To follow up on yesterday's post, I happened to stumble across a group of illegal immigrants in Paris protesting for their rights. The following is an interview conducted on a street corner in the 19th arrondissement (quarter or neighborhood). A dozen or so illegal immigrants were flying banners in front of a restaurant where some […]
"We call a child's mind “small” simply by habit; perhaps it is larger than ours is, for it can take in almost anything without effort" – Christopher Morley So often we over shadow our children, and fail to hear their thoughts and perspectives. By looking at a child as small minded serves only to underestimate […]
Some 84 juvenile offenders in Iran currently await execution, however the true number may be much higher. Iran remains one of the only countries in the world which continues to execute children, all in violation of its commitments to international treaties, such as Under Article 37(a) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the […]
For the past few years, Europe has gravitated towards nationalism and government policy initiatives geared against immigration and asylum seekers. In France, the situation is hardly promising for illegal immigrants currently working hotels, construction, restoration, and most any other low-wage jobs considered too menial for majority of the French. Faced with the precious nature of […]
WARNING: THE “SLAUGHTER” LINK CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES A case before a Dutch court will determine whether Dutch peacekeepers operating under the flag of the United Nations are liable for the 1995 massacre of thousands of Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica. In July 1995, forces from the paramilitary group The Scorpions, oversaw the detention […]
In Eastern Burma the atrocities against ethnic minorities has continued, according to a recent report by the Free Burma Rangers. The government has continued it's campaign against civilians as attacks on Karen villages have caused more than 1,000 civilians to flee their homes. In a report, “Crimes Against Humanity In Eastern Myanmar.”, issued by Amnesty […]
We’ve rightly been focused on the Boumediene decision for the last few days, but the good people at the Enough Project were before the UN Security Council today. Co-Chair John Prendergast's testimony is here. In a column Prendergast wrote on Huffington Post, he emphasized the continuing spillover of the Darfur conflict into neighboring Chad. In […]
The Diane Rehm show Tuesday hosted a round-table discussion on the latest decision from the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the rights of detainees held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Thursday the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to deny Guantanamo prisoners the right to challenge their detention. Implications of the ruling, and […]
Since 2003, sixty-four bloggers have been arrested the world over for posting their views online. According to a University of Washington World Information Access (WIA) report, 36 of those arrests occurred in 2007. The exact number of bloggers arrested may be higher. The Committee to Protect bloggers says at least 344 have been detained in […]
Since 1991, every June 16th mark the day of the African Child, and is honored world wide. This year the Day is dedicated to the right of the African child to participate, particularly to be seen and heard. Today marks “The day of the African Child,” which this year is dedicated to the Right to […]
Waging Peace, a British NGO, issued a report stating that between 7,000 and 10,000 Darfurian children abducted from refugee camps in Chad are serving as child soldiers. Please also see my other posts on Child Soldiers. The report comes right after the earlier report this month on the Release of Child Soldiers in Chad. Please […]
Today, the Supreme Court denied certiorari over a mandamus action filed by Syrian Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak Al Ginco. While this was the first detainee challenge to be acted on since last week's Boumediene decision, it was a mandamus action rather than a habeas action and so Boumediene probably did not affect the justices’ deliberations. […]
The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. – Thomas Jefferson The Supreme Court ruling granting the writ of habeas corpus to the 260 Guantanamo detainees is perhaps one of the most important human rights victories in recent years. Six and half years […]
"They torched our house, they burnt our livestock, I have nothing left and don't know where to start.", said 22 year old Precious, a mother of a six-month-old baby (Telegraph). According to UNICEF the continued violence is damaging Zimbabwe's children and the grip it has on the countries children fears to only be tightening. Just […]
United Nations officials, government leaders and education experts are gathering in Kathmandu, Nepal, June 11 for the start of a two-day conference examining how to improve gender equality in schools across the Asia-Pacific region. The meeting has been set up by the Global Advisory Committee of the UN Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI) to measure the […]