Stories about Human Rights from February, 2010
Italy: “Tangerines and olives don't fall from the sky”
The first strike of immigrant workers in Italy's history will happen on March 1st, thanks to a broad European initiative to oppose racism and discrimination, and reaffirm the positive role of migrants.
Palestine: Sleepless in Gaza
The premier episode of a 90 part series, Sleepless in Gaza…and Jerusalem will be launched on YouTube on March 1st. The series will be a video diary about four young Palestinian women, Muslim and Christian, two living in Gaza and two in Arab Jerusalem/West Bank. The series will show how...
Qatar: Artist MF Husain trades Indian passport for Qatari one
Reactions on the Internet ranged from shock, dismay and delight as MF Husain, one of India's most celebrated and reviled artists, is offered Qatari citizenship - and accepts.
Voices of the Wives of China’s Prisoners of Conscience
This month, on the occasion of the Spring Festival (the Chinese New Year), the most important time for family reunion in China, Duting (杜婷) interviewed the wives of China’s prisoners of conscience. They are Liu Xia, Ceng Jinyan, Wang Qinghua and Ceng Li, respectively the wives of Liu Xiaobo, Hu...
Silence Speaks: Multimedia storytelling in Republic of Congo
Amy Hill, the director of Center for Digital Storytelling, describes the process and ideas behind a 4-day digital storytelling workshop in November 2009 with seven women affected by Congo-Brazzaville’s (also known as Republic of Congo) civil wars from 1997-2003.
Azerbaijan: ANTV receives freedom of the press award
ANTV [AZ/EN/RU], an online citizen journalism site co-founded by now imprisoned video blogging youth activist Emin Milli, has received an award from ZEIT-Stiftung for its work in promoting independent voices and alternative news and views in Azerbaijan [RU]. The Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety (IRFS) also carries the news...
India, Bangladesh: Protest On Killings In Bangladesh
Musings Of A Chakma reports that “the members of Chakma ethnic community living in Delhi held a huge peaceful protest demonstration in front of Jantar Mantar, New Delhi from 11 AM to 3 PM on 25 February 2010 to protest against the attacks on Chakmas and other indigenous Jummas in...
Cuba: On the Front Line
Cuban diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense says that “Orlando Zapata Tamayo's fight for liberty is not over, as reports…are that other Cuban freedom fighters are taking his place on the front lines of the struggle.”
Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana: Rights of LGBT
gspottt has its eyes on developments in Guyana regarding the filing of “a constitutional challenge to a law criminalising ‘crossdressing’ in that country’s high court.”
Cuba: Hunger Striker Dies in Havana Prison
The death of the first Cuban political prisoner to die on hunger strike since 1972 is eliciting a combination of speechlessness and outrage on the web.
Slovenia: Tribute to Janez Drnovšek
Two years after the death of former Slovenian president Janez Drnovšek, Sleeping With Pengovsky observes that “most of the nation is on the prowl against any sort of deviation from ‘normality’, be this deviation actual or imagined, personal or political”: “President Drnovšek rarely passed judgement. […] But when he spoke,...
Bangladesh: Protecting The Pahari People
Faisal at The Spittoon highlights the recent violence against the Paharis (hill people) in Bangladesh and asks: “what good is having a secular liberal democracy if you don’t protect your minority communities?”
Russia: Keith Gessen's LRB Piece on Khodorkovsky
Robert Amsterdam's Blog and Foreign Policy Association's Russia Blog link to and comment on Keith Gessen's review of Richard Sakwa's The Quality of Freedom: Khodorkovsky, Putin and the Yukos Affair, which appeared in the London Review of Books. On his blog, Gessen explains how to pronounce Mikhail Khodorkovsky's last name.
Sri Lanka: Censorship And Pertinent Questions
Sanjana Hattotuwa at ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace) blog discusses about the presidential order of “the suspension of a plan by Sri Lanka’s telecommunications regulator to censor anti-government websites” and raises some questions.
India: Fighting For The Forest
Indian Tribals Blog reports about a struggle of the tribal people in the reserved forests of Udaipur district in Rajsthan, India who fighting to avoid displacement from their ancestral land.
Bangladesh: Communal Attack On Jumma Villages
Unheard Voices reports of the attack of Bengali settlers on Jumma indigenous villages in Rangamati district of Bangladesh which left 5 indigenous people dead. The blog is following the developments and the subsequent protests.
Philippines: Outrage over Arrest of 43 Health Workers
The Philippine military arrested 43 community health workers accusing the latter of being communist rebels. The arrested individuals were recently presented in the court. Bloggers comment on the issue
China: Prisoner of Conscience Map
A google map marking and reminding people of the whereabout of the prisoners of conscience in China.
Bulgaria: “The Bulgarian Guantanamo”
Maya Markova of Maya's Corner posts videos and translates parts of the documentary The Bulgarian Guanatanamo, by Bulgarian journalist Ivan Kulekov. (An earlier GV roundup item on this issue is here.)
Palestine/West Bank: Peace Protesters use Avatar Movie Visuals
Recent protest against land appropriation of the West Bank village of Bil'in included Palestinian and Israeli activists masked as Na'vi characters from the controversial Avatar movie, which they consider anti-imperialist. Video clips posted by NGO “Friends of Freedom and Justice – Bilin” show Israeli Defense Forces using tear gas and...
The Balkans, Italy: Berlusconi's “Albanian Girls” Comment; Doctored Photo
Balkan Travellers re-posts a Balkan Insight piece about the Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi's comment that “his country would accept only pretty Albanian girls as immigrants.” Belgraded writes about the photoshopped photos of Berlusconi and Slobodan Milosevic: “Fours days after the [doctored] photo was published, Milosevic lost the elections by a...
