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Emma Dunn

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Child marriage in Nigeria is one of the most painful and disturbing problems in the country. Usually, it is done in the poor regions, where people force their young children, especially daughters, to get married, quite often to a total stranger. So, what are the reasons for early marriage and its effect on Nigerian children?
Early marriage in Nigeria: introduction

First of all, if you ask a question if it is legal to force children into marriage, it is actually not legal according to the Child's Rights Act of 2003, where it is pointed out that the age of consent for a child is 18 years old. Some countries can allow marriages at 16 years old as an exception. However, it does not stop people from arranging marriages for their own children.

In Nigeria, a lot of 10-12-year-old girls, whose reproductive system is not ready for intimate activities and childbirth yet, are forced by their parents into marriage. They are stopped from going to school and getting an education and are exploited for serving their husband and giving birth to children. Considering that they are still children themselves, it is absolutely unacceptable, as it kills their future and entire life, exposing them to adulthood so early.

According to the official statistics, child marriage rate has been reduced by 9% since 2003, but it is still a problem. Mostly, child marriages are common in third-world countries, and to become a modern and developed country, Nigeria has to get rid of this issue once and for all.

Most of the young girls who are forced into marriage by their parents are completely banned by their parents from going to school. Some of them excelled in studies, so it is safe to say that Nigerian bright young people, who could potentially help develop the country, are shut off, and their potential is destroyed forever.

Usually, there is a large age gap between a girl and her husband, which can subject her to domestic violence and psychological abuse. Not even mentioning the risks that the young girl can meet when she is forced to give birth, the diseases she and the newborn baby can suffer from, and even death of a mother or a child.

Causes of child marriage in Nigeria

We will analyze some reasons why early child marriage in Nigeria is so common. Surely, there is a background behind this act. So, the main causes of child marriage are:

Poverty in the country. Sure, most of the young age marriages happen in the poorer areas, mainly rural ones. We all know that Nigeria is a poor country, and most people who live in the rural areas are struggling to survive. Most parents who earn very little to maintain normal lives and support a young daughter choose to force her into marriage. Girls suffer from it because they often get married against their will at the age of 10 or even younger. Even though boys do not suffer from this problem as much as girls do, the boys whose families are poor usually are forced into child labour and are subjected to other large issues caused by it.

Gender inequality. Even if in the urbanized areas with progressive views gender inequality is much less of a problem, there are still rural areas with ancient beliefs. Often, people are convinced that the boy child is a good luck, while the girl child is not, and she can only be used as a future bride.

Cultural traditions. Beliefs in different communities can vary. Some of them are based on old religious traditions, and the communities are unwilling to change their lifestyle. As a result of these beliefs, children are getting married really early.

Education. The lack of proper education is another reason why people get their children married at a young age. Many people do not have a proper idea about the post-marriage life the child will have to face and the childbirth complications. Also, due to the lack of education people tend to hold onto many unhealthy traditional beliefs.

Insecurity. Since the female harassment rate keeps growing, many people are concerned about the future of their daughters. Before she becomes an adult, they arrange her a marriage with someone much older than her, believing that they are giving her into safe hands and ensuring her a trouble-free future.

Consequences of child marriage in Nigeria

Therefore, child marriage in Nigeria has an inevitable impact on those who are subjected to it, and here are consequences of this kind of marriage for young girls. Some of them were already mentioned above, but here is a more detailed description of them.

Early pregnancy. The pregnancy at a very early age is harmful to every girl. The normal age for pregnancy is at least 18-20 years old, and if you get pregnant earlier, there is a high risk that you will have to deal with health issues. Sometimes it is life-threatening both for the mother and the baby, considering that healthcare in the rural areas is not entirely developed.

Domestic violence. There are a lot of situations when the future husband and in-laws start blaming the girl for everything after marriage, sometimes even torturing her in a physical way. The child's psychological health is still not strong, and dealing with the complicated adult life can be too difficult for her to handle. Besides, the violence against her can often result in physical and mental trauma.

Illiteracy. Once the girl gets married, the parents stop educating her, believing that she does not need education once she is a wife. This increases the rate of illiteracy among Nigerians and kills so many bright people's potential. Who knows, maybe they could have played the crucial role in life of Nigeria, if only they got a proper education?

READ ALSO: Gender based violence in Nigeria: why are women still suffering?
Possible solutions

The statistics tell us that every year in the world about 15 million children between 10 and 12 get married, which means that every two seconds, a young child is married. For combating the statistics, the above causes should be resolved. It will not happen overnight, but there are many programs led by bright Nigerian leaders, the purposes of which are an education for people in rural areas, the battle against female harassment and prejudice against women. Many people use the hashtag #ChildNotBride on social media to show their displeasure and disagreement with the tendency to arrange marriages between children and adults.

Raising awareness about the issue. More people need to know about the problem and attempt to take action. The rural inhabitants need to be educated more about the consequences that child marriage can cause, and about the harm, it can do to their children.

Making the laws stricter. While the laws exist, they are not strict enough. There should be a powerful law against child marriage.

Authorities paying attention. The problem should be frequently reported to the authorities who can punish people exploiting children. Maybe all the cases will not be prevented, but if at least some will, this is a victory.

Fighting poverty. Of course, poverty is the biggest problem in Nigeria, and many people marry their children to strangers because they need money. Authorities should be taking measures to resolve this issue, and if there is a smaller amount of struggling people in Nigeria, the child marriage rate will decrease too. Problems like female harassment and discrimination should also be addressed, as they play a key part in the early marriage issue.

It will take a lot of time to get rid of child marriage, but here are some suggestions for fighting this problem gradually:

The 21st century is the age when every person, regardless of age, gender and social status, can do anything and follow their dreams with full support from their family. Sadly, many young girls do not have a voice in the matter - they are raised to believe that they are made for serving their husbands, without a chance to get proper education and profession, when in reality women can be powerful and inspirational, and achieve great things. Their health can be severely damaged by the early pregnancy, especially if there is no proper healthcare around.

Many girls dream of becoming amazing professional, and their dreams are just crashed when they are forcefully married to some man they barely know, who can actually cause harm to them. The young brides are socially disadvantaged since they have no education, no good healthcare provision, no skill of socializing with other people and no future of their own. Early marriage is a huge violation of human rights.
READ ALSO: Child labour in Nigeria: causes and consequences
These beliefs have no place in the modern world and they have to be discouraged. Female education has to be supported and funded by the Nigerian government, and the problem of early child marriage needs to be resolved, at least in small steps.

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Serious issue of child marriage in Nigeria: reasons, consequences and possible solutions

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Legit.ng News ★ ► CHILD MARRIAGE in Nigeria ► A child bride's psychological health still not strong, and dealing with complicated adult life can be too difficult for her to handle and violence against her can result in mental health problems

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Emma Dunn

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What's the child marriage rate? How big of an issue is child marriage?

44% of girls in Nigeria are married before their 18th birthday and 18% are married before the age of 15.

According to UNICEF, Nigeria has the third highest absolute number of child brides in the world - 3,538,000 - and the 11th highest prevalence rate of child marriage globally.

Child marriage is most common in the North West and North East of Nigeria, where 68% and 57% of women aged 20-49 were married before their 18th birthday. Child marriage is particularly common among Nigeria's poorest, rural households and the Hausa ethnic group.

A 2017 World Bank study estimates that child marriage costs Nigeria USD7.6 billion in lost earnings and productivity every year.

Are there country-specific drivers of child marriage in this country?

Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that girls are somehow inferior to boys. In Nigeria, child marriage is also driven by:

Level of education: 73% of Nigerian women with no formal education were married before 18, compared to only 9% who had completed higher education. Further education is almost impossible for some girls, who have little choice but to depend on their husbands for the rest of their lives.

Political and economic ties: Some girls are married off by their parents to enhance political and social alliances with rich families or business partners and to improve their economic status.

Gender norms: Some Nigerian men reportedly prefer to marry children. Girls are not accepted as equal partners within marriages, which contributes to a sense of low self-worth. A 2004 study shows that domestic violence is more common among marriages involving young girls in Nigeria.

Violence against girls: The abduction of 276 Chibok girls in 2014 was just one instance of a disturbing tactic used by Boko Haram - child marriage as a weapon of war. Christian and Muslim girls have been kidnapped and married off by Boko Haram in an attempt to dismantle communities and attract male recruits who are awarded "wives" if they fight. Some parents have been killed for refusing to marry off their daughters.

Poverty: The humanitarian crisis in North Eastern Nigeria left more than two million people displaced since 2016. Families facing extreme famine and living in refugee camps sometimes marry off their daughters because they lack alternative survival options.

What has this country committed to?

Nigeria has committed to eliminate child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. During its Voluntary National Review at the 2017 High Level Political Forum, the government noted that most states in the North of the country manage a cash transfer programme aimed at reducing girls' school dropout rates due to early marriage.

Nigeria signed a joint statement at the 2014 Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Nigeria ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, which sets a minimum age of marriage of 18, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1985, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 2016, Nigeria launched the African Union Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa.

In 2001 Nigeria ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, including Article 21 regarding the prohibition of child marriage.

In 2004 Nigeria ratified the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, including Article 6 which sets the minimum age for marriage as 18.

As a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Nigeria has adopted the Strategic Framework for Strengthening National Child Protection Systems under which protecting children from marriage is a priority.

During its 2013 Universal Periodic Review, Nigeria supported recommendations to address child marriage by putting in place legislation clarifying the legal age for marriage.

In 2013, the UN Child Rights Committee expressed concern about the extremely high rate of child marriage among girls in Northern states. It urged the government to undertake awareness-raising programmes on the negative implications of child marriage among parents, state parliamentarians and traditional and religious leaders.

What is the government doing to address this at the national level?

In 2016 the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development launched a National Strategy to End Child Marriage. The strategy's vision is to reduce child marriage by 40% by 2020 and end the practice entirely by 2030.

A Technical Working Group on Ending Child Marriage was formed at the end of 2015. The Group is composed of over 30 members, including UN agencies and Girls Not Brides members, and aims to raise awareness, encourage behaviour change and monitor and evaluate laws and policies.

In 2015, Commonwealth countries (including Nigeria) adopted the Kigali Declaration, which sets out a framework for action by National Human Rights Institutions on child marriage.

At the Conference on the Social Protection of the Girl Child organised by ActionAid Nigeria, the Emir of Kano announced he would bring in renowned Islamic Clerics from all over the world to discuss this issue at an international conference.

What is the minimum legal framework around marriage?

There are several different laws related to the minimum legal age of marriage in Nigeria.

Under the Marriage Act 1990 the minimum legal age of marriage 21 years for girls and boys, although they are able to marry before this with written consent from a parent or guardian.

Under the Child Rights Act 2003, the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years. However as of May 2017 there were still 12 Nigerian States (11 of which are located in the north of the country) that did not include the Child's Rights Act 2003 in their internal legislation. It follows that in those States local laws are applied, most of which are Islamic Law provisions, and the minimum age of marriage in some of those States is as low as 12 years. In 2013, the government stated that efforts have been made to sensitise states about the Child Rights Act in order to improve enforcement.

There is also a lack of harmonisation between the Child Rights Act 2003 which sets 18 years as the minimum age of marriage and the Sexual Offences Bill 2015 which sets the minimum age of sexual consent at 11 years.

Source

Action Aid Nigeria, Conference on the Social Protection of the Girl Child, 2016, (accessed April 2018)

African Commission on Human and People's Rights, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, [website], 2018, (accessed February 2018)

African Commission on Human and People's Rights, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, [website], 2018, (accessed February 2018)

African Union, Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa: Call to Action, 2013, (accessed February 2018)

Allen and Oluwatomipe, Health Implication of Child Marriage in North-East Nigeria, 2017, (accessed March 2018)

BBC, Nigeria crisis: The children who know only hunger, [website], 2016, (accessed April 2018)

Federal Republic of Nigeria, Implementation of the SDGs A National Voluntary Review, 2017, (accessed June 2018)

Human Rights Watch, Ending Child Marriage: Meeting the Global Development Goals' Promise to Girls, [website], 2016, (accessed April 2018)

National Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF, Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2016-17, Survey Findings Report, 2017, (accessed April 2018)

New York Times, Child, Bride, Mother: Nigeria, [website], 2017, (accessed April 2018)

ORC Macro, Profiling Domestic Violence: A Multi-Country Study, 2004, (accessed April 2018)

Population Council, Child Marriage Briefing Nigeria, 2004, (accessed April 2018)

The Commonwealth, Kigali Declaration Moving from aspiration to action to prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage in the Commonwealth, 2015, (accessed April 2018)

UN General Assembly, Compilation prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to Council resolution 16/21 Nigeria, 2013, p.9, (accessed April 2018)

UN General Assembly, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Nigeria, 2013, p.19, (accessed April 2018)

United Nations, Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform, [website], 2017, (accessed February 2018)

Women Advocates' Research & Documentation Centre, NGO Coalition Shadow Report to the 7th & 8th Periodic Report of Nigeria on Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 2017, (accessed April 2018)

World Bank, Economic Impacts of Child Marriage: Work, Earnings and Household Welfare Brief, 2017, (accessed March 2018)

* Child marriage prevalence is the percentage of women 20-24 years old who were married or in union before they were 18 years old (UNICEF State of the World's Children, 2017)

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Nigeria - Child Marriage Around The World. Girls Not Brides

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44% of girls in Nigeria are married before their 18th birthday and 18% are married before the age of 15. According to UNICEF, Nigeria has the third highest absolute number of child brides in the world - 3,538,000 - and the 11th highest prevalence rate of child marriage globally.

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The practice of child marriage in Nigeria is prevalent. This can partly be explained because Nigeria is very much divided on religious grounds. The South is mainly Christian and the North is principally Islam. So, even though the country as a whole is 'bound' by Federal Law and the Nigerian Constitution -- and I use the word bound very loosely -- some Northern states in Nigeria subscribe to Sharia law, at least their own version of it. In Nigeria, the federal law prohibits the marriage of persons that are below eighteen. However, the states in Nigeria that implements Sharia law do not prohibit child marriage. This tends to create a clash of laws and principles, but not to the point where the federal government feels the need to intervene. Child marriage is simply a traditional convention that has been allowed to subsist within Nigeria.

Wasila Umaru is a 14-year-old girl that was forced to marry a 35-year-old man in Nigeria. She made the news this week for poisoning and killing her 'husband' and two of his friends. I am not in any way excusing what she did. I am not of the belief that two 'wrongs' make a right. However, I think that the issue is a little bit more complicated than a 14-year-old girl killing her 'husband.' In order to understand the situation that Wasila Umaru found herself in, it is important to explore the practice of child marriage in Nigeria, a bit more deeply.

Autonomy and Consent are two key elements, amongst others, that are necessary when one is entering into a marital contract with someone else. These two key elements are lacking in a situation where a child is forced to marry an adult. On the one hand, they are not given the choice to say no. But, on the other hand, children are not capable of consent. In order to consent to something, you have to be fully aware of and have the capacity to understand what you are consenting to. Children do not have this ability. This is not to say that children are incapable of reason. But, they are not fully capable of always understanding the costs of their choices. This is why, when children do something horrid, we tend to judge them as children, and we do not hold them to the same standard as we hold adults.

If one is to concede to the argument that autonomy and consent is key to a valid marital contract, then it is not hard to see why Wasila's marriage was both void and wrong. However, it is always easy to condemn the Sharia law, and rightly so, for allowing the practice of child marriage to exist within the context of the Nigerian society. However, I think that the issue is deeper than that. If we look at the people most affected by child marriage, they tend to be girls who are from poor homes. This consistent demographic, with respect to child marriage is something that cannot be ignored.

There is an antiquated practice of collecting 'bride price' in Nigeria. When a girl is getting married in Nigeria, her groom is expected to pay a certain price for her. This practice can be traced back to the belief that a girl is the property of her family, her father to be more specific. In order to marry her, you have to pay a price for her. The practice has become customary in Nigeria, but it also provides a very huge motive for why child marriage as a practice has continued to persist. It further explains why girls from poor families are the most vulnerable to this practice. The children are married off to older men, in order to both get the bride price that is paid on her behalf, but also because that is one less mouth to feed for her family.

There are other complex factors that have led to the continual and persistent subsistence of the practice of child marriage in Nigeria. However, poverty, and the fact that the female child is seen, almost as, dispensable property are one of the main reasons why child marriage is predominant in Nigeria. The question becomes, how do we target the issue of child marriage in Nigeria. This is a very hard question, because on the one hand, it involves targeting many people's core beliefs that there is nothing wrong with child marriage. But, on an institutional level, education seems to be the only plausible way to target this issue. Educated families are more likely to practice family planning, and thus avoid the issue of having more children than they could care for. Educated parents are more likely to want education for their children as well. However, we as society must also work to target the issues of poverty and the way women are viewed in our society.

We as a society must start to realize that the practice of child marriage must cease to persist, for the sake of the future of these girls that are married to early. Child marriage is a cultural issue, but it is also a social justice issue and a national health issue in Nigeria. We need to work as a society to figure out ways to give the most vulnerable in our society a positive control over their future. It is a national health issue in Nigeria, because these children are subject to continual sexual abuse, and possible physical violence by their supposed spouses. There are also numerous issues that arouse from child-teen pregnancy, both physical and psychological.

This is what Wasila's family subjected her too and, no matter how much we might condemn her for killing her husband, one could easily see why Wasila, herself, was situated in an impossible and unbearable situation. There are many Wasila's that exist in Nigeria, and it is time that we do what we can as a country to end child marriage and the plights, costs and consequences that accompany the practice.

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The Practice of Child Marriage in Nigeria

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The practice of child marriage in Nigeria is prevalent. This can partly be explained because Nigeria is very much divided on religious grounds. The South is mainly Christian and the North is principally Islam.

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Nina Burget

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The ongoing Boko Haram conflict in the northeast, cycles of communal violence between pastoralists and farmers, and separatist protests in the south defined Nigeria's human rights landscape in 2017.

Notably absent for much of the year was President Muhammadu Buhari, who traveled overseas on two extended medical leaves for an undisclosed illness. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo acted as interim president on both occasions.

While the Nigerian army made considerable gains against Boko Haram, the toll of the conflict on civilians continued as the extremist group increasingly resorted to the use of women and children as suicide bombers. Over 180 civilians have been killed in suicide bomb attacks since late 2016, mostly in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. In August, female suicide bombers killed 13 people and injured 20 others in an attack near a security checkpoint in Borno. Three suicide bombers also killed 27 people and wounded 83 in coordinated attacks at a market and an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Maiduguri in August. Bomb attacks in September killed at least 25 IDPs in two camps at Banki and Ngala.

Nigeria's eight-year conflict with Boko Haram has resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 civilians and a large-scale humanitarian crisis. Approximately 2.1 million people have been displaced by the conflict while 7 million need humanitarian assistance; in February the United Nations secretary-general, together with key UN agencies, warned Nigeria was facing famine-like conditions due to insecurity triggered by the war. In June, Nigeria helped Cameroonian authorities unlawfully force almost 1,000 asylum seekers back to Nigeria.

In May, after negotiations brokered by Switzerland and the International Committee for the Red Cross, 82 Chibok schoolgirls were released. Boko Haram fighters had abducted 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno state, in April 2014. More than 100 of the girls and hundreds other captives, including over 500 children from Damasak, Borno, remained in Boko Haram captivity at time of writing.

Abuses by Boko Haram

Boko Haram retained control over a small portion of Nigerian territory after numerous offensives to dislodge the group by security forces from Nigeria and Cameroon. The extremist group, however, continued its violent campaign in the northeast, particularly in Borno and some parts Yobe and Adamawa states. The group used suicide bombers in markets, universities and displacement camps; ambushed highway convoys; and raided and looted villages.

At least 300 civilians died in the group's attacks in 2017. In perhaps its deadliest 2017 attack, Boko Haram ambushed an oil exploration team from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in July, killing at least 69 people in Magumeri, approximately 30 miles outside Maiduguri.

Boko Haram mostly used women and girls as suicide bombers, forcing them to detonate bombs in urban centers. According to the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, 83 children were used as suicide bombers since January: 55 girls and 27 boys, one was a baby strapped to a girl. The group abducted 67 women and children in 2017.

On October 9, authorities began closed-door trials in a Kainji Niger state military base of more than 2,300 Boko Haram suspects, some detained since the insurgency's inception in 2009. Concerns about due process and fair hearing heightened when, within four days of trial, 45 of the first batch of 565 defendants were convicted and sentenced to between three to 31 jail terms for undisclosed charges. The court threw out charges against 34, discharged 468, and referred 25 defendants for trial in other courts.

Prior to October, only 13 Boko Haram suspects had faced trial, out of which nine were convicted for alleged involvement in crimes committed by the group.

Conduct of Security Forces

On January 17, the Nigerian air force carried out an airstrike on a settlement for displaced people in Rann, Borno State, killing approximately 234 people according to a local official, including nine aid workers, and injuring 100 more. The military initially claimed the attack was meant to hit Boko Haram fighters they believed were in the area, blaming faulty intelligence. After six months of investigations, authorities said they had mistaken the settlement of displaced people for insurgent forces. At the time, the settlement was run by the military.

In June, a military board of inquiry made up of seven army officers and two lawyers from the National Human Rights Commission concluded that there was no basis to investigate allegations of war crimes committed by senior army officials in the northeast conflict and elsewhere. The allegations they investigated included extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary arrests of thousands.

Authorities have failed to implement a December 2016 court order for the release of Ibrahim El Zakzaky, leader of the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN. Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat, as well as hundreds of IMN members, have been in detention without trial since December 2015, when soldiers killed 347 IMN members in Zaria, Kaduna state.

In August, acting President Osinbajo established a presidential judicial panel to investigate the military's compliance with human rights obligations and rules of engagement. The seven-person panel, which began hearing complaints in September, was set up in response to allegations of war crimes committed by the military across the country, including the December 2015 Shia IMN incident in Zaria, the killing of pro-Biafra protesters in the southeast, and the killing, torture, and enforced disappearance of Boko Haram suspects in the northeast.

Inter-Communal Violence

Violence between nomadic and farming communities spread beyond the north-central region to southern parts of the country in 2017. Hundreds of people were killed, and thousands displaced. In July, two days of clashes between herdsmen and farmers killed over 30 people in Kajuru village, 31 miles outside the city of Kaduna, Kaduna state. A similar attack in Jos, Plateau State left 19 dead and five injured in September. The governor of Kaduna state called for the intervention of the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to end the perennial violence between the two groups.

In April, Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was released from detention on the orders of a court. He was arrested in October 2015 and detained on treason charges. In response to calls for Igbo independence by IPOB, in June a northern-interest pressure group, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), issued a notice demanding that Igbos leave northern Nigeria before October 1, or face "visible actions." Following condemnation by various interlocutors, including UN independent experts, the AYCF withdrew the quit notice in late August.

Public Sector Corruption

Corruption continues to plague Nigeria despite the Buhari administration's increased efforts at reform and oversight. In October, President Buhari sacked Secretary to the Federal Government, Babachir Lawal, on corruption allegations, and National Intelligence Agency head, Ayodele Oke, after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) found US$43 million in cash in his apartment. The EFCC accused Diezani Alison-Madeke, the former oil minister, of bribery, fraud, money laundering and misuse of public funds. In August, a court ordered forfeiture to the government of $44 million worth of property and $21 million from bank accounts linked to Alison-Madeke.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The passage of the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act (SSMPA) in January 2014 effectively authorized abuses against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in 2017. The law has undermined freedom of expression for members of the LGBT community, human rights organizations, and others. In July, authorities arrested over 40 men attending an HIV awareness event at a hotel in Lagos and accused them of performing same-sex acts, a crime that carries up to 14 years in jail. In April, 53 men were arrested for celebrating a gay wedding, and charged with "belonging to a gang of unlawful society."

In addition to the SSMPA, under the Nigeria Criminal Code Act of 1990, "carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature" carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. The Sharia penal code adopted by several northern Nigerian states prohibits and punishes sexual relations between persons of the same sex, with the maximum penalty for men being death by stoning, and whipping and/or imprisonment for women.

Freedom of Expression, Media, and Association

Nigerian press, bolstered by strong civil society, remains largely free. Journalists, however, face harassment, and the implementation of a 2015 Cyber Crime Act threatens to curtail freedom of expression.

In January, police arrested two journalists, the publisher and judiciary correspondent of an online publication, Premium Times, in Abuja for articles that allegedly showed "deep hatred for the Nigerian army." In June, Ibraheema Yakubu, a journalist with the Hausa radio service of the German Deutsche Welle, was arrested and detained while covering a procession by the Muslim Shiites group in Kaduna. He told media that policemen beat and slapped him. In August, police arrested and detained journalist Danjuma Katsina in Katsina state for posting "injurious comments" about a politician on Facebook. The two journalists were released after a day each in detention following the intervention of officials of the Nigerian Union of Journalists.

The director of defense information announced in August that the military would monitor social media for "hate speech, anti-government and anti-security information." The government also directed the National Broadcasting Commission to sanction any radio or television station that broadcasts hate speech. It threatened to charge people found to spread yet-to-be defined hate speech under the Terrorism Prevention Act.

A "Bill to provide for the Establishment of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)," described by local groups as an attempt to crackdown and monitor NGOs has passed two readings in the House of Representatives.

Key International Actors

International actors, notably the United States and the United Kingdom, have continued their support for the Nigerian government in the fight against Boko Haram, providing military equipment, funding, and humanitarian aid for the crisis in the northeast.

In August, the US finalized the sale of $593 million-worth of military equipment to Nigeria. The sale, which was initially delayed under the Obama administration because of human rights concerns, included 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircrafts, laser guided rockets, unguided rockets and other equipment. While members of Congress expressed concern about this sale, there was no attempt to block it.

Following an August visit to Nigeria by the UK secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, the UK pledged $259 million over five years in an emergency assistance package to provide food, medical treatment, and education assistance in Nigeria's beleaguered northeast.

In February, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA co-hosted a donor conference that raised $700 million in Oslo, Norway to address the humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad Basin in the northeast. Despite an August army raid on a UN compound in Maiduguri, allegedly to search for arms, UN relations with Nigeria remain intact.

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) continued its preliminary examination into allegations of atrocities committed by all sides in the Boko Haram conflict. The office also has an ongoing analysis of the December 2015 event between soldiers and Shia IMN members.

In May, Nigeria was reviewed by the UN C ommittee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, but failed to submit its report to the committee or send a delegation to the review. The committee expressed concerns, including about harassment and exploitation of domestic migrant workers and lack of information on measures taken by Nigeria to ensure non-discrimination for all migrant workers in law and in practice.

When reviewing Nigeria in July, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concerns regarding access to justice; female genital mutilation; sexual exploitation in IDP camps; gender based violence, including domestic violence; trafficking for the purpose of sexual and labor exploitation; and continued abduction, rape, and sexual slavery under Boko Haram.

Foreign Policy

Nigeria currently sits on the UN Human Rights Council, as well as the Economic and Social Council. In January, Nigeria's minister of environment Amina Mohammed assumed office as UN deputy secretary-general. In August, government officials joined the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the condemnation of ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Burma, and called on the UN to invoke the principle of "responsibility to protect" to end the abuse.

Africa has been the focus of Nigeria's foreign policy for many years, but at the African Union 28th Summit in January, the country failed to secure any leadership position in the body. In January, President Buhari played an important role with other ECOWAS leaders in ending Gambia's political crisis.

Nigeria took a stand in support of justice for grave crimes by publicly opposing ICC withdrawal at the African Union 's January 2017 summit in Addis Ababa.

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World Report 2018: Rights Trends in Nigeria

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The ongoing Boko Haram conflict in the northeast, cycles of communal violence between pastoralists and farmers, and separatist protests in the south defined Nigeria's human rights landscape in 2017. Notably absent for much of the year was President Muhammadu Buhari, who traveled overseas on two extended medical leaves for an undisclosed illness.

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Nina Burget

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Here's a look at Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group working out of Nigeria, whose purpose is to institute Sharia, or Islamic law.

Facts

In the local Hausa dialect, Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden."

The group also refers to itself as Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, meaning "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad."

Boko Haram militants mainly inhabit areas in the northern states of Nigeria, specifically Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Borno and Kaduna.

Originally, Boko Haram was referred to locally as the Nigerian Taliban because of their religious similarities to the Taliban.

Boko Haram does not engage in Nigeria's political system out of an adherence to a fundamentalist form of Islam, which forbids participation unless the system is based on Sharia, or Islamic law.

Timeline

2002 - The group, which may have existed since the late 1990s, organizes under the Muslim cleric Mohammed Yusuf. It is centered in Maiduguri, the capital of the northeastern state of Borno.

December 2003 - The first known attack by Boko Haram includes roughly 200 militants, who attack multiple police stations in the state of Yobe, near the Niger border.

July 2009 - The Boko Haram uprising begins in Bauchi and spreads to the states of Borno, Kano and Yobe. The militant group kills scores of police officers. A joint military task force responds, leaving more than 700 Boko Haram members dead and its operational mosque destroyed. The uprising ends when police capture Yusuf. His deputy, Abubakar Shekau, reportedly dies in the uprising. Yusuf later dies in police custody. Police say he is shot during an attempted escape, but Boko Haram claims it is an extrajudicial execution.

July 2010 - Boko Haram releases a video statement in which Yusuf's deputy who allegedly died the previous year, Shekau, claims to be the leader of the group.

September 7, 2010 - In the state of Bauchi, 50 Boko Haram militants attack a prison, killing five people and releasing more than 700 inmates.

May 29, 2011 - The day of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's inauguration, Boko Haram detonates three IEDs near a military barracks in the city of Bauchi. At least 10 people die in the attack.

August 26, 2011 - Boko Haram attacks the United Nations compound in Abuja. A car bomb kills 23 people and injures more than 75 others.

November 4, 2011 - More than 100 people die in multiple attacks in Yobo, Damaturu and Borno states. Boko Haram militants utilize IEDs and vehicle-borne IEDs to target security forces and their offices, markets and 11 churches.

January 2012 - A newly formed splinter group, known as Ansaru, announces Abu Usmatul al-Ansari as its leader.

January 20, 2012 - More than 200 people are killed when Boko Haram launches coordinated attacks targeting police, military, a prison and other targets in the city of Kano in Kano State.

February 19, 2013 - Militants alleging to be Boko Haram kidnap a French family of seven in a national park in northern Cameroon; however, the affiliation with Boko Haram cannot be verified. The family is later released.

April 2013 - Jonathan states he has appointed a team to explore the possibility of amnesty for Islamist militants. Shekau responds in an audio statement: "Surprisingly the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you pardon."

April 19, 2013 - Boko Haram battles with multinational security forces from Niger, Nigeria and Chad in the city of Baga in Borno State, leaving nearly 200 people dead, including many civilians. Shekau releases a video in May saying Boko Haram is not responsible for the civilian deaths.

June 4, 2013 - Jonathan approves the proscription of Boko Haram and splinter group Ansaru as terrorist organizations.

June 2013 - Boko Haram targets churches in various states on three Sundays in a row, leaving more than 50 people dead.

August 14, 2013 - The Ministry of Defence announces the death of Boko Haram's second-in-command, Momodu Baba (known as Abu Saad).

August 19, 2013 - Nigeria's chief army spokesperson claims Shekau may have died after an attack on June 30, but the claim is never verified.

September 17, 2013 - Boko Haram gunmen dress in military uniforms and stage a fake checkpoint near Benisheik in Borno, burning vehicles and executing travelers, leaving at least 143 people dead.

September 25, 2013 - A man claiming to be Shekau appears in a video and says that he is alive and well. However, his identity is not verified.

November 13, 2013 - The US State Department adds Boko Haram and Ansaru to its list of terrorist organizations.

May 5, 2014 - In a video statement, a man claiming to be Shekau says, "I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah...there is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women."

May 13, 2014 - Hundreds of Boko Haram militants storm three villages in the state of Borno. Villagers resist, killing more than 200 Boko Haram fighters.

May 20, 2014 - Twin blasts in the city of Jos kill 118 people at a market. Nigerian authorities describe the blasts as "terrorist activities" but decline to speculate on who might be responsible.

May 21, 2014 - The White House announces that the United States has sent 80 troops to Chad to help search for the kidnapped schoolgirls.

June 3-4, 2014 - Hundreds of people are killed in raids by Boko Haram militants in the state of Borno, with some sources putting the death toll at 400 to 500.

June 7-8, 2014 - Suspected Boko Haram militants kidnap at least 20 young women over a weekend in the northeastern Nigeria village of Garkin Fulani, eight kilometers from a town where more than 200 schoolgirls were taken nearly two months earlier.

June 18-22, 2014 - Boko Haram militants hold the village of Kummabza in Borno state hostage for four days. They abduct more than 60 females, including children, and kill 30 men in the raid.

July 7, 2014 - Sources say at least 57 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month from the Kummabza village have escaped from their captors and returned to their village. Boko Haram is still believed to be holding about 200 schoolgirls abducted April 14 from a boarding school in the town of Chibok.

July 17-20, 2014 - Boko Haram raids the Nigerian town of Damboa. By the time the raid ends, 66 residents have been killed and more than 15,000 have fled.

October 16, 2014 - The Nigerian government announces it has reached a ceasefire agreement with the Islamist terror group that includes the promised release of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls.

November 1, 2014 - In a video, the group's leader denies the Nigerian government's claim of a ceasefire.

January 3, 2015 - A multi-day raid begins, where hundreds of Boko Haram gunmen seize the town of Baga and neighboring villages in northern Nigeria, as well as a multinational military base, leaving bodies scattered everywhere and as many as 2,000 people feared dead.

March 2, 2015 - Boko Haram releases a video showing the apparent beheadings of two men they suspected of being spies.

March 7, 2015 - In an audio message purportedly from Shekau, Boko Haram pledges allegiance to ISIS, the Islamic militant group which controls areas of Iraq and Syria. The affiliate is named "Wilayat Gharb Afriqiyya" or "Wilayat Gharb Afriqiyyah," which means the Islamic State of West Africa.

April 25-26, 2015 - The decomposed corpses of at least 400 men, women and children are found in shallow, mass graves and on the streets of Damasak in northeastern Nigeria. Due to a joint Nigerian-Chadian military operation, the town has recently been freed of Boko Haram, which seized the town in November.

April 28-April 30, 2015 - Nigerian troops rescue about 450 women and girls in the Sambisa Forest during a military operation centered around destroying Boko Haram camps and rescuing civilians. According to the military, none of those rescued have been identified as the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped last April.

July 1, 2015 - Boko Haram militants raid three villages in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, killing at least 145 people, according to witnesses.

September 3, 2015 - An estimated 30 people are dead and 145 injured after Boko Haram militants attack a crowded market in Kerawa, Cameroon, and an infirmary near a Cameroonian military camp, according to Cameroonian military spokesman Col. Didier Badjeck.

September 23, 2015 - Two hundred forty-one women and children are rescued and 43 Boko Haram militants are arrested after the Nigerian military raids camps run by the terrorist group in two villages.

April 14, 2016 - CNN posts a video of some of the teenage girls abducted from Chibok that was sent to negotiators by their captors as a "proof of life."

May 17, 2016 - Amina Ali Nkeki, one of more than 200 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls, is the first to be freed after two years in captivity. Nigeria's army says she was rescued by army troops, but a witness tells CNN the girl wandered out of the Sambisa Forest in the northeast of the country along with her child and a man.

August 3, 2016 - ISIS publication al-Naba says that Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi is the new leader of Boko Haram. A Boko Haram insider confirms to CNN that Barnawi, the son of the group's founder - who was killed by Nigerian security forces in 2009 - is in fact the new leader.

August 14, 2016 - Boko Haram releases a video of some of the girls kidnapped in April 2014 and demands the release of Boko Haram fighters in exchange for the girls.

October 13, 2016 - Boko Haram militants hand over 21 Chibok schoolgirls to authorities after a series of negotiations with the Nigerian government. It's the first mass release of any of the more than 200 girls and women kidnapped from their school in April 2014.

November 5, 2016 - A Chibok schoolgirl carrying her 10-month-old son is found by the Nigerian army.

January 5, 2017 - The Nigerian army says another missing Chibok girl and her 6-month old baby have been located during an operation to arrest suspected Boko Haram terrorists.

January 17, 2017 - Scores of people are killed when a Nigerian fighter jet mistakenly bombs a camp for the internally displaced during an operation in Rann against Boko Haram militants, according to Nigerian officials and the Red Cross. The Nigerian government provides no official death toll, but humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders says "about 90" people died.

May 6, 2017 - Eighty-two Chibok schoolgirls are released after negotiations between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government.

February 19, 2018 - A faction of Boko Haram raids the Government Girls Science and Technical College in the northeast Nigerian town of Dapchi, kidnapping 110 students of the college.

February 19, 2018 - A Justice Ministry statement says that a Nigerian high court has convicted 205 Boko Haram suspects for their involvement with the insurgent group, and the suspects were sentenced to jail terms ranging from three to 60 years. The court also freed 526 suspects, including minors, for lack of evidence and ordered they be sent to their state governments for "proper rehabilitation."

May 7, 2018 - The Nigerian army says it has rescued more than 1,000 Boko Haram captives - mainly women and children, as well as some young men who had been forced to become Boko Haram fighters - in Borno state. The operation, which was conducted in conjunction with Cameroonian and Nigerian troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), rescued the hostages from Malamkari, Amchaka, Walasa and Gora villages of the Bama Local Government Area.

January 29, 2019 - The UN Refugee agency says escalating attacks by Boko Haram militants have forced 30,000 people out of Nigeria's northeast into Cameroonian borders over the weekend. The United Nations says more than 250,000 people have already been displaced from northeast Nigeria, and surging militant attacks targeting civilians have forced thousands more to run for their lives each day.

