[{"command":"settings","settings":{"pluralDelimiter":"\u0003","suppressDeprecationErrors":true,"ajaxPageState":{"libraries":"eJxLzSvJLKmMT81NSk3RT04sKMnMz9Mpy0wtL9YHk3qJWYkVKAK5-SmlOakAd1UWCw","theme":"hrw_design","theme_token":null},"ajaxTrustedUrl":[],"views":{"ajax_path":"\/views\/ajax","ajaxViews":{"views_dom_id:blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__279854__en":{"view_name":"blog_live_feed","view_display_id":"blog_body_block","view_args":"279854","view_path":"\/blog\/content\/279854","view_base_path":null,"view_dom_id":"blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__279854__en","pager_element":0}}},"csp":{"nonce":"7yD1MYj4XW_9cJ9vhSdnbA"},"user":{"uid":0,"permissionsHash":"bc8921424f39d39c64af84232b603fadae46f840a8176c1b2436a5ee00791ac5"}},"merge":true},{"command":"add_css","data":[{"rel":"stylesheet","media":"all","href":"\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_ttdgUoxkB-pbINT5dW1cMh3IgYOCVTjCJ6Cp-XWwa0k.css?delta=0\u0026language=en\u0026theme=hrw_design\u0026include=eJxLzi9K1U8pKi1IzNFLzEqs0EnNK8ksqYxPzU1KTdFPTiwoyczP0ynLTC0v1geTern5KaU5qQBrXRXg"}]},{"command":"add_js","selector":"body","data":[{"src":"\/sites\/default\/files\/js\/js_VAWKYxPX4vFoyXs0iEPUrnc99CjyNLIu_pZawjEz9i8.js?scope=footer\u0026delta=0\u0026language=en\u0026theme=hrw_design\u0026include=eJwry0wtL9YvA5F6iVmJFQA22wZe"}]},{"command":"insert","method":"replaceWith","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__279854__en","data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__279854__en\u0022\u003E\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n \u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022blog-block__content__description rich-text pt-6 mb:pt-10 mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EEvery time I travel in South Sudan, I think of my former colleague and friend Jemera Rone, who died in Washington, DC yesterday. Jemera worked for Human Rights Watch for more than 20 years and was a true human rights pioneer, as well as a generous mentor and colleague.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\n\n\n \n\n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed align-right embedded-entity embedded-entity-type-media embedded-entity-bundle-image embedded-entity-viewmode-embeddable embed--right\u0022 xmlns:xlink=\u0022http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\u0022\u003E\n \n\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \n \n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\u0022figure figure--expand text-center info \u0022\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__media relative inline-block mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ca href=\u0022\/modal\/25560\u0022 rel=\u0022modal:open\u0022 class=\u0022figure__link\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cimg loading=\u0022lazy\u0022 srcset=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/480w\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/2c8ae19.jpg?itok=PXOxreOO 351w, \/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/2c8ae19.jpg?itok=071JQ4gt 946w\u0022 sizes=\u0022(max-width: 524px) 100px, 500px\u0022 width=\u0022946\u0022 height=\u0022946\u0022 data-responsive-image-style=\u0022embedded_images\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/2c8ae19.jpg?itok=071JQ4gt\u0022 alt=\u0022Jemera Rone\u0022\u003E\n\n\n\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__expand absolute block bottom-0 right-0 w-8 h-8 bg-white text-gray-700\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022sr-only\u0022\u003EClick to expand Image\u003C\/span\u003E\n \n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022icon fill-current w-full inline-block\u0022\u003E\n \u003Csvg viewBox=\u00220 0 20 20\u0022 fill=\u0022currentColor\u0022 role=\u0022img\u0022 focusable=\u0022false\u0022 aria-hidden=\u0022true\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cuse xlink:href=\u0022\/themes\/custom\/hrw_design\/dist\/app-drupal\/assets\/spritemap.svg?cacheBuster=250315#sprite-expand\u0022 \/\u003E\n \u003C\/svg\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/a\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022figure__info text-left font-serif text-xs md:text-sm lg:text-base mx-auto text-gray-700 mt-1\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022figure__caption\u0022\u003EJemera Rone: Working the phone in Darfur, Sudan, 2004.\n\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022figure__credit\u0022\u003E\u00a9 Olivier Bercault\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n \u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EShe opened and staffed Human Rights Watch\u0027s first field office in the early 1980s, starting the practice of placing our researchers in the midst of war zones that is now routine.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EJemera was among the first human rights investigators to document violations of international humanitarian law or \u201cthe laws of war,\u201d laying the foundation for today\u2019s research and reporting on conflict zones from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Syria.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed\u0022 data-type=\u0022image\u0022\u003E\n\n\n \n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed align-left embedded-entity embedded-entity-type-media embedded-entity-bundle-image embedded-entity-viewmode-embeddable embed--left\u0022 xmlns:xlink=\u0022http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\u0022\u003E\n \n\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \n \n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\u0022figure figure--expand text-center info \u0022\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__media relative inline-block mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ca href=\u0022\/modal\/25572\u0022 rel=\u0022modal:open\u0022 class=\u0022figure__link\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cimg loading=\u0022lazy\u0022 srcset=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/480w\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/screen_shot_2015-08-02_at_5.20.42_pm.png?itok=Eu5IruTS 