No more nature.

Originally uploaded by carrieteicher

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrieteicher/2633264859/

This is an amazing quote from the movie The Wackness. .. “I look at the dopeness. You look at the wackness.”.

PHR is working together with Human Rights First and other
advocacy groups to ask the G8 countries - US, Canada, Japan, the
UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Russia - to act on Darfur.

In two weeks, the G8 leaders meet in Japan for their annual
Summit to debate action on issues of global concern. If the
violence in Darfur - which has left more than 300,000 people
dead and caused more than 2 million to flee their homes - is not
a matter of global concern, then what is?

The G8 Summit comes at a perilous time for both Darfur and the
whole of Sudan. Intensified violence in Darfur has resulted in
more death and displacement, and recent fighting in the Abyei
region of Sudan suggests the unraveling of the fragile
North/South peace agreement. 

The government of Sudan and the entire world will be watching
the G-8 Summit closely. Last week, over 40 non-governmental
organizations, representing all G8 nations and Sudan, sent an
Open Letter to the G8 Leaders and Foreign Ministers, calling on
them to demand:

– An immediate stop to violence in Darfur;
– A halt to arms transfers, directly or indirectly, to Darfur
in violation of the U.N. arms embargo;
– Rapid deployment of the peacekeeping force in Darfur, UNAMID;
– A reinvigorated peace process;
– Justice and accountability for atrocities committed.

Please join us and activists around the world in pressuring G-8
leaders to take a strong stand - including a promise to act -
against violence in Darfur and Sudan.

Take action today; sign the petition at Human Rights First:
http://actnow-phr.org/ct/S1e_El51WzSy/

The Trapeze Swinger (Iron and Wine)

Guaranteed (Eddie Vedder)

New Soul (Yael Naim)

Spring Street (Dar Williams)

Pink Moon (Nick Drake)

Home for Now (Patrick Park)

You Could be Happy (Snow Patrol)

Got No Water (Matisyahu)

Hail to Whatever You Found In the Sunlight (Rilo Kiley)

Rodeo Clowns (G.Love and Special Sauce)

Girl America (Mat Kearney)

Lazuz (HaDag Nahash)

Summer Never Ends (Northern State)

Jardin d’Eden (MC Solaar)

Tree Hugger (Antsy Pants)

Dream Life of Rand McNally (Jason Mraz)

Call on governments to lift HIV travel restrictions
Introduction

In advance of the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York from June 10- 11, the World AIDS Campaign and the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance urge organizations to sign onto a letter from civil society to the UN missions and Heads of State of countries that impose travel restrictions on people living with HIV.

We join with other members of civil society in condemning such restrictions as discriminatory and in contradiction to the commitments made through the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration. We urge governments that continue to impose travel restriction on people living with HIV to lift these, whether short or long-term.

ignatures will be collected via email until June 5. To sign on, email the name of your organization and country to universalaccess2010@icaso.org. Signatures will also be collected during the civil-society pre-meeting taking place the day before (June 9) of the High Level Meeting in New York.

background:

When the HIV and AIDS epidemic was identified in the early 1980s and
little was
understood about the disease, many countries established travel
restrictions in an
effort to prevent the virus from entering their borders. Such measures
included
mandatory HIV testing for persons seeking entry to the country and
negative HIV
status declarations by would-be entrants. Based on these mandatory tests and
declarations, a number of countries have excluded from entry people living
with HIV
or people suspected of being infected.

Despite the medical advances that have made HIV a manageable disease, and
a general
consensus from the public health community that travel restrictions are
inappropriate
and discriminatory in nature, over 70 countries still impose some form of
restrictions, citing two main reasons - to protect the national public
health and to
avoid the economic costs of providing health care and social assistance to
people
affected by HIV and AIDS.

These travel restrictions can take on different forms, including
restrictions on
people wishing to enter or remain in a country for a short stay such as
business,
personal visits or tourism; or for longer periods, such as labour migration,
employment, asylum or refugee resettlement, or study. Of the countries with
restrictions in place, some 10 countries bar people living with HIV from
entering or
staying in their country for any reason or length of time.[1] Countries
requiring
special attention include: Burnei, China, Iraq, Qatar, South Korea, Libya,
Oman,
Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sudan, Yemen, United Arab Emirates and the United
States.

The 2001 Declaration of Commitments on HIV/AIDS saw governments agreeing
to “enact,
strengthen or enforce as appropriate legislation, regulations and other
measures to
eliminate all forms of discrimination against, and to ensure the full
enjoyment of
all human rights and fundamental freedoms by people living with HIV/AIDS”,
and in the
2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS governments committed to
intensifying efforts
to eliminate all forms of discrimination directed towards people living
with HIV and
AIDS. Also, the report of the consultation on international travel and HIV
infection
of the WHO, April 1987 states “HIV-related travel restrict ions have no
valid public
health rationale and may in fact undermine HIV prevention and other
efforts to stop
the epidemic”.

