THE HALL OF INFAMY

This is a page is dedicated to all those who have consistently violated the rights of  the children of Africa. Send me mail at chiremis@gmail.com if somebody you know should be listed here too. Please only identify public figures or institutions and provide adequate proof of the violation. Such proof could be a Press release or court indictement or even a web link to the location of the evidence. Add your own comment and state what, if ny, action that you have taken to address the violation. If all this is cumbersum then keep all names of the perpertrators and their location secret-i.e. change the names while keeping the violation accurate.


2008 TOP OF THE LIST VIOLATERS:


1. CongoDRC: The protagonists in Congo's eastern regions have shown remorseless attitudes toward the rights of the children of this warzone. Mass expulsions of civillians have caused terrible stress on the little ones. Reports indicate that this humanitarian crisis is fast becoming one the worst. Yet General Nkunda's forces and those of the Congolese government continue to ignore the plight of the children. May these shameless people go down in history's Hall of Infamy.

2. The politics of power in Zimbabwe have dragged on so long that the country was found completely ill-prepared to respond to the  Cholera epidemic that is now ravaging the country. Cholera is easily prevented and treated but the insane powe struggle currently raging between the ruling ZANU-PF's Mugabe and the MDC's Tsvhangirai has become a political black hole that consumes all other concerns. The world watches helplessly as these men fight over the corpses of the children of Zimbabwe. May their names be registered in history's Hall of Infamy.

3. Iran continues to feature as a country where under-age convicts are executed against international law. This year(2008) more reports emerged out of Iran of the execution of juveniles. When the state kills children in the name of the law, what else will they do to violate children's rights? Age limits to death sentences are provided on the understanding that chldren are not in as much control over both their minds and circumstances as full grown adults. May those who ignore this human spirit find their names registered in History's Hall of Infamy.

4. In 2008 the world continued to witness the raping of Iraq by one of the most discredited Presidents the USA has ever seen. Since the beginning of this war there has been no clear record of child deaths published. Insultingly, the world continues to treat this genocidal mistake as a mere foreign policy failure. Some see it as the result of a failure in intelligence. It is neither of the two. This is simply the act of a man who thought the lives of Iraqi children mattered less than his vaguely stated "American interests". At no time has the US public ever considered the killing of children as normal and acceptable. May the name of George W. Bush continue to remind world leaders to never use State power to further personal egotistical aims as it hangs high on the walls of History's Hall of Infamy.

5. Not a day passes by without news of yet another suicide bomb attack somewhere in the world. Hardly ever do these attacks fail to target children. Yet there are some who still continue to think that this is normal and heroic. What is heroic about killing a child? Throughout ancient history, heroes were those men and women who died or otherwise sacrificed to defend the weak, especially children and women. Today's heroes blast children apart in the name of God and country. These are not heroes, they are common infanticidal criminals who kill their own children for vague political aims. They too belong in History's Hall of Infamy.

6. The Advocacy Project (www.advocacynet.org) reports that  attacks Israeli attacks in Gaza "...also coincided with the end of the school day, resulting in the deaths of numerous children." (AdvocacyNet, News Bulletin 170, December 30, 2008 )Surely this is unacceptable and unnecessary. It seems these are the new dark ages were diplomacy wears thin readily and civilian killings become justifiable. The idea that pummelling a population with bombs causes them to turn against an enemy regime is reminicent of NAZI tactics of the second world war in which the death of one NAZI soldier would be responded to with many civilian executions. It is becoming all too common to punish a population disproportionatly, in this case a few lives against 400 and counting, plus thousands wounded. That the Israeli politicians and the foolish Hamas fighters are both using civilians as pawns in their silly war is without question. But children have not stated their positions yet in this matter. Even if they did they would be too small to make sensible choices. Killing them for political ends is a gross crime that should be punished, whoever commits it. These leaders of both Hamas and Israel rank high in the Hall of Infamy.