People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the […]
In front of me is a man who spent ten years in a secret detention center in southern Morocco.Here is a human rights activist who understands the world as it is, its beauty and its terror. Somewhere between both, lies the inspiration of human nature in all its complexities. While imprisoned in the Black Jail, […]
2008 was a year of dramatic developments in war crimes law. There were major events in the prosecutions of Radovan Karadzic, once the world's most wanted man; Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 attacks; and Charles and Chucky Taylor. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court sought a historic indictment of Sudanese leader […]
Afghan women fear a retreat to dark days Human rights observers have warned Afghan President Hamid Karzai against rushing into a political agreement with elements of the Taliban, lest the nation risk rolling back the hard-fought and potentially tenuous rights restored to women after the fall of the Taliban. At the country's largest-ever women's conference, […]
I am still chuckling over this photo of Carl Bernstein deeply engrossed in his very own A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton on the plane. I want to read it too!
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in an interview Monday with ABC News admitted that the use of water-boarding was permissible for 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheik Mohammed. Cheney, considered one of the most powerful vice presidents in U.S. history, supported his position that harsh interrogation techniques were appropriate for KSM. KSM was captured in an early […]
The Seguiat al Hamra river that runs along the northern edge of Laayoune is a place of fear. For the Sahrawi youth who have been beaten and tortured at its edge, the shimmering water and wading birds, indeed its natural beauty and serene settings, is a mark of indifference betrayed only by the terrified eyes […]
As stated in the post, The Freedom of Education, education is the key to freedom however poverty and access are often a huge barrier. However an additional barrier to accessing education that plagues many children around the globe is disability. With strains already placed on many educational systems and access to education in many areas is already […]
Vaccination number reporting faulty Dozens of countries have been over-reporting the levels of children receiving vaccinations in order to receive cash rewards for the processes, according to a study from the University of Washington. About $145 million has been erroneously paid through an immunization support program that pays $20 for every child vaccinated, the report […]
"He who teaches children learns more than they do" – German Proverb They always say that teaching is the most rewarding profession, and that being a parent is the hardest job you will ever have. It is true that when teaching or raising a child that you learn more from them than they do from […]
Pakistan claims to have arrested one of the alleged Mumbai ringleaders, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, at a Lashkar i Tayyiba camp in Pakistan. The Washington Post notes the camp is officially run by Jamaat-ud-Dawa, an aid organization with ties to Lashkar. Jim Arkedis draws three inferences: – the link between the LeT and ISI is (was?) pretty […]
Robert Fisk once said that the only thing we have learned from history, is that we never learn from history. It is unfortunate that the world thrives on scorn, hatred, and despair. But this is our lot. And for the human rights activists on the ground, in the field, working for a better future, for […]
It was on this day, December 10, 1948, that the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which is available in more than 360 languages), for which it called all UN Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and […]
Check out our take on the closing year in 2008 in Review. FPA has asked all of the bloggers to answer those five questions. We would also love to hear your thoughts on what issues you'd like to see us cover in 2009.
It seems so long ago now. The fear, the anxiety, the dark alleys of Laayoune. I met the Sahrawi human rights activist, Ahmed Sbai, in the outskirts of this wasted city, in the Eraki neighborhood where the marginalized live in bland block apartments. A week ago now, maybe even less. The days pass by in […]