| ER : Season 11 (2004-05), Season 12 (2005-06)
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- Darfur (3/2/06) : John Carter, who is now working at a refugee camp in the Darfur region of Sudan, tries to help save a man whose wife was raped by Jingaweit militia members.
- Season 11
Darfur (originally aired March 2, 2006) (back to top)
John Carter, who is now working at a refugee camp in the Darfur region of Sudan, tries to help save a man whose wife was raped by Jingaweit militia members.
The ongoing crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan stems from a rebellion that began in February 2003. In response, the government's armed forces and government-supported tribal militia now known as the Jingaweit reportedly have attacked the region's civilian population. Tens of thousands of civilians have reportedly died as a result of such fighting, and more than 1.5 million persons in the region have been displaced.
President George W. Bush called the ongoing crisis "genocide" in a September 9, 2004 statement (on-line here), though a commission established by the United Nations concluded in a January 2005 report that the government had not pursued a policy of genocide even if some individuals may have committed acts with genocidal intent.
The United States itself has not sent troops to Sudan, but has provided millions in aid for refugees and has supported the African Union's deployment of forces to monitor the conflict (an October 2004 fact sheet is on-line here). The Africa Union had about 6,000 military personnel in Darfur as of January 2006 (AU report on-line here).
Bush recently has said that the African Union forces were not being as effective as hoped. "The strategy there was to encourage African Union troops to try to bring some sense of security to these poor people that are being herded out of their villages and just terribly mistreated. We need more troops. The effort was noble, but it didn't achieve the objective," Bush said on February 17, 2006 (transcript on-line here). Bush said that he was working to increase the troop presence in Sudan, possibly leading to a doubling of the peacekeeper presence in Darfur under NATO leadership.
The United Nations has taken an additional measure against Sudan that was not fully supported by the United States. On March 31, 2005, the U.N. Security Council voted 11-0 to refer the Darfur situation to the International Criminal Court for possible prosecution of war crimes. The United States abstained from the vote, as did Algeria, Brazil, and China. The United States and China representatives specifically cited their reservations about the ICC's authority over a state that had not agreed to be bound by the treaty establishing the ICC. The ICC's chief prosecutor then opened an investigation into the Darfur situation on June 1, 2005 (press release on-line here).
The United Nations Security Council also has warned that it might impose sanctions on Sudan's petroleum sector if Sudan's government did not fully comply with resolutions calling for an end to the conflict. In a September 30, 2004 resolution (on-line here), the Security Council declared that it "shall consider taking additional measures … such as actions to affect Sudan's petroleum sector and the Government of Sudan or individual members of the Government of Sudan, in order to take effective action to obtain such full compliance or full cooperation."
Sudan exports roughly 250,000 net barrels of oil a day (source here), but not to the United States, which does not import oil from Sudan. The United States has imposed sanctions on Sudan since 1997 because of Sudan's support for international terrorism, its efforts to destabilize neighbors, and the prevalence of human rights violations (on-line here).
(The United States has also taken steps to help end a long-running north-south conflict between Sudan's government and other rebel groups. In July 2002, Sudan's government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement agreed to a framework protocol on the role of state and religion and the right of the south to self-determination. In Oct. 2002, the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding that called for an end to hostilities and for an end to restrictions on humanitarian access to parts of the country. The two parties signed a declaration in Nov. 2004 to conclude a comprehensive peace agreement within months, and they signed such an agreement on Jan. 9, 2005.)
Organ Transplant for HIV-Positive Donors (last updated October 16, 2004) (back to top)
Dr. Cordey did commit a felony under Illinois law by performing an organ transplant from a HIV-positive donor, but just two weeks later, that law was indeed changed to allow such a procedure.
On and around July 4, 2004, when the “Try Carter” episode takes place, Illinois law held that “no person may intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently use the sperm, corneas, bones, organs, or other human tissue of a donor who has tested positive for exposure to HIV or any other identified causative agent of AIDS.”
Less than two weeks later, on July 16, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois signed a law to allow organ donations by HIV-positive people so that the organs could be used by others who are HIV-positive. Illinois’s law was the first in the United States. Specifically, the act adds an exception that states that “it is not a violation … for a person to perform a solid organ transplant of an organ from a HIV infected donor to a person who has tested positive for exposure to HIV or any other identified causative agent of AIDS and who is in immediate threat of death unless the transplant is performed.”
The change in law was a result of House Bill 3857, which was sponsored by state Rep. Larry McKeon, a Democrat from Chicago, who s. The bill was introduced in October 2003, was passed by both houses on May 5, 2004, and was sent to the governor for his signature on June 3, 2004. As Carter said, the bill was awaiting Blagojevich’s signature when the episode took place.
