Van nieuwsblog.burojansen.nl

UN peacekeepers guilty of sex crimes have long been treated with impunity, cementing a long-standing problem. The organisation must get its house in order
Appalled by horrific descriptions of sexual abuse by UN peacekeeping forces, the organisation’s secretary general spoke passionately about the need to stop such crimes in its ranks.
“We cannot rest,” he said, “until we have rooted out all such practices. And we must make sure that those involved are held fully accountable.”
These words sound very much like the ones spoken by the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon last week in response to reports of sexual abuse by peacekeepers in Central African Republic (CAR).
But they were spoken more than a decade ago. It was a previous secretary general, Kofi Annan, who first pledged to eliminate the scourge of sexual abuse from the UN.
Sexual exploitation by UN peacekeepers remains ‘significantly under-reported’
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Annan, to his credit, did more than just deplore the problem: he announced a zero-tolerance policy, commissioned a seminal report on the issue, and helped the UN to institute several reforms.
Yet the sex abuse scandals have continued. Earlier this month, Amnesty International found credible evidence that a UN peacekeeper in CAR sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl during a 2am search of her family’s home. The girl says he dragged her out to a secluded part of the courtyard, slapped her when she began to cry, tore her clothing, and raped her. Her claims are supported by medical evidence.
On Wednesday, the UN revealed more allegations of abuse of girls or young women by peacekeepers in CAR.
In response to the earlier revelations, Ban sacked the head of the peacekeeping mission in the country and called an emergency meeting of the UN security council to address the matter.
Heads do not often roll at the UN. The public spectacle of one of their own being forced to resign must have been unedifying for UN peacekeeping chiefs elsewhere. At a minimum, though, it should encourage increased vigilance of the sexual abuse problem.
Sadly, it has become crystal clear over the past two decades that CAR is not the only country where sexual crimes have been carried out by the very individuals charged with protecting the local population from harm. The list of countries in which cases of sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers have been reported is now quite long, with abuse apparently systemic in some.
In Haiti, for example, a recent study (pdf) found that members of the UN peacekeeping mission engaged in “transactional sex” with at least 229 women in exchange for necessities like food and medication. The same study said that between 2008 and 2013, nearly 500 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse had been made against UN peacekeeping personnel, one-third of which involved minors.
In his resignation letter, the head of the UN mission in CAR alluded to the possibility that sexual abuse by peacekeeping forces might be a “systemic problem” requiring a structural response. This is certainly the case.
At the root of the problem is impunity: almost none of those suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes of sexual violence face a real threat of criminal prosecution for their crimes. At the UN, many cases do not receive a thorough and immediate investigation. But even if a UN inquiry finds a suspect responsible for rape, there are almost no consequences.
Typically, the alleged perpetrator is sent back home and the case ends there. Because of questionable rules regarding peacekeeper immunity, the onus is generally on the troop-contributing country to undertake prosecutions. They rarely, if ever, do so.
India was recently in the news for punishing a few of its soldiers for sexual abuses that took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but those were military disciplinary measures, not criminal sanctions. And the number of cases bore no relation to the magnitude of the incidents.
A much more aggressive approach to justice for such crimes is needed. Concrete and effective preventive measures must be instituted. Accountability must be made real and public, not just theoretical. Countries need to feel meaningful pressure to bring sexual abuse cases before their civilian courts; if they fail to do so, they need to be publicly outed. There has to be follow-up and transparency.
Because accountability starts from within, the UN should take a critical look at its own failures in dealing with sexual abuse. It has already taken a step in that direction by setting up a review panel to examine its handling of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse in CAR. Either that panel’s mandate and powers should be expanded, or its work should be followed by a more comprehensive, investigative assessment of the UN’s response to sexual exploitation and abuse allegations.
As Ban has said, “enough is enough”. After years of discussion, promises and strategies, the UN must solve the problem of sexual abuse by peacekeepers, once and for all.
Joanne Mariner
Thursday 20 August 2015 12.27 BST Last modified on Tuesday 25 August 2015 17.03 BST
Find this story at 20 August 2015
© 2015 Guardian News and Media Limited