May 10, 2019 - UNICEF says 894 children, including 106 girls, who were recruited by the anti-Boko Haram militia Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in northeast Nigeria, have been released. UNICEF says 1,727 children have been released since CJTF signed an action plan in 2017 to end child recruitment.

July 27, 2019 - A suspected attack by Boko Haram on a funeral gathering in northeastern Nigeria leaves at least 65 people dead. A local official says 21 people were initially killed during the burial ceremony, and an additional 44 people were killed when villagers ran after the assailants.

February 9, 2020 - At least 30 people, including a pregnant woman and a baby, die after suspected Boko Haram militants set fire on sleeping travelers in Borno state, Nigeria.

June 9, 2020 - At least 81 people are killed in an attack on a village by suspected Boko Haram militants in northeast Nigeria, the Borno state government said in a statement. Seven people, including the village head, children and women, are abducted.

January 28, 2021 - Some of the Chibok schoolgirls escape from their captors, the father of one of the girls tells CNN.

April 26, 2021 - Boko Haram fighters have reportedly hoisted the Islamist group's flag in a remote district in Niger State, Nigeria's Middle Belt region, and seized the wives of fleeing residents, the state's governor says in a widely circulated video. Niger State Governor Abubakar Bello discloses during a visit to an internally displaced persons camp in the state capital Minna, that over 3000 persons have been ousted from their communities by Boko Haram and other criminal gangs locally known as bandits.

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international relations and national security

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Here's a look at Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group working out of Nigeria, whose purpose is to institute Sharia, or Islamic law. In the local Hausa dialect, Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden." The group also refers to itself as Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, meaning "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad."

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Emma Dunn

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Child, or early marriage often has negative effects and consequences for a girl's well-being, health, and education, which explains why the practice has been outlawed in Nigeria. In this article, we take a look at some of the major causes and effects of child marriage in Nigeria.

Child (Early) Marriage

According to UNICEF in 2005, 'early marriage' refers to both formal marriages and informal unions in which a girl lives with a partner as if married before age of 18.

Furthermore, early marriage and child marriage can be defined as any marriage carried out below the age of 18 years, before the girl is physically, physiologically, and psychologically ready to shoulder the responsibilities of marriage and childbearing.

The marital age is above the age of 18 years, when the individual is physically, socially, academically and emotionally mature to cope with the challenges of marriage. The Nigerian review draft decree put the marriageable age of the girl-child at 18 years.

Accordingly, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), states that any betrothal or marriage of a child should not have any legal status.

Most early marriages are arranged and based on the consent of parents and often fail to ensure the best interests of the girl child. Early marriages often include some elements of force.

Child marriage is the practice of marrying a young girl (generally defined as below the age of eighteen) to an adult. In most cases, it is always a young girl married to a matured man. It is a situation where female adolescents and teenagers are married to adult husbands. In these instances, sometimes, the men can be twice their ages and these females become child brides.

Statistics show that close to half (forty-five per cent) of girls in Nigeria were married before they turned 18, the practice of child marriage is more rampant in the northern part of Nigeria, with figures as high as 76 per cent.

Reasons behind Child Marriage in Nigeria

The high percentage of child marriage in Northern Nigeria can be attributed mostly to the fact that the practice of Islam in the region endorses child marriage. However, other than Islam, additional factors contribute to this practice.

1. Poverty:

One of the underlying reasons for child marriage in Nigeria is poverty. The high rate of poverty in the northern region of Nigeria without doubt fuels child marriage.

Child marriage is advantageous to poor families in rural locations in a way because the betrothal of girls at a young age relieves parents of the costs and responsibilities of raising a girl.

Indeed, worldwide, poverty is a major cause, and consequence, of early marriage for many young girls under the age of 18. In many traditional settings, poor families use the early marriage of daughters as a strategy for reducing their own economic vulnerability, shifting the economic burden related of a daughter's care to the husband's family.

In Northern Nigeria, there is no doubt that poverty is an underlying reason for child marriage in the region. Due to the endemic poverty among the Hausa-Fulani, female children are viewed as an additional burden on family resources. Consequently, the betrothal of female children at very tender ages has become a strategy for family survival.

2. Virginity:

This is another reason for child marriage in Nigeria. In Northern Nigeria, child marriage is seen as a method for the preservation of the virtue of girls. The rationale for the practice of child marriage in Northern Nigeria is to ensure the preservation of virginity of women and, also, that women do not become pregnant out of wedlock. Based on these reasons, it is not uncommon to find children married at the age of 10 in Northern Nigeria.

The importance of virginity is valued in many communities even beyond northern Nigeria. However, in northern part of Nigeria, virginity is highly valued and the girls are expected to observe. The younger the bride, the likelier she is to be a virgin. In most communities in Nigeria, virginity was highly valued and the girls who broke their virginity were a laughing stock.

Till today, in some parts of the country, it is considered that shame would be cast on a family if a girl was not a virgin when she marries. Therefore, in order to ensure that a girl's virtue remains intact, girls may be married earlier, in order to ensure their virginity

3. Family Honor:

Other than the rationale that child marriage protects girls from social ills, such as promiscuity, it is also carried out for the preservation of family honour. Therefore, in order to avoid the shame attached to pre-marital sex, girls are married off before reaching puberty.

4. Cement Alliances:

Another reason behind child marriage in Nigeria (especially northern region) is culture. Sometimes, children are betrothed before birth to cement the strategic alliances between families. However, this aspect of bethrothal has reduced with social change in the society.

Effects of Child Marriage in Nigeria

Child or early marriage is hinders the development and violates the human rights of the affected affects girls in Nigeria.

1. Health Risks:

Child marriage has various psychological and health risks, including vesico-vaginal fistulae and a higher likelihood of acquiring HIV/AIDS, in part because early marriage often eliminates a girl's ability to abstain from sex and thus increases the frequency of intercourse while also decreasing condom use.

2. Effect on Schooling:

Child marriage also has a strong negative impact on schooling, with most girls who marry early having to drop out of school.

Through its negative impacts on human development, child marriage also contributes to the perpetuation of poverty.

The negative impact of child marriage on a wide range of development outcomes explains why in Nigeria (and many other many countries), child marriage is now prohibited by law. For instance, in Nigeria, under Sections 21 and 23 of the Child Rights Act, marriage before the age of 18 is illegal. Yet because the practice is often associated with deeply held cultural and religious traditions beyond consent law reforms other interventions are often needed to curb the incidence of child marriage.

Typically, the cost of child marriage for a girl's health, education, and well-being is larger when the girl marries very early. For example, child marriage is known to have a negative impact on school enrollment and attainment. The earlier a girl marries, the more likely it is that she will have a low level of schooling, which will not only limit her employment and earnings potential for the rest of her life, but also have other consequences ranging from health to autonomy because education has a large impact on a wide range of development outcomes.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Child marriage in Nigeria still thrives despite laws against the practice. In this article, we examined the causes and effects of child marriage in Nigeria.

The physical health and psychological consequences of child marriage in Nigeria constitute a huge price. Education of the girl-child is important in order to stem the tide of child marriage and its consequences.

Early marriage causes low levels of education, high levels of violence and abuse, social isolation, severe health risks and harmful power dynamics and results in increased gender inequality and vulnerability to poverty for girls, young women, families and the Nigerian society at large.

In order to address this problem, the following recommendations are proffered:

There is the need to provide economic opportunities to girl child because poverty is one of the main causes of child marriage in Nigeria.

There is the need to promote education of girl child because formal education for girls seems to be one of the solutions to child marriage.

There is the need to use mass media to increase the awareness of the whole community about the consequences of child marriage on girls themselves, their family and on the community as a whole.

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Causes and Effects of Child Marriage in Nigeria - Research Cyber

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Child, or early marriage often has negative effects and consequences for a girl's well-being, health, and education, which explains why the practice has been outlawed in Nigeria. In this article, we take a look at some of the major causes and effects of child marriage in Nigeria.

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In a village in northern Nigeria, teen wives gather on mats spread out in the dirt just outside the chief imam's home. They talk about their initial reactions to getting married.

"I had no interest in it at the time. I was just doing my own thing. Marriage was not on my mind until when God wished it was time," says 16-year-old Fadilah Bello. She's the boldest of them, talking freely and coaxing on the others.

"Well, of course you would be nervous or scared. You cry on your way to your new home because you are leaving your parents and you don't know where you will be taken to," said Sahura Misbahu. She got married three years ago. She thinks she's 15; she doesn't know her husband's age.

"Had it been I had a choice, they should have given me a year to graduate from school but since this was what the parents wanted, I had no other choice," says the 15-year-old chief imam's daughter, Aisha Ahmed.

Nigeria has the largest number of child brides in Africa, according to the U.N. Children's Fund. The practice is most prevalent in the predominantly Muslim north where conservative Islamic groups staunchly resist efforts to criminalize child marriage. Most girls accept whether they want to or not, but times are changing.

"We are seeing more and more girls running away from child marriages," says Hajia Rabi Salisu, the founder of Arrida Relief Foundation and owner of a children's home in Kaduna.

She and other activists want states in the north to criminalize marriage before the age of 18. A prominent activist, Salisu says her advocacy has put her at loggerheads with Muslim groups and she regularly receives death threats.

"I sleep in a different home almost every night because my life is at stake simply for trying to protect the lives of children," she told VOA.
Fellow runaways
Rahmatu Ibrahim and Naja'atu Abdullahi, both 14, didn't know each other few months ago. But their similar circumstances brought them to Salisu's children's home.

"I was being forced into an arranged marriage," said Rahmatu. "That was why I ran away. I don't love him and I don't know him. I had never seen him before. A date was set and a day [before] the wedding, I ran away."

Naja'atu, whose parents watched her leave, wants to focus on her education.

VOA met Sumayya Musa in another village in Kaduna State. A sprightly 18-year-old student, she has defied the expectations placed on her by the community.

"My father wanted me to get married when I was 13, but my mother said no, because she was in support of my decision to further my education," she says. "People here in this village laugh at me because I am not yet married. They gossip and sometimes I used to cry. But the moment I remember the advantage of my studies, I stop crying."

Nigerian lawmakers have been debating marriage customs for decades. The federal 2003 Child Rights Act mandates that both parties be at least 18 to marry, but it's left for states to ratify the act and most of the states in northern Nigeria have not.

Muslim rights groups have been meeting with northern state lawmakers to express their concerns. Some activists propose a minimum age requirement of 15, but the idea offends Awwal Tesleem Shittu, a member of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria.

He says that according to Islam, a girl's readiness for marriage cannot be determined by her age.

"A girl of 13 years old, if she is not physically okay, maybe she doesn't have a sound mind, she could not comprehend, she could not differentiate between right and wrong, she is not fit for marriage. She is not ripe for marriage," he says. "A girl of nine years, if she is sound, she is physically okay, she can go in, because in Islam there is no barrier to that."

The Quran specifies that girls can marry once they reach maturity, which some conservative scholars define as puberty, while other Muslim communities and scholars accept 18 as the age of maturity.
Senator's bride triggered movement
The #ChildNotBride hashtag began trending in Nigeria in 2013 after a senator and former governor, Ahmad Sani Yerima, was accused of marrying a 13-year-old. Yerima denied the accusation but declined to reveal the age of the girl in question. Yerima also supported a legal amendment to consider any married girl, regardless of age, an adult before the law.

The 2014 case of a 14-year-old girl in Kano who admitted to killing her 35-year-old husband with rat poison again brought child marriage under scrutiny. Police said the girl's father forced her to wed. The murder charges were eventually dropped.

Rights activists say it is poverty, not religion, that drives parents to marry off their young daughters.

"They just want to take these girls off their hands as fast as possible," said activist Mustapha Wakil, who notes that economically disadvantaged parents have been accepting unusually low dowries - as little as 3,000 naira, the equivalent of $8. Parents used to demand at least 40,000 naira, or $112.

Wakil is campaigning for his state of Yobe in northern Nigeria to pass the federal Child Rights Act because he says the current state statutes on marriage are confusing, in particular clauses differentiating betrothal and consummation.

In a village outside the Kaduna state capital, 14-year-old Basira Bello, is preparing for her wedding. She's a shy one, but she managed to say that she's excited because all of her friends are already married.

Soon, she'll marry Salihu Amiru, about 20 years her senior.

"I do not want men to be looking at her and if I allow her to continue with school, men will be looking at her as she walks to school or even the men in the class. I can't allow that," he said.

He wants to have children as quickly as possible; he's hoping to have many daughters.

As for the runaways, Rahmatu and Naja'atu, they just want to hold on to their childhoods a little while longer. They are attending school and hope their families will one day forgive them for running away.
This report was supported by Code for Africa, a data journalism initiative.

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голос америки

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Bid to End Child Marriages Arouses Passions in Northern Nigeria

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In a village in northern Nigeria, teen wives gather on mats spread out in the dirt just outside the chief imam's home. They talk about their initial reactions to getting married. "I had no interest in it at the time. I was just doing my own thing.

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In December 2018, Nigerian media reported that a man in his 70s had married a 15-year-old girl in Niger State.

Photos of the couple - posted on social media - sparked outrage across the country, and inspired a group of three teenage girls to start fighting back.

Susan, Kudirat, and Temitayo set up a non-profit organisation called It's Never Your Fault and chose the issue of child marriage as their first campaign: #raisetheage.

Online petition to end child marriage

Through an online petition, #raisetheage is calling for the Nigerian government to increase the age of marriage in all states to eighteen years old and for this law to be fully enforced.

The petition has already amassed more than 115,000 signatures and continues to gain momentum.

The petition has already amassed more than 115,000 signatures and continues to gain momentum.

Speaking in support of the campaign and petition, Hussaini Abdu - Plan International's Country Director in Nigeria - said:

"Child marriage has a devastating impact on children's lives - particularly on the lives of girls. It not only robs them of their rights, but also of their childhoods.

"In Nigeria, 43% of girls are married off before their 18th birthday and 17% are married before they turn 15. A girl who is married before the age of 18 is more likely to drop out of school, to become a child mother, to die during pregnancy or childbirth, and to be trapped in a lifetime of poverty.

"She is also more likely to be psychologically and economically dependent on her husband and in-laws, and therefore unlikely to realise her true potential."

Power imbalance

"When there is a large age gap between a bride and groom - as in the case that inspired the #raisetheage petition - it is highly likely that there is a huge power imbalance in the marriage. Many girls in Nigeria are already treated as inferior to boys and men, but when they are trapped in a marriage they never wanted, it is even more difficult for them to get their voices heard.

"Their hopes and dreams are limited as soon as they start their new lives, they are often cut off from family and friends, unable to complete their education and fulfil their potential and are highly likely to face domestic and sexual violence.

"The girls behind #raisetheage are a fantastic example of what girls can achieve if harmful practices that hold them back, such as child marriage, are no longer followed. They know that we need change, and they're fed up with waiting for someone else to make it happen. It's an exciting time for girls in Nigeria. They've had enough - enough of being ignored, enough of being overlooked and enough of being underestimated. So they're taking matters into their own hands."

Listen to girls

"The government of Nigeria must listen to them. It must do more to combat child marriage and amend its contradictory laws. And it must do more to protect and support girls so that they can live their lives freely, as equals to boys and men."
Support girls in Nigeria by signing their peition

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Nigerian teens launch petition to ban child marriage

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In December 2018, Nigerian media reported that a man in his 70s had married a 15-year-old girl in Niger State. Photos of the couple - posted on social media - sparked outrage across the country, and inspired a group of three teenage girls to start fighting back.

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Women's rights in Africa - UN and African Union launch report ahead of International Women's Day
GENEVA/ADDIS ABABA (7 March 2017) - The UN Human Rights Office today launched, together with the African Union and UN Women, a report into women's rights in Africa. It is the first in a planned series about women's human rights on the continent that will address various thematic issues.

There have been great strides in realising women's rights in Africa - for example, female participation in African legislatures surpasses that of many developed countries. There are now provisions on sexual and gender-based violence, economic, social and cultural rights and non-discrimination in constitutions and policies across the continent.

But in every country in Africa, as around the world, women continued to be denied full enjoyment of their rights.

Among some of the report's statistics: in six African countries, there is no legal protection for women against domestic violence. In 2013, African women and girls accounted for 62 percent of all global deaths from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. An estimated 130 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation, mainly in Africa. If current trends continue, almost half of the world's child brides in 2050 will be African.

In Africa, and globally, it is clear that when women are able to exercise their rights to access to education, skills, and jobs, there is a surge in prosperity, positive health outcomes, and greater freedom and well-being, not only of women but of the whole society.

In many countries, gaps in protecting women's rights are compounded by political instability and conflict. The report stresses that women should not be seen only as victims but, for example, as active agents in formal and informal peace building processes.

Among its recommendations, the report calls on African governments to encourage women's full and productive employment, to recognize the importance of unpaid care and domestic work, and to ensure women can access and control their own economic and financial resources.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, contact Rupert Colville (+41 22 917 9767 / rcolville@ohchr.org ) or Ravina Shamdasani (+41 22 917 9169 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org )

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Two consecutive mass shootings occurred at mosques in a terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, during Friday Prayer on 15 March 2019. The attack, carried out by a single gunman who entered both mosques, began at the Al Noor Mosque in the suburb of Riccarton at 1:40 pm and continued at Linwood Islamic Centre at 1:52 pm. He killed 51 people and injured 40.

Brenton Harrison Tarrant, a 28-year-old man from Grafton, New South Wales, Australia, was arrested shortly afterward. He was described in media reports as a white supremacist and part of the alt-right. He had live-streamed the first shooting on Facebook, and prior to the attack, had published an online manifesto; both the video and manifesto were subsequently banned in New Zealand and Australia. After police investigation, he was charged with 51 murders, 40 attempted murders, and engaging in a terrorist act. He initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, with the trial expected to start on 2 June 2020. On 26 March 2020, he changed his plea to guilty on all charges. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on 27 August 2020. It was the first time a life imprisonment without parole sentence was handed down in New Zealand.

The attack was linked to an increase in white supremacy and alt-right extremism globally observed since about 2015. Politicians and world leaders condemned it, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it as "one of New Zealand's darkest days". The government established a royal commission of inquiry into its security agencies in the wake of the shootings, which were the deadliest in modern New Zealand history and the worst ever committed by an Australian national. The commission submitted its report to the government on 26 November 2020, the details of which were made public on 7 December.

Background

New Zealand has been considered a safe and tolerant place with low levels of gun violence and was named the second most peaceful country in the world by Global Peace Index in 2019, the year of the attacks. This attack was the first mass shooting in the country since the Raurimu massacre in 1997. Prior to that, the deadliest public mass shooting was the 1990 Aramoana massacre, in which 13 people died. While the country has rarely been associated with the extreme right, experts have suggested that far-right extremism has been growing in New Zealand. The sociologist Paul Spoonley has called Christchurch a hotbed for white supremacists and the extreme nationalist movement, a suggestion rejected by Christchurch MP Gerry Brownlee. Australia, where the gunman, Brenton Tarrant, was from, has also seen an increase in xenophobia, racism, and Islamophobia.

In the 2018 census, over 57,000 New Zealand residents reported their religion as Islam, around 1.2% of the total population. The Al Noor Mosque opened in 1985; it was the first mosque in the South Island. The Linwood Islamic Centre opened in early 2018.

Al Noor Mosque

Tarrant arrived at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton and began shooting worshippers at around 1:40 pm. Police received the first emergency call at 1:41 pm. Approximately 190 people, mostly men, were inside the mosque attending Friday prayer at the time of the shooting.

Tarrant live-streamed the first 17 minutes of his attack on Facebook Live, starting with the drive to the Al Noor mosque and ending as he drove away from the mosque. Moments before the shooting, he played several songs, including " The British Grenadiers", a traditional British military marching song; and " Remove Kebab", a Serb nationalist and anti-Muslim propaganda music video cheering Radovan Karadžić, who was found guilty in 2016 of genocide against Bosnian Muslims by the ICTY. He also continued to play "military music" inside the mosque from a portable audio speaker attached to the front of a tactical vest he was wearing. As he approached the front entrance to the mosque, Tarrant appeared to be greeted by one of the worshippers, who said "Hello, brother" and was the first victim to be killed in the attack.

Tarrant spent several minutes inside the mosque, shooting attendees indiscriminately. He first fired nine shots from a semiautomatic shotgun towards the front entrance before dropping it. He then began using an AR-15 style rifle and opened fire on people inside. He killed four men near the entrance and dozens more inside a prayer hall. A strobe-light attached to one of his weapons was used to disorient victims. During the attack, a worshipper, Naeem Rashid, charged at him and was shot; Rashid later died from his injuries.

Tarrant fired indiscriminately at worshippers in the prayer hall from close range, shooting many of his victims multiple times. He then left the mosque and fired on more people outside, killing a man. Returning to his vehicle, he retrieved another weapon before heading to the mosque's car park and shot several people fleeing or hiding there. He then reentered the mosque and opened fire again on people who were already wounded in the prayer hall and unable to escape. Afterwards, Tarrant exited the mosque once more and killed a woman lying wounded on the footpath as she pleaded for help. He then returned to his car, which had been parked in a neighbouring driveway, and fled the scene to the music of " Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, in which the singer proclaims, "I am the god of hellfire!" He fired at people from the driver's seat who were in cars and on foot as he fled, which left bullet holes in his windscreen and the passenger window of his car smashed. Tarrant had been planning to set fire to the mosque, as stated when he drove away to the Linwood Islamic Centre: "It was too quick. I should've stayed longer. There was more time for the fuel." He had four modified petrol containers in his car, which were intended as incendiary devices. A neighbour of the mosque told reporters he saw Tarrant flee and drop what appeared to be a firearm in the driveway.

Tarrant had spent a total of about five minutes at the Al Noor Mosque. At 1:46 pm, as he drove away from the mosque, the Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) arrived near the scene. Police Commissioner Mike Bush said at this point he was already leaving the area, his car hidden by a bus. At this time, AOS members did not know how many shooters there were and were not informed that the offender had left the mosque. At 1:51 pm, first responders arrived at the Al Noor Mosque. About three minutes after Tarrant left the mosque, his vehicle passed by one or more police vehicles responding to the shooting. However, he remained undetected by police as he continued on his way eastwards on Bealey Ave to the Linwood Islamic Centre, driving at speeds up to 150 km/h in a 50 km/h zone, weaving in and out traffic, driving on the wrong side of the road and up onto the grass median strip. As Tarrant drove to the Linwood Islamic Centre, reports came in from the public of a vehicle driving "erratically" along Bealey Ave. Tarrant, on two occasions, also unsuccessfully tried to shoot the driver of a car next to him. At 1:51 pm, one minute before he reached the Linwood Islamic Centre, the livestream abruptly ended. However, the GoPro device attached to his helmet that was recording footage was still active and continued to record until Tarrant was apprehended by police eight minutes later.

Linwood Islamic Centre

A second attack began at 1:52 pm at the Linwood Islamic Centre, a mosque 5 kilometres (3 mi) east of the Al Noor Mosque in Linwood. Tarrant parked his vehicle on the mosque's driveway, preventing other cars from entering or leaving. According to a witness, Tarrant was initially unable to find the mosque's main door, instead shooting people outside and through a window, killing four and alerting those inside. About 100 people were inside the mosque at the time, and had not been alerted to the attack at Al Noor.

The mosque's acting imam credited a worshipper named Abdul Aziz Wahabzada with stopping the attack. Wahabzada told reporters he had taken a credit card reader and ran out of the mosque, by which time Tarrant outside had already shot several people. Tarrant was about to retrieve another gun from his car, so Wahabzada threw the reader at him. Tarrant took a rifle from his car and fired at Wahabzada, who took cover among nearby cars and retrieved an empty shotgun Tarrant had dropped. Despite Wahabzada's attempt to draw Tarrant's attention away from the mosque by shouting "I'm here!", he entered the mosque and continued firing in a prayer hall, killing an additional three people. When Tarrant returned to his car again, Wahabzada threw the shotgun at the car, shattering the left rear window. Tarrant then drove away from the mosque at 1:55 pm, and a minute later, a member of the public waved down a police car to report shots had been fired in Linwood.

At 1:59 pm, police arrived at the Linwood Islamic Centre, the same minute Tarrant was arrested on Brougham Street.

Early reports indicated "multiple, simultaneous attack[s]", but later, only a single suspect, Tarrant, was implicated. A silver Subaru Outback matching the description of Tarrant's vehicle was seen by a police unit and a pursuit was initiated at 1:57 pm. Tarrant was arrested on Brougham Street in Sydenham at 1:59 pm, 18 minutes after the first emergency call. Video footage taken by an onlooker showed his car had been rammed against the kerb by a police car before his arrest at gunpoint.

The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, said Tarrant had been planning to continue the attacks at a third location, later identified as the mosque in Ashburton, 90 km (56 mi) southwest of Christchurch. According to Ardern, "There were two other firearms in the vehicle that the offender was in and it absolutely was his intention to continue with his attack". Police Commissioner Mike Bush corroborated this, saying police had stopped Tarrant on his way to a third location. The arresting officers were rural-based police who were coincidentally in Christchurch to attend a training session on dealing with armed offenders.

Fifty-one people, 47 male and 4 female, were killed in the attacks: 44 at the Al Noor Mosque and 7 at the Linwood Islamic Centre. One of the victims died shortly after in Christchurch Hospital, while another died in hospital on 2 May, seven weeks after the attack. Those killed were between 3 and 77 years old. The hospital's Chief of Surgery said on 16 March that four had died in ambulances en route to the hospital.

Forty others were injured: 35 at the Al Noor Mosque and 5 at the Linwood Islamic Centre. On 17 March, Commissioner Bush said 36 were being treated for gunshot wounds in hospital. Two were in a serious condition, and a 4-year-old girl was transferred to Starship Hospital in Auckland in a critical condition.

In the days following the attacks, dozens of people remained missing and several diplomatic offices and foreign ministries released statements regarding the number of victims from their nations. Police requested that people listed as missing, though actually safe, register themselves on the Restoring Family Links website. The New Zealand Red Cross published a list of missing people which included nationals of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Among the dead listed in New Zealand Police media releases were citizens of Bangladesh, Egypt, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Pakistan and Palestine. A citizen from Turkey died in the hospital in early May. Atta Elayyan, an IT entrepreneur and goalkeeper for the New Zealand national futsal team, was among those killed.

The known birthplaces of the deceased are as follows.

Perpetrator

Police charged Brenton Harrison Tarrant, a white 28-year-old Australian man. He grew up in Grafton, New South Wales and attended Grafton High School. After Tarrant's parents separated when he was young, his mother's subsequent boyfriend abused her and the children. He worked as a personal trainer in his hometown from 2009 to 2011, quitting after an injury, and after inheriting A$ 457,000 from his father, who committed suicide in 2010.

At the time of his mass murder, Tarrant had been living in Andersons Bay in Dunedin since 2017, and was a member of a South Otago gun club where he practised shooting at its range. A neighbour, who shared an internal wall with Tarrant in his house in Andersons Bay, described him as a "bit of a recluse" and a "loner, but a friendly loner." The neighbour also said Tarrant would offer to mow the lawns for his and his neighbour's landlord and help out around the property. In 2018, Tarrant was treated for eye and thigh injuries at Dunedin Public Hospital; he told doctors he had sustained the injuries while trying to dislodge a bullet that had been improperly chambered in a gun. The doctors also treated him for issues arising from steroid abuse, but they never reported Tarrant's visit to the authorities, which would have resulted in them visiting his home and reviewing his gun licence. Shortly before the attacks, he sent his mother a message that she was "about to see and read 'the most terrible things' about him".

In a report published by Newshub in April 2020, survivors of the attack claimed that a man that they believe to be Tarrant had visited the Al Noor Mosque three times consecutively during Friday Prayer and pretended to pray with worshippers before the attack. Gamal Fouda, the Imam of the Al Noor Mosque, told Newshub that Tarrant dressed up in traditional Pakistani clothing while inside the mosque, and that he had questioned a person about the scheduling of the Friday Prayer times. Fouda also added that Tarrant "...knew the place like his house." Canterbury Police District Commander Superintendent John Price told Newshub that police have found evidence from CCTV footage that Tarrant's vehicle had been parked across the street from the mosque before 15 March. However, Price also said police found no evidence to support the claim that Tarrant had entered the mosque grounds before the attack. Instead, Price said that police believe Tarrant had viewed an online tour of Al-Noor as part of his planning. An Official Information Act request by Newshub also revealed Tarrant flew a drone over the mosque on 8 January, weeks before he would open fire. Additionally, he used the Internet to find detailed mosque plans, interior pictures, and prayer schedules to figure out when mosques would be at their busiest levels.

Travels and racist views

Tarrant began expressing racist ideas from a young age and reportedly started using the controversial 4chan internet forum at the age of 14. From 2012 onward, he visited a number of countries in Asia and Europe, using the money he inherited from his father. He always travelled alone, with the exception of a trip to North Korea. Police in Bulgaria and Turkey investigated Tarrant's visits to their countries. Security officials suspected he had come into contact with far-right organisations about two years before the shooting, while visiting European nations. He donated €1,500 to Identitäre Bewegung Österreich (IBÖ), the Austrian branch of Generation Identity (part of the Identitarian movement) in Europe, as well as €2,200 to Génération Identitaire, the French branch of the group, and interacted with IBÖ leader Martin Sellner via email between January 2018 and July 2018, offering to meet in Vienna and a linking to his YouTube channel.

Captivated with sites of battles between Christian European nations and the Ottoman Empire, Tarrant went on another series of visits to the Balkans from 2016 to 2018, with Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina confirming his presence there in these years. He posted Balkan nationalist material on social media platforms, and called for the United States to be weakened in order to prevent events such as the NATO intervention in Kosovo in support of Muslim Albanians against Christian Serbs. He said he was against intervention by NATO because he saw the Serbian military as "Christian Europeans attempting to remove these Islamic occupiers from Europe". By June 2016, relatives noted a change in Tarrant's personality, which he claimed was the result of a mugging incident in Ethiopia, and his mother had expressed concern for his mental health.

In 2016, three years prior to the attacks, Tarrant praised Blair Cottrell as a leader of the far-right movements in Australia and made more than 30 comments on the now-deleted " United Patriots Front" and " True Blue Crew" web pages. An Australian Broadcasting Corporation team who studied the comments called them "fragments and digital impressions of a well-travelled young man who frequented hate-filled anonymous messaging boards and was deeply engaged in a global alt-right culture." A Melbourne man said that in 2016, he filed a police complaint after Tarrant allegedly told him in an online conversation, "I hope one day you meet the rope". He said that the police told him to block Tarrant and did not take a statement from him. The police said that they were unable to locate a complaint.

Tarrant claimed that he is racist but not xenophobic. He is thought to have become obsessed with terrorist attacks committed by Islamic extremists in 2016 and 2017, started planning an attack about two years prior to the shootings, and chosen his targets three months in advance. He admitted that he is a fascist. He expressed his hopes to create a "gun conflict" in the United States over gun ownership. After his arrest, Tarrant told investigators that he frequented right-wing discussion boards on 4chan and 8chan, and he also found YouTube as "a significant source of information and inspiration."

Police recovered six guns: two AR-15 style rifles (one manufactured by Windham Weaponry and the other by Ruger), two 12-gauge shotguns (a semiautomatic Mossberg 930 and a pump-action Ranger 870), and two other rifles (a .357 Magnum Uberti lever-action rifle, and a .223-caliber Mossberg Predator bolt-action rifle). They were all purchased between December 2017 and March 2019, along with more than 7,000 rounds of ammunition. Police Commissioner Mike Bush said Tarrant held a firearms licence with an "A" endorsement, and he started buying his arsenal a month after acquiring his licence. According to a city gun store, Tarrant bought four firearms and ammunition online. The shop said none of the four were military-style weapons, and it is not known if these guns were the ones used in the attacks. The shop did not detect anything unusual or extraordinary about the customer. Additionally, he illegally replaced the semi-automatic rifles' small, legal magazines with 30-round magazines purchased online, and the triggers of some of the firearms were modified so he could fire them more quickly.

According to Stuff, Tarrant was wrongly granted a firearms licence due to police failures. Sources said that police failed to interview a family member as required for obtaining a firearms licence, instead interviewing two men that Tarrant had met through an online chatroom. In the days after the attacks, the police had quashed concerns that Tarrant had obtained the weapons inappropriately. Police have not given comment to this allegation, saying they do not wish to interfere with the ongoing inquiry into the event.

The guns and magazines used were covered in white writing naming historical events, people, and motifs related to historical conflicts, wars, and battles between Muslims and European Christians, as well as the names of recent Islamic terrorist attack victims and the names of far-right attackers. The markings also included references to "Turkofagos" (Turk eater), a term used by Greeks during the Greek War of Independence and white supremacist slogans such as the anti-Muslim phrase " Remove Kebab" that originated from Serbia and the Fourteen Words. Apart from the Latin alphabet, writings on the weaponry were in the Cyrillic, Armenian and Georgian alphabets. The writings were names dedicated to historic individuals that fought against Muslim forces. On his pack was a Black Sun patch, and two dog tags: one with a Celtic cross, and one with a Slavic swastika design. Police also found two improvised explosive devices attached to a car; these were defused by the New Zealand Defence Force. No explosives were found on the gunman.

Tarrant claims to be the author of a 74-page manifesto titled "The Great Replacement", a reference to the " Great Replacement" and " white genocide" conspiracy theories. It said that the attacks were planned two years prior, and the location was selected three months prior. Minutes before the attacks began, the manifesto was emailed to more than 30 recipients, including the prime minister's office and several media outlets, and links were shared on Twitter and 8chan.

In the manifesto several anti-immigrant sentiments are expressed, including hate speech against migrants, white supremacist rhetoric, and calls for all non-European immigrants in Europe who are claimed to be "invading his land" to be removed. The manifesto displays neo-Nazi symbols such as the Black Sun and the Odin's cross. However, the author denies being a Nazi, describing himself instead as an " ethno-nationalist", an " eco-fascist", and a " kebab removalist", in reference to a meme exalting the genocide of Bosnian Muslims that occurred during the Bosnian War. The author cites Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik and others as an inspiration. The author says he originally targeted the Al Huda Mosque in Dunedin, but changed his mind after visiting Christchurch, because the Christchurch mosques contained "more adults and a prior history of extremism". In 2014 and 2015, local press reported an allegation that a congregation member had been radicalised at the mosque.

The manifesto was described by some media outlets as " shitposting"- trolling designed to engender conflict between certain groups and people. Readers of the manifesto described it as containing deliberately provocative and absurd statements, such as sarcastically claiming to have been turned into a killer by playing violent video games. On 23 March 2019, the manifesto was deemed "objectionable" by the Chief Censor of New Zealand, making it unlawful to possess or distribute it in New Zealand. In August 2019, The New Zealand Herald reported that printed copies of the manifesto were being sold online outside New Zealand, something New Zealand law could not prevent.

Genocide scholar A. Dirk Moses analyzed the manifesto, concluding that "Tarrant's words yield insights into the subjectivity of genocidaires more generally, namely that they commit terrorist acts with genocidal intent as - in their own mind - preventative self-defence; not as acts of aggression but, as he writes, 'a partisan action against an occupying force'". According to Moses, it is hypocritical for Tarrant to complain about supposed " white genocide" from immigration without recognizing that he himself comes from a settler colony that resulted from what Moses characterizes as genocide against the indigenous peoples of Australia.

Legal proceedings

Arraignment

Tarrant appeared in the Christchurch District Court on 16 March, where he was charged with one count of murder. The judge ordered the courtroom closed to the public except for accredited media, and allowed the accused to be filmed and photographed on the condition that his face be pixellated. In court, Tarrant smiled at reporters and made an inverted OK gesture below his waist, said to be a "white power" sign.

The case was transferred to the High Court and he was remanded in custody, as his lawyer did not seek bail. He was subsequently transferred to the country's only maximum-security unit at Auckland Prison. He has lodged a formal complaint regarding his prison conditions, on the grounds that he has no access to newspapers, television, Internet, visitors or phone calls. On 4 April, police announced they had increased the total number of charges to 89, 50 for murder and 39 for attempted murder, with other charges still under consideration. At the next hearing on 5 April, he was ordered by the judge to undergo a psychiatric assessment of his mental fitness to stand trial.

On 21 May 2019, Commissioner Bush announced that a new charge of engaging in a terrorist act had been laid against Tarrant under section 6A of the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002. One murder charge and one attempted murder charge were also added, bringing the total to 51 and 40 respectively.

Initial plea and pre-trial detention

On 14 June 2019, Tarrant appeared at the Christchurch High Court via audio-visual link from Auckland Prison. Through his lawyer, he pleaded not guilty to engaging in a terrorist act, 51 counts of murder, and 40 counts of attempted murder. Mental health assessments had indicated no issues regarding his fitness to plead or stand trial. The trial start date was set for 4 May 2020; the Crown prosecutor estimated the trial would last around six weeks. On 12 September 2019, the trial date was pushed back to 2 June 2020, to avoid coinciding with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

On 14 August 2019, it was reported that Tarrant had been able to send seven letters from prison, two to his mother and five to unnamed recipients. One of these letters was subsequently posted on the Internet message boards 4chan and 8chan by a recipient. Minister of Corrections Kelvin Davis and the Department of Corrections were criticised for allowing the distribution of these letters. On 19 August, Prime Minister Ardern announced that the Government would explore amending the Corrections Act 2004 to further restrict what mail can be received and sent by prisoners.