“This law is going to save many lives. There are numerous HIV positive patients in the final stages of liver failure who are anxiously awaiting an organ. Now that we can use organs from others who are HIV positive, and an organ match can be made, we have the potential to save and prolong lives,” McKeon said in a statement.
As Carter and Cordey indicated, federal authorities have reportedly raised concerns about whether the state law is consistent with federal law prohibiting organ donations by people with HIV. It is unclear how this will be resolved, but Illinois officials reportedly believe that exceptions can be arranged.
Sources: Office of the Governor, Governor Blagojevich signs bill allowing HIV-infected individuals to donate organs, July 15, 2004 press release available on-line here. State Rep. Larry McKeon, Illinois governor signs historic transplant bill, July 10, 2004 press release available on-line here. Monica Davey, New Illinois law permits organ donors with H.I.V., New York Times, July 16, 2004.
Trafficking in Persons (last updated January 25, 2004) (back to top)
Trafficking in persons is a worldwide phenomenon in which massive numbers of people are transported across borders in order to be exploited by their transporters, a phenomenon that results in thousands of people being brought into the United States. In recent years, the practice has been seen as reaching epidemic proportions, fueled by economic disparity, regional instability, and the sex industry.
Trafficking is similar to the smuggling of migrants but is seen as more of a distinct problem because trafficking involves migrants who never consented to being transported or whose consent was rendered meaningless by the coercive or deceptive actions of their traffickers. Trafficking also involves an ongoing exploitation of the victims once they reach their destination; many trafficking victims are forced to work in sweat shops or in the sex industry in order to fulfill obligations to their traffickers. Trafficking also seems to involve many more women and children.
Many countries, including the United States, have taken measures in recent years to combating the practice, such as enacting new anti-trafficking laws, recognizing the problem as a human-rights violation, and prosecuting offenders.
Estimates as to Extent
About 800,000 to 900,000 people are trafficked annually, with between 18,000 and 20,000 people (about 2 percent) being brought into the United States, according to a May 2003 estimate by the United States. This figure has been cited by the U.S. State Department and the Department of Justice in its 2003 trafficking reports.
An earlier estimate by the CIA in 1999 found that 700,000 to two million people were trafficked globally each year, with about 50,000 (mostly women and children) trafficked into the United States (30,000 from Southeast Asia, 10,000 from Latin America, 4,000 from the former Soviet Union, and 1,000 from other operations). The U.S. Department of Justice in its 2003 report said that any differences between the two estimates reflects better data collection, not a trend.
U.S. Efforts
The United States has taken some efforts to control the problem, notably with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act enacted in October 2000, which created a new crime of forced labor that captures slavery-like practices, criminalized trafficking, and increased penalties for such crimes. It also provided more assistance for victims of trafficking, such as eligibility for benefits and some guaranteed protections.
- Prosecutions. The Department of Justice in 1998 established the Worker Exploitation Task Force, which coordinated the prosecution of traffickers. It has devoted more resources to prosecuting traffickers since then and reported 128 open investigations as of March 2003, almost twice as many as in January 2001. In FY 2001-02, federal prosecutors brought 20 cases, charged 79 defendants, and achieved 51 convictions and guilty pleas.
- Sanctions. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act required the U.S. State Department to submit an annual report on countries' progress towards ending trafficking. In 2003, the United States began imposing sanctions on a few countries (Burma, Cuba and North Korea) for their lack of anti-trafficking efforts.
- Support for Overseas Programs . The United States has also helped fund a wide variety of programs in other countries that help address the circumstances leading to people resorting to being trafficked. Some programs include researching the extent of trafficking, improving school attendance, offering job training to women, and media campaigns.
The United States has not yet ratified a United Nations protocol that was promulgated in November 2000 and that came into effect in December 2003. This protocol specifically defined "trafficking in persons" for the first time and called for measures against global trafficking such as providing victim protection and implementing law enforcement measures against traffickers. It is officially known as the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, a.k.a. the "Protocol on Trafficking in Persons."
The United States joined 80 other countries in signing this protocol in December 2000 but has not yet ratified it. The protocol was criticized by some in the United States as legalizing prostitution, though the protocol clearly stated that it did not weaken existing laws within each signing country and simply recognized that some countries had laws allowing for some kinds of prostitution.
