Human Rights

A friend of mine recently commented that it seems like everything is a human right these days.  He may be on to something.  Case in point: Earlier today Intel appealed a landmark antitrust fine imposed on them by the European Union on the basis that the fine violated the company’s human rights. In May, the […]

On July 14, the prosecution wrapped up its case against Thomas Lubanga, the first ever accused brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC).  Lubanga, the alleged leader of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC), and its military wing the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération de Congo (FPLC), has been charged with enlisting and conscripting child soldiers between […]

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) there is an estimated 165 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 whom are actively involved in child labor.  Just over a month ago on June 11th we celebrated World Day Against Child Labor, which as I stated in my post, that this year was one […]

The secretary of state finally gets a platter of her own at ITC Maurya’s Bukhara restaurant in New Delhi. The Hillary Platter–urgh malai kabab, seekh kabab, paneer tikka, tandoori aloo, sikandari raan, dal bukhara, tandoori jinga, mixed raita, naan, rasmalai and kulfi–joins the Presidential Platter and the Chelsea Platter. At the town hall meeting at […]

Civil society representatives from over 20 African countries met in Kigali, Rwanda last week to discuss how to better implement a key regional protocol on women’s rights.  The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa received it’s fifteenth ratification and therefore came into effect in […]

Eyes have fallen off of Sri Lanka since the country ended it’s 26 year civil war ended in May 2009. The conflict ended with the governments forces final defeat of the insurgent Tamil Tigers rebel group (LTTE). Over the years, especially in the last few years of the conflict international human rights groups repeatedly called […]

A row of Moroccan flags firmly embedded in a concrete wall too tall to scale, align a compound that has no political will and surround a United Nations mission that has no human rights bureau. Minurso, the UN Mission for the Referendum in the Western Sahara, is a sad spectacle where the single blue flag […]

Human rights lawyer and women’s rights activist Shadi Sadr was arrested in Tehran on Friday.  She was approached by several plain clothed officers who pushed her into a car while she was walking with friends to Friday prayers.  In a call to her husband, she confirmed that she was under arrest and being held at […]

Around 500 different groups of Indians still in the vast forest of the Amazon. Some have never had contact with the outside world.  Last year, a small prop plane flying over forests in Peru spotted on such group.  The images that came from that venture were truly astonishing. It is hard to imagine that in […]

“We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do.” – Brigham Young Children look to adults for guidance, we are no only care takers, but natural role models. Children watch closely those adults around them for examples of how to act, how to behaveand what paths […]

The writers and supporters of the War Crimes series for the Foreign Policy Association honor July 17 as International Justice Day. July 17 marks the anniversary of the drafting of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The U.N. General Assembly launched a five-week diplomatic conference in Rome in June 1999 to establish an […]

Earlier this week, the Israeli human rights group Breaking the Silence released a report containing the anonymous testimonies of 54 combat soldiers who served in 2008-2009 Gaza War, codenamed Operation Cast Lead by the Israeli military.  The testimonies detail numerous human rights abuses and violations of international laws of war including the use of human […]