Daily Archives: October 15, 2022

‘Crown Jewel of Criminal Justice System’: Voters In Five States Will Address Legal Loophole That Still Allows Slavery – Atlanta Black Star

Posted: October 15, 2022 at 5:52 pm

In November, voters in five states will decide whether to close a gap in their constitutions that allows forced captive labor.

The 13th Amendment banned slavery in 1865 except for instances of criminal punishment. On Nov. 8, citizens in Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont will vote on ballot measures in their states to close the legal loophole.

According to June report by the ACLU, about 76 percent of incarcerated workers surveyed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics say they are forced to work or face additional punishment.

After the Civil War, the former owners of enslaved people looked for ways to continue using forced labor, wrote Shane Bauer, author of American Prison: A Reporters Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment.

With Southern economies devastated by the war, businessmen convinced states to lease them their prisoners, he wrote. Convicts dug levies, laid railroad tracks, picked cotton, and mined coal for private companies and planters. The system, known as convict leasing, was profitable not only for the lessees, but for the states themselves, which typically demanded a cut of the profits.

About 800,000 of the 1.2 million people in Americas prisons are incarcerated workers. The prison workforce makes $11 billion a year for the U.S. economy. Tennessee once made 10 percent of its state budget from convict leasing, according to Bauer. About 20 states still have a clause that allows captive labor.

Rhode Island was the only state to remove the provision when it was written into the state constitution in 1842, reports show. Voters in Colorado, Utah and Nebraska approved ballot measures to remove the language in 2018, and New Jersey, California, Texas, Florida and Ohio are also considering closing the loophole.

Incarcerated workers in most states are paid cents per hour. However, according to the ACLU, about eight states, including Florida, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas, do not pay incarcerated workers.

Louisianas ballot measure bans the use of involuntary servitude except as it applies to the otherwise lawful administration of criminal justice.

Louisiana state Rep. Alan Seabaugh, a Republican who opposed the measure, said the new amendment is symbolic and technically allows slavery in the state notorious for convict labor.

This is the crown jewel of criminal justice reform, said Curtis Ray Davis II, who served 25 years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, which was once a cotton plantation. Prison cotton and other penal farms still produce millions of dollars of goods and products today.

Most people believed it was impossible to get the amendment on the ballot in Louisiana, but Louisiana and America should not be in the business of legalized slavery, Davis told Pew Charitable Trusts.

Alabamas measure asks voters to decide whether to remove all racist language from their state constitution, taking it a step further.

U.S. House Rep. Nikema Williams of Georgia last month called on Congress to pass the 2021 Abolition Amendment co-sponsored by 172 other House members. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon has also backed the amendment in the Senate.

Passing the Abolition Amendment now will bring the Constitution closer to its goal of freedom for all as we continue to form a more perfect union, Williams said in a Sept. 16 statement.

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'Crown Jewel of Criminal Justice System': Voters In Five States Will Address Legal Loophole That Still Allows Slavery - Atlanta Black Star

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TUPD aims to connect with Tufts community over coffee – Tufts Daily

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The Tufts University Police Department hosted a Coffee with TUPD event at Hotung Caf on Oct. 5. Tufts Dining provided free coffee and breakfast to students who came to speak with members of TUPD and the Department of Public Safety.

The purpose of the event was to foster closer relationships between the Department of Public Safety and the Tufts community by providing a space for interpersonal connection, according to TUPDs Medford Station Commander Lieutenant Jameson Yee.

The goal is attendees enjoyed their time at the event, and made new positive connections with our staff, and should be comfortable contacting us as a resource and support if ever needed, Yee wrote in an email to the Daily.

Students and officers engaged in casual conversation over their coffees, discussing everything from students majors and hobbies to officers past experiences in law enforcement, as well as any shared interests. TUPD representatives were also able to answer students and community members questions about the department.

Jerry Zhao, a member of the Tufts Dining marketing team and an undergraduate student who attended to take photos, discussed the role the event had in facilitating interactions between students and TUPD.

I think this is really helpful because usually students wouldnt just approach TUPD in the dining hall and talk to them, Zhao, a junior, said. But you know, a more relaxing space [is] more helpful.

Zhao believes that the event benefited both students and officers. He noted that Coffee with TUPD provided students with a better understanding of TUPDs role on campus.

I think the good thing about having more connections will be that the students will [have] more leverage on the resources that the TUPD has not only emergency events but also in cases [where] students simply need help, Zhao said.

He reasoned that events such as these can help officers connect with the community and provide them with a unique opportunity to hear students perspectives.

Itd be nice to get students to really know that these arent just cold officers that are sitting in their office and driving around. [They] actually care about students and [want] to interact with them, Zhao said. And [from] the officers perspective, its good to know what students really want, and that wouldnt be possible without really talking to them.

Kristin Sarkisian, an administrative assistant at The Fletcher School, thought the event was successful in creating more connections with the Tufts community. Coffee with TUPD helped Sarkisian understand what resources were available to her as a staff member.

I work at The Fletcher School, so I work with a bunch of students. I have student workers that report to me, so I talked [with TUPD] about how they could help us as far as safety is concerned, Sarkisian said. I hope to see more events like this in the future.

Another attendee, Angela Chen, a member of the Student Prison Education and Abolition Coalition, noted the importance of centering student safety during interactions with TUPD.

Not everybody feels comfortable around police, because of the general climate of policing in the U.S., Chen, a sophomore, said. Its definitely an obstacle.

Chen was glad that the officers seemed open to communication, and she is thinking about setting up a formal discussion to get to know them better.

I think its maybe a good step to foster more community between TUPD and the students because it seems like theres a pretty big disconnect, Chen said. I think its definitely something that they need to work on.

Chen hopes TUPD will work to foster a more comfortable relationship with students outside of coffee events.

I imagine its much different than if youre encountering the police in a situation of crisis, Chen said. So something like this might be helpful for getting to know students better, but it would be important for them to translate that kind of connection into when theyre actually called onto [the] scene.

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The Ongoing Fight Against Femicides and Violence Against Women in the Caribbean – Rolling Stone

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When Bad Bunny dropped his critically acclaimed album Un Verano Sin Ti, fans flocked to the dream-pop track Andrea, which features the Puerto Rican indie duo Buscabulla. Immediately, many listeners thought of Andrea Ruiz Costas, a Puerto Rican woman who was murdered by her partner in 2021. Though Bad Bunny later said that the song isnt directly about Ruiz, Andrea has become an anthem that speaks to the rampant gender violence and growing femicide rates plaguing his home.

It is perhaps the most poignant moment on the album, one that brings up the deep-rooted history of violence against Puerto Rican women, which includes a forced sterilization program the U.S. ran in the 1950s and coincides with the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, likely to impact access to safe and legal abortion in the U.S. territory. In 2021, Puerto Ricos governor declared a state-of-emergency on the island after growing violence against women, something many grassroots organizations and on-the-groud groups are working to address.

Puerto Rican women, and women in Latin America overall, will continue to suffer behind white patriarchal ideology, says domestic violence lawyer and professor at Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto de Ro Piedras, Mariana Iriarte. She suggests a history of toxic masculinity behind media and culture is a major reason why there continues to be violent behavior toward women in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Although better data on gender-based violence is needed now more than ever, we know the COVID pandemic heightened femicides and attempted femicides, especially in Latin America, where many countries have been grappling with a deep-seated history of unequal gender dynamics. According to emerging evidence from the World Bank Group, Latin America saw increases in gender-based violence that can be linked to stricter social distancing measures: In Colombia, there was a boost in domestic violence calls by 91 percent, while in Brazil, the probability of femicides more than doubled during intense periods of isolation. Databases like the Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean aim to annually consolidate and update statistics on womens violent and gender-based deaths, based on the reported incidents provided by governments, which leaves room for egregious and incomplete documentation.

The Caribbean continues to have some of the highest rates of violence as well. The Dominican Republic had the second-highest rate of femicides reported in 2020, according to the United Nations. Just one motoconcho ride away from the Dominican Republic, the Haitian feminist organization Ngs Mawon hosted a campaign against femicides earlier this year, utilizing street art by local artists like V!cky Onlien. They simultaneously raised awareness about Haitis environmental issues, which they see as a direct correlation with how society treats Haitian women. The organization Alas Tensas Gender Observatory (OGAT) in Cuba, as well as the #YoSiTeCreo platform in Cuba, verified 18 femicides on the island this year alone, leading groups such as Red Femenina de Cuba to urge the Cuban government declare a state of emergency for gender violence.

Despite todays widened visibility and social criticism, femicide continues to rise throughout the Caribbean, with women from Black and poorer regions being disportionately affected, Iriarte explains. She helps victims of domestic violence in Puerto Rico obtain protection orders and works intimately with groups such as Taller Salud, a community-based feminist organization dedicated to improving acess to health care, to reducing violence, and encourage economic growth through education and activism for women. An essential part of the work needed is to examine issues of gender-based violence in an intersectional way that addresses the specific challenges and oppression Black and trans women face.

We have to look at this from an intersectional lens; a white cishetero woman is not in the same position as a Black lesbian woman, she says. These intersectionalities are fundamental; we cannot talk about femicide without talking about the femicide rates involving trans women, let alone Black trans women.

One constant obstacle is a lacking support infrastructure and a police system that often works against the interests of Black women in particular. Weve customarily made the association of safety with law enforcement, and the reality is when you look at the stats, the police do not serve us, Iriarte says. They do not serve our most vulnerable. For Black and trans women in particular, police are quite frankly not an option. She continues, If you are a Black or trans woman in Puerto Rico and you seek help from the cops, you yourself risk going to jail, being physically assaulted, or worse, assassinated under their watch.

She urges the redistribution of wealth in the abolition of police. Weve adopted political strategies from the Black feminist political movements of the United States. Police abolition isnt just a matter of deconstructing police, but of redistributing the funds and resources robbed of the communities theyve sworn to protect and serve Thats money taken away from the communities that need it most.

What is happening is alarming and more so in a scenario of economic and political crisis. We ask for help and support from all projects, organizations, and conscious and sensitive citizens, in seeking solutions to this problem, reads an excerpt from a statement of emergency that Cubas Alas Tensas earlier this year, expressing a similar distrust of police from their neighboring activists in Puerto Rico. The PNR [Polica Nacional Revolucionaria] does not do its job, use social networks and make it viral. If you have information about events of this type, write to us, and we will carefully investigate the sources. We need a citizen alliance for the end of feminicides.

In the Dominican Republic, feminist organizations have also been tackling similar issues. The lack of protections women and girls face in the country has also played out in music and popular culture: On April 22, ahead of Bad Bunnys summer soundtrack, dembow rapper Rochy RD was arrested in Santo Domingo for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor and participating in child sex trafficking. According to a lawsuit filed against him and the artist La Demente 1212, the couple recruited and paid low-income girls between the ages of 16 and younger to engage in sexual activities with the rapper. While the recording artist awaited trial inside La Victoria prison, followers and colleagues across social media protested his innocence while blaming victims under the guise of respectability politics.

Aquelarre RD is one such collective that has been raising awareness of what women and girls are up against since 2019. They formed in response to not just the lack of state protection around Black and queer women in the Dominican Republic, but a lack of solidarity and recognition among other so-called feminist movements on the island.

We realized that the Dominican feminist movement, apart from the fact that it is largely concentrated in the capital of Santo Domingo, is not interested in connecting with all bases of feminism, which is to say that this is a movement made up of women who are privileged and from middle-to-upper class society, says Aquelarre RD founder, Esther Giron. They are not interested in connecting with the many different issues that uniquely impact Black women living in barrios, in populous provinces, in campos, where many are fighting over basic needs, like healthcare, access to healthy food, employment, and education.

Currently, Aquelarre RD consists of 13 members from throughout the Monseor Nouel province in the central city of Bonao. They have dedicated their efforts to creating spaces focused on safety and education for Black and LGBTQ women from neglected environments while championing womens rights and legal protection through popular education (or education in the language of the people), community workshops, and political activism and protest.

In the case of Rochy RD, the violation of various articles of the Dominican Penal Code, including the Code for the Protection of Children and Adolescents were cited, yet local activists understood why justice would likely not be served. There is no social framework for those laws to ever actually be put into action, Dominican cultural critic and educator Zahira Kelly said in a recent interview. The police do not care; theyre the first ones to blame the victim. The laws in this case become useless, because not only does the state not care to enforce those laws, the social norms here say that they should not be enforced either.