The problem of trafficking is not new. In the early 20th century, 12 countries, including the United States, ratified the International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade, which urged governments to prohibit "procuration of women and girls for immoral purposes abroad," and the United States thus passed the 1910 Mann Act, which forbids such transportation. In the mid-20th century, 49 nations ratified the UN's 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.
Sources: The State Department's third annual trafficking in persons report (June 2003) is available here. The Department of Justice's report on efforts to combat trafficking (August 2003) is available on-line here. Amy O'Neill Richard, International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A contemporary manifestation of slavery and organized crime (Center for the Study of Intelligence, November 1999), available via the Central Intelligence Agency as a PDF file here. The United Nations has information about trafficking and its protocol on-line here. Many resources are available via the Protection Project, on-line here. Testimony of Ralph F. Boyd, assistant attorney general for civil rights, "Implementation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act," November 29, 2001, before the House of Representatives' Committee on International Relations, available here. The Sex Trade: Trafficking of Women and Children in Europe and the United States, a hearing before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Government Printing Office, June 28, 1999). International Trafficking in Women and Children, a hearing before the Senate's Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Government Printing Office, February 22 and April 4, 2000).
Hate Crimes : Statistics (last updated January 18, 2003) (back to top)
Hate-crime statistics reported to the FBI from 1996 to 2001 show that hate crimes are perpetrated most often against blacks, homosexuals and Jews, but also show that the number of such crimes against Muslims and against people based on their non-Hispanic ethnicity or national origin increased dramatically from 2000 to 2001, probably because of reactions to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
As reported by the FBI, the overall number of hate crimes increased 20 percent from 2000 to 2001 largely based on such crimes directed against Muslims and based on victims' non-Hispanic ethnicity or national origin.
Specific incidents such as the October 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard and the 2001 hate crimes towards Muslims have drawn national attention, but it is still up for debate whether hate-crimes are in fact becoming more common or whether they are simply better reported now. Those who say that the incidence of hate-crimes has risen in recent years may not be taking into account a long-term view of history or making proper comparisons with earlier eras.
The following chart reflects FBI statistics from 1996 to 2001, which includes data from law-enforcement agencies covering roughly 85 percent of the nation; reports from earlier years had considerably fewer agencies reporting and are thus less useful for comparison. For purposes of such data collection, hate crimes are defined by federal law as "crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity."
In 2000, with agencies covering 84.2 percent of the nation reporting, there were 8,603 bias-motivated incidents involving 9,430 separate offenses, 9,924 victims, and 7,530 known distinguishable offenders. Of these, most were based on race (53.8 percent), followed by religion (18.3 percent), sexual orientation (16.1%), ethnicity/national origin (11.3 percent), and a small few against the disabled or based on multiple biases.
Racially-motivated hate crimes in 2000 were mostly anti-Black (66%), followed by anti-white (20%) and anti-Asian (6%); Hispanics are not included here but under the anti-ethnicity category. Religion-based hate crimes were mostly against Jews (75%); crimes against Muslims represented 2% of such religion-based hate crimes. Sexual-orientation hate crimes were directed mostly towards male homosexuals (69%) and then against lesbians (14%), with another 14% classified simply as against homosexuals without differentiation between males and females; 2 percent were against heterosexuals.
Most offenses were against persons (65%) and usually involved intimidation (35 percent of all hate-crime offenses) or some kind of non-fatal assault; aggravated assaults were less common, and murders and non-negligent manslaughters were rare. Of the offenses not directed against people, most involved vandalism (29 percent of all hate crimes).
Sources: The FBI's annual hate-crime reports are available on-line here. Making Hate a Crime: From Social Movement to Law Enforcement, Valerie Jenness and Ryken Grattet (Russell Sage Foundation, 2001). James B. Jacobs and Kimberly Potter, Hate Crimes : Criminal Law & Identity Politics (Oxford University Press, 1998).
Same-Sex Couples' Right to Adopt (last updated April 30, 2004) (back to top)
In the April 8 episode, Dr. Weaver's partner is injured on the job and then dies during an operation. Dr. Weaver then tries to go pick up their son (whom her partner gave birth to) but is not allowed access by her partner's family. She then faces a custody battle with her partner's family because she had not yet legally adopted her son.
This points very strongly at the problems some same-sex couples with children face because some states do not fully recognize the parental rights that those in a same-sex couple might have with regards to the children they have been raising together. Because many states do not allow unmarried couples to adopt a child and because every state but Massachusetts and Vermont bars same-sex marriage or its legal equivalent, whether a same-sex couple could adopt is unclear in many states. Moreover, two states, Florida and New Hampshire, have laws specifically preventing gay people from adopting.