Unfortunately, these commitments are not being kept.
What can YOU Do?

As part of a wide coalition of civil society organizations, we encourage
you to sign
on to letter below and take other steps as an individual or as an
organization to
join the call to countries to lift any form of HIV- related travel
restrictions
policies and/or laws.

Sign on to the letter below by sending your organization’s name and
country to
universalaccess2010@icaso.org no later than June 5.

Find out the status of any travel restrictions imposed by your country.
The list of
countries with HIV-related travel restrictions is always changing. Check
up-do-date
information before you advocate with a specific government. (For more
detailed
information country-by country, visit http://www.eatg.org/hivtravel
www.eatg.org/hivtravel or www.aidshilfe.de)

Use the upcoming 2008 UN High Level Meeting on AIDS as a moment to press
for new
commitments (and action) by your own government and others to remove travel
restrictions. This could be a very positive example of progress.

Use the 2008 UN High Level Meeting on AIDS to begin to strategize about
national
level action to oppose HIV-related travel restrictions.

Inform the media about the issue and the discriminatory practices of many
countries.

Do not hold international conferences in countries with HIV-related travel
restrictions. Future UN High Level Meetings or Reviews on AIDS should not
be held in
countries with such restrictions.

Raise awareness among your networks and constituency about the travel
restrictions.
Many people are not even aware that such restrictions exist.

Advocate with others: Create a letter writing campaign to officials in your
government. You can advocate at all levels of government: from your local
representatives all the way up the President or Prime Minister. Work
together with
other religious communities, civil society organizations and networks of
people
living with HIV. Make sure you let the media know about your plans.

Lobby your government officials to speak out against HIV-related travel
restrictions
at 2008 UN High Level Meeting on AIDS.

Text of the Letter:

Civil Society Letter on HIV-related Travel Restrictions Addressed to the
UN Missions
and Heads of State in Countries with Restrictions

Dear Excellency,

As we approach the 2008 UN high-level meeting on AIDS, all governments and
the global
community are called to review the progress and performance in achieving
universal
access to treatment, care, support and prevention by 2010.

As leaders within civil society, we are writing to ask for your urgent
attention and
leadership in removing your country’s travel restrictions (short or
long-term) that
restrict access to people, based solely on their HIV status. These
restrictions are
discriminatory and are contrary to the commitments made through the 2001
Declaration
of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration.

We are asking you to consider announcing in New York, plans to lift your
country’s
restrictions. This is the right thing to do. It does not create financial
or other
burdens. And as civil society, we are ready to stand with you in making and
implementing such a commitment. This would be a noteworthy step and a sign
of real
leadership at the high-level meeting on June 10 -11 in New York.

Overview

HIV-related travel restrictions are not something new. They have existed
since the
beginning of the epidemic, but are increasingly obsolete and
discriminatory in a
world with more access to treatment and ever-increasing mobility.

Today, there are more than 70 countries that still impose some form of
HIV- specific
restrictions on the entry and residence of positive people. Of these, some 10
countries bar HIV positive people from entering or staying in their
country for any
reason or length of time. There are close to 30 countries that deport
people once
their HIV infection is discovered. More than 70 countries do not have HIV
specific
travel restrictions. For the remaining 49 countries, the information is
either
contradictory or unavailable.[2]

The most visible impact is when HIV positive people-against the principle
of the
greater involvement of people living with HIV-are denied entry into
countries where
major conferences or meetings on HIV are being held. This robs people
living with HIV
from opportunities to contribute their experience and expertise, while also
diminishing the credibility and accomplishment of the conference or
meeting. This
situation is very problematic at UN high-level meetings on AIDS held in
the United
States, which has a complete ban on the entry of people living with HIV
(HIV positive
delegates, civil society representatives, UN staff, religious leaders,
media, trade
union members, and business people). In order to enter the United States
legally to
attend such meetings, people living with HIV must disclose their status in a
discriminatory and humiliating waiver process. The often lengthy and
intrusive
process to receive a visa waiver is all the more stigmatizing and
discriminatory,
when a mark is placed in a person’s passport, indicating the waiver and
its purpose.

However, in terms of largest impact and numbers of people affected, HIV-
related
travel restrictions are felt most by labour migrants. Prospective migrants
are either
barred from entering a country when determined to be HIV positive through
a mandatory
pre-departure HIV test, or are deported when required to take a periodic
HIV test
during their residence abroad, and test positively. Rarely is this type of
HIV-testing confidential or linked to any other services, either in a
person’s
country of origin or destination. This exposes to and places people who
are already
highly vulnerable in situations of great discrimination and economic
devastation.
Similarly, people living with HIV, who want to cross borders for the
purposes of
family reunification, suffer from the same restrictions.

