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FROM TORTURE SURVIVOR TO AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR - 12/12/2007
Every moment of every day, Jade Amoli Jackson is ripped apart by longing for her children. The last time she saw them was six years ago in northern Uganda, to which they had fled in 1991 after a bitter political power struggle forced the family to abandon their home. As the niece of former president Milton Obote, a political rival to Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, Jade said she and her family faced constant danger. Eventually, they were forced to flee when soldiers believed to be loyal to Museveni stormed their village. tears "I cry on their birthdays. The Red Cross (through its tracing and messaging service) is looking for them… so every weekend, I am on the bus, looking for them, thinking I might see them," she told the Voice last week. "If they are alive or dead, I would like to know something." In a short story which captured the pain of her loss in Uganda - and which made her one of 16 authors who won the 2007 Penguin Decibel Prize - Jade said she and her children fled after soldiers dismembered her husband, and murdered her twin sister and father. Sorrow dripping from her lips, Jade recounted returning home from work in 2001 to be told that her three children, then aged 14, 12, and nine, were gone - kidnapped by forces which attacked the village. Soon, she too was captured and marched barefoot into a secluded jungle enclave, where she spent months being starved, tortured and repeatedly raped. The experience still makes her voice tremble. "I saw death. We were subjected to rape every night and there was no food. I remember there was this woman with a three-month-old baby and she was raped, and later we found her body," she told The Voice. Jade said she penned My Painful Journey, the story of her flight from torture and rape in Uganda to freedom in the UK, because she was just looking for a way to ease the pain and learn to live again. The story wowed judges in a writing competition run by Decibel, an Arts Council England initiative dedicated to promoting diversity in the arts, and Penguin Books. They were so impressed that they included it as one of 16 true stories published in the recently released 2007 Penguin Decibel anthology entitled, From There to Here, Volume 2: Personal Tales of Immigration to Britain. "I'm happy I have written it. I hope it can help other people in the same situation as me, because some people don't understand. They think that if you are a refugee, you are nothing, but this would help give people an understanding of why people flee their countries," Jade explained. She said it was at first difficult to get the words out. "I laughed and I cried. I started with the good times then moved to the pain," recalled Jade, who got support from the charity Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, and its Write to Life support group. Stronger She said they helped to make her strong enough to not only enrol in drama school but to write, and to volunteer with the Refugee Council to help other women in her situation. "I feel dirty because of what happened to me. I used to hide in my room. But when you get help, it makes you feel loved," Jade explained. "I met wonderful friends at the Refugee Council and the Medical Foundation. When I am with them, they don't see me as a dirty person. They see me as a human being. They encourage me." As she rebuilds her life, Jade encourages rape survivors to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. "When I'm writing, it's like I have closed a door on the past and another one is opening," she said of her prose and poetry, which has earned her praise at literary festivals. Jade said she hoped her story will highlight the need for increased public support and sympathy for other rape survivors. There is clearly a need for such support. In its new report entitled, Doubly Traumatised, Amnesty International says that women and girls as young as age five, who suffer rape and sexual attacks in northern Uganda, are not being given access to any justice. It said failures in the justice system as well as hostility and intimidation, "have created a climate where rape victims are less willing or able to pursue criminal proceedings to bring perpetrators to justice." The Voice
Rape survivor wins top campaigner award - 21/11/2007