Guilty plea and sentencing arrangements

On 26 March 2020, Tarrant appeared at the Christchurch High Court via audio-visual link from Auckland Prison. During the appearance, he pleaded guilty to all 92 charges: one of engaging in a terrorist act, 51 of murder, and 40 of attempted murder. Due to the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, the general public was barred from the hearing; however, media representatives and representatives for the Al-Noor and Linwood mosques were present in the courtroom. According to media reports, Tarrant's lawyers Shane Tait and Jonathan Hudson had informed the courts that Tarrant was considering changing his plea. On 25 March, Tarrant issued his lawyers with formal written instructions confirming that he wanted to change his pleas to guilty. In response, court authorities began making arrangements for the case to be called as soon as possible in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown. The judge convicted Tarrant on all charges and remanded him in custody to await sentencing.

On 10 July, the government announced that overseas-based victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings would receive border exemptions and financial help in order to fly to New Zealand for the duration of Tarrant's sentencing. On 13 July, it was reported that Tarrant had dismissed his lawyers and would be representing himself during sentencing proceedings.

Sentencing

Sentencing began on 24 August 2020 before Justice Cameron Mander at the Christchurch High Court. Capacity in the main courtroom was limited to comply with social distancing requirements of COVID-19 alert level 2, with the proceedings livestreamed to seven other courtrooms to accommodate victims and media. In addition, the sentencing proceedings were livestreamed to people at home who were unable to attend the proceedings in person. Extra security was implemented at the Christchurch courthouse; roads around the precinct were closed, armed police including police dogs and snipers were deployed, and non-urgent court business was suspended. Tarrant was flown from Auckland to Christchurch aboard an RNZAF C-130 Hercules, and held in the court cells to mitigate the risk of him being attacked on the 19 km (12 mi) journey between the courthouse and Christchurch Men's Prison.

During the sentencing phase, the Crown prosecutors read the statement of facts to the court, showing how Tarrant had meticulously planned the two mosque shootings as well as more attacks. Numerous survivors of the mosque shooting and their relatives gave victim impact statements, which were covered by national and international media. Tarrant remained mostly unemotional and expressionless during these victim impact statements, except for certain moments such as when he smiled when Abreem Naeem, a widow of a victim, called Tarrant a loser.

On 27 August 2020, the day of sentencing, Philip Hall QC, who had been appointed as Tarrant's standby counsel, said that his only instruction from Tarrant was that he did "not oppose the application that he should be sentenced to the term of life without parole". Justice Mander gave Tarrant the opportunity to address the court, however Tarrant replied, "No, thank you". Justice Mander sentenced Tarrant to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for each of the 51 murders. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment on the charge of engaging in a terrorist act and 40 attempted murder charges. It was the first time that life imprisonment without parole, the maximum sentence available in New Zealand, had been imposed. In his sentencing remarks, Justice Mander said Tarrant's crimes "are so wicked that even if you are detained until you die, it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation."

Following the sentencing, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters called for Tarrant to serve his sentence in Australia in order to avoid New Zealand having to pay the costs for his life imprisonment. The cost of housing Tarrant in prison was estimated at NZ$4,930 per day, compared to an average cost of $338 per sentenced prisoner per day. Peters's remarks were also motivated[citation needed ] by Australia's policy of deporting New Zealand citizens who had committed crimes or breached character requirements. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said there is currently no legal basis for extradition and that respecting the wishes of his victims and their relatives would be paramount. Justice Minister Andrew Little said Parliament would need to pass a law to deport Tarrant to Australia. University of Otago law professor Dr Andrew Geddis said it was "legally impossible" under New Zealand law to deport Tarrant to Australia to serve his sentence. Other New Zealand politicians including Leader of the Opposition and National Party leader Judith Collins, fellow National MP Simon Bridges, Greens co-leader James Shaw, and ACT Party leader David Seymour welcomed Tarrant's life sentence. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also welcomed Tarrant's life sentence, saying Australians were horrified by Tarrant's "despicable act" and regarded New Zealand as "family". On 28 August, Morrison and the Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton advised that while no formal request had been made by the New Zealand Government to repatriate Tarrant to Australia and for him to serve his life sentence in an Australian correctional facility, the Australian Government was open to considering a request.

Emergency services response

In April 2019, police released a final timeline of the event. It said police were at the first scene within minutes of the incident being reported at 1:41 pm. It was initially understood that the arrest had taken 36 minutes, but it was later clarified that it had taken 18 minutes. In response to criticism that police were too slow to react, District Commander John Price said: "That is an incredibly fast response time. You had a mobile offender across a large metropolitan city."

St. John Ambulance sent 20 ambulances and other vehicles to the mosques. Most of the wounded were taken to Christchurch Hospital. Forty-eight people with gunshot wounds, including young children, were treated at the hospital, with some taken to other hospitals within Christchurch and nationally. Canterbury District Health Board activated its mass-casualty plan. Paramedics describe a 'river of blood' coming out of the mosque and having to step over bodies to collect the wounded.

Police advised all mosques in the country to close until further notice, and sent officers to secure various sites in Christchurch. All Air New Zealand Link services departing from Christchurch Airport were cancelled as a precaution, due to the absence of security screening at the regional terminal. Security was increased at Parliament, and public tours of the buildings were cancelled. In Dunedin, the Armed Offenders Squad searched a house, later reported to have been rented by the gunman, and cordoned off part of the surrounding street in Andersons Bay because Tarrant had indicated on social media that he had originally planned to target the Al Huda Mosque in that city.

Governmental response

For the first time in New Zealand history, the terrorism threat level was raised to high. Prime Minister Ardern called the incident an "act of extreme and unprecedented violence" on "one of New Zealand's darkest days". She described it as a "well-planned" terrorist attack. She said she would render the person accused of the attacks "nameless" and urged the public to speak the victims' names instead. A meeting of the Officials Committee for Domestic and External Security Co-ordination was convened to coordinate the government's response. Ardern, who had just left a school climate-strike rally in New Plymouth, returned to her hotel along with the Minister for Security and Intelligence, Andrew Little, to give a press statement. Ardern cancelled her remaining public engagements scheduled for that day, including opening the WOMAD international arts festival. She then boarded an RNZAF plane to fly to Wellington to join official meetings taking place at the Beehive. Ardern issued a directive that flags on "all Government and public buildings" should be flown at half-mast until further notice.

In May 2019, the NZ Transport Authority offered to replace any vehicle number plates with the prefix "GUN" (issued in 2013) on request, although they were not withdrawn.

In mid-October 2019, Prime Minister Ardern awarded bravery awards to the two police officers who had apprehended the shooter Tarrant at the annual Police Association Conference in Wellington. Due to the legal proceedings against Tarrant, the two officers had interim name suppression, but in December 2019 this was lifted.

On 1 September 2020, Prime Minister Ardern designated Tarrant as a terrorist entity, explaining, "This entity freezes all his assets and also makes it a criminal offence for anyone to support the shooter financially, and ensures the offender cannot be involved in the financing of terrorism in the future".

Royal commission of inquiry

Cabinet agreed to hold an inquiry into the attacks, and announced on 25 March that it would take the form of a royal commission of inquiry. Little told Radio New Zealand, "I have given authority to the agencies to do intrusive activities under warrant, the number of those (warrants) I'm not at liberty to disclose." He said that the intelligence services usually put 30 to 40 people under monitoring at a time. Although more people than usual were being monitored, he was not willing to reveal how many. He also said the operations could be anything from physical surveillance to watching telecommunications activity.

On 8 April 2019, Prime Minister Ardern confirmed the terms of reference for the royal commission of inquiry, and announced that Supreme Court justice Sir William Young would chair the inquiry.

On 26 November 2020, the Royal Commission formally presented its 792-page report to the government. This report was made public on 8 December. Though it acknowledged there were no signs an attack in New Zealand was imminent at the time, it highlighted failures by the police system to properly vet gun purchases, as well as the country's intelligence services' strong focus on Islamic extremism at the expense of other potential threats such as white supremacy. The report also made 44 recommendations, including the establishment of a new national intelligence agency specializing in counterterrorism strategies. After the report's recommendations were made public, Ardern said the government has agreed to implement all of them. The report also found that YouTube had radicalized the shooter.

Other responses in New Zealand

Within an hour of the attack, all schools in the city were placed in " lockdown". A ministry report launched after the attacks said schools' handling of the events were varied: some schoolchildren in lockdown still had their mobile phones and some were able to view the footage of the first attack online, meanwhile some schools had children " commando crawl" to the bathroom under teacher supervision. Student climate strikers at the global School Strike for the Climate rally in Cathedral Square, near the sites of the attacks, were advised by police either to seek refuge in public buildings or go home. The citywide lockdown lasted nearly 3 hours.

In response to security concerns, the University of Otago postponed its sesquicentennial street parade which had been scheduled for 16 March.

The third Test cricket match between New Zealand and Bangladesh, scheduled to commence at Hagley Oval in Hagley Park on 16 March, was likewise cancelled due to security concerns. The Bangladesh team were planning to attend Friday prayer at the Al Noor Mosque, and were moments from entering the building when the incident began. The players then fled on foot to Hagley Oval. Two days later, Canterbury withdrew from their match against Wellington in the Plunket Shield cricket tournament. Likewise the Super Rugby match between the Crusaders, based in Christchurch, and Highlanders, based in Dunedin, due to be played the next day was cancelled as "a mark of respect for the events". After the attacks, there were renewed calls to rename the Crusaders team, since its name derives from the medieval Crusades against Muslims.

Canadian rock singer-songwriter Bryan Adams and American thrash metal band Slayer both cancelled their concerts that were scheduled to be held in Christchurch on 17 March, two days after the shootings. The Polynesian cultural festival Polyfest was cancelled after the shootings, with security concerns cited as the reason. The music and cultural festival WOMAD went ahead in New Plymouth despite the attacks, with armed police stationed around the festival perimeter, inside the event, and outside artists' hotels.

The mosques involved in the attacks, and others around the country and the world, became the focus of vigils, messages, and floral tributes. The mayor of Christchurch, Lianne Dalziel, encouraged people to lay flowers outside the city's Botanic Gardens. As a mark of sympathy and solidarity, school pupils and other groups performed haka and waiata to honour those killed in the attacks. Street gangs including the Mongrel Mob, Black Power, and the King Cobras sent members to mosques around the country to help protect them during prayer time. One week after the attacks, an open-air Friday prayer service was held in Hagley Park. Broadcast nationally on radio and television, it was attended by 20,000 people, including Ardern, who said "New Zealand mourns with you. We are one." The imam of the Al Noor Mosque thanked New Zealanders for their support and added, "We are broken-hearted but we are not broken." A national remembrance service was held on 29 March, a fortnight after the attacks.

Operation Whakahaumanu

Shortly after the attack, New Zealand Police launched Operation Whakahaumanu. The operation was designed to reassure New Zealanders after the attack and to also investigate possible threats who shared a similar ideology to the gunman. Police increased visibility in streets and visited many schools, businesses, and religious places as part of the operation. In Canterbury alone, there were almost 600 people of interest to police, where hundreds of properties were searched. On 14 July 2020, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) deemed three of these searches to be unlawful.

Fundraisers and philanthropy

An online fundraiser on the fundraising website "Givealittle" started to support victims and their families had, as of August 2020, raised over NZ$10,903,966. Counting other fundraisers, a combined total of $8.4 million had been raised for the victims and their families (as of 20 March 2019). Prime Minister Ardern reiterated that those injured or killed in the shootings and their immediate families are covered by the country's accident-compensation scheme, ACC, which offers compensation for lost income and a $10,000 funeral grant, among other benefits.

In late June, it was reported that the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh had raised more than NZ$967,500 (US$650,000) through its New Zealand Islamophobia Attack Fund for the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings. This amount included $60,000 raised by Tree of Life - Or L'Simcha Congregation. These funds will be donated to the Christchurch Foundation, a registered charity which has been receiving money to support victims of the Christchurch shootings. This philanthropy was inspired by local Muslim support for the Pittsburgh Jewish community following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in late October 2018.

Global response

On 15 May 2019, Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron co-hosted the Christchurch Call summit in Paris, which called for major technology companies to step up their efforts to combat violent extremism. The accord's founding signatory nations were Australia, Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In addition, the technology companies Amazon, DailyMotion, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Qwant, Twitter and YouTube also signed.

Related arrests and incidents

New Zealand

Police arrested four people on 15 March in relation to the attacks, including a woman and a man, after finding a firearm in a vehicle in which they were travelling together. The woman was released uncharged, but the man was held in custody and was charged with a firearms offence. Additionally, a 30-year-old man said he was arrested when he arrived, unarmed, at Papanui High School to pick up his 13-year-old brother-in-law. He was in camouflage clothing, which he said he habitually wore. He said police gave him a verbal warning for disorderly behaviour. He is seeking compensation for a wrongful arrest. The actions were defended by police, who mentioned the threat level after the massacre and that they had to deal with reports possibly related to the attacks.

Outside New Zealand

On 18 March 2019, the Australian Federal Police's NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team conducted raids on the homes of Tarrant's sister and mother near Coffs Harbour and Maclean in New South Wales. These raids were carried out by Australian Police to assist New Zealand Police with their investigation into the shootings. Tarrant's sister and mother reportedly cooperated with Australian police.

A 24-year-old man from Oldham, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom was arrested on 16 March for sending Facebook posts in support of the shootings.

On 20 March, an employee for Transguard, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, was fired by his company and deported for making comments supporting the shootings.

In Canada, neo-Nazis Paul Fromm and Kevin Goudreau were put under investigation after the former shared the shooter's manifesto on the website of his organisation Canadian Association for Free Expression.

Thomas Alan Bolin, a 22-year-old self-described " Folk Odinist" and founder of a Facebook group known as Odin's Warriors, and his cousin Austin Witkowski attempted to commit a copycat attack in Baltimore, Maryland. Under the aliases "Peter Vincent" and "Ragnar Odinson", the duo sent threatening messages on Facebook Messenger and planned to buy food, ammunition, and firearms in preparation for a similar attack. Bolin also praised the shooter's live-stream and manifesto, saying "Brugh dude killed 40 Muslims". Bolin was later convicted of lying to the FBI for claiming he did not possess any firearms.

Inspired incidents

Nine days after the attack, a mosque in Escondido, California, was set on fire. Police found graffiti on the mosque's driveway that referenced the Christchurch shootings, leading them to investigate the fire as a terrorist attack. A mass shooting later took place at a synagogue in nearby Poway on 27 April 2019, killing one person and injuring three others. The suspect in the shooting, John T. Earnest, also claimed responsibility for the fire and praised the Christchurch shootings in a manifesto. He and Tarrant were said to have been radicalised on 8chan's /pol/ discussion board.

On 3 August 2019, Patrick Crusius killed 23 people and injured 23 others in a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. In a manifesto posted to 8chan's /pol/ board, he expressed support for and inspiration from the Christchurch shootings.

On 10 August 2019, Philip Manshaus tried to attack a mosque in Bærum, Norway, and livestream it on Facebook. He referred to Tarrant as a saint online and posted an image depicting Tarrant, Crusius, and Earnest as "heroes".

On 27 January 2021, the Singaporean Internal Security Department reported it had arrested a 16-year old Protestant Indian youth under the Internal Security Act for plotting to attack the Assyafaah and Yusof Ishak Mosques on the anniversary of the Christchurch mosque shootings. The youth had produced a manifesto which described Tarrant as a "saint" and praised the Christchurch mosque shootings as the "justifiable killing of Muslims." Unable to obtain firearms and explosives due to Singapore's strict gun control laws, the youth had instead purchased a machete and vest.

World leaders

Queen Elizabeth II, New Zealand's head of state, said she was "deeply saddened" by the attacks. Other politicians and world leaders also condemned the attacks, with some attributing them to rising Islamophobia. The prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, announced that Pakistani emigrant Naeem Rashid, who charged at the gunman and died as a result of the attack on the Al Noor Mosque, would be posthumously honoured with a national award for his courage. The prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, announced that "In the future, whenever we send our cricket team abroad, we will do that after examining and reviewing the security matters of the host countries" and added that Bangladesh had always provided highest security to visiting foreign teams. Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić condemned the Christchurch attack and said that the shooter "has nothing to do with Serbia." Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić criticised media for implying that Serbs should be blamed for the shootings.

The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, showed footage taken by Tarrant to his supporters at campaign rallies for upcoming local elections. The New Zealand and Australian governments, as well as Turkey's main opposition party, criticised his actions. U.S. President Donald Trump condemned the "horrible massacre". When asked after the attacks if he thought white nationalists were a growing threat around the world, Trump replied, "I don't really. I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems. It's certainly a terrible thing."

Two New Zealand-based anti-immigration groups, the Dominion Movement and the New Zealand National Front, quickly condemned the attacks, distanced themselves from the perpetrator, and shut their websites down. However, the broader far-right culture celebrated the attacks and "sanctified" Tarrant as a central figure. Tarrant's manifesto was translated and distributed in more than a dozen different languages, and a number of supporters on 8chan made photo and video edits of the shooting. Some extremists were inspired by Tarrant, committing violent incidents and deadly attacks of their own, such as those in Poway, El Paso, and Bærum. The United Kingdom's domestic intelligence service, MI5, launched an inquiry into Tarrant's possible links to the British far-right.

Islamic groups

Ahmed Bhamji, chair of the largest mosque in New Zealand, spoke at a rally on 23 March in front of one thousand people. He claimed that Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence agency, was behind the attack. The claim has been widely described as an unfounded, antisemitic conspiracy theory. The chairman of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand said that Bhamji's statement did not represent other New Zealand Muslims, but Bhamji defended his statements.

Sri Lankan Defence Ministry

According to Sri Lankan State Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene, an early inquiry indicated that the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings on 21 April were retaliation for the Christchurch attack. However, some analysts believe the attacks to have been planned before the Christchurch attack, and any linkage was questioned by New Zealand's government -with Prime Minister Ardern saying she was not aware of any intelligence linking the two.

Video distribution

Copies of the live-streamed video were reposted on many platforms and file-sharing websites, including Facebook, LiveLeak, and YouTube. Police, Muslim-advocacy groups, and government agencies urged anyone who found the footage to take it down or report it. The New Zealand Office of Film and Literature Classification quickly classified the video as "objectionable", making it a criminal offence in the country to distribute, copy, or exhibit the video, with potential penalties of up to 14 years' imprisonment for an individual, or up to $100,000 in fines for a corporation.

Arrests and prosecutions

At least eight people have been arrested for possessing or sharing the video or manifesto; most of their names have been suppressed either to prevent threats against them or in support of freedom of expression online. An 18-year-old man was arrested and charged with inciting racial disharmony under the Human Rights Act. Although authorities said he was not involved in the shootings, he was denied bail, and faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted on all charges. He appeared in Christchurch District Court on 18 March faced with a charge of distributing the video, and a second charge of making an objectionable publication by posting, between 8 and 15 March, a photo of the Al Noor Mosque bearing the message "target acquired", as well as other chat messages "inciting extreme violence".

On 19 March, an Australian man who had posted on social media praising the Christchurch shootings was indicted on one count of aggravated possession of a firearm without a licence and four counts of using or possessing a prohibited weapon. He was released on bail on the condition that he stay offline.

On 20 March, Christchurch man Philip Arps was indicted on two charges of sharing a live-stream of the mosque shootings under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993. He was denied bail and remanded into police custody until his next court appearance, which is scheduled for 15 April. His company also attracted criticism for its use of Nazi symbols. Arps subsequently pleaded guilty to two charges of distributing video footage of the Al Noor attack, one count of sharing the accused live-stream footage to approximately 30 people on Facebook, and requesting that another person add a cross-hair and kill count to the footage. In June 2019, he was sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment. On 27 August, Arps' appeal of his sentence was dismissed. Arps had also expressed neo-Nazi views and sent letters advocating violence against New Zealand politicians. In late January 2020, Arps was released from prison under strict conditions including wearing a GPS electronic monitor, avoiding Muslims and Muslim buildings and prayer rooms, and not owning or touching firearms.

On 2 July 2019, a 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty to possessing footage of the Christchurch shootings. Though he was released on bail and ordered to appear at a Family Group Conference on 30 July, he was subsequently returned to prison on 9 July for breaching his bail conditions.

On 12 July, a Dunedin man appeared in the Dunedin District Court on the charge of possessing footage of the Christchurch mosque shootings among other charges. He was remanded into police custody.

On 12 February 2020, a Palmerston North man was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for posting footage of the Christchurch shooting on his Facebook page.

On 26 February, a Christchurch man was jailed for nearly two years for doctoring footage of the mosque shootings with a Call of Duty tagline for white supremacist Philip Arps two days after the attacks.

On 4 March 2020, a 19-year old Christchurch man was arrested for allegedly making a terror threat against the Al Noor mosque on an encrypted social media platform, Telegram. Media reports subsequently identified the man as Sam Brittenden, a member of the white supremacist group Action Zealandia.

Media outlets

Several media organisations in Australia and tabloid-news websites in the UK broadcast parts of the video, up to the point the gunman entered the building, despite pleas from the New Zealand Police not to show it. Sky Television New Zealand temporarily stopped its syndication of Sky News Australia after that network showed the footage, and said it was working with Sky News Australia to prevent further displays of the video. At least three Internet service providers in New Zealand blocked access to 8chan and other sites related to the attacks, and temporarily blocked other sites hosting the video such as 4chan, LiveLeak, and Mega until they comply with requests to take down copies of the video. The administrator of the online message board Kiwi Farms refused a New Zealand Police request for the data of users who made posts related to Tarrant and the attack.

Social media

Social media sites including Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, and Twitter said they were working diligently to remove the video from their platforms and would also remove anything posted in support of the attacks. According to Facebook, no complaints were made about the video until 12 minutes after the live-stream ended; the original video from Tarrant himself had been viewed fewer than 200 times before Facebook was notified of its content, and it had been viewed only 4,000 times before it was removed, which happened within minutes of notification. Facebook created a digital hash fingerprint to detect further uploads, however by this point the video had been propagated on other sites. Facebook said it had blocked 1.5 million uploads of the video and images from it in the day after the attacks, including edited versions, with most blocking occurring through use of the fingerprint to prevent visibility. Reddit banned "subreddits" named " WatchPeopleDie" and " Gore", saying threads there had glorified the attacks, in violation of user agreements. Microsoft, in light of how social media sites handled the content related to the shooting, proposed the establishment of industry-wide standards that would flag such content quickly, and, in the wake of similar major events, operate a joint virtual command center to manage and control the spread of such information via social media.

Despite the networks' attempts to self-police, New Zealand officials and other world leaders have asked them to take responsibility for extremist content posted on their services. Australia introduced legislation that would fine content providers and potentially imprison their executives if they do not remove violent imagery of these types of attacks. The French Council of the Muslim Faith filed a lawsuit against Facebook and YouTube, accusing the companies of "broadcasting a message with violent content abetting terrorism, or of a nature likely to seriously violate human dignity and liable to be seen by a minor". Facebook has contested the lawsuit, saying, "Acts of terror and hate speech have no place on Facebook, and our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the entire community affected by this tragedy. We have taken many steps to remove this video from our platform, we are cooperating with the authorities".

International

Stuart Bender of Curtin University in Perth noted that the use of live video as an integral part of the attacks "makes [them] a form of 'performance crime' where the act of video recording and/or streaming the violence by the perpetrator is a central component of the violence itself, rather than being incidental." Just before carrying out the attacks, the gunman said to-camera, "Remember lads, subscribe to PewDiePie", referring to the most subscribed YouTuber at the time, Felix Kjellberg, who goes by the alias PewDiePie who at the time was having a race to 100 million subscribers with Indian music channel T-Series. PewDiePie has been accused of using far-right content in his videos. In response, Kjellberg tweeted, "Just heard news of the devastating reports from New Zealand Christchurch. I feel absolutely sickened having my name uttered by this person. My heart and thoughts go out to the victims, families and everyone affected by this tragedy."-he later called for the phrase to be discontinued.

Gun laws in New Zealand came under scrutiny in the aftermath, specifically the legality of military-style semi-automatic rifles compared to Australia, which banned them after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. In 2018, for example, it was reported that of the estimated 1.5 million firearms in New Zealand, 15,000 were registered Military Style Semi-Automatic weapons as well as perhaps 50,000 and 170,000 unregistered A-Category semi-automatics. As Philip Alpers of GunPolicy.org noted, "New Zealand is almost alone with the United States in not registering 96 percent of its firearms ... one can assume that the ease of obtaining these firearms may have been a factor in his decision to commit the crime in Christchurch." Cabinet, however, remains undecided on the creation of a register.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced: "Our gun laws will change, now is the time ... People will be seeking change, and I am committed to that." She continued, "There have been attempts to change our laws in 2005, 2012 and after an inquiry in 2017. Now is the time for change." Attorney-General David Parker was later quoted as saying that the government would ban semi-automatic guns, but subsequently backtracked, saying that the government had not yet committed to anything and that regulations around semi-automatic weapons was "one of the issues" the government would consider.

The day after the attacks, some gun-store owners reported an increase in sales, particularly of semi-automatic weapons, in response to the prospect of stricter laws. The New Zealand auction website Trade Me banned the sale of semi-automatic weapons on its platform, and some gun owners responded to the attacks by voluntarily handing in their weapons to police.

At a press conference on 18 March, Ardern said details of the proposed reforms would be given by 25 March. On 21 March, she announced a ban, adding that she was working to have legislation in place as early as 11 April. As a transitional measure, from 3:00 pm that day, some semi-automatic rifles and shotguns were classified as requiring the owner to hold a licence with an "E" endorsement. "After a reasonable period for returns, those who continue to possess these firearms will be in contravention of the law," Radio New Zealand reported. A " gun buy-back" scheme was also considered.

The Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019 was introduced in the House of Representatives on 1 April, and passed its first reading the following day. The final reading was passed on 10 April, supported by all parties in Parliament except ACT, and it became law by the end of the week. All legally obtained semiautomatic and military-grade firearms and their relevant ammunition were able be handed over to police in a buy-back scheme. On 13 July, the gun buy-back scheme was initiated, where 607 collection points for owners to turn in their prohibited firearms were held. On 20 December, the gun buy-back scheme ended. Provisional data from police as of show of 21 Decembered that a total of 33,619 hand-ins had been completed, 56,250 firearms had been collected (51,342 as buy-back and 4,908 under amnesty), 2,717 firearms had been modified, and 194,245 parts had been collected (187,995 as buy-back and 6,250 under amnesty).

Police Minister Stuart Nash hailed the buy-back scheme as a success, but Nicole McKee, the spokeswoman of the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners, said that the buyback had been a failure and claimed that there are 170,000 prohibited guns in New Zealand, so "50,000 is not a number to boast about".

References

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Two consecutive mass shootings occurred at mosques in a terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, during Friday Prayer on 15 March 2019. The attack, carried out by a single gunman who entered both mosques, began at the Al Noor Mosque in the suburb of Riccarton at 1:40 pm and continued at Linwood Islamic Centre at 1:52 pm.

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As of Monday morning, this article is no longer being updated. For continuing coverage on the Christchurch shooting, please visit Vox's World section.
At least 50 people were killed and 50 injured Friday in a mass shooting at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.

A 28-year-old man named Brenton Tarrant has been taken into custody and charged with murder. In his first court appearance on Saturday morning, he flashed a white power sign: an upside-down "okay" gesture with his shackled hands. Two other people remain in custody as police try to determine their connection to, or possible involvement in, the attack.

The shooter targeted two mosques in Christchurch: the Al Noor Mosque, where 42 people were killed, and another at the Linwood Mosque, where seven people died. One person died in the hospital, according to police.

Friday is the Muslim holy day, when many practicing Muslims attend worship services at mosques.

Police said they also found two improvised explosive devices attached to one vehicle. One of those devices has been defused, and authorities are working to neutralize the other.

Police are also currently investigating a manifesto, which the 28-year-old suspect allegedly wrote and posted on social media shortly before the shooting began. The rambling document espouses far-right and white nationalistic views, specifically targeting Muslims and immigrants.

The manifesto also praises mass murderers Dylann Roof, who attacked a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, and Anders Breivik, who killed dozens of young people at a summer camp for Norway's left-leaning political party.

Tarrant is an Australian-born former personal trainer who is believed to have been radicalized during his travels abroad. According to the Independent, Tarrant met with right-wing extremists while taking a trip to Europe in 2017, and also traveled to Pakistan and North Korea. Tarrant had no criminal record prior to Friday's bloody attack.

The alleged shooter also live-streamed his attack on social media, gruesomely displaying how he entered the mosque and shot worshippers as they struggled to flee.

In a brief press conference Friday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the mass murder a "terrorist attack" and said the perpetrators held "extremist views" that have no place in New Zealand.

"This is one of New Zealand's darkest days," she said earlier. "Many of those affected may be migrants, maybe refugees. ... They are us. ... The perpetrator is not."

President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences on Friday morning.

My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques. 49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2019

The identities of the victims have not yet been released.

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Christchurch mosque shooting: what we know so far

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As of Monday morning, this article is no longer being updated. For continuing coverage on the Christchurch shooting, please visit Vox's World section. At least 50 people were killed and 50 injured Friday in a mass shooting at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.

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Letter 104

Nuns praying at the mass funeral at St. Sebastian's Church, Negombo, Srilanka, on Tuesday. Credit... Adam Dean for The New York Times

The Australia Letter ___ is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. This week's issue is written by Damien Cave, our bureau chief, and a former religion editor for The New York Times.
A few days after the Christchurch attacks, I found myself writing a story in a pub not far from where it happened, drawing questions from two bearded blokes sitting beside me at the bar.

Once I told them why I was there, they were quick to tell me they were outraged by the violence. They were also well versed (maybe too well versed) in 4chan and other sites that nurse white supremacy - and they were very worried about retaliation from Muslim extremists.

"Before, we were invisible," one of them said. "Now we're on their radar."

Sunday's bombings in Sri Lanka, where more than 250 people were killed at Catholic churches and hotels, with the Islamic State taking credit, may or may not have had anything to do with the shootings at two Christchurch mosques - Sri Lankan officials said it did; New Zealand officials were doubtful.

[Here's what we know, and don't know, about the Sri Lanka attacks.]
But as I read about the Catholic victims killed while they were praying, like the Muslim victims in Christchurch, I thought about religion's role, and the fears and anger that one act of violence reproduces with almost nuclear force.

The fallout effect of terrorism is what terrorists bet on. Both the Christchurch killer and those responsible for the killings in Sri Lanka committed mass violence to draw attention to a narrative of hate and propel their belief in a global clash of civilizations.

They want everyone, of course, to see the world the way they do, but what's increasingly clear from research into radicalization online is that extremists are most engaged with extremists - white supremacists use Islamist terrorism to validate their Islamophobia; the Islamic State uses violence against Muslims to recruit new fighters.

What are the rest of us to do?

Here's a sad thought I had this week: We have to accept that threats anywhere are threats everywhere. In our networked world, where a video of Muslims being murdered in New Zealand can be shared on the other side of the world seconds later, the radioactivity of extreme ideology can no longer be fully avoided or forecast.

The trafficking of hate has simply become easier. It's everywhere online, at everyone's fingertips, prompting many of us to question the value of unfettered connectivity.

Even Kara Swisher, a lover of technology and a New York Times Opinion contributor, praised Sri Lanka this week for shutting down access to Facebook, YouTube and other social media outlets after Sunday's attacks.

So perhaps that's one solution in the wake of extremist violence; beware of what you consume online. Test the facts. Only trust credible sources.

More broadly, experts in conflict management would argue, we'd all be well served by avoiding the mental trap of overgeneralized fear.

The guys I met at the bar in Christchurch were not much for distinctions; they worried about being on "their radar" - referring to Muslims in general, not the small subset of the world's 1.8 billion believers in Islam who weaponize the faith for their own interests.

Researchers who study religion in conflict point out that it's a common mistake. In a comprehensive look at the intersection of faith and international affairs, produced by the British Academy in 2015 (I recommend it if you want to dive deep), a group of scholars warned against treating Islam, or any other religion, as a clear cause of bloodshed.

"There is no evidence to indicate that particular religious traditions are, by virtue of their theology, more prone to violence or more likely to lead to conflict or peace than others," they wrote.

"We must be careful not to give undue prominence to religion in all instances," they added. "It is not a major factor in every conflict and there is a risk that it can sometimes come to obscure more deeply rooted causes and motivations."

More locally, for example, a study of trial evidence for Australia's first convicted Islamist terrorist, Jack Roche, also concluded that "religion plays a far lesser role in radicalization toward violent extremism than the policy response contends and this has implications for counterterrorism programs that aim to address the drivers of violent extremism."

In short, the evidence suggests, directing our fear or outrage at religion alone - even as religious violence increases - will not do us any good.

Do political leaders worldwide have enough of a nuanced understanding of religion to get that?

There are few signs that they do, which means the most productive response to all this violence may have to come from all of us.

What do you think could or should be done to tamp down extremism, whether tied to religion, racism or any other form of hatred? What experience, if any, have you had with these issues and the fear terrorist attacks produce, and how have you dealt with them?

Please share your thoughts with us at nytaustralia@nytimes.com or in our NYT Australia Facebook discussion group.

Now for our stories of the week.

___

Image

Funeral ribbons hanging across a road leading to St. Anthony's Shrine in Colombo, the capital, which remained under a nighttime curfew. Credit... Carl Court/Getty Images

This week, funerals began to be held for victims of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka. Our reporters on the ground have been speaking to officials, residents and experts to investigate its aftermath.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand at a national remembrance service for the victims of the mosque attacks in Christchurch. Credit... Mark Baker/Associated Press

Facebook disclosed in its quarterly financial results that it estimated a one-time loss of $3 billion to $5 billion in connection with an "ongoing inquiry" with the F.T.C. Credit... Noah Berger/Associated Press

* Movies|Everything You Need to Know About 'Avengers: Endgame' in Two Minutes: An interactive guide to tying up the last 21 installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

____
Our last newsletter focused on Notre-Dame, sacred trees and how we grieve historic losses. Thanks to everyone who wrote in. Here's a selection of your thoughts. If you'd like to contribute this week, you can write us at - Sandie Kelsey-White nytaustralia@nytimes.com.
"I was saddened by the fire in Paris that demolished a beautiful old church. The truth is, I shed tears to see children in other communities eating rotten food from a rubbish dump. We have millionaires who have found so much spare money to restore the Paris landmark but none to help the children eating themselves to sickness and death because they are poor and displaced.

Strange world when objects are revered more than a child's life."
- Scotty McCartney
"I believe it's fairly straightforward in that it comes down to how many people connected with said 'thing.'

It's like humans and death. A famous person (politician, activist, highly charismatic person) is going to get a lot more people at their funeral than a recluse. It doesn't diminish the loss, it's just felt by less people.

Notre-Dame is in innumerable books, poems, films, momentous historical events, plus so many people have been there and marveled at its epic execution and place in history.

The Aboriginal birthing tree is pretty amazing too, but has been experienced by a handful of people. Less important? Who knows. Just different."

"Your title story above, at first, seemed rather "politically correct;" in other words, does everything have to be equal?

Once I got past the title (meaning, I actually read the story), I found myself not only agreeing with your premise, but angered by the concept of losing this very significant monument of nature. Being a fan of movies, it sounds like the powers-that-be should be made to watch 'Avatar;' of course, revising the highway plan would likely cause 'real world' inconvenience and money.

It does seem that, by and large, modern homo sapiens believe that only man-made items are worthy of preservation and conservation."
- Steve D.

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Examining Religion and Violence (Published 2019)

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Letter 104 The Australia Letter ___ is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. This week's issue is written by Damien Cave, our bureau chief, and a former religion editor for The New York Times.

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Caroline

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Mexican authorities have been waging a war against drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) for more than a decade, but with limited success. Thousands of Mexicans, including politicians, students, and journalists, continue to die in the conflict every year. The country has seen over three hundred thousand homicides since antidrug campaigns began in 2006. In 2018, homicides, many linked to drug cartels, hit a new high of almost thirty-six thousand. This trend continued in 2019, with about ninety murders daily.

Successive U.S. administrations have partnered closely with Mexico in this fight, providing billions of dollars for Mexico to modernize its security forces, reform its judicial system, and make other investments. Washington has also sought to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States by bolstering security on its southern border, although a debate has flared over the utility of expanding the physical barrier there.

What drugs do the cartels traffic?

Mexican drug trafficking organizations are the largest foreign suppliers [PDF] of heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine to the United States, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Mexican suppliers are responsible for most heroin and methamphetamine production, while cocaine is largely produced in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru and then transported through Mexico. Mexican cartels are also leading manufacturers of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid many times more potent than heroin. U.S. seizures of the drug have soared in recent years.

Legalization of [marijuana] in some U.S. jurisdictions and in Canada has pushed DTOs to refocus on harder drugs, such as heroin.

The cartels also produce and smuggle vast quantities of marijuana into the United States, but legalization of the drug in some U.S. jurisdictions and in Canada has pushed DTOs to refocus on harder drugs, such as heroin, whose demand has skyrocketed with the rise of the U.S. opioid epidemic. Mexican heroin production increased by 37 percent between 2016 and 2017 alone.

Which are the largest cartels?

Mexico's drug cartels are in a constant state of flux. Over the decades, they have grown, splintered, forged alliances, and battled one another for territory. The cartels that pose the most significant threat to the United States, according to a 2018 DEA report [PDF], are:

Sinaloa Cartel. Formerly led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the Sinaloa Cartel is one of Mexico's oldest and most influential DTOs. With strongholds along Mexico's Pacific coast, it has a larger international footprint than any of its Mexican rivals. In 2017, Mexican authorities extradited Guzman to the United States, where he is serving a sentence of life plus thirty years for multiple drug-related charges.

Jalisco New Generation. The Jalisco cartel splintered from the Sinaloa Cartel in 2010. According to the DEA, the "rapid expansion of its drug trafficking activities is characterized by the organization's willingness to engage in violent confrontations" with authorities and other cartels.

