Full Coverage: Human rights

29.07.2005 Over 400 Uzbek refugees who fled to Kyrgyzstan after MayÂ’s Andijan massacre are to be given new homes abroad, despite Uzbek pressure that Kyrgyzstan return the refugees. The U.N.'s refugee chief in Kyrgyzstan refused to say where the refugees will go, though speculation points to the Czech Republic, Ukraine, or Canada.