Human Rights

News of the global food crisis is increasingly inescapable and as the price of food continues to skyrocket around the world, those most effected are women and children. Those children who are already most vulnerable are now placed in even more danger as the food crisis continues without any visible signs of curtailing. What is […]

"If you don't violate someone's human rights some of the time, you probably aren't doing your job," an American official told the Washington Post. This was in relation to an article on CIA torture of al-Qaida and Taliban suspects at the Bagram Air Force in 2002. Two unarmed civilians were captured and tortured to death […]

Last night, on the way home from dinner with friends, I bumped into another friend and colleague I had not seen in some time. This individual, who first came to the U.S. as a political refugee from Kenya, began to tell me about the violence in his homeland and the risks to peace. On an […]

Many of you have probably followed the debate at the University of Berkley re: the position of Professor John Yoo. Briefly, Yoo is deemed to be one of the chief enablers of the U.S. torture program and the author of key memos in this area. The New York Times, in an editorial, describes the memos […]

This weekend saw an increase in violence against immigrants in South Africa. The attacks began a week or so ago in the township of Alexandra (near Johannesburg) and has been escalating. As in similar outbreaks in recent years around the world, this situation seems to be one where immigrants are being blamed for the ills […]

Intrepid is the usual label for a distinguished character, a person of influence. It would be fair to judge Italy's own Pier Paolo Pasolini as such and more. Film-maker, playwright, poet, novelist, etc., indelibly surrounded by controversy. Perhaps less well known was Paolo's column as a political thinker who challenged the traditionalist conventions of Italian […]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) ‚ A military judge on Friday postponed the first war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, saying he wants to wait until the Supreme Court makes its highly anticipated ruling on the right of detainees to challenge their confinement in civil courts.Navy Capt. Keith Allred ruled the trial for Osama bin […]

“There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.” -Walt Streightiff Children truly see the world through unclouded eyes, in everything they see beauty and hope. It never ceases to amaze me what the eyes of a child see that the eyes of adulthood cannot, as […]

The gang world has always been viewed through a predominately male lens, however the gang culture seems to be in the midst of a feminine revival. Many Central America countries have spent decades fighting gang wars on their streets, leaving most with the view that it is boys who make up this violent subculture and […]

Pain carries along with it a burden, sometimes visible, sometimes hidden. You and I both understand this, we have all experienced it. And undoubtedly, we too have used it to our advantage, feigning strength while at our weakest. From Hammurabi's Code to the New Testament to the Quran, women, indentured servants, and homosexuals have historically […]

The chief judge for the U.S. war crimes tribunal at the naval detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, set a June 5 court date for the self-professed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and four other suspected co-conspirators.  Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, who presided over the earlier trial of Australian David Hicks, […]

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is perfectly clear. Everyone has a right to an education. And yet after seven years of brutal war in Afghanistan, education and schools in the Helmand district have plummeted to an all time low as the Taliban regain momentum and influence. "Make no mistake, NATO is […]