Van nieuwsblog.burojansen.nl

Three more accusations levelled against peacekeepers in CAR a week after Ban Ki-Moon asked UN head of mission to resign.
UN peacekeepers earlier had been accused of sexually abusing children in Bangui and in the eastern part of the country [AP]
Three young females, including a minor, have accused United Nations peacekeepers of raping them in the Central African Republic, the global body has announced, taking the number of allegations to 13 since the UN stationed troops in the country in September.
The announcement on Wednesday comes a week after Ban Ki-Moon, UN secretary-general, removed the head of the peacekeeping mission in CAR over the handling of a series of similar allegations in the conflict-wracked country.
Vannina Maestracci, spokesperson for the secretary general’s office, told reporters that families of the three young females made the allegations on August 12 and that the alleged rapes occurred in “recent weeks”.
Similarly, a statement from the peacekeeping mission said UN headquarters was “immediately informed” of the allegations and that it was collecting “all available evidence”.
The alleged rapes occurred in the city of Bambari, where peacekeepers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are stationed.
The CAR is still battling daily clashes between rival militias in the country’s hinterlands [Reuters]
Congo’s UN ambassador, Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta, told The Associated Press news agency that three members of Congo’s military have been accused and that he had just met with UN officials about looking into the allegations.
He didn’t address the allegations but said it’s “not normal” that vulnerable people would be victims of those meant to protect them.
Congo’s troops serve in no other UN peacekeeping missions, and its nearly 900 troops were accepted into the mission in CAR at a time when few countries were volunteering people to serve in the chaotic country, which has been ripped by unprecedented violence between Christians and Muslims.
Last August, the New York-based Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict said Congo’s troops, which were already in the country as part of an African Union mission, should be excluded from the UN mission.
The advocacy network pointed out that Congo’s armed forces have been noted in Ban’s annual report on conflict-related sexual violence. They were included again this year.
Last week, following the removal of the head of the CAR peacekeeping mission, Ban met with the Security Council and the heads of all UN peacekeeping missions to discuss new measures to swiftly investigate alleged sexual assaults and hold peacekeepers accountable.
Ban’s actions came after Amnesty International accused UN peacekeepers in CAR’s capital this month of indiscriminately killing a 16-year-old boy and his father and, in a separate incident, of raping a 12-year-old girl.
Related: Are UN peacekeepers doing more harm than good?
UN peacekeepers earlier had been accused of sexually abusing children in Bangui and in the eastern part of the country.
The peacekeeping mission is also being investigated over how it handled child sexual abuse allegations against French troops last year, in which children as young as nine said they had traded sex for food.
Maestracci, the UN spokeswoman, said that so far, the peacekeeping mission has received 13 allegations of possible sexual abuse and exploitation since UN troops began arriving last year.
Under an agreement with the UN, countries have the sole responsibility to prosecute their troops taking part in peacekeeping missions, but if they take no action to investigate, the UN can step in. Even then, the UN only has the power to repatriate troops and suspend payments to countries for troops who are accused.
In at least one case of alleged sexual abuse or exploitation by a peacekeeper in CAR, a country repatriated its accused citizen, the UN said.
20 Aug 2015 08:33 GMT
Find this story at 20 August 2015
Copyright http://www.aljazeera.com

Van nieuwsblog.burojansen.nl

The United Nations’ (UN’s) troubled peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic has been hit with new allegations of rape by peacekeepers, including one underage victim, a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday. Last week the head of the Central African Republic (CAR) mission, known as MINUSCA, was sacked after a series of allegations of sexual abuse and excessive use of force by peacekeepers. MINUSCA chief Babacar Gaye was replaced by Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, who was named the mission’s acting chief. “A new series of disturbing allegations of misconduct have recently come to light,” UN spokesperson Vannina Maestracci told reporters. “The events allegedly took place in recent weeks,” she said. “These new allegations concern a report that three young females were raped by three members of a MINUSCA military contingent.” She said one of the women was a minor and the incident occurred in Bambari, where troops from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are deployed. The allegations were reported to MINUSCA’s human rights division on August 12 by the families of the three women, Maestracci said. UN sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Reuters that the accused troops were from DRC. The sources said the United Nations in New York was made aware of the allegations on August 17 and the Congolese authorities the same day. “The troop contributing country has been asked to indicate within 10 days if it intends to investigate the allegations itself,” Maestracci said. “Should the member state decline to investigate or fail to respond the United Nations would rapidly conduct its own investigation.” MINUSCA has been asked to preserve all evidence. Maestracci said that since its establishment in April 2014, MINUSCA has received 61 allegations of possible misconduct. That includes 13 cases of possible sexual exploitation and abuse. She said that so far two UN police officers and four soldiers have been repatriated on disciplinary grounds, which is in addition to 20 soldiers who were sent home “on administrative grounds” for suspected excessive use of force pending the conclusion of an investigation.Allegations of misconduct by UN troops are not new. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has vowed to crack down on abuse and misconduct by peacekeepers and is pushing to ensure greater transparency and accountability by governments of those found guilty of such behavior.
Edited by Reuters
Find this story at 20 August 2015
Copyright http://www.polity.org.za/

Justitie op Justitie en Veiligheid

Er zijn in tien jaar tijd maar liefst 277.726 ID-boetes uitgeschreven. Van alle boetes zijn er uiteindelijk 135.188 betaald hetgeen de overheid rond de 6 miljoen euro heeft opgeleverd.