In September of last year, many young feminist leaders from various national groups met in Loma de Blanco, Bonao, Dominican Republic to reflect, share, and reimagine the challenges of the womens and feminist movement of the Dominican Republic, hoping to update the nations sex, gender and racial discourse while outlining the deeply fragmented and obscured history of violence against Black and brown bodies.

As a result of that gathering, the National Pre-Encounter of Young Women (PNMJ) issued a political declaration to the state, with a thorough account of demands that include the construction of an anti-racist, plural and popular feminist movement that connects with the demands of Black women of the popular sectors and peripheries, and criticzes the feminism that prevails in the Dominican Republic, which has lost its social base and responds to Eurocentric currents of thought and universalizes the category of women, ignoring the oppressions that go beyond the essentialism of the sex-gender category; such as class and race.

While the fight for womens right frequently focuses on access to abortion, Giron notes that countries in the Carribbean need muli-prong solutions that capture the nuances of the struggles for gender equality. It seems like the Dominican feminist movement stops at abortion, which is super important, but that is simply one struggle, Giron says. We cannot speak about the right to bodily autonomy if we are not considering what that looks like for our most vulnerable women and girls.

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Ex-condemned prisoner relives 11-year wait for hangmans noose – The Herald

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The Herald

Phyllis Kachere Deputy News Editor (Convergence)

For 11 years following his death sentence and confirmation by the High Court and the Supreme Court in Zimbabwe in 2009, Chivhu-born Leo Matibe (39) was confined to a single cell for 23 hours every day.

The remaining hour was dedicated to daily morning and evening 30-minute exercise time at Harare Central Prison.

Locked in his prison single cell for 23 hours a day with only his conscience for company and the prison wardens, during the few minutes they brought him his meals, Matibe had no contact with the outside world.

As a condemned to death prisoner, he had no idea when he would meet his fate as that information was never shared with such inmates.

Any foot-steps shuffling in the prison corridor would bring shivers to his whole body and sweat would break out.

What if the footsteps belonged to the hangman on his way to take him to the gallows?

My fear would be heightened each time there was a reflection of light from the direction of the gallows room lights, said Matibe, a former tout and police officer who turned armed robber and murderer.

That could be a preparation for someones hanging. That someone could be me or any of my fellow condemned prisoners.

For 11 years, I lived with this torture. Never knowing when I would be hanged as prescribed by the sentence I received after I killed South African citizen Martinus Jacobus Oosthuyse during an armed robbery turned carjacking.

Matibe said when he left Harare to go to Bulawayo in 2006, he associated with a gang of two tried and tested criminals, terrorising the community, robbing and committing a spate of murders.

Several times we escaped, even attending the funerals of those we would have murdered, he said.

Matibe had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment in 2020 upon which he was moved to Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.

The Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service officer-in-charge at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison Chief Superintendent Moses Gukurume said they had 82 inmates, whose death sentences were commuted to life.

We are also housing four death row inmates who are in transit to start the process of having the sentences commuted to life, he said. Removing the death penalty gives the prisoners a second chance to life. It also gives a chance to the work that we do as correctional officers to rehabilitate the prisoners.

In an interview, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said: His Excellency President Mnangagwa, has reiterated that Zimbabwe should abolish the death penalty and as the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, we are in full support of that position. However, our hands are tied as this issue is a matter to be decided by the people of Zimbabwe.

Notwithstanding our position as Government on this emotive issue, we believe that the decision to abolish the death penalty should come from the general public, one which we should not impose on them as Government.

The reason I state this is due to how it was engraved in our Constitution. The current position in the Constitution reflects a compromise agreement between the parties to the Constitution making process, which has largely been viewed as a tremendous starting point towards the total abolition of the death penalty.

Minister Ziyambi said the process of coming up with the Constitution as an activity included public consultations and a referendum where an overwhelming majority of people voted for retaining the death penalty.

Resultantly, section 48 (2) of the Constitution permits the sentencing of men between the ages of 21 and 70 years if they are convicted of murder committed in aggravating circumstances, he said.

Therefore, the sentence cannot be carried out on women and male persons who are under the age of 21 and over the age of 70 years.

We believe that the 2013 Constitution ushered in an era in Zimbabwe which has helped highlight the question of the death penalty and has encouraged to sway public perception to move toward the inevitable abolishment of the death penalty in law and practice.

President Mnangagwa is the leading light in the campaign against the death penalty, having been charged with treason back in 1965 and sentenced to hang only to escape the gallows on account of his young age.

A lawyer with parliamentary and legal watch dog, Veritas, Ms Kuzivakwashe Ngodza told participants to a media sensitisation workshop on World Day Against Death Penalty on October 10: The waiting period between the date of sentence and date of execution contributes to psychological decline of a persons health.

This results in mental distress of anticipating execution. The harsh death row living conditions contribute to physical deterioration. The method of execution causes exceptional pain and anguish not only to the prisoner, but to the family and friends.

The death penalty in Zimbabwe can only be abolished through an amendment of the Constitution following a referendum, he said. Therefore, the motion to amend Section 48 (2) can reasonably be triggered by the representative of the people in the National Assembly.

Therefore, a petition from the general public to the National Assembly might be sufficient to trigger the process, taking into account the resources available to conduct the exercise.

Senior lawyer Mr Brian Crozier told participants that periodically, the President of Zimbabwe amnesties prisoners, commuting death sentences to life imprisonment.

But the courts continue sentencing people to death, so the death row always fills up and conditions remain appalling, he said.

Death penalty is the killing of a person for committing a crime. It is also called capital punishment or the death sentence. In Zimbabwe, the law says it must be carried out by hanging the person by the neck until he is dead.

Section 339(2) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act says that persons sentenced to death must be hanged by the neck until they are dead, they must be strangled to death.

Mr Crozier said the last person to be hanged in Zimbabwe was in July 2005 and since then, the murder rate has not decreased significantly, showing that the death penalty did not deter crime.

Prisoners awaiting execution are kept on death row and are kept in solitary confinement, he said. They are not told when they will be hanged they are in constant suspense. They lose touch with relatives and become just numbers, non-persons.

Out of the 195 United Nations Member States, only 55 (28 percent) keep the death penalty in practice. In Africas 54 States, only 15 (28 percent) carry out executions.

Out of the 16 SADC Member States, only one carries out executions, said Mr Crozier. The UN General Assembly has resolved six times that Member States should suspend all executions pending abolition.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) has called for the death penalty to be abolished and the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that the death penalty has no place in the 21st century.

Mr Crozier said lobbying for the abolition of the death penalty had also involved churches, with the Roman Catholic Church amending its catechism in 2018 to state that the death penalty was inadmissible and that the church worked for its abolition worldwide.

In 1988, the Anglican Church declared that the church would speak out against the death penalty, while the United Methodist Church in its social principles states that the death penalty denies Christs power to redeem human beings, he said.

He argued that Section 48 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe says that a law may (not must) provide for the death penalty.

Parliament can pass an Act to remove the death penalty from all statutes that provide for it, said Mr Crozier. Abolishing the death penalty does not need a constitutional amendment.

With 66 prisoners currently condemned to death to date, Minister Ziyambi said Zimbabwe did not have a hangman.

It is our view as Government that the majority in favour of the death penalty at the time it was enshrined in our Constitution did not realise that section 48 (2) of the Constitution was contrary to section 48 (1) and other provisions of our Constitution that guarantee the right to life for all, he said.

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Ex-condemned prisoner relives 11-year wait for hangmans noose - The Herald

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At Tate Britain, Hew Locke Powerfully Reckons with Colonialist Histories and Their Lingering Aftereffects – ARTnews

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In the central hall of Tate Britains Neo-Classical home are dozens of figures who are caught mid-step as they process, perhaps out of the museums hallowed galleries and out into the surrounding area. Is this a parade of some kind? Carnival, perhaps? Or are these elaborately dressed people mourning a lost family or friend, whose funeral they are either departing or attending?

These figures are part of Hew Lockes The Procession, this years commission for a site-specific work by a contemporary British artist. His piece is deliberately ambiguous, leaving it open to many different interpretations, all of them intriguing. The overall effect is spectacular.

In a parade, you would typically stand still as the revelers zoom past you. Here, however, viewers are the ones who walk the length of the procession. In doing so, youre able to admire the exquisite details paid to their costumes, headdresses, and banners.

Lockes Procession begins with child drummers, a flutist, figures on horseback, and women in voluminous dresses that makes them appear as they are floating above the crowd. Their garments range from sleek black suits to quilt-like skirts made from brightly colored and patterned fabrics. Locke has described the piece as an extended poem.

But this is no ordinary procession. Instead, its one that contends directly with Britains colonial history and its violent ends. It pays close attention to Henry Tate, the sugar refinery merchant whose wealth was created through the transatlantic slave trade, however indirectly, and whose donation of art during the 19th century helped establish what is today Tate Britain.

In an interview with curator Elena Cripp published by Tate Etc., Locke, who also currently has the faade commission at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, said he was spurred to create the piece after witnessing the press briefing for another Tate Britain show, 2015s Artist and Empire.

The line to toe was laid out: that Henry Tate made his money from sugar cubes, but had nothing to do with slavery, as it was after abolition, Locke told Crippa. Bish bosh, move on, the oracle had spoken, and there was no blame or guilt at the gallery to do with sugar and its problematic history. And I kept thinking, this feels uncomfortable. It was a statement that I had difficulty with.

For over a decade, Locke has collected certificates of company shares for firms that are long defunct, like the Jamaica-based West India Improvement Company or the Black Star Line, a shipping company founded by Marcus Garvey that was part of the Back-to-Africa movement. Images of the former have been used to create garments for several of the figures, while a picture of the latter certificate is exhibited here, blown-up at a huge scale and paired with an archival photograph of sugar cutters in a field, who labor away as workers load bananas onto a boat. The figure holding this banner wears a garment that has incorporated into its design the infamous 1788 illustration of the Brooks Slave Ship, which showed the inhumane conditions in which Africans, densely packed together, were held below deck on their way to be sold into slavery.

Other elements within this grand installation explore the history of the Haitian revolution that led to the countrys independence in 1804; our ongoing climate disaster, which is intimately related to colonialist violence in Global South; and monuments to Empire, in particular those that exist in Guyana, where Lockes father (also an artist) was born and where Locke lived from around 5 until 20, when he returned to the U.K. for art school.

Theres much to glean from this work and the various, connected histories that bind us together in this now-globalized world, no matter how disparate those lineages may initially seem.

Im proposing a complex history, Locke adds in the Tate Etc. interview. There are lots of messy nuances in history, so my commission is like a spiders web, with one thing linking to another. You may think, this doesnt link to that, but for me, even if its not necessarily literal, theres a poetic link. Youre talking about a global situation and thats even more relevant now because of climate change and how that connects us all.

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At Tate Britain, Hew Locke Powerfully Reckons with Colonialist Histories and Their Lingering Aftereffects - ARTnews

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Presentation of the Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – World – ReliefWeb

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DELIVERED BYStatement by Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights

AT77th session of the General Assembly, Third Committee - Item 69

LOCATIONNew York

Mr. Chairperson,Excellencies,

It is my honour to present the Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 48/141.

The report provides an overview of activities by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) between 1 January and 30 June 2022, in line with the thematic priorities reflected in the OHCHR Management Plan 2022-2023.

I also wish to take this opportunity, on behalf of the United Nations Human Rights Office, to extend our warmest welcome to Under-Secretary-General Volker Trk, who will take up his official functions as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights next week in Geneva.

We gather at a time of significant upheaval experienced by people everywhere: Water, energy and food insecurity, devastating natural disasters, financial instability and soaring inflation, raging conflict, unprecedented inequalities and persistent impunity.

These interlocking crises are triggering profound uncertainty for what the future holds. Growing disparity between international standards and the reality on the ground is generating mistrust between peoples and communities.

In this context, Our Common Agenda and the Call to Action for Human Rights of the Secretary-General serve as the blueprint for our joint efforts. Guided by the aspirations of the United Nations Charter, they aim at greater fulfilment of human rights world-wide.

As of 30 June 2022, OHCHR had 103 human rights field presences worldwide. Implementing the Call to Action remained central to OHCHRs work during the reporting period. With its emphasis on system-wide responsibility for human rights and on ensuring human rights integration at country-level, the initiative has brought the United Nations system together in seven thematic areas, generating genuine commitment across all entities.

Our Office advised governments and relevant stakeholders on integrating human rights in national legal reforms and economic and social policies to help tackle inequalities and address human rights gaps in efforts to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Office advocated for universal social protection, universal and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines as a global public good and for universal health coverage as a vital component of the right to health. We also underlined the importance of debt management and relief and creating necessary fiscal space to maintain essential services for people.

Together with UNEP, UNDP, the United Nations Environment Management Group and other partners, OHCHR advanced the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. We also advocated for integrating the right to development into climate action, biodiversity action and South-South Cooperation. Our Office also continued developing guidance for United Nations entities on human rights due diligence and impact of digital technologies.

In the area of sustainable development, OHCHR increased its country-focused advice on integrating human rights and human rights-based approaches into development policies to support realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. From January to June 2022, we collaborated with United Nations field presences on 26 Common Country Analysis, and United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework processes towards greener and more inclusive recoveries.

To promote the human rights-based approach to data, OHCHR supported the signing of memorandums of understanding between national human rights institutions and others in Albania, Jordan, Moldova, Mongolia, and the Philippines with a view to operationalizing United Nations guidance in this area.

Together with other United Nations entities, OHCHR advocated for strengthened protection of the right to adequate food, and the rights to water and sanitation.

On the right to development, our advocacy, collaboration and partnerships focused on international cooperation and solidarity, sustainable finance and investment, access to science, renewable energy and environmentally sound technology, including their womens rights and gender equality dimensions.

Excellencies,

In the area of peace and security, OHCHR pursued its substantive and strategic support to human rights components in United Nations peace operations and special political missions. Through its strategic engagement with Security Council members and with other relevant United Nations entities, the Office sought to strengthen the consideration of human rights in Security Council resolutions, and to support implementation of human rights mandates through training, technical assistance and the implementation of compliance frameworks.

Our activities encompassed implementation of the United Nations Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP), strengthening OHCHRs information management and data analysis capacity to enhance early warning, prevention, monitoring and response and ensuring that human rights remain a priority in the mandatory training materials for military and police personnel in United Nations missions.

In Ethiopia, between April and June 2022, OHCHR strengthened the capacity of civil society actors to monitor and report on early warning indicators for the prevention of community-based conflicts that could escalate into human rights abuses and violations. Local early warning networks were established and now are operational in six locations across the country. The Office also worked on integrating human rights in the African Unions continental early warning system.

As of 30 June, OHCHR had 22 ongoing Peacebuilding Fund-supported projects across all regions. For instance, in Honduras, OHCHR and FAO launched a project to prevent and manage social conflicts related to access to land in peasant and indigenous communities. In Serbia, OHCHR contributed to the United Nations Country Team Action Plan on Social Cohesion and Building Trust, mapping a strategy for the United Nations in Serbia to address regional reconciliation and hate speech.

Advancing protection of the human rights of women remains a priority. OHCHR strengthened the capacity of women's organizations and key stakeholders on sexual and gender-based violence, strategic litigation on sexual and reproductive rights (for instance in Central America), access to justice and human-rights based investigation of gender-based killings. In Haiti, OHCHR developed a protection analysis on sexual violence against women and girls in marginalized areas of Port-au-Prince related to gang criminality. In Mali, OHCHR launched a Quick Impact Project to support and empower 30 vulnerable women and girls exposed to or survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. In Paraguay, the Office published a guide to address gender stereotyping by the judiciary and strengthened the capacities of judicial personnel. In Sudan, we strengthened the capacity of the Ministry of Social Development to address violence against women and girls.

In the area of humanitarian action, OHCHR also focused on mainstreaming the centrality of protection in the United Nations responses in Afghanistan and in relation to the conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and to gang violence in Haiti.

Mr. Chairperson,

Today we know that greater equality can be an even more powerful engine than growth in reducing extreme poverty - a key goal of the 2030 Agenda.

The Office expanded its work to tackle inequality and discrimination, by delivering technical assistance, and monitoring and reporting on violations.

Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 43/1 and 47/21, OHCHR took action towards transformative change for racial justice and equality. For instance, OHCHR provided technical advice on the elaboration of the National Policy for Afro-Peruvians (2022-2030) in Peru and on the draft Law on the Protection of Equality and Prohibition of Discrimination in Montenegro.

The Office conducted monitoring missions to The Gambia and the Colombia-Panama border on migrants rights, and delivered trainings for border officials in Mauritania, Thailand, the Middle East and North Africa as well as workshops on climate change, migration and human rights in the Sahel.

In Brazil, Georgia, Guatemala, Jamaica, Malawi, Moldova, Mozambique and Ukraine, OHCHR advised on the incorporation of international standards on the rights of persons with disabilities into domestic legal systems and their justiciability. The Office also prepared guidance on the rights of older persons within the framework of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing, and to the private sector on tackling discrimination against LGBTI persons. The United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples supported the participation of indigenous representatives in intergovernmental processes, including on climate change.

Excellencies,

Accountability is a crucial component of upholding human rights, and in restoring trust in institutions and governance structures.

OHCHR supported States and other stakeholders in designing and implementing inclusive, context-specific and victim-centred transitional justice processes, including in Colombia, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Guatemala, The Gambia, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mexico, Peru, the Republic of Korea, South Sudan and Syria. In the DRC, OHCHR supported the establishment of a civil society working group on transitional justice, of the National Joint Committee charged with conducting community-level consultations and the establishment of a provincial Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission in the Kasai region.

Our Office monitored, trained and advised State institutions and other national stakeholders to strengthen the administration of justice and the rule of law. For instance, in Burundi and Mali, OHCHR advised on the revision of the Military Justice Code and related policies. In the Republic of Korea, OHCHR trained officials in the documentation and preservation of evidence of crimes against humanity. In Mexico, OHCHR promoted the creation of the Extraordinary Forensic Identification Mechanism (MEIF) to address the backlog in the forensic identification of over 52,000 unidentified human remains.

OHCHR continued advocating for the abolition of the death penalty, including in the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore and Zambia. OHCHR also promoted a human rights-based approach to countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism and provided technical advice on national policies and legislation.

Excellencies,

Participation is a central pillar and principle of human rights, and our Office advocated for more inclusive and safer civil society participation in all United Nations processes.

Transparency and broader civic space and participation are indispensable to help steer efforts towards transformative and greener societies, especially in times of crisis. A vibrant civic space is a lever of a stable, secure society. OHCHR continued documenting challenges facing defenders and journalists worldwide, offline and online. The Office supported human rights defenders and defenders networks, including in Southern Africa and in the Pacific, and, together with the Iraqi Network for Social Media, it trained 200 defenders on digital rights and online security. In Mauritius and Uzbekistan, OHCHR trained government officials, NHRIs and youth groups on the right to participate.

As part of the implementation of the Secretary-Generals Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, OHCHR intensified its advocacy for rights-based online content governance by directly engaging with Member States, technology companies and multilateral financial institutions.

OHCHR also monitored human rights and conducted related advocacy in the context of electoral processes including in Chile, Colombia, the Congo, Ecuador, the Gambia, Honduras, Mexico, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) and Zambia.

Training and education activities continued in cooperation with universities and institutes, including in Liberia, Mexico and Niger. In February 2022, OHCHR co-published with Equitas a guide on good practices in human rights education programming.

Turning now to the international human rights mechanisms cornerstones of the United Nations human rights system. While all ten treaty bodies have already resumed in-person sessions, COVID-19 related restrictions resulted in a greater backlog. As of 30 June 2022, 426 State reports and 1,868 communications were pending review by the relevant Committees. Drawing on the co-facilitators Report on the process of the consideration of the state of the United Nations human rights treaty body system, the Chairpersons of the treaty bodies agreed to establish a predictable 8-year calendar of reviews that covers all treaty body reporting procedures and all States Parties.

Through virtual and hybrid modalities, OHCHR supported the Human Rights Council in the holding of two regular sessions and one urgent debate and one special session on the Deteriorating Human Rights Situation in Ukraine Stemming from the Russian Aggression.

The Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to support the participation of Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States in the work of the Human Rights Council facilitated the participation of 11 delegates (4 women, 7 men).

OHCHR assisted governments, National Human Rights Institutions, civil society organizations and United Nations Country Teams in the preparation of reports for the UPR, including in Brazil, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Morocco and Tunisia. 25 Member States benefited from the support of the Voluntary Fund for Participation in the UPR.

With support from our Office, 58 special procedures and their Coordination Committee participated in various United Nations processes, resumed all mandated activities in person, concluded 24 country visits and sent 336 communications.

OHCHR also supported Member States in establishing and strengthening national mechanisms for reporting and follow-up including in the Bahamas, the Comoros, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Malaysia, North Macedonia, the Philippines, Serbia and Togo. OHCHR redesigned the National Recommendations Tracking Database, a tool to assist Member States in managing and tracking implementation of recommendations and in preparing reports. The redesigned version will be rolled out in 2022.

With a view to strengthen integration of human rights mechanisms recommendations into efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the Office produced the UPR Practical Guidance for Heads of United Nations Missions, available in all UN languages, and, jointly with UNDP, a new Repository of United Nations Good Practices on how the UPR process supports sustainable development.

Under its 2023 call for applications, the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery and the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture awarded, respectively, annual grants for 43 projects to assist 13,012 victims in 33 Member States and for 184 projects to assist 46,600 victims in 92 Member States.

The trust and support of Member States is critical for the Office to undertake its work. Despite limited resources, OHCHR responds to its growing workload as effectively as it can by continually reassessing and evaluating the impact of our work in people's daily lives. In this regard, by extending its Office Management Plan through 2023, the Office has maintained its overall strategic direction, while placing additional emphasis in areas that are particularly relevant and continuing to implement its mandate and to monitor and report on human rights concerns worldwide.

Excellencies,

Global challenges require global solutions. We need to intensify joint efforts to defend the pillars on which the United Nations was established: universal human rights, peaceful settlement of disputes, in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, and international cooperation and solidarity.

Human rights can chart the course and help inform the necessary decisions to address the root causes of inequality and to meet the threats posed by political and economic instability. When implemented in a way that delivers concrete change for people, human rights can bridge the divide between communities, help make peace with nature and point the way to sustainable development.

Let us not waver from our aim: working together to uphold the enduring principle that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Thank you.

Originally posted here:

Presentation of the Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - World - ReliefWeb

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Sanitation staff on strike over salary delay in Delhi – The New Indian Express

Posted: at 5:51 pm

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Thousands of sanitation employees of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) went on an indefinite strike on Friday demanding their regularisation, and payment of pending salaries and bonus ahead of Diwali. Former mayor Jai Prakash, who led themediation talks between the civic agency and the workers, said the MCD has agreed totwo major demands put up by the latter.

The sanitation workers announced that they will stop sweeping streets, lifting garbage and other sanitation jobs until the corporation agrees to their demands. MCD Safai Karmachari Union, which is leading the strike, said that more than 15,000 sanitation workers have been waiting for their regularisation for 20-25 years. The unions president, Sant Lal Chaurasiya, also said that one months salary of the sanitation workers is pending while they have not received their bonus for the last three years.

The festival of Diwali is around the corner but they dont have money to celebrate it. They are neither getting timely payments nor are they being regularised. This has to stop. So we have decided to go on an indefinite strike from today (Friday), Chaurasiya said. Meanwhile, Jai Prakash, said the MCD has agreed to two major demands put up by the workers.

They demanded abolition of Fundamental Rights (FR) 17 clause which was still in continuation in zones which used to fall under East MCD. Besides, we also agreed to the demand that family members who got employment in place of the deceased MCD staff till 2010 will also be regularised, he told this newspaper.Under FR 17, the staff gets the benefits of regular posts from the day they are regularised in the civic body.

However, the workers union has been demanding the perks given after regularisation in a retrospective manner, from the day a person gets employed with the MCD. Also, only those family members who got jobs on compassionate grounds before 2004 were cleared for regular posting. We urged them (workers) to get back to work. However, they are demanding the orders in writing. We have assured them about this as well. Hopefully, they will discontinue the strike, Prakash added. No immediate comments were received from the MCD.

