The AI aims to hold up a mirror to the U.S. using the model of the U.S. State Department’s travel advice for U.S. travelers to other countries.

Visitors to the U.S. “cannot reasonably expect to be free from harm”, AI USA’s Ernest Coverson said in a statement on Wednesday, advising people that “the country does not adequately protect people’s right to be safe.”

At the same time, a report by AI – In the Line of Fire: Human Rights and the U.S. Gun Violence Crisis – presents chilling facts that show the condition of the country, which sometimes appear worse than many countries the U.S. advises on human rights.

Amnesty specifically warned racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities to be on their toes due to “recent attacks linked to white supremacist ideology”.
Those travelers who brave the gun-fetishists, AI claims are terrorizing the American streets, are advised to “be extra vigilant at all times and be wary of the ubiquity of firearms among the population.”

Travelers were also warned to keep away from “places where large number of people gathers”, i.e. all tourist attractions, and bars, nightclubs, and casinos.

Accusing the U.S. of “prioritizing gun ownership over basic human rights”, AI shamed the U.S. government for “ignoring its international obligations to people’s right and safety” – a curious argument to make given that the U.S. is not exactly famous for honoring international agreements and respecting obligations.

The unprecedented travel warning was accompanied by a familiar list of “common sense reforms” including strict background checks, a national firearm registry, and a ban on high capacity magazines and assault weapons, plus a plea to pass gun control legislation – some of which already exists at the state level – federally.

Many on social media resented Amnesty’s decision to frame the “rampant gun violence” in the U.S. as a “human rights crisis.” They saw it as a domestic issue.

Some others pointed out that “we have laws against murder. How effective has that been?”

Some others reminded Amnesty that the U.S. was responsible for many worse human rights crises than a few mass shootings and wondered, “when do international entities step in to force the U.S. to stop its cruel, inhumane practices? When do other nations sanction us?”

Amnesty’s statement comes on the heels of similar warnings from the foreign ministries of Uruguay and Venezuela and the Japanese Consul in Detroit, all of which issued traveler alerts following two deadly mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio over the weekend that killed 31 people.

“Travelers to the United States should remain cautious that the country does not adequately protect people’s right to be safe, regardless of who they might be. People in the United States cannot reasonably expect to be free from harm – a guarantee of not being shot is impossible,” said Coverson, campaign manager for the End Gun Violence Campaign at AI USA.

“Once again, it is chillingly clear that the U.S. government is unwilling to ensure protection against gun violence,” said the AI official.

The action called attention to the extent to which all aspects of life in the U.S. have been compromised in some way by unfettered access to guns, without comprehensive and uniform regulation of their acquisition and use.

The AI said: By prioritizing gun ownership over basic human rights, the U.S. government is willfully and systematically failing on multiple levels and ignoring its international obligations to protect people’s rights and safety.

In the Line of Fire 

A report by AI – In the Line of Fire: Human Rights and the U.S. Gun Violence Crisis – examined how all aspects of American life have been compromised in some way by the unfettered access to guns, with no attempts at meaningful national regulation.

Last month, AI published the report examining how survivors of gun violence in the U.S. suffer years of trauma and pain due to a destructive combination of government policies, which ignore their needs.

AI’s report is a critical assessment of existing data and research related to the scope of gun violence in the U.S., and an analysis of U.S. laws and policies – where these exist – governing the acquisition, possession and use of firearms by private individuals, in the context of international human rights laws and standards.

The report defines the term “gun violence” broadly, encompassing interpersonal and communitywide violence using firearms; implicit threats of violence that firearms represent in certain circumstances; misuse of firearms in the home; and acts of self-harm by firearms, including accidents and suicide.

Firearms: Over 38,000 people were killed  

The U.S. government has allowed gun violence to become a human rights crisis, according to In the Line of Fire ….

The report said:

“While most countries have licensing and regulation systems in place for firearms, the United States lacks measures like a national registration, and 30 states allow handguns to be owned without a license or permit.”

Acknowledging the decades of work by impacted communities and activists, the report aims to support those efforts by placing the problem of gun violence in the framework of universally recognized human rights, and offering solutions within that framework that the U.S. should adopt to address the crisis.