Juarez Cartel. A long-standing rival of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Juarez Cartel's stronghold is in the north-central state of Chihuahua, across the border from New Mexico and Texas.

Gulf Cartel. The Gulf Cartel's base of power is in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas. According to the DEA, arrests of its leaders in recent years have diminished the organization's influence.

Los Zetas. Originally a paramilitary group for the Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas was singled out in 2007 by the DEA as the country's most " technologically advanced, sophisticated, and violent " DTO. It splintered from the Gulf Cartel in 2010 and held sway over swaths of eastern, central, and southern Mexico, but it has reportedly lost power in recent years.

Beltran-Leyva Organization. Formed when the Beltran-Leyva brothers split from the Sinaloa Cartel in 2008, the group partners with the Juarez Cartel and Los Zetas. Since then, all four Beltran-Leyva brothers have been arrested or killed, but their loyalists operate throughout Mexico.

What led to the cartels' growth?

Experts point to both domestic and international forces. In Mexico, cartels pay off judges, police, politicians, and other officials using their vast drug profits, which the U.S. government estimates to be worth tens of billions of dollars per year.

The cartels flourished during the decades that Mexico was ruled by a single party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). DTOs created a "network of corruption that ensured distribution rights, market access, and even official government protection for drug traffickers in exchange for lucrative bribes," wrote David Shirk, director of the justice in Mexico program at the University of San Diego, in a 2011 CFR report.

The PRI's unbroken reign finally ended in 2000 with the election of President Vicente Fox of the National Action Party (PAN). With new politicians in power, cartels ramped up violence against the government in an effort to reestablish their hold [PDF] on the state.

Cartels pay off judges, police, politicians, and other officials using their vast drug profits.

At the international level, Mexican cartels began to take on a much larger role in trafficking drugs in the late 1980s, after U.S. government agencies broke up the Caribbean networks used by Colombian cartels to smuggle cocaine. Mexican gangs eventually shifted from being couriers for Colombian DTOs to being wholesalers.

The U.S. government, despite waging a "war on drugs" and conducting other counternarcotics efforts abroad, has made little progress in reducing the demand for illegal drugs. In 2016, Americans spent almost $150 billion on cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana, 50 percent more than in 2010. Meanwhile, growing use of synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, has led to a public health crisis. More than 90 percent of lethal drugs in the United States come from Mexico.

How are drugs smuggled into the United States?

Most illicit drugs are smuggled from Mexico into the United States through the more than three hundred ports of entry, or legal crossings, which are controlled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Traffickers hide or disguise drugs in passenger vehicles, tractor trailers, and, to a lesser extent, buses and cargo trains.

A smaller percentage is smuggled between ports of entry, along the 1,900-mile southwestern border, an area monitored by the Border Patrol. Mexican traffickers transport drugs across land trails or through underground tunnels that traverse the border. In recent years, cartels have also used drones to transport contraband.

Once in the United States, traffickers deliver drugs to smaller local groups and street gangs-mainly composed of Mexican nationals [PDF] or U.S. citizens of Mexican descent-who manage retail-level distribution in cities throughout the country.

What measures has Mexico taken to stem the drug trade?

Recent Mexican administrations have responded to cartels primarily by deploying security forces, often spurring more violence:

Felipe Calderon (2006-2012). President Calderon declared war on the cartels shortly after taking office. Over the course of his six-year term, he deployed tens of thousands of military personnel to supplement and, in many cases, replace local police forces he viewed as corrupt. With U.S. assistance, the Mexican military captured or killed twenty-five of the top thirty-seven drug kingpins in Mexico. The militarized crackdown was a centerpiece of Calderon's tenure.

However, some critics say Calderon's decapitation strategy created dozens of smaller, more violent drug gangs. Many also argue that Mexico's military is ill-prepared to perform police functions. The government registered more than 120,000 homicides [PDF] over the course of Calderon's term, nearly twice as many as occurred during his predecessor's time in office. ( Experts estimate that between one-third and one-half of the homicides in Mexico are linked to cartels.)

Enrique Pena Nieto (2012-2018). Calderon's successor said he would focus more on reducing violence against civilians and businesses than on removing the leaders of cartels. Despite these ambitions, President Pena Nieto relied heavily [PDF] on the military, in combination with the federal police, to battle the cartels. He also created a new national police force, or gendarmerie, of several thousand officers.

Homicides declined in the first years of Pena Nieto's presidency. But 2015 saw an uptick, and by the end of his term the number of homicides had risen to the highest level in modern Mexican history. Experts attribute this to the continued fallout of Calderon's kingpin strategy and territorial feuds between gangs.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (2018-present). President Lopez Obrador announced that the government's "war" on drugs is over, saying he would prioritize reducing homicide rates over apprehending cartel "capos." Citing public health and safety concerns, his administration also released a plan to decriminalize drugs and fund treatment for addicts. Despite campaign promises to demilitarize policing, he deployed a new national guard to boost security, a move critics say echoes his predecessors' mistakes. In October, forces briefly detained Guzman's son, releasing him under siege by Sinaloa Cartel members. Some experts say the botched seizure demonstrates the Obrador government's weakness against organized crime.

What has been the toll on human rights?

Civil liberties groups, journalists, and others have criticized the Mexican government's war with the cartels for years, accusing the military and police of widespread human rights violations, including torture, extrajudicial killings, and forced disappearances. The whereabouts of the more than thirty-seven thousand people who have gone missing since 2006 remain a mystery.

One of the most chilling examples of these abuses occurred in the southern state of Guerrero in 2014, when more than forty student protestors were abducted and killed. Mexican investigators found that the mayor had directed police to kidnap the students and hand them over to a local drug gang. The incident prompted mass demonstrations. Mexico's attorney general has also linked police affiliated with Los Zetas to mass murders of Central American migrants in 2011. Migrants are highly vulnerable to cartels, which, U.S. officials say, force them to smuggle drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border.

In recent years, the emergence of vigilante groups [PDF], known as autodefensas, has exacerbated human rights concerns. Made up mostly of rural farmers, these civilian militias have attempted to fight drug traffickers and restore order to towns, filling in where local police have failed. Though illegal, these groups became a formidable force against the cartels in states including Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Michoacan. Some observers are concerned that these groups have ties to organized crime and could turn on the people they claim to protect.

What assistance has the U.S. government provided?

The United States has historically provided the bulk of its financial support to Mexico through the Merida Initiative, a security partnership launched in 2007 by President George W. Bush and Felipe Calderon. The Merida Initiative is composed of four pillars:

disrupting organized criminal groups,

institutionalizing the rule of law while protecting human rights,

creating a twenty-first-century border, and

building strong and resilient communities.

Thus far, the U.S. government has appropriated about $3 billion in Merida aid, including hundreds of millions of dollars to train Mexico's counternarcotic forces and equip them with helicopters and inspection hardware. While the initiative led to judicial reform, critics say it has failed to root out government corruption and dismantle violent criminal networks. Merida funding has declined in recent years, with President Donald J. Trump's administration requesting $76.3 million for 2020, 35 percent less than it did for 2018.

The two governments revised the partnership in 2011, placing a larger emphasis on institution-building, including reforms of the police and judiciary, economic development, and social programs. Last May, Lopez Obrador announced Mexico's desire to see Merida "completely reoriented" toward development programs.

In recent years, the U.S. government has sent CIA operatives and security contractors to train Mexican federal police, and Washington has also sent unarmed drones to collect intelligence on traffickers. Meanwhile, the United States has ramped up security on its side of the border, increasing the number of agents there from some eleven thousand in 2004 to more than sixteen thousand in 2018.

Trump has made border security a focal point of his presidency and promised to erect a wall along the entire frontier with Mexico, only one-third of which is currently fenced. In January 2019, he called the border "a pipeline for vast quantities of illegal drugs," suggesting a barrier would help curb the United States' opioid epidemic. However, critics say the administration has made little progress, and experts question whether building out the wall, which could run into the tens of billions of dollars, is worth the cost. A better strategy, some experts propose, would be to deploy more personnel and the latest surveillance technologies, in addition to building some new barriers.

In December 2018, the Trump administration announced a new assistance program with Mexico intended to stem irregular migration and narcotics trafficking, pledging more than $4 billion toward promoting security and creating jobs in southern Mexico. However, Trump has continued demanding that Mexico do more to stop drugs and migrants from entering the United States, threatening tariffs and border closures in recent months. In turn, Mexico deployed twenty-five thousand national guard members to secure its borders, a move some experts say increased violence and diminished federal capacity to fight cartels.

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Mexican authorities have been waging a war against drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) for more than a decade, but with limited success. Thousands of Mexicans, including politicians, students, and journalists, continue to die in the conflict every year. The country has seen over three hundred thousand homicides since antidrug campaigns began in 2006.

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Mozambique is in a period of great transformation. Rapid economic growth coexists with high inequalities, very low human development indicators and a tense political situation. While the economy has been growing at an average annual rate of 7% over the last decade, this growth is yet to translate into significant progress towards meeting the Millenium Development Goals and other agreed internationally agreed development goals. The country has one of the lowest human and social development indicators in the world, ranking at 185 out of 187 countries with a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.327 in 2012.

The political and security situation in Mozambique has been deteriorating with an increase in violence between former civil war foes, Renamo and Frelimo (currently in office), which creates uncertainties and could threaten the flow of investments.

The political commitment of the Government of Mozambique on gender equality and the empowerment of women is strong, but progress in reducing the gender remains uneven.

A general election is scheduled for October 2014. While the representation of women in politics has been growing steadily in Mozambique, with 39.4% female representation in parliament, special efforts will be needed to reach the target of 50% male and 50% female participation in decision making in all areas and at all levels by 2015, as established under the Southern African Development Committee (SADC) gender protocol.

Economic empowerment remains a challenge for the women of Mozambique. For example, women account for 87.3% of the labour force in agriculture, but are only 25% of the land owners holding official user rights.

The high prevalence of HIV among women as well as the widespread acceptance of violence against women are also signs of deeply rooted gender inequalities. The prevalence of HIV among young women is three times higher than among young men, for instance. In 2004, the Ministry of Women and Social Action estimated that 54% of Mozambican women had experienced violence in their lifetime.

Our programmes

Women lead and participate in decision making at all levels

This programme aims to ensure that constitutions, legal frameworks and policies to advance women's rights to participate in decision making at the national and local levels are reformed/adopted and implemented. In partnership with other UN agencies and with funding from the Government of Finland, UN Women Mozambique will build the capacity of parliamentarians on gender sensitive legislation, build the capacity of the Human Rights Commission to reach out to poor and vulnerable women, and support the participation of women in local governance.

Women, especially the poorest and most excluded, are economically empowered and benefit from development

In terms of economic empowerment, UN Women Mozambique aims to have national plans, legislations, policies, strategies, budgets and justice mechanisms adopted and implemented to strengthen women's empowerment, and to increase gender responsive services, access to land and control over means of production and enhance women's sustainable livelihoods. We will do this developing and testing replicable models to ensure effective economic empowerment through initiatives to create a sustainable income stream for rural women farmers and expand women's role in agricultural production. UN Women Mozambique will link this work to broader macroeconomic and poverty reduction policy debates and planning through knowledge building, networking, dialogue and advocacy.

Women and girls live a life free from violence

This programme aims to ensure laws, polices and strategies are implemented and adopted in line with international standards to prevent violence against women and girls, and to increase usage of existing quality violence against women services that are survivor focused. UN Women Mozambique will consolidate a social mobilization model to end violence against women. We will use the media, particularly television, to expand the outreach nationwide within the broader context of the UNiTE campaign.

To increase women's leadership in peace, security and humanitarian response

This programme aims to enhance the capacity of women and gender advocates to influence peace and security processes and also to have gender equality commitments adopted and implemented in humanitarian action. UN Women Mozambique will support the capacity of women in the security sector and police to influence security processes with a gender perspective. We will support the capacity of the National Institute of Disaster Management to deal with gender issues in humanitarian action and lead other stakeholders to do the same.

National planning and budgeting processes promote stronger institutional accountability to gender equality commitments

The focus of this programme will be on further strengthening and consolidating national partners' capacities of key players namely parliament, civil society organizations and academia to hold the government accountable on the implementation of gender equality and women's empowerment commitments.

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Where we are : Eastern and Southern Africa : Mozambique

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Mozambique is in a period of great transformation. While the representation of women in politics has been growing steadily in Mozambique, with 39.4% female representation in parliament, special efforts will be needed to reach the target of 50% male and 50% female participation in decision making in

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Help Fight Drug-Resistant Bacteria

For nearly a century, bacteria-fighting drugs known as antibiotics have helped to control and destroy many of the harmful bacteria that can make us sick. But in recent decades, antibiotics have been losing their punch against some types of bacteria. In fact, certain bacteria are now unbeatable with today's medicines. Sadly, the way we've been using antibiotics is helping to create new drug-resistant "superbugs."

Superbugs are strains of bacteria that are resistant to several types of antibiotics. Each year these drug-resistant bacteria infect more than 2 million people nationwide and kill at least 23,000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and staph infections are just a few of the dangers we now face.

Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs for people. They're also given to livestock to prevent disease and promote growth. Antibiotics are effective against bacterial infections, such as strep throat and some types of pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, and ear infections. But these drugs don't work at all against viruses, such as those that cause colds or flu.

Unfortunately, many antibiotics prescribed to people and to animals are unnecessary. And the overuse and misuse of antibiotics helps to create drug-resistant bacteria.

Here's how that might happen. When used properly, antibiotics can help destroy disease-causing bacteria. But if you take an antibiotic when you have a viral infection like the flu, the drug won't affect the viruses making you sick. Instead, it'll destroy a wide variety of bacteria in your body, including some of the "good" bacteria that help you digest food, fight infection, and stay healthy. Bacteria that are tough enough to survive the drug will have a chance to grow and quickly multiply. These drug-resistant strains may even spread to other people.

Over time, if more and more people take antibiotics when not necessary, drug-resistant bacteria can continue to thrive and spread. They may even share their drug-resistant traits with other bacteria. Drugs may become less effective or not work at all against certain disease-causing bacteria.

"Bacterial infections that were treatable for decades are no longer responding to antibiotics, even the newer ones," says Dr. Dennis Dixon, an NIH expert in bacterial and fungal diseases. Scientists have been trying to keep ahead of newly emerging drug-resistant bacteria by developing new drugs, but it's a tough task.

"We need to make the best use of the drugs we have, as there aren't many in the antibiotic development pipeline," says Dr. Jane Knisely, who oversees studies of drug-resistant bacteria at NIH. "It's important to understand the best way to use these drugs to increase their effectiveness and decrease the chances of resistance to emerge."

You can help slow the spread of drug-resistant bacteria by taking antibiotics properly and only when needed. Don't insist on an antibiotic if your health care provider advises otherwise. For example, many parents expect doctors to prescribe antibiotics for a child's ear infection. But experts recommend delaying for a time in certain situations, as many ear infections get better without antibiotics.

NIH researchers have been looking at whether antibiotics are effective for treating certain conditions in the first place. One recent study showed that antibiotics may be less effective than previously thought for treating a common type of sinus infection. This kind of research can help prevent the misuse and overuse of antibiotics.

"Treating infections with antibiotics is something we want to preserve for generations to come, so we shouldn't misuse them," says Dr. Julie Segre, a senior investigator at NIH.

In the past, some of the most dangerous superbugs have been confined to health care settings. That's because people who are sick or in a weakened state are more susceptible to picking up infections. But superbug infections aren't limited to hospitals. Some strains are out in the community and anyone, even healthy people, can become infected.

One common superbug increasingly seen outside hospitals is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These bacteria don't respond to methicillin and related antibiotics. MRSA can cause skin infections and, in more serious cases, pneumonia or bloodstream infections.

A MRSA skin infection can appear as one or more pimples or boils that are swollen, painful, or hot to the touch. The infection can spread through even a tiny cut or scrape that comes into contact with these bacteria. Many people recover from MRSA infections, but some cases can be life-threatening. The CDC estimates that more than 80,000 aggressive MRSA infections and 11,000 related deaths occur each year in the United States.

When antibiotics are needed, doctors usually prescribe a mild one before trying something more aggressive like vancomycin. Such newer antibiotics can be more toxic and more expensive than older ones. Eventually, bacteria will develop resistance to even the new drugs. In recent years, some superbugs, such as vancomycin-resistant Enterococci bacteria, remain unaffected by even this antibiotic of last resort.

"We rely on antibiotics to deliver modern health care," Segre says. But with the rise of drug-resistant bacteria, "we're running out of new antibiotics to treat bacterial infections," and some of the more potent ones aren't working as well.

Ideally, doctors would be able to quickly identify the right antibiotic to treat a particular infection. But labs need days or even weeks to test and identify the bacteria strain. Until the lab results come in, antibiotic treatment is often an educated guess.

"We need to know how to treat for a favorable outcome, but knowledge about the infection can be several days away," explains Dr. Vance Fowler, an infectious disease expert at Duke University School of Medicine.

Fowler says faster diagnostic testing offers one of the best hopes for treating infectious diseases. Technology is catching up, he says, and new research in this area looks promising.

Genetic studies by NIH-supported researchers such as Segre and Fowler are also helping us understand the unique characteristics of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Their findings could point the way to innovative new treatments.

While scientists search for ways to beat back these stubborn bacteria, you can help by preventing the spread of germs so we depend less on antibiotics in the first place.

The best way to prevent bacterial infections is by washing your hands frequently with soap and water. It's also a good idea not to share personal items such as towels or razors. And use antibiotics only as directed. We can all do our part to fight drug-resistant bacteria.

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Antibiotics can destroy many types of bacteria that can make us sick. Sadly, our overuse of antibiotics is helping to create new drug-resistant "superbugs" that are difficult to defeat.

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April 22
The Easter attacks in Sri Lanka, a Buddhist-majority country not known for religious violence or intolerance, are tapping into global worries about safety.

Experts who study long-term trends of religious intolerance and violence disagree, however, on whether things are getting worse, better or generally have remained level.

Even so, religious leaders say the attacks have come at a fragile time.

Religious institutions are losing power, and anger, tribalism and controversy boil away online every minute of the day. It's hard to gauge or stop tensions from ballooning, they say, and the Sri Lanka attacks are a reminder of the risks.

Sri Lankan officials - with help from the FBI - Monday said the attacks were carried out by the National Thowheed Jamaath, a local Islamist militant group, with suspected international assistance.

"Here's a nation that has pluralism and yet still had religious terrorism. It reminds you there isn't one solution, no one safe place. It's surprising," said Ed Stetzer, who holds the Billy Graham Distinguished Chair for Church, Mission and Evangelism at Wheaton College and has trained evangelists across the world.

The attacks in Sri Lanka come as other incidents are fresh in memory. Those include the killings of 50 people at a New Zealand mosque last month, the October 2018 killing of 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and the deaths of at least 45 people during twin Palm Sunday bombings in Egypt in April 2017.

In the United States, churches and mosques have begun adding security infrastructure to their places of worship. At the same time, there are high-level interfaith and pluralism efforts going on between Christian and Muslim leaders and groups that didn't exist a generation ago. Those include the creation of international religious freedom ambassadors in several Western countries, said Rabbi David Saperstein, who held that position under President Barack Obama. They also include the Marrakesh Declaration, a January 2016 statement by hundreds of Muslim religious leaders worldwide committing to the rights of religious minorities in predominantly Muslim countries. The Southern Baptist Convention, the biggest Protestant U.S. denomination, has filed court briefs in support of religious freedom for Muslims.

But leaders and experts say the Easter bombings show that beyond the surface, relations - even in a place considered generally tolerant - are fragile.

Saperstein compared religious attacks to school shootings: "It becomes a pattern. Whether it really changes the way the world thinks about things? The urgency? I don't know." It's hard to know, he said, why some tragedies and some issues ignite real emotion and drive for change and why others don't - on any issue.

"For some reason, I feel the bombing in Sri Lanka was something that felt like a bit of a turn, and I'm not sure why," said Steve Bezner, who pastors the large evangelical Houston Northwest Church in Texas and does Muslim-Christian dialogue work around the world. Maybe it was the high body count, he said Monday, or maybe lingering fear from previous attacks like the one at Sutherland Springs, Tex., where 26 people were killed in 2017 by a gunman. Bezner said that his church hosted a group of local Muslims Sunday for Easter and that he worried someone "would say something stupid" to them while they were there.

He compared Sri Lanka to the United States - a place where hypothetically the majority faith says it supports religious freedom, but "when it's time to defend the minority, we haven't always done so."

Many advocates and officials with faith groups were circumspect when asked to comment Monday about political or religious implications, saying they didn't want to inflame an already tense situation. Among them was Minhaj Hassan, spokesman for the group Islamic Relief USA. He said the group's Sri Lanka staff will put out a combined statement with both Muslim and Christian local groups.

"Events like these are intended to stoke fear and division and negative feelings," he said.

Evangelist Franklin Graham, who runs a global ministry called Samaritan's Purse, said that the violence was surprising to him because Christians and Muslims often side together as religious minorities in the Buddhist-majority country.

"These types of attacks on Christians happen on a frequent basis," he said, citing violence in countries such as Iraq and Indonesia. "No question, this will increase tensions between Muslims and Christians."

Some observers, including Shaun Casey, director of Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, fear the violence will feed a narrative that Christians are at war with Muslims.

"What explains violence in Sri Lanka probably doesn't explain violence in Paris," he said. "It's an impulse to take a global assessment or generalizing that doesn't help."

Mathew Schmalz, a professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross who studied Catholicism in Sri Lanka, said violence against both Muslims and Christians is a legitimate concern. "Persecution of religious minorities throughout the world is real."

"A lot of this can be exploited to fuel theologies of ideologies of grievance. Both evangelical Christians and Catholics feel society is unwelcoming to them," he said. "It's unfortunate if Christians rely on a superficial understanding of victimhood. It plays into their own prejudices."

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Deadly attacks in Sri Lanka tap into global anxiety about Christian-Muslim violence

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April 22 The Easter attacks in Sri Lanka, a Buddhist-majority country not known for religious violence or intolerance, are tapping into global worries about safety. Experts who study long-term trends of religious intolerance and violence disagree, however, on whether things are getting worse, better or generally have remained level.

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Currently around 5,000 people are thought to die of resistant infections every year in the UK, though experts say the real figure is likely to be much higher. A government-commissioned review found 700,000 people are dying every year worldwide, with this figure set to rise to 10m by 2050 if no action is taken.

Currently doctors adhere to specific guidelines when they suspect a patient has a resistant infection, such as changing their course of antibiotics or isolating them in a single room so they cannot spread the bacteria to other patients.

"Doctors should take into account this study's findings and consider a patient's travel history if they come into hospital with an infection suspected to be from ESBL bacteria", Prof Hawkey said.

The study was led by Public Health England and the University of Birmingham and published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. The researchers signed up 2,430 people from GP practices in four different areas of the country and analysed samples of their faeces in the laboratory for the superbugs.

They found 7.3% of people across all areas carried these superbugs, but the prevalence varied greatly across the four parts of the country.

Shropshire, which has a mainly white British population, had a prevalence of 4.9% while the Heart of Birmingham , with a predominantly Asian population, had a prevalence of 16%.

When they broke it down into specific groups of people those with the highest prevalence were those who had travelled to South Asia - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal - (38.5%) or those born in South Asia (25%).

Living with someone who had visited a high risk country significantly raised the chance of carrying the superbugs. People with a housemate who had travelled to the Indian subcontinent in the last year had a prevalence of 22.7%, while those living with someone who had visited the Middle East had a prevalence of 16.9%.

Doctors were more likely to carry the superbugs than the general population. Age or sex made no difference to the risk of being colonised.

The research echoes other European studies which found travellers to countries outside Europe have a 10-fold higher prevalence of ESBL bacteria than the local population.

A spokesperson for Public Health England said "the results of this study will be used to inform infection management and antibiotic guidance."

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Superbugs more common in people who have travelled to Asia or Middle East

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Currently around 5,000 people are thought to die of resistant infections every year in the UK, though experts say the real figure is likely to be much higher. A government-commissioned review found 700,000 people are dying every year worldwide, with this figure set to rise to 10m by 2050 if no action is taken.

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Impunity and Unresolved Killings

Mozambican law enforcement continued its practice of not investigating a range of serious crimes. The cases of 10 high-profile figures, including senior opposition members, state prosecutors, and prominent academics, who were either killed or injured in apparently politically motivated attacks in 2016, remained unresolved. Likewise, the government provided no new information about 15 unidentified bodies found scattered under a bridge between the central provinces of Manica and Sofala, in May 2016. A parliamentary commission established in June 2016 to investigate the case did not publish an account of its findings or state when it would complete its work.

Authorities also failed to investigate human rights abuses allegedly committed by government security forces in 2015 and 2016 in relation to clashes with armed men from RENAMO, such as enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and property destruction. In 2016, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said at least 14 RENAMO officials were killed or abducted across the country in the first quarter of 2016.

Mozambique's leading human rights group, Liga dos Direitos Humanos (LDH), said that government security forces abducted and summarily executed at least 83 people in the provinces of Manica, Sofala, Tete and Zambezia between November 2015 and December 2016.

In cases investigated by Human Rights Watch, family members of "disappeared" people said that government officials had failed to provide them with information, despite strong evidence that security forces had detained their relative. Authorities also failed to investigate the destruction of homes and crops by security forces in Manica and Sofala provinces, or provide compensation to those affected.

There was also no significant progress in the investigation into a major financial scandal involving three state-owned companies that illegally borrowed over US$2 billion from Credit Suisse and VTB of Russia in 2013 and 2014 without parliamentary approval. The case led to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspending its Mozambique program and all 14 international donors freezing aid to the annual budget, pending an investigation and independent audit of the loans. In June, the attorney general published the audit report conducted by Kroll, a British audit firm, which detailed the transactions and individuals involved in the process, including former ministers and former heads of the state intelligence and security service. At time of writing, the government claimed to be investigating the case, but no individual mentioned in the report had been charged.

Abuses in the Mining Industry

In July, videos shared on social media appeared to show Mozambican security forces assaulting artisanal miners at the ruby mines in Namanhumbir, Montepuez, northern Cabo Delgado province, which are co-owned by the British company Gemfields and former generals linked to the ruling party.

The footage showed uniformed officers beating the miners and ordering some of them to beat others who were tied to trees or had their heads buried in the sand. Reacting to the videos, a police spokesman said on July 26 that the officers involved were under investigation but provided no details.

In August, the Bar Association's human rights commission, after a mission to the Montepuez region, found that security forces in the region had committed abuses against miners, such as killings, beatings, and extortion. The commission urged authorities to investigate and hold perpetrators to account.

These events followed accounts from media and activists in February 2017 that Mozambican police had beaten and raped some Tanzanian miners while they were being deported for working illegally in the country. Mozambique denied the accusations and Tanzania said it was investigating how its nationals were treated.

Attacks on Children and Adults with Albinism

The killings, kidnappings, and physical attacks against people with albinism continued, despite government efforts to stop the violence, including several arrests. In Mozambique and some neighboring countries, people with albinism are hunted for their body parts, which are used for witchcraft.

In March 2017, the United Nations independent expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism, Ikponwosa Ero, told the UN Human Rights Council that the situation of people with albinism in Mozambique "requires urgent and immediate attention." She estimated that more than 100 attacks against people with albinism had occurred in Mozambique since 2014. Many of the victims are children. In September 2017, according to the police, a 17-year-old boy with albinism was killed and his brain removed, in Tete province. Four months earlier, police uncovered an attempt by two parents to sell their child with albinism in the same province. In June, the Malawian press reported that a 12-year-old Malawian boy with albinism had been killed in Mozambique, and police had arrested five people allegedly connected with the crime.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Two years since the decriminalization of homosexuality in Mozambique, the government had still not registered the country's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) group, Lambda. Since January 2016, the government has not made a public statement about Lambda or the rights of homosexuals in the country, despite constant appeals by the UN Human Rights Council for the government to register nongovernmental organizations that work on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. Homosexuality is widely tolerated in Mozambique, but LGBT people and local activists point to frequent discrimination at work and mistreatment by family members.

Prison Conditions

Prison overcrowding continued to be a major problem, with prisons that have a total capacity of just over 8,000 holding more than 18,000 people. Authorities blame the overcrowding on slow judicial processes, the large number of illegal detentions, and a lack of alternative forms of punishment for petty crimes. The attorney general has also expressed concern about the overcrowding, which, according to her, was the highest it has been since 2014.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence was in the spotlight with two high-profile cases making headlines. In December 2016, the daughter of former President Armando Guebuza was shot dead by her husband during a domestic dispute in their home. As of late November, the case was awaiting trial. In February, the daughter of former President Samora Machel won a court case against her ex-boyfriend, who beat her so badly she lost an eye.

Reacting to the cases, the Association of Women in Legal Careers said the government often fails to investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence. According to the group, family pressure and obstruction by the police caused many cases to be dropped. Domestic violence against men also made headlines in 2017, after at least three women, in separate cases, allegedly tried to kill their husbands. In reaction to the cases, police said that in the first three months of the year they had registered 210 cases of domestic violence against men and women.

Impact of the Economic Crisis

Mozambique's economic crisis had a significant impact on the country's finances, making it harder for people to enjoy basic economic and social rights. The health authorities struggled to purchase medicine, and in March, media reported that there were temporary shortages of basic medicine, such as paracetamol, in at least three provinces: Inhambane, Manica, and Zambezia. In June, media reported that due to the financial crisis, hospitals in Inhambane province did not have food for patients.

Key International Actors

In August, the European Union and the United States congratulated President Filipe Nyusi and RENAMO leader Afonso Dhlakama for having their first meeting since February 2015. Held on August 6, the meeting raised expectations for a potential peace agreement by the end of 2017, though no agreement was reached. The EU encouraged the two leaders to work toward a deal that would allow 2018 local elections and 2019 general elections to take place in a climate of peace.

In September, the US pledged US$400 million to fight HIV/AIDS in Mozambique, as part of the president's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In August, the IMF said it would not resume its assistance programs in Mozambique until authorities provide all information on money that state-owned companies had borrowed from foreign banks.

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World Report 2018: Rights Trends in Mozambique

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A ceasefire in December 2016 ended armed clashes between the government and the former rebel group, now political party, Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (Mozambican National Resistance, or RENAMO).

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By Heidi Gengenbach (First of two parts. Here's Part II)

Avavumbeli mbita eku cukumeta.
(Potters don't fashion clay into a pot just to throw it away.)[1]

How do historians study people who left no written traces of their life, no paper trail hinting at who they were or what they accomplished? Questions of "truth" and "fact" suddenly dominate American politics and news media. But debates about how we know what we know, about the reliability of the evidence behind claims we make about the world, are as old as history-telling itself, and they haunt historians every day. It is difficult enough to reconstruct someone's past from the documentary fragments we unearth in public and private archives. When no such records exist, when people leave no evidence behind, can-or should-historians pay attention to their lives at all?

Today, in the 48 nations of sub-Saharan Africa, over 50% of adult women ages 15 and up-nearly 250 million women- lack basic literacy skills.[2]

During the millenia of human history before 1900, when most African cultures relied on sophisticated oral rather than written forms of communication, the number of writing women was truly minute. As happened during the peaceful spread of Islam into Africa from the 7 th century on, European missionaries and colonizers brought writing skills to the parts of the continent they occupied or conquered between the 15 th and 20 th centuries. In the 18 th and 19 th centuries, some liberated African slaves who had converted to Christianity in the Americas similarly introduced literacy when they returned to Africa, sometimes as missionaries themselves. But African girls had limited access to the Quranic and Western-style Christian schools these men established. And because the colonial state ignored "native" women unless they broke the law, appeared in court, or engaged in political protest, neither European officials nor the male African clerks who did much of their record-keeping documented women's ordinary activities or opinions.

The lives of rural women, especially, escaped the notice of Europeans, who lumped them together derisively as "peasants" or "beasts of burden." In colonial eyes, rural African women were less troublesome than their sisters in the urban "educated elite," but less deserving of attention too.

In other words, the vast majority of sub-Saharan African women in the past possessed neither the means to write about their experiences, nor the power to be represented fairly in the written archives of their place and time. And while the continent's wealth of oral traditions-performed narratives that recount past events and are transmitted across generations-offer another body of evidence, women seldom appear as speakers or subjects in these histories either.

There are some exceptions, but in most African oral chronicles women's voices and deeds are sidelined by patriarchal cultural norms and a gender division of labor that assigns women the arduous work of subsistence, leaving them too socially marginal (and too busy) to challenge the public histories their menfolk tell.

Given women's absence from traditional written and oral accounts of Africa's past, it might seem that their lives-and African women's history as a whole-must be hopelessly beyond our reach.

In the rural communities of Mozambique where I have been working since the 1990s, the devastation wrought by Portuguese colonial rule (1895-1975) and protracted independence and civil wars (1965-75, 1976-92) further complicates research on women's history.

In addition to the spottiness, racism, and sexism of colonial archives, and the androcentrism of oral traditions, the scars from nearly 30 years of violent displacement and traumatic loss-of family, belongings, homes-can make it exceptionally difficult to interview women about their experiences.

Too many elders did not survive the civil war, leaving a generation of youth bereft of the knowledge their grandparents would have taught them.

Memories of brutal conflict, particularly the atrocities committed against civilians by Renamo rebels, can be too painful to speak aloud.

Girls and women suffered both wars in distinctly gendered ways, including rape and sexual enslavement but more commonly by shouldering the burdens of food provisioning, childcare, care for the sick and elderly, and ritual mourning of the dead-often while on the run as "internally displaced persons" or refugees in neighboring countries.

A person's understanding of the past can't help but change in such harrowing times. Post-war grief and nostalgia, and the urgent need to rebuild shattered communities, also raise the stakes of remembering "correctly," while discouraging memories-of injustice, victimization, betrayal-that distract from the business of moving on. How does one analyze women's testimony in these circumstances, let alone separate "truth" from nightmare?

Part II explores these questions next week.

Heidi Gengenbach is Assistant Professor of History at UMass Boston. Her doctoral dissertation received the Gutenberg-e Electronic Book Prize from the American Historical Association, and was published by Columbia University Press (Binding Memories: Women as Tellers and Makers of History in Magude, Mozambique) in 2005. Her second book project, Recipes for Disaster: Gender, Hunger, and the Remaking of an Agrarian Food World in Central Mozambique, 1500-2000, will be published by Ohio University Press.

References

[1] Henri P. Junod, The Wisdom of the Tsonga-Shangana People (3d ed. Braamfontein: Sasavona Books, 1990), 162-3.

[2] Literacy data from the World Bank which currently estimates the population of Sub-Saharan Africa as 974.2 million, with women comprising 50% of the total. http://www.prb.org/Publications/Reports/2016/economic-growth-equity-ishrat.aspx

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Hidden in Plain Sight: African Women's History Beyond the Archive (part 1)

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By Heidi Gengenbach (First of two parts. Here's Part II) Avavumbeli mbita eku cukumeta. (Potters don't fashion clay into a pot just to throw it away.) [1] How do historians study people who left no written traces of their life, no paper trail hinting at who they were or what they accomplished?

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How clean water can be the most powerful weapon against superbugs

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Above one of the doors of the Mirigu health centre in the Upper East Region of Ghana, the words "labour ward" are written in black marker. In a cramped room no more than a few metres wide, midwife Felicia Akansi delivers about 15 babies every month, and staff members treat hundreds of patients for conditions as minor as a cough to seriouus diseases like malaria.

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The scourge of antibiotic-resistant superbugs is intensifying in South Africa due to medical malpractice and misinformation.

The latest reports concerning antibiotic resistance (ABR) worldwide paint a grim picture in South Africa. Medical researchers have blamed the negligent use of antibiotics as the cause for great concern.

According to researchers, South Africans have become too reliant on antibiotics as their first line of defence against a wide array of ailments. The over-use of antibiotics, coupled with incorrect usage methods, has led to an outbreak of dangerous superbugs.

What are superbugs?

Superbugs are defined as bacteria which have become immune to antibiotics. Infections resulting from these superbugs are notoriously difficult to treat. Bacteria resistant to multiple antimicrobials, including antibiotics, are referred to as multidrug-resistant (MDR).

Worryingly, South Africa has seen a spike in extensively drug-resistant (XDR) and totally drug resistant (TDR) microbes. Fatalities resulting from these infections are beginning to gain momentum in South Africa.

Superbugs thrive through the misuse of antibiotics. Dr Dean Gopalan, President of the Critical Care Society of South Africa and Head of Critical Care at the University of KwaZulu-Natal recently spoke to iAfrica, detailing the devastation of superbugs, saying:

"Without the widespread adoption and participation from patients and doctors, the impact of initiatives such as BugWise will be negligible. ABR requires the attention of every healthcare practitioner, as well as the general public. If left unchecked, it could claim 10 million lives per annum by 2050."

The overuse of antibiotics

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently reported that more than two-thirds of South Africans surveyed think that antibiotics should be prescribed to treat colds and flu. It's this exact misconception that has proven to be the perfect breeding ground for superbugs.

Only 28% of South Africans surveyed correctly stated that colds are caused by viruses while antibiotics are only effective against infections caused by bacteria.

It's estimated that 700 000 people die each year from drug-resistant infections.

During a recent interview with 702 Talk Radio, Annemarie Blackmore, the antimicrobial portfolio manager at Pharma Dynamics, revealed that 60% of antibiotics prescribed for acute respiratory infection are inappropriately administered. Blackmore explained that South Africa's overreliance on antibiotics has created an epidemic, saying:

"One of the problems is that the clinical symptoms of bacterial viral infections are very similar. When you are visiting your doctor, they have to make a clinical judgement as to what the cause is. The only way for them to know is to take a sample and send it to the lab to be tested but that could be very expensive."

