Stories about Human Rights from December, 2008
Cuba: Be Part of the Solution
Generation Y‘s Yoani Sanchez has the solution to Cuba's problems: “Let everyone speak, no matter whether in complaint or in support of a proposal designed to address the problems…only freedom of opinion will allow those who can advance remedies to dare to do so.”
Barbados: Journalists Appear in Court
Barbados Free Press is keeping an eye on the case of the two arrested journalists, calling the open court hearing “a stunning victory by the dozens of local news media people who showed up to support”, while at the same time denouncing local mainstream media for not making an issue...
Russia: South Ossetia; Relations With the U.S.; Sheremetyevo Ceiling
Some of the recent posts at Scraps of Moscow: a translation of a part of “a lengthy interview with former Russian army general and former South Ossetian de facto Minister of Defense which puts the region's president, former wrestling champion and phys. ed. teacher Eduard Kokoity, in a rather unflattering...
Russia: Patriarch; Yoshkar-Ola; Stalin's Legacy; Protests
A selection of recent posts from Window on Eurasia: a “Ukrainian” metropolitan who may or may not become Russia's next patriarch; Hungarians react to the Russian authorities’ suggestion to rename Yoshkar-Ola, the capital of Mari El, to Tsaryovokokshaysk, the city's pre-1917 name; some Russian history teachers’ efforts to educate students...
Caribbean: 2008 in Review
From natural disasters to lightning bolts of the athletic kind, 2008 was a busy one for the Caribbean blogosphere. Here are some of the highlights...
Haiti: Photo of the Year
Haiti Innovation reports that the UNICEF “Photo of the Year” features the plight of Haiti, while the photographer, who has her own blog, says of her win: “It’s not only great because my work as a photographer gets recognition, but also and much more important – eventually many people will...
Bahamas: Cuba & the USA
“A constellation of events will shape the pace of the rapprochement between our geographically closest neighbours”: Simon at Bahama Pundit blogs about relations between Cuba and the US.
Iran: “A blogger in Kurdistan was arrested”
Several blogs and news sites reported that Davood Azadfar , an Iran based blogger, was arrested[fa] yesterday in Mahabad in Iran's Kurdistan province. It seems he had criticized Mahabad's authorities in his blog.
Turkey: An Online Apology to Armenia Campaign
According to Istanbul Calling, a new online campaign allowing Turks “to sign onto an apology for the “great catastrophe” that the Armenians suffered during World War I” has been launched by Turkish academics and intellectuals. “The apology, now signed by more than 15,000, studiously avoids the “G” word, but it...
Turkey: Campaign for a Joint-Commission on the Armenian Question
Talk Turkey urges individuals to join his new campaign to demand that “Turkey and Armenia form a joint-commission to research and investigate the facts of genocide and other claims; without any pre-existing conditions, and reservations, and that both sides promise and resolve to end this matter once and for all.”
Barbados, St. Kitts & Nevis: Murderer Executed
Barbadian bloggers Gallimaufry and Barbados Underground take note of the recent execution of a convicted murderer in St. Kitts.
Armenia-Turkey: Apology Row
Talk Turkey is unimpressed by various online petitions established to apologize or not apologize for the massacre and deportation of Armenians living in the then Ottoman Empire. Known to most as the Armenian Genocide, the blog says it instead favors a joint Armenian-Turkish commission to investigate the circumstances of the...
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Srebrenica Roundup
A roundup of Srebrenica Genocide Blog‘s recent posts: the process of identification of the victims of the massacre; the ICTY's conclusion on Naser Orić, former senior Bosnian commander in charge of defending the Srebrenica enclave; testimony by Doctors Without Borders representatives delivered at the 2001 French Parliamentary Hearing into the...
Bosnia & Herzegovina: More on “Resolution 819″
More on Resolution 819, the film, at Cafe Turco – here, here, and here.
The Balkans: Distortion of History
Jasmin's Heart writes about deliberate distortions that often pass for the recent history of the Balkans: “Also, history, as written by too many historians here, in recent years, Croatian historians, Serbian, Bosnian – on the subject of the last war and many others that proceeded on this area – is...
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Wartime Childhood Memories
Amila Bosnae shares some wartime childhood memories.
Russia: Protest Update
Sean's Russia Blog writes about today's protests in Russia: “The barrage of mass protest fired in Russia’s far east ten days ago echoed with a whimper as opponents of the import car tax hike staged actions across Russia. Today’s protests lacked the manpower of the previous ones, and in Vladivostok,...
Brazil: Against Illegal Abortion or Against Women?
Abortion is a very complex issue in Brazil, just like almost everywhere else in Latin America, where it is considered a crime. Despite this, over 1,000,000 clandestine abortions take place in Brazil and over 70,000 women die of complications from clandestine abortion attempts every year. Daniel Duende takes a look at the new moves in the clash between pro-life and pro-choice movements.
Former Tunisian Diplomat Sentenced To 8 Years By French Court
Khaled Ben Said, an ex-vice-consul in Strasbourg, was convicted of having ordered acts of torture and barbary upon fellow countrywoman Zulaikha Gharbi when a police superintendent in the Tunisian city of Jendouba 12 years ago, and sentenced to 8 years imprisonment by a criminal court in this same Strasbourg, by the way the seat of the European Court of Human Rights.
Egyptian Spinsters
The outcasts of the Egyptian society – the spinsters – are raising their voices in an attempt to change how society views them. Khokha – the anonymous author of The daily diaries of a sinister spinister - says: انا عشت حبة كل ما اقول رأى ولا كلمة … يردوا فى...
Egypt: Gamal Eid detained and deported from Jordan
The Jordanian intelligence prevents Gamal Eid, the General Manager of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), from entering Jordan because of his criticism of freedom of expression in Jordan two years ago,The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, The Skeptic reports the details.
