Our January Author: Vaddey Ratner

This month we are reading Vaddey Ratner's novel of hope and survival during the Cambodian genocide, In the Shadow of the Banyan. Visit Ratner's website to learn more about her, especially the media page, where you can listen to a short speech she gave to the United Nations Association and another she gave at the PEN/Faulkner award ceremony in which she articulates her commitment to human rights and free expression. Bonus points for her reference to Indonesian writer Pramoedya Anata Toer who we enjoyed reading some time ago! Ratner answers questions from a university class studying human rights in ▶this video, but unfortunately, the audio is poor quality. A few other interviews worth a look:

NPR:

Her voice breaking, she says she, like Raami, feels responsible for the death of her father at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. "So I wrote this book to make him live again, and to make him live forever."

Publisher's Weekly explores her influences, Elie Wiesel's Night and Rights Readers favorite Michael Ondaatje,

I felt a part of the spirit of those who died. I know some people see only death in that experience, but as a child I saw the desire to live. I wanted to capture that. Wiesel’s Night gave me a language for a story that lived in me that I hadn't yet learned to articulate.”

Many interesting insights on the creative process from The Writer,

To make it personal, to take it beyond the place I loved as a child and make it also a place my reader would love and care about, I needed to articulate it in the minutiae of a child’s daily connection to the place, a connection cultivated with little preconceived notion or judgment of the surroundings.

To bring the human rights discussion around to present-day Cambodia, please visit Amnesty International's Cambodia page where you can learn more about the crackdown by security forces on protesters resulting in at least four deaths earlier this month. Witness has citizen video of this serious incident. Be on the lookout for actions to follow!

Rights Reel: Korkoro

In my last post, Roma 101, I offered some resources for learning about the history and culture of the Roma people to enhance our discussion of Oksana Marafioti's American Gypsy: A Memoir. To shift the focus to human rights-relevant themes in that history, it's important to point out the Roma WWII experience. Under the Nazi regime, German authorities subjected Roma to arbitrary internment, forced labor, and mass murder.  Please visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum site or the Wikipedia page for Porajmos (The Romani term for the Holocaust) to learn more.

Now I know browsing those pages is not how anyone wants to spend their weekend, so what if there was a way to learn about this historical event and in a more personal, relatable way? Sort of a Schindler's List with gypsies? In fact, the French movie by Romani director Tony Gatlif is just the ticket. Inspired by the true life of a Romani who escaped the Nazis with help from French villagers, the film has the same stunning cinematography and rich musical score as Gatlif's Latcho Drom (one of my all time favorite films). You can stream Korkoro here via Amazon or on Netflix. Then check out the film's Wikipedia page to learn the real life basis for the fictional story.

Another film I have not seen but which looks worth seeking out to learn more about the Roma is A People Uncounted. Check out the trailer below:

Rivers for Reflection

Yesterday I attended a very moving St. Paul Chamber Orchestra performance of Neharot, Neharot by Israeli composer Betty Olivero for viola, accordion, percussion and two string ensembles. The viola soloist was Kim Kashkashian, who has recorded the composition. This haunting piece uses the elegies of women who had lost loved ones in the Israeli conflict with militias of the Lebanese Hezbollah in 2006 as it's touchstone.  The program notes explain,

The title of the composition Neharo't Neharo't, means “Rivers, Rivers” in Hebrew and refers to the rivers and floods of tears which are too often shed by mourning women in disastrous situations. On the other hand, the title contains also an element of hope: the root of the Hebrew word “nahar” (river) resembles the word “nehara,” meaning “ray of light.”

I found the music very appropriate to marking this Holy Week and the season of reflection we experience each April with Remembrance Days for both the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust. How fitting too, that we are reading Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife this month at the same time the people of Sarajevo are commemorating the 20th anniversary of the siege their city. Take a few minutes to soak this in. Listen to Part 1 above. Here is Part 2.

Our July Author: Tracy Kidder (Strength in What Remains)

Strength in What Remains (Random House Reader's Circle)Our July author, Tracy Kidder (Strength in What Remains), has his own website: Tracy Kidder.com, a good place to start.  But readers of this book will probably find it more rewarding to spend some time at Village Health Works which features many videos about the clinic and the people it serves as well as descriptions of the ambitious programs the VHW is undertaking. You can also find VHW on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

There are several good interviews with Tracy Kidder available. You can download the Los Angeles Public Library and CSPAN interviews from iTunes. On Point brings in VHW's executive director Sarah Broom for the second half of the program and Radio Open Source goes deep on genocide and public health here.

Here is a short video excerpt of an interview from PRI's The World:


An Interview with Author Tracy Kidder from Clark Boyd on Vimeo.

Finally, be sure to check out this NYT editorial by Tracy Kidder: A Death in Burundi.

For July: Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

For July, we have selected Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder,

In Strength in What Remains, Tracy Kidder gives us the story of one man’s inspiring American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him, providing brilliant testament to the power of second chances. Deo arrives in the United States from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived a civil war and genocide, he lands at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and no contacts. He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries in bookstores. Then Deo begins to meet the strangers who will change his life, pointing him eventually in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing. Kidder breaks new ground in telling this unforgettable story as he travels with Deo back over a turbulent life and shows us what it means to be fully human.

Memorial and Natalya Estemirova

Continuing our exploration of Adam Hochschild's The Unquiet Ghost: Russians Remember Stalin, you can learn more about the human rights organization Memorial at their website and virtual museum which notably includes artwork made by imprisoned artists.

Bringing Memorial's story up to the present day, we must call attention to Memorial activist Natalya Estemirova who was assasinated this summer while working to document human rights abuses in Chechnya. Amnesty USA covers the case here. David Remnick has a last interview on the New Yorker site. The Voices of Genocide series from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum offers a podcast interview with one of Estemirova's Memorial colleagues. Most important of all, you can take action here.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has released a new report just this week Anatomy of Injustice: The Unsolved Killings of Journalists in Russia featuring Natalya Estemirova's friend Anna Politkovskaya (Putin's Russia) among others. Here's a teaser for the report:


Anatomy of Injustice from Dana Chivvis on Vimeo.

The New York Times takes a look at the report here. Note that there has been some good news on the Politkovskaya case earlier this month (AIUSA press release, NYT).

The Rights Readers Supreme Court

Nine years or so ago, we read Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History after Genocide and Mass Violence by Martha Minow. Now its come to my attention that the author is on at least one speculative list for the current Supreme Court vacancy.



Rights Readers trivia question: what other author we've read has made a Supremes speculation list? Hint: Minow names her in the video above from Facing History.

Minow'slatest looks like it would be interesting to the educators among us (more here.

Philip Gourevitch Update

Philip Gourevitch, author of We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda, a book Rights Readers selected almost ten years ago, has returned to Rwanda and although the resulting New Yorker article is available to subscribers only, you can listen to him discuss his experiences here. He has also suggested some further reading on the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath at The Book Bench. On another of his favorite topics, you can read some of his recent commentary on torture here and listen to a discussion on the topic on the April 23rd edition of the "Political Scene" podcast.

Spring Cleaning

Lately I've accumulated a backlog of links which I should have blogged in a timely fashion so that you would have learned that Michael Ignatieff (Rights Readers selection Virtual War: Kosovo and Beyond) is now the leader of Canada's Liberal Party -- and just now has taken the opportunity of his meeting with President Obama to discuss the case of Guantanamo juvenile detainee Omar Khadr.

Or you would know that Samantha Power (A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide) has taken a position with the NSC, but before she stepped up to serve she wrote yet another profile of a human rights defender for the New Yorker (and oh yeah here's a short version of the one she wrote a whole book about.)

And then there's Arundhati Roy's (The Cost of Living) response to the Mumbai attacks, the fact that Jon Burge (a central figure in John Conroy's Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture) was arrested last fall, and Daniel Alarcon (Lost City Radio) had a New Yorker short story with a provocative title published in October.

Fortunately, this American Scholar article about Chinese censorship by Ha Jin (Ocean of Words Army Stories and The Crazed) is the sort of thing that doesn't date that fast and a little item in my local paper-- "Last month a bipartisan group of six members of Congress nominated Greg Mortenson [Three Cups of Tea] for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize"-- might still make a you-heard-it-here-first list.