The correct use of antibiotics

WHO has led the charge against superbugs by educating governments, particularly in developing countries, as to the dangers of antibiotic misuse. The organisation has listed a few simple ways in which you can combat the spread of superbugs:

Only use antibiotics when prescribed by a health professional.

Always finish the course of drugs, even if you feel better.

Never use left-over antibiotics.

Don't share your antibiotics with others.

Prevent infections by regularly washing your hands, avoiding close contact with sick people and keeping up to date with your vaccinations.

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The scourge of antibiotic-resistant superbugs is intensifying in South Africa due to medical malpractice and misinformation. The latest reports concerning antibiotic resistance (ABR) worldwide paint a grim picture in South Africa. Medical researchers have blamed the negligent use of antibiotics as the cause for great concern.

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162,000 Annual Deaths from Antibiotic Resistant Infections, Say New Estimates

My 95 year-old dad is on his life's last leg. He lives in a memory unit, under hospice, with a terminal diagnosis of dementia. Something will kill him, eventually. In hospice programs and nursing homes, it's often a superbug infection.

Superbug is the colloquial term for a disease-causing bacteria that's 'resistant to'-i.e. immune to treatment with-multiple antibiotics. Technically, superbug infections are known as multi-drug resistant infections. One example are MRSA infections, which are caused by a super-resistant strain of staphylococcus bacteria.

The World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and others consider the global epidemic of antibiotic resistance to be one of our biggest health threats. Superbugs sicken, disable and kill lots of Americans every year. Until recently, the most used figure was at least 23,000 annual deaths, along with 2 million infections. And yet those are considered "low-ball" numbers by just about everyone, including the CDC which derived them. The CDC figure only includes deaths in hospitals, ignoring deaths among folks like my dad who might die from MRSA or another superbug infection at their homes or in a senior facility. Counting the latter, Reuters reported in 2016 that there actually could be tens of thousands more superbug-related deaths each year, over and above the 23,000 or more deaths in hospitals.

In a bold move, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), which represents physicians who specialize in infectious diseases, recently decided to move away from relying on CDC's estimates, and instead uses a figure of up to 162,044 deaths annually, or more than 7 times higher. The latter comes from an estimate of annual deaths published recently by a team from Washington University School of Medicine in the journal, Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

Thinking big picture, the revised estimate makes multidrug-resistant infections the 3rd leading cause of deaths in the United States, after heart disease and cancer. The revised figure amounts to more deaths than are caused by all accidents, and more than double the number of opioid deaths.

Having good numbers can be important for setting national research or campaign priorities to combat antibiotic resistance. Regardless of whether the annual death toll is 23,000 or 160,000, however, we already know that cutting overall antibiotic use of antibiotics has to be a top priority if we're going to maintain their effectiveness into the future. At the most basic level, use and overuse of these drugs drives bacteria to become resistant to them.

Pork and beef production remain two of the largest sources of unnecessary antibiotic use in the U.S.. In fact, more antibiotics are sold for use in raising pigs and cattle than are sold for treating sick people (nearly 50% more, actually). These medically important medicines are routinely and intensively fed to herds of pigs and cows that aren't sick, ostensibly to ward off problems created by the crowded, often unsanitary, conditions under which those animals are being raised. Europe has legislated non-antibiotic approaches to these problems, such as cleaner farms, better nutrition, and less crowding. Until the situation changes in the U.S., we fear that other efforts to curb superbug infections and deaths will never be as successful as they could or should be.

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My 95 year-old dad is on his life's last leg. He lives in a memory unit, under hospice, with a terminal diagnosis of dementia. Something will kill him, eventually. In hospice programs and nursing homes, it's often a superbug infection. Superbug is the colloquial term for a disease-causing bacteria that's 'resistant to'-i.e.

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Credit: iStock.
Until the early 19 th century one in two people used to die from infectious diseases before the age of 20 years. ¹ The global life expectancy has now increased to 72 years and the discovery of antimicrobials was one of the major drivers of this improvement in human health.

Antimicrobials kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria (these are also called "antibiotics"), parasites, viruses, and fungi. ¹ In 1928, Alexander Fleming famously isolated the first antibiotic from the mold Penicillium notatum. Beginning in 1942 during World War II, the mass production of penicillin officially ushered in the era of antibiotics.

Antibiotics have since revolutionized medicine by enabling treatments that would once have proven fatal, e.g., critical care medicine (such as the use of ventilators and catheters), cancer treatments, orthopedic surgery, organ transplantation, the care of premature babies, and the treatment of autoimmune diseases. ²⁻⁴ Indeed, most surgical procedures rely on antibiotics to prevent life-threatening postoperative infections. Antimicrobials are now not only extensively used in human healthcare, but also in toiletries, cleaning products for household and industrial use, and agriculture.

However, antimicrobials have since proven to be a double-edged sword.

What is antimicrobial resistance?

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) refers to the inheritable genetic changes that microbes accumulate to reduce or eliminate the efficacy of antimicrobials. 2,3,5

Over the past 60 years, millions of metric tons of antimicrobials have been distributed worldwide in various products. ² This extensive exposure has led to the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), and pandrug-resistant (PDR) organisms such as the Klebsiella and Acinetobacter species. ⁶ Resistant pathogenic strains can develop within only a year of antimicrobial exposure, ⁷ and the death rate from infections with these strains can approach 50%. ⁶

Despite antibiotics only being in extensive use for several decades, certain bacterial infections are now on the verge of becoming untreatable. ⁵

Some common resistant microbes

In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a list of AMR pathogens posing the greatest threat. ⁸ The medium and high threat categories include Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus); cause of pneumonia, as well as bloodstream, skin and soft tissue infections), Vibrio cholerae, Streptococcus pneumoniae (cause of pneumonia and bacterial meningitis among others), and bacteria that cause common diseases such as food poisoning ( Salmonella) and gonorrhea ( Neisseria gonorrhoeae). The critical category includes bacteria that cause severe (and sometimes deadly) bloodstream, urinary, and respiratory tract infections in hospitals and nursing homes. These include Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia, Proteus, Klebsiella, and Escherichia coli.

Because there are already extensive efforts underway to combat tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis is not on this priority list. However, several MDR and XDR strains of tuberculosis have emerged. ⁹

How do microbes acquire resistance?

AMR arises spontaneously through random genetic mutations, and the prevalence of these mutations increases in response to selection pressure from competing microbes, invading pathogens, and human antimicrobial use. 2,10 Other microbes then inherit these genes by descent. Only one bacterium in a population needs to be resistant to an antibiotic for drug resistance to emerge.

Particularly worrying, is that certain microbes can also receive AMR genes from non-relatives, even from other species. 1,5 AMR is especially a concern for the Gram-negative bacteria on the WHO priority list, as over and above their inherent, physical barriers to antibiotic treatment, these species readily transfer resistant genetic material to other bacteria.

Why are "superbugs" a global threat?

The term "superbugs" describes microbes with enhanced morbidity and mortality due to high levels of antibiotic resistance. 7 These microbes have fewer treatment options and are associated with extended and costlier periods of hospital care. In some cases, these superbugs have also acquired increased virulence and enhanced transmissibility.

One of the most notorious superbugs is S. aureus. ³ This multidrug-resistant pathogen has been a major source of hospital-acquired infections; recently, however, MDR strains have also moved into the community. Another superbug is Salmonella enterica, with some strains resistant to five antibiotics. ⁷ Most concerning, however, is the emergence of pathogens resistant to nearly all (and in rare cases, all) antimicrobials, such as carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. 11,12

Approximately 700,000 deaths per year are attributed to AMR, but with the emergence of more and more "superbugs", this number is projected to rise to 10 million by 2050 at a cost of $100 trillion. ¹³ The rise of AMR is therefore considered by experts to be one of the most critical issues in modern healthcare.

How do we best prevent the rise of "superbugs"?

Experts suggest two major approaches to slow the spread of AMR: (1) reduce the number of infections, and (2) reduce antibiotic use. 2

Whenever an infection is prevented, one less person needs to be prescribed drugs. According to Prof. Willem van Schaik of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham, one of the leading EU institutes researching AMR, "The most important technology for combatting drug resistance is to prevent infections. This can be done by technologically simple solutions (e.g., handwashing by healthcare workers, and isolation of patients colonized by multidrug-resistant bacteria), but novel approaches (e.g., disinfection of air by UV) are promising too. As prevention is always better than treating infections, vaccine-based approaches to combat AMR are of considerable interest as well."

Indeed, many experts agree that improved vaccine design, production, and delivery methods may eventually comprise the main strategy for combating AMR. ¹ Other than vaccines, isolation, and proper hygiene, surveillance is also key. Next-generation sequencing technologies, which can sequence the entire genomes of microbes, are increasingly being used to track AMR genes across the food chain. 14,15 However, such surveillance has not yet been implemented worldwide, and most countries still rely on older, less informative techniques to characterize specimens. In fact, many parts of the world currently lack adequate (if any) surveillance methods. ⁹ AMR surveillance, therefore, requires global strengthening and harmonization, with the adoption of agreed methods and standards.

Every administered dose of antibiotic drugs selects for resistance. ² Antibiotic stewardship is critical to ensure that antibiotics are taken in the right amounts for the full course and only when necessary.

Antibiotics were, until recently, freely available in most parts of the world. However, even when not provided over the counter, misuse is rampant. In the US alone, healthcare providers prescribed 258 million courses of antibiotics (833 prescriptions per 1000 persons) in 2010. ⁹ At least 50% of all these antibiotic prescriptions are deemed unnecessary.

More information campaigns (such as Get Smart) targeted at both the consumer and healthcare professional are needed. ⁹ Many people take antibiotics to treat the common cold and flu, even though antibiotics are ineffective against both. Prescription audits should, therefore, become routine. Improved diagnostics that allow rapid, point-of-care identification of the pathogen down to strain level would also help healthcare providers improve their antibiotic treatment decisions.

Interventions are also required to prevent the ongoing misuse of antimicrobials in cleaning products, agriculture, and other industries. ⁹ In certain countries, up to 75% of all antibiotics are used for veterinary applications. 2,16 Antibiotics are used in livestock and poultry to treat diseases and in sub-therapeutic doses as growth promotants or prophylactics to compensate for stressful and unsanitary conditions. In the US, around 8 billion animals are treated by as many as 10 different antibiotics. Worryingly, many of the same antimicrobial classes are also used in human health.

A further concern is that an estimated 75% of all antibiotics given to animals are not fully digested. ¹⁶ Vast quantities of manure are routinely sprayed onto fields and these antibiotics leech into the water supply. The AMR bacteria that arise can be spread by animals, birds, and insects. ¹⁷⁻¹⁹ Large amounts of antibiotics are also released into municipal wastewater because of incomplete metabolism in humans and the disposal of unused antibiotics. 9 Plant products can also be affected through irrigation with contaminated water. ¹⁰ Regulations governing the non-human use of antimicrobials, therefore, need to be put in place and/or more strictly enforced, and consumers should rally for improved animal husbandry to reduce the need for antimicrobials.

Why don't we just discover more new antibiotics?

Despite the issue of AMR, the search for new antimicrobials remains a priority for treating severe infections. However, new antibiotic development has slowed to a standstill because of financial and regulatory disincentives. 4,11 FDA approvals declined by 94% between the mid-1980s and 2010, with only two approvals between 2008 and 2013. With over 140 antibiotics developed over the past century, the "easy" discoveries have already been made.

Antibiotics are also not as profitable as drugs used for long-term conditions, and this is particularly true where proper antibiotic stewardship is in place. Indeed, the cost of developing a new antibiotic is now likely to outstrip the return. ¹¹ As Prof. Willem van Schaik says, "The economy of antibiotic R&D in large pharmaceutical companies is challenging as new antibiotics are unlikely to become important profit generators in the short-term and so are unlikely to be prioritized by large, shareholder-driven companies."

Some economic and regulatory incentives have, therefore, been provided by the FDA (through the GAIN Act) and through public-private funding bodies such as the CARB-X collaboration between the US and UK, and the " New Drugs for Bad Bugs" program in the EU. 4,20 An alternative public-private partnership, the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP), sources funds to not only develop antibiotics but also to ensure their sustainable access. However, more resources are likely needed.

Another avenue is the repurposing of "old" antibiotics. As Prof. Laura Piddock, Head of Scientific Affairs at GARDP says, "In addition to identifying new drug candidates, we are recovering the knowledge, data, and assets of forgotten or undeveloped antibiotics that can be candidates for pre-clinical or clinical development."

It is, of course, crucial that any new antibiotics be scrupulously guarded against misuse to prevent the rapid rise of AMR yet again.

Are there any alternatives to antibiotics?

There are several emerging technologies that may provide alternatives to antibiotics. Other technologies include CRISPR, antimicrobial peptides, and phage therapy, although these all face significant challenges to clinical implementation. 6, 7,16 Pathogens could potentially be targeted for neutralization rather than destruction, thus exerting less selection pressure to drive resistance. ⁴ Alternatively, the host, rather than the microbe, could be targeted to modulate the immune response and the host environment to minimize the effects of infection without resorting to antibiotics.

In summary

For a while, the discovery of antibiotics mostly eliminated the threat of infectious diseases. But now, some scientists believe we are approaching a post-antibiotic age. 1,2 We face a future in which people again die of common infections and medical interventions begin to pose unacceptable risks.

In the words of Alexander Fleming: "...the thoughtless person playing with penicillin is morally responsible for the death of the man who finally succumbs to infection with the penicillin-resistant organism." ⁴

We must actively encourage the return of susceptible microbes into the clinical and overall environment.

1)Tagliabue A., Rappuoli R. Changing priorities in vaccinology: Antibiotic resistance moving to the top. Frontiers in Immunology. 2018, 9, article 1068. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01068.

2)Smith R.A., M'ikanatha N.M., Read A.F. Antibiotic Resistance: A Primer and Call to Action. Health Communication. 2015;30(3):309-314. doi:10.1080/10410236.2014.943634.

3)Davies J., Davies D. Origins and Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews 2010;74(3):417-433. doi:10.1128/MMBR.00016-10.

4)Spellberg B. The future of antibiotics. Critical Care. 2014;18(3):228. doi:10.1186/cc13948.

5)Perry J., Waglechner N., Wright G. The Prehistory of Antibiotic Resistance. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine. 2016;6(6):a025197. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a025197.

6)Steckbeck J.D., Deslouches B., Montelaro R.C. Antimicrobial peptides: new drugs for bad bugs? Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy. 2014;14(1):11-14. doi:10.1517/14712598.2013.844227.

7)Ali J., Rafiq, Q.A., Ratcliffe E. Antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and potential synthetic treatments. Future Science OA. 2018;4(4):FSO290. doi: 10.4155/fsoa-2017-0109.

8)WHO publishes list of bacteria for which new antibiotics are urgently needed. World Health Organization. 27 February 2017. (http://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-02-2017-who-publishes-list-of-bacteria-for-which-new-antibiotics-are-urgently-needed)

9)Prestinaci F., Pezzotti P., Pantosti A. Antimicrobial resistance: a global multifaceted phenomenon. Pathogens and Global Health. 2015;109(7):309-318. doi:10.1179/2047773215Y.0000000030.

10)Meredith H.R., Srimani J.K., Lee A.J., Lopatkin A.J., You L. Collective antibiotic tolerance: Mechanisms, dynamics, and intervention. Nature Chemical Biology. 2015;11(3):182-188. doi:10.1038/nchembio.1754.

11)Toner E., Adalja A., Gronvall G.K., Cicero A., Inglesby T.V. Antimicrobial resistance is a global health emergency. Health Security. 2015;13(3):153-155. doi:10.1089/hs.2014.0088.

12)Doorduijn D.J., Rooijakkers, S.H., van Schaik W., Bardoel B.W. Complement resistance mechanisms of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Immunobiology. 2016;221(10):1102-1109. doi: 10.1016/j.imbio.2016.06.014.

13)O'Neill J. Antimicrobial resistance: tackling a crisis for the health and wealth of nations. 2014. (http://amr-review.org/sites/default/files/AMR%20Review%20Paper%20-%20Tackling%20a%20crisis%20for%20the%20health%20and%20wealth%20of%20nations_1.pdf)

14)Oniciuc E.A., Likotrafiti E., Alvarez-Molina A., Prieto M., Santos J.A., Alvarez-Ordóñez, A. The present and future of whole genome sequencing (WGS) and whole metagenome sequencing (WMS) for surveillance of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms and antimicrobial resistance genes across the food chain. Genes. 2018;9(5):268. doi:10.3390/genes9050268.

15)Köser C.U., Ellington M.J., Peacock S.J. Whole-genome sequencing to control antimicrobial resistance. Trends in Genetics. 2014;30(9):401-407. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2014.07.003.

16)Jassim S.A.A., Limoges R.G. Natural solution to antibiotic resistance: bacteriophages "The Living Drugs." World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology. 2014;30(8):2153-2170. doi:10.1007/s11274-014-1655-7.

17)Zurek L., Ghosh A. Insects represent a link between food animal farms and the urban environment for antibiotic resistance traits. Müller V, ed. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 2014;80(12):3562-3567. doi:10.1128/AEM.00600-14.

18)Vaz-Moreira I., Nunes O.C., Manaia C.M. Bacterial diversity and antibiotic resistance in water habitats: searching the links with the human microbiome. FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 2014;38(4):761-78. doi: 10.1111/1574-6976.12062.

19)Verraes C., Van Boxstael S., Van Meervenne E., et al. Antimicrobial Resistance in the Food Chain: A Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2013;10(7):2643-2669. doi:10.3390/ijerph10072643.

20)Carlet, J., Pulcini C., Piddock, L.J.V. Antibiotic resistance: a geopolitical issue. Clinical Microbiology and Infection. 2014;20(10):949-953. doi.org/10.1111/1469-0691.12767.

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Antimicrobial Resistance - the Rise of Global Superbugs

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Credit: iStock. Until the early 19 th century one in two people used to die from infectious diseases before the age of 20 years. 1 The global life expectancy has now increased to 72 years and the discovery of antimicrobials was one of the major drivers of this improvement in human health.

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Abstract

The Mozambican civil war, 1977-1992, left an ambiguous legacy for women. Whilst women were among the most vulnerable victims of the war, in some ways they were also its unintended beneficiaries. The civil war, by weakening both the state and the traditional family, offered unprecedented opportunities for women to break free from patriarchal control. Especially decisive were women's own responses to the war, which in turn were a function of their pre-war situation, class, and personal history. Some women managed to see and seize opportunities in their predicament and prospered, especially as informal entrepreneurs, while many others succumbed to their fate. A few even engaged in civil society activism, for instance, setting up victim support networks and participating in peacebuilding. This paper shows that, while destroying society the war also catalysed the process of gender transformation, social fragmentation and civil society activism. It concludes that violent conflict is a moment of choice, in which individual and collective responses create opportunities and/or constraints.

Introduction

Barely two years after independence in 1975 Mozambique was plunged into a vicious civil war, which ended in 1992 after the internationally-mediated Rome peace talks (Vines 1991; Chingono 2005; Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs 2013). Pitting the Chinese and Soviet-supported Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) socialist government against the Rhodesian and (later) South African-backed rebel group, the Mozambique National Resistance (MNR or Renamo), the civil war claimed nearly one million lives, displaced one and a half million, and led to economic destruction totalling about US$15 million (SaferWorld 1994:18). Not only did the war affect different groups of women differently, but with far-reaching ramifications, it also engendered fundamental transformations in gender relations and roles. With its short-term and long-term pains, gains and losses spread unevenly, the war was a mixed blessing for women.

On the one hand, the war exacerbated women's subjection and marginalisation. In particular, it increased their insecurities, vulnerabilities, pauperisation and exposed them, especially as refugees, informal traders, sex workers, or beggars, to new forms of violence. Class, age, marital status and personal life history determined the specific responses of individual women to the war, their survival strategies and their achievements. Not surprisingly, there was a perplexing and contradictory gender struggle characterised by a tantalising combination of radicalism and conservatism as well as divisions among women.

On the other hand, and as an unintended consequence, however, the war indirectly empowered some women by creating conditions that made it relatively easier for them to break free from patriarchal control. First, with male breadwinners absent - either on the frontlines, maimed or dead - women were forced to find means to support their families, and to become household heads. Second, the destruction of the male dominated formal and agricultural sectors undermined men's economic power over women. Third, the political and economic liberalisation of the 1990s, sponsored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, and partly necessitated by the war, fostered new political, cultural and social values that allowed women easily to abandon oppressive traditions. Finally, women's participation in the wartime informal economy and in religion-based support groups was especially empowering. In short, the social-political upheaval caused by the war was a mixed blessing for women; it contained both new possibilities for their emancipation as well as seeds of their further subjugation.

This paper draws its conclusions from the experience of Manica Province, where the author conducted field trips in 1992, 1994 and 2009. Since the war started in this province, the province had the longest experience of the war, and perhaps more enduring changes (Chingono 2005:52). Largely due to ethnicity and the fact that the leadership of the MNR came from this region, the rebels were relatively popular in the province (Chingono 2005:53). Randomly selected women in Chimoio and Manica towns, and women displaced by the war in peri-urban slums and in resettlement camps were asked to describe how the war had affected their lives, and to identify specifically things they had to do, or stop doing, because of the war. Their responses, and critical observations, suggest that the dynamics of the war, in numerous ways, challenged the traditional relations between women and men, and 'created the possibility for new gender relations and new family identities' (Arnfred 1988:7). The demands of surviving the civil war led to reversing some of the traditional patriarchal values, roles, stereotypes and myths, and replacing them with new emancipatory liberal ones. Ironically and unintentionally, Renamo's counter-revolution promoted Frelimo's feminist revolution.

Conceptualising wartime changes in gender relations

A critical reflection on the wartime changes in gender relations raises fundamental practical and theoretical questions. First, what did war do to women, what did it do for women, what did women do for themselves to survive the war, and what did they do to end the war? Second, did the wartime changes in gender relations constitute a sexual revolution or 'sexploitation'? In other words, what is the place of sexuality and the changing self-images of women in both their oppression and their project for emancipation? Third, were these changes fundamental or superficial, long- or short-term, and did they endure through post-war developments and dynamics? A final question is, which of the many feminist theories best speaks to these changes and adequately captures the Mozambican experience? There are no easy answers to these difficult but important questions, and therefore what follows is a schematic attempt to delineate some of the key issues, if only to invite further debate.

There are two extreme positions on what war does to society in general, and to women in particular. A popular view, most typically represented by Nef (1950), and by Nordstrom (1992:1) with regard to women, posits that war is inimical to human progress. Its antithesis, articulated by Hall (1987:38), Giddens (1987:8) and Bayart (1993:xiv), contends that war is not a negation of human progress, but instead, as a constituent factor, it catalyses social change, innovation and human progress. According to Hall (1987:37), war was instrumental in the rise of the West and in strengthening the state; as Ehrlich (1987:123) argues, 'the longer lasting, the more comprehensive and intensive the conflict, the more salient will be its effects upon the social structure'.

Neither of these opposed perspectives is entirely correct or incorrect. As argued in this article, war can simultaneously cause destruction of society and bring about innovations and social transformation as well as lead to sexploitation and sex revolution. For women, war entailed increased gender violence, vulnerability and insecurity, while at the same time undermining the oppressive structures of patriarchy. Different women did different things to survive the war. Some became more vulnerable while others were empowered, especially as informal traders and peace activists. Such an ambiguous legacy presents serious practical and theoretical challenges to feminists opposed to war and to those who view women as passive victims of war.

Simone de Beauvoir (1964), described as the mother of modern feminism, made an important distinction between sex and gender when she declared that one is not born, but rather becomes a woman, and that biology is not destiny. Although feminist debate has moved beyond her analysis, and her followers have splintered into different ideological schools, her concept of women as 'the other, second sex' is still relevant. Today feminist ideologies, which include cultural, liberal, Marxist/socialist, radical (Ford 2002:21-24), ecofeminism (Sow 1997:253), post-colonial feminism (Oyewumi 2015:1) and post-modern feminism (Butler 2006:1), although varying in their theoretical perspectives, recognise de Beauvoir's distinction between sex and gender. Only the most dominant and relevant of these theories will be considered here.

Liberal feminists 'believe that by reforming the legal and political system to allow women equal access to opportunities and resources, men and women can achieve a state of equality' (Ford 2002:21). In contrast, for Marxists/socialists, gender transformation requires structural changes in the economic, political and cultural fundamentals, that is, in the substructure of a body politic (Mclellan 1972:51). Although the dichotomy between these rival feminist perspectives is somewhat dated, especially after the collapse of the socialist bloc, class remains an important analytical category in understanding changes in gender relations. Similarly, the liberal focus on levelling the playing field for the genders in terms of legal, social and political systems is equally important. Radical feminists believe that 'it is the "sex-gender system" itself that is the source of women's oppression ... and therefore advocate a total revolution' (Ford 2002:23) to end gender-based violence.

Post-colonial or Third World feminism considers colonial racial and economic oppression, and not traditional patriarchy, as the main cause of women's marginalisation in post-colonial societies. Oyewumi (1997:8), a leading African post-colonial feminist, in considering the meaning of gender in an African context, argues that, the 'women question' is a Western one, and not a 'proper lens for viewing African society'. She criticises the Eurocentric gender epistemologies that 'use gender as the explanatory model to account for women's subordination and oppression worldwide' (Oyewumi 2015:1). She concludes that, because 'gender is socially constructed, the social category "women" is not universal, and other forms of oppression and equality are present in society' (Oyewumi 2015:1). In a similar vein, Amadiume (1987:3), challenging received orthodoxies of Western feminist thought, argues that in pre-colonial African society, 'sex and gender did not necessarily coincide' and 'roles were neither rigidly masculinized nor feminized'. She shows that there were structures and values that enabled women to achieve power. In Mozambique, however, these were limited, otherwise Frelimo's gender revolution would not have been necessary.

Post-modernist feminists, such as Butler (2006:1), argue that 'women' is 'a questionable category, because it involves much more - class, race, sexuality, and other aspects of individualism'. According to Butler (2006:1) 'sex does not necessarily conscribe gender', and it is 'not constructive to separate human beings into one of two choices' or to 'to lump all women into one group, as if their interests could be uniform'. As shown in the next pages, wartime women in Mozambique were not a homogenous social group but were, instead, unique and different in many ways, and these differences were reflected in their responses to the war.

None of these contending perspectives, with their different emphases and solutions, is entirely correct or incorrect; they each give a partial picture of a far more complex reality. The reality is, today's feminism has become a kaleidoscope of 'many-faceted responses of a multitude of women wrestling with the question of self-determination, seeking social changes that will give them greater justice, power and dignity' (Keen 1996:195). Such complex and multi-layered struggles by women for emancipation are obviously not amenable to mono-causal analysis. Accordingly, this analysis, although drawing heavily from post-colonial and post-modernist as well as Marxist feminist thought, is based on eclectic and critical synthesis of these contending perspectives. To appreciate the extent and scope of the war-induced changes in gender relations, it is necessary first to understand the status of women in pre-war Mozambique.

The evolution of gender relations in Manica Province, Mozambique

Gender inequality and violence against women were not uncommon features of pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Manica Province of Mozambique. Rooted in political economy, the subjection of women was buttressed by patriarchal and religious ideologies and traditional institutions which defined and/or limited the rights, options and possibilities available to women.

The subordinate position of women was reflected in their low participation in public affairs and in the exploitation of their labour power (Mumouni 1980:3). Notwithstanding this, women had some political spaces and spheres where they exercised power; they also gained influence with age, especially as advisors on spiritual and marital matters.

In general, in pre-colonial central Mozambique, unlike parts of northern Mozambique where matrilineal gender relations existed, women were a subordinate 'second sex', who were conspicuous by their absence in the public sphere, especially in important political positions and decision-making processes. Women had limited access to power, and this was buttressed by the sex division of labour at the economic level, and by the ideology of patriarchy at the political level. However, although women were under-represented in the public sphere, this does not mean they were completely dominated and powerless.

Gaining influence with age, women wielded power as mothers-in-law who were respected by their sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, aunts consulted on marital matters, and spirit-medium bearers who were consulted for assistance in times of illness, misfortune, drought and war. Although men were household-heads, women were also producers of food, and in some cases controllers of such production. Women were often forced into early and polygamous marriage. But in some cases polygamy was preferred from a women's point of view, especially in cases where the senior wife chose her junior, usually a relative she liked. However, judging from folklore surrounding polygamy, rivalry, envy, back-biting and even bewitching were common among wives in a polygamous marriage, and junior wives were often hated by senior wives for being the husband's favourite (Webner 1991:33). With no rights to land, women comprised 80 per cent of the poor (Brandon and Rwomire 2001:1). It is noteworthy, however, that since men only obtained access to land when they married, there was some degree of interdependence between the sexes.

Portuguese colonialism did not completely destroy African traditional practices and institutions. Instead, in an attempt to enhance the image and legitimacy of their newly appointed regulos (chiefs) and colonial rule, the Portuguese went to great lengths to support and participate in African traditional rituals of succession, in what became known as 'Africanization of European institutions' (Isaacman 1972), and as a result ancient traditions still persist. Yet at the same time, and especially via Christianity, colonialism undermined some forms of traditional gender relations, such as polygamy and arranged marriages. To this extent, it gave women some limited political space, power and freedom.

Colonialism also subjected women to new 'Western forms of sexism, which are often more oppressive to women than previously existing social relations' (Sacks 1982:1). In urban areas especially, where strangers became neighbours, colonialism eroded the support mechanisms of the traditional extended family, kinship ties, and the 'economy of affection', and thereby exposed women to greater vulnerabilities and insecurities.

Post-independence Mozambique was ideologically committed to the emancipation of women, which it proclaimed a necessary condition for the success of the revolution (Arnfred 1988:7). Frelimo pursued a broad-based strategy that involved education and legal and constitutional changes to promote and protect the rights of women. Women were encouraged both to get 'proletarianised', by working in state farms and collectives, and to remain primarily responsible for the private sphere of the home (Urdang 1989:21).

However, Frelimo's initial success and promise did not lead to the total empowerment of women (Urdang 1989:34). As before, the family - because of the payment of bridewealth - remained the most fundamental oppressive unit for women, which entrenched patriarchal values and practices. The point is that because of a disjuncture between Frelimo's policy on paper and its political practice (Arnfred 2014:2) a gender revolution was thus not on track, and by the time the civil war erupted women had not yet enjoyed the same equal rights as men.

The civil war and its varied impact: Women as passive victims or active agents?

Women's responses to violence were not only varied, but also critical in determining their fate, and reflected their personal histories, age and class. Some women became refugees in neighbouring countries or in camps for internally displaced persons, others tried to earn a living through informal trade, either eking out a marginal existence or prospering, and yet others became sex workers or beggars. Women were thus simultaneously both victims of violence, succumbing to their fate, and active agents of change, transforming their situation and society.

Women as victims of violence

Depicting women as victims of violence and stressing their special needs, added burdens and responsibilities and new forms of victimisation, Nordstrom (1991:1) argues:

Dirty war tactics, elevated to a common strategy grounding many of today's wars, place women at the epicenter of conflict. Women stand as general targets, raped, maimed and murdered in the dirty war construction of terror.

Indeed, during the Mozambican civil war, in addition to suffering the lack of security, food, health and education, women were also victims of increased psychological, physical, sexual and other forms of violence (Interviews, Manica Province, 1992).

First, as the insurgency spread throughout the country like wild fire, there was an exponential increase in the levels of violence and insecurity. Second, new forms of gender-based violence, such as abduction, rape and being forced into being concubines for rebel commanders, emerged. Third, a few women embraced violence, abusing their children, spouses, relatives and neighbours. Fourth, and reflecting the erosion of traditional values in a context of increasing poverty, there was a dramatic rise in sexual liberty, permissiveness and sex work. In short, not only did women endure traditional forms of gender-based violence, but also the war brought with it new security threats, challenges, needs, wants, aspirations, attitudes and behaviours.

Women in the rebel army

The exact number and experiences of women who were combatants, especially on the rebel side, are unknown. In general, women in the rebel army were mostly captives, who were used as wives and concubines to commanders and as cooks and porters of weaponry. Given the hardships of a war situation, sometimes being a 'wife' to a commander was advantageous as it opened access to goods in short supply - food, clothes and protection (Interviews with former rebels' wives, Manica, 1992). Although in general the rebels reinforced the reproduction of gendered traditional inequalities and dependencies of women and men, the experience of women within rebel ranks is a subject that has yet to be fully researched.

Insecurity and pauperisation

The ever present threat of death meant that the need for security became a major priority for women. Even in their homes, women's security was never fully guaranteed. Often women were forced to seek protection from men, thereby reinforcing the traditional gendered dependencies. For security reasons many women left the comfort of their rural homes and became refugees in neighbouring countries, internally displaced persons or squatters in the sprawling peri-urban slums. At night, and for their safety, some of those in the peri-urban slums had to sleep on the verandas of shops in the town centre, and to travel to distant places, women had to join escort military convoys (Author witnessed these in Chimoio, 1992).

This deterioration in security caused by the war not only disrupted the normal life routine, but traditional sources of livelihood were also compromised or lost. The loss of traditional means of livelihood sustenance impoverished many, and meant that women's needs and wants could not be met normally. For instance, instead of getting vegetables from their gardens or food from the fields, they had to buy these, often at exorbitant prices. In addition, instead of living at their traditional homes for free, in peri-urban areas women had to pay rent. In these ways the financial dependency of poor women on powerful men was indirectly reinforced. Severely compromised by the war, security and financial freedom became the most pressing needs for women.

New forms of gender violence

War and the resultant breakdown in the social fabric of society, communities, families, social norms, and law and order led to new forms of gender violence. In their homes, camps for internally displaced persons, refugee camps, and in the bush with rebels, women endured new forms of gender-based violence, such as 'group rape', 'sex slaves' or concubinage for rebel commanders. Even within families, weakened males vented their frustration by being abusive and violent to their female relatives. Disabled women and girls were at higher risk of such forms of gender-based violence, often carried out by people they knew and trusted (Interviews, Chimoio, 1992). In the anarchy and chaos of war, sexual abuse, neglect, maltreatment and exploitation became a daily experience for many women.

Violent women, sexual liberty and sex work

Typical of cults of violence and counter-violence, not only did some women victims of violence adopt negative attitudes against local men, but some of them also embraced violence and 'compulsive masculinity'. Quite a few men and children admitted running away from abusive and violent wives and mothers. A more subtle form of women-to-women violence was manifest in the ways some professional or middle-class women mistreated and exploited their female housemaids, by underpaying or paying them in kind with old second hand clothes or food. Such generalised violence and anarchy in a context of liberalism led to a disturbing rise in sexual liberty, permissiveness and sex work.

The devastation of the war, the decline of Marxist morality, urbanisation, liberalisation, and the influx of Western donors and foreign troops into the country all combined to make Mozambican culture more susceptible to increased Western influence. These developments effectively functioned as a decoder for erotic experiences which, as amply reflected in urban young women, subverted some of the expected traditional female behaviours and dress codes. Passing fads in fashion-wear, which were driven by a sudden mushrooming of Western sexual images in films, magazines, videos and music - sometimes containing pornographic material - were accompanied by an increase in sexual liberty, permissiveness and transactional sex. Unlike the stereotypical African traditional women suffocating under the burden of patriarchy, the middle-class young women of Chimoio projected in their dress and street manners far more liberty and boldness than what their grandmothers could ever dream of.

Sex work, the 'oldest profession' had existed in pre-war Mozambique, but wartime pauperisation and hardship led to its dramatic increase among young women (Mozambique News Agency 1994:3). The arrival of foreign troops and workers, who were relatively wealthier than most Mozambicans, increased the demand and supply of sex workers - and this despite the rising epidemic of HIV/AIDS - as a dangerous survival strategy, especially among poor women. Groes-Green (2013:1) argued that 'eroticism, kinship and gender all intersected in transactional sexual relationships between young women known as curtidoras and older white men in Maputo'. Senior female kin were deeply involved in the process of seduction and extraction of money.

In a nutshell, Mozambican wartime women were victims of the war in numerous ways, and endured multiple new forms of violence. As men went to the war front or were killed, women, for better or worse, took on new male responsibilities. Some had increasingly to depend on men for food and protection. Paradoxically, and as an unintended consequence, while victimising and placing enormous burdens on women, the war also created new possibilities for their emancipation.

Women as active agents of change and gender transformation

The most important unintended consequence of the war to women was that it forced them to be active agents of change and of peacebuilding. As in the UK during the Second World War (Hall 1990:37), women's roles changed during the war as they took over formerly male responsibilities of looking after their families financially. Giving political legitimacy to women's transformed roles was the liberalisation programme of the 1990s, which undoubtedly also entailed immense economic hardship and suffering for women.

Politically, however, liberalisation, by rejecting authoritarian control, enhanced the role of the individual in society. In particular, by relinquishing its monopoly of control of public life, through collectives and party structures, the state opened up political space for women and other civil society groups to take the initiative and fill the political void. Indeed, a number of women were involved in self-help support groups, praying, singing, dancing, and demonstrating for peace (Interviews, Chimoio, 1992).

The destruction of formal employment and farming undermined male control and domination of women. Consequently, women had to fend for themselves, and some women, especially via informal entrepreneurship, became financially independent household heads. Free from male control, such women explored, expressed and experimented with new ideas and identities (Interviews, Chimoio, 1992).

In short, the liberalisation programme of the 1990s, necessitated by the war as it were, created conditions that engendered the subversion of traditionally gendered identities and their replacement with new liberal ones. The new liberal political discourse and the expanded political space allowed women to be more active and assertive in subverting the traditional status quo, and in acquiring new values, roles, skills and identities.