The report said:

In 2016, 38,658 people were killed and 116,000 suffered non-fatal injuries due to firearms in the U.S. Of these 38,658 deaths, 22,938 were suicides and 14,415 were homicides (an added 495 deaths were unintentional, 300 were of an undetermined intent and 510 were legal interventions).

The report examines the ways in which gun violence affects communities of color, where gun violence is the leading cause of death for men and boys between the ages of 15 and 34, who are more than 10 times more likely to be killed by a gun than their white counterparts. Women facing domestic violence and children are also disproportionately affected.

The report explores the consequences for the thousands of people who survive gun violence.

Daily 317 people are shot

The report said:

On average, more than 317 people are shot every day and survive – at least long enough to get to the hospital.

The mental, physical, and financial consequences of their injuries shape their lives forever. This is a public health crisis of astonishing proportion – with remarkably little government response, given the life-long effects on many survivors.

Dr. Thomas Scalea, director of the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, spoke to AI about a patient who exemplifies the struggles faced by survivors: “I have one guy [who] had multiple shots. I’ve operated on him maybe 15 or 20 times in 18 months, because he had a lot of problems, he was really sick. But I got him through it and we closed his colostomy and he is fixed and he is known as a ‘great save.’ He was also shot in the arm, and has severe nerve damage and he made a living moving stuff, picking things up. You need two arms to pick things up, so he is disabled and he cannot work. And that’s it, there is no re-education or training. And in order to get disability you have to be able to negotiate the health care system, and that’s hard enough for me to do, so how do you think it’s going to work out for him?”

106 individuals die daily from firearms

The report said:
 

• In 2016, an average of 106 individuals died per day from firearm related deaths. Per capita, this is significantly higher than in other industrialized countries.
• The U.S. has both the highest absolute and highest per capita rates of gun ownership in the world, yet the U.S. does not sufficiently restrict access to firearms for those most at risk of abusing them. There is no uniform system to track firearm owners.
• The right to live free from violence, discrimination and fear has been superseded by a sense of entitlement to own a practically unlimited array of deadly weapons, without sufficient regulations on their acquisition, possession and use.
• In the face of clear evidence of persistent firearm violence, high rates of gun ownership, and ease of access to firearms by individuals likely to misuse them, the U.S. is failing to meet its obligation to protect and promote human rights pursuant to international law.
• The sheer volume of people killed or injured each year in the USA by gun violence is staggering.
• Gun violence in the USA affects people nationwide whether they live in a city, suburb, or rural community, but often in dissimilar and disparate ways.
• Firearm homicides disproportionately impact communities of color and data suggests that the rate of gun homicides has increased in recent years.
• Federal law does not currently require universal comprehensive background checks with each and every transfer or purchase of a firearm in the USA.
• Studies have shown that 22% of all firearm acquisitions are conducted without any background check. States mandating universal background check requirements for firearm purchases have been found to have significantly less firearms trafficking, substantially fewer firearm-involved suicides, 47% fewer women killed in firearm-related violence by an intimate partner, and 53% fewer police officers killed on duty.
• Even when a background check is required, it may not be adequately comprehensive or accurate because relevant records are often not properly and/or rapidly submitted for inclusion in state and federal databases.

1,637 children died in 2016

The report said:
 

• In 2016, 1,637 children died from firearm-related violence in the USA. Of these, 862 were homicides and 633 were suicides (an added 104 firearm deaths were accidents, 31 were undetermined intent, and 7 were the result of legal intervention).
• Gun violence impacts children across the USA whether through unintentional or intentional violence, or as a mechanism for self-harm. This is due, at least in part, to the fact that an estimated 4.6 million children live in households with loaded and unlocked firearms. Children all over the country are also at risk of gun violence in their schools.
• 30 states allow the open carrying of a handgun in public without any license or permit
• 12 states allow individuals to carry concealed weapons in public without any license or permit
• All 50 states and Washington, D.C. allow for some form of concealed carrying of firearms in public
• Reporting of lost or stolen firearms by private individuals and unlicensed dealers is not mandatory under federal law and therefore there is no precise data for the number of firearms lost or stolen in the U.S.
• While African Americans represented approximately 13% of the U.S. population in 2016, they made up 58.5% of gun homicides nationwide.
• A black male aged 15-34 was more than 10X more likely to die from firearm homicide than a white male of the same age group.
• More than half of all women murdered in the U.S. are killed by current or former intimate partners, and most intimate partner homicides are committed with guns.
• The current federal framework does not provide any procedure or mechanism for the removal or surrender of firearms when a permanent restraining/protective order is issued.
• 35 states and Washington, D.C. prohibit firearm possession by persons subject to a domestic violence related restraining order. But only 27 of those states and Washington, D.C. also explicitly require or authorize relinquishment of firearms.
• In 2016, 22,938 people in the U.S. died from suicide by firearm – more than 62 a day
• Although over 100 pieces of federal legislation regarding gun violence have been introduced since the Sandy Hook school shooting, which took the lives of 20 children and six adults in 2012, the U.S. has failed to pass any meaningful federal law regulating firearms.