480w, \/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/screen_shot_2015-08-02_at_5.20.42_pm.png?itok=W4X13-IF 946w\u0022 sizes=\u0022(max-width: 524px) 100px, 500px\u0022 width=\u0022946\u0022 height=\u0022632\u0022 data-responsive-image-style=\u0022embedded_images\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/screen_shot_2015-08-02_at_5.20.42_pm.png?itok=W4X13-IF\u0022 alt=\u0022Jemera Rone: Working in Darfur, Sudan,\u0022\u003E\n\n\n\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__expand absolute block bottom-0 right-0 w-8 h-8 bg-white text-gray-700\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022sr-only\u0022\u003EClick to expand Image\u003C\/span\u003E\n \n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022icon fill-current w-full inline-block\u0022\u003E\n \u003Csvg viewBox=\u00220 0 20 20\u0022 fill=\u0022currentColor\u0022 role=\u0022img\u0022 focusable=\u0022false\u0022 aria-hidden=\u0022true\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cuse xlink:href=\u0022\/themes\/custom\/hrw_design\/dist\/app-drupal\/assets\/spritemap.svg?cacheBuster=250315#sprite-expand\u0022 \/\u003E\n \u003C\/svg\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/a\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022figure__info text-left font-serif text-xs md:text-sm lg:text-base mx-auto text-gray-700 mt-1\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022figure__caption\u0022\u003EJemera Rone in Darfur, Sudan, 2004.\n\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022figure__credit\u0022\u003E \u00a9 Olivier Bercault\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n \u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n\n\n\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBut back in El Salvador in the 1980s, when she started reporting on laws-of-war violations, hardly anyone in the human rights movement was doing it. It meant reporting not only on government abuses, but those of rebel groups as well. Many were hostile to the idea, arguing that rights groups should focus on only government rights violations. Judgments about war crimes, they said, were too difficult to make.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EJemera showed this research could be done carefully and accurately--her research survived the intense scrutiny of the Reagan administration, which was backing the abusive Salvadoran government--and her reporting on rebel abuses as well highlighted Human Rights Watch\u0027s impartiality.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed\u0022 data-type=\u0022image\u0022\u003E\n\n\n \n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed align-right embedded-entity embedded-entity-type-media embedded-entity-bundle-image embedded-entity-viewmode-embeddable embed--right\u0022 xmlns:xlink=\u0022http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\u0022\u003E\n \n\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \n \n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\u0022figure figure--expand text-center info \u0022\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__media relative inline-block mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ca href=\u0022\/modal\/25573\u0022 rel=\u0022modal:open\u0022 class=\u0022figure__link\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cimg loading=\u0022lazy\u0022 srcset=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/480w\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/screen_shot_2015-08-02_at_5.20.31_pm.png?itok=fxXAJ8Jm 480w, \/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/screen_shot_2015-08-02_at_5.20.31_pm.png?itok=4vVDZDON 946w\u0022 sizes=\u0022(max-width: 524px) 100px, 500px\u0022 width=\u0022946\u0022 height=\u0022636\u0022 data-responsive-image-style=\u0022embedded_images\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/screen_shot_2015-08-02_at_5.20.31_pm.png?itok=4vVDZDON\u0022 alt=\u0022Jemera Rone: Working in Darfur, Sudan,\u0022\u003E\n\n\n\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__expand absolute block bottom-0 right-0 w-8 h-8 bg-white text-gray-700\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022sr-only\u0022\u003EClick to expand Image\u003C\/span\u003E\n \n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022icon fill-current w-full inline-block\u0022\u003E\n \u003Csvg viewBox=\u00220 0 20 20\u0022 fill=\u0022currentColor\u0022 role=\u0022img\u0022 focusable=\u0022false\u0022 aria-hidden=\u0022true\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cuse xlink:href=\u0022\/themes\/custom\/hrw_design\/dist\/app-drupal\/assets\/spritemap.svg?cacheBuster=250315#sprite-expand\u0022 \/\u003E\n \u003C\/svg\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/a\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022figure__info text-left font-serif text-xs md:text-sm lg:text-base mx-auto text-gray-700 mt-1\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022figure__caption\u0022\u003EJemera Rone: Working in Darfur, Sudan,\n\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n \u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n\n\n\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHer detailed reporting also helped establish the organization\u0027s methodology, showing that carefully documented facts could cut through partisanship and ideology to put pressure on abusers \u2013 and those backing them \u2013 to stop.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, it is her 15 years of research on Sudan that may be her greatest legacy. Jemera is a household name to so many Sudanese and South Sudanese leaders, journalists, aid workers, and ordinary people -- anyone who followed Sudan\u2019s long 1983-2005 north-south civil war, really.