Stories about Human Rights from October, 2008
Bangladesh: Sculptures, Bigots and Bloggers
A new controversy rattled Bangladesh last week. Authorities in Bangladesh were forced to remove five sculptures of Bauls (mystic folk singers) including Fakir Lalon Shah in front of the Zia International Airport in the face of protests from an Islamist group. They formed a sculpture prevention committee which pressed that...
Russia: Firing Grad Rockets at Tskhinvali on Aug. 8?
War correspondent Vadim Rechkalov (LJ user voinodel) has posted an Aug. 9 interview with a Russian soldier (RUS) who said they had fired at least 20 Grad “packages” (each “package” has 40 rockets, which makes it around 800 rockets) at Tskhinvali on Aug. 8 – because they “had to seize...
Canada: Indigenous Femicide on the Spotlight
Canadian documentary which is bringing to public attention the disappearances and murders of more than 500 aboriginal women in Canada in the past 30 years. The film is called Finding Dawn, by Christine Welsh. The movie is named after Dawn Crey, who was the 23rd victim whose DNA was recognized in the largest serial murder investigation in Canada back in 2002-2004.
China: Co-operation 2.0 on Beijing’s Black Jails
In cooperation with citizen reporter Zhou Shuguang (Zola) and other two journalists Chen Er (Doubleaf) and Guo Jiannong, Xu Zhiyong, who firstly blogged Beijing’s black jails in the end of September, went to visit one of the unlawful prisons again on Monday, attacked by a group of thugs who were allegedly hired by the authorities.
Taiwan: An online protest against the American Institute in Taiwan
After being denied a U.S. tourist visa in September, Taiwanese artist Chen Chieh-jen started a website against the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) called, "I suspect that you intend to stow away to the U.S.". Here people share their stories of being mistreated by officials and denied entry to the United States.
Bahamas, Haiti: Eyes of a Child
Doing Theology from the Caribbean republishes an essay written by a Haitian-Bahamian tenth grader who, after watching The Diary of Anne Frank, notices parallels between the Jews and Haitians.
Hungary: Outing the Informers
Hungarian Spectrum writes about an ongoing debate on whether the communist-era informers should be outed or not.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Kamenica Mass Grave
Srebrenica Genocide Blog reports that forensic experts have unearthed the remains of 362 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide from a mass grave in Kamenica: “Victims were hunted down while running through the woods in small groups and shot, or tricked into surrendering and them summarily executed and dumped into...
Jamaica, Haiti: Blogging about Poverty
“One of the remarkable consequences of blogging is that people of like minds can join together to raise the global consciousness about a particular issue”: Jamaican Geoffrey Philp uses his blogging powers to draw attention to the poverty in Haiti.
Serbia: Campaign Against Sonja Biserko
Greater Surbiton writes about smear campaign against the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia and the organization's head, Sonja Biserko.
Ukraine: “Truth and Falsehoods” of Holodomor
The 8th Circle writes in detail about “truth and falsehoods” of Holodomor, “an artificially created famine by Joseph Stalin during 1932-33, which starved to death 3 – 3.5 million Ukrainians.”
Egypt: Detainees Stacked Like Sardine in a Cage?
Prisoners stacked one on top of the other in a cage? Award winning Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas exposes yet another horrific breach of human rights on his popular blog Misr Digital.
Russia: Justification of Stalin's Deportations
Window on Eurasia writes about a new book that justifies ethnic deportations by Stalin.
Iraq: Christians in Danger
Writing at Mideast Youth, Iraqi Wameeth warns Iraqi Christians living in Mosul are in danger.
Iraq: Stop the Persecution of Christians in Mosul
Marshmallow, from Iraq, draws our attention to the plight of Christian Iraqis in Mosul.
Syria: Petition Urging Men to “Cover Up” Launched
Syrian blogger Omniya [Ar] has heard enough about people ordering her to cover up and that women are to blame for falling victims to sexual harassment. Now is her turn to launch a campaign calling for men to cover up and lower their gaze.
Trinidad & Tobago: Down in the Valley
“The warnings are there, too many to ignore…people better start waking up. Better rebuild their community parlours and their sou sous and their gayaps. In the panic of markets and the trillions of debt and the excess of luxury, countries like Trinidad and Tobago…with so much for sale, will suffer...
Cuba: Imprisoned
Diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense calls Cuba the “concentration camp of the Caribbean”, while Havana-based Generation Y blogs about the rise of prices on the informal food market, saying: “These days, chanting ‘Eeee-eeeggs’ may be more dangerous than chanting anti-government slogans. OK, let’s not exaggerate, opinion has always been punished more.”
Grenada: Artefact
“It is not unusual, during the course of a morning, as we weed or mole or fork the land, for us to unearth some pottery shard or rusted garden implement from long ago”: Grenada's Free Spirit finds an unexpected treasure from the 1800s.
Macau: Netizen charged for reporting on Bank Run
A school teacher passed through a bank in Macau where a group of people were trying to withdraw all their money in fear of the financial crisis. At home, he wrote his brief reflections on what he saw in an online forum, only to be charged by the police for "fabricating dangerous information", and later to be sued by the bank for criminal libel.
China: A visit to one of Beijing’s ‘black jails’
Black and white cat translated three blog posts on local bloggers’ flash mob visit to one of Beijing's “black jails” (detention center for petitioners).