Recommendations

Recommendations made in the report include:
 

• Comprehensive background checks.
• National regulations for licensing and registering firearms, and required training for gun ownership.
• Ban on semi-automatic assault rifles and other military-grade weapons.
• Investment in evidence-based community violence reduction and prevention programs.
• Mandatory safe-storage laws.
• The report notes that while mass shootings have profound emotional and psychological effects and could be prevented by banning assault rifles and high-capacity firearms, such mass events only account for less than one percent of gun deaths.
• More common and less publicized are individual incidents that pervade everyday life in communities across the country.  To that end, the report shares individual stories of people affected by gun violence.
• The U.S. Congress should enact legislation requiring background checks on all firearm purchases and transfers, prior to carrying out any sale or other transfer. These background checks should be conducted indicating the absence of known risk factors for misuse.
• The U.S. Congress should ensure that federal, state and local agencies are reporting records accurately, completely, and as soon as possible to the FBI for inclusion in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
• The U.S. Congress should enact legislation mandating that firearms may only be obtained for purchase or transfer with a valid firearms license and a credible justification for ownership and use.
• Firearm licenses should not be authorized unless the following minimum conditions are met.
• The U.S. Congress should enact legislation requiring the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to register all firearms in a central national gun registry, which is digitized and searchable, and should provide appropriate funding through the legislation to support ATF’s ability to implement these systems.
• The U.S. Congress should enact legislation prohibiting the carrying of firearms in public, whether open or concealed, unless there is a credible justification for doing so and should reject federal legislation which would override existing state laws where safeguards and processes are in place to curtail misuse related to concealed carrying of firearms.
• The U.S. Congress should enact legislation requiring all lost and stolen firearms be immediately reported to local law enforcement officials.
• The U.S. Congress must pass legislation banning the sale, transfer, and possession of semi-automatic assault rifles, semi-automatic shotguns, and semi-automatic submachine guns, as well as large capacity magazines, bump stocks, and other dangerous devices.
• The U.S. Congress should acknowledge that firearm violence is a public health crisis, repeal the Dickey Amendment, and enact legislation allocating adequate funding to conduct evidence-based research on the causes and effects of gun violence, and to research and develop viable strategies for gun violence prevention to inform policy making aimed at reducing firearm related deaths and injuries. Federal, state, and tribal governments should introduce comprehensive and targeted gun safety measures to address the gun violence crisis in the USA by adopting measures to protect individuals and communities most at risk of gun violence in accordance with its obligation under international human rights law.
• The U.S. Congress should pass legislation which supports the implementation and sustained funding of evidence-based violence reduction and prevention programs.
• The U.S. Congress should pass legislation requiring the safe and secure storage of all guns and ammunition, and state legislatures should pass stringent and comprehensive safe storage and Child Access Prevention (“CAP”) laws that mandate all individuals to store all firearms unloaded under the protection of a gun lock or safety device.
• The U.S. Congress should amend the current federal framework of firearms regulation addressing firearm possession in the domestic violence context by closing all loopholes related to dating partners and adding misdemeanor and other stalking offenses as triggers prohibiting firearms possession and use; and state legislatures should pass and implement laws establishing a clear process for the immediate surrender by and removal of firearms from prohibited abusers.
• State legislatures should consider passing legislation to implement procedures, such as ERPOs, providing for the temporary removal of access to firearms for individuals who may present a risk of harm to themselves or others. Such procedures should be implemented in a manner consistent with international human rights protections.
• Federal and state authorities should ensure that survivors of gun-related violence have access to affordable and quality health care, which includes necessary, long-term health interventions, rehabilitation services, mental health care, and long-term pain management.

“The U.S. government is prioritizing gun ownership over basic human rights. While many solutions have been offered, there has been a stunning lack of political will to save lives,” said Margaret Huang, executive director of AI USA. “Despite the huge number of guns in circulation and the sheer numbers of people killed by guns each year, there is a shocking lack of federal regulations that could save thousands.”

“The ability to go about your daily life in security and dignity, free from fear, is at the very cornerstone of human rights,” said Huang. “No one’s human rights can be considered secure as long as our leaders fail to do anything about gun violence.”

Courtesy: Counter Current

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It was raining ferociously when we reached our hotel somewhere between Mcleodganj and Dharamkot on the evening of the fourth of July. We advised ourselves to stay indoors. You don’t step out on a rainy night in a terrain you don’t understand. My partner and I had settled for the TV show Durrels (based on the story of Lawrence Durrel’s family when they were in Greece) on our laptop that evening and decided to stay mostly indoors with some Momos and Thukpa (regular urban predictions). The large windows in our room and the precarious looking balcony opened to wild and dark clouds.  Behind them were the giant and magical mountains we were to explore next few days. This was meant to be a quiet holiday. The plan was to walk, trek, lounge in cafes and meditate in motion. My partner insisted I practice Wing-Chun with him. Mostly happily and sometimes not so happily, I trained with him.

Credit: Rukmini Sen

Suresh, however had some work to finish on the second day. After a large breakfast he settled in front of his laptop for the first few hours of the day. We were to meet after four hours in Mcleodganj.  The walk down the Dharamkot road is serene. Slightly slushy and slippery during the rains, but quiet nevertheless. I met old and young monks on my way down and up. Many of them were women. All the monks were in maroon robes. They looked at me, smiled and acknowledged me whenever I did the same. There were few other people on the hilly road. I clicked random photographs. Mostly of the colourful Buddhist flags.  I noticed a monk who helped a woman with a child and then he walked alone. He rested for a while alone.  Then he climbed up the road again.

Once in the mall road of Mcleodganj I decided to treat myself to some Kombucha (fermented and sweetened black or green tea good for digestion). I was very thirsty by now. So I entered this coffee shop which had many books. Once inside I skipped the books and headed towards their balcony full of bright red, pink and orange flowers. The balcony had stairs that, quite like a maze, took you to another part of the same coffee shop. This part was an open terrace. The owner of the coffee shop was friendly and political. We talked about Tibet and how Tibetans feel in Dharamshala. This conversation came back to me a few days later when a student of Buddhism became our guide at the Norbulinka monastery. He told us how most Indians were nice and curious. However, another Indian tourist was very unhappy with him because there were many dogs in the monastery. The tourist had told our young guide to go back to Tibet as according to him the Tibetans knew nothing about how a spiritual place should be kept. This student while narrating this story smilingly said “I told him we didn’t get these dogs from Tibet. This is their home”. He added that the rude tourist’s wife had smiled when he had said that.
 

Credit: Rukmini Sen

At Men-Tse-Khang which is the Tibetan Medical and Astro Institute, the Astro experts advise their clients to feed fish, dogs and animals along with poor people to resolve many life issues. For instance you may be advised to feed fish and dogs if you feel very lazy and tired.  Tibetan Buddhists clearly believe that inner harmony is possible if we also look outside and create harmony with fellow living beings not just human beings. The dogs thus are very happy in the monasteries. They are loved and fed well. None of them are, however, fat like some of the street dogs in Mumbai. May be they don’t eat plastic accidently like the animals in Mumbai.

I have wondered since that conversation with our young guide why the friendly dogs in Norbulinka had disturbed a tourist. We don’t know where the man came from and what values made him hate dogs so much! Or was it not the dogs? It was perhaps humans he didn’t understand. What makes people so sure of their own likes and dislikes? And then what is this stubborn faith that makes people hateful? What kind of values, faith and fears makes people dislike their guests?