One months salary pending for workersMCD Safai Karmachari Union, which is leading the strike, said that more than 15,000 sanitation workers have been waiting for their regularisation for 20-25 years. The unions president Sant Lal Chaurasiya said that one months salary of the sanitation workers is pending while they have not received their bonus for the last three years The sanitation workers announced that they will working until their demands are met.

More here:

Sanitation staff on strike over salary delay in Delhi - The New Indian Express

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Human Rights Watch Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Burundi – Human Rights Watch

Posted: at 5:51 pm

Summary

During the reporting period, many trends documented since the beginning of Burundis human rights crisis in April 2015 persisted. In late April 2015, public demonstrations broke out in response to the late president Pierre Nkurunzizas decision to seek a controversial third electoral term. The Burundian police used excessive force and shot demonstrators indiscriminately. After a failed coup by a group of military officers in May 2015, the Burundian government intensified its repression against suspected opponents and suspended most of the countrys independent radio stations. By mid-2015 almost all Burundis opposition party leaders, independent journalists, and civil society activists had fled the country after receiving repeated threats. Those who remained did so at great risk.

Despite accepting recommendations during its previous Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2018 related to ensuring security forces' respect for human rights and freedom of media and civil society[1], since then and during Nkurunzizas third and final term, independent civil society and media continued to be relentlessly attacked. There has been almost total impunity for these crimes. After a flawed electoral process and the sudden death of Nkurunziza, president variste Ndayishimiye took office in June 2020 and pledged to implement reforms and end impunity. However, since his election, all of the structural human rights issues documented under his predecessor remain in place. These include arbitrary arrests of political opponents or those perceived as such, acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, sexual and gender-based violence, and undue restrictions to the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. Independent national and international human rights organizations are still unable to operate in Burundi. Several of the countrys most prominent human rights groups remain either suspended or outlawed since 2015.

Killings, Torture, and Other Abuses by Security Forces and Ruling Party Youths

Throughout the reporting period, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and torture by security forces and ruling party youths continued unabated. Dead bodies of people killed in unknown circumstances were regularly found across the country, often rapidly buried by authorities without further investigation.

Pre-electoral period (2017-2020)

On December 12, 2017, Nkurunziza announced a referendum would take place to revise the constitution. Nkurunziza warned that those who dared to sabotage the project to revise the constitution by word or action would be crossing a red line. In the months leading up to the referendum, police, intelligence services, and members of the Imbonerakure killed, raped, abducted, beat, and intimidated suspected opponents of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (Conseil national pour la dfense de la dmocratie-Forces de dfense de la dmocratie, CNDD-FDD).[2]

Political violence tied to the May 2018 referendum claimed at least 15 lives, but the actual number killed is likely much higher.[3] Numerous political opponents were arrested, intimidated, or held incommunicado in unknown locations, including members of the then-National Liberation Forces (Forces nationales de libration, FNL), the Movement for Solidarity and Democracy (Mouvement pour la solidarit et la dmocratie, MSD), and other opposition parties. Some were accused of having told their members to vote against the referendum.

As the 2020 elections neared, Burundianauthorities and ruling party youths carried out dozens of beatings, arbitrary arrests, disappearances, and killings against real and suspected political opposition members.[4] In a concerted campaign against people perceived to be against the ruling party, there appeared to have been an increase in abuses since the registration of a new opposition party in February 2019, the National Congress for Freedom (Congrs national pour la libert, CNL). The CNL was formerly known as the FNL.

The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Burundi mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) confirmed new cases of summary execution, enforced disappearance, arbitrary arrest and detention, sexual violence, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in 2018. The CoI concluded that the perpetrators of these crimes the national intelligence service (Service National de Renseignement, SNR), the police, and the Imbonerakure operate in a climate of impunity perpetuated by the lack of an independent judiciary. The commission for the first time implicated Nkurunziza directly in recurring calls for hatred and violence.[5]

2020 elections

Although Nkurunziza said he would not contest the presidential election in 2020, tensions continued to rise. People were forced to contribute money to the elections scheduled for May 2020 and to the ruling party. Imbonerakure members and local authorities mainly responsible for collecting the contributions largely did so by using force and threats, often at informal roadblocks set up to verify proof of payment. Those who could not provide receipts or refused to contribute faced violent retribution and intimidation. In some cases, people reported being denied access to public services if they were unable to prove they had contributed. In some provinces, CNDD-FDD and Imbonerakure members forced people to join the construction of local CNDD-FDD offices, and threatened, beat, or detained those who refused to comply, which constitutes forced labor.[6]

The May 2020 elections took place inthe absence of any international observation mission[7]and, on election day, authorities blockedaccess to social media[8] and messagingappsthroughout the country, restricting independent reporting and information sharing. The CNLtold local mediathat over 600 of its members had been arrested during the campaigns and on election day, andBurundian rights organizations reportedmultiple abuses, including arbitrary arrests and beatings of CNL and other opposition party members.[9] Human Rights Watch spoke with several voters, journalists, and human rights defenders who said that in some rural locations, ruling party youths were present at polling places and had intimidated voters, while election officials and the police turned a blind eye to voter harassment and intimidation.[10]

variste Ndayishimiyes presidency (2020-2022)

After August 2020, security deteriorated and there were several reports of clashes between security forces and armed groups, as well as attacks by unidentified assailants, particularly in provinces bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo. In some of these attacks, Imbonerakure members supported the national army. Groups of unidentified armed men were also reported to be responsible for random attacks resulting in civilian casualties. The Burundian authorities denounced these as terrorist or criminal acts and committed abuses against alleged perpetrators and civilians.Fabien Banciryanino,[11] a former member of parliament and outspoken human rights advocate, was convicted of abusive security-related charges on May 7 and sentenced to a year in prison in addition to pay a fine of 100,000 Burundian Francs (US$51). He was released after time served on October 1, 2021.

According to thereport of the CoI, men suspected of belonging to, or assisting, armed groups were executed by police or national intelligence agents throughout 2021.[12] Dozens of real or suspected members of opposition groups have been victims of enforced disappearances. Many people were also detained by the SNR and allegedly subjected to severe torture, rape, and ill-treatment.

Local and international monitoring groups, including Human Rights Watch, documented cases of torture of people suspected of collaborating with armed groups. The CoI on Burundi documented cases where victims died in detention.

After he took power, Ndayishimiye made some efforts to rein in members of the Imbonerakure and their involvement in human rights abuse was less visibly apparent. However, Imbonerakure members have continued to arrest, beat, and kill suspected opponents, sometimes in collaboration with or with the support of local administrative officials, police, or intelligence agents. Rvrien Ndikuriyo, Secretary General of the CNDD-FDD and a hardliner within the party, made several incendiary speeches during gatherings of CNDD-FDD members and Imbonerakure. In August 2022, he called on the Imbonerakure to continue night patrols and to kill any troublemakers[13] and attacked international human rights organizations. Throughout 2022, Imbonerakure members followed training programs on patriotism across the country.[14]

On June 27, 2022, the National Assembly enacted a law on the Burundian national defense forces, which created a new reserve force, the Reserve and Development Support Force (Force de rserve et dappui au dveloppement, FRAD).[15] Its duties include organizing paramilitary trainings, supporting other components in protecting the integrity of the national territory, but also conceiving and implementing development projects, and operationalizing national and international partnerships.

Throughout 2022, the Burundian army conducted operations in neighboring Congo, targeting the Resistance Movement for the Rule of Law-Tabara (Mouvement de la rsistance pour un tat de droit-Tabara, RED-Tabara), an armed group that has launched attacks in Burundi in recent years. Members of the Imbonerakure supported the operations. According to rights groups and media reports, little or no explanation was given to the families of those who died on the battlefield.[16] In August, Burundian troops officially entered Congo as the first deployment of an East African regional force agreed upon by the East African Community (EAC) in April.[17]

Recommendations to the government of Burundi:

Civil Society and Media

Most leading civil society activists and many independent journalists remain in exile, after repeated government threats in 2015 and arrest warrants against several of them. In October 2017, the Interior Minister banned or suspended 10 civil society organizations that had spoken out against government abuses.

Under Nkurunzizas final term, space for civil society and media shrunk significantly. In March 2018, three members of Parole et Action pour le Rveil des Consciences et lvolution des Mentalits (PARCEM), were sentenced to 10 years in prison for having prepared actions likely to disrupt security. The activists were arrested in 2017 while organizing a workshop on arbitrary arrests. They were acquitted upon appeal in December 2018 and released on March 21, 2019.

In April 2018, rights activist Germain Rukuki, a member of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT), was sentenced to 32 years in prison on charges of rebellion, threatening state security, participation in an insurrectional movement, and attacks on the head of state. In August 2018, activist Nestor Nibitanga, an observer for the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons (Association pour la protection des droits humains et des personnes dtenues, APRODH), was sentenced to five years for threatening state security. Nibitanga was pardoned and released on April 27, 2021. The conviction of Rukuki, was overturned on appeal in June 2021 and he was released.

In early May 2018, the National Communication Council (Conseil National de la Communication, CNC) suspended the BBC for six months for violating press laws and unprofessional conduct after inviting a leading Burundian human rights activist, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, to its program on March 12 of the same year. At the same time, the CNC also banned Voice of America (VOA), also for six months, for the technical reason that it was using a banned frequency.[18] Although the ban on the BBC was lifted in March 2022, the ban on VOA remains in place at time of writing.

On October 1, 2019, authorities suspended the activities of foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for three months to force them to reregister, including by submitting new documentation stating the ethnicity of their Burundian employees. In May 2020, the Supreme Court president ordered that the property of several high profile exiled Burundian human rights defenders and journalists be seized.

Media were heavily restricted in their coverage of the May 2020 presidential elections. The2018 amended press law[19]and a newCode of Conduct for Media and Journalistsin the election period required journalists to provide balanced information or face criminal prosecution, and prevented them from publishing information about the elections that did not come from the national electoral commission.

TheJanuary30, 2020 conviction after a flawed trialof fourIwacujournalists who werearrested while going to report on fightingbetween security forces and therebel group RED-Tabarain October 2019 underscored the dangers of investigating security incidents.[20] Their conviction was upheld on appeal in June, but they were pardoned in December 2020.

Although Ndayishmiyes government lifted some restrictions, including the suspension of the anti-corruption organization PARCEM, and released some detained rights defenders and journalists, the authorities continued to exercise undue interference in and oversight over the operations of civil society and the media.

A lawyer and former human rights defender, Tony Germain Nkina, was sentenced to five years in prison in June 2021, likely due to his past human rights work. On September 29, his conviction was maintained on appeal.[21] He remains in jail at time of writing.

On February 2, 2021, Burundis Supreme Court published the guilty verdictdated June 23, 2020in the case against 34 people accused of participating in a May 2015 coup attempt, including 12 human rights defenders and journalists in exile. After a trial, during which thedefendants were absent and did not have legal representation, the group was found guilty of attacks on the authority of the State, assassinations, and destruction.[22]

On February 11, 2021, the CNClifted the ban on public commentson Iwacu, which had been in place since April 2018, andpledgedto restore access to the website in Burundi. On February 22, the CNC lifted the ban on Bonesha FM, which was required to sign an agreement similar to one Isanganiro, a private radio station, and Rema FM, a pro-ruling party station, signed when they resumed broadcasts in February 2016. On April 21, the CNCauthorizedseveral new radio and television channels to begin operating.[23]

Recommendations to the government of Burundi:

Non-Compliance with United Nations mechanisms on Burundi

In September 2016, the UNHRC adopted a resolution to establish the CoI, mandated to investigatehuman rights violations perpetrated in Burundi since April 2015, and to determine whether they may constitute international crimes. Burundian officials refused to work with the CoI. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) closed its country office in February 2019 at the request of the government of Burundi. In its last report, the CoIconcludedon September 16, 2021, that grave human rights violations continued to be committed in Burundi and that no structural reform has been undertaken to durably improve the situation.[24]

Despite these findings, the European Union delegation in Geneva tabled a resolution at the September 2021 session of the UNHRC, adopted by a vote, which ended the mandate of the CoI and instead created a special rapporteur mandate. The Burundian government has repeatedly rejected the mandate and announced it would never give the mandate holder access to the country. The mandate was extended for a year in October 2022.

Recommendations to the government of Burundi:

[9] Ligue Iteka, Bulletin bimensuel sur le processus lectoral de 2020 au Burundi, May 18, 2020.