Fulfilling existing commitments

The 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS saw governments agree to
“enact,
strengthen or enforce as appropriate legislation, regulations and other
measures to
eliminate all forms of discrimination against, and to ensure the full
enjoyment of
all human rights and fundamental freedoms by people living with HIV/AIDS”
(para.58).
The 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS saw governments commit to
intensifying
efforts towards these ends (para.29). These commitments are not being kept.

The realities are: HIV-related travel restrictions have no valid public
health
rationale and may in fact undermine HIV prevention and other efforts to
stop the
epidemic. This has been definitively stated by the World Health
Organization and the
World Health Assembly on several occasions. [3] HIV-specific travel
restrictions are
discriminatory and contribute to the stigmatization of people living with
HIV.
HIV-related travel restrictions are anachronisms, and highly inappropriate
in the age
of globalization, increased travel, treatment for HIV, and national and
international
commitments to universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and
support.
There is no demonstrated proof that the spectre of a huge negative
economic impact on
countries without travel restrictions is valid. In fact, the evidence
points to the
opposite in a country like Brazil, where there is universal access to
treatment and
there are no travel restrictions. There has been no flood of HIV positive
travellers
(short or long-term) streaming across the borders to claim treatment,
placing a
burden on Brazilian society. Long-term travel restrictions that single out
HIV, as
opposed to comparable conditions, are also discriminatory. Any restriction
based on
fear of costs must be based on an individual determination that such costs
will
actually be incurred. Any human rights or humanitarian concerns, such as
need for
asylum, should always trump economic considerations. The commitment of
organizations
and governments to the GIPA principle (Greater Involvement of People
Living with HIV
or AIDS) is regularly undermined by HIV-related travel restrictions, when HIV
positive speakers, resource people and leaders, cannot enter countries to
take part
in meetings, programs or planning.

UNAIDS and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are
working
together against such restrictions and have created an International Task
Team on
HIV-related Travel Restrictions, which comprises representatives of
governments, UN
agencies and civil society, including people living with HIV. They will be
issuing
their report and recommendations later this year, as well as providing
tools to
support governments in taking the steps to remove their restrictions. The
Global Fund
decided that it would not hold Board Meetings in countries that restrict
short-term
entry of people living with HIV or require prospective HIV-positive
visitors to
declare their HIV status on entry.

What you can do We ask you to rescind HIV-specific travel restrictions;
and instead,
take steps to ensure access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support
for mobile
populations, both nationals and non-nationals. We are asking you to use
the upcoming
2008 UN high-level meeting on AIDS as a moment to announce the elimination
of these
restrictions by your government. We are asking you to take up the issue of
travel
restrictions with other governments where they are applied to your
citizens seeking
to travel or migrate. We are asking you to meet with people living with
HIV, who
will be in New York at the high-level meeting to hear first-hand their
experience of
discrimination and stigmatization caused by travel restrictions. We
implore you to
not hold international conferences that are relevant to the response to
HIV and AIDS
in countries with HIV-related travel restrictions. Future UN high-level
meetings or
Reviews on AIDS should not be held in countries with such restrictions.

Yours respectfully,

[list of organizations]

This letter can also be downloaded at:
http://www.e-alliance.ch/media/media-7297.doc
For more information, please visit:
EATG website: http://www.eatg.org/hivtravel www.eatg.org/hivtravel

Deutsche AIDS Hilfe website: www.aidshilfe.de

Keep the Promise Campaign Bulletin of the EAA: The EAA website:
http://www.e-alliance.ch/media/media-7264.pdf#page=1&view=Fit

Ua2010.org:
http://www.ua2010.org/en/UA2010/Universal-Access/Travel-Restrictions

*********************************************************************************************************************

For past Action Alerts and Bulletins from the HIV and AIDS Campaign,

see http://www.e-alliance.ch/newsletters.jsp

The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is a broad international network of
churches and
Christian organizations cooperating in advocacy on global trade and HIV
and AIDS. The
Alliance is based in Geneva, Switzerland. For more information, see
http://www.e-alliance.ch/

*********************************************************************************************************************

[1] This information is taken from the web site of the European AIDS
Treatment Group,
and based on a survey which was originally done by the German AIDS
Federation in 1999
and has been continually updated. The information has not been independently
verified. See http://www.eatg.org/hivtravel/

[2] This information is taken from the web site of the European AIDS
Treatment Group,
and based on a survey which was originally done by the German AIDS
Federation in 1999
and has been continually updated. The information has not been independently
verified. See http://www.eatg.org/hivtravel/

[3] Report of the consultation on international travel and HIV infection.
Geneva,
World Health Organization, April 1987; WHO/SPA/GLO/787.1.
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1987/WHO_SPA_GLO_87.1.pdf; Statement on
screening of
international travellers for infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus,
WHO,
WHO/GPA/INF/88.3 (1988).; WHA Resolution 41.24 Avoidance of discrimination
in relation
to HIV-infected people and people with AIDS (198

Bring Life Saving Global AIDS Legislation to a Vote Now

I just found this photo/pdf again while looking for something else.