Stories about Human Rights from November, 2011
Barbados, St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Domestic Violence
Barbados Underground links to an article about the high rate of domestic violence in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and suggests that “often times we discuss the issue of domestic abuse through a myopic lens.”
Brazil: Real State Speculation Threatens Sacred Ground
Sagrada Terra Especulada (Sacred Speculated Ground), a Brazilian collective that advocates for indigenous land rights, is promoting a documentary [pt] and a petition [pt] in defense of the Pajé Sanctuary, close to Brasilia´s Pilot Plan. Real estate speculation [pt] threatens this area of savannah with the construction of a so-called...
France: A Rally in Support of Democracy in Ukraine
Maidan.org.ua published Regina Maryanovska's photos [uk] from the Nov. 13 rally in defense of democracy in Ukraine, which took place at Le Parvis des Libertés et des Droits de l’Homme/Trocadéro (the Square of Human Rights) in Paris. Maryanovska, a Paris-based documentary director from Odesa, Ukraine, noted that members of the...
Palestine: Freedom Riders Challenge Israeli Segregation
On November 15 a group of Palestinian activists were arrested while travelling on a bus carrying Israeli settlers. The activists called themselves the “Freedom Riders”, after the American civil rights campaigners of 1961.
Brazil: Toxic Documentary on the Amazon
Brazilian journalist Felipe Milanez (@felipedjeguaka) published [pt, en] a documentary about the Amazon in the series Toxic – “the various ways in which we detonate our planet” – of the Vice website. The documentary features the environmental activist Zé Claudio Ribeiro da Silva who was killed in May 2011.
Cuba: The Freedom of Twitter
“Mariela Castro, the daughter of Cuban dictator Raul Castro, opened a Twitter account recently to freely share her thoughts 140 characters at a time”: babalu says that the micro-blogging service has made “Mariela [get] a taste of freedom — not her own freedom, but the freedom of other Cubans to...
Cuba: Walking the Streets
Generation Y blogs about Tony, a street vendor who “has passed through all the stages of the emerging private sector in Cuba” and wonders, even in this period of entrepreneurial “revival”, “why [it] has to be plagued with so many absurdities, so many limitations.”
Jamaica: Lessons from “Occupy” Protests
Pray, laugh, love! says that there are valuable business lessons to be learned from the the Occupy Wall Street protests: “Ultimately…the protestors would’ve been able to call public attention to their plight and send a very strong message to corporations that enough is enough. Importantly, it shows what can happen...
Europe: A Song Criticizing Schengen Visa Procedure
At BlogActiv.eu, Kader Sevinc writes about “a creative way of criticizing the Schengen visa procedure” – Schengen Macht Frei, a song by Sarp Yeletaysi/Sarpinto, who writes this on SoundCloud: “[…] This song is the product of many visits to embassies of European countries to obtain a visa which is a...
Brazil: Online Campaign to Protect Xingu Against Belo Monte
A new movement called Gota D'Água (Drop of Water) [pt] has launched an online campaign to discuss Brazil's energy planning through the analysis of the Belo Monte dam project. The campaign includes a video featuring public figures and a petition, that has already gathered 1923 signatures, to be handed over...
Cuba: The Church, The Government & The Dissidents
Bloggers question the approach of the Catholic Church in Cuba here and here, while Pedazos de La Isla reports on recent crackdowns on dissidents, here and here.
Trinidad & Tobago: Bull S**t Artists
Plain Talk explains why he thinks that Trinidad and Tobago needs a National Bullshit Council.
Haiti: Cholera Compensation or Opportunism?
Stanley Lucas has a few questions about a court case that is seeking to compensate Haitian cholera victims, saying: “At worst, it seems an opportunistic attempt to capitalize on a tragic situation for fund raising purposes. What is equally concerning is [the] approach to this challenge. Rather than offer the...
Kuwait: Video Campaign to Teach Citizens about the Constitution
To mark the 49th anniversary of the Kuwaiti constitution, a group of activists decided to remind citizens of the different clauses of the constitution. Under the theme of Tadry [ar] (Did you know?), Sout Al-Kuwait (Voice of Kuwait) produced six videos, each spanning a few seconds, explaining to citizens six select articles from the constitution.
China: Photo Captures Plight of 58 Million ‘Left Behind Children’
A photo showing a little girl caring for her baby brother in a classroom in rural China has caused an online stir. It reflects the country's long-standing social problem of children who are left behind by their parents going to work in the cities.
Cuba: “Antunez'” Wife Tries To Reach Hospital
Pedazos de La Isla reports that “Yris Tamara Aguilera [wife of the dissident ‘Antunez’] was victim of a brutal beat down at the hands of the Cuban political police” and is in need of medical attention which may prove impossible thanks to the fact that “the dissident couple has their...
Trinidad & Tobago: You're No Batman
Outlish says that Ian Alleyne (the TV host suspended for airing footage of a child being sexually assaulted) “thinks he's Batman” but that “his story has more parallels with Booster Gold’s”, explaining: “Any champion for the people, super hero or non-super hero, can never let his cause be about him....
Cuba: Illegal Internet Access
Two diaspora bloggers address Cuba's accusations that the United States helped finance “the creation of illegal television and Internet networks that have allowed some Cubans to bypass state-run services” – Uncommon Sense says: “Let's hope so…because limiting access is just another way the dictatorship exercises its control of the population”,...
UAE: Detained Activists Begin Hunger Strike
Five activists held in the UAE since April and currently standing trial for publishing material online, using aliases, have started an open-ended hunger strike to draw attention to their plight and the abuse they are receiving in prison. Mona Kareem checks out netizens' reactions to their cause.
Mexico: Citizen Detained Over Politician Helicopter Crash Joke Tweet
The Mexican Twittersphere exploded on November 13 demanding the release of Mario Flores, who was detained without an arrest order allegedly because of a joke he tweeted last Thursday, November 10. Geraldine Juarez takes a closer look at this case.
North Korea: Did Gaddafi's Execution Scare Kim Jong-il?
Joo Sung-ha is a North Korean defector-turned-journalist who also blogs. This post is his critique of numerous news reports suggesting Kim Jong-il, North Korean dictator was scared to hear of his fellow dictator, and rumoured friend, Gaddafi's fall.