Human Rights

Yes We Camp

It's the slogan of the citizens committees that have formed in the central Italian city of L'Aquila, hit by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on April 6, 2009. And it was on display for world leaders during the G8 summit being held just outside the city in an area off limits to the local people.

Posted in Activism, Human Rights, Militarism, Italy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2009
1:55 PM

CONTACT: Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Tel: +1-212-216-1832
Email: hrwpress@hrw.org

Saudi Arabia: Women’s Rights Promises Broken

Evidence Shows Male Permission Still Being Required for Surgery, Travel

WASHINGTON - July 8 - Saudi officials continue to require women to obtain permission from male guardians to conduct their most basic affairs, like traveling or receiving medical care, despite government assertions that no such requirements exist, Human Rights Watch said today. The government made its assertions most recently in June 2009, to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

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Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.

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Posted in Human Rights, inequality, women's rights

Article 31: A Well-Spring of Human Rights

More than 60 years have passed since the general assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Posted in Human Rights, water rights

Hondurans Call Out for Help from the International Community

Our emergency international delegation to Honduras, organized from the United States by CODEPINK, Global Exchange and Non-Violence International, began its fact-finding mission in the wake of the June 28 coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya.

Posted in Human Rights, solidarity movements, honduras

150 Years

One hundred and fifty years jail time for Bernard Madoff is a good thing.

To listen to the victims of his swindle, or read their words, is to appreciate the very far-reaching ways in which Madoff's quiet crime has wreaked havoc on the lives of thousands of families.

Posted in corporate personhood, Corporatism, Environment, Human Rights

People for Sale in a Hungry World

One might be tempted to dismiss the recent findings of the US State Department on human trafficking as largely political. But do not be too hasty.

Criticism of the State Department's report on trafficked persons, issued on 16 June, should be rife. The language describing US allies' efforts to combat the problem seems undeserved, especially when one examines the nearly 320- page report and observes the minuscule efforts of these governments.

Posted in Human Rights, sex exploitation, slavery

Panel Sets Guidelines for Fighting Prison Rape

Nearly six years after President George W. Bush signed legislation to reduce prison rape, a blue-ribbon commission is calling on corrections officers to identify vulnerable inmates, offer better medical care and allow stricter monitoring of their facilities.

The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, in a study to be released today, affirms that more than 7.3 million people in prisons, jails and halfway houses across the nation have "fundamental rights to safety, dignity and justice."

Posted in Human Rights, prison system

Deporting Fathers in the Name of Homeland Security

As families celebrate Father’s Day, consider the case of Roxroy Salmon. The father of four U.S.-born children, Salmon has lived in the United States for more than 30 years. Yet the Department of Homeland Security now threatens to deport him to Jamaica, a country where he has not resided for decades, due to minor drug convictions from more than 19 years ago for which he served no time. This would effectively deny his children their father by permanently exiling him from his family and their common homeland.

Posted in children, Human Rights, immigration

Humanitarian Aid Criminalized at the Border

ARIVACA, Arizona - Humanitarian aid groups trying to avert migrant deaths on the U.S- Mexico border are facing increased roadblocks in their mission. The hazards are not connected to a spike in drug cartels' violence, but rather restrictions from the federal government.

Transporting a migrant in despair to a hospital could mean a volunteer is charged with human smuggling. A simple act of kindness like leaving water in the desert can be subject to penalties as well.

Posted in Human Rights, immigration

Treating Civilian Deaths as a ‘Sore Point’

The White House decision to send additional ground troops to Afghanistan (see Extra!, 4/09) is only part of the escalation of the war in Central Asia. The increased use of airstrikes and drone-fired missiles in both that country and neighboring Pakistan are likely to increase civilian deaths. Recent coverage, however, suggests that corporate media will present such incidents as aberrations that distract from U.S. strategic interests—or highlight the supposed public relations prowess of official enemies like the Taliban.

Posted in afghan occupation, civilians dead, drone attacks, Human Rights, Afghanistan, Pakistan