Phew! That felt good! Perhaps we'll do that again sometime, sooner rather than later.

Human Rights Podcasts

I've mentioned two sources for human rights-themed podcasts recently, the Irrepressible.info series from Amnesty International and PEN Center's event series. Here are two more: The University of Chicago Human Rights Program podcasts its lecture series and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has a weekly program of interviews called Voices on Genocide Prevention. Needless to say, much of the focus is currently on the campaign for Darfur with much useful information-- and inspiration-- for activists.

Pasadena Event: Eric Reeves on Darfur and the Ghosts of Rwanda

This Sunday, October 29, Eric Reeves, Sudan researcher will be speaking at All Saints Church (132 N. Euclid) in the Forum at 10:15 AM.

Darfur and the Ghosts of Rwanda
with activist professor Eric Reeves,
introduced by Bradley Whitford

What are the consequences of continued inaction and diffidence on the part of the international community before the first great genocide of the 21st century? This Sunday Eric Reeves brings his strong critique of those who argue, in effect, for the status quo in Darfur. Over eight years ago, this professor of literature at Smith College in Massachusetts became so agitated about the brutal war in Sudan that he took a leave from his job to go to work on the issue. Reeves has spent the ensuing years working full-time as a Sudan researcher and analyst, publishing extensively both nationally and internationally. He has testified a number of times before Congress, has served as a consultant to a number of human rights and humanitarian organizations operating in Sudan, and frequently provides analysis and commentary to a wide range of news organizations, including the BBC, Radio France Internationale, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post.

Don't miss this opportunity! Check out Reeves' informative blog sudanreeves.org :: Sudan Research, Analysis, and Advocacy

Turkish Writers on Trial

Maureen Freely, Orhan Pamuk's (Snow) translator writes in the  New York Times about another Turkish author facing trial,

In [Elif Shafak's] sixth and most recent novel, “The Bastard of Istanbul,” which is already a best seller in Turkey and will be published in the United States by Viking next year, one character declares: “My father is Barsam Tchakhmakhchian, my great-uncle is Dikran Stamboulian, his father is Varvant Istanboluian, my name is Armanoush Tchakhmakhchian, all my family tree has been Something Somethingian, and I am the grandchild of genocide survivors who lost all their relatives in the hands of Turkish butchers in 1915, but I myself have been brainwashed to deny the genocide because I was raised by some Turk named Mustapha!” These are strong words in a country whose official historians maintain that the Armenian genocide at the hands of Turks is itself a fiction... In September, she spoke at a conference at Bilgi University in Istanbul — the first Turkish conference ever to challenge the official line on the Ottoman Armenians — and though she went on to state her own position clearly and unequivocally in several newspapers, the censors left her alone. But early last month, Shafak learned that she was to be prosecuted for, among other things, allowing a character of partly Armenian heritage in “The Bastard of Istanbul” to utter the forbidden G-word. Her trial is scheduled for Sept. 21.

Hey that's just in time for Banned Book Week!  PEN urges you to take action.

Tags: Turkey, Armenia, genocide, censorship, banned books

Camp Darfur - with Rep. Schiff - this Sunday!

Camp Darfur is back in Altadena this Sunday, and this time Congressman Schiff will be there to encourage you to participate in a letter-writing campaign! Here's his press release.

Who: Representative Adam Schiff, Members of Camp Darfur, and constituents of the 29th Congressional District.

What:  Letter writing campaign to elected officials asking them to make the Genocide in Darfur a priority and to raise awareness regarding this crisis

When:  Sunday, July 23, 2006, 12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

Where:    First Presbyterian Church, 2775 Lincoln Ave. Altadena

For the latest talking points/action items from Amnesty (in case you get to chat with the Congressman) check here.

Our previous coverage of Camp Darfur here, if you need a preview!

Tags: Sudan, Group22Events

Camp Darfur Comes to Pasadena

Group 22 volunteers were pleased to participate once again in Camp Darfur, bringing attention to the plight of refugees from Darfur, Sudan. This time the encampment was hosted by our friends at All Saints Church in Pasadena.

