Documentary filmmaker Shafiur Rahman has played a remarkable role documenting the Rohingya genocide without an iota of compromise & fully on the side of the Rohingya people. He recently completed a film about the Burmese military & nationalist death squad massacre in the Arakan village of Tula Toli. The massacre began August 30th when Burmese soldiers surrounded the village, shot every adult & teen & threw infants & children into the nearby river. It went on until the village was demolished & every resident was murdered or managed to flee.

This photo is Tula Toli survivors & other Rohingya refugees in a Bangladeshi refugee camp watching a screening of Shafiur Rahman’s film about the massacre. Part of refugees coping psychologically with the horrors of losing many loved ones & feeling helpless to defend them is acknowledgement by others of the massacre. The film will be released to the public soon.

(Photo from Shafiur Rahman‏ @shafiur)

It’s so inspiring to see the number of men getting up on their high horse about due process for the schmucks getting nailed for sexual assault. Golly, it speaks so well against reckless disregard for law. Unfortunately, the real problem is the lack of due process for women–& not just the lack of due process but the lack of laws that protect women & children. The legal parameters of “he said, she said” & statutes of limitations on sexual crimes exclude justice, especially when children are involved. Legal protections for women & children need to be rethought & instituted so that concern for due process for the accused doesn’t become another way to brush off justice.

Reposting this on the 33rd anniversary of the Union Carbide chemical leak in Bhopal, India–one of the worst industrial accidents in history. The thousands of victims are still denied justice despite years of litigation, protests, campaigns & regardless of the deaths, disabilities, & environmental contamination which have not been addressed.
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Today is the 33rd anniversary of the 1984 Union Carbide catastrophe in Bhopal, India. US-owned Dow is now the owner of Union Carbide whose neglect of equipment & safety maintenance to save money caused the pesticide plant to leak the toxic chemical methyl isocyanate, an ingredient in pesticides. The explosion killed an estimated 25,000, injured half a million, & permanently contaminated the environment & water supply, which has created new generations of children suffering chemically-induced illness & neurological disabilities.

The petitions to Union Carbide by victims & human rights groups received little help from the Indian government since it is collusive in this criminal travesty. In June 2010, an Indian court indicted seven former managers at Union Carbide for negligence & sentenced them to two years in jail & a fine of $2,100–a sentence that makes a slap on the wrist look draconian. Despite public outrage in India, the Supreme Court upheld corporate impunity & turned down an appeal for harsher sentences.

It’s not yet clear how civil & criminal litigation against Dow/Union Carbide will proceed since in June 2012 a US court absolved the company of all liability in the Bhopal disaster which means they are not liable for compensation, remediation or pollution-related claims. It’s not certain that legal appeals are exhausted. But what a surprise that a US court beholden to corporations rejected the appeals of victims of one of the worst chemical catastrophes ever.

As of now, Dow refuses compensation to the second & third generation of victims, many seriously disfigured & disabled, & poor families are forced to care for them with little assistance. Dow refuses to contain chemical efflux from that explosion which for now 30 years has poisoned the underground water reservoirs. The 50,000 people who still live in the area due to extreme poverty are forced to use the contaminated water for cooking, laundry, & bathing.

Dow will forever stand indicted but that is not sufficient. Justice is demanded & the survivors of Bhopal continue to fight. This is an instance when human solidarity means the difference between unimaginable & unmitigated human suffering & just a bit of justice & relief. Veterans of the anti-Vietnam War movement will remember that Monsanto & Dow were the manufacturers of Agent Orange, the herbicide that caused numerous health problems & death among US veterans & their offspring & continuing, catastrophic health problems for the people of Vietnam. Dioxin was the primary toxic agent in Agent Orange & at the time it was used in Vietnam was known to be life-threatening & was banned in several countries. At a certain point, solidarity becomes a matter of survival & is entirely reciprocal.

This little girl suffers from hearing & speech disorders. She is at a rehab center supported by Bhopal Medical Appeal (a UK charity) for children born with disabilities. The center only treats families they believe have been affected by the Union Carbide catastrophe. In reporting on the anniversary, news reports say “There has, however, been no long-term epidemiological research which conclusively proves that birth defects are directly related to the drinking of the contaminated water.” Apparently its red color is not persuasive of contamination. So the people of Bhopal should invite the editors of such rubbish for a little water tasting event.

(Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

This will become known in history as the Apology Era. The era when politicians, comedians, TV personalities get caught in criminal misconduct & come out swinging in their defense with apologies while at the same time feigning ignorance about their crimes: the victims misunderstood their warm & huggy nature; their hands just accidentally fell down to women’s backsides; it was just a joke gone wrong–but golly they’re sorry the women took it wrong or can’t take a joke. Now the pope apologizes for legitimizing a fascist regime engaged in genocide as if an apology makes it all better.

Apologies are endearing. It means a man knows how to play humble-pie when he’s caught dead to right. But the best apologies come with prosecution–just so we know contrition isn’t a cynical career-saving move; just so we know that you know how it feels to be humiliated. Just so there’s a modicum of justice. Without accountability, stuff the apologies.

Lucky am I to have such great Facebook friends whose impressive accomplishments in art & politics leave me in the dust but who I learn so much from. This is artist Mariyah Tareen & if you live in NYC you might be interested in this event.

In a special service today in Bangladesh, Pope Francis apologized to Rohingya refugees saying “The presence of God today is also called Rohingya. In the name of all of those who persecuted you & the indifference of the world. I ask for forgiveness.” Forgiveness for what, Pope Francis? Rendering legitimacy to the genocidaires in Burma? Allowing Burmese bishops to defend the junta & deny the genocide without a peep of protest? Ignoring the genocide while you were in Burma because you were there to set up diplomatic relations with the fascist junta? Refusing to stand with the Rohingya even though your support would have made a world of difference?

Before such monumental cynicism & dishonesty, the world should stand aghast. The pope needs to go back to the Vatican & hole up for a long while. But the question of his role in Argentina’s “dirty war” needs to be revisited.

Mary the Censorious, descendant of Cato the Censor, has to lower the boom again. Just as I don’t allow hateful comments about women, Muslims, Jews, Blacks, or any other ethnic or social group, I don’t allow people to go off on religion–especially in an era when Islam is targeted in war, occupation, persecution, & genocide. You don’t have to like religion. We don’t want to hear about it. You end up talking to your own belly button if you think that hating on others is acceptable discourse.

A lot of people don’t censor their walls in the interests of free-flowing discussion. That wouldn’t be me. This is a solidarity wall. Period.

They think former general Michael Flynn is singing like a canary about Trump & Russia & will thus avoid jail time for his own felonies. And to think thousands of Black & Latino kids are in jail for smoking a joint.

An 84-year-old ex-Catholic priest named John Feit went on trial this week for the 1960 rape, beating, & strangulation of 25-year-old Irene Garza in McAllen, Texas. He dumped her body like rubbish in a canal. She had apparently encountered him in the confessional of a local church. He was always considered the primary suspect but her murder became a cold case, most likely because in 1960 prosecuting a priest would have seemed unthinkable. Fifty-seven years for her to get justice.

Most media headlines report that Irene was once a beauty queen–as if that had any bearing on the case. She was a daughter, a cousin, a niece, a friend, & a second-grade school teacher.

I’m not a crime reporter but such horrific crimes against women are haunting & when they receive justice it is a victory for all women. May our sister Irene Rest In Peace.

(Photo is Irene Garza)