BRUSSELS, 3 September 2009 The President of the African Development Bank Group Donald Kaberuka said that the international response to the global crisis and the reform of the global financial aid architecture has failed to take into consideration the issues facing least developed countries. “People here call it a financial crisis but in Africa it […]
A court in Kazakhstan sentenced a prominent human rights activist to four years imprisonment for manslaughter yesterday in a case that many observers believe was politically motivated. The charges against Yevgeny Zhovtis stem from a car accident in July where Zhovtis hit and killed a man while driving his car. However the initial forensic exam […]
It is no secret that Mexico lags well behind European, North American and other Latin American countries in regards to women’s participation in government. Though Mexican women have been legally entitled to vote and stand for election since 1953, there is still a wide gap in terms of their equal representation in the three branches […]
September is Washington D.C.’s Human Trafficking Awareness Month, the event which was established thanks to the efforts of the DC Task Force on Human Trafficking. The Task Force was established in 2004 with the DC police department and the DC US Attorney’s office, membership is now open to open to any D.C. metropolitan area law […]
Children around the world are forced into the sex trade, very often by their own families, mislead by promises of economic opportunity or pushed by desperation. The commercial sex industry is fueled by poverty, but driven by demand and while the issue of poverty must be addressed, so must the those who prey on women […]
Twelve Awa Indians were massacred in rural southwest Colombia last week. Seven children were among the dead including one infant. They were apparently shot by masked men wearing camoflauge. One suspect is in custody. He is alleged to have extorted the victims. However independent news organizations report that the government played a role in the […]
A recent Boston Globe article discussed the dramatic impact of the large-scale migration of workers from the Philippines, and the remittances that they send back home. Two major points are worth noting here: 1. Over 10 million Filipinos workers have migrated overseas, representing an astounding 11% of the country’s population. What does this mean for […]
The human rights group Physicians for Human Rights released a new report yesterday detailing the role that health professionals played in interrogating and torturing inmates at Guantanamo Bay. The role of health professionals first came to light in a 2004 CIA report, but Physicians for Human Rights now claim that they played a much more […]
The cracks are widening. The pieces are falling through. The people are holding on for dear life, trying their best to regroup – to speak to a world where so many are suffering. Journalists have been barred. Only a few brave individuals with camera phones were able to record the brutality of the Iraqi Security […]
Malnutrition in Guatemala:A national shame Guatemalan authorities are failing to act effectively against the country’s high rate of child malnutrition, The Economist says. Nearly half of all Guatemalan youngsters suffer from chronic malnutrition, the sixth-worst level in the world despite the country having potential financial resources sufficient to provide better health care, education and food […]
A recent incident where Madonna was booed by concert goers after speaking out against the widespread discrimination against Roma in Romania has reignited the debate over the general treatment of Roma in Europe, particularly in Eastern Europe. Roma, more colloquially referred to as Gypsies, have suffered rampant institutional discrimination since their arrival in Europe centuries […]
Guatemala can be considered a vanguard country in ensuring the right to food, in that it has developed legal and institutional protections designed to protect and promote this right. Several national laws exist to promote and ensure the right to food, such as the law (SINESAN) to operationalize the national food security and nutrition plan […]
The title first of anything typically conjures up something special; an accolade, a unique position in a list of achievements. But for Uri Davis, an Israeli Jew and professor of critical Israel studies at al-Quds University on the outskirts of East Jerusalem, that title has brought him both threats and praise. Dr Davis was recently […]
Wonder how close to home the issues are to you? Just take a look at the National Sex Offender Registry and you will be almost sickened by the numbers in your neighborhood…However let me also cautious warn you about looking at the registry lightly, and to closely look at the offenses before jumping the gun, […]
American politicians rarely use the term “human rights” to discuss causes that they champion in the domestic arena; they are much more likely to use labels such as “civil rights” or to focus on an issue without classing it as a human rights concern. Senator Ted Kennedy, who lost his battle against brain cancer on […]