Human Rights

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 […]

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 […]

I.C.C. Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo argued this week that releasing former Democratic Republic of Congo Vice-President Jean Pierre Bemba before his trial at the Hague would be an “Error in Law“.  In fact, Ocampo argued, the only significant change that had occurred since the last decision to keep Bemba in detention and now was the […]

Botswana is frequently championed for responsible use of its diamond resources in development.  In an industry too often marked with stories of brutality and exploitation, Botswana is a success story for diamonds as much as diamonds have benefited Botswana.  Supported by diamond revenues – Botswana is the largest producer in value of diamonds in the […]

(4)  Holder ‘Appoints’ Special Prosecutor to Review CIA Interrogations US Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he is expanding the mandate of Special Counsel John Durham to include a ‘preliminary review’ (not yet an investigation) into the legality of CIA interrogations of certain detainees. Durham was originally appointed in 2008 by then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey […]