Stories about Human Rights from September, 2010
Armenia: LGBT round table
Pink Armenia reports on a round table on the LGBT community held in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, last week. The blog says that although government ministries accepted invitations to attend, none did.
Israel: Are Peace Activists Harassed by Palestinian Men Being Silenced?
Israeli human rights activists, who regularly join Palestinian demonstrators in Bil'iin and Sheikh Jarrah, are recently blamed for ignoring and even silencing an allegedly common phenomenon of sexual harassment of women activists by fellow Palestinian demonstrators.
Nobel Peace Prize should go to Liu Xiaobo
Xu Youyu, philosopher and professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote an open letter (English translation here) to call for international support for this year's Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded to Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned author of China's Charter 08. Meanwhile, C. Custer at ChinaGeeks commented on...
The Invisible Border Between Ecuador and Colombia
The Colombia-Ecuador border is once again a contentious issue. Both countries have a border of 586 km and with it a long history of conflict, mutual accusations and reports of armed conflict and displacement.
Armenia: Army forced to act after hazing video circulates online
A video depicting what appears to be evidence of bullying in the military stationed in Nagorno Karabakh, a disputed territory situated within Azerbaijan mainly populated by ethnic Armenians, continues to circulate online, from YouTube to the Daily Motion website.
Mexico: State of Human Rights of Indigenous Women
In an interview for Vivir México [es], Pepe Flores asked Yalí Noriega –from Amnesty International Mexico [es]– about the state of human rights of indigenous women.
Barbados: Vigilante Victim Charged
The Bajan Reporter has an update on the incident in which an alleged pedophile was the recipient of vigilante justice, saying that the man “has been charged with rape of a Minor…Police will not even reveal the age of the girl involved.”
Morocco: Brutal Death in Police Station
Blogger and activist Najib Chaouki creates a Facebook group to denounce police brutality in his country [Ar] following the death of a young Moroccan in a police station, the blogger says is notorious for the brutality of its officers.
Latvia: Investigative Journalist Flees the Country
Free Speech Emergency in Latvia reported on Sept. 12: “Lato Lapsa, a controversial Latvian investigative journalist with access to hundreds of pages of documents in a criminal investigation of politician and Ventspils mayor Aivars Lembergs, announced he was fleeing the country and shutting down his websites, including one that was...
Russia: Microsoft and Suppression of Dissent
Reactions to the Sept. 11 New York Times’ story about Microsoft and raids on advocacy groups by the Russian security services – at Oleg Kozlovsky’s English Weblog, Streetwise Professor, and Robert Amsterdam's Blog.
East Timor: The Past is Present
For many East Timorese families that have lived through the violent Indonesian occupation, the past is still present. The poignant words of Fidelis Magalhães - the son of a slain pro-independence fighter - mark the eleventh anniversary of the UN run Popular Consultation which resulted in the independence of the country.
Armenia: Officer faces abuse charges
Despite an initial official denial, Unzipped posts an update to an earlier post on the circulation of an amateur video originally uploaded to YouTube highlighting abuse in the army. The blog says that the authenticity of the video has now been confirmed and an officer in command of a military...
Zimbabwe: Action Alert for Jenni Williams
Action Alert from Zimbabwe for Jenni Williams: “News update from WOZA – 1.30pm – Wednesday 22nd – 83 members released on free bail – Jenni Williams arrested outside Harare Magistrate’s Court.”
Panama: Proposed Legislation to Prevent Discrimination due to Sexual Orientation
The Panamanian National Assembly started to discuss a new law that would protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The proposal has caused controversy within Panamanian society and the subject has been approached by bloggers before and after this proposal was presented.
Iran: Roses for Derakhshan
Hossein Derakhshan‘s mother in an interview [fa] said that “Hossein repented and want to be useful for his country…Hossein was moved to a better place [cell] in prison and they planted roses for him…Hossein is very depressed…”.
China: Rights to strike
The past year has seen a growing number of Chinese laborers fighting for their rights in incidents from across the country; a recent move by Chinese workers to go on strike in Russia has raised questions on both sides of the border.
Ukraine: “New Memory Engineers” and Ruslan Zabilyi's Case
Timothy Snyder writes on NYRblog about the arrest of Ruslan Zabilyi, the director of a Lviv museum “devoted to the occupation of Ukraine by the Nazis and the Soviets”: “Under Yanukhovych, Ukraine’s new memory engineers are using force.” Steve Bandera of Kyiv Scoop offers more insight: “These are the kind...
Egypt/Syria: Free Tal
Egyptian Zeinobia reports on a protest held by Egyptian activists in front of the Syrian Embassy in Cairo in solidarity with arrested 19-year-old Syrian blogger Tal Mallohi. More information is available here and here.
Haiti: Women's Reality
“While the government and the international community work on a reconstruction plan, many feel that the immediate problems facing Haitian women have slipped under the radar – even though they must play a key role in putting Haiti back on its feet”: Blogger and journalist Wadner Pierre reports.
India: Wither Kashmir? Or Is Reconciliation Possible?
The Indian central government has sent a fact-finding delegation including lawmakers from all major political parties to mitigate the bloodshed and tensions in the Jammu and Kashmir region. The Indian blogosphere has finally woken up on this issue and bloggers are sharing messages of hope, reconciliation, integrity and peace.
Lebanon: Remembering Sabra and Shatila
“‘History is written by the victors’ wrote Winston Churchill. We emerged from civil war with a slogan of exhaustion: ‘No victor, no vanquished.’ How do we write our history? We don't know,” concludes Oussama Hayek in a post about his memories and thoughts on the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian Camps Massacres which...