Excerpt from:

Human Rights Watch Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Burundi - Human Rights Watch

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Don’t ask, don’t tell – Wikipedia

Posted: at 5:49 pm

Former policy on gay people serving in the US military

President Bill Clinton announcing new policy regarding homosexuals in the military in July 1993

"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December 21, 1993, and was in effect from February 28, 1994, until September 20, 2011.[1] The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. This relaxation of legal restrictions on service by gays and lesbians in the armed forces was mandated by Public Law 103160 (Title 10 of the United States Code 654), which was signed November 30, 1993.[2] The policy prohibited people who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because their presence "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability".[3]

The act prohibited any non-heterosexual person from disclosing their sexual orientation or from speaking about any same-sex relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes, while serving in the United States armed forces. The act specified that service members who disclose that they are homosexual or engage in homosexual conduct should be separated (discharged) except when a service member's conduct was "for the purpose of avoiding or terminating military service" or when it "would not be in the best interest of the armed forces".[4] Since DADT ended in 2011, persons who are openly homosexual and bisexual have been able to serve.[5]

The "don't ask" part of the DADT policy specified that superiors should not initiate an investigation of a service member's orientation without witnessing disallowed behaviors. However, evidence of homosexual behavior deemed credible could be used to initiate an investigation. Unauthorized investigations and harassment of suspected servicemen and women led to an expansion of the policy to "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue, don't harass".[6]

Beginning in the early 2000s, several legal challenges to DADT were filed, and legislation to repeal DADT was enacted in December 2010, specifying that the policy would remain in place until the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certified that repeal would not harm military readiness, followed by a 60-day waiting period.[7] A July 6, 2011, ruling from a federal appeals court barred further enforcement of the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members.[8] President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen sent that certification to Congress on July 22, 2011, which set the end of DADT to September 20, 2011.[9] Although DADT was officially repealed, the legal definition of marriage as being one man and one woman under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) meant that, although same-sex partners could get married, their marriage was not recognized by the federal government. This barred partners from access to the same benefits afforded to heterosexual couples such as base access, health care, and United States military pay, including family separation allowance and Basic Allowance for Housing with dependents.[10] The Department of Defense attempted to open some of the benefits that were not restricted by DOMA,[11] but the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor (2013) made these efforts unnecessary.[12]

Engaging in homosexual activity had been grounds for discharge from the American military since the Revolutionary War. Policies based on sexual orientation appeared as the United States prepared to enter World War II. When the military added psychiatric screening to its induction process, it included homosexuality as a disqualifying trait, then seen as a form of psychopathology. When the army issued revised mobilization regulations in 1942, it distinguished "homosexual" recruits from "normal" recruits for the first time.[13] Before the buildup to the war, gay service members were court-martialed, imprisoned, and dishonorably discharged; but in wartime, commanding officers found it difficult to convene court-martial boards of commissioned officers and the administrative blue discharge became the military's standard method for handling gay and lesbian personnel. In 1944, a new policy directive decreed that homosexuals were to be committed to military hospitals, examined by psychiatrists, and discharged under Regulation 615360, section 8.[14]

In 1947, blue discharges were discontinued and two new classifications were created: "general" and "undesirable". Under such a system, a serviceman or woman found to be gay but who had not committed any sexual acts while in service would tend to receive an undesirable discharge. Those found guilty of engaging in sexual conduct were usually dishonorably discharged.[15] A 1957 U.S. Navy study known as the Crittenden Report dismissed the charge that homosexuals constitute a security risk, but nonetheless did not advocate for an end to anti-gay discrimination in the navy on the basis that "The service should not move ahead of civilian society nor attempt to set substantially different standards in attitude or action with respect to homosexual offenders." It remained secret until 1976.[16] Fannie Mae Clackum was the first service member to successfully appeal such a discharge, winning eight years of back pay from the US Court of Claims in 1960.[17]

From the 1950s through the Vietnam War, some notable gay service members avoided discharges despite pre-screening efforts, and when personnel shortages occurred, homosexuals were allowed to serve.[18]

The gay and lesbian rights movement in the 1970s and 1980s raised the issue by publicizing several noteworthy dismissals of gay service members. Air Force TSgt Leonard Matlovich, the first service member to purposely out himself to challenge the ban, appeared on the cover of Time in 1975.[19] In 1982 the Department of Defense issued a policy stating that, "Homosexuality is incompatible with military service." It cited the military's need "to maintain discipline, good order, and morale" and "to prevent breaches of security".[20] In 1988, in response to a campaign against lesbians at the Marines' Parris Island Depot, activists launched the Gay and Lesbian Military Freedom Project (MFP) to advocate for an end to the exclusion of gays and lesbians from the armed forces.[21] In 1989, reports commissioned by the Personnel Security Research and Education Center (PERSEREC), an arm of the Pentagon, were discovered in the process of Joseph Steffan's lawsuit fighting his forced resignation from the U.S. Naval Academy. One report said that "having a same-gender or an opposite-gender orientation is unrelated to job performance in the same way as is being left- or right-handed."[22] Other lawsuits fighting discharges highlighted the service record of service members like Tracy Thorne and Margarethe (Grethe) Cammermeyer. The MFP began lobbying Congress in 1990, and in 1991 Senator Brock Adams (D-Washington) and Rep. Barbara Boxer introduced the Military Freedom Act, legislation to end the ban completely. Adams and Rep. Pat Schroeder (D-Colorado) re-introduced it the next year.[23] In July 1991, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, in the context of the outing of his press aide Pete Williams, dismissed the idea that gays posed a security risk as "a bit of an old chestnut" in testimony before the House Budget Committee.[24] In response to his comment, several major newspapers endorsed ending the ban, including USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and the Detroit Free Press.[25] In June 1992, the General Accounting Office released a report that members of Congress had requested two years earlier estimating the costs associated with the ban on gays and lesbians in the military at $27million annually.[26]

During the 1992 U.S. presidential election campaign, the civil rights of gays and lesbians, particularly their open service in the military, attracted some press attention,[27] and all candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination supported ending the ban on military service by gays and lesbians,[28] but the Republicans did not make a political issue of that position.[29] In an August cover letter to all his senior officers, General Carl Mundy Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps, praised a position paper authored by a Marine Corps chaplain that said that "In the unique, intensely close environment of the military, homosexual conduct can threaten the lives, including the physical (e.g. AIDS) and psychological well-being of others". Mundy called it "extremely insightful" and said it offered "a sound basis for discussion of the issue".[30] The murder of gay U.S. Navy petty officer Allen R. Schindler Jr. on October 27, 1992, brought calls from advocates of allowing open service by gays and lesbians for prompt action from the incoming Clinton administration.[31]

The policy was introduced as a compromise measure in 1993 by President Bill Clinton who campaigned in 1992 on the promise to allow all citizens to serve in the military regardless of sexual orientation.[32] Commander Craig Quigley, a Navy spokesman, expressed the opposition of many in the military at the time when he said, "Homosexuals are notoriously promiscuous" and that in shared shower situations, heterosexuals would have an "uncomfortable feeling of someone watching".[33]

During the 1993 policy debate, the National Defense Research Institute prepared a study for the Office of the Secretary of Defense published as Sexual Orientation and U.S. Military Personnel Policy: Options and Assessment. It concluded that "circumstances could exist under which the ban on homosexuals could be lifted with little or no adverse consequences for recruitment and retention" if the policy were implemented with care, principally because many factors contribute to individual enlistment and re-enlistment decisions.[34] On May 5, 1993, Gregory M. Herek, associate research psychologist at the University of California at Davis and an authority on public attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, testified before the House Armed Services Committee on behalf of several professional associations. He stated, "The research data show that there is nothing about lesbians and gay men that makes them inherently unfit for military service, and there is nothing about heterosexuals that makes them inherently unable to work and live with gay people in close quarters." Herek added, "The assumption that heterosexuals cannot overcome their prejudices toward gay people is a mistaken one."[35]

In Congress, Democratic Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia and Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee led the contingent that favored maintaining the absolute ban on gays. Reformers were led by Democratic Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts, who favored modification (but ultimately voted for the defense authorization bill with the gay ban language), and Barry Goldwater, a former Republican Senator and a retired Major General,[36] who argued on behalf of allowing service by open gays and lesbians but was not allowed to appear before the Committee by Nunn. In a June 1993 Washington Post opinion piece, Goldwater wrote: "You don't have to be straight to shoot straight".[37]

Congress rushed to enact the existing gay ban policy into federal law, outflanking Clinton's planned repeal effort. Clinton called for legislation to overturn the ban, but encountered intense opposition from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, members of Congress, and portions of the public. DADT emerged as a compromise policy.[38] Congress included text in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (passed in 1993) requiring the military to abide by regulations essentially identical to the 1982 absolute ban policy.[39] The Clinton administration on December 21, 1993,[40] issued Defense Directive 1304.26, which directed that military applicants were not to be asked about their sexual orientation.[39] This policy is now known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". The phrase was coined by Charles Moskos, a military sociologist.

In accordance with the December 21, 1993, Department of Defense Directive 1332.14,[41] it was legal policy (10 U.S.C. 654)[42] that homosexuality was incompatible with military service and that persons who engaged in homosexual acts or stated that they are homosexual or bisexual were to be discharged.[32][39] The Uniform Code of Military Justice, passed by Congress in 1950 and signed by President Harry S Truman, established the policies and procedures for discharging service members.[43]

The full name of the policy at the time was "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue". The "Don't Ask" provision mandated that military or appointed officials not ask about or require members to reveal their sexual orientation. The "Don't Tell" stated that a member may be discharged for claiming to be a homosexual or bisexual or making a statement indicating a tendency towards or intent to engage in homosexual activities. The "Dont Pursue" established what was minimally required for an investigation to be initiated. A "Dont Harass" provision was added to the policy later. It ensured that the military would not allow harassment or violence against service members for any reason.[38]

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network was founded in 1993 to advocate an end to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the U.S. Armed Forces.[44]

DADT was upheld by five federal Courts of Appeal.[45] The Supreme Court, in Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. (2006), unanimously held that the federal government could constitutionally withhold funding from universities, no matter what their nondiscrimination policies might be, for refusing to give military recruiters access to school resources. An association of law schools had argued that allowing military recruiting at their institutions compromised their ability to exercise their free speech rights in opposition to discrimination based on sexual orientation as represented by DADT.[46]

In January 1998, Senior Chief Petty Officer Timothy R. McVeigh (not to be confused with convicted Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy J. McVeigh) won a preliminary injunction from a U.S. district court that prevented his discharge from the U.S. Navy for "homosexual conduct" after 17 years of service. His lawsuit did not challenge the DADT policy but asked the court to hold the military accountable for adhering to the policy's particulars. The Navy had investigated McVeigh's sexual orientation based on his AOL email account name and user profile. District Judge Stanley Sporkin ruled in McVeigh v. Cohen that the Navy had violated its own DADT guidelines: "Suggestions of sexual orientation in a private, anonymous email account did not give the Navy a sufficient reason to investigate to determine whether to commence discharge proceedings."[47] He called the Navy's investigation "a search and destroy mission" against McVeigh. The case also attracted attention because a navy paralegal had misrepresented himself when querying AOL for information about McVeigh's account. Frank Rich linked the two issues: "McVeigh is as clear-cut a victim of a witch hunt as could be imagined, and that witch hunt could expand exponentially if the military wants to add on-line fishing to its invasion of service members' privacy."[48] AOL apologized to McVeigh and paid him damages. McVeigh reached a settlement with the Navy that paid his legal expenses and allowed him to retire with full benefits in July. The New York Times called Sporkin's ruling "a victory for gay rights, with implications for the millions of people who use computer on-line services".[49]

In April 2006, Margaret Witt, a major in the United States Air Force who was being investigated for homosexuality, filed suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington seeking declaratory and injunctive relief on the grounds that DADT violates substantive due process, the Equal Protection Clause, and procedural due process. In July 2007 the Secretary of the Air Force ordered her honorable discharge. Dismissed by the district court, the case was heard on appeal, and the Ninth Circuit issued its ruling on May 21, 2008. Its decision in Witt v. Department of the Air Force reinstated Witt's substantive-due-process and procedural-due-process claims and affirmed the dismissal of her Equal Protection claim. The Ninth Circuit, analyzing the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas (2003), determined that DADT had to be subjected to heightened scrutiny, meaning that there must be an "important" governmental interest at issue, that DADT must "significantly" further the governmental interest, and that there can be no less intrusive way for the government to advance that interest.