When faced with the issue, courts in many states have allowed same-sex couples to adopt when one partner is a biological parent and one is not. Such adoptions are sometimes called co-parent adoptions, same-sex adoptions or "second parent" adoptions. For example, New York's highest court ruled in 1995 that a biological parent's partner could adopt the biological parent's child without terminating the biological parent's parental rights.
According to one report, courts in more than 20 states - including Illinois - have allowed second parent adoptions. However, because Dr. Weaver had not gone through the adoption proceedings to get such legal rights for the child she was raising with her partner, she can and is facing a difficult custody battle and may be found to have lost her custody and visitation rights.
For more on Florida's ban on gay adoptive parents, go here.
Sources: The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse has a report on second parent adoptions and the states that have allowed them on-line here. The 1995 case in which New York law is held to allow second parent adoptions is on-line here.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (last updated July 27, 2003) (back to top)
Formerly known as Zaire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been wracked by a devastating civil war involving its neighbors since August 1998, but developments since late 2002 have increased hopes for an eventual peace. Nevertheless, fighting continues, especially in the Ituri area in the country's northeastern region.
About two to five million people have died because of the conflict, according to various estimates. According to a 2003 mortality study by the International Rescue Committee, the DRC's civil war resulted in at least 3.3 million deaths from August 1998 to November 2002, or more deaths than any conflict but World War II. In an April 8, 2003 press release, IRC President George Rupp called the war "a humanitarian catastrophe of horrid and shocking proportions … [T]he death toll from all the recent wars in the Balkans don't even come close. Yet, the crisis has received scant attention from international donors and the media."
The civil war grew out of major upheaval in the middle and late 1990s. President Laurent-Desire Kabila took control of the government and the capitol city of Kinshasa in 1997, but he was challenged by forces primarily in the eastern part of the country that were still loyal to Mobutu and were backed by neighboring countries Rwanda and Uganda. This conflict began in August 1998, drew in other African countries and has been called "Africa's world war" by some.
Steps towards peace have been gradual. In 1999, the DRC and its allies signed a ceasefire agreement with Rwanda and Uganda, and the United Nations then deployed a peacekeeping mission (known as MONUC) to the DRC to help monitor implementation of that agreement. In July 2002, the presidents of the DRC and of Rwanda signed the Pretoria Accord, and Rwanda accordingly withdrew its forces throughout late 2002. The DRC then signed a ceasefire agreement with the two main rebel groups on December 30, 2002.
A new transitional government was established in July 2003 with Joseph Kabila, who succeeded his father, remaining as president, and with leaders of the two main rebel groups (the Congolese Rally for Democracy (CGD) and the Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC)) serving as vice-presidents.
Background
The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of two African countries commonly known as the Congo, both named after the Congo River basin. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the second-largest land area and third-largest population of sub-Saharan Africa, with a size about that of the United States east of the Mississippi, and has seen widespread war and several changes in power since the late 1990s. By contrast, the Republic of Congo is a small nation about the size of New Mexico that had a four-month conflict in 1997 but an uneasy democracy since then.
The DRC went through many names with changes in power over the 20th century. It began the century under the control of the Belgian king and then the Belgian government, and was known as the Belgian Congo from 1907 to 1960. It was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo when given independence in 1960, and retained that name until Joseph Mobutu (later known as Mobutu Sese Seko) took over the government, first as a military leader, and then as a self-declared president. Mobutu renamed the country Zaire in 1970 and retained power for decades.
Changes occurred in the mid- and late-1990s as the ethnic fighting in neighboring Rwanda spilled over into Zaire. One million refugees fled into Zaire in 1994, and a coalition led by Laurent-Desire Kabila began military operations to oust Mobutu in 1996. Mobutu was forced into exile in May 1997, and Kabila's forces then took the capital of Kinshasha unopposed. Kabila declared himself president and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of Congo.
That change in power and name did not end conflicts in the DRC, and war has continued to plague the country. Kabila tried expelling the Rwanda troops in August 1998, prompting army mutinies and an internal war between government troops and armed opposition, with both sides supported by different neighboring countries. DRC forces are supported by Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, while opposition forces are supported by Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. Kabila himself was assassinated in January 2001, and his son, Joseph Kabila, assumed power.
Sources: Information on the UN mission in the DRC is on-line here, including detailed background information. The International Rescue Committee is on-line here; its mortality study of the Democratic Republic of Congo was published on April 8, 2003. The United States Department of State's background notes on the Democratic Republic of Congo and on the Republic of Congo, on-line via the State Department's site here. Information also from reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the World Bank.
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