CELEBRITY starlets such as Leona Lewis, Rihanna, Myleene Klass, Cameron Diaz, and Angelina Jolie were all recently honoured for their contribution to girl power at the annual Cosmopolitian Magazine Ultimate Women of the Year Awards. But in the eyes of many Liliane Umubyeyi, winner of the Ultimate Campaigner of the year award, was the real shining star at the glitzy ceremony. Unlike most of the women who won awards on the night, 29-year-old Umubyeyi does not live a life of glamour, dining at posh charity parties where she can use her celebrity status to attract money for her campaign. A Tutsis refugee who fled from the genocide in Rwanda, Umubyeyi is overwhelmed by her prize. She told the Voice: "I feel great, if I have to put it in one word. Winning Ultimate Campaigner was very rewarding, as it makes me believe that people are now listening and all my hard work is paying off, which means my pain was not in vain. "I was surprised to win because I didn't think I could ever be in this position. It was quite an emotional feeling when I heard my name, but a happy and exciting one." She added: "No matter how hard I work, sometimes I think I haven't done enough, and haven't achieved the goal I have focused on. This has encouraged me and given me more courage to do more." Voted for by the Prime Minister's wife, Sarah Brown - the patron of domestic violence charity Women's Aid - television presenter Fearne Cotton, singer Jamelia, Observer editor-in-chief Roger Alton, journalist Mariella Frostrup, Birmingham City FC CEO Karren Brady, author and journalist Irma Kurtz, and Cosmopolitan editor Louise Court, Umubyeyi arrived in the UK in 2004 to secure a better life. She left behind a horror story that would have been enough to break most people. Now a resident of the UK, Umubyeyi is co-chairman for the charity, Survivor Fund, and dedicates her life to helping survivors of the ethnic cleansing which took the lives of 800,000 Tutsis and Hutus. A witness to the slaying of her immediate and extended family, Umubyeyi describes the day her life changed from a normal innocent teenager to a Hutus soldier's personal sex slave. "I don't like speaking about it but if I don't speak then the world will not know the evil that took place in my country, which would be a double tragedy for my people but, most importantly, for all the thousands who were killed." Umubyeyi recounts her terrifying experience: "I was from a large, loving family and we lived in the capital Kigali. My family and I are Tutsis, which means we were treated very badly by the local Hutus people. "There could be horror anytime you walked on the streets. You lived in constant fear because you never knew when you could be subject to abuse. I was a happy child, but in society I was not accepted. Growing up I began to realise how the Tutsis and Hutus lives differed. They had the best jobs and schools and they were treated with respect on the streets, while families like mine suffered. "When I was younger, I resented being a Tutsi because I was unhappy with my life. But you cannot choose which family you are born into. I loved my family very much because we were loving and caring, and despite the unfair treatment we received, my mum and dad always showed my five brothers and I love and gave us support. "You cannot tell Hutus apart from a Tutsis. Tutsis are supposed to be tall with long noses, yet I am one of the shortest people I know and my nose is small. I do not look like a Tutus. There was no real way to identify one tribe from another so the militias would check our ID cards or just do random killing. "The militias first bombed our home, but we saw them coming and hid in the graveyard. Then we managed to go and take refuge at my uncle's house. But it wasn't long before the militias arrived there. "My uncle's neighbours murdered my mum, Pascasie, and my dad, Ignance, along with my five brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. "We were all sitting together when the militias broke into the house. Unlike my family, I was able to escape by jumping out of the window and running as fast as my legs could take me. Because the militias were everywhere I decided to hide up in the trees while the soldiers ran terror below. While I was up in the trees I could hear screams of terror as they killed my family one-by-one. I also saw my mother hacked to death while she tried to escape. "I was so terrified. I did not know what to do. I could hear the sounds of crying and I tried not to look when they pulled all the bodies out, but I couldn't help it. A lot of the soldiers were drunk, which made me believe it was a part of their contract. "They would get drunk, drinking any type of local beer, such as banana beer, or any other type of alcoholic drink. They would sing out loud telling us how they were going to kill us, as they drove through destroying everything and killing everyone. "As I sat in the tree crying I was too scared to move, so I decided to climb down in the night so the militias could not see me, and I hid in the bushes. But once it was daylight the soldiers found me hiding and gang raped me one-by-one. "After raping me they took me to their camp where they continued to physically and sexually abuse me. The soldiers kept me captive for two weeks. It was hell everyday. After the two weeks one of the soldiers decided to take me to his house to be his personal sex slave and everyday he raped me. There was nothing that I could do, so I had to do whatever he wanted. I was scared for my life. "Luckily, but I cannot remember his name, a man posted a bible inside the room that I was kept in, and every time I was left on my own I kept