Stories about Human Rights from December, 2010
Cuba: Top 10 Cubans
Uncommon Sense begins his Top Ten List of Cubans who made a difference in 2010.
Africa: Corrective rape testimonies from around Africa
Rose highlights corrective rape testimonies from around Africa: “it’s really important to point out how the increasing incidences of violence against gay people in Africa include the grotesque practice of corrective rape, where women are raped, and in some cases, infected with HIV and/or made pregnant.”
Thailand: Addressing youth sexuality needs
Love Care Station and Teen Path, both based in Thailand, are online portals that provide sexuality education and counseling to young people in Thailand.
Cuba: Economic Segregation
Laritza's Laws says that “at no point” do the draft guidelines for economic and social policy “give respect to the rights of Cubans”.
Iran: Heavy security forces in Tehran
A video film shows heavy security forces in Tehran today, in the day of Ashura. Last year thousands of protesters poured into streets in Ashura and chanted anti regime slogans.
China: A Cold Winter Night with the Petitioners
Zhang Kai, a human rights lawyer, swaps the comforts of his warm apartment to come face to face with the suffering of petitioners who took refuge from the cold weather inside a pedestrian subway, on a night when the temperatures dropped to -7 degrees Celsius. He live-casts what he witnessed in his micro blog to raise public awareness of the situation.
Azerbaijan: Hijab ban
Aaron in Azerbaijan [Eng] also comments on the recent law introduced in Azerbaijan prohibiting hijabs in schools. The blog wonders if the move is an attempt by the government to stop the further spread of radical Islam in the secular country.
Brazil: The vote for human rights
Marcelo Salles, writing [pt] for the blog Escrevinhador (Scribbler, pt), balances out votes in the state of Rio de Janeiro won by elected politicians concerned with human rights, against those opposed. The results are 547,492 and 278,425 respectively.
Brazil: Police brutality during building evacuation in Rio de Janeiro
Lucas Duarte, writing for the blog Nota de Rodapé [Footnote, pt], denounces “Brazilian police truculence” in the city of Rio de Janeiro during the evacuation of a building, on December 13, which had been invaded by 25 homeless families. The post has also a 6 minutes long video depicting the...
Haiti: update on unrest after elections
While back in Haiti to finish shooting a Web documentary project on the unheard voices of reconstruction, web-reporter Giordano Cossu provides a personal account on the on-going unrest after the controversial elections: “Much of this is in the hands of the Electoral Committee now. The population has already decided what...
India: On Eve Teasing
Maesy Angelina at Blank Noise comments: “eve teasing is an issue that nobody talks about. It seems like a monumental thing to try and change it.”
Brazil: Literature and Prejudice against the poor
Paulo Lopes comments [pt] on controversial statements by Brazilian actress and former sex-symbol Vera Fischer. In an interview to Folha newspaper, a few days before launching the latest of ten books she has written in a year (according to blog Acerto de Contas [pt]), Fischer said she does not write...
Azerbaijan: Hijab ban introduced in schools
Last week hundreds of protesters staged a demonstration in front of the Ministry of Education in Baku, Azerbaijan, expressing their outrage against new regulations banning the wearing of hijabs in schools. Bloggers react.
Czech Republic: Present and Future of the Far-Right
Dr. Sean's Diary analyzes the present and the future of the Czech far-right.
Belarus: More Insight on Upcoming Election
More insight on this coming Sunday's presidential election in Belarus – at OpenDemocracy.net (here and here), and at Democratist.
Russia: Commentary on Dec. 11 Moscow Rioting
Reactions to the Dec. 11 xenophobic riots in downtown Moscow – by Vadim Nikitin, Miriam Elder, Natalia Antonova, Robert Amsterdam's blog, and The Power Vertical.
Russia: Kashin on Spartak Fans and Nov. 6 Beating, in English
Russian journalist Oleg Kashin writes for OpenDemocracy.net about the authorities’ inadequate response to a rally by Spartak football fans, and, for the New York Times, about the Nov. 6 attack on him in Moscow (both texts are in English).
Kenya: Ocampo's list of six
The only thing I’ve been waiting for more than the Kenya WikiLeaks is Ocampo’s list of government officials to be indicted with regards to the horrific 2007 Post-Election Violence.
Haiti: After Elections
“The situation here is like a volcano that has been building pressure for a very long time. The massive earthquake, the million homeless people and 300,000 dead, Hurricane Tomas, the Cholera epidemic…a biased election…all contribute to the people's frustration”: Pwoje Espwa provides updates on Haiti, along with photos, here, here...
Cuba: Human Rights Day Arrests
Iván's File Cabinet says that “more than 50 dissidents and activists were arrested on December 10 in Cuba…for attempting to mark the International Day of Human Rights.”
Cuba: What About The 11?
“The European Union has backed off the full-fledged restoration of relations with Havana sought by the government of Spain, unconvinced that the Castro dictatorship has earned a change in treatment”: Uncommon Sense reasons that since the Cuban government “is unlikely to get…what it was seeking, why would it go ahead...
