Stories about Human Rights from September, 2007
Iran:Bahai's in Trouble
Iranian Truth says Bahai’s are a discriminated class in Iran and are often ignored by the Diaspora completely. In Iran, they have in many cases been uprooted from their homes, denied access to resources equal and on par with other Iranians, and even violently attacked strictly on the basis of...
Africa: Black victims of Nazi holocoust
Black Looks writes: “Finally a memorial is to be erected outside the home of one Black victim of the Nazi holocoust giving a name to the nameless. Mahjub bin Adam Mohamed originally from Tanzania who married a German woman and was charged with ‘miscegenation’. He died in Sachsenhausen concentration camp,...
Egypt: Workers Strike
Hossam Al Hamalawy from Egypt is writing about a workers strike. “After the first day of the strike and sit-in, the picture inside the factory is really amazing. 10,000 people breaking the fast together in Tala’at Harb Sq, located inside the company compound. It’s a scene, which I find no...
Saudi Arabia: The Right to Drive
A group of Saudi women are campaigning for the right to drive in the only country in the world which bans women from driving, reports The Arabist.
World Reaction to the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights
In every society in which they find themselves, the world's 370 million indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable and marginalized. After over 22 years of negotiations and consultations, the United Nations approved the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples earlier this month, a broad, non-binding agreement articulating basic...
Peru: Fujimori Extradited to Face Charges
After a lengthy process, the Chilean judicial system ruled that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori would be extradited to face charges of corruption and human rights abuses. When news of the court's decision reached Peru, bloggers would react almost instantaneously with jubiliation and with a firmer confidence in the justice system. However, questions still exist about what this means for the political landscape in Peru, especially for the party of current President Alan Garcia and whether this was part of Fujimori's plan the entire time.
Ukraine: The Language Issue
Victor Yanukovych's Party of the Regions is pushing for a referendum on granting Russian official status as a national language, in addition to Ukrainian. Below is a selection of views on the "language issue" from the Ukrainian blogosphere.
Japan: Nuclear Power and Discrimination
An English translation of an interview with Koide Hiroaki, a researcher and long-time anti-nuclear power activist, has been posted at gyaku. Mr. Koide talks about how he joined the movement against nuclear power in Japan 40 years ago, the contrast between the dream of nuclear power and the reality, and...
Ukraine: Serhiy Kalinovskyi's Escape
Foreign Notes writes about Serhiy Kalinovskiy, “a member of Kyiv's ‘gilded youth'” and a reckless driver, who killed his girlfriend and a police officer, and then escaped from a private hospital: “Much has been made of stripping criminal immunity from VR deputies recently, but everyone knows that in reality, if...
Ukraine: Troubles Ahead; Kivalov Interview
Foreign Notes writes about political troubles that may await Ukraine following the Sept. 30 parliamentary election. Also, LEvko translates an interview with former head of the Central Election Commission, Serhiy Kivalov, whose “literary skills seem to exceed the numeracy skills that he demonstrated in 2004.”
Russia: More on Ingushetia
David McDuff links to his own translation of a piece on the situation in Ingushetia.
Nepal: Kidney Racket
Deepak's Diary on the human organ trading racket in Nepal.
Serbia: Chemical Tolimir's Trial
Srebrenica Genocide Blog reports on the ICTY trial of Zdravko Tolimir, an unrepentant former Serb general charged with “genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of laws and customs of war.”
Serbia: March Against Crime in Kosovo
“After the shooting of the police officer, about 5 000 residents of Prishtina […] marched peacefully through the city to show their disgust at crime in the city,” Prishtine: Independence and Kanun reports and posts photos.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: “Democratic Exclusion”
TOL's Balkanizer writes about “the fear of democratic exclusion” in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Iran:Ahmadinejad,WTC and Khavaran
Balouch says [Fa] that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's request to visit World Trade Center, in N.Y., was refused by American authorities.It seems Iranian president wanted to lay flowers in memory of 9/11 victims.The blogger says Iranian president,instead of visting WTC, can go visiting Khavaran cemetery where thousands of executed political prisoners were...
Iran:”Haleh Esfandiari is still a prisoner”
Hanif,one of Iranian bloggers who had been arrested and jailed for blogging, says[Fa]that Haleh Esfandiari,Iranian-American scholar, contrary to many other former prisoners,after leaving Iran,told that she had not been mistreated in prison.Hanif says according to his prison experience,political prisoners had been asked by security agents to talk positively about their...
South Korea: Against Disabled Discrimination
Suh Jung-Hwan from Voice of the People reports on the openning ceremony of a new organization, Solidarity Against Disabled Discrimination, in September 5. The ceremony ran parallel with the government-led ceremony of Disabled People's International World Assembly in order to criticize the government’ hypocrisy on disabled people's rights.
Arabeyes: Homophobia in Kuwait
Kuwaiti blogger Frankom (Ar) writes an explosive post about what he thinks of homosexuals in his country, sparking a debate among his readers. Amira Al Hussaini translates his post from Arabic.
Russia: Ingushetia Not Chechnya-II
Window on Eurasia explains why the situation in Ingushetia “is not Chechnya-II but possibly something worse.”
