· October, 2009

Stories about Human Rights from October, 2009

India: Domestic Violence Against Men

  30 October 2009

A day in the life of India argues that “domestic violence is not a women specific issue, violence against men is taken very lightly and a few would out-rightly deny the existence of it.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Death Penalty

  30 October 2009

“The term ‘death penalty’ is a literary iceberg – two words that hide a huge amount of detail beneath the surface”: Know TnT.com examines the issue.

Antigua & Barbuda: Ending Gender Violence

  30 October 2009

“I want to beat power and gender inequalities to a pulp, starting with enforcement of good legislation designed to protect women”: Antigua's playing with ink invites us to join in “16 days of activism to end violence against women, starting November 24th.”

Egypt: Damsels in Distress

  30 October 2009

Wandering Scarab does not believe that Egyptian women know what they really want; their actions demonstrate that they don't really want equality or freedom; they do not even know what freedom is; they want to be free within cages of their own creation. They love being Damsels in Distress.

Russia: “Twitter Against Tyrants”

  30 October 2009

Oleg Kozlovsky links to and quotes from the text of a briefing held by US Helsinki Commission/Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, which included “a few recent examples of how we utilized Web 2.0 to spread information about electoral fraud” in Russia.

Russia: Riot Police vs “Senior Citizens”

  30 October 2009

Oleg Kozlovsky reports on a scandal that broke out after riot police used – during a drill – “water cannons, shock grenades, and tear gas” to disperse “a group of senior citizens that protested social injustice and blocked a federal highway.”

India: A Campaign To End Domestic Violence

  29 October 2009

One in two women in South Asia faces violence in her home. Charukesi at A Time To Reflect writes about a campaign called Bell Bajao (ring the bell) which aims to put an end to domestic violence in India.

Ukraine: Charity

  29 October 2009

Scenes From the Sidewalk writes about an encounter with one of Kyiv's many homeless children – and posts photos from actress Olga Kurilenko's visit to a CrossRoads Foundation/ChildRescue's rehabilitation center. Wild World of Sean's Blog reports on a charity visit to a Kyiv hospital for children affected by the Chernobyl...

Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia: “Dumping Grounds for People”

  29 October 2009

Dumping Grounds for People is a blog devoted to the results “of a four-months long journalistic investigation, conducted mostly undercover in ten institutions for adults with intellectual disabilities or mental illnesses in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia.” A Flickr photo set, by Yana Buhrer Tavanier, is here, along with this note:...

Ukraine: Interview With A Drug Addict

  29 October 2009

David Sasaki shares thoughts on “engaging, not exoticizing human rights” and posts a video interview with Pavel Kutsev, a self-described “average drug addict” and “the co-founder of Drop-In Center, a Ukrainian organization which advocates for the rights of the injection drug user communication and for better national policy related to...

Hungary: 1956

  29 October 2009

Hungarian Spectrum writes about an online collection of testimony (HUN) on the events of 1956, which “helped the western powers understand the Hungarian situation, not just events that occurred during the revolution but more importantly the reasons for the outbreak of the uprising.” Remainder of Budapest wrote this on the...

Video: Winners of UN Contest became Citizen Ambassadors

  28 October 2009

We bring you the 5 winning videos for the UN contest where participants sent in a video stating what they would tell world leaders if they had the chance. The 5 video bloggers had the opportunity to give their message in person at the UN Day celebration in New York City.

Cuba: Contemplating Change

  28 October 2009

“I think that for Cuba to transition to an open society from a society ‘with some emergency exits’, some of the people now occupying positions of power in the government could take a long vacation…”: Octavo Cerco contemplates what's needed for meaningful change in Cuba.

Azerbaijan: Blogger trial dilemma

  28 October 2009

Following yet another postponement in the trial of detained video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, In Mutatione Fortitudo offers its opinion on the case so far. The blog says the authorities in Azerbaijan face a dilemma. If the two detainees are imprisoned it will result in significant...