I shudder at the thought of being a refugee, of living in exile. No community wants to migrate in such huge numbers till there is fear of life and wellbeing. Not the Buddhists of Tibet, not the Rohingya Muslims of Burma and Bangladesh, not the Bangladeshi Muslims, not the Hindus of Kashmir, not the Hindus and Sikhs of Pakistan, not the Jews of Germany.

Credit:Rukmini Sen

Buddhism, Harmony, living in exile and the free association with these words made me ruminate how the privileged travel, commute and immigrate easily and legally. The privileged can improve their state of being by legally crossing borders of state/province and nation states. However, the poor are viewed as illegal immigrants in case of national borders or an unwanted immigrant if s/he travels in his/her own country.

The poor have no right to cross borders and dream of a better life especially if s/he is not a political community another nation state can benefit from. Our young guide, a trained engineer is now studying Buddhist philosophy on his mother’s insistence. He was born in India and still belongs nowhere or so he felt when he was asked to go back to a land he knows very little about by an absolute stranger. In my many conversations in cafes, shops, meditation centres I heard people talk of their gratitude to India while they shared their pain when a few people treated them with anger and disdain.

There are different reasons given at different times to stop poor from migrating. Demography, shortage of resources, criminal leanings, religion of violence etc. We all tend to forget that our ancestors must have migrated many times, that most of our ancestors migrated from Africa! We are the same people!

I chanced upon a poetry book called SONGS OF THE ARROW by Bhuchung D. Sonam in one of the coffee shops.

He like many other Tibetans has dogs in his narrative. He is a rebel poet of sorts. Someone who denounces the middle path in his work of art. The pain of being in exile is evident.

Credit:Rukmini Sen
 
A poet’s heart must ask questions. One that needs special mention here goes somewhat like this-

A FAT DOG
My name is Migyur
I am a Fat Dog
Barking from a kennel
On a borrowed land
I am witless, shameless, gutless
But I am in charge of
This dog operation
 
Listen
My name is Migyur
I like to wag my tail
To eat all of the time
To work the least of the time
And think none of the time
I am stupid, inspid and a puppet
But I am a fat dog
And that is enough
 
My name is Migyur
I am a fat dog
Growling from my arm chair
To all other dogs
The homeless, stateless, boneless
Tails tucked between their legs
“Don’t think just bark” I order
They listen because
I am a big fat dog
 
My name is Migyur
I am a fat dog
I don’t care about
Ther fangs, bangs, gangs
But I don’t like their minds
Stirring up things
Creating chaos
Bringing change
They want a revolution
My foot! Should have said- my paw!
 
I am a fat dog
I am in charge
I give orders
Get used to me or get out!

Credit:Rukmini Sen

Sonam, the poet in exile also questions the middle path as expounded by Mahayana school of Buddhists. HH Dalai Lama also preaches the middle path of the Mahayana sect. Some in Hinayana sect consider middle path seekers as nihilists. Some in Mahayana consider their counter parts as absolutists.

Sonam writes –

Dog Dead
There is no such thing
As middle path
We al gravitate to our sides
If there is a path in the middle
I would be the first to find it
I am neither here nor there…
To her right
To your left
Far from their centre
There is a dog chewing a bone
In the middle of the path
A truck comes speeding
 
When W. H Auden said “Poetry is the clear expression of mixed feelings” maybe he meant the above. His Holiness Dalai Lama’s decision to not go to war, to leave Tibet with his people, to protect his people at all cost, to keep the peace, to wait with grave patience reminds me of a story of Sri Krishna that my brother and I loved as children. His Holiness Dalai Lama is criticised by some who stayed back in Tibet and some Tibetans who crave for armed battle against China.

Credit:Rukmini Sen

In the Mahabharata we learn that Jarasandha, the King of Madgadha, was livid when he heard that Krishna had killed Kamsa, his son-in-law. His daughters-Asti and Prapti had sent a message to him that they had now become widows.

