Stories about Human Rights from April, 2008
Zimbabwe: Post-election violence on the rise
The election crisis in Zimbabwe continues: there are reports from the mainstream media, bloggers and human rights organisations about state organised post-election violence against supporters of the opposition, the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has left the country for Botswana fearing for his life and the “ship of evil” continues to draw bloggers' attention.
PangeaDay: Videos to change the world on May 10th
On May 10th 2008 at 18:00 GMT, 24 films will be broadcast during a 4 hour event. What makes this different is that this event, PangeaDay will be broadcast from six locations worldwide in seven different languages worldwide to be viewed through internet, television or cellphones with one unique purpose: to make each other know about the lives of others and focus on what makes us similar, instead of what makes us different and let us work together towards peace.
Brunei: Thoughts on racism
Cici Khalid doesn't understand why people are always racist. He asks: “How do you feel when other people is making fun of your race?”
Cambodia: Where is social justice?
Carrie Martin asks: Where is justice in Cambodia?
Russia: “Chernobyl's Other Victims”
Window on Eurasia writes about “Chernobyl's other victims” – “the thousands of people who exposed themselves to extraordinarily high levels of radiation while taking part in the clean up” and who now “find themselves not only sick as a result but largely forgotten by the successor governments to the regime...
Lebanon: Roumieh Prison Mutiny II
“The prisoners handed over the seven warders they were holding hostage and returned to their cells after having negotiated and handed over demands to the chief of internal security,” reports Lebanon News Network on the peaceful ending of the prison mutiny.
Lebanon: Roumieh Prison Mutiny
“….of interest to the laymen, Roumieh prison is where the 4 Generals, Assayed, Azar, Hamdan; Hajj are kept … and where many of the Fath El Islam elements are imprisoned … I remain suspicious,” noted GPC on the mutiny taking place at the Roumieh prison in Lebanon.
Estonia: “The Rubik's Cube of the Soviet Legacy”
Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonia: “This country is complicated, but attempts to explain it to the outside world often fail. […] Estonia is closer than you think to solving the Rubik's Cube of the Soviet legacy. Let them work it out by themselves.”
Armenia: Nationalism & Remembrance
The Armenian Patchwork posts some photographs of the 23 April march to the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan by youth affiliated to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D). The blog says that it was surprised by the nationalism on show.
Armenia: Black Dog of Fate
On the occasion of the 93rd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, The Armenian Odar Reads reviews Peter Balakian's Black Dog of Fate. Although the book has been around for some time , the review is quite timely given yesterday and is an interesting account of not just the Armenian Genocide,...
Iran:Gender apartheid and sexual harassment
Sahel reports[Fa] that “students in Sahand University in Tabriz,in Iran, protested against “gender aparthied” and cultural and social pressure.” It seems that male and female students can not attend same classes together. It is said some girls have been victims of sexual and moral harassment by employees. Watch photos here.
Armenia: April 24 — Genocide Memorial Day
Yesterday marked the 93rd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocideand the deaths of approximately 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey. Every year on 24 April, a date marking the roundup of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in what is now Istanbul, Armenians commemorate the massacres and deportations worldwide. In Yerevan, this is particularly the case with hundreds of thousands marching up to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial overlooking the capital to lay flowers and pay their respects.
Brazil: Against the slave farms
Luiz Carlos Azenha, from Vi o Mundo [“I saw the world”, in Portuguese], blogs for the approval of the Congress Bill that changes the Brazilian Constitution to allow for the confiscation of private rural lands where the use of slave work is discovered. Azenha says “It's necessary to confiscate the...
China: Hu Jia's Prosecution Document
Zeng Jinyan posted Hu Jia's prosecution document[zh] on her blog.
Russia: Lenin's Mausoleum
Window on Eurasia reports on a Moscow clergyman's appeal to turn Vladimir Lenin’s mausoleum into a “museum of the victims of Soviet power.”
Poland: Opposition to IVF
The beatroot writes about the attitudes towards in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Poland.
Iran:A Girl with 7 Husbands and Running the World
Mohmmad Ali Abtahi,former vice president,says that an Iranian 19-year-old girl was sold to a Afghani man but since he did not have the money he had to pay to the father of the girl, he shared 6 other Afghanis and this 19-year-old girl had 7 husbands. Abtahi says saving people...
Iraq: The Plight of the Faili Kurds
Alive in Baghdad sheds light on the Faili Kurds – one of the most oppressed groups of Kurds. Like other Kurds, they were abused during Saddam Hussein’s regime. Statistics from the United Nations show that more than 450,000 Faili Kurds were deported to Iran in the 1980s and nearly 10,000...
Israel: Modern Day Exodus, on African Refugees and their Right for Medical Care
Around 6,000 African refugees escaped the horrors in their countries, and seek refuge in Israel. Many of them live in harsh conditions and can be spotted shivering cold on the streets of southern Tel-Aviv. The insensitive behavior from the side of the Israeli government comes only tens of years after the holocaust, when Jews came to the same plot of land, seeking refuge from the horrors of Europe, writes Gilad Lotan, who shows us how a group of bloggers are volunteering to draw a smile on the faces of countless of destitute refugees.
China: Tibetan Intellectuals Arrested
Woeser blogs the background of 6 Tibetan intellectuals who were arrested in Qing Hai in March 31 and April 1[zh]. They are teacher, singers, artist and writer.
Greece, Macedonia: BBC's Mark Mardell's Post and Comments
A post on the Greek-Macedonian relationship – and nearly 800 comments to it – at Mark Mardell's Euroblog (BBC).
