Stories about Human Rights from March, 2009
Maldives: Free Speech Under Threat
In early March Mohamed Nasheed, the new President of the Maldives, met with Frank La Rue, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression. In the meeting Nasheed expressed his government’s commitment to free speech and announced that Maldives will be made a haven for dissident writers from...
Fiji: ‘It was stones, now it's molotov cocktails’
At least six people in Fiji who could be termed “public opponents” of the country’s military-backed government have been targeted by unidentified individuals who late at night have thrown large stones at their houses and severally damaged their cars. During the stonings, much of Fiji’s political blogosphere have claimed the rock attacks were perpetrated by members of the country’s military.
Tunisia: Hunger Strike Students Defend Right to Study
Five Tunisian students have been on hunger strike since February 11th to defend their right to study. Their health is seriously deteriorating but the government is ignoring their request. More on the story on Facebook — here and here.
Jordan: 19-year-old woman killed by father and brothers
Kinzi reacts to news that a 19-year-old girl was killed in Jordan by her father and brothers for wearing make up and talking to men saying: “Better ban Maybelline from Zarqa, it gets girls in trouble. As does talking to strange men, of course.”
Jordan: Call to end Honour Killings
Jordanian Qwaider calls for an off and online campaign against the so called honour killings, in which women are killed by relatives for having relations with men. “Every year, over 20 women lose their lives on suspicion of infidelity in Jordan alone,” he notes.
Cuba: Three Strikes
“The president of the Writers and Artists Union of Cuba…affirmed that all Cubans can travel, except those who have a debt to the justice system…I have never been charged in court yet I am condemned not to leave this Island”: Generation Y‘s exit permit has once again been denied.
Egypt: Women turn to the Internet to fight taboos
Young middle and upper class Egyptian women resort to the internet to fight their battles against taboos. The BBC interviewed some of them and Mohamed Hamdy of Bloggers Times comments on the article.
Iran: Dr. Hesam Firouzi, Another Jailed Blogger
It was jailed physician and blogger, Dr. Hesam Firouzi, who recently got the word out through his lawyer about the death of blogger Omid Reza Mir Sayafi in Tehran's Evin Prison. He said he urged prison authorities to send the dying prisoner to a hospital, but they refused.
Bangladesh: 1971 Genocide video
Mash at Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying posts a rare video footage of the massacre by Pakistan army in a village near Dhaka, Bangladesh in late November of 1971. More such videos can be found at the Bangladesh Genocide Archive.
Hong Kong: Vindication of June 4 in Question
2009 is the 20th anniversary of June 4 Tiananmen Massacre. If there were reincarnation, people who had been killed then would be twenty years old this year. Some of them would probably become university students, who are usually regarded as conscience of the society. Sadly this year, at least two...
Russia: Attacks on Journalists
Sean's Russia Blog writes on two most recent attacks on journalists in Russia.
India's Fritzl
Shantanu Dutta at Desicritics discusses about India's hidden incest crisis.
Serbia: Dragan Markovic Palma and Anti-Discrimination Law
Balkan File writes about a Serbian politician who seems to think that “if it is enshrined in law that homosexuals can’t be discriminated against, straight men in Serbia are going to suddenly become gay and there will be a lot of unsatisfied Serbian women.”
Iran: When the Internet is Viewed through a Filter
When it comes to filtering the internet, Iranian authorities target many political and social blogs and websites, depriving many from receiving information and expressing their ideas. However, the government does not have well-defined red lines, and it changes its filtering policies often. In this post we discuss several issues related to filtering and clarify some common misunderstandings.
Colombia: Against the Release of Guerrilla Fighters
Charly from Carlos Cuentero [es] and Alejogalvis from Censura20 [es] show their outrage for the release of two high profile FARC members from prison, who will become “promoters of peace”, according to the government. Charly says “it's a mockery for the victims of these criminals and those who have worked...
Bahamas: Society of Fear?
Sidney Sweeting wonders what kind of society the Bahamas has become when “unifomed goons can force their way into our homes at night, terrorize us (or worse) and just leave without an explanation.”
Cuba: Travel Permit
“I will sit in the crowded lobby of the mansion at 17th and K for only two reasons: to inconvenience them with my pigheadedness and to claim my rights. To show them the visa document that authorizes my entry to many parts of the world, while ‘they’ curb my travel”:...
Jamaica: V-Day
Abeng News Magazine reports that Jamaica is an active part of the international V-Day 2009 campaign – “a global movement to stop violence against women and girls.”
South Korea: Military Service
Ask a Korean! blogs about the Mechanics of Serving in the Korean Military.
Brazil: Controversial demarcation of indigenous land confirmed
Five indigenous tribes of Brazil have won a 30-year battle to reclaim 1.7 million hectares of their ancestral land in Roraima in the Amazon on the border to Venezuela and Guyana. On March 19, the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) ruled on the integrity of the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous land, keeping its size and borders intact as a continuous area, disappointing ranchers and rice farmers who coveted the land.
Long awaited victory for Baha'is in Egypt
After many years of being denied the right to legal documentation, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court removed any grounds for preventing Baha'is from receiving proper official identity documents.