The Obama administration declined to appeal, allowing a May 3, 2009, deadline to pass, leaving Witt as binding on the entire Ninth Circuit, and returning the case to the District Court.[50] On September 24, 2010, District Judge Ronald B. Leighton ruled that Witt's constitutional rights had been violated by her discharge and that she must be reinstated to the Air Force.[51]

The government filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit on November 23, but did not attempt to have the trial court's ruling stayed pending the outcome.[52] In a settlement announced on May 10, 2011, the Air Force agreed to drop its appeal and remove Witt's discharge from her military record. She will retire with full benefits.[53]

In 2010, a lawsuit filed in 2004 by the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), the nation's largest Republican gay organization, went to trial.[54] Challenging the constitutionality of DADT, the plaintiffs stated that the policy violates the rights of gay military members to free speech, due process and open association. The government argued that DADT was necessary to advance a legitimate governmental interest.[55] Plaintiffs introduced statements by President Barack Obama, from prepared remarks, that DADT "doesn't contribute to our national security", "weakens our national security", and that reversal is "essential for our national security". According to plaintiffs, these statements alone satisfied their burden of proof on the due process claims.[56]

On September 9, 2010, Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America that the ban on service by openly gay service members was an unconstitutional violation of the First and Fifth Amendments.[57][58] On October 12, 2010, she granted an immediate worldwide injunction prohibiting the Department of Defense from enforcing the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy and ordered the military to suspend and discontinue any investigation or discharge, separation, or other proceedings based on it.[59][60] The Department of Justice appealed her decision and requested a stay of her injunction,[61] which Phillips denied but which the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted on October 20[62][63]and stayed pending appeal on November 1.[64] The U.S. Supreme Court refused to overrule the stay.[65]District Court neither anticipated questions ofconstitutional law nor formulated a rule broader than is required by the facts. Theconstitutional issues regarding DADT are well-defined, and the District Courtfocused specifically on the relevant inquiry of whether the statute impermissiblyinfringed upon substantive due process rights with regard to a protected area ofindividual liberty. Engaging in a careful and detailed review of the facts presentedto it at trial, the District Court properly concluded that the Government put forwardno persuasive evidence to demonstrate that the statute is a valid exercise ofcongressional authority to legislate in the realm of protected liberty interests. SeeLog Cabin, 716 F. Supp. 2d at 923. Hypothetical questions were neither presentednor answered in reaching this decision.On October 19, 2010, military recruiters were told they could accept openly gay applicants.[66] On October 20, 2010, Lt. Daniel Choi, an openly gay man honorably discharged under DADT, re-enlisted in the U.S. Army.[67]

Following the passage of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, the Justice Department asked the Ninth Circuit to suspend LCR's suit in light of the legislative repeal. LCR opposed the request, noting that gay personnel were still subject to discharge. On January 28, 2011, the Court denied the Justice Department's request.[68] The Obama administration responded by requesting that the policy be allowed to stay in place while they completed the process of assuring that its end would not impact combat readiness. On March 28, the LCR filed a brief asking that the court deny the administration's request.[69]

In 2011, while waiting for certification, several service members were discharged under DADT at their own insistence,[70] until July 6 when a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals re-instated Judge Phillips' injunction barring further enforcement of the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members.[71] On July 11, the appeals court asked the DOJ to inform the court if it intended to proceed with its appeal.[72] On July 14, the Justice Department filed a motion "to avoid short-circuiting the repeal process established by Congress during the final stages of the implementation of the repeal".[73] and warning of "significant immediate harms on the government". On July 15, the Ninth Circuit restored most of the DADT policy,[73] but continued to prohibit the government from discharging or investigating openly gay personnel. Following the implementation of DADT's repeal, a panel of three judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the Phillips ruling.[74]

Following the July 1999 murder of Army Pfc. Barry Winchell, apparently motivated by anti-gay bias, President Clinton issued an executive order modifying the Uniform Code of Military Justice to permit evidence of a hate crime to be admitted during the sentencing phase of a trial.[75][76] In December, Secretary of Defense William Cohen ordered a review of DADT to determine if the policy's anti-gay harassment component was being observed.[77] When that review found anti-gay sentiments were widely expressed and tolerated in the military, the DOD adopted a new anti-harassment policy in July 2000, though its effectiveness was disputed.[75] On December 7, 1999, Hillary Clinton told an audience of gay supporters that "Gays and lesbians already serve with distinction in our nation's armed forces and should not face discrimination. Fitness to serve should be based on an individual's conduct, not their sexual orientation."[78] Later that month, retired General Carl E. Mundy Jr. defended the implementation of DADT against what he called the "politicization" of the issue by both Clintons. He cited discharge statistics for the Marines for the past five years that showed 75% were based on "voluntary admission of homosexuality" and 49% occurred during the first six months of service, when new recruits were most likely to reevaluate their decision to enlist. He also argued against any change in the policy, writing in the New York Times: "Conduct that is widely rejected by a majority of Americans can undermine the trust that is essential to creating and maintaining the sense of unity that is critical to the success of a military organization operating under the very different and difficult demands of combat."[79] The conviction of Winchell's murderer, according to the New York Times, "galvanized opposition" to DADT, an issue that had "largely vanished from public debate". Opponents of the policy focused on punishing harassment in the military rather than the policy itself, which Senator Chuck Hagel defended on December 25: "The U.S. armed forces aren't some social experiment."[80]

The principal candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2000, Al Gore and Bill Bradley, both endorsed military service by open gays and lesbians, provoking opposition from high-ranking retired military officers, notably the recently retired commandant of the Marine Corps, General Charles C. Krulak. He and others objected to Gore's statement that he would use support for ending DADT as a "litmus test" when considering candidates for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[81] The 2000 Democratic Party platform was silent on the issue,[82] while the Republican Party platform that year said: "We affirm that homosexuality is incompatible with military service."[83] Following the election of George W. Bush in 2000, observers expected him to avoid any changes to DADT, since his nominee for Secretary of State Colin Powell had participated in its creation.[84]

In February 2004, members of the British Armed Forces, Lt Rolf Kurth and Lt Cdr Craig Jones, along with Aaron Belkin, Director of the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military met with members of Congress and spoke at the National Defense University. They spoke about their experience of the current situation in the UK. The UK lifted the gay ban on members serving in their forces in 2000.[85][86]

In July 2004, the American Psychological Association issued a statement that DADT "discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation" and that "Empirical evidence fails to show that sexual orientation is germane to any aspect of military effectiveness including unit cohesion, morale, recruitment and retention." It said that the U.S. military's track record overcoming past racial and gender discrimination demonstrated its ability to integrate groups previously excluded.[87] The Republican Party platform that year reiterated its support for the policy"We affirm traditional military culture, and we affirm that homosexuality is incompatible with military service."[88]while the Democratic Party maintained its silence.[89]

In February 2005, the Government Accountability Office released estimates of the cost of DADT. It reported at least $95.4million in recruiting costs and at least $95.1million for training replacements for the 9,488 troops discharged from 1994 through 2003, while noting that the true figures might be higher.[90] In September, as part of its campaign to demonstrate that the military allowed open homosexuals to serve when its workforce requirements were greatest, the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military (now the Palm Center) reported that army regulations allowed the active-duty deployment of Army Reservists and National Guard troops who claim to be or who are accused of being gay. A U.S. Army Forces Command spokesperson said the regulation was intended to prevent Reservists and National Guard members from pretending to be gay to escape combat.[91][92] Advocates of ending DADT repeatedly publicized discharges of highly trained gay and lesbian personnel,[93] especially those in positions with critical shortages, including fifty-nine Arabic speakers and nine Persian speakers.[94][95] Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, later argued that the military's failure to ask about sexual orientation at recruitment was the cause of the discharges: [Y]ou could reduce this number to zero or near zero if the Department of Defense dropped Don't Ask, Don't Tell.... We should not be training people who are not eligible to be in the Armed Forces."[96]

In February 2006, a University of California Blue Ribbon Commission that included Lawrence Korb, a former assistant defense secretary during the Reagan administration, William Perry, Secretary of Defense in the Clinton administration, and professors from the United States Military Academy released their assessment of the GAO's analysis of the cost of DADT released a year earlier. The commission report stated that the GAO did not take into account the value the military lost from the departures. They said that that total cost was closer to $363million, including $14.3million for "separation travel" following a service member's discharge, $17.8million for training officers, $252.4million for training enlistees, and $79.3million in recruiting costs.[90]

In 2006, Soulforce, a national LGBT rights organization, organized its Right to Serve Campaign, in which gay men and lesbians in several cities attempted to enlist in the Armed Forces or National Guard.[97] Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness stated in September: "I think the people involved here do not have the best interests of the military at heart. They never have. They are promoting an agenda to normalize homosexuality in America using the military as a battering ram to promote that broader agenda." She said that "pro-homosexual activists... are creating media events all over the country and even internationally."[98]

In 2006, a speaking tour of gay former service members, organized by SLDN, Log Cabin Republicans, and Meehan, visited 18 colleges and universities. Patrick Guerriero, executive director of Log Cabin, thought the repeal movement was gaining "new traction" but "Ultimately", said, "we think it's going to take a Republican with strong military credentials to make a shift in the policy." Elaine Donnelly called such efforts "a big P.R. campaign" and said that "The law is there to protect good order and discipline in the military, and it's not going to change."[99]

In December 2006, Zogby International released the results of a poll of military personnel conducted in October 2006 that found that 26% favored allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, 37% were opposed, while 37% expressed no preference or were unsure. Of respondents who had experience with gay people in their unit, 6% said their presence had a positive impact on their personal morale, 66% said no impact, and 28% said negative impact. Regarding overall unit morale, 3% said positive impact, 64% no impact, and 27% negative impact.[100]

Retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John Shalikashvili[101] and former Senator and Secretary of Defense William Cohen[102] opposed the policy in January 2007: "I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces" Shalikashvili wrote. "Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job."[103] Shalikashvili cited the recent "Zogby poll of more than 500 service members returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, three-quarters of whom said they were comfortable interacting with gay people.[104] The debate took a different turn in March when General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune he supported DADT because "homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and... we should not condone immoral acts."[105] His remarks became, according to the Tribune, "a huge news story on radio, television and the Internet during the day and showed how sensitive the Pentagon's policy has become."[106] Senator John Warner, who backed DADT, said "I respectfully, but strongly, disagree with the chairman's view that homosexuality is immoral", and Pace expressed regret for expressing his personal views and said that DADT "does not make a judgment about the morality of individual acts."[107] Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, then in the early stages of his campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, defended DADT:[108]

When I first heard [the phrase], I thought it sounded silly and I just dismissed it and said, well, that can't possibly work. Well, I sure was wrong. It has worked. It's been in place now for over a decade. The military says it's working and they don't want to change it... and they're the people closest to the front. We're in the middle of a conflict right now. I would not change it.

