· September, 2011

Stories about Human Rights from September, 2011

Cuba: Inequitable Party

  30 September 2011

Generation Y compares the official distribution of “rental properties, cars, businesses [and] houses” to a pinata at a children's party, saying: “What is most worrying is [that] the…existence of such a mechanism will undoubtedly feed corruption, ‘socialism,’ and put into the hands of government sympathizers the fattest strings for when...

Incredible Photos of North Korean Mass Game

  30 September 2011

Photographer Sam Gellman took 50 photos of a large-scale Mass Games in Pyongyang during his 4-day trip to North Korea. Although nearly 100,000 North Korean were mobilized for the game which is heavily laden with regime's propaganda, net users left good comments on Gellman who captured these incredible images.

Uzbekistan: Exiled opposition member murdered

  30 September 2011

Avicenna reports that one of the most active members of the Uzbek opposition in exile Fuad Rustamkhojaev was assasinated in Ivanovo, a Western Russian town where he lived for the last 6 years. The victim's colleagues are outraged by the brutality, blaming the political regime in Uzbekistan for the murder.

Uzbekistan: Violations of religious freedom

  30 September 2011

Mansurhon reviews the speech by Uzbekistan's expert and rights activist regarding violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief in this country. The speech, delivered at the Annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meetng, warns that these violations represent a serious risk to Uzbekistan’s future.

Bahamas: Time to Take Action Against Crime

  29 September 2011

As a missing child is found dead, Weblog Bahamas says: “I would call on Prime Minister Ingraham to not wait until next Monday to make a statement to the nation on crime. The time to act is now… and we must act swiftly and prudently.”

Cuba: Jailed Activists

  29 September 2011

Uncommon Sense continues to keep a close eye on three members of the Damas de Blanco who were arrested recently, as well as political prisoner Sara Martha Fonseca, whose son was allegedly attacked after trying to obtain information about his jailed parents.

Mexico: Baja California Anti-Abortion Law Upheld by Supreme Court

  29 September 2011

The Mexican Supreme Court failed by one vote to overturn a Baja California law that declares that life begins at conception. Aguachile calls this “tragic news” and argues that in “In other states, PRI and PAN local legislators will feel emboldened by the Supreme Court decision to press similar legislation.”

Cuba: 14 on Trial for Girl's Death

  28 September 2011

“It seems that we’re destined to remain in the dark about yet another case that we’ve only found out about through foreign newspapers and independent bloggers”: Rosa Martinez, writing at Havana Times, doesn't understand the authorities’ silence on the death of a Cuban minor.

Cuba: Female Prisoner on Hunger Strike

  28 September 2011

Pedazos de La Isla uploads a video showing “what happened on Saturday, September 24th, to Sara Marta Fonseca Quevedo and other dissidents who were peacefully protesting”, while Uncommon Sense notes that Fonseca has since begun a hunger strike.

China: Secret Arrest to be Justified by Law Amendment

  27 September 2011

The Chinese government is in the process of completing an amendment to its Criminal Procedure Law (CPL). The draft, released for public consultation on 30 August, has sparked an intense debate among law professors and lawyers, as it has granted police legal justification for secret arrest and investigation.

Bolivia: Police Repression is a Violation of Human Rights

  27 September 2011

Cristina Quisbert of the blog Bolivia Indígena [es] writes about the police repression of the TIPNIS indigenous marchers as a day that “will remain recorded in the history of indigenous communities as a nefarious day in the violation of their human rights.”

Book Review: ‘Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives In North Korea’

  26 September 2011

Change in Longitude blog posted a thorough review of the book ‘Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives In North Korea’ by Barbara Demick. The book’s title comes from a song that North Korean school children recite, “We have nothing to envy in the world” in spite of chronic malnutrition and famine...

Cuba: “Damas” Targeted Again

  26 September 2011

The Ladies in White were once more targeted this weekend for their “planned march to a church to honor Our Lady of Charity on her feast day” – bloggers have a lot to say here, here, here, here and here.

Jamaica: Gratitude to Garvey

  26 September 2011

In his ongoing effort to petition President Obama to exonerate Marcus Garvey, Geoffrey Philp says: “Marcus Garvey's cause was justice, plain and simple. And it is ironic that unjust methods were used to malign his good name and to bring about his eventual imprisonment on fraudulent charges.”