faith.

"Catholics are provided weekly services, their own priest, inmate clerks and the ability to take Communion every week," states the court document. "Candles are burned during the weekly services, and holidays of special religious significance, like Christmas, Easter and Ash Wednesday, are also fully observed and accommodated at the prison."

Sacred Feather also alleges that accommodations are provided for Protestant Kairos groups in the prison but not for the Native American group. One example cited is the prison's provision of a space for the inmate Protestant group and an outside Protestant group to conduct their Kairos ceremony, for which the prison also provides, without charge, extra guards to monitor the large group.

Sacred Feather alleges that prison officials have failed to provide religious items agreed to when the group first formed in 1998, including a medicine bag, drums, eagle feathers, sweet grass, a sacred pipe, tobacco ties, sage, cedar and a smudge bowl.

Sacred Feather further alleges that prison officials have canceled smudging ceremonies more than 18 times since 2003 and have not provided a shelter for smudging ceremonies held in inclement weather.

"Reasons for the cancellations range from 'No officers are available' or 'We are not feeling like it,'" states Sacred Feather in the court document.

And despite earlier agreeing to continue to communicate about whether it is possible to erect a sweat lodge for sweat lodge ceremonies, prison officials have been reluctant to communicate about resolving the issue, alleges Sacred Feather.

"Prison officials have also denied the plaintiffs powwows, ceremonial foods and ceremonial music," states Sacred Feather in the court document. "Though the defendants plan, prepare and pay for ceremonial foods of Christian religions at major Christian holidays, no such accommodation is made for Native American festivals or holy days."

Sacred Feather is demanding that the court find in its favor in terms of it being entitled to the same level of accommodation and dignity as inmates practicing Christian religions.

Sacred Feather is seeking the right to hold twice-weekly smudging ceremonies and twice-monthly pipe ceremonies, in a location that provides privacy and does not subject the ceremonies to cancellation due to inclement weather. It also seeks permission to construct a sweat lodge, and to hold sweat-lodge ceremonies at least monthly.

Sacred Feather also seeks to have its members be allowed to retain religious items in their prison cells in order to practice their religion daily, as well as entitlement to a proportionate share of the funds provided to other religious groups at the prison.

Along with requiring that Merrill issue a directive to his staff prohibiting any form of retaliation against members of the group, Sacred Feather also asks the court to issue an order permanently prohibiting prison officials from engaging in any of the conduct alleged in the complaint.

In addition to costs and fees associated with filing the lawsuit, Sacred Feather also seeks unspecified damages to compensate for the violation of its constitutional rights, and asks that the court award damages in an amount Sacred Feather would have received for religious purposes dating back to Dec. 16, 1998, equivalent to the amounts received by the other religious prison groups during that same period.

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced today a multi-faceted Department of Justice initiative to assist the city of New Orleans in its continued recovery from the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. The Department will be committing federal resources to support the New Orleans Police Department’s (NOPD) efforts to reestablish its local crime laboratory, funding to provide assistance to victims and witnesses of crimes, and a grant to establish a Family Justice Center.

“Following the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Justice Department has taken unprecedented measures to support state and local law enforcement efforts to rebuild the infrastructure that is critical to fighting crime in New Orleans and surrounding parishes,” said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. “Today we are reinforcing our efforts by committing important resources to assist crime victims and local law enforcement officers. The road to recovery is long, but the Justice Department is committed to helping state and local law enforcement establish a safer New Orleans.”

The Justice Department is allocating resources to help reestablish the NOPD Crime Lab, which was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The lack of a permanent and functional crime lab in New Orleans has led to significant delays in the processing and analysis of important evidence such as blood, drugs and ballistics. In the absence of a permanent forensics lab, the NOPD has been using space provided by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Louisiana State Police, and services provided by Justice Department agencies whenever possible. Through the assistance and financial support of FEMA, as well as that of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, the city has acquired the space necessary to establish a single dedicated NOPD crime lab at the University of New Orleans Research and Technology Center. The NOPD will hire additional technicians to assist in processing evidence and clearing the backlog that has built up since Katrina.

The Justice Department has also announced that it will fund two highly trained victim assistance specialists for the next three years. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the local criminal justice system has faced many challenges, including the need to provide advice and assistance to victims and witnesses of crimes. The victim specialists will establish a regional victims services committee to lead and coordinate victims assistance efforts within Orleans and Jefferson Parishes; provide essential training and outreach to communities and participating local law enforcement offices as well as schools, community centers and faith-based organizations; educate the general population as well as victims about the criminal justice process; and provide essential advice, counseling and services to victims and witnesses served by the local criminal justice system. The specialists will be stationed in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The funding for the specialists was made possible through the close collaboration of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Office of Justice Programs.

To provide assistance to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes, the Justice Department is committing up to $3 million to create a comprehensive victim service and support center, where victims can find the services they need in one central location. The Department’s Office on Violence Against Women is working with partners in the public and private sectors to identify the most effective way to help victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault crimes in New Orleans, by providing multiple services in a single location, including emergency housing, medical care, counseling, law enforcement assistance, faith-based services, social services and employment assistance, among others.

The Department already has helped 15 communities across the country establish comprehensive domestic violence victim service and support centers through the implementation of the President’s Family Justice Center Initiative. The grant announced today will likely be utilized to establish a center that replicates this model.

The initiatives announced today build on previous efforts by the Justice Department to assist New Orleans in rebuilding its law enforcement services post-Katrina. In January 2007, the Justice Department outlined additional law enforcement resources that are acting as a force multiplier to state and local law enforcement officers dedicated to fighting violent crime in New Orleans. The additional federal resources include six Assistant U.S. Attorneys, six additional ATF Special Agents to work with the New Orleans Violent Crime Impact Team, nine additional FBI agents to supplement the New Orleans Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Force, and three additional Deputy U.S. Marshals and an investigative analyst to support the Crescent Star Fugitive Task Force.

Teams of U.S. Department of Justice personnel have been embedded with the NOPD to develop more cases against dangerous individuals for federal prosecution.  In the weeks since that initiative began, a total of 24 individuals have been arrested in New Orleans directly related to the joint NOPD/Department of Justice efforts and have been charged via criminal complaint at the outset with serious violations of federal laws, including firearms violations and drug distribution charges.  One individual so charged remains wanted by federal authorities.  Additionally, 13 of the individuals arrested on these charges have already been indicted by federal grand juries for these serious crimes as the result of swift work by the law enforcement personnel and the federal prosecutors assigned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  

Following Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana was a driving force in the creation and continued vitality of the Southeast Louisiana Criminal Justice Recovery Task Force, and the Department has made more than $30 million in grants available to the city of New Orleans and Orleans Parish to help rebuild the criminal justice system. In total, the Department has made available to the state of Louisiana over $61 million in justice assistance grants and Katrina relief law enforcement infrastructure funds.

Two volunteers for the US-based No More Deaths faced prosecution last year for aiding illegal immigrants they found in need of emergency medical attention in the Arizona desert, though the charges were dismissed in September. The advocacy group works to reduce the number of migrant deaths in the desert and the two workers were arrested while attempting to transport sick migrants to a medical clinic; the workers said they were following a protocol approved by the US Border Patrol when they were arrested which involved checking with a lawyer and a doctor before transporting migrants to medical facilities.