Women as active agents of change

In spite of the increased vulnerabilities, burdens and miseries that women endured during the war, depicting them as mere passive victims is immensely flawed. Such a depiction underplays the resilience women have displayed in adapting survival strategies that have transformed their lives, situations and societies. As Hannan-Anderson (1993:121), aptly notes:

This focus on women as a vulnerable group has done women a disservice. Instead of being seen as actors (often major actors) ... women are portrayed as conservative and passive, and the important role they play remains invisible to planners.

Far from being passive victims, some women, forced by necessity, took action, individually or collectively, and this has led to their empowerment. Creatively and consciously, women actively engaged with their situations to meet their changing wartime needs, wants and challenges.

By taking the initiative to fend for themselves, support each other and work for peace, women became active agents of emancipatory change. With established social rules about ways to live and ways to respond to each other collapsing as an unintended consequence of the war, women were forced to develop new identities, behaviours and ideas about themselves. In so doing, they altered the political economy of war and immensely contributed to shaping the peace process. These transformations, 'a quiet gender revolution', were manifested in changes in the family structure, the rise in single women-headed households, marital instability, increased sexual permissiveness and child prostitution (Baden 1997:31).

Changes in family structure

With its economic basis undermined by the war, the patriarchal family ceased to be the sole family structure as new forms of cohabitation, and especially of female-headed households, emerged. The breakdown of family life and public institutions affected the interrelations between kin, friends and neighbours, and led to the emergence of new forms of family and association to replace kinship and extended family ties.

For example, and showing the demise of the extended family, out of the sixty households interviewed, only 6 per cent lived with four or more relatives, while about two thirds lived with none. About 5 per cent were headed by widowed mothers, 12.5 per cent by divorced or separated parents and 17.5 per cent constituted simple or complex co-habitation. In some instances, a 'family' consisted of formerly unrelated young boys brought together by war. In a nutshell, as family structure and form changed, there was a remarkable rise in single female-headed households.

Female-headed households and single mothers

Marital instability was one of the many unintended consequences of the war, and this is precisely because the mortality rate of men was far higher than that of women. The declining numbers of men in civilian communities, either because they were fighting on the frontlines, killed in action, or became refugees in neighbouring countries, produced a skewed population ratio of women to men. As Rodriguez (1983:134), a member of the Women's Organisation of Mozambique (Organização da Mulher Moçambicana, OMM) national secretariat, pointed out: 'In some areas we find 1 750 women and only 300 men.

How can we combat polygamy in this situation?' Left to fend for themselves and to look after the children, women became active agents of change who assumed male responsibilities, such as becoming household heads and personally building their own houses. Responding to increased male violence within the household, many a wronged woman opted for separation or divorce, which in turn brought more autonomy. Whether married or single, women pursued financial independence via the informal economy.

Women, the informal sector and empowerment

Almost mortally wounded by the war, the state was forced to liberalise, and in the process created unprecedented opportunities for the informal sector to flourish. Forced to look after themselves and to take on formerly male responsibilities, women joined the informal sector in large numbers. For many women, the informal sector became the only decent source of livelihood and sustenance (Chingono 2005:53).

The informal sector as a vehicle for women's financial autonomy

Women's remarkable participation in the grass-roots war economy was the main vehicle for their political and economic emancipation. In the informal sector, women demonstrated a remarkable resilience that was rewarded by increasing economic independence and political autonomy. Free from dependence on their husbands, some women lived autonomous lives, making decisions on how to use their labour and income. Unrestrained by the strict morals pertaining to dependent and married women, such women had greater opportunities to explore their sexuality and express their needs.

In numerous instances, women ventured into areas that in the past were the domain of men, such as large-scale entrepreneurial activities, commercial farming, trading and smuggling as well as ownership of small shops. As a matter of fact, most of the popular and prosperous unlicensed houses that sold beer in wartime Chimoio city were owned by independent women. Similarly, the bulk of goods from Zimbabwe were imported or smuggled by women.

Remarkably, there was little or no involvement of men in women's businesses. Instead, women relied more on their female extended family members, kin and mutual aid associations, as well as on their adult children. When the pursuit of financial autonomy conflicted with their marital obligations, the latter were often the casualty. Financial autonomy also allowed women to defer marriage, get out of unhappy marriages and to express themselves more confidently.

In short, the expanding wartime markets in food, clothes and imported goods in Chimoio afforded informal women traders a much stronger basis for adjustment to an emancipated status than before. Through their action around production and consumption, and primarily in the informal sector, women laid claim to economic rights and citizenship. Ownership of an informal enterprise not only enhanced their security and freedom, but it also reconfigured gender power relations. In expanding their political space, women carried forward the 'gender revolution' initiated by Frelimo, yet stifled by its patriarchal ideologies and practices.

Women's support groups

Women's wartime support groups mainly took the form of religious groups. Membership of religious groups fostered love and community harmony as well as guaranteed caring and material support in times of need (Chingono 2005:55). Participation in religious groups also fostered a sense of belonging and community, and helped shape the process of re-defining individual and collective identity. Given the war-weary state's inability to provide social welfare, the vital social function which women's religious groups performed cannot be overstated.

Remarkably, in some church-based support groups, such as the Chigubhu, one found a surprising degree of egalitarianism and a counter-hegemonic discourse. Calling each other 'brother' and 'sister', members appeared to have assumed new identities that put aside, to some extent, the traditional respect for status, age and gendered inequality. Such groups and networks provided assistance to members in times of emergency such as illness or attack by rebels. As a response to new challenges and an expression of new aspirations, such support groups mobilised the poor in the struggle for survival and peace, and to that extent, were also anti-war and social critics of the status quo ante.

Women's role in peacebuilding

In their unique and different ways women contributed immensely to the peace process. Frustration with the politicians' inability to end the war led some women to become militant and get organised politically. For example, in July 1992 women demonstrated in Chimoio town against the government for the lack of jobs and of protection for women, and the failure to end the war. Earlier, on International Women's Day, (8 March) women in Beira demonstrated and sang for peace. Although in both cases women's immediate demands were not met, such acts of militancy marked a crucial phase in the contested relationship between the patriarchal state and women.

Not only did women pray, sing and hope for peace, but their church-based support networks also promoted peaceful conflict resolution in their communities. By helping those in need, the networks contributed indirectly to building peace, as this dissuaded some unemployed youth from becoming criminals, pirates or rebels. For the individual women involved, working in groups for a common cause was a politically awakening experience in which they discovered the potential of collective action in the struggle for peace, equality and a fair distribution of power. Such women's grassroots activism and leadership were essential in the prevention of more violence, in the mitigation of its effects, and in rebuilding communities after the war.

Some of the socio-political, economic and cultural changes in gender relations and roles have endured into the post-war era while others have been reversed. Single mothers, female-headed households and the 'Westernised' women, are not only more common in the public sphere than before, but are also now more accepted. Increasing numbers of women are embracing these new free lifestyles, as opposed to imposed traditional gender identities. Baden (1997:x) observes: 'Women are, in many ways, more visible in economic activity and vocal in decision making', and indeed a few are in positions of power. However, and not surprisingly, this new feminist revolution faced many challenges and triggered a counter-revolution.

Challenges to women's emancipation

The feminist revolution that was unfolding in Manica Province faced many challenges, ranging from resistance from traditionalists to divisions among women. Poor organisational skills and the absence of a supportive environment further weakened the movement for women's emancipation. After the war, traditionalists and Christians, men and women alike, expected women to return to their traditional roles of being submissive wives, sisters, and aunts.

They attacked women's new attitudes, behaviours and freedoms as 'unAfrican', and as a form of Western cultural domination, and blamed this for social decadence, marital breakdown, infidelity, social degeneration, juvenile delinquency and prostitution. Some even went further, claiming bizarrely, that natural disasters, such as drought and famine, were due to women's 'excesses' and freedoms. Some women have succumbed to these patriarchal pressures, while others continue to resist the reversal of their wartime gains. Such moral and counter-moral arguments were only one aspect of the always changing and rough terrain of women's wartime struggles for survival and emancipation. In short, the resistance by some traditionalists suggests that Mozambicans do not agree on whether or not the changes in gender relations induced by the war constitute a progressive development or retrogression, a gender revolution or 'sexploitation'.

Divisions among women along class, age and the rural-urban divide remain a challenge to women's emancipation. Wartime women were not a homogenous social category, and were neither revolutionary nor conservative as a group. Instead, not only were they socially differentiated, they were also affected by the war in different ways. For instance, the experience of war for rich women who lived in protected houses in suburbia was far removed from that of poor rural women whose thatch and pole huts could easily be burnt or smashed down by the rebels. Indeed, some upper class women had security guards and access to weapons, such as pistols and even AK47 rifles, for self-defence. As Keen (1996:203) stresses:

The injustices that go with class and race are too severe to be confused with gender. All upper classes are composed of equal numbers of men and women.

Indeed, some urban upper class women prospered through, for instance, charging high rents to displaced rural poor women. Actually, the war amplified the divisions between rich and poor women, and precipitated the polarisation of wealth and class among women, making it almost impossible to work together for the common cause of gender equality.

In addition to class, there were also divisions among women based on their age, an apparently significant variable, which determined the options, opportunities and constraints open to wartime women. Age influenced women's ability to adapt and make the most of the war situation. In general, young children and the elderly were the most vulnerable, as they could not run for their lives, walk to safety or even look after themselves properly, and consequently they constituted the majority of beggars or donor dependents.

Not only were women's experiences of war determined by their age, but women were also divided along age lines. Reflecting the tensions between the ages, on the one hand older women were ready to give the lesson of experience, yet on the other, young women thought older women too old-fashioned and out of tune with the requirements of the new challenging times. In addition, there was also the urban-rural divide among women.

Elite women of Chimoio, in their tastes, lifestyles and priorities, were a world apart from the displaced rural women who crowded the peri-urban slums without basic amenities. In fact, women from the rural areas complained about the apparent egotism of urban women who were, in their opinion, condescending, excessively materialistic and concerned with fashion, food and sexual pleasure.

More than two decades after the end of the war, women continue to face a myriad of other challenges. Unemployed women, in both urban and rural areas, live in grinding poverty. They lack finance, skills and knowledge for effective organisation and success in business and in their feminist revolution. With the national leaders locked in a power struggle with the opposition MNR, there is no supportive environment nor sufficient gender-sensitive counselling services for women traumatised by the war. Indeed, there is considerable poor health among women victims of war, with, for instance, 'women who were exposed to the conflict in early stages of their lives hav(ing) ... a weaker health ... reflected by a lower height-for-age z-score' (Domingues 2010:3). Further, women who had been abused or who abused others face difficulties in being accepted into communities. Finally, and of decisive importance, the poor representation of women in the public sector in general, and in parliament and government in particular, has further weakened women's position in society.

The different impacts of war on different social groups of women, and their different coping strategies, gave rise to divisions among women, which ultimately undermined the emancipation project. The war exposed and amplified divisions among women, along class, age and location, thus reducing them to 'enemies' in some social battlefields. Mozambican wartime feminism had thus to confront, in addition to resistance from populist patriarchs, the divisions amongst women themselves as well as a myriad of other problems. In spite of these challenges, and as Baden (1997:x) aptly notes, 'there are considerable opportunities in the post-war situation to build on changes in gender relations which have occurred, in order to promote opportunities for women and gender equality'.

To recapitulate, social norms and rules confining women's lives were broken down in wartime, and while this made women more vulnerable, it also gave them space and scope for agency. The many-faceted responses of a multitude of women to war gave birth to 'a quiet gender revolution', whose complexity cannot be captured by a single feminist approach. Hitherto, the liberal focus on reform of sexist and gender discrimination has failed to give a more positive form to this revolution. While the Marxist stress on transformation of economic relations as crucial to women's emancipation is plausible, the point is, in addition to class, wartime women were also divided and united along age, ethnicity and religion. As post-colonial feminists, Oyewumi (1997 and 2010) and Amadiume (1987) have convincingly argued, taking the Western notion of male dominance/female subordination for granted in contexts of pre-colonial Africa can be misleading. Equally misleading are essentialist meta-narratives about 'African women', for as we have seen, wartime women were unique individuals with different aspirations, wants and priorities, and as such, lumping them together could be a form of violence to some of them. As Lorber (2015:1) notes, 'each perspective has made important contributions to improving women's status, but each also has limitations'. Therefore, to fully capture the essence of the tantalisingly contradictory processes of violent social change, a more holistic and multidisciplinary approach is needed.

Summary

Women in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Manica province of Mozambique were subjected to various forms of gender oppression. While attenuating some of the traditional gender inequities, colonialism and Christianity ushered in new forms of gender discrimination. In the post-independence period, and in spite of Frelimo's radical rhetoric, traditional gender inequities remained unchallenged. As one of its key unintended consequences, the civil war altered gender relations - fundamentally in some respects and superficially in others.

The war, by undermining the economic power base of patriarchy and the hegemony of its legitimating ideology, created opportunities for women to attain relative economic and political autonomy from domination by men. Ironically, the break-down of the traditional patriarchal family and the inability of men to provide for, and hence control, women led to a 'quiet gender revolution'. Forced to be innovative and enterprising in order to survive, some women emerged stronger and with a more critical outlook on gender relations. The position of women vis-í -vis men improved, accelerating in a liberal direction a process that had been initiated by Frelimo. This was reflected in the images young wartime women portrayed, which suggested that they were rejecting the coarseness, hardness and submissiveness of their mothers' generation and desired a more glamorous, feminine and independent identity. Unfettered by traditional patriarchal restraints, they expanded their political power in relation to men, experimented with Western fashion, and liberally explored their sexuality and pleasure.

However, the gains women made indirectly from the war and their narrow economic base in the informal economy did not present a formidable challenge to patriarchy. Today, women continue to be marginalised, exploited and oppressed because of the power imbalances between the sexes. Therefore, the definitive or total liberation of women may only be achieved when women are empowered and allowed to have significant representation in policy making and governance.

Conclusion

Wartime women's survival strategies and activities speak directly to us about the 'creative destruction' of war, and women's role as history makers changing their society. They have not dabbled in high politics as 'the art of the possible', but instead have changed what is possible, and in the process opened new possibilities and opportunities for their emancipation. With wartime necessity becoming the mother of economic innovation and creative informal enterprising by women, there were changes in traditional gender roles and the organisation of society.

Such gender struggles were conditioned by the exigencies of surviving in a war situation. Within the limited possibilities thrown up by the war, wartime women made varied choices influenced by the exigencies of living in a war situation. Women's capacities to respond to the war situation, the options available to them and the livelihood strategies they adopted varied according to their previous experiences, social class and age. In addition, women occupying different positions in society wanted different things and had different beliefs, attitudes and priorities. The common denominator for these different groups of women was the need for security and financial independence, both of which seemed correlated more to one's class than to gender.

In conclusion, simultaneously challenging and entrenching the existing gender relations, the legacy of the war for women was ambiguous and contradictory. On the one hand, the war led to a radical change in the family structure and gender relations, yet on the other it entrenched the dependency of women on men. Containing both new possibilities for the emancipation of women as well as seeds of their further subjugation, war was a source of conflict among women. Some women were empowered as informal entrepreneurs, while others were further marginalised as prostitutes, beggars and refugees. Women were thus not mere passive victims of the war, but were also active agents, shaping the course of their lives, politics, and of the war itself. Therefore, an understandable emphasis on victimhood should not blind us to other ways in which women have been, and might become, active in the historically contested process of their emancipation in conflict settings.

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Interviews

Provincial Director of Labour

Frelimo Provincial Secretary

Officials at the Provincial Administrative Headquarters in Chimoio city

Donor agencies officials

Zimbabwean troops guarding the Beira Corridor

Radio Chimoio journalists

Members of Women's Organisation of Mozambique (OMM)

Roman Catholic sister

Pastors from different churches, including the Roman Catholic, Assemblies of God, Jesus Lives Evangelic Church, Africa Zion Church, Chigubhu sect, Holy Spirit Congregation, Marforga Missionaries, and Jesus Lives Gospel Reach Ministries

Amnestied former MNR rebels and their families Government forces

150 displaced persons in peri-urban slums of Chimoio and Manica towns and in resettlement camps in Manica Province

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Women, war and peace in Mozambique - ACCORD

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The Mozambican civil war, 1977-1992, left an ambiguous legacy for women. Whilst women were among the most vulnerable victims of the war, in some ways they were also its unintended beneficiaries. The civil war, by weakening both the state and the traditional family, offered unprecedented opportunities for women to break free from patriarchal control.

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Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.

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Cameroon TV Host Roasted for 'Lessons' on Women Abuse

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AllAfrica publishes around 800 reports a day from more than 140 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons.

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Another Jehovah's Witness center has been destroyed in 9-month rash of arson attacks

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December 9, 2018 At the center of the investigation into crimes against Jehovah's Witnesses - including two fires that destroyed worship centers - is a question that has vexed Washington state investigators, the governor and pretty much anyone who has come into contact with the religious denomination: Who could muster this much destructive rage against a religion full of pacifists?

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Secure checkpoints along the American-Mexican border have become an increasingly popular entrance for drug smugglers entering the United States, a fact that could undermine President Donald Trump's argument for a border wall.

Customs agents at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the busiest land border crossing in the world, check 50,000 vehicles and 20,000 pedestrians on an average day - and they do it 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Located just south of San Diego and a few miles north of Tijuana, there are countless attempts to bring drugs across the border: some successful, some not.

"We're looking at everyone. We're looking at illegal narcotics, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, all entering the borders," said Sidney Aki, Customs and Border Protection Director of the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Border agents have seen drug seizures swell, and heroin and methamphetamine have become increasingly commonplace. The amount of heroin nabbed by agents has quadrupled since 2010 and meth seizures have tripled.

Smugglers hide the drugs wherever they can: often tucked deep inside the cars they're driving across the border.
Related: Here's What You Need to Know About the new DHS Illegal Immigration Crackdown
"For us hard narcotics are trending, particular heroin and methamphetamine - the packages are getting a little bit smaller for us," said Pete Flores, CBP Director of Field Operations, San Diego Sector. "The number of them have increased obviously because the packaging is smaller and in order to put them in deeper concealment in the vehicles."

San Diego County - where the popular entry point is located - is unique as it has as many as three border fences along some sections. The first fence was put up in the 1950s, the second was built as part of 1994's Operation Gatekeeper and the third was constructed under 2006's Secure Fence Act.

Smugglers aren't intimidated by the three hurdles in San Diego County or the nearly 700 miles of barriers currently built along the border. Instead, they target the numerous legal entry points to pass into the U.S.

Trump made building a wall along the American border with Mexico a cornerstone of his campaign. It was part of his June 2015 presidential announcement speech, and his promise continued throughout the election season alongside his supporters' chants of "Build that wall."
Related: As Tensions Over Immigration Rise, Paul Ryan Visits Border
The then-candidate reasoned that it would support drug enforcement policies.

"We're going to build a wall and it's going to be a great wall," Trump said at a campaign stop in Dayton, Ohio, mere days before the election. "And Mexico is going to pay for the wall; we're going to stop those drugs from pouring in and poisoning our youth."

He continued to push that message after taking office.

"We have to build the wall," Trump said in an interview with ABC only five days after he took the oath of office. "We have to stop drugs from pouring in."

The president signed an executive order on the same day as the ABC interview. Named "Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements," the federal action authorized "the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border, monitored and supported by adequate personnel so as to prevent illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, and acts of terrorism."

It remains to be seen whether a longer border wall to cover the nearly 2,000-mile boundary that divides the U.S. from Mexico will stem the flow of drugs or if smugglers will continue to take advantage of the dedicated entry points.

At San Ysidro alone, border agents aren't surprised if they grab as many as six or seven loads of drugs during an average day.

"On a yearly basis, we're going to deal with 75 million travelers, coming across the border," Director Flores said. "Drug smugglers feel there are opportunities to mix in with the general population, who are vastly compliant with what the laws are."

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Will a wall stem the flow of drugs from Mexico as Trump promised?

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Secure checkpoints along the American-Mexican border have become an increasingly popular entrance for drug smugglers entering the United States, a fact that could undermine President Donald Trump's argument for a border wall.

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In Venezuela, the government of President Nicolás Maduro and the opposition are engaged in a bitter power struggle.

The South American country has been caught in a downward spiral for years with growing political discontent further fuelled by skyrocketing hyperinflation, power cuts, and shortages of food and medicine.

More than 5.6 million Venezuelans have left the country in recent years. So what exactly is behind the crisis rocking Venezuela?

Who's the president?

This would be an unusual question to ask in most countries, but in Venezuela many want to know exactly that after opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself acting president on 23 January 2019.

The move was a direct challenge to the power of President Maduro, who had been sworn in to a second six-year term in office just two weeks previously.

Not surprisingly, President Maduro did not take kindly to his rival's move, which he condemned as a ploy by the US to oust him.

He also said that he was the constitutional president and would remain so.

Despite attempts by Mr Guaidó to get the military to switch their allegiance to him, the armed forces have remained largely loyal to President Maduro, whose socialist party has also got a firm grip on the electoral body and the supreme court.

Why is the presidency disputed?

Nicolás Maduro was first elected in April 2013 after the death of his socialist mentor and predecessor in office, Hugo Chávez. At the time, he won by just 1.6 percentage points.

During his first term, the economy went into freefall and many Venezuelans blame him and his socialist government for the country's decline.

Mr Maduro was re-elected to a second six-year term in May 2018 in highly controversial polls, which most opposition parties boycotted.

Many candidates had been barred from running while others had been jailed or fled the country for fear of being imprisoned, and the opposition parties argued that the poll was neither free nor fair.

Mr Maduro's re-election was not recognised by the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which labelled Mr Maduro a "usurper" and argued that the presidency was vacant.

Citing articles in the constitution which in such cases call for the leader of the National Assembly to step in, Juan Guaidó declared himself acting president.

More than 50 countries recognised Mr Guaidó as the legitimate president, among them the US and many nations in Latin America. But Russia and China, among others, stood by President Maduro.

Despite his broad international support, Mr Guaidó does not wield much power in practical terms.

The security forces have so far remained loyal to Mr Maduro, who has rewarded them with frequent pay rises and put high-ranking military men in control of key posts and industries.

Mr Maduro remains in the presidential palace and some Venezuelans have become disillusioned by the failure of Mr Guaidó to dislodge his rival from power.

Talks between the government and the opposition held in 2019 made no progress.

The US has imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuela and on Mr Maduro and his inner circle but they have failed to weaken Mr Maduro enough to drive him from office. Some analysts argue that they offer the Maduro government a convenient scapegoat to blame for the dire state of the economy.

Some of the problems go back a long time. However, it is President Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chávez who are the target of much of the current anger.

When Mr Chávez became president in 1999, he promised, among other things, to drive down Venezuela's huge levels of inequality.

While he managed to reduce inequality during his time in power, some of the socialist polices he brought in backfired. Take price controls, for example, which were aimed at making basic goods more affordable to the poor by capping the price of flour, cooking oil and toiletries. The controls meant that many Venezuelan businesses stopped production because they no longer made a profit, eventually resulting in shortages.

A loosening of foreign currency controls originally brought in by President Chávez in 2003 has eased those shortages as traders can sell goods in dollars but that means they have again become largely unaffordable to the poor or those without access to the US currency.

Years of lack of investment in infrastructure further exacerbated by the more recent US sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector have crippled this key industry, which provides almost all of Venezuela's government revenue.

Venezuela has been in the grip of an economic crisis for years now with hyperinflation one of the main problems.

Business news website Bloomberg has been tracking the price of a cup of coffee in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, to show how prices have increased. It has measured an increase of 2,597% in the 12 months to 1 August 2021 with a cup of coffee costing 7.8 million bolivares.

How have Venezuelans reacted?

According to figures compiled by the United Nations, more than 5.6 million Venezuelans have left the country since the crisis started to bite in 2014.

The government has disputed the figures, saying they are inflated by "enemy countries".

The majority of those leaving have crossed into neighbouring Colombia, from where some move on to Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Others have gone south to Brazil.

The mass migration is one of the largest forced displacements in the western hemisphere.

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Venezuela crisis: How the political situation escalated

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A closer look at what is behind the country's spiralling political and economic crisis.

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Every day, Mexico's cartels attempt to ship untold quantities of drugs across the US border. And every day, Mexican and US authorities try to stop them. The drugs are usually hidden in commercial or passenger vehicles transiting official checkpoints. But in recent years, crime groups have begun to experiment with a wide range of innovative methods for moving illicit cargo past one of the world's most heavily guarded borders and into the most lucrative drug market. Below, InSight Crime looks at five of the most creative.
Tunnels

The first "narco-tunnel" from Mexico to the US was discovered in 1990. According to the Los Angeles Times, the tunnel ran 273 feet from a luxury home in Agua Prieta, Mexico to a warehouse in Arizona, and it was equipped with electric lighting, a drainage system and a trolley for moving the drugs. US anti-drug officials described it to the newspaper as "something out of a James Bond movie," perhaps because access to the tunnel on the Mexican side was provided by a "hidden switch inside the luxury home that, when activated, boosted a pool table and the concrete slab below it high into the air to open the way to a narrow shaft below."

SEE ALSO: Coverage of US/Mexico Border

Since then, dozens of tunnels have been discovered along the border - many of them incomplete, and many of them linked to the powerful Sinaloa Cartel. Its top boss, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, famously escaped from a maximum-security prison by way of an elaborate mile-long tunnel in July 2015.

One of the biggest narco-tunnels ever discovered in the United States was found in April 2016. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, it ran half a mile from a house in Tijuana, Mexico to an industrial property in the San Diego area, and it was equipped with lights, rails and a ventilation system. Authorities indicated the tunnel was likely used to move multiple tons of drugs that included marijuana and cocaine. By all indications, this method will remain a popular option for smuggling narcotics across the border.

Catapults

Another ancient technology adapted for modern use, drug trafficking groups do not seem to have adopted the catapult with the same zeal as the tunnel. There is, however, at least one documented case - captured on grainy surveillance camera footage - in which suspected smugglers appear to load packages of marijuana into a large contraption on the Mexican side of the border and launch them into the United States. A Mexican official told the Associated Press the catapult was capable of flinging more than four pounds of marijuana over the border at a time.

Mexican authorities have discovered several other catapults suspected of being used for drug trafficking in recent years. But the relative inefficiency and inaccuracy of these machines means that they are unlikely to attain widespread use as a method for transporting drugs across the border.

Cannon

The shortcomings of the catapult method do not appear to have deterred traffickers from seeking ways to shoot drugs from Mexico into the United States. Authorities in the Mexican state of Sonora recently discovered a vehicle modified to serve as a mobile air cannon capable of launching packages of drugs across the border. It is not clear whether the apparatus - described by the news outlet Fusion as something that looked like it "came out of the Mad Max movie" - was ever used, nor is it clear if it even functioned as intended.

There are other documented instances in which traffickers have used cannon to launch drugs across the border, including another truck-mounted device discovered by Mexican authorities in 2013. However, the conspicuous appearance of such contraptions, combined with the substantial amount of effort they likely take to build and operate, make it unlikely that machines like these will come into widespread use by trafficking groups.

Ultralight Aircraft

Using aircraft to fly drugs over the US border is nothing new for Mexico-based trafficking groups. Decades ago, the late Juarez Cartel kingpin Amado Carrillo Fuentes earned the nickname " Lord of the Skies" ("El Señor de los Cielos") for the fleet of small airplanes his organization used to ferry drugs from Mexico to the United States. More recently, however, trafficking groups have begun to use "ultralight" aircraft in fly-by-night operations. These machines are much smaller and slower than their full-size counterparts, and due to their limited range they are typically used for recreation rather than transportation. But crime groups have begun outfitting ultralight aircraft with special equipment like all-terrain landing gear and extra cargo space to enhance their ability to stealthily carry illicit loads over the border.

Ultralight aircraft typically fly relatively lower to the ground, which - along with their small size - makes them difficult to detect. And in addition to requiring relatively little training to operate, they are fairly cheap and easy to construct, increasing their appeal for traffickers. Moreover, these vehicles can carry hundreds of pounds of drugs at a time. These advantages make ultralights an economical option for enterprising smugglers, and authorities expect their use in drug trafficking to continue, or even increase, in the future.

Drones

The rapid growth in the market for commercially produced unmanned aircraft systems, commonly referred to as "drones," has been accompanied by a simultaneous increase in their use by drug smugglers. In August 2015, two men pleaded guilty in US court to receiving a package of 28 pounds of heroin that was flown across the border from Mexico using a drone. Federal authorities told the Los Angeles Times that the case was "the first cross-border seizure by US law enforcement involving the new smuggle-by-air tactic." Earlier that year, a drone carrying six pounds of methamphetamine crashed in Mexico just south of the US border. And according to Popular Mechanics, there had reportedly been more than one hundred similar attempts during previous years to use drones to carry drugs over the border.

Still, officials say that drone-based drug trafficking has its limitations. US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) spokesperson Amy Roderick told the Los Angeles Times in 2015 that drones "will only allow a small amount of drugs to be flown at a time, and that coupled with the ease of detection, does not make this method very profitable to these drug trafficking organizations whose motivation is money."

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5 Clever Ways Mexico Cartels Move Drugs Across US Border

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Every day, Mexico's cartels attempt to ship untold quantities of drugs across the US border. And every day, Mexican and US authorities try to stop them. The drugs are usually hidden in commercial or passenger vehicles transiting official checkpoints.

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Mexico's brutal drug war claims thousands of lives every year, as powerful trafficking groups battle it out for territory and influence.

These cartels control vast areas of the country and are also responsible for political corruption, assassinations and kidnappings.

But which groups are the most powerful?

The Sinaloa Cartel

Territory: Much of the north-west.

The US government has described the Sinaloa Cartel as one of the largest drug-trafficking organisations in the world.

Founded in the late 1980s, it was for many years headed by the notorious drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. "El Chapo" - or "Shorty" - was once ranked as one of the world's richest men. His life and vast drug-trafficking empire have been the subject of numerous books and TV series.

Under his leadership, the cartel garnered a fierce reputation for violence and outfought several rival groups. Mexican cartels often clash with one another, but it's also worth noting that they can form strategic alliances as well.

The Sinaloa became the biggest supplier of illegal drugs to the US during Guzmán's long reign as leader, officials say.

The cartel kidnapped, tortured and slaughtered members of rival criminal gangs. It also had access to a huge arsenal of weapons, including a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and Guzmán's own gold plated AK-47.

But in July 2019, the drug lord was sentenced to life in prison following one of the most high-profile trials in recent US history.

Prosecutors said Guzmán had trafficked cocaine, heroin and marijuana, and kept a network of dealers, kidnappers and assassins on his payroll.

His jailing led to an increase of violence in the region as other groups sought to take advantage. Despite this, the Sinaloa Cartel remains hugely powerful. It still dominates north-west Mexico and is reported to have a presence in cities ranging from Buenos Aires to New York.

It also continues to make billions of dollars from trafficking illicit narcotics to the US, Europe and Asia, experts say. With its long-time leader now behind bars, the cartel is said to be partially controlled by Mr Guzmán's son, Ovidio Guzmán Lopez.

When the younger Guzmán was arrested by the security forces in October 2019, Sinaloa Cartel gunmen were quick to demonstrate the group's serious military might.

They fought street battles with the army in broad daylight, set fire to vehicles, and even staged a prison break before their leader was eventually freed. It was a sign the group remains an immensely powerful force.

The Jalisco New Generation (CJNG)

Territory: The west, mainly the Tierra Caliente region.

Formed in about 2010, the Jalisco cartel is the strongest and most aggressive competitor to the Sinaloa.

The group has expanded rapidly across Mexico and is now one of the country's most dominant organised crime groups. Its assets are thought to be worth more than $20bn (£15.5bn).

The cartel is led by Ruben Oseguera, known as "El Mencho", a former police officer who is Mexico's most wanted man. The bounty for his capture? A cool $10m.

The Jalisco cartel is one of the main distributors of synthetic drugs on the continent, according to the US government. It is a key player in the illegal amphetamine market in the US and Europe and is also thought to have links to the drug market in Asia.

It has grown much more powerful in recent years and its rise has been fuelled by its use of extreme violence.

"It remains the most aggressive cartel in Mexico," according to the US-based geopolitical analysis firm Stratfor. "Its efforts to expand its area of control are largely responsible for the persistent wave of violence racking Tijuana, Juarez, Guanajuato and Mexico City."

Indeed, the cartel has gained notoriety for a series of attacks on security forces and public officials.

It has downed an army helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade, killed dozens of state officials, and has even been known to hang the bodies of its victims from bridges to intimidate its rivals.

And, according to experts in the region, it is set to expand further.

The Gulf Cartel

Territory: The north-east, centred around the border state of Tamaulipas.

This is one of Mexico's oldest criminal groups and its roots can be traced back to the 1980s.

It became known around this time for trafficking cocaine and marijuana into the US. It is also thought to have smuggled heroin and amphetamines, and it worked closely with cartels in Colombia.

By the 1990s, the Gulf Cartel's drug trafficking operation was reportedly bringing in billions of dollars every year. It maintained this network by engaging in political corruption and bribery as a means to keep officials on side.

The cartel was initially led by Juan García Abrego, the first Mexican drug lord to be included in the FBI's 10 most wanted list. He was captured in 1996 and jailed for life in the US.

His heir, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, built up the cartel's military wing. He recruited a number of corrupt special forces soldiers and pushed an even more violent approach. Those soldiers would eventually go rogue and form a rival cartel of their own (more on this later).

Cardenas was arrested in 2003 and is currently serving 25 years in jail in the US. His brother and top leader of the cartel, Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, was killed in a shootout with Mexican troops in 2010.

The cartel then split into multiple factions with different leaders. It has been weakened as a result, and is engaged in a vicious turf war with the...

... Los Zetas Cartel

Territory: Also the north-east.

This group was founded by corrupt members of an elite unit of Mexico's special forces.

More than 30 ex-soldiers were hired by the leader of the Gulf Cartel in the 1990s but, as mentioned above, they broke away and formed their own operation in 2010.

The two cartels then clashed violently, particularly in Mexico's north-east. The Zetas became particularly well-known for their brutality, often torturing and decapitating their victims.

By 2012, the Zetas had reached the peak of their powers. The were named as the country's biggest drug gang, overtaking their bitter rivals the Sinaloa, and were thought to operate in more than half of the Mexican states.

They moved beyond drugs and turned their hand to any crime that brought them money, from cigarette smuggling to human trafficking.

But, later in 2012, one of their leaders was killed in a shootout with the Mexican Navy. His replacement, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, was captured. His younger brother, Omar Treviño Morales, took over but was also caught in 2015.

This marked the beginning of the cartel's decline. A lack of leadership caused the Zetas to splinter and allowed rival groups to assert dominance, according to analysis from Insight Crime, which monitors organised crime in the Americas.

The Zetas lost ground as others, notably the Jalisco cartel, expanded to take their east coast territory. Internal divisions have also served to weaken the group, but it remains a dangerous force.

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Mexico cartels: Which are the biggest and most powerful?

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After a wave of violence rocks the country, we profile the most notorious organised crime groups.

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Venezuelans who fled to Colombia tell of harsh conditions, including the absence of food, electricity and hospitals with basic supplies.

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Venezuelans on their way to the border with Colombia. Credit Credit Fabiola Ferrero for The New York Times

Venezuela is collapsing after years of catastrophic mismanagement, leaving millions hungry and sick. The repressive and incompetent government of President Nicolás Maduro urgently needs to be replaced - but ordinary Venezuelans tell the story much better than I can. Meet some of the Venezuelans I met along the Colombia-Venezuela border; their accounts are lightly edited for space.

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I'm sleeping in this park [in Riohacha, Colombia] with my son, Edi. He's 3. He has a cleft palate, and there was just no way to get surgery for it in Venezuela. I'm hoping to get surgery for him here. I can't work because I have to look after him, but I beg for food. At least I can get food here. I may be sleeping on the ground, but it's better than over there in Venezuela.

I used to support [former Venezuelan strongman Hugo] Chávez. But then under Maduro, everything became all screwed up.

My baby was born five months ago in Maracaibo [a major city in Venezuela]. There was nothing in the hospital, not even a needle. It didn't have electricity when I was there. My husband had to come to Colombia to buy everything for the birth - gloves, face mask, needles, sutures, anesthetic, diapers - and bring it to the hospital ahead of time.

Then the baby caught pneumonia, and it just couldn't be treated in Venezuela, so we came here to Colombia. Everybody in Maracaibo wants to leave. There are 14 of us living in this home. In one room, there are four on one bed, and five on the other. In the other room, four people sleep on the mattress, and one is in a hammock.

The solution is to get the donkey out of there. Maduro, I mean. If he were to leave, I would run back to Venezuela right away. I don't want to live here.

My baby, Diogel, is 2 months old. He's here because there was no birth control available. We tried. Even condoms were too expensive. Diogel was born in Maracaibo and then we came here [to Riohacha]. There's nothing there. No food, no water, no electricity. If I had stayed in Venezuela, we would have starved. We sleep here in the park.

[Working in a brothel] isn't something that I thought that I would do. But here I have a roof over my head and they give me food. This is the best way for a girl from Venezuela to earn money to send to her family. I wire money back, and it's the difference between my family eating or not eating. My mom knows what I do, and she helps hide it from the rest of the family. She doesn't like it, and she's afraid for my health and safety. Desperation is driving us to accept any job that we can find.

Maduro is the biggest sinner of all. He has a lot more to confess to a priest than I do.

We would go five or six days at a time without electricity, and that's why we had to leave Venezuela. We buy food with debit cards [because inflation has rendered cash almost worthless], and when there's no electricity the cards don't work in the machines and you can't buy anything. There were entire days I went without food. My 7-year-old, too. But thank God, my baby didn't go hungry because I was still nursing.

