Stories about Human Rights from May, 2011
Germany, Ukraine: Implications of the Demjanjuk Ruling
Alexander J. Motyl writes at Ukraine's Orange Blues/World Affairs about the implications of the May 12 sentencing of John Demjanjuk “for being an accessory to the murder of 28,060 Jews in the Nazi concentration camp in Sobibor, in occupied Poland.”
Haiti: Vendors in Delmas
Throwing Down the Water reports on “the chaos” associated with clean-up efforts in Delmas, the capital's largest commune.
Cuba: Repressive Action
Cuban bloggers cite numerous cases of the authorities cracking down on dissidents, calling the arrests “part of a vicious series of repressive moves by the dictatorship to target the opposition.”
Bermuda: Gay Rights
“Bermuda has a long history of discrimination rooted in slavery, the restricted vote and racial segregation. Those who championed resistance to these injustices, those who have benefited from their elimination, should be sensitive to any discrimination set upon any other group”: Respice Finem wants to put gay rights back on...
India: Malayalam Bloggers Campaign For Soumya
Kerala was rife with outrage, when 23 year old woman Soumya was thrown out from a moving passenger train, raped and brutally murdered. With the public losing the trust in mainstream media, blogs with the individual's voices question media's silent role and discuss many unnoticed aspects of the story.
Ukraine: Proposal to Declare Crimean Tatar Deportation “Genocide”
Window on Eurasia reports on the Ukrainian Peoples Party's proposal to declare the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars by Stalin “an act of genocide and a crime against humanity.”
Russia: Peaceful Religious Co-Existence in Tatarstan
At OpenDemocracy.net, Oleg Pavlov writes about Jadidism, “an Islamic movement common among the Muslims in the Volga and Urals region,” and peaceful religious co-existence in Tatarstan.
Serbia: More Reactions to the Arrest of Ratko Mladic
Richard Byrne of Balkans via Bohemia and Borut Peterlin react to the news of the arrest of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general wanted for war crimes, including the Srebrenica massacre. Sladjana Lazic of A Slice Of Serbian Politics and Viktor Marković (@Belgrade) report [en, sr] on small-scale protests in...
Trinidad & Tobago: Oppression of Women
“Women’s oppression, he said, was a myth created by the Judeo-Christian West as a tool of capitalism. I nearly fall on the ground”: And then, Lisa Allen-Agostini writes a must-read post about it.
Azerbaijan: Eynulla Fatullayev Pardoned Following Twitter Action
Just two days after the UK branch of Amnesty International launched its Twitter campaign to call for the release of Eynulla Fatullayev comes news that the imprisoned journalist and prisoner of conscience has been included in a list of prisoners to be pardoned ahead of the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
Serbia: Arrest of Ratko Mladic
Ratko Mladic, former Bosnian Serb military leader was arrested today by police in Serbia, the country's president, Boris Tadic, confirmed on national television. General Mladic has been on the run since 1995 facing charges of genocide for his role as Bosnian Serb military commander during the 1992-95 civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Cote d'Ivoire: Amnesty International Report on Post-Electoral Conflict
Amnesty International published a report about Cote d'Ivoire [fr, PDF] on May 25 in conclusion of a field survey: Looking back on 6 months of post-electoral violence. In this document [fr] the organisation warns that, “The conclusions of this report clearly show that all of the conflicting parties have committed...
Georgia: Demonstrators dispersed ahead of independence day celebrations
Shortly after midnight, opposition protests in the Georgian capital were disperse. A policeman was reportedly killed, apparently run over by a jeep belonging to an opposition party leader, after tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons were used to break up the demonstration. Journalists were also beaten up and their...
Cuba: Prisoner & Dissident Deaths
Uncommon Sense links to a report which alleges that the death of a prisoner was at the hands of prison guards, while Babalu links to new medical reports of the late Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, noting that “the report from the most recent beating…mentions the bruises found on his body;...
Brazil: Forest Defender Shot Dead
As the Brazilian Congress debates a new Forest Code, and as the Environment Ministry launches new raids on illegal deforestation in Brazil, forest defender José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva was shot dead [pt]. He had announced his life was under threat in the TEDxAmazonia conference, last November.
Russia: Renewed Anger Over Bureaucratic Traffic Bypasses
A fiery incident on a Moscow highway has reignited the debate on Russian officials' use of “special signals” that allow bureaucrats to move quickly through traffic. Ashley Cleek explores the issue.
Azerbaijan: Jon Snow and Amnesty International in Twitter Action
Ahead of tonight's Amnesty International Media Awards 2011, the organisation has launched a Twitter photo campaign to call for the release of an imprisoned journalist and newspaper editor in Azerbaijan. With major British media names such as Jon Snow on board, pro-government supporters in Azerbaijan reacted negatively.
Cuba: Rojas Detained
Cuban bloggers focus their attention on Luis Felipe Rojas, who was reportedly detained this past weekend, allegedly for blogging about the beating of three women.
Trinidad & Tobago: Gay Rights
gspottt thinks that “it’s impressive that the Ministry is interested in attitudes to homosexuality; and notable that the poll [about equal rights for homosexuals] was commissioned by the last government”, but maintains that “it’s a matter of how you ask the question.” Photos and video of Trinidad and Tobago's first...
Azerbaijan: Free Eynulla Fatullayev! Twitter campaign
Amnesty International has started a Twitter campaign to call for the release of imprisoned journalist and prisoner of conscience Eynulla Fatullayev. Supported by prominent English journalists such as Channel 4's Jon Snow, more details of how to participate can be found here.
Saudi Arabia: Woman Arrested for Driving
A week ago, a Saudi mother drove her car in Jeddah to take her kids to their school. On May 21, 2011, another Saudi woman, Manal Al-Sharif, posted a video of herself driving on YouTube. Al-Sharif was arrested, then released on bail, but later on the police arrested her once again.