Allegations of violations of the laws of war by former Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, were dismissed in US District Court yesterday. Nine former prisoners of detention facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan represented by The American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First
Spring has sprung all across Europe. With the warming of the waters off the Spanish and Italian coasts, thousands of African migrants will again try to make their way to the promised land: Europe. Many, desperate for a better life, will become victims of human traffickers , will risk life …
Canadians Abroad Part 2:
The question of the rights of Canadian citizens abroad has recently come to light in the case of Mohamed El-Attar. El-Attar was put to trial on Feb 24th 2007 in Egypt for allegedly being a spy for the Israeli Mossad in Canada. He was picked …
Canadians Abroad Part 1:
The question of how immigrants should be treated, or considered equally among all social and cultural groups in a country was put to its greatest test in Canada in the summer of 2006. During the conflict between Israel and Lebanon last summer there was a flood of …
Last week, President of Tajikistan Ehmomahli Rakhmonov announced that he wanted to return to the traditional (non-Slavic) spelling and pronunciation of his name. Today, President Rakhmon dictated that the entire nation will follow him in this move. New birth certificates, graduation papers, and other official documents will now be …
The Pentagon's detainee offices have released the transcripts of KSM's (among others) trial before the CSRT. Inquiries have also been made regarding Hick's trial yesterday.
The International Helsinki Federation on Human Rights regularly comments on Central Asia's humanitarian issues. So far I’ve just glanced through the report and the Country Studies for each state look much more specific and useful than the general pages on Central Asia.
One reason the general pages are not …
Mexican President Felipe Calderon played host to Chilean President Michelle Bachelet last week in an effort to strengthen relations and encourage regional integration. The two agreed to form an advisory council for the Strategic Association Agreement, or AAE, which was signed in January 2006 …
Professor Julio Moreno, Coordinator of Latin American Studies at the University of San Francisco, spoke at the World Affairs Council of Northern California on March 6th. His talk, Mexico: Neighbor in Turmoil, can be downloaded here.
Moreno is the author of
Members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have broken their silence on Zimbabwe. Regional cooperation all along has presented the greatest hope for promoting change by taking the responsibility away from individual leaders such as Thabo Mbeki. Traditionally regional leaders, with memories of colonialism on the ground …
This weekend I was trying desperately to avoid work and all that comes with it, but when you work in the NGO world work is hard to avoid. There I was desperately trying to decompress from a long week at my job working for …
Kazakhstan's medical services have been under fire recently for the deplorable medically-assisted spread of HIV virus among 96 schoolchildren via transfusions. Eight schoolchildren in the region of Shymkent have already died. Kazakhstan's Health Minister, Yerbolat Dosaev, and the Southern Kazakhstan governor Bolat Jylkyshiev, were dismissed. Twenty-one doctors and …
I've got a lot for respect for activists and what they do. I was one, and I like to think this blog is a form of activism. Today I will spare you the call to the barricades but I do want to flag some important programs that are going on and …
David Hicks will be arraigned for war crimes before a US military tribunal enacted at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba at 1pm this afternoon. Hicks, 31, is charged with providing material support for al-Qa'ida during the US led conflict in Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime and track down associates of …
Berlin played host to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the signature of the Treaties of Rome, the cornerstone of the modern European Union over the weekend. Germany's presidency of the Council is a fortuitous coincidence, imbuing these celebrations with a particularly symbolic air. As one of the founding …