Jarasandha decided to teach Krishna and the Yadavas a lesson. He attacked Mathura seventeen times. Before Krishna and Balarama could come up with a grand plan they heard Jarasandha had entered into an armed alliance with Damghosha of Chedi, Dantavakra of Karusa, Rukmi of Vidarbha and the brothers Vind and Anuvinda of Avanti. The alliance had only a single aim-destroy Mathura and the Yadava clan. The Kingdom of Hastinapur expressed helplessness in coming to the aid of the Yadavas.
 
Krishna was the only person who repeatedly cautioned his clansmen against the war. He then hit upon the idea of shifting the capital from Mathura to Dwarka. Krishna placed the suggestion before King Ugrasena his grandfather. Ugrasena and all other courtiers and even the commanders of the Yadava army were against flight. Balarama too, wanted to fight against Jarasandha.
 
Urgasena told Krishna that if he ran away from battle field, he would be known as a Ranchod or one who has run away from a battle field. Krishna retorted that he had no worry about any new name being given to him. “I already have many names and one more does not make any difference”, he said. “Moreover, I am willing to sacrifice my reputation for saving my people and their lives”, he said.
 
Interesting descriptions about Dwarka’s construction are found in Puranas. "Fearing attack from Jarasangh and Kaalayvan on Mathura, Shri Krishna and Yadavas left Mathura and arrived at the coast of Saurashtra. They decided to build their capital in the coastal region and invoke the Vishwakarma the deity of construction. However, Vishwakarma says that the task can be completed only if Samudradev, the Lord of the sea provided some land. Shri Krishna worshipped Samudradev, who was pleased and gave them land measuring 12 yojans and the Lord Vishwakarma build Dwarka, a "city in gold".
 
While Sri Krishna and his sermons in Gita are mentioned repeatedly whenever war/battles/fights are talked about we rarely talk about how after the Mahabharata War Krishna lived for 36 years at Dwarka. At the end, the Vrshnis, Bhojas and Satvatas destroyed themselves in a fratricidal feud at Prabhasa but Krishna did not interfere to save them.
 
Like Sri Krishna, Hazrat Mohammed is also remembered for battles and wars by his detractors and many of his followers. What we often forget is that Muhammad left Mecca, in 622 CE, after he was warned about a plot to assassinate him. The migration of the Prophet and his followers from Mecca to Medina is known as Hijra or Hegira. After leaving his home in Mecca, Muhammad hid for three days in the Cave of Thawr, located south of his home city. He then travelled north and arrived at Quba' near Medina on July 2, 622. He moved from Quba' to Medina, two weeks later.

According to the Islamic faith, the Prophet was commanded by Allah to leave Mecca for Medina. The plot to assassinate him was the result of his preaching of the revelations God bestowed upon him. He could not preach in public and he had several opponents and enemies in Mecca. Medina was the place where Muhammad started to attract more and more followers.

For the next ten years, the city remained Muhammad's base, from where they marched to Mecca and conquered it without battle. Mecca was won by a treaty not by a war. Today, Medina is considered the second holiest place in Islam and is often referred to as the "City of the Prophet," home of the "Prophet's Mosque". After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, Medina remained an important centre and was considered the de facto capital of the Caliphate.

Sitting here in Norbulinka, drinking the Tibetan butter tea I can’t help but ruminate over HH Dalai Lama’s simple lines – “Nothing is permanent, not even exile”
 
On the evening of 5^th of July, when Suresh and I sat down for our late lunch we read “Untitled” –
Hope is
A counterpoint to
Disappointment,
I wear it like
A belt whose holes
Widen each day
 
This is followed by the heart breaking lines-
 
When the sun admonishes
I cram my head into
The refrigerator
To reaffirm
My allegiance to
The cold mountains.

We were told by one of the men at the coffee shop that all Tibetans shops would be close on the 6^th of July. It was HH Dalai Lama’s 81^st Birthday. We decided to visit his temple that day and watch the students of Tibet School of Arts perform. After all, we live in interesting times. We want numerous answers about resistance, war and peace.

About time we groped for at least the right questions!

(The author, Rukmini Sen, has been an electronic media journalist for twenty years. She launched and produced shows like Special Correspondent and Seedhi Baat. For last three years she has been developing film projects for various film studios. She also edits Hillele. Org)

Credit:Rukmini Sen
 

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