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed\u0022 data-type=\u0022image\u0022\u003E\n\n\n \n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed align-left embedded-entity embedded-entity-type-media embedded-entity-bundle-image embedded-entity-viewmode-embeddable embed--left\u0022 xmlns:xlink=\u0022http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\u0022\u003E\n \n\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \n \n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\u0022figure figure--expand text-center info \u0022\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__media relative inline-block mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ca href=\u0022\/modal\/25571\u0022 rel=\u0022modal:open\u0022 class=\u0022figure__link\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cimg loading=\u0022lazy\u0022 srcset=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/480w\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/screen_shot_2015-08-02_at_5.21.06_pm.png?itok=u52IGrh1 430w, \/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/screen_shot_2015-08-02_at_5.21.06_pm.png?itok=o_gZ_1CO 946w\u0022 sizes=\u0022(max-width: 524px) 100px, 500px\u0022 width=\u0022946\u0022 height=\u00221430\u0022 data-responsive-image-style=\u0022embedded_images\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/screen_shot_2015-08-02_at_5.21.06_pm.png?itok=o_gZ_1CO\u0022 alt=\u0022Jemera Rone in Darfur, Sudan, 2004. \u0022\u003E\n\n\n\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__expand absolute block bottom-0 right-0 w-8 h-8 bg-white text-gray-700\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022sr-only\u0022\u003EClick to expand Image\u003C\/span\u003E\n \n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022icon fill-current w-full inline-block\u0022\u003E\n \u003Csvg viewBox=\u00220 0 20 20\u0022 fill=\u0022currentColor\u0022 role=\u0022img\u0022 focusable=\u0022false\u0022 aria-hidden=\u0022true\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cuse xlink:href=\u0022\/themes\/custom\/hrw_design\/dist\/app-drupal\/assets\/spritemap.svg?cacheBuster=250315#sprite-expand\u0022 \/\u003E\n \u003C\/svg\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/a\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022figure__info text-left font-serif text-xs md:text-sm lg:text-base mx-auto text-gray-700 mt-1\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022figure__caption\u0022\u003EJemera Ron in Darfur, Sudan, 2004. \n\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022figure__credit\u0022\u003E \u00a9 Olivier Bercault\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n \u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n\n\n\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EShe literally \u201cwrote the book\u201d on the horrendous human rights abuses by all sides in the conflict, investigating and documenting in extraordinary detail the atrocities committed by the government in Khartoum as well as the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Army and other rebel groups.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/report\/1994\/06\/01\/civilian-devastation\/abuses-all-parties-war-southern-sudan\u0022\u003E\u201cCivilian Devastation,\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E her 1994 report for Human Rights Watch on Sudan\u2019s conflict, is the most detailed description available of how civilians then \u2013 as today \u2013 were slaughtered because of their ethnicity and suffered massive destruction and pillage of their villages and towns.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHer research on the\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/reports\/1999\/sudan\/\u0022\u003E 1998 famine in Bahr-el-Ghazal\u003C\/a\u003E, which uncompromisingly laid the blame for the needless deaths from hunger on systematic human rights abuses, was unprecedented and helped change the way we think about responsibility for famine.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHer 567-page tome on the impact of the oil industry in South Sudan\u2019s Greater Upper Nile region, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/reports\/2003\/sudan1103\/sudanprint.pdf\u0022\u003E\u201cSudan, Oil and Human Rights,\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E remains the uncontested history of exploration and extraction of oil and the massive forced displacement of local populations and other horrific human rights abuses that took place. It\u2019s also a devastating description of personal schisms between abusive leaders and the use of ethnicity to pit people against each other with terrifying results, foreshadowing the current violence in South Sudan.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMembers of [these] communities continue to be killed or maimed, their homes and crops burned, and their grains and cattle looted,\u201d she wrote then. The same kinds of abuses have again been committed against civilians this year in Unity state, in the same places she researched with such rigor.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EJemera was passionate, committed and prescient. Back in 1994, in a telling warning of the devastation we see in South Sudan today, now led by the same men who were then its rebels, she wrote:\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe leaders of the SPLA factions must address their own human rights problems and correct their own abuses, or risk a continuation of the war on tribal or political grounds in the future, even if they win autonomy or separation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EShe fought for accountability and justice. \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2004\/11\/18\/sudan-human-rights-accountability-must-be-part-north-south-peace-agreement\u0022\u003EThese calls\u003C\/a\u003E were ignored in 2005, when the region, the US, the UK and Norway mediated the peace deal that was to lead to South Sudan\u2019s secession and included a de facto amnesty that permitted impunity for the terrible crimes. As mediators press South Sudan\u2019s leaders for peace today, they should bear in mind Jemera\u2019s wise counsel.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EEven as they tried to deny her findings, commanders and politicians respected her commitment, intellect and courage. \u201cThat crazy redhead\u201d\u2014so described by one Ugandan leader who found himself on the sharp end of her allegations\u2014will be deeply missed.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\u003C\/div\u003E\n","settings":null},{"command":"insert","method":"prepend","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__279854__en","data":"","settings":null}]