In het najaar van 2007 publiceerde Buro Jansen & Janssen een informatiekrant over de toepassing van de Wet op de Uitgebreide Identificatieplicht (WUID) die 1 januari 2005 werd ingevoerd. In de publicatie kwamen uiteenlopende verhalen aan bod van burgers waaruit duidelijk werd dat de WUID op grove wijze door de politie wordt ingezet. Sommige dagbladen kopten naar aanleiding van de J&J-krant dat de overheid miljoenen binnensleept aan opgelegde boetes vanwege het niet dragen/tonen van de ID-kaart. Zo zou op basis van de cijfers over 2005 de overheid 1,3 miljoen euro hebben verdiend aan ID-boetes.

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Van nieuwsblog.burojansen.nl

TERRORISM is increasing. According to the Global Terrorism Database at the University of Maryland, groups connected with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State committed close to 200 attacks per year between 2007 and 2010, a number that grew by more than 200 percent, to about 600 attacks, in 2013.
Since 9/11, the study of terrorism has also increased. Now, you might think that more study would lead to more effective antiterrorism policies and thus to less terrorism. But on the face of it, this does not seem to be happening. What has gone wrong?
The answer is that we have not been conducting the right kind of studies. According to a 2008 review of terrorism literature in the journal Psicothema, only 3 percent of articles from peer-reviewed sources appeared to be rooted in empirical analysis, and in general there was an “almost complete absence of evaluation research” concerning antiterrorism strategies.
The situation cries out for the techniques of prevention science. For a given problem (like terrorism), prevention science identifies key risk factors (like alienation), develops interventions to modify those risk factors (like programs to promote positive relations with the dominant culture) and tests those interventions through randomized trials. Using this methodology, scientists have identified interventions that effectively prevent problems as diverse as antisocial behavior, depression, schizophrenia, cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, academic failure, teenage pregnancy, marital discord and poverty.
Jon Baron, who leads the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, which advocates for the use of randomized trials to evaluate government programs, reports that his organization has been able to identify only two experimental evaluations of antiterrorism strategies. One of them, a field experiment reported in a paper from a World Bank office in 2012, randomly assigned 500 Afghan villages to receive a development aid program either in 2007 or after 2011. The aid program had significant positive effects on economic outcomes, villagers’ attitudes toward the government and villagers’ perceptions of security. The aid program also reduced the number of security incidents, though that effect was not maintained after the program ended and was observed only in villages that were relatively secure before the program began.
Thus the study found an unequivocal but limited benefit of an aid program in reducing insurgent violence. I say “unequivocal” because randomizing villages to receive or not receive the aid made it extremely unlikely that differences in attitudes and security resulted from anything other than the aid program itself.
The second study was published last year in The Economic Journal. The researchers randomly assigned neighborhoods and villages in Nigeria to have, or not have, a campaign to reduce pre-election violence. The campaign made use of town meetings, theater and house-to-house distribution of material. The study found that the campaign increased empowerment to counteract violence and voter turnout, and reduced both perceptions of violence and the intensity of violence.
Imagine how much more we would know about the prevention of terrorism if even a small proportion of the hundreds of antiterrorism efforts implemented worldwide in the past 15 years had been properly evaluated. As it is, we can say almost nothing about their efficacy. Do we know whether drones are increasing or decreasing the rate of terrorists’ attacks? Whether our current surveillance activities are thwarting more terrorists than they are radicalizing young people?
In 2012, the National Institute of Justice (the research arm of the Department of Justice) began a program to study domestic radicalization. Over the first three years it has funded nearly $9 million in research. While the studies underway will undoubtedly contribute to our understanding of the risk factors that contribute to radicalization, none of the projects funded thus far are adequately evaluating a strategy to prevent radicalization.
One of the projects, for example, is an effort to increase awareness of risk factors for radicalization as well as civic-minded responses to them among members of the Muslim community. The program’s impact will be assessed by comparing outcomes for those who never participate, those who participate once and those who participate multiple times. If the project finds that those who participated multiple times were less radicalized than those who never participated, you might be inclined to conclude that the program is working. But experience from evaluation research over many years has taught us that such a difference could just as likely be because those who were less inclined to become radical were more likely to participate.
The only way to really be confident that it is the program that is making the difference is to randomly assign some people to get it and others not. That way any differences are very unlikely to be caused by pre-existing differences between the two groups.
Estimates of the cost of the war on terror have varied between one and five trillion dollars. Surely we can invest a tiny fraction of that in improving our antiterrorism strategies through rigorous experimental evaluations.
Correction: March 15, 2015
The Gray Matter feature last Sunday misstated an estimate for the growth in the annual number of attacks by groups connected with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. It was more than 200 percent, not more than 300 percent.
MARCH 6, 2015
By ANTHONY BIGLAN
Find this story at 6 March 2015
© 2015 The New York Times Company