That summer, after U.S. senator Larry Craig was arrested for lewd conduct in a men's restroom, conservative commentator Michael Medved argued that any liberalization of DADT would "compromise restroom integrity and security". He wrote: "The national shudder of discomfort and queasiness associated with any introduction of homosexual eroticism into public men's rooms should make us more determined than ever to resist the injection of those lurid attitudes into the even more explosive situation of the U.S. military."[109]

In November 2007, 28 retired generals and admirals urged Congress to repeal the policy, citing evidence that 65,000 gay men and women were serving in the armed forces and that there were over a million gay veterans.[103][110] On November 17, 2008, 104 retired generals and admirals signed a similar statement.[110] In December, SLDN arranged for 60 Minutes to interview Darren Manzella, an Army medic who served in Iraq after coming out to his unit.[111]

On May 4, 2008, while Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen addressed the graduating cadets at West Point, a cadet asked what would happen if the next administration were supportive of legislation allowing gays to serve openly. Mullen responded, "Congress, and not the military, is responsible for DADT." Previously, during his Senate confirmation hearing in 2007, Mullen told lawmakers, "I really think it is for the American people to come forward, really through this body, to both debate that policy and make changes, if that's appropriate." He went on to say, "I'd love to have Congress make its own decisions" with respect to considering repeal.[112]

In May 2009, when a committee of military law experts at the Palm Center, an anti-DADT research institute, concluded that the President could issue an Executive Order to suspend homosexual conduct discharges,[113] Obama rejected that option and said he wanted Congress to change the law.[114]

On July 5, 2009, Colin Powell told CNN that the policy was "correct for the time" but that "sixteen years have now gone by, and I think a lot has changed with respect to attitudes within our country, and therefore I think this is a policy and a law that should be reviewed." Interviewed for the same broadcast, Mullen said the policy would continue to be implemented until the law was repealed, and that his advice was to "move in a measured way.... At a time when we're fighting two conflicts there is a great deal of pressure on our forces and their families."[115] In September, Joint Force Quarterly published an article by an Air Force colonel[116] that disputed the argument that unit cohesion is compromised by the presence of openly gay personnel.[117]

In October 2009, the Commission on Military Justice, known as the Cox Commission, repeated its 2001 recommendation that Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which bans sodomy, be repealed, noting that "most acts of consensual sodomy committed by consenting military personnel are not prosecuted, creating a perception that prosecution of this sexual behavior is arbitrary."[118]

In January 2010, the White House and congressional officials started work on repealing the ban by inserting language into the 2011 defense authorization bill.[119] During Obama's State of the Union Address on January 27, 2010, he said that he would work with Congress and the military to enact a repeal of the gay ban law and for the first time set a timetable for repeal.[120]

At a February 2, 2010, congressional hearing, Senator John McCain read from a letter signed by "over one thousand former general and flag officers". It said: "We firmly believe that this law, which Congress passed to protect good order, discipline and morale in the unique environment of the armed forces, deserves continued support."[121] The signature campaign had been organized by Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, a longtime supporter of a traditional all-male and all-heterosexual military.[122] Servicemembers United, a veterans group opposed to DADT, issued a report critical of the letter's legitimacy. They said that among those signing the letter were officers who had no knowledge of their inclusion or who had refused to be included, and even one instance of a general's widow who signed her husband's name to the letter though he had died before the survey was published. The average age of the officers whose names were listed as signing the letter was 74, the oldest was 98, and Servicemembers United noted that "only a small fraction of these officers have even served in the military during the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' period, much less in the 21st century military."[123]

The Center for American Progress issued a report in March 2010 that said a smooth implementation of an end to DADT required eight specified changes to the military's internal regulations.[124] On March 25, 2010, Defense Secretary Gates announced new rules mandating that only flag officers could initiate discharge proceedings and imposing more stringent rules of evidence on discharge proceedings.[125]

The underlying justifications for DADT had been subjected to increasing suspicion and outright rejection by the early 21st century. Mounting evidence obtained from the integration efforts of foreign militaries, surveys of U.S. military personnel, and studies conducted by the DoDgave credence to the view that the presence of open homosexuals within the military would not be detrimental at all to the armed forces. A DoD study conducted at the behest of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in 2010 supports this most.

The DoD working group conducting the study considered the impact that lifting the ban would have on unit cohesion and effectiveness, good order and discipline, and military morale. The study included a survey that revealed significant differences between respondents who believed they had served with homosexual troops and those who did not believe they had. In analyzing such data, the DoD working group concluded that it was actually generalized perceptions of homosexual troops that led to the perceived unrest that would occur without DADT. Ultimately, the study deemed the overall risk to military effectiveness of lifting the ban to be low. Citing the ability of the armed forces to adjust to the previous integration of African-Americans and women, the DoD study asserted that the United States military could adjust as had it before in history without an impending serious effect.[126]

In March 2005, Rep. Martin T. Meehan introduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act in the House. It aimed "to amend title 10, United States Code, to enhance the readiness of the Armed Forces by replacing the current policy concerning homosexuality in the Armed Forces, referred to as 'Don't ask, don't tell,' with a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation".[127] As of 2006, it had 105 Democrats and 4 Republicans as co-sponsors.[99] He introduced the bill again in 2007 and 2009.

During the 2008 U.S. presidential election campaign, Senator Barack Obama advocated a full repeal of the laws barring gays and lesbians from serving in the military.[128] Nineteen days after his election, Obama's advisers announced that plans to repeal the policy might be delayed until 2010, because Obama "first wants to confer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his new political appointees at the Pentagon to reach a consensus, and then present legislation to Congress".[129] As president he advocated a policy change to allow gay personnel to serve openly in the armed forces, stating that the U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops expelled from the military, including language experts fluent in Arabic, because of DADT.[130] On the eve of the National Equality March in Washington, D.C., October 10, 2009, Obama stated in a speech before the Human Rights Campaign that he would end the ban, but he offered no timetable.[131][132] Obama said in his 2010 State of the Union Address: "This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are."[133] This statement was quickly followed up by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs chairman Michael Mullen voicing their support for a repeal of DADT.[134]

Both yes

One yes, one did not vote

One yes, one no

One no, one did not vote

Both no

Democrats in both houses of Congress first attempted to end DADT by amending the Defense Authorization Act. On May 27, 2010, on a 234194 vote,[135] the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Murphy amendment[136] to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. It provided for repeal of the DADT policy and created a process for lifting the policy, including a U.S. Department of Defense study and certification by key officials that the change in policy would not harm military readiness followed by a waiting period of 60 days.[137][138] The amended defense bill passed the House on May 28, 2010.[139] On September 21, 2010, John McCain led a successful filibuster against the debate on the Defense Authorization Act, in which 56 Senators voted to end debate, four short of the 60 votes required.[140] Some advocates for repeal, including the Palm Center, OutServe, and Knights Out, opposed any attempt to block the passage of NDAA if it failed to include DADT repeal language. The Human Rights Campaign, the Center for American Progress, Servicemembers United and SLDN refused to concede that possibility.[141]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit, Collins v. United States, against the Department of Defense in November 2010 seeking full compensation for those discharged under the policy.[142]

On November 30, 2010, the Joint Chiefs of Staff released the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Comprehensive Review Working Group (CRWG) report authored by Jeh C. Johnson, General Counsel of the Department of Defense, and Army General Carter F. Ham.[143][144] It outlined a path to the implementation of repeal of DADT.[145] The report indicated that there was a low risk of service disruptions due to repealing the ban, provided time was provided for proper implementation and training.[143][146] It included the results of a survey of 115,000 active-duty and reserve service members. Across all service branches, 30 percent thought that integrating gays into the military would have negative consequences. In the Marine Corps and combat specialties, the percentage with that negative assessment ranged from 40 to 60 percent. The CRWG also said that 69 percent of all those surveyed believed they had already worked with a gay or lesbian and of those, 92 percent reported that the impact of that person's presence was positive or neutral.[145][146] The same day, in response to the CRWG, 30 professors and scholars, most from military institutions, issued a joint statement saying that the CRWG "echoes more than 20 studies, including studies by military researchers, all of which reach the same conclusion: allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly will not harm the military... We hope that our collective statement underscores that the debate about the evidence is now officially over".[147] The Family Research Council's president, Tony Perkins, interpreted the CRWG data differently, writing that it "reveals that 40 percent of Marines and 25 percent of the Army could leave".[148]

Gates encouraged Congress to act quickly to repeal the law so that the military could carefully adjust rather than face a court decision requiring it to lift the policy immediately.[146] The United States Senate held two days of hearings on December 2 and 3, 2010, to consider the CRWG report. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs chairman Michael Mullen urged immediate repeal.[149] The heads of the Marine Corps, Army, and Navy all advised against immediate repeal and expressed varied views on its eventual repeal.[150] Oliver North, writing in National Review the next week, said that Gates' testimony showed "a deeply misguided commitment to political correctness". He interpreted the CRWG's data as indicating a high risk that large numbers of resignations would follow the repeal of DADT. Service members, especially combat troops, he wrote, "deserve better than to be treated like lab rats in Mr. Obama's radical social experiment".[151]

On December 9, 2010, another filibuster prevented debate on the Defense Authorization Act.[152] In response to that vote, Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins introduced a bill that included the policy-related portions of the Defense Authorization Act that they considered more likely to pass as a stand-alone bill.[153] It passed the House on a vote of 250 to 175 on December 15, 2010.[154] On December 18, 2010, the Senate voted to end debate on its version of the bill by a cloture vote of 6333.[155] The final Senate vote was held later that same day, with the measure passing by a vote of 6531.[156]

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates released a statement following the vote indicating that the planning for implementation of a policy repeal would begin right away and would continue until Gates certified that conditions were met for orderly repeal of the policy.[157] President Obama signed the repeal into law on December 22, 2010.[7]

The repeal act established a process for ending the DADT policy. The President, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were required to certify in writing that they had reviewed the Pentagon's report on the effects of DADT repeal, that the appropriate regulations had been reviewed and drafted, and that implementation of repeal regulations "is consistent with the standards of military readiness, military effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention of the Armed Forces". Once certification was given, DADT would be lifted after a 60-day waiting period.[158]

Representative Duncan D. Hunter announced plans in January 2011 to introduce a bill designed to delay the end of DADT. His proposed legislation required all of the chiefs of the armed services to submit the certification at the time required only of the President, Defense Secretary and Joint Chiefs chairman.[159] In April, Perkins of the Family Research Council argued that the Pentagon was misrepresenting its own survey data and that hearings by the House Armed Services Committee, now under Republican control, could persuade Obama to withhold certification.[160] Congressional efforts to prevent the change in policy from going into effect continued into May and June 2011.[161]

On January 29, 2011, Pentagon officials stated that the training process to prepare troops for the end of DADT would begin in February and would proceed quickly, though they suggested that it might not be completed in 2011.[162] On the same day, the DOD announced it would not offer any additional compensation to service members who had been discharged under DADT, who received half of the separation pay other honorably discharged service members received.[163]

In May 2011, the U.S. Army reprimanded three colonels for performing a skit in March 2011 at a function at Yongsan Garrison, South Korea, that mocked the repeal.[164]

In May 2011, revelations that an April Navy memo relating to its DADT training guidelines contemplated allowing same-sex weddings in base chapels and allowing chaplains to officiate if they so chose resulted in a letter of protest from 63 Republican congressman, citing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as controlling the use of federal property.[165] Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council said the guidelines "make it even more uncomfortable for men and women of faith to perform their duties".[166] A Pentagon spokesperson replied that DOMA "does not limit the type of religious ceremonies a chaplain may perform in a chapel on a military installation", and a Navy spokesperson said that "A chaplain can conduct a same-sex ceremony if it is in the tenets of his faith".[167] A few days later the Navy rescinded its earlier instructions "pending additional legal and policy review and interdepartmental coordination".[168]

While waiting for certification, several service members were discharged at their own insistence[70] until a July 6 ruling from a federal appeals court barred further enforcement of the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members,[8] which the military promptly did.[169]

Anticipating the lifting of DADT, some active duty service members wearing civilian clothes marched in San Diego's gay pride parade on July 16. The DOD noted that participation "does not constitute a declaration of sexual orientation".[170]

President Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent the certification required by the Repeal Act to Congress on July 22, 2011, setting the end of DADT for September 20, 2011.[171] A Pentagon spokesman said that service members discharged under DADT would be able to re-apply to rejoin the military then.[172]

At the end of August 2011, the DOD approved the distribution of the magazine produced by OutServe, an organization of gay and lesbian service members, at Army and Air Force base exchanges beginning with the September 20 issue, coinciding with the end of DADT.[173]

On September 20, Air force officials announced that 22 Air Force Instructions were "updated as a result of the repeal of DADT".[174] On September 30, 2011, the Department of Defense modified regulations to reflect the repeal by deleting "homosexual conduct" as a ground for administrative separation.[175][176]

On the eve of repeal, US Air Force 1st Lt. Josh Seefried, one of the founders of OutServe, an organization of LGBT troops, revealed his identity after two years of hiding behind a pseudonym.[177] Senior Airman Randy Phillips, after conducting a social media campaign seeking encouragement coming out and already out to his military co-workers, came out to his father on the evening of September 19. When the video of their conversation he posted on YouTube went viral, it made him, in one journalist's estimation, "the poster boy for the DADT repeal".[178] The moment the repeal took effect at midnight on September 19, US Navy Lt. Gary C. Ross married his same-sex partner of eleven and a half years, Dan Swezy, making them the first same-sex military couple to legally marry in the United States.[179] Retired Rear Adm. Alan M. Steinman became the highest-ranking person to come out immediately following the end of DADT.[180] HBO produced a World of Wonder documentary, The Strange History of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and premiered it on September 20. Variety called it "an unapologetic piece of liberal advocacy" and "a testament to what formidable opponents ignorance and prejudice can be".[181] Discharge proceedings on the grounds of homosexuality, some begun years earlier, came to an end.[182]