You know why I have this baby? For six years, I took birth control pills, and then they almost disappeared. So I could eat or I could buy my pills, but I couldn't do both. And a condom costs as much as a kilo of rice.

My dream is to get to the U.S. We're dying to go to the U.S.

I worked at the hospital morgue in Valencia, so I saw it all. There are more deaths now, especially of old people and of young kids. The refrigerated rooms weren't working even before the blackouts, because of lack of maintenance. After a week, we couldn't take the smell any more. We would have to get rid of them. Unclaimed bodies were buried in common graves.

The hospital doesn't have supplies, so it only does extremely urgent surgeries. Sometimes that doesn't even include an appendectomy. The hospital does do emergency C-sections, but only if the patient provides a kit with all supplies - gloves, sutures, gowns and syringes. If the patient doesn't supply the kit, she dies. Every day you see people dying unnecessarily.

I left the hospital because I wasn't getting paid enough to buy food. So I'm here. I sell medicines with my son, and between us we can send back about $60 per week for my family.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We'd like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here's our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Nicholas Kristof has been a columnist for The Times since 2001. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes, for his coverage of China and of the genocide in Darfur. You can sign up for his free, twice-weekly email newsletter and follow him on Instagram. @NickKristof * Facebook

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A27 of the New York edition with the headline: 'If I Had Stayed in Venezuela, We Would Have Starved'. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Opinion | 'If I Had Stayed in Venezuela, We Would Have Starved'

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Venezuelans who fled to Colombia tell of harsh conditions, including the absence of food, electricity and hospitals with basic supplies. Venezuela is collapsing after years of catastrophic mismanagement, leaving millions hungry and sick. The repressive and incompetent government of President Nicolás Maduro urgently needs to be replaced - but ordinary Venezuelans tell the story much better than I can.

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We are facing possibly the greatest health threat of our time: drug-resistant infections. But here's why there's hope the world can change course.

COMMENT

The world is facing possibly the greatest health threat of our time: the rise of drug-resistant infections.

Since their introduction in the 1940s, antibiotics have been relied upon to treat and prevent a huge variety of conditions. We use them to treat everything from small cuts that have become infected to preventing infections in people undergoing surgery.

But we are in danger of reaching a place where even common infections once again become untreatable.

Around 700 000 people die already each year globally as a result of drug-resistant infections, found a 2016 report by the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance written by a team of experts at the behest of the United Kingdom government. This is a figure that could rise to up to 10-million globally by 2050 if action isn't taken to limit the overuse of existing drugs and develop new ones.

And while this problem affects every country in the world, it is lower and middle-income countries that will bear the brunt of this burden. An additional 24-million people in these countries will be pushed into poverty if we cannot stop superbugs, a 2017 World Bank report estimates.

This is a future we can avert - but only if we take effective action, and now.

The problem of drug-resistant infections is genuinely global, but the most successful action will fulfil local needs. This is because our cultural, social, economic and epidemiological contexts shape the problem of antimicrobial resistance in communities, districts and countries. They must also shape our solutions.

Interventions developed in northern Europe, for example, are unlikely to adequately address the needs of patients in much of Africa or Asia.

Luckily, many of the worst affected countries, including those Africa, are pioneering solutions that could keep us ahead of the superbugs.

In Tanzania, for example, local retail drug shops known as duka la dawa are often used by communities to buy medicines such as antibiotics. Since 2003, the country's Accredited Drug Dispensing Outlets programme has been training shop owners to safely sell prescription drugs, including antibiotics, to increase awareness and promote appropriate use in often under-served rural areas of the country.
Watch how Tanzania is putting the power to stop antibiotic resistance in communities' hands
As a result, more than 12 000 accredited drug dispensing outlets serve Tanzania. Sellers have been trained about antimicrobial resistance and the dangers of misusing antibiotics. Armed with posters, dispensing guides, counter-top information cards and rubber stamps to label medicines, vendors can educate their customers and promote the proper use of antibiotics.

Tanzania's programme significantly decreased the availability of unauthorised medicines, a 2014 study published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice found.

The study reviewed hundreds of community dispensary records and interviewed dozens of sellers and customers. It found that after training 95% of patient medication was correctly labelled with the drug's name - before training about one in five (18%) of drugs were properly marked.

In less than one year, almost all sellers surveyed met the six main criteria for good dispensing practices that help ensure patients know what medicine they are taking home, how to take it and any side effects to expect.

Importantly, the inappropriate dispensing of antibiotics for common diarrhoea decreased by almost 70%.

At the same time, Tanzania's scheme has also increased the availability of antibiotics for people who really needed them as sellers were more likely to have approved antibiotics in stock after training.

This innovative approach, using modest resources, has been so effective that it is now being scaled up across Tanzania - and is being replicated in countries such as Uganda, Liberia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Bangladesh.

It's just one example of pioneering work that is already going on to limit the impact of antimicrobial resistance in villages, towns and cities across the world - many of which point to the role that communities can play in educating people about the proper use of antibiotics.

Check out how South Africa's private sector is pioneering a cost-effective way to stem the tide in drug

In Bangladesh, community-based volunteers have been trained on the responsible use of antibiotics, and communication skills. These volunteers run regular participatory community dialogue sessions to discuss the specific issues relating to antibiotics that affect the community and make collective decisions on the best way to address them.

With 55 volunteers currently, the scheme is small, but this community-based and cost-effective approach has the potential to be scaled up in Bangladesh and applied in other countries as well.

Meanwhile, in India 9th grader Akansha is weaving a story about an exciting race. Only this one, depicted as a comic strip is in her tummy and pits the good "bugs" against the bad as they compete under the watchful eye of the "antibiotic master" for the "superbug trophy".

Akansha is one of many young children who are part of the country's "Superheroes Against Superbugs". The project spreads awareness of antibiotic resistance among young children through comics, storytelling and role play. The programme is hoping that children will ferry the messages they learn there home to their parents and the wider community.

Not every innovation can be the next big thing, but from these, and the many other projects around the world, we are starting to learn valuable lessons through trial and error. These are lessons the world will share next week in Accra as part of the second Call to Action on Antimicrobial Resistance event.

Comic relief: Could graphic novels give children the power to be ambassadors for the fight against antibiotic resistance at home?
Co-hosted by the global charitable health foundation Wellcome Trust and the Ghanaian, Thai and UK governments as well as the World Bank and UN Foundation, the event will bring together policy makers, health professionals, academics, civil society and the private sector to discuss what is needed to stem the tide of drug resistance.

By sharing the examples of initiatives like Tanzania's Accredited Drug Dispensing Outlets programme, we can inspire further innovative local approaches to tackling the rise of superbugs across the world.

Too often, low- and middle-income countries are painted as the root of the superbug challenge - when in fact their insight, involvement and innovation will be the best source of solutions to benefit us all.
Timothy Jinks is the head of Wellcome Trust's Drug Resistant Infections priority programme, leading Wellcome's efforts directed at reducing the threat of antimicrobial resistance. Follow the project on Have something to say?
Tweet us on @Bhekisisa_MG or Facebook us on @Bhekisisa.Health @Wellcome_AMR
So we must turn to some of the pioneering innovations emerging locally to guide us towards what works and what might be replicated elsewhere. It will be important to see what locally-developed programmes countries embrace and what resources countries might need to replicate successful programmes.

Antimicrobial resistance threatens to turn the clock back on decades of medical progress, but there is still time to change course.

drug-resistant bacteria antibiotics access to medicines India Tanzania

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antibiotic resistance: three ways to stop the rise of the superbugs

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Antibiotic resistance: Three ways to stop the rise of the superbugs

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We are facing possibly the greatest health threat of our time: drug-resistant infections. But here's why there's hope the world can change course. COMMENT The world is facing possibly the greatest health threat of our time: the rise of drug-resistant infections.

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Question: I just inherited $200,000. If I put it in a bank CD, how many years will it take before it's worth $400,000? - Gary, Baltimore, MD

Answer: 14.4 years - assuming your interest rate is 5 percent. LOL!

In the financial planning world there is something called the "Rule of 72". It's a very simple way to compute and determine how long it will take $1 to double to $2 at various rates of return. This rule can be used regardless of where you invest your money (CDs, stocks, bonds, REITS, etc.). All you have to do is take the number 72 and divide it by any percentage return to find out approximately how many years it will take to double your investment.

For example:
An investment earning 6 percent will double in 12 years (72 divided by 6) An investment earning 8 percent will double in 9 years (72 divided by 8) An investment earning 10 percent will double in 7.2 years (72 divided by 10) An investment earning 12 percent will double in 6 years (72 divided by 12) An investment earning 20 percent will double in 3.6 years (72 divided by 20)
On another note, a CD should be a temporary parking place for monies earmarked for your emergency fund or earmarked for upcoming expenses in three years or less. For example, if you know you'll need the money for a home down payment or college costs, it makes sense to save the money in a CD. However, if you know you will not need to touch this money for longer than three years, you may want to consider other investments with a greater potential for return (and a greater level of risk). If you wish to earmark this money for retirement or a long-term goal in 10 years, a diversified portfolio of low-cost index funds and exchange traded funds may be appropriate.

Bill's Bottom Line: CDs are a short-term savings vehicle, not a long-term investment.
>>More from OTM Contributor Bill Losey

Bill Losey, CFP®, CSA, America's Retirement Strategist®, is the resident retirement planning expert for On the Money. He has been named one of America's Top Financial Planners and is the author of Retire in a Weekend!. The Baby Boomer's Guide to Making Work Optional. He also publishes Retirement Intelligence, a free weekly award-winning newsletter. Bill can be reached online at MyRetirementSuccess.com.

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How Long Will It Take to Double My Money? Learn the Rule of 72

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Question: I just inherited $200,000. If I put it in a bank CD, how many years will it take before it's worth $400,000? - Gary, Baltimore, MD Answer: 14.4 years - assuming your interest rate is 5 percent. LOL! In the financial planning world there is something called the "Rule of 72".

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Continual and sensational news coverage of Mexican drug cartels may have desensitized people to the realities and sources of the violence. It is easy to forget how long the crisis imposed by the cartel has gone on and how far it is from over. To place the issue back into perspective, discussed below are 10 facts about Mexican drug cartels and the ways through which the government has attempted to deal with them.

Mexican Drug Cartels: Facts and Figures

1. In December of 2006, former Mexican president Felipe Calderon sent 6,500 troops into Michoacán to address the rampant gun battles, execution-style murders and police corruptions which cartel rivalry had unleashed on the community. In so doing, Calderon launched the Mexican war on drugs, a literal war which would involve more than 20,000 troops within the first two months.

2. Since this war's inception, 25 of the 37 drug traffickers on Calderon's most wanted list have been jailed, more than 100,000 tons of cocaine decommissioned and almost 450,000 acres of marijuana plants destroyed, but the violent loss of life remains on the rise. Smuggling routes spread into previously peaceful areas as military involvement increased.

3. The United States, as home to tens of millions of users, comprises the world's largest drug market. In fact, in 2013 about 10 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 12 were recent users, and drug consumption remains on the rise. Mexican drug cartels are estimated to earn between 19 and 29 billion dollars annually from U.S. drug sales.

4. As more of the United States decriminalizes marijuana, illegally-smuggled Mexican product cannot compete with the quality or price of U.S. production. Simultaneously, a prescription opioid epidemic across the U.S. has raised the demand for heroin. As a result, Mexican production of heroin rose by 170 percent between 2013 and 2015, while marijuana dealings have largely diminished.

5. As part of the United States' own war on drugs, the government has given at least $1.5 billion to support Mexico's anti-drug efforts. Concerned critics believe this deluge of cash contributes to corruption in the Mexican military and among police on the frontlines.

6. Ten years after the Mexican military was deployed to combat cartels, the nation's top general, Salvador Cienfuegos, said the troops ought not to have been involved and were not trained to pursue criminals to begin with. On December 9, 2016, the Mexican defense secretary said troops surrogating for police was an insufficient, even damaging, solution.

7. Violence surged across Mexico in 2016, with more than 17,000 homicides reported in the first 10 months. This is the highest death toll since 2012.

8. Strategically, Mexico has waged its American-backed war by targeting the kingpins, assuming that annihilating cartel leadership would dissolve these criminal organizations. The recent rise in violence throughout Mexico suggests this approach is ineffective. For instance, since Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was recaptured by authorities in January, the gang has splintered and multiplied.

9. Mexico's decade-long war on drugs has cost about 200,000 lives to date and left 28,000 missing. Reciprocal violence from cartels, police and soldiers has violated human rights and ravaged Mexican communities.

10. A 2015 poll on the efficacy of Mexican institutions revealed that the police, the president's office, politicians and political parties rank among the least trusted establishments in Mexico, in large part due to the reign of violent cartels, which has cost so many lives.

By demilitarizing the war on drugs and reestablishing faith in the government, Mexico can begin to heal. The DEA recently emphasized the importance of coupling strategies: the targeting of high-profile cartel members by law enforcement and the provision of community outreach programs to end the opioid epidemic in Mexico and the United States. Long-term solutions must integrate security with social services to pursue prosperity.

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10 Facts About Mexican Drug Cartels | The Borgen Project

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Continual and sensational news coverage of Mexican drug cartels may have desensitized people to the realities and sources of the violence. It is easy to forget how long the crisis imposed by the cartel has gone on and how far it is from over... Here are 10 facts about Mexican drug cartels.

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Prevalence

The Global Slavery Index estimates that on any given day in 2016 there were over 3.8 million people living in conditions of modern slavery in China, a prevalence of 2.8 victims for every thousand people in the country. This estimate does not include figures on organ trafficking.

The Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) publishes some data on trafficking-related investigations and convictions. In 2016, MPS reported investigating 1,004 cases of human trafficking and arresting 2,036 suspects. Of those cases, 45 were suspected cases of forced labour, involving the arrest of 74 suspects. In one investigation, the Chinese government reportedly arrested 464 suspects who were involved in labour trafficking of disabled victims. The government convicted 435 individuals for sex trafficking, 19 individuals for labour trafficking, and 1,302 individuals were convicted in cases in which the type of exploitation was unclear.

Forced labour

Among the many manufacturing industries, the electronics sector has been under particular scrutiny since it was revealed that employees of Chinese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn, which produced parts for Apple's iPhone, wereallegedly subjected to exploitative working conditions. Students from vocational courses are reportedly forced to work in the electronics manufacturing sector under the threat of failing to graduate if they decline. These jobs are disguised as "internships" but are usually simple production line jobs. Such cases of forced labour have been documented in electronics factories supplying major brands such as Apple, Acer, HP, and Sony, among many others.

The construction sector in China is known for the common practice of paying workers in arrears, with wages sometimes being withheld for up to a one year. Construction workers are reportedly subjected to other exploitative practices such as withheld wages and non-payment, excessive and illegal overtime, and widespread lack of employment contracts - all of which are indicators of forced labour. Amid a recent slowing of economic growth in China after decades of robust growth, in 2015 nearly three million Chinese workers reported not being paid on time, with workers in construction being most at risk of underpayment.

State-imposed forced labour

Forced sexual exploitation of adults and children

Forced marriage

Organ trafficking

Although the Chinese government announced in December 2014 that it would end the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners and instead accept only organs for transplants that citizens have donated voluntarily, reports suggest that state-sanctioned organ harvesting still occurs across China. Practitioners of Falun Gong, a traditional Chinese spiritual practice that is persecuted by the Chinese government, are particularly vulnerable to forced organ transplanting. There are also members of other groups who are held as prisoners of conscience, including Uyghur Muslims, Tibetans, and house church Christians, who are potentially at risk of organ harvesting. A 2016 research report by former Canadian politician David Kilgour, human rights lawyer David Matas, and journalist Ethan Gutmann highlights that the scale of organ harvesting is much higher than previously assumed. The report concludes that an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 organ transplants are done in China every year, although the government officially claims that only about 10,000 transplants are undertaken every year. This discrepancy, together with the extraordinarily short waiting times for an organ transplant in China, reinforces public suspicions that organs are taken from prisoners of conscience. It is alleged that the organ transplant industry is a highly profitable enterprise that is largely run by the Chinese military. However, critics have challenged the allegations by Kilgour, Matas, and Gutman, claiming that their numbers are unrealistically high and that it is unlikely China could be conducting such large amounts of transplants without them being uncovered.

Imported products at risk of modern slavery

While China is affected by modern slavery within its own borders, the realities of global trade and business make it inevitable that China, like many other countries globally, will be exposed to the risk of modern slavery through the products it imports. Policymakers, businesses, and consumers must become aware of this risk and take responsibility for it. below highlights the top five products (according to US$ value, per annum) imported by China that are at risk of being produced under conditions of modern slavery.

Table 1Imports of products at risk of modern slavery to China

Vulnerability

Another factor contributing to the vulnerability of Chinese internal migrants is China's hukou (household registration) system, which limits citizens' access to public services to their official city of residence. As a result, migrant workers are unable to receive the same social benefits as local urban residents. Despite reforms to the hukou system to allow access to basic services for migrant workers (that is, those living outside their place of household registration), they still have reduced access to public health insurance, family planning services, and education for their children compared with city residents. Chinese internal migrant workers in urban areas are more likely to be employed in sectors where employment is informal and where there are no written contracts, such as in construction. One survey conducted on urban employees across six cities found that informal employment comprised 33 percent of the workforce. A 2014 survey by China's National Bureau of Statistics found that 62 percent of China's then 274 million migrant workers lacked contracts.

A flow-on effect of the large-scale migration of rural Chinese to urban areas are the "left-behind" children as a result of their parents' absence. While it was previously estimated that there are 61 million of these children in rural areas, the Chinese authorities officially revised the definition of "left-behind" children, resulting in a stark decrease in their numbers to 9 million in 2016. The former definition included any child with one migrant worker parent, but the new definition includes only children whose parents are both migrant workers. Additionally, the age range was narrowed from children under 18 years to children under 16 years of age. While the neglect of their parents may cause a whole range of issues such as mental health problems, they may also be at risk of abduction, child labour, and commercial sexual exploitation.

China has the third largest diaspora in the world. As of 2011, there were more than 40.3 million overseas Chinese residing in 148 countries, with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States as the main host countries for Chinese immigrants. In some cases, human smuggling syndicates, such as the infamous Snakeheads, use their personal networks in source, transit, and destination countries to facilitate the voluntary transport of Chinese people, particularly from Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, to neighbouring Asian countries, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Vietnam, and Western countries, such as the US, the UK, and Australia. Research did not conclude that trafficking or forced labour was an element in this activity. However, its illegal nature, in addition to the possibility of defaulting on the high fees charged for this transportation, may render migrants vulnerable to labour exploitation once they are in the destination country - either at the hands of the smugglers or other parties. Fees for transnational smuggling can range from US$ 1,000 to US$ 70,000 (median of US$ 50,000) per person, with lower prices for potential migrants who have a personal connection with the smuggler.

Response to modern slavery

A government-run arbitration pathway is available for victims of forced labour through Labour Dispute Arbitration Committees (LDAC). A 2008 law, entitled the Labour Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law, sets out the procedures and responsibilities for these committees, which are contained within some unionised industries in China. Alternatively, workers may approach their local communist party organs or local People's Congress committee to lodge their complaints or pursue legal arbitration. Free legal services are available for foreign and Chinese victims of forced labour.

In March 2017, the Chinese government succeeded in identifying 10 cases of unpaid wages and took remedial action. The discovery came as a result of a series of investigations in the construction sector. These were conducted across several government-sponsored projects in provinces including Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Hunan, Zhejiang, and Shanxi.

However, various factors deter victims from seeking help, such as the possibility that they will be punished for crimes committed while enslaved. The government's National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking states that the penalties for victims who are deceived or coerced into engaging in criminal activity are to be reduced or exempted. However, victims of commercial sexual exploitation are reportedly punished for engaging in prostitution, an activity that is illegal in China.

Another deterrent is the lack of protection afforded to victims and their families during the court process. A media report from 2015 described a case where a victim's father was intimidated into silence by police officers. Access to shelters and other support services for foreign trafficking victims is inconsistent; individuals and volunteer organisations have provided help to foreign female victims, but anecdotal evidence suggests that government shelters are ill-equipped for foreigners, with reports of victims being turned away. Fearing deportation, North Korean women victims in China also do not approach the local authorities for assistance and the only support services available to them are NGOs operating unofficially.

While the Chinese government is making progress on reforming the hukou system to help solve the migrant worker problem, it is a complex undertaking. For example, it is impossible for the Chinese government to suddenly be able to provide social services to people in already heavily overpopulated cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Therefore, the Chinese government has introduced regulations that are designed to channel migrants to lower-tier cities where they can obtain an urban hukou more easily compared to China's largest cities.

The Chinese government's announcement in 2014 proclaiming to end the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners and instead accept only organs for transplant that citizens have donated voluntarily failed to specifically include the ending of organ procurement from prisoners of conscience, such as Falun Gong practitioners. A 1984 provisional regulation that allowed the practice of organ procurement from executed prisoners was also never officially replaced, meaning that the practice of organ harvesting from prisoners is still permitted by the legal framework.

Response to modern slavery in supply chains

Public procurement

There is no requirement for officials to conduct due diligence to ensure that projects are free of forced labour. Officials do not appear to be given any training on how to identify assets that are likely to contain slavery in their supply chains. Procurement training is provided but it is unclear if the curriculum includes modern slavery.

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The Global Slavery Index estimates that on any given day in 2016 there were over 3.8 million people living in conditions of modern slavery in China, a prevalence of 2.8 victims for every thousand people in the country. This estimate does not include figures on organ trafficking.

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Human trafficking encompasses any exploitation or forced trade of humans against their will. This includes sex trafficking, child labor, forced labor and even forced adoptions and marriages. Human trafficking has risen to extremely high rates in China and the country has been identified as having one of the world's highest rates of human trafficking in the world.

Human Trafficking in China in Numbers

It is reported that human trafficking impacts 236 million people in China and Chinese trafficking victims have been transported and found on every single continent around the world. Approximately 600,000 workers willingly migrate into China on the basis of false promises regarding work opportunities, including escapees from North Korea. Instead of finding work, many are set up and sold into human trafficking organizations. They are usually forced into hard labor, prostitution, or entertainment industries. There are numerous causes of human trafficking in China. Supply chain companies, many of which sell their products to the United States, utilize human trafficking to obtain cheap or free labor to mass produce their products.

Causes of Human Trafficking in China

The one-child policy has contributed to human trafficking in China and can be considered as one of the main reasons for this negative trend in the country. In an effort to control the growing population, the country limited each family to the maximum of one child. As male children are prioritized over female, an uneven gender distribution ratio exists.

This results in less marriageable women and, therefore, the purchasing of wives through human trafficking. Children are also kidnapped from poverty-stricken rural areas and sold to parents that are unable to have children themselves. Overall, the largest causes of human trafficking in China are the high unemployment rates in rural areas, mass production increase in urban areas and lack of enforced punishment by government and law.

Tackling the Issue

China does not meet the minimum requirement of standards necessary to combat the rise of human trafficking. However, as this issue has been brought to the light internationally, the country has begun to make efforts to fight against human trafficking. The Central Committee, the State Council and local governments and institutions are designated to tackle this issue.

Many organization, predominately those that are organized by women, have been prominent in providing knowledge about sex trafficking to uneducated women. Paired with the Ministry of Justice, the All China's Women's Federation has produced many anti-trafficking printouts and propaganda. China has increased cooperation with other countries attempting to investigate cases of Chinese trafficking overseas, as well as provided shelters for trafficking victims and funded awareness campaigns to increase knowledge surrounding the issue.

These efforts, however small, go along way in helping prevent the rise of human trafficking in China. Providing awareness to uneducated and poverty-stricken rural areas is a large first step, as many people fall into trafficking simply by being unaware of what it is, what it looks like and how it occurs. There is a long way to go, but with the help and encouragement of international countries, the causes of human trafficking in China will begin to lessen. The first big step, the recognition of the problem, is already done.
- Mary Spindler

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Causes of Human Trafficking in China | The Borgen Project

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Human trafficking encompasses any exploitation or forced trade of humans against their will. This includes sex trafficking, child labor, forced labor and even forced adoptions and marriages. Human trafficking has risen to extremely high rates in China and the country has been identified as having one of the world's highest rates of human trafficking in the world.

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Venezuela has been in the grip of a crippling blackout for four days - and the humanitarian situation there is growing increasingly dire.

Signs of the crisis are everywhere you look in the Venezuelan capital. "Drive around Caracas, and you see long lines of cars waiting for hours at the few gas stations still operational," NPR's Philip Reeves reported from the city.

"Motorists park on highways, cell phones aloft, searching for a signal. The rich have taken refuge in luxury hotels. The poor stand in lines in the street," Reeves added.

The power outage has affected water pumps in some Caracas neighborhoods, meaning that people are waiting to fill water bottles at public locations such as springs. Schools and public offices remained closed on Monday, according to Reeves.

The precarious humanitarian situation is worsening as the country remains in a political stalemate. The crisis pits embattled President Nicolás Maduro against opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who took the oath of office at a rally in January and is backed by the U.S. and dozens of other countries that recognize him as Venezuela's rightful leader.

Much of the country was plunged into darkness Thursday, reportedly after major problems coming from the country's primary hydroelectric power plant, Reeves said. It's not clear whether the issue is with the plant itself or the transmission lines leading from it, according to Reuters.

Maduro's government has said the outage is the result of sabotage by the U.S., though it hasn't provided evidence to back that claim. "While the promoters of hate, death and violence delight in their destabilization plans, President Nicolás Maduro has ordered a deployment of ministers to ensure the Venezuelan people are attended to," Information Minister Jorge Rodríguez said in a televised address, as Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, the opposition has said the blackout is the result of years of incompetence that has caused the power grid to deteriorate.

"The regime at this hour, days after a blackout without precedent, has no diagnosis," Guaidó told reporters on Sunday, as Reuters reported.

Residents in some areas have seen sporadic restoration of power - while people in other places are growing more desperate and angry. It's a harrowing situation for anyone counting on electricity for health needs.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the independent health watchdog Codevida said that "15 dialysis patients have died as a result of the blackout and some 10,000 more were at risk if they continue without treatment."

Venezuela is struggling with hyperinflation, and many people had trouble obtaining basic necessities even before the latest political crisis. Now there are reports of looted supermarkets in Caracas. Images taken by a photographer for Reuters show a worker using a flashlight to inspect a supermarket that was hit in the capital.

Another photo, from Bloomberg, shows a long row of people lying facedown in the street after they were detained for alleged looting in the Santa Cruz del Este neighborhood of Caracas. Their hands are bound behind them, and their shirts are pulled over their heads to cover their faces as security officials stand over them.

"The food we had in our refrigerators has spoiled. Businesses are closed. There's no communication, not even by cell phone," 49-year-old Ana Cerrato told Reuters. "We need help! We are in a humanitarian crisis!"

It's a crisis that, as Cerrato noted, is taking place with very limited communication. As the Journal reported, Internet-usage tracker NetBlocks said just 12 percent of Venezuela's Internet network was connected as of Monday.

Some Venezuelans are bracing for the worst.

"This is going to end ugly. It's going to be ugly at the end," designer Nela Garcia told Reeves over the weekend. "My daughter that is now living here, she has a kid. And she's pregnant. ... She's always worried. Now we don't have light. We don't have water. So it's very hard to live here with all these, you know, situations."

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'This Is Going To End Ugly': Venezuela's Power Outage Drags On

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Venezuela has been in the grip of a crippling blackout for four days - and the humanitarian situation there is growing increasingly dire. Signs of the crisis are everywhere you look in the Venezuelan capital. "Drive around Caracas, and you see long lines of cars waiting for hours at the few gas stations still operational," NPR's Philip Reeves reported from the city.

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CHINA: Tier 3

The Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; therefore China remained on Tier 3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took some steps to address trafficking, including by cooperating with international authorities to address forced and fraudulent marriages in China-a key trafficking vulnerability for foreign women and girls; seeking criminal accountability for officials complicit in commercial sex crimes that may have included sex trafficking; and continuing trainings for officials on victim identification and assistance, in conjunction with international organizations. However, state-sponsored forced labor continued to be an area of concern. Unlike in prior years, the government did not report identifying any trafficking victims or referring them to protective services. Authorities detained women arrested on suspicion of prostitution-sometimes for months-and often forcibly returned foreign victims to their trafficking circumstances after they escaped and reported their abuses. Authorities attempted to extradite Chinese and Taiwan individuals abroad-some of whom were reportedly victims of forced labor-and charge them as criminals.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHINA

End forced labor in government facilities and by government officials outside of the penal process; vigorously investigate, prosecute, and impose prison sentences on perpetrators of forced labor and sex trafficking, including government officials who facilitate or are complicit in trafficking; update the legal framework to fully criminalize all forms of trafficking, including the facilitation of prostitution involving children younger than the age of 18; expand efforts to institute proactive, formal procedures to systematically identify trafficking victims throughout the country-including labor trafficking victims, Chinese victims returning from abroad, and victims among vulnerable groups, such as migrant workers, foreign women, and Chinese women and children arrested for prostitution-and train front-line officers on their implementation; cease penalization of victims for acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking, including by immediately screening individuals suspected of prostitution offenses for sex trafficking indicators and referring identified victims to protection services; ensure authorities do not subject trafficking victims to detention, punishment, or forcible repatriation; expand victim protection services, including comprehensive counseling and medical, reintegration, and other rehabilitative assistance for male and female victims of sex and labor trafficking; provide legal alternatives to foreign victims' removal to countries where they would face hardship or retribution, particularly North Korea; and increase the transparency of government efforts to combat trafficking and provide disaggregated data on investigations and prosecutions, victim identification, and service provision, including by continuing to share relevant data with international partners.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained insufficient law enforcement efforts. It continued to report statistics for crimes outside the definition of human trafficking according to international law, making it difficult to assess progress. Not all statistics were captured by the central government. The criminal code criminalized some forms of sex and labor trafficking. Article 240 of the criminal code criminalized "abducting and trafficking of women or children," which it defined as a series of acts (e.g., abduction, kidnapping, purchasing, selling, sending, receiving) for the purpose of selling women and children; however, it did not link these acts to a purpose of exploitation as defined in international law. A 2016 opinion from the Supreme People's Court (SPC) interpreting article 240, et seq. established that the selling and buying of persons, along with trafficking, was a banned offense "for any reason [...] for whatever purpose according to the law." Crimes under article 240 were punishable by at least 10 years imprisonment. Article 241 criminalized the purchase of women or children; like article 240, it did not require that the purchase be done for the purpose of exploitation. Article 358 criminalized forced prostitution and prescribed penalties of five to 10 years imprisonment. Article 359 criminalized harboring prostitution or seducing or introducing others into prostitution, and prescribed a maximum of five years imprisonment and a fine; for the seduction of girls younger than the age of 14 into "prostitution," it prescribed a sentence of five years or more and a fine. Penalties prescribed for sex trafficking offenses under articles 240, 241, 358, and 359 were sufficiently stringent and commensurate with the penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Article 244 criminalized forcing a person "to work by violence, threat or restriction of personal freedom" and recruiting, transporting, or otherwise assisting in forcing others to labor, and prescribed three to 10 years imprisonment and a fine. These penalties were sufficiently stringent.

The government continued to provide some law enforcement data. However, based on China's nonstandard definition of trafficking-which may include migrant smuggling, child abduction, forced marriage, and fraudulent adoption-the exact number of investigations, prosecutions, and convictions remained unclear. Unlike last year, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) did not report the number of investigations initiated into possible trafficking cases (1,004 in 2016), although media reports suggest authorities continued to investigate some cases. The SPC reported prosecuting and concluding 1,146 trafficking cases, culminating in 1,556 convictions (1,756 in 2016); this included 1,097 convictions for the trafficking of women and children, 420 convictions for forced prostitution, and 39 convictions for forced labor. Authorities did not disaggregate conviction data by the relevant criminal code statutes. As in prior years, the vast majority of these cases were not prosecuted under section 240 of the criminal code, and were instead tried under article 358-especially for those involving sexual exploitation. The government did not provide sentencing data, but media reports indicated imposed penalties ranged from five months imprisonment with fines of 74,000 renminbi (RMB) ($11,380) to life imprisonment. The government did not report the number of investigations, prosecutions, or convictions involving cases of children or disabled persons forced to beg or engage in other illegal activities; however, according to media reports, county- and provincial-level authorities investigated at least 24 cases of disabled persons who may have been abducted or transferred for the purpose of sexual or labor exploitation.

The government handled most cases with indicators of forced labor as administrative issues through the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Services and seldom initiated prosecutions of such cases under anti-trafficking statutes. The government engaged in law enforcement cooperation with foreign governments, investigating cases of Chinese citizens subjected to trafficking in the United States, Africa, and Europe; however, it was unclear how many of these investigations resulted in prosecutions, and in some instances-namely in Europe-Chinese authorities attempted to extradite the trafficking victims as criminals. During the reporting period, the government increased its consultative partnerships with Lao and Vietnamese law enforcement authorities to jointly address trafficking via the forced and fraudulent marriage of their citizens to Chinese individuals. Some law enforcement personnel in neighboring countries reported their Chinese counterparts were unresponsive to requests for bilateral cooperation on cross-border trafficking cases. The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) and the SPC reported providing anti-trafficking training for law enforcement or judicial officials at the city and provincial levels without providing detailed information on these efforts, including whether they were held with the assistance of international organizations. In August, the vice mayor of Dongguan and a former member of the National People's Congress were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in "organizing prostitution" in 2014, but it was unclear whether the criminal acts involved trafficking offenses. Despite reports of police accepting bribes from sex traffickers, including brothel owners, the government did not report any additional investigations of government employees complicit in trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government decreased efforts to protect victims. Unlike last year, the government did not report how many victims it identified during the reporting period, nor did it provide agency-specific data, although media reports indicated authorities continued to remove some victims from their exploitative situations. The government reported maintaining at least 10 shelters specifically dedicated to care for trafficking victims, as well as eight shelters for foreign trafficking victims and more than 2,300 multi-purpose shelters nationwide that could accommodate trafficking victims. Victims were entitled to shelter, medical care, counseling, social services, and-in some cases-rehabilitation services, all made available through the Ministry of Civil Affairs, a nationwide women's organization, and grassroots NGOs. Access to specialized care depended heavily on victims' location and gender, and the extent to which victims benefited from these services was unknown. The efficacy of the government's previously reported victim assistance-including its eight border liaison offices with Burma, Vietnam, and Laos, victim funds, hotlines, and government-to-government agreements to assist victims-remained unclear. Foreign embassies in China reportedly provided shelter or other protective services to victims.

In conjunction with an international organization, authorities sponsored and participated in trainings on victim identification and assistance for consular officials and law enforcement, regulation of marriage migration, and interagency implementation of the national referral mechanism. MPS promulgated written instructions to law enforcement officers throughout the country with the aim of clarifying procedures for identifying victims among individuals in prostitution and those who may be subjected to exploitation via forced or fraudulent marriage. MPS officials reportedly maintained a procedure to screen for trafficking indicators among individuals arrested for alleged prostitution offenses. A 2016 policy limiting the detention of such individuals to 72 hours remained in place. Despite the existence of these procedures, and contrary to the aforementioned policy, law enforcement officials continued to arrest and detain foreign women on suspicion of prostitution crimes without screening them for indicators of sexual exploitation-sometimes for as long as four months-before deporting them for immigration violations. In some cases involving the sex and labor exploitation of Burmese women and girls via forced and fraudulent marriage to Chinese men, rural border officials-particularly in Yunnan-received victims' complaints, provided them with temporary shelter, and helped to fund and escort their return to Burma. However, observers noted this assistance was ad hoc, and even less prevalent among front-line officers working farther inland, where some foreign victims escaped, reported these abusive circumstances to the authorities, and were summarily arrested and forcibly returned to their Chinese "husbands." Because the national referral mechanism was not universally implemented across law enforcement efforts, it was likely that unidentified Chinese trafficking victims were also detained following arrest for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of having been subjected to trafficking.

Victims were legally entitled to request criminal prosecution and claim financial restitution through civil lawsuits against their traffickers; the government did not report whether any victims benefited from this provision. The judicial system did not require victims to testify against their traffickers in court and allowed prosecutors to submit previously recorded statements as evidence. Authorities reported repatriating a number of victims in 2017 but did not provide further information, including whether they were Chinese or foreign. The government cooperated with law enforcement agencies in European countries to shutter large-scale telephone fraud operations involving dozens of Chinese and Taiwan individuals. European authorities deemed most of the apprehended suspects in several of these cases to be victims of forced criminality and referred them to protective custody. However, PRC authorities attempted on multiple occasions to formally extradite these individuals and charge them as criminals, raising further concerns on China's screening and identification measures. The government did not provide suspected North Korean trafficking victims with legal alternatives to repatriation. Authorities continued to detain North Korean asylum-seekers and forcibly returned some to North Korea, where they faced severe punishment or death, including in North Korean forced labor camps; it was unclear whether the government screened these individuals for indicators of trafficking. In compliance with a UN Security Council Resolution, the government reportedly repatriated some North Korean labor migrants; they were not screened for trafficking indicators or offered options to legally remain in the country.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. It funded a television show, used traditional and social media, and distributed posters and other materials at transportation and community centers to increase general understanding of the issue, including among vulnerable rural communities. Authorities held a third annual inter-ministerial meeting to coordinate anti-trafficking efforts. MPS continued to coordinate the anti-trafficking interagency process and lead interagency efforts to implement the National Action Plan on Combatting Human Trafficking. The government did not report the extent to which it funded anti-trafficking activities in furtherance of the action plan (more than 55 million RMB ($8.5 million) in 2016). MPS reportedly sent 350,000 police officers to public schools to educate children about the risks of exploitation. Academics and experts noted the gender imbalance created by the previous One-Child Policy likely continued to contribute to trafficking crimes in China. Provincial government efforts in 2016 to "legitimize" unregistered marriages between foreign women and Chinese men-a trend that was often permissive or generative of trafficking-were ongoing at the end of the reporting period. The government reportedly began a series of pilot programs to enable Cambodian and Vietnamese citizens to enter legally into southern China for work in hopes of stemming illicit labor migration through especially porous sections of the border; the extent to which this mitigated trafficking vulnerabilities-or to which it was implemented-was unknown.