reading the scriptures which gave me comfort. "I don't know how that positive energy came, but during all my pain and horror the holy words gave me comfort and made me hopeful that I was going to survive and not die. "I kept saying that I was not going to die to myself over and over again, especially because I was one of the last Tutsi alive from my town. After finding that fighting spirit I was no longer scared and I believed that I could do anything once I put my mind to it. "My capturer decided to release me because he no longer needed me around, and decided to drop me off with another Tutsi family. I remember him telling me good luck, which made me mad because after weeks of abuse it was if he was trying to help me, yet he caused me so much pain. As far as I could see he did not want to kill me, which made me very confused. "When I was set free I found a group of rebel Tutsi and I stayed with a small band of survivors, many of whom were captured and raped like me, who also saw their entire family being murdered. "It was through this friendship that I became involved in the Survivor's Fund, and I have continued to work with the charity. "Now that I have settled down in Oxford and I have become more accustomed to my new environment, I can dedicate all my spare time campaigning for awareness of the survivors of the genocide that took place in my country. "I have not been able to put my mind to rest because I have not yet buried my parents and other family members, and until I do I cannot move on in peace. "My parents' bodies are still inside the toilets that the militias threw them in. When I get the chance I will have to remove them from the toilet so I can bury them in the proper manner. There are about ten family member's bodies in the toilets but until I can raise the money I will not be able to afford their burial. "I hate knowing that my loved ones are inside the toilets rotting away. I feel sick, but there is nothing that I can do right now. In order to preserve their bodies I have sealed the toilets with cement. "For whatever reason God chose me to live. Unlike those who did not survive I can use my voice to tell the world what happened to people like me. "I feel a responsibility to help the survivors. There are so many people who are traumatised and suffering. The only thing we can do is to talk about it so people do not feel alone any more. "The only comforting part about my pain is that I can use my experience to help others." Voice online
The artist who's simply telling 'Ourstory' - 31/10/2007
'Ourstory' is an exhibition of painting, sculpture and installation at The Gallery, Willesden.The show represents three decades of work by the artist, whose birth name was Horace Donovan. His parents made the journey to the 'motherland' in the hope of improving their lives, and Opio was brought up in Jamaica by his aunt. He chose the name 'Opio', which is Congolese and means 'liberated', and 'Yaw' which is Ghanaian Asante for 'Thursday-born'. In 1981 he came to England and studied at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, where he trained as a ceramicist, and made earthenware and terracotta sculptures. He met other black artists who were committed to art with a political edge, such as Keith Piper and Eddy Chambers. One meeting place was the Black Arts Gallery in Finsbury Park, and it was there that Opio was commissioned to create a bust of Marcus Garvey, which remains one of his finest works, and has an intensity and individuality of expression rarely seen in public art. He was a descendent of the Maroons in Jamaica, who maintained their independence during the colonial period, led by Queen Nanny, and there is a portrait of her in the exhibition. There is also an ancestral altar, which pays tribute to those who perished on the slave ships, and to those who fought for political justice, such as Marcus Garvey, Paul Bogle and Queen Nanny. The Igbo culture of Nigeria is also reflected in two 'mask' paintings.The first shows three masks, which are based upon Igbo masks, which are part of a rite-of-passage initiation ceremony into the 'masquerade' society. There should be four Igbo souls, as four is the number of prosperity. Here, the second image of the fourth Igbo mask is separated from the others and has lost its purpose: it is abandoned and broken. The masquerade has fallen on the ground. A visiting Igbo woman looking at these pictures said, "You are touching my soul." 'Ourstory' exhibition continues until November 2 at The Gallery, Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, London NW10 2SF. Tuesday to Thursday, 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Friday to Monday, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The voice
Campaigners call for closure of detention centre - 31/10/2007
