Foreign Policy Blogs

Human Rights

More Karadzic

Aleksandar Hemon has this oped in Radovan Karadzic in the New York Times. Meanwhile, Andre Gerolymatos argues that there are deeper geopolitical considerations behind Serbia's decision to find Karadzic. As we, and most of the world, continue to discuss and celebrate Karadzic's arrest, he will appear before the ICTY tomorrow for an initial arraignment.

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The Olympics Countdown: Broken Promises

Amnesty International has released a scathing report on China's unfilled promises to improve human rights. Worse, the report claims human rights abuses have deteriorated since its last report in April. Published ten-days before the start of the games, Amnesty's report claims Chinese authorities are persecuting individuals who may tarnish the sanitized image of the games. […]

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Children in Prisons

Children in Prisons

A child in prison surely sounds like a superfluous statement, for unquestionably children do not belong in prison. The word prison is often synonymous with adult, yet sadly around the globe there are some 1 million children languishing in prisons, and most of these are not some special child prison or version of juvenile detention, […]

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Iranian Rebel Charged With Supporting Terror

Zeinab Taleb-Jedi, a member of an Iranian rebel group called the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or Peoples’ Mohajedin Organization of Iran (MEK), faces charges in federal court for providing material support to a terrorist organization under 18 U.S.C. 2339. Taleb-Jedi argues that the United States is cooperating with MEK in Iraq, and so it is inconsistent for […]

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ICC needs to protect intermediaries

Intermediaries play a vital role in assembling information and bringing forward victims to help prosecute war crimes suspects in the Hague. Lawyers representing victim of war crimes rely on intermediaries on the ground to facilitate outreach and provide a vital information link. While the International Criminal Court (ICC) offers protection services to both prosecution and […]

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Darfur's Struggle Continues

Darfur's Struggle Continues

Anyone can look sympathetically upon a photo of someone crying inside their burnt out house, and feel the pain and grief that one would have, but imagine when it is compounded by a whole village. Now add death and rape into the mix, and the images are even more haunting, the images are the reality […]

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One Day Soon

There may be a good day in Darfur. And the ICC's indictment of Sudanese Presidnet Omar Hassan al-Bashir may have a lot to do with it, the New York Times reports. While al-Bashir's government, and even the domestic political opposition, is rallying around him in defiance of the ICC indictment, the Times suggests that previously […]

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Afghanistan's Losing Battle

Afghanistan's Losing Battle

In the post Drug Trade Fuels Forced Marriages in Afghanistan, the looming drug culture was brought to attention, as the country drug market has only continued to fuel human rights violations and breed more suffering among the populous, especially children. A recent New York Times article written by Thomas Schweich, a former U.S. counternarcotics official, […]

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News…

News…

Burma (Myanmar) ratified a proposed international charter that includes controversial human rights provisions, a day after regional powers slammed the nation's ruling junta for extending opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention. But question marks remain about whether Myanmar's junta is willing to adhere to the principles of human rights and respect for rule of […]

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Superstition targets Albinos in Tanzania

In Tanzania, the body parts of albinos are believed to possess magical properties.   BBC journalist, Vicky Ntetema, has filmed (see video here) a witchdoctor in Tanzania discussing anatomy for potions.    There are anywhere between 4000 to 173,000 albinos living in Tanzania. So far this year, a known 25 have been killed for witchcraft, most in […]

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Karadzic appeals transfer to The Hague

Lawyers for Radovan Karadzic just before midnight Friday dispatched a letter via postal carrier to the U.N. tribunal at The Hague, lodging an appeal against his transfer to the international court. Svetozar Vujacic, one of the defense members, said the letter was filed at the last possible minute in an effort to delay the extradition […]

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Balkan Bliss

Reuters reports that conditions in the Haguue war crimes prison are well above international standards, and Joshua Keating at Foreign Policy magazine calls it the Hague's “Kumbaya Prison.” Apparently, the detainees have put aside religious differences and bonded, going from fratricide to fraternity. A shame it didn't happen a little bit earlier.

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Children the Teachers of Life

Children the Teachers of Life

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." – Unknown Children truly are the teachers of life, they teach us how to laugh, how to play, how to enjoy the simple things in life. When you are around children one finds it impossible not […]

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Sports Activism

Sports Activism

Do you find yourself saying, I just don't know how to help, or I just don't have time. Well activism isn't as hard as you may think, and it can be a lot of fun for adults and kids. So why not take on some sports activism. Yes, sports activism! No, I don't mean you […]

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The Children of Congo's Streets

The Children of Congo's Streets

News of child suffering in hardly new in any country these days, and the Congo is no stranger to children's rights violations and suffering. Years of war and economic instability has now lead the country is now find its streets flooded with children, as some estimate there are more than 3,000 street children in the […]

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