The government hukou (household registration) system continued to contribute to the vulnerability of internal migrants by limiting employment opportunities and reducing access to social services, particularly for Chinese victims returning from exploitation broad. The government continued to address some of these vulnerabilities by requiring local governments to provide a mechanism for migrant workers to obtain residency permits. Authorities also commissioned several studies to develop mechanisms for the protection of children whose parents migrated internally for work, leaving them unsupervised and at elevated risk of exploitation; no further details on this initiative were available. The government reported efforts to reduce forced labor by including language in written agreements with foreign businesses and countries explicitly prohibiting trafficking. It attempted to reduce the demand for commercial sex through its ongoing crackdown on corruption and high profile arrests of men soliciting or procuring prostitution. The government did not report investigating or prosecuting any Chinese citizens for child sex tourism, despite widespread reports of the crime. The government provided anti-trafficking training to its troops prior to their deployment abroad as part of international peacekeeping missions and to its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, China is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. China's internal migrant population, estimated to exceed 180 million people, is vulnerable to trafficking, with Chinese men, women, and children subjected to forced labor in brick kilns, coal mines, and factories, some of which operate illegally and take advantage of lax government enforcement. While the law prohibits employers from withholding property from an employee as a security deposit, previous reports indicate such practices continue, thereby making certain workers vulnerable to forced labor. African and Asian men are exploited on Chinese maritime vessels, working under conditions indicative of forced labor. Forced begging by adults and children occurs throughout China. Traffickers target persons with developmental disabilities and children whose parents have left them with relatives to migrate to the cities-estimated at more than 60 million-and subject them to forced labor and forced begging.

State-sponsored forced labor continued to be an area of concern in China. In 2013, the National People's Congress ratified a decision to abolish "Re-education through labor" (RTL), a punitive system in which individuals were subjected to extra-judicial detention involving forced labor, from which the government reportedly profited. The government closed most RTL facilities by October 2015; however, the government reportedly converted some RTL facilities into state-sponsored drug rehabilitation facilities or administrative detention centers where, according to unverified reports, forced labor continues. Religious and political activists held in legal education facilities have previously reported forced labor occurring in pretrial detention and outside of penal sentences. Despite an official policy promulgated in 2016 limiting the maximum time women could be detained for prostitution offenses to 72 hours, officials continue to detain Chinese and foreign women on prostitution charges for months at a time without screening for sex trafficking. Officials detain foreign women fleeing abuse, to include sex and labor trafficking, experienced in relation to their forced or fraudulent marriages to Chinese men; many of these women remain in detention for months before authorities repatriate them-or in some cases return them to their abusive circumstances. Some of these women are held without due process in "custody and education" centers, where they are subjected to forced labor. In February 2017, local authorities in Xinjiang issued a notice that rural obligatory labor had been completely abolished throughout the province; however, amid tight government control over the flow of information out of Xinjiang, the extent to which this ban was implemented remained unclear. Although there were no confirmed reports of forced labor in Xinjiang during the reporting year, human rights organizations previously expressed concerns about forced labor under the "hashar" system of compulsory agricultural labor and under the auspices of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps-an economic and paramilitary organization with administrative control over several cities in the province. According to some reports, the Chinese government has also detained tens of thousands-and possibly hundreds of thousands-of Uighurs and sent them to special facilities for the purpose of "political reeducation." The families of these detainees may be at elevated risk of exploitation in their absence. The impact of formal discriminatory employment policies barring Uighurs from jobs in many sectors may also place them at higher risk of exploitation. Implementation of a law placing foreign NGOs in mainland China under MPS supervision continued to impose burdensome requirements and restrictions on the activities of civil society organizations-including those able to provide services for trafficking victims and communities vulnerable to the crime. International media and the ILO report children in some work-study programs supported by local governments and schools are forced to work in factories.

Chinese women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking within China. Traffickers typically recruit them from rural areas and take them to urban centers, using a combination of fraudulent job offers and coercion by imposing large travel fees, confiscating passports, confining victims, or physically and financially threatening victims to compel their engagement in commercial sex. Well-organized criminal syndicates and local gangs play key roles in the trafficking of Chinese women and girls in China, recruiting victims with fraudulent employment opportunities and subsequently forcing them into commercial sex. Illicit brokers increasingly facilitate the forced and fraudulent marriage of South Asian, Southeast Asian, and African women and girls to Chinese men for fees of up $30,000. The men-sometimes in partnership with their parents-often incur large debts to cover these fees, which they attempt to recover by subjecting the "brides" to forced labor or prostitution. Some Chinese men are reportedly circumventing this brokerage system by traveling to Southeast Asian capitals and entering into legal marriages with local women and girls, then returning to China and subjecting them to forced prostitution. There are also reports of Chinese men and their parents deceiving Southeast Asian women and girls into fraudulent marriages in China, then confining them in forced concubinism for the purpose of pregnancy.

Chinese men, women, and children are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking in at least 57 other countries. Chinese men, women, and girls are forced to labor in restaurants, shops, agriculture, and factories in overseas Chinese communities. Some are promised jobs abroad and confined to private homes upon arrival overseas, held in conditions indicative of forced labor, and compelled to conduct telephone scams. Chinese men in Africa and South America experience abuse at construction sites, in coal and copper mines, and in other extractive industries, where they face conditions indicative of forced labor, such as non-payment of wages, restrictions on movement, withholding of passports, and physical abuse. Congolese men and boys experience conditions indicative of forced labor in Chinese-owned mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Chinese women and girls are subjected to sexual exploitation throughout the world, including in major cities, construction sites, remote mining and logging camps, and areas with high concentrations of Chinese migrant workers. Chinese men reportedly engage in child sex tourism in Cambodia.

Women and children from neighboring Asian countries, Africa, and the Americas are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking in China. North Korean women are subjected to forced prostitution, forced marriage, and forced labor in agriculture, domestic service, and factories. According to media and a 2015 UN report, North Korean citizens are subjected to forced labor in China by the North Korean government, possibly with the knowledge of Chinese officials. African and South American women are promised legitimate jobs in China and forced into prostitution upon arrival. The Chinese government's birth limitation policy and a cultural preference for sons created a skewed sex ratio of 117 boys to 100 girls in China, which observers assert increases the demand for prostitution and for foreign women as brides for Chinese men-both of which may be procured by force or coercion. Women and girls are kidnapped or recruited through marriage brokers and transported to China, where some are subjected to commercial sex or forced labor.

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CHINA: Tier 3 The Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; therefore China remained on Tier 3.

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Human trafficking is an international problem that must be handled domestically. This becomes particularly difficult in a country known for its disregard of human rights and civil liberties. In the U.S. State Department's most recent Trafficking in Persons Report, China was controversially downgraded from the Tier 2 Watch List to Tier 3, the lowest possible score in the report. China was demoted to Tier 3 after nine years of failing to put into place practices to stop human trafficking.
Forced Labor
Although China officially prohibits forced labor, it is a rampant and widespread practice throughout much of the country, and what makes it worse is that in China, only women and children can be legally recognized as trafficking victims. Domestically an estimated 2.9 million people are trapped in forced labor in China. Internationally, Chinese citizens are trafficked into Thailand, Malaysia, Europe and the United States. Victims are trafficked from Vietnam, Burma, Myanmar and rural parts of China to work in brick kilns and factories. While the Chinese government is aware of human trafficking in the country, it also perpetuates it with at least 320 state-run institutions - "re-education through labor" camps.

Sex Trafficking
China is home to a thriving sex trade. Much of it comes from trafficking and selling young women and girls for marriage. Decades of the one child policy and the Chinese preference for male children resulted in a disproportionally high number of men in China. The lack of Chinese women has led to two different consequences. The first is the rise in forced marriages. Chinese men pay thousands of dollars to third parties to procure foreign brides resulting in the kidnapping of women from Myanmar who are then forced into marriages with Chinese men. The second consequence of the huge gender gap is the rise of brothels-there are an estimated 4 to 6 million sex workers in China. Women from the Philippines, Mongolia and North Korea, come to China in search for jobs but find themselves coerced into prostitution upon arrival.

Trafficking in Children
The trafficking of children for overseas adoptions is a huge problem in China. While the data is scarce, an estimated 200,000 children a year are sold to couples overseas either through adoption scams or the black market. Just a few months ago, the Chinese government busted four different human trafficking rings and saved 382 babies. The puzzling conclusion to this heroic story is that the babies were placed in orphanages around China instead of being reunited with their families. The Chinese government is concerned about the rampant unofficial adoption agencies in the country and is taking measures to clamp down on baby trafficking through harsh prison sentences for trafficking. Yet forced labor and sex trafficking remain a huge problem.

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Human Trafficking in China * Human Trafficking Search

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Human trafficking is an international problem that must be handled domestically. This becomes particularly difficult in a country known for its disregard of human rights and civil liberties. In the U.S. State Department's most recent Trafficking in Persons Report, China was controversially downgraded from the Tier 2 Watch List to Tier 3, the lowest possible ...

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Human trafficking is all around you. This is how it works

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Behind the everyday bargains we all love -- the $10 manicure, the unlimited shrimp buffet -- is a hidden world of forced labor to keep those prices at rock bottom. Noy Thrupkaew investigates human trafficking – which flourishes in the US and Europe, as well as developing countries – and shows us the human faces behind the exploited labor that feeds global consumers.

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(AP) - Houses of worship around the world, a place of reflection and peace, have been targeted for attack by extremists. Here are some of the deadly assaults over the last decade:

Oct. 31, 2010: Al-Qaida in Iraq militants attack Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church in Baghdad during Sunday night mass, killing 58 people in the deadliest assault targeting Christians since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion there. Al-Qaida in Iraq later became the Islamic State group.

Dec. 15, 2010: Two suicide bombers from the Sunni extremist group Jundallah blow themselves up near a mosque in southeastern Iran, including six Revolutionary Guard commanders.

July 16, 2010: Jundallah group kills 27 and injures 270 after it carries out a double suicide bombing against another Shiite mosque in southeastern Iran.

Aug. 5, 2012: Six members of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, in Oak Creek, are fatally shot by a white supremacist, Wade Michael Page. Page was shot by a responding officer and later killed himself.

Nov. 18, 2014: Two Palestinians using axes, knives and a gun kill four Jewish worshippers and an Israeli police officer in an attack on a Jerusalem synagogue.

Jan. 30, 2015: Suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in the Pakistani town of Shikarpur kills 71. Jundullah claims responsibility.

March 20, 2015: Islamic State suicide bombers attack a pair of mosques in Yemen's capital, unleashing monstrous blasts that ripped through worshippers and killed 137 people.

June 17, 2015: Nine black worshippers including a pastor are killed by Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white supremacist, after he prayed with them in Charleston, South Carolina. Roof was convicted of federal hate-crime and obstruction-of-religion charges and sentenced to death.

Sept. 24, 2015: A suicide bomber strikes a mosque in Yemen's rebel-held capital, killing 25 worshippers during prayers for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Nov. 12, 2016: Suicide bomber from Islamic State group kills over 50 at the shrine of Shah Noorani, in Pakistan's Baluchistan province.

Dec. 11, 2016: Suicide bomber strikes inside a Cairo chapel adjacent to St. Mark's Cathedral, seat of Egypt's ancient Coptic Orthodox Church. The Islamic State group claimed the attack, which killed at least 25 people.

Jan. 29, 2017: A gunman killed six men during evening prayers at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City. Alexandre Bissonnette pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted murder charges and was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

Feb. 16, 2017: Suicide bomber detonates his explosives vest among the devotees at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Pakistan's Sindh province, killing 98.

April 9, 2017: Twin suicide bombings rock churches in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria and Tanta, killing at least 45 people. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group.

June 15, 2017: A suicide bomber kills four people at a Shiite mosque in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul. Among the dead is a leader of Afghanistan's ethnic Hazaras, who are mostly Shiite Muslims.

Aug. 1, 2017: A suicide bomber storms into the largest Shiite mosque in Afghanistan's western Herat province, opening fire on worshippers before blowing himself up, killing at least 90 people. Hundreds more were wounded in the attack, which happened during evening prayers.

Aug. 3, 2018: Suicide bombers disguised in burqa robes attack a Shiite mosque in eastern Afghanistan, killing 27 people.

Aug. 25, 2017: Militants storm a packed Shiite mosque in Kabul during Friday prayers. The attack ends with at least 28 worshippers killed and 50 wounded, many of them children. Two of the assailants blow themselves up and another two are shot dead by Afghan security forces.

Sept. 29, 2017: A suicide bomber blows himself up outside a Shiite mosque in Kabul, killing five. The attack took place as worshippers were leaving the mosque after Friday prayers.

Oct. 20, 2017: The Islamic State group claims a suicide bomber attack, killing 31 and wounding 29 people, at a Shiite mosque in Kabul.

Nov. 5, 2017: Dressed in black tactical-style gear and armed with an assault weapon, 26-year-old Devin Kelley opened fire at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing 26 people and wounding about 20 others.

Nov. 24, 2017: Militants kill 311 worshippers in a mosque attack in north Sinai, the deadliest such terrorist attack in Egypt's modern history.

Dec. 17, 2017: Islamic State attack on a church in Pakistani city of Quetta kills 16 people.

Oct. 27, 2018: A gunman believed to have spewed anti-Semitic slurs and rhetoric on social media entered Tree of Life Congregation synagogue in Pittsburgh and opened fire, killing 11 and wounding six, including four police officers.

Jan. 27, 2019: Two suicide attackers detonate two bombs during a Mass in a Roman Catholic cathedral on the largely Muslim island of Jolo in the southern Philippines, killing 23 and wounding about 100 others. Three days later, an attacker hurls a grenade in a mosque in nearby Zamboanga city, killing two religious teachers.

March 15, 2019: At least 40 people are killed in an attack at mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.

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A look at attacks on houses of worship over last decade - Religion News Service

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(AP) - Houses of worship around the world, a place of reflection and peace, have been targeted for attack by extremists. Here are some of the deadly assaults over the last decade: Oct. 31, 2010: Al-Qaida in Iraq militants attack Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church in Baghdad during Sunday night mass, killing 58 people in the deadliest assault targeting Christians since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion there.

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Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, a man once considered the most wanted narco in the Americas, was found guilty February 12 on all counts, which included charges of running a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to traffic drugs, and conspiracy to commit murder. If his conviction holds, he will spend the rest of his life in prison. The conviction followed a highly publicized three-month trial in New York City that cost millions of dollars, with heavily armed law enforcement required to protect the jury. There are still questions surrounding his final sentencing, which is currently scheduled for June 25. Meanwhile, El Chapo's lawyers are seeking a new trial, citing jury misconduct.

Some commentators and several media outlets have called this spectacle the " trial of the century " since it revealed the inner workings of the Sinaloa Cartel that El Chapo led for two decades, and the alleged operations of a network of Mexican drug traffickers, entrepreneurs, and corrupt Mexican politicians at the highest levels. High-level narcos who worked closely with or knew the operations of Guzmán Loera, testifying as protected witnesses in exchange for reduced sentences, as well as the testimony of convicted criminals, exposed the most obscure elements of the Sinaloa Cartel's innerworkings and the involvement of Mexican authorities and their allies.

Indeed, the conviction sends a message to cartel leaders in Mexico about impunity: if El Chapo can be convicted, then so can others. Yet this line of thinking serves only to justify the continuation of the U.S.-led "kingpin strategy" in Mexico and other parts of the Americas, which focuses on taking down individual capos (drug cartel leaders), rather than the power structures that perpetuate violence in our hemisphere. This strategy, part of the U.S.-funded War on Drugs, has left lower-level cartel leaders vying for power, thus sparking turf wars throughout Mexico and increasing suffering and violence in the country. In the 12 years since ex-president Felipe Calderón proclaimed the beginning of Mexico's War on Drugs, over 200,000 people have died and 35,000 have disappeared.

Given this reality, the judicial process against El Chapo, covered extensively in the United States but not in Mexico, is no more than a spectacle, to use the term theorized by Guy Debord. Not to mention that his story has become profitable: it's no coincidence that Narcos: Mexico was released on Netflix shortly before the trial began. This latest episode of the "El Chapo Show" had a stellar cast that included judges, law enforcement agents, lawyers, and other major drug lords starring as protected witnesses. The main characters were Mexican entrepreneurs and politicians, including former presidents who allegedly received millions of dollars in bribes from El Chapo and his clan.

The spectacle obfuscates history and context, instead focusing on the charismatic figure of El Chapo rather than the power structures that perpetuate violence in Mexico or the role of the United States. Such a retelling appears more of an episodic melodrama than an honest account of the violence committed not only by El Chapo and his henchmen, but by government authorities on both sides of the border that colluded with him. It also obscures the discussion of militarized responses that have wrought suffering and death upon hundreds of thousands of Mexicans, as well as the negative effects of drug prohibition and how neoliberal economic policies have excluded many young Mexicans from formal employment.

Within this "society of spectacle," the El Chapo trial is the product of mass media coverage that sells stories about cartel wars, warring narcos, love affairs, and corruption scandals. Simplistic commentary and partial analyses abound in a media landscape that portrays the lives of Mexican narcos and the corrupt political class, as well as cartel operations. In consuming such representations, we become spectators to the worst of Mexican culture.

It is also worth noting that this portrayal features no white and/or American villains. As in any other TV series, Hollywood film, or online streaming content, we are only exposed to "good" and "evil." The bad guys are of course the narcos, who bribe dishonest (read: Mexican) law enforcement agents and politicians. The U.S., for its part, represents the rule of law in the form of mostly white U.S. judges and white U.S. policemen working within the U.S. justice system. This story leaves out the deep complicity of the United States-both through its massive consumption of illicit drugs and the neoliberal policies it has proffered at the expense of many working-class Mexicans. Nor does it mention corruption in the United States or the nefarious effects of current U.S. drug policy and U.S.-led anti-narcotics cooperation in the country.

The narrative of the inner workings of the Sinaloa Cartel and the beginnings of the so-called cartel wars portrays a quasi "failed state," under the rule of narcos who are capable of dominating law enforcement agencies, state institutions, government authorities, and politicians at the highest levels. This identification justifies a much more aggressive and militarized strategy against these super powerful "bad hombres," who happen to be brown and Mexican. According to this account, these narcos are also responsible for causing a crisis on the U.S. side by killing U.S. drug consumers. U.S. citizens, on the other hand, are the "good guys" of this show-acting either as judges or victims-with the power to reveal to the world the truth of a "barbarous Mexico" that needs their support to solve its problems.

The media spectacle around El Chapo makes it easy to miss what is really going on and to ignore the basic goals of a strategy that serve economic and geostrategic interests-many of which have their headquarters in the United States. In fact, the information the trial revealed about the operations of the Sinaloa Cartel and drug trafficking business, as well as networks in Mexico, gives U.S. law enforcement agencies strategic information about key Mexican businessmen and politicians, and allows them to exert direct pressure on the new Mexican government. It would not be a surprise, then, that in the very near future the United States would try to pressure Mexico to strengthen its anti-narcotics cooperation based on a higher presence of U.S. law enforcement agencies in Mexican territory. This anti-narcotics strategy could become further militarized in the current context of criminal paramilitarization, cartel fragmentation, and the multiplication of criminal groups with access to high caliber weapons who extract rents in vast regions of Mexico.

The War on Drugs in particular shows us how a media spectacle under the framework of U.S. hegemony has determined the contemporary history of our hemisphere. Certainly, the United States is a military nation that declares war on almost everything: drugs, terrorism, communism, and poverty-whether they are abstract concepts or actual perceived enemies. The United States justifies military intervention and/or militarization that benefits the U.S. military industrial complex, utilizing a spectacle of war, from Libya to Venezuela.

It made sense for the United States to declare this war, but from a strategic perspective it did not make a lot of sense for Calderón to do so on Mexican soil. Mexico has of course been a loyal ally of the United States for years and has closely cooperated with its more powerful neighbor, following the advice of its agencies to chase down and extradite drug lords. Such has been the case with El Chapo and many others, such as Osiel Cárdenas, the former leader of the Gulf Cartel, and Vicente Zambada Niebla, the son of El Chapo's partner "El Mayo," who both signed plea deals with the U.S. government.

After decades of failed anti-narcotics cooperation and operations, the conviction of capos like El Chapo will not do away with the narco problem, drug trafficking, or drug consumption in the United States-where users are now dying at a faster pace thanks to an opioid crisis fueled by pharmaceutical companies. Despite this, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continues offering the same advice to Mexico, supported by billion-dollar budgets. The agency keeps implementing the same strategies that end with the f ailure to reduce drug trafficking to the United States. Thus, we can only understand the continued support for policies like Plan Colombia, the Mérida Initiative, the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), and the Alliance for Prosperity as a strategy that, while unsuccessful in limiting the trafficking of drugs, serves to continue the United States' exercise of geostrategic control over the region.

Meanwhile, the capture of figures like El Chapo and Pablo Escobar, the protagonist of more than a handful of Netflix series, lends itself to the spectacle of the so-called drug wars in the Americas. Recently, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," another important and dangerous narco who founded the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG), faced a similar fate. But as occurred after El Chapo's first arrest during the Mexican drug war, this could very well lead to more violence, as it did in Sinaloa. Mexico will continue bleeding, just as spectators will continue watching Netflix and Telemundo telenovelas and prestige dramas that further the idea that individual narcos are the real enemies of society , while at the same time ignoring the role of state authorities and systems on both sides of the border. We consume this entertainment passively and uncritically, as it deepens support for drug wars across the globe.

Perhaps more important, then, than El Chapo's conviction, is the recent announcement by President López Obrador that his administration will end the Mexican drug war and instead focus on criminal groups that extract rents, steal oil, commit crimes, and cause chaos. We could only hope that this could end Mexico's drug war spectacle-though history shows that the United States may be unlikely to let them.

Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera is Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University. Her newest book is titled Los Zetas Inc.: Criminal Corporations, Energy, and Civil War in Mexico (University of Texas Press, 2017; Spanish version: Planeta, 2018).
Laura Weiss is Managing Editor of NACLA. She holds a Masters' degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from New York University, where she focused on social movements in Mexico. She has reported on immigration, U.S. security policy in Latin America, and Central American refugees in Mexico. Follow her work at lauraweiss.me and on Twitter @lauralew105.

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El Chapo and Mexico's Drug War Spectacle

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Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, a man once considered the most wanted narco in the Americas, was found guilty February 12 on all counts, which included charges of running a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to traffic drugs, and conspiracy to commit murder. If his conviction holds, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

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international relations and national security

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Read CNN's Fast Facts to learn more about how the Mexican government has been fighting against drug traffickers since December 2006.

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https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/03/21/myanmar-women-girls-trafficked-brides-china

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Earlier this month, a federal jury in New York convicted Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, the former kingpin of Mexico's powerful Sinaloa Cartel, on ten charges related to drug trafficking. El Chapo was stunned, his wife cried, and U.S. authorities crowed.

For some, the verdict offered finality: "The reign of Joaquín Guzmán Loera's crime and violence has come to an end," said FBI Director Christopher Wray.

For others, vindication: "There are those who say the war on drugs is not worth fighting," said Richard P. Donoghue, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. "Those people are wrong."

Some spoke of heroism: "Today's verdict," said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, "sends an unmistakable message to transnational criminals: You cannot hide, you are not beyond our reach, and we will find you and bring you to face justice."

Others expressed a sense of relief: "As was clear to the jury, Guzmán Loera's massive, multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise was responsible for flooding the streets of the United States with hundreds of tons of cocaine as well as enormous quantities of other dangerous drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine," according to acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.

These officials all offered variations on a popular drug war narrative: an all-controlling kingpin builds a criminal empire, leaving death and destruction in his wake. Law enforcement tracks, arrests, and incarcerates him-and, in the case of El Chapo, rearrests and reincarcerates him after he escapes-and then convicts him. The public embraces this story, watching it over and over, first as news on CNN and then as fiction on Netflix. It is simple and understandable, and it helps us sleep at night. It is also false.

The obsession with El Chapo and his exploits, as well as those of his associates and his cartel, reflects an outdated view of the drug trade. The idea that this trade is dominated by vertically integrated

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Earlier this month, a federal jury in New York convicted Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, the former kingpin of Mexico's powerful Sinaloa Cartel, on ten charges related to drug trafficking. El Chapo was stunned, his wife cried, and U.S. authorities crowed.

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Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó is hoping public employees stage strikes on Thursday to put pressure on embattled President Nicolas Maduro - a day after clashes between his forces and anti-government protesters left one woman dead and dozens injured.

Guaidó's push for a general strike and for Venezuelans to remain in the streets - which was met with cheers Wednesday by a crowd of thousands that had gathered to hear him speak in Caracas - are his latest moves in a fledgling attempt to unseat Maduro from power.

"It's totally clear now the usurper has lost," Guaidó said as clashes between his supporters and Maduro loyalists raged across the Venezuelan capital.

A 27-year-old woman was gunned down in Wednesday's violence, according to the BBC. Gustavo Duque, the mayor of one of Caracas' municipalities, told the Associated Press that the Salud Chacao medical center took in 27 new patients by late afternoon Wednesday, one of whom was shot in the foot.

FORMER VENEZUELAN U.N. DELEGATE: 'THIS IS A POINT OF NO RETURN'
Those injuries are on top of more than 50 reported by the hospital's director during clashes Tuesday.

State security forces launched tear gas and fired rubber bullets around Caracas Wednesday while bands of mostly young men armed with makeshift shields threw rocks and set a motorcycle ablaze.

But Guaidó's repeated calls for a military uprising against Maduro appear to be gaining little momentum. Only the chief of Venezuela's feared intelligence agency has broken ranks, while most others are standing steadfast, the Associated Press reports.

Protesters like Beatriz Pino, who took to the streets Wednesday waving flags and banging pots and pans, said they weren't entirely surprised by the military's response to Guaidó. She said the late President Hugo Chavez politicized Venezuela's military as he installed a socialist system. Despite the setback, she said she remained committed to the opposition's call for protest.

"We can't leave the streets," she said. "We've been in this for years."
REP. GABBARD ON VENEZUELA: TRUMP WH 'SABER-RATTLING', US SHOULD BROKER DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION WITH RUSSIA

The struggle also has heightened geopolitical dimensions, with the United States and more than 50 other nations backing Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate president and Maduro allies like Russia lending the beleaguered president military and economic support.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said Wednesday that Maduro is surrounded by "scorpions in a bottle" and that key figures among his inner circle had been "outed" as dealing with the opposition.
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The United States contends Maduro had been ready to flee Tuesday, an airplane already on the tarmac, but was talked out of it by Russian advisers.

Yet Maduro appeared at a socialist party rally Wednesday afternoon, saying U.S. leaders had been fooled by the opposition into believing he was about to leave Venezuela. He said the Trump administration was part of a "pot of lies" and likened the ordeal to "fake news."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Venezuela's Guaidó calls for general strike after clashes leave woman dead, dozens injured

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Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó is hoping public employees stage strikes on Thursday to put pressure on embattled President Nicolas Maduro - a day after clashes between his forces and anti-government protesters left one woman dead and dozens injured.

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Venezuela is engulfed in chaos as two men claim to be the rightful leader of the country. Juan Guaidó, the former National Assembly leader who was appointed acting president in January, is pushing to oust Nicolás Maduro, who took over after the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013 and has consolidated an authoritarian grip over the country. The U.S. is backing Guiadó and has declared Maduro " illegitimate."

While these two men are at the heart of the democratic crisis in Venezuela, the roots of the accompanying economic crisis began years earlier and accelerated with the death of Chavez and the collapse of a socialist, state-managed, oil-dependent Venezuelan economy.

Chavez, a charismatic socialist and former military general, dominated Venezuela for 14 years as president. He won democratic elections in 1998, 2000, 2006 and 2012. By the time of his death in 2013, corruption and mismanagement by an entrenched state apparatus had ravaged a once-booming energy industry. Despite holding the world's largest oil reserves, Venezuela's debt exploded and inflation intensified the stress on an already poor economy. Into the vacuum left by Chavez stepped Nicolás Maduro, his right-hand man.

Maduro clung to power amid a total economic meltdown. He imposed laws that critics say wiped out all pretense of Venezuela being a democratic country. Opposition members were elected by huge majorities in 2015 to lead the National Assembly, a single-body legislature that is essentially Venezuela's version of Congress. They attempted to constrain Maduro with their newfound power. In response, Maduro called a special election in 2017 that was widely denounced as rigged. It created the Constituent Assembly, a competing 545-seat body filled entirely with pro-Maduro loyalists, formed with the express purpose of drafting a new constitution for Venezuela. The Constituent Assembly has since granted itself virtually unlimited powers, and has banned the National Assembly from passing laws, refusing to recognize them.

The Supreme Tribunal of Justice, Venezuela's version of the Supreme Court, is filled with Maduro-Chavez loyalists. In 2017, the Tribunal ruled to dissolve the National Assembly and granted themselves the power to write their own laws, cementing one-party rule in Venezuela.

Protest movements erupted in 2017, fueled by by hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans opposed to the destruction of electoral democracy and alarmed by a deteriorating economic situation which has left millions trapped in poverty and starvation, lacking basic medical care and even electricity. Inflation recently hit one million percent and more than a million people have fled the country.

Maduro sent security and military forces to crack down on protests, operations that sometimes turned deadly. The United Nations has accused his regime of committing human rights violations. Political protesters have been detained without trial and opposition party lawmakers have been jailed.

Venezuela's army has largely remained loyal to Maduro, and there are vigilante units called "colectivos," numbering some 1.6 million members, which run intimidation campaigns against the population and democratic protesters.

Out of this chaos a new leader emerged. Juan Guaidó became the face of Venezuela's opposition party when he contested the results of Maduro's 2018 electoral landslide, one deemed " a sham" by the U.S. Following what Guaidó and the opposition deemed an illegitimate election, the National Assembly invoked the constitution to declare the office of the presidency as vacant. As speaker of the National Assembly, Guiadó was appointed acting president in January in front of thousands of supporters.

Young, vibrant, and telegenic, the 35-year-old Guaidó has argued he is the rightful acting president of Venezuela, declaring Maduro an "usurper." Maduro's only previous presidential election came in 2013, which he won by a slim margin over Henrique Capriles, who described the outcome as " an illegitimate process."

Guaidó's claim on the presidency has drawn support from the United States, while Russia is backing Maduro. The Trump administration refuses to recognize Maduro's government, calling him " a dictator" and hitting the regime with financial sanctions that have further weakened Venezuela's already crippled economy.

Guaidó was briefly detained by Maduro's forces in January, and his chief of staff was dragged from his home and jailed in March. In February, Guaidó traveled to neighboring Colombia to appeal for backing at a summit of regional leaders. He met there with Vice President Mike Pence, who expressed "resolute" U.S. support for his leadership. Meanwhile at the border, Maduro's troops unleashed tear gas on Venezuelan residents and blocked truckloads of humanitarian aid.

On Tuesday morning, Guaidó announced parts of the military supported his claim to leadership, and called on Venezuelans to rise up against the Maduro regime in an effort he called "Operacion Libertad" - Operation Freedom. A violent crackdown ensued. Maduro claimed victory by Tuesday night, while Guaidó called for more protests, leaving the presidential and economic crisis in Venezuela to continue.

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Understanding the Venezuelan presidential crisis: Who are Juan Guaidó and Nicolás Maduro?

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Venezuela is engulfed in chaos as two men claim to be the rightful leader of the country. Juan Guaidó, the former National Assembly leader who was appointed acting president in January, is pushing to oust Nicolás Maduro, who took over after the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013 and has consolidated an authoritarian grip over the country.

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What are genome editing and CRISPR-Cas9?: MedlinePlus Genetics

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Gene editing occurs when scientists change the DNA of an organism. Learn more about this process and the different ways it can be done.

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By the 1998 elections more than half the Venezuelan populace was below the poverty line, while annual inflation exceeded 30 percent and oil prices were in steep decline. The voters rejected the traditional political parties of Democratic Action and COPEI and elected Chávez as president. At the same time, his coalition became the largest voting bloc in the legislature. Chávez's political platform promised to rid the country of corruption, help the poor, and reduce the power of elites. He pledged to write a new constitution and remake Venezuelan democracy. In mid-1999 Venezuelans elected a constituent assembly dominated by pro-Chávez delegates, and voters soon approved a new constitution by referendum.

In December 1999 Venezuelans suffered one of the deadliest events in their national history. A severe rainstorm brought on mud slides and flash floods that ravaged communities along the mountainous northern coast, including sections of the Caracas metropolitan area. Hundreds of thousands of structures were damaged or destroyed, and estimates of the dead ranged from a few thousand to tens of thousands. Following the cataclysm, the nation focused its efforts on reconstruction projects and emergency aid, including resettling thousands of homeless families.

Throughout his first term, Chávez's plans to reform policies in keeping with his leftist ideology faltered. Although Chávez enjoyed the support of the working class for his spending on education, food coupons, and social services, other Venezuelans opposed his programs, and in 2001 the implementation of his economic reforms prompted massive protests and strikes.

In April 2002 a coup briefly ousted him from office, but within two days, after protests from his supporters and threats of rebellion by troops loyal to him, he was reinstated. In late 2002 Chávez's opponents organized a general strike to force his resignation or early elections. The economy was severely damaged by the closure of shops and factories and especially by the strike in the oil sector. Nevertheless, Chávez was able to withstand the pressure, and in February 2003, after strike organizers decided to scale back their efforts, businesses reopened. The following year the opposition collected the more than 2.4 million signatures required to force a referendum on Chávez's continued rule, but in August 2004 the president survived the recall effort, garnering the support of nearly three-fifths of voters. During this period, Chávez spent petroleum income to fund social programs. He continued his support for Cuban Pres. Fidel Castro, supplying petroleum to Cuba and other developing nations at cut-rate prices. Chávez remained determined to reduce U.S. economic influence in South America and promoted Mercosur, a South American regional economic organization.
Edwin Lieuwen John D. Martz Jennifer L. McCoy Heather D. Heckel
In 2006 Chávez was elected to a six-year presidential term. Following that landslide victory, he initiated a program of nationalization that included the takeover of the petroleum sector, which was completed in 2007 when Venezuela assumed operational control of the oil industry in the Orinoco basin-the world's single largest known oil deposit-from foreign-owned companies. Chávez announced his intention to secure at least 60 percent ownership of the operations for his country. Also that year Venezuela created its own time zone, setting its clocks back half an hour.

At the end of 2007, however, Venezuelan voters rejected a controversial constitutional referendum that included an amendment which would have allowed Chávez to run for reelection indefinitely. The referendum, which failed by a slim margin (51 to 49 percent), marked the first significant defeat at the polls for Chávez, whose left-of-centre ideology kept Venezuela in the focus of international politics through his prominent opposition to the United States. Undeterred, in 2008 Chávez nationalized Venezuela's telecommunications, electricity, steel, and cement companies.

In July 2010, responding to Colombian accusations that Venezuela was sheltering FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia; Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) rebels, Chávez broke off relations with Colombia. Diplomatic relations were resumed relatively quickly, however, after a conciliatory meeting in August between Chávez and Colombian Pres. Juan Manuel Santos.

By this time Chávez had reversed his earlier defeat regarding term limits. In February 2009 a constitutional referendum calling for the elimination of term limits on all elected officials had been approved by more than 54 percent of voters, clearing the way for Chávez to run for president again in 2012. Legislative elections in September 2010 indicated Chávez's continued popularity. Yet, although the president's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela; PSUV) won more than half the seats in the National Assembly, it failed to maintain a two-thirds majority. The coalition of opposition parties that took more than a third of the seats thus would be able to block certain legislation and executive appointments.

In 2011 it was revealed that Chávez was battling an unspecified cancer that required an operation in Cuba and repeated visits there for follow-up care. Many wondered how Chávez's illness would affect his reelection hopes, but he staged an aggressive and ultimately successful campaign against Henrique Capriles Radonski, the governor of Miranda state and onetime president of the Chamber of Deputies, who was supported by a coalition of some 30 opposition political parties. In the election, held in October 2012, Chávez captured more than 54 percent of the vote. In December Chávez stunned Venezuelans when he not only returned to Cuba for yet another surgery but also remained out of the public eye during his recovery, which kept him in Havana into the new year and caused him to miss his scheduled inauguration. In early February 2013 he returned to Venezuela without reentering the limelight, and on March 5 he finally succumbed to his long battle with cancer.

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By the 1998 elections more than half the Venezuelan populace was below the poverty line, while annual inflation exceeded 30 percent and oil prices were in steep decline. The voters rejected the traditional political parties of Democratic Action and COPEI and elected Chávez as president.

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Families of Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls Demand Answers

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Anger and frustration is mounting after the kidnapping of more than 200 girls by Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group in Nigeria.

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Nigeria's child brides denied a childhood and education | DW | 01.06.2018

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The young wives are robbed of the opportunity to mature and develop their future potential. Efforts to provide the married girls with an education are not always received well in the predominately Muslim north of Nigeria.

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the world book web site offers an encyclopedia

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and curriculum guides. world book is publisher of the world book encyclopedia.

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The World Book web site offers an encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, homework help, study aids, and curriculum guides. World Book is publisher of the World Book Encyclopedia.