Anti-detention campaigners have written to the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations calling for the closure of the Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire. In a petition sent to the ECHR and copied to the United Nations, they are demanding an independent investigation into the grim conditions in which inmates are forced to live and the lack of attention given to their asylum claims. The inmates said they are "mentally and physically tortured under the merciless hands of a cruel Home Office, whose only interest is the amount of people they will send out from their country, without considering why we left our countries and do not care what will happen when we are taken back." "We are requesting for an independent body to investigate and listen to our grievances and put into consideration our request and give us justice," they said. The centre, located in Clapham, Bedford, is home to roughly 400 single females and families with children. Accusations of widespread torture, rape and other abuse have been levelled at guards at the centre. Detainees listed a catalogue of problems they experience, including racism, the absence of interpreters, the arbitrary refusal of bail and legal aid solicitors demanding money. Emma Ginn, co-ordinator at the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC), said allegations of abuse have been "frequent and sustained" since the centre was opened nearly six years ago. She said: "It costs £1,230 to detain an individual per week. People have been held for months and years on end, yet about 40 per cent of those that get detained are later released, which begs the question why were they ever detained." "I back any campaign to shut down these centres. I have questions about their value because there seems to be an industrial scale of machinery to detain and deport people," she said. Cristel Amiss, project co-ordinator of Black Women's Rape Action Project, an affiliate to Cross Roads Women's Centre said the petition to the ECHR is one of many protests taking place at Yarl's Wood, and that the inmates" demand for an independent investigation is long overdue. "We have always questioned the existence of them (detention centres), and we would love to see them closed down," Amiss said. "These people are absolutely terrified of being sent back to possible death in the countries from which they fled, and the protests take place because of the suffering and brutality inmates continue to suffer despite the attempts to uncover what is happening." Taking their appeal outside the UK is a good strategy, said Barbed Wire Britain spokesman, Bill MacKeith, arguing that the government has created laws where "it is legal to discriminate on racial grounds when it comes to matters of immigration." Over the years, the centre has been embroiled in controversy. Soon after the facility was opened in November 2001, half of the building was burnt down following a protest by the detainees. This was triggered after a 55-year-old woman was physically restrained by staff. The centre has also been the scene of numerous hunger strikes, including one in December 2001 with five Roma detainees refusing to eat. In May this year, women detainees, many of them single mothers, began a hunger strike in response to new measures introduced by Serco who took over the running of the facility the previous month, under an £87 million contract. In November last year, a group of detainees also rioted after being refused permission to watch a news report criticising conditions at the centre. The Voice
Ban those gollies' - 24/10/2007
BLACK groups are calling for the investigation and banning of racist golliwog dolls and other paraphernalia, which are still being sold on British websites and in speciality shops. Director of campaigning group The 1990 Trust Kocu Adomdza said: "The golliwog is patently offensive, insensitive and racially volatile. We condemn the production and sale of these products and call on the Office of Fair Trading, and the new Equality and Human Rights Commission to investigate those entities that still trade in this offensive material." Alison Witter who lives in Scotland, plans to make a formal complaint to the Fife Race Awareness and Education Authority about a shop selling the offensive material. She told The Voice that after raising the matter with owner of the shop he reportedly said they were cute and that they (the retailers) were not offended so why should black people be. Jonathan Wright was thrown out of the Meadow Hall Shopping Centre after complaining to the owners of Arkwright Emporium about the sale of golliwogs. Wright who is demanding an apology said: "I was enjoying the Meadowhall, but after seeing what Arkwright's sold I was completely appalled and it ruined my whole experience." Last month, high street fashion house Zara started selling T-shirts with a golliwog image on the front. The offensive top was on the shelves just two weeks after the Spanish-owned chain was blasted for stocking a handbag emblazoned with Nazi swastikas. Adomdza is also calling for a boycott of all golliwog products. He believes the continued sale of these items is particularly insensitive as Britain celebrates the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. The Voice