Stories about Human Rights from April, 2013
Detained and Desperate – Undocumented Migrants in Greece
Stories of despair were transmitted through Twitter, when politicians, journalists and anti-racism activists visited a detention facility within the Drapetsona police station in Piraeus city, where more than 100 unauthorized migrants are living in cramped, dark and deplorable conditions. GV author Maria Sidiropoulou was among the visiting delegation and reports.
The Russian Opposition “Snake Pit”
The Russian opposition is at war with itself, and it’s thanks to more than the usual ideological tectonics. The various fault lines that infamously allow the Kremlin to “divide and conquer” Russia’s would-be saviors are indeed political, but the divisions are every bit as much about idiosyncrasies and shady dealings. Just look at May 6.
Article 19 Mexico Threatened
An anonymous threatening message [es] was delivered to the Article 19 Mexico offices on April 19, 2013, as reported [es] by the pro-human rights and freedom of expression organization. As a result, its director, Darío Ramírez, has published a video [es]. You can follow the hashtag #articulo19 to stay informed,...
Raped? Take Money, And Shut Up! Says Indian Police
A steady out-pour of dismay is being expressed on social media against Indian police and the governmental apathy since the news came out that Delhi police offered money to a five-year old rape victim's father as a price for not going public and filing the complaint.
Iran: Act Like a Man, Dress Like a Woman!
Kurdish men have photographed themselves dressed as women as part of a Facebook campaign to say, “Being a woman is not an instrument to punish or humiliate anybody.”
Guatemala's Genocide Trial Declared Invalid
After a turbulent week in the trial proceedings against former de facto dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and former Intelligence Director José Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez in Guatemala, a lower court declared all proceedings invalid and reversed the criminal trial to the preliminary stage.
Young Haitian-Dominicans Demand Their Right to a Legal Identity
Around 50 Dominican youth of Haitian ancestry marched towards the National Palace demanding the return of their documents and, as such, their Dominican nationality, taken away arbitrarily through an administrative ruling issued by the Central Electoral Board in 2007.
Blood on the Road to Pakistan's Elections
A suicide bombing, a grenade attack and a remote-controlled explosion - all in one day. Nineteen people were killed in three separate incidents targeting candidates of three different parties. April 16, 2013 was a bloody day for Pakistan's election campaigners.
Mozambique: Coal mine blocked in protest
Mozambique's @Verdade newspaper is reporting on Facebook that about 500 residents of neighborhoods resettled by Brazilian mining company Vale are blocking road access to its coal mine in Moatize, Tete province. The peaceful protest is for greater compensation. The paper is reporting the rail line is also disrupted.
Indian Anti-Corruption Activist May Make Time's Most Influential List
Should India's anti-corruption activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal be on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world? 91.51% of online voters said yes.
Running 1,000 Miles for Europe's Trafficked Children
This month, Rob Martineau, Tom Stancliffe, and Guy Hacking are running 1,000 miles from Odessa to Dubrovnik, via Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Croatia, as part of the Run For Love 1000 campaign, whose aim is to raise funds for Love146, a UK charity that “gives care...
Christian Colony Attacked In Pakistan
Raza Habib Raja at Pak Tea House describes how another Christian colony had been attacked in Gujranwala, Punjab in Pakistan using the same rhetoric – revenge for alleged “Insult to Islam”.
Yemen: Anti Drone Protests in the US
Yemenis join nation-wide rallies across the US in protest against predator drones and extrajudicial killings.
Thailand: Victims of 2010 Protest Crackdown
Thai independent web portal Prachatai publishes the names of 21 civilians and five soldiers who died during a military crackdown of an anti-government protest three years ago. Officials of the previous administration continue to face trial for their role in the violent crackdown.
Helping Laos Recover from Cluster Bombs
Bryan Thao Worra, a Laotian American writer, reflects on his last trip in Laos where he witnessed the impact of cluster bombs in rural villages. Laos was one of the most heavily bombed countries during the Vietnam War and thousands of unexploded bombs continue to be a threat today.
Chinese Media Exposes Labor Camp Torture
@Lens Magazine wrote on its official Sina Weibo account that in Masanjia Women’s Reeducation Through Labor Camp in northeastern China’s Liaoning province, torturing methods, such as exploitation of camp labor, solitary confinement, electric shock, ‘big hang’, ‘tiger bench’ and ‘death bed’, are taking place almost every day. Jing Gao from...
South Korean Anti-Discrimination Law Faces Conservative Pushback
South Korean conservative groups are mounting a fierce resistance to a proposed anti-discrimination law in South Korea that would prohibit discrimination based on religion, political ideology, or sexual orientation.
Sri Lanka's Buddhists Question Extremist Sinhala-Buddhists
A number of Sinhala Buddhists are standing up against the recent violence against Muslim and hateful speech initiated by the Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force), an extremist Sinhala-Buddhist organisation based in Colombo.
Racism Remarks in the NYT Land Cuban Intellectual in Trouble
Author Roberto Zurbano's tough talk on racism in Cuba published in The New York Times apparently cost him is job as editor at a publishing house and generated a heated debate among the island's intellectuals.
You're Sponsoring Neonazis on Greek TV!
@northaura: #xa_advertising is about a twitter movement protest by email in #Greece to push advertisers off ever again supporting pro-neonazi TV shows. Blogger @ypopto_mousi started a campaign to inform the sponsors [el] of a highly controversial SKAI TV panel featuring four neonazi Golden Dawn MPs, that they are sponsoring hate speech. The blogger is...
Haiti: CARICOM Should Speak Up
Appalled by the “legal immunity” that the United Nations appears to have in the country's cholera epidemic, Kevin Edmonds says that it's high time Caribbean leaders speak up for Haiti.