Church-goers added over 150 signatures to our Amnesty petition on Justice for the women of Sudan.

Here are some snapshots to give you a sense of the action. Visitors to the tents learned about the history of genocide, life in refugee camps and had an opportunity to purchase solar cookers for refugee families.

Children joined in the action. There were even comic books for teens.

Group 22 volunteer Lucas Kamp greets a Camp visitor.

Rwandan Genocide Anniversary and Camp Darfur Launch

Today marks the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Commemorate the date with a visit to the Rwandan Survivors blog for first person accounts of the tragedy and efforts to rebuild lives.

Today also marks the start of Camp Darfur, a multi-day event bringing attention to the genocide in Sundan. Let's hope it gets some press attention-- I'm on the lookout for links...

Camp Darfur: Pasadena Preview on Sunday

Area Amnesty International volunteers are planning to join a coalition of human rights and religious activists at Camp Darfur this April. For five days, Camp Darfur will bring attention to the genocide and refugee crisis in Darfur, Sudan. Organizers aim to educate people across Los Angeles and the country about life in a refugee camp and the horrors being faced every day by refugees in Darfur, by recreating life in the camps and including interactive presentations, music, video, film, photography, expert speakers, legislators and dialogue (click for details). Camp Darfur begins April 7 at 6:30 p.m. and runs until April 11 at Lennox Middle School, 11033 Buford Ave., Lennox. Organizers Lorna Miller and Gabriel Stauring of Camp Darfur will be offering a preview of the event at All Saints Church (132 N. Euclid Avenue) in Pasadena, this Sunday, April 2 at 10:15 AM. Drop by on Sunday for more info about how to get involved or if you want to volunteer via Amnesty, contact Amy at the Western Regional office: aiusala@aiusa.org.

Sudan: Eyewitness to speak in Pasadena

Another local opportunity to get an update on the situation in Sudan. Brian Steidle, an eyewitness to the genocide in Darfur, will speak from 5 to 6:30 p.m., March 1 in the Forum at All Saints Church (132 N. Euclid Ave., Pasadena). To see an exhibit of Brian's photography from Darfur and his written account to the Washington Post, visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum site -- but be warned, it is grim. Steidle was also featured in an NPR report this morning.

Meanwhile, stop by the Million Voices for Darfur site and add your voice to the list!

Sudan: Salih Mahmoud Osman

Salih Mahmoud Osman, the Sudanese human rights lawyer who spoke in Pasadena was imprisoned for more than seven months in 2004. The campaign for his release included our Summer Postcard Action. As always, it was a thrill to see the subject of one of our actions free and able to continue with his invaluable work. He was profiled in Saturday's Los Angeles Times.

State Department officials in Washington met Osman this week with sympathy, but little else — no promises for action or additional support for AU troops. In fact, Congress last week cut $50 million in support for Darfur peacekeeping troops.

In the absence of hope in Darfur, Osman has tried to provide at least a record of alleged war crimes perpetrated against the region's tribes. At most, he offers a chance for justice.,,

And so, his Sudan Organization Against Torture provides legal help, medical aid and psychological counseling to those who were targeted by the militias.

The organization's small legal team is working to have rape prosecuted as a war crime. Under Sudanese law, prosecution of rape requires proof or witnesses — forcing victims to often settle for lesser charges if the case is heard at all.

"The Sudanese justice system does not work very well," he said in an interview this week at the United Nations. "It is incompetent and unwilling to provide justice. There is impunity for these crimes, and victims have no confidence in the courts ..."

"We are putting crimes on the record," he said. "We're exposing the war criminals who continue to lie about what they're doing. And we're giving some comfort to the victims, who must know that they are not forgotten, that their suffering has been documented."

While Mr. Osman was noting how difficult it was to keep Sudan from fading from the headlines and imploring us to renew our efforts to bring attention to the genocide taking place in his country, the church was actually swarming with reporters due to All Saints' little tiff with the IRS. What a shame they were not there to cover the real story!

The Human Rights Watch video, Darfur Destroyed, shown at the event is available for online viewing at the Witness website.