In the weeks that followed, a series of firsts attracted press attention to the impact of the repeal. The Marine Corps were the first branch of the armed services to recruit from the LGBTQ community. Reservist Jeremy Johnson became the first person discharged under DADT to re-enlist.[184] Jase Daniels became the first to return to active duty, re-joining the Navy as a third class petty officer.[185] On December 2, Air Force intelligence officer Ginger Wallace became the first open LGBT service member to have a same-sex partner participate in the "pinning-on" ceremony that marked her promotion to colonel.[186] On December 23, after 80 days at sea, US Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta won the right to the traditional "first kiss" upon returning to port and shared it with her same-sex partner.[citation needed] On January 20, 2012, U.S. service members deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan, produced a video in support of the It Gets Better Project, which aims to support LGBT at-risk youth.[187] Widespread news coverage continued even months after the repeal date, when a photograph of Marine Sgt. Brandon Morgan kissing his partner at a February 22, 2012, homecoming celebration on Marine Corps Base Hawaii went viral.[188] When asked for a comment, a spokesperson for the Marine Corps said: "It's your typical homecoming photo."[189]

On September 30, 2011, Under Secretary of Defense Clifford Stanley announced the DOD's policy that military chaplains are allowed to perform same-sex marriages "on or off a military installation" where local law permits them. His memo noted that "a chaplain is not required to participate in or officiate a private ceremony if doing so would be in variance with the tenets of his or her religion" and "a military chaplain's participation in a private ceremony does not constitute an endorsement of the ceremony by DoD".[190] Some religious groups announced that their chaplains would not participate in such weddings, including an organization of evangelical Protestants, the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty[191] and Roman Catholics led by Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.[192]

In late October 2011, speaking at the Air Force Academy, Colonel Gary Packard, leader of the team that drafted the DOD's repeal implementation plan, said: "The best quote I've heard so far is, 'Well, some people's Facebook status changed, but that was about it.'"[193] In late November, discussing the repeal of DADT and its implementation, Marine General James F. Amos said "I'm very pleased with how it has gone" and called it a "non-event". He said his earlier public opposition was appropriate based on ongoing combat operations and the negative assessment of the policy given by 56% of combat troops under his command in the Department of Defense's November 2010 survey. A Defense Department spokesperson said implementation of repeal occurred without incident and added: "We attribute this success to our comprehensive pre-repeal training program, combined with the continued close monitoring and enforcement of standards by our military leaders at all levels."[194]

In December 2011, Congress considered two DADT-related amendments in the course of work on the National Defense Authorization Act for 2012. The Senate approved 973, an amendment removing the prohibition on sodomy found in Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice as recommended by the Comprehensive Review Working Group (CRWG) a year earlier.[195][196] The House approved an amendment banning same-sex marriages from being performed at military bases or by military employees, including chaplains and other employees of the military when "acting in an official capacity". Neither amendment appeared in the final legislation.[195]

In July 2012, the Department of Defense granted permission for military personnel to wear their uniforms while participating in the San Diego Pride Parade. This was the first time that U.S. military personnel were permitted to wear their service uniforms in such a parade.[197]

Marking the first anniversary of the passage of the Repeal Act, television news networks reported no incidents in the three months since DADT ended. One aired video of a social gathering for gay service members at a base in Afghanistan.[198] Another reported on the experience of lesbian and gay troops, including some rejection after coming out to colleagues.[199]

The Palm Center, a think tank that studies issues of sexuality and the military, released a study in September 2012 that found no negative consequences, nor any effect on military effectiveness from DADT repeal. This study began six months following repeal and concluded at the one year mark. The study included surveys of 553 generals and admirals who had opposed repeal, experts who supported DADT, and more than 60 heterosexual, gay, lesbian and bisexual active duty service personnel.[200][201]

On January 7, 2013, the ACLU reached a settlement with the federal government in Collins v. United States. It provided for the payment of full separation pay to service members discharged under DADT since November 10, 2004, who had previously been granted only half that.[202]

Several candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination called for the restoration of DADT, including Michele Bachmann,[203] Rick Perry,[204] and Rick Santorum.[205] Newt Gingrich called for an extensive review of DADT's repeal.[206]

Ron Paul, having voted for the Repeal Act, maintained his support for allowing military service by open homosexuals.[207] Herman Cain called the issue "a distraction" and opposed reinstating DADT.[208] Mitt Romney said that the winding down of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan obviated his opposition to the repeal and said he was not proposing any change to policy.[209]

On September 22, 2011, the audience at a Republican candidates' debate booed a U.S. soldier posted in Iraq who asked a question via video about the repeal of DADT, and none of the candidates noticed or responded to the crowd's behavior.[210] Two days later, Obama commented on the incident while addressing a dinner of the Human Rights Campaign: "You want to be commander in chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it's not politically convenient".[211]

In June 2012, Rep. Howard McKeon, Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said he considered the repeal of DADT a settled issue, and that if Romney became president he would not advocate its reinstatement, though others in his party might.[212]

In September 2021, on the 10th anniversary of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal, President Joe Biden announced that the Veterans Administration would start providing benefits for servicemembers who received other-than-honorable discharges (before DADT was enacted and while it was in effect) because of their sexual orientation.[213]

In 1993, Time reported that 44% of those polled supported openly gay servicemembers,[214] and in 1994, a CNN poll indicated 53% of Americans believed gays and lesbians should be permitted to serve openly.[215]

According to a December 2010 The Washington Post-ABC News poll 77% of Americans said gays and lesbians who publicly disclose their sexual orientation should be able to serve in the military. That number showed little change from polls over the previous two years, but represented the highest level of support in a Post-ABC poll. The support also cut across partisan and ideological lines, with majorities of Democrats (86%), Republicans (74%), independents (74%), liberals (92%), conservatives (67%), white evangelical Protestants (70%) and non-religious (84%) in favor of homosexuals serving openly.[216]

A November 2010 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 58% of the U.S. public favored allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, while less than half as many (27%) were opposed.[217] According to a November 2010 CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 72% of adult Americans favored permitting people who are openly gay or lesbian to serve in the military, while 23% opposed it.[218] "The main difference between the CNN poll and the Pew poll is in the number of respondents who told pollsters that they didn't have an opinion on this topic 16 percent in the Pew poll compared to only five percent in the CNN survey", said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "The two polls report virtually the same number who say they oppose gays serving openly in the military, which suggests that there are some people who favor that change in policy but for some reason were reluctant to admit that to the Pew interviewers. That happens occasionally on topics where moral issues and equal-treatment issues intersect."[219]

A February 2010 Quinnipiac University Polling Institute national poll showed 57% of American voters favored gays serving openly, compared to 36% opposed, while 66% said not allowing openly gay personnel to serve is discrimination, compared to 31% who did not see it as discrimination.[220] A CBS News/The New York Times national poll done at the same time showed 58% of Americans favored gays serving openly, compared to 28% opposed.[221]

Chaplain groups and religious organizations took various positions on DADT. Some felt that the policy needed to be withdrawn to make the military more inclusive. The Southern Baptist Convention battled the repeal of DADT, warning that their endorsements for chaplains might be withdrawn if the repeal took place.[222][223] They took the position that allowing gay men and women to serve in the military without restriction would have a negative impact on the ability of chaplains who think homosexuality is a sin to speak freely regarding their religious beliefs. The Roman Catholic Church called for the retention of the policy, but had no plans to withdraw its priests from serving as military chaplains.[224] Sixty-five retired chaplains signed a letter opposing repeal, stating that repeal would make it impossible for chaplains whose faith teaches that same-sex behavior is immoral to minister to military service members.[225] Other religious organizations and agencies called the repeal of the policy a "non-event" or "non-issue" for chaplains, claiming that chaplains have always supported military service personnel, whether or not they agree with all their actions or beliefs.[226][227][228]

After the policy was introduced in 1993, the military discharged over 13,000 troops from the military under DADT.[110][229][230] The number of discharges per fiscal year under DADT dropped sharply after the September 11 attacks and remained comparatively low through to the repeal. Discharges exceeded 600 every year until 2009.

Rear Adm. Vic Guillory, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet leads DADT repeal training for Tier 2 command leadership at Naval Station Mayport, March 17, 2011

Naval Special Warfare Command personnel watching Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead during DADT repeal training, April 6, 2011

DADT Repeal training for enlisted, officer and civilian staff at Naval Medical Center San Diego, May 5, 2011

In November 2019, both Rhode Island and New York State signed into law and implemented restoring military benefits to gay and lesbian military veterans. An estimated approximately 100,000 individuals were affected by the "don't ask don't tell policy" (since it was repealed in September 2011).[236]

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In first debate, Healey and Diehl clash over the economy, abortion and Trump – WBUR News

Posted: at 5:49 pm

Democrat Maura Healey and Republican Geoff Diehl traded jabs Wednesday night in their first debate in the race for Massachusetts governor, sparring over the economy, immigration and abortion rights.

For much of the debate, it felt like a third candidate was on the ballot: Donald Trump. From the start, Healey sought to link Diehl to the former president, who remains deeply unpopular in Massachusetts.

"My opponent has said that he backs Donald Trump 100% of the time," Healey said of Diehl, accusing him of running his campaign "from the Trump playbook" and of wanting to bring "Trumpism" to Massachusetts.

Healey, the state's attorney general who lives in Bostons South End, repeated the attack more than once, calling Diehl "extreme," "dangerous" and "unqualified to be the next governor."

Diehl, a former state representative from Whitman, was one of the state's first Republicans to endorse Trump when he ran for president in 2015. He has remained loyal to him ever since, embracing the former president's supportin his run to become the state's next governor.

By contrast, Democrat Maura Healey spent much of her tenure as the state's attorney generalsuingthe Trump administration.

But in Wednesday night's debate, Diehl called the Trump references a distraction.

"Its Halloween time and thats her boogeyman, he said.

Diehl presented himself as a fiscal conservative who supports parental rights and law and order, while backing stricter immigration laws. And he sought to tie Healey to high inflation, rising energy prices and President Biden.

"Joe Biden, the person that you supported, is leading us into economic disaster just two years into the job," Diehl declared.

Diehl, who co-chaired Trump's 2016 campaign in Massachusetts, has pushed the former president's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. When asked last night if he still believes the election was stolen, he at first appeared to edge away from that unfounded claim.

"Obviously Joe Biden won the election," Diehl said, before adding, "Look at how bad the economy is right now."

Diehl went on to claim there were irregularities in 2020, and insisted that mail-in voting makes election fraud more likely, even in Massachusetts. And he said a law that gives undocumented immigrants in the state access to drivers licenses automatically enrolls them to vote. In fact, the law doesn't do that. (Diehl is leading an effort to repeal the law, which will be on the ballotthis fall.)

Healey, who backs the law, said it promotes public safety and pointed out that a number of Massachusetts' police chiefs support it as well.

"You want to know who is actually driving on our roads," she said. "You want to know that they've received instruction and training through a driver's ed program."

But the sharpest clash by far came over abortion. In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to end federal abortion rights, Healey said, "Massachusetts needs a governor who will protect a woman's freedom to make a decision for herself."

"I will. He won't. It's as simple as that," she said.

While Diehl opposes abortion, he said that as governor, he would respect Massachusetts' Roe Act, which codifies abortion rights in state law. And then he shifted the argument to vaccine mandates, accusing Healey of turning her back on state workers, including police troopers, who lost their jobs for refusing to get vaccinated.

"That's really shameful," Diehl said, pledging to respect peoples freedom to decide for themselves whether to get vaccinated. A lot of people lost jobs."

Healey shot back that what's shameful is "all the talk of freedom, except when it applies to women."

The debate was hosted by NBC10 Boston, Telemundo Boston and NECN.

Polls suggest Diehl is running well behind Healey. It's not clear if he managed to close any of that margin Wednesday night, but he will have have another chance on Oct. 20, when the two debate again.

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