Dupont op Justitie en Veiligheid

Vandaag weer prachtig nieuws over ‘motorbendes’. Deze keer opnieuw uit Limburg, de provincie waarover wij al verschillende artikelen schreven. Schietende politieagenten die door de rechter worden veroordeeld, corrupte politieagenten, corrupte ambtenaren in Kerkrade, burgemeesters die absoluut niet van onbesproken gedrag zijn, vastgoedontwikkelaars die royaal steekpenningen uitdelen, politici die worden veroordeeld. Het kan niet op, dus is het inderdaad tijd voor iets anders.

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Dupont op Justitie en Veiligheid

Burgemeester Jos Som kwam diverse malen in het nieuws de afgelopen tijd. Er is ook veel aan de hand in zijn stad. En het zijn niet alleen geruchten. Wij doelen hier op corruptie, omkoping en machtsmisbruik. Was meneer Som een flink aantal keren te horen als actievoerder tegen criminaliteit van motorbendes, het lijkt er sterk op dat de échte criminaliteit dichter bij meneer Som in de buurt zit dan de mensen wordt wijsgemaakt.

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Dupont op Justitie en Veiligheid

Onderzoek oneigenlijk gebruik machtsmiddelen van de overheid ten aanzien van motorclubs voor een uitgebreid artikel op onze blog.

Steeds vaker worden mensen die relaties, zowel zakelijk als vriendschappelijk, hebben met motorclubs of leden van motorclubs, door de politie lastiggevallen. Dit gebeurd onder het mom van criminaliteitsbestrijding, maar tegen de betreffende clubs en/of leden wordt geen strafvervolging ingesteld. Dit machtsmisbruik is dus intimidatie van de overheid gericht op het isoleren van motorclubs en haar leden. Dit mist elke rechtsgrond, vandaar dit onderzoek. Wij willen verhalen verzamelen van mensen, organisaties, bedrijven (kan anoniem) die door de overheid onder druk zijn gezet om niet meer samen te werken met motorclubs of hun relaties met leden te verbreken.

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Dupont op Justitie en Veiligheid

Soms heb je weleens dat je ‘s ochtends op staat en dat je meteen weer zin hebt om terug je bed in te springen. Het is dan slecht weer, je hebt een kater, of de krant van wakker Nederland staat weer eens vol met onzin zodat je nog liever even bij slapend Nederland hoort. Vandaag is, denk ik, zo’n dag. De onheilspellende plof waarmee het goedkope papier met zijn giftige inkt de deurmat raakte, maakte al duidelijk dat de krant het niet droog had gehouden vanmorgen. Een voorteken? Het sloffende geluid van mijn in pantoffels gestoken voeten verplaatste zich naar de voordeur.

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Dupont op Justitie en Veiligheid

Omroep Zeeland komt vandaag met baanbrekend nieuws. Zeeuwse motorclubs extra in de gaten gehouden, kopt de krant. Gevolgd door een artikel: ‘De Zeeuwse chapters van Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMG’s) worden extra in de gaten gehouden volgens het openbaar ministerie. Dit is onderdeel van een integrale aanpak tegen motorclubs in heel Nederland. Zeeland doet mee aan die aanpak omdat de provincie anders aantrekkelijk wordt voor OMG’s om hier naar toe te verhuizen. Het is nu rustig rond de Zeeuwse afdelingen of chapters van de OMG’s. Er zijn er op dit moment drie actief in onze provincie en de gemeenten waar ze zijn gevestigd geven aan dat er geen problemen zijn. In andere delen van het land, met name in Noord-Brabant en Limburg, zijn er wel problemen en is hard opgetreden tegen enkele OMG’s. Daarbij bestaat de angst dat deze groepen uitwijken naar gebieden waar er minder op ze gelet wordt, zoals België of Zeeland. En daarom houden gemeenten, politie en het openbaar ministerie samen de groepen en individuele leden goed in de gaten. Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs onderscheiden zich volgens justitie van normale motorclubs doordat de leden zich niet houden aan de regels en wetten van ons land. Justitie heeft in meerdere provincies vastgesteld dat OMG’s zich schuldig maken aan strafbare feiten en betrokken zijn bij het produceren van xtc en hennep.’

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Mocht je een interessant artikel hebben over je confrontatie met politie en justitie, een nieuwe wetgeving, onderzoek of scriptie mail het ons: info@burojansen.nl

00 voorkant
01 inhoudsopgave
02 Overheid blijft verdienen aan ID-controles
03 Jouw data is zelden veilig bij een beheerder
04 Hoe zit het eigenlijk met mijn data?
05 Het COA stuurde vrijwilliger weg vanwege diens geëngageerdheid
06 Dubieus onderzoek van VU en NSCR naar cybercriminaliteit
07 Solidarity with imprisoned activists with or without Facebook
08 Exposed on Facebook
09 Amsterdam Oost paste ten onrechte preventief fouilleren toe
10 Veiligheidsarchief, daar hebben we de AIVD niet voor nodig
11 Nieuw blog over justitie- en veiligheidsbeleid
12 Onderzoek naar politieoptreden Haaglanden
13 Voorzichtig de vijand heeft grote oren
14 Tips om veiliger te e-mailen
15 Buro Jansen & Janssen heeft geld nodig
16 achterkant

Manipulatie, Verlies en Bedrog van Data Observant 67, augustus 2015
http://www.burojansen.nl/pdf/Observant67BJJaug2015.pdf

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Er zijn in tien jaar tijd maar liefst 277.726 ID-boetes uitgeschreven. Van alle boetes zijn er uiteindelijk 135.188 betaald hetgeen de overheid rond de 6 miljoen euro heeft opgeleverd.

In het najaar van 2007 publiceerde Buro Jansen & Janssen een informatiekrant over de toepassing van de Wet op de Uitgebreide Identificatieplicht (WUID) die 1 januari 2005 werd ingevoerd. In de publicatie kwamen uiteenlopende verhalen aan bod van burgers waaruit duidelijk werd dat de WUID op grove wijze door de politie wordt ingezet. Sommige dagbladen kopten naar aanleiding van de J&J-krant dat de overheid miljoenen binnensleept aan opgelegde boetes vanwege het niet dragen/tonen van de ID-kaart. Zo zou op basis van de cijfers over 2005 de overheid 1,3 miljoen euro hebben verdiend aan ID-boetes.

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Het parkeren van data in de vorm van een website, e-mails of in de cloud is niet van risico’s gevrijwaard. Jouw data staat altijd ergens anders op een computer geparkeerd, of die nu in beheer is van een commercieel bedrijf of een kleine activistische provider.

De meeste mensen vertrouwen erop dat bedrijven of personen die hun data op het internet beheren dit netjes doen. Tot een paar jaar geleden was er nog nauwelijks besef over die vertrouwelijkheid en de beveiliging van data. Recente discussies over privacy, maar ook datalekken en hackers, hebben bijgedragen aan een iets groter bewustzijn. Daarnaast zijn de afgelopen tijd in binnen- en buitenland diverse servers en data van activisten in beslag genomen.

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Het is onmogelijk om 100 procent grip te hebben op je data en/of persoonsgegevens op het internet. Dagelijks gaan jouw persoonlijke gegevens honderden keren door databases van de overheid. Je kan er wel rationeler en doelbewuster mee omgaan. Dit houdt in dat je jezelf een aantal vragen stelt.
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Jan Kees diende in 2013 zijn werkzaamheden als yogaleraar bij het AZC in Leersum te beëindigen. Het Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers vond zijn politieke opvattingen niet stroken met de vereiste neutraliteit. De Nationale ombudsman boog zich over de kwestie.

Jan Kees maakt, naast portret- en kunstfoto’s, ook foto’s van acties en demonstraties. Daarnaast heeft hij een ruime ervaring in de zorg en was langdurig werkzaam bij het asielzoekerscentrum (AZC) in Leersum. Door bezuinigingen in de zorg, maar ook op de afdeling voorzieningen voor vluchtelingen, raakte Jan Kees zijn werk op het AZC kwijt. Enkele asielzoekers verzochten hem zijn yogalessen in het centrum voort te zetten. Hij stemde daarmee in en moest een contract ondertekenen als vrijwilliger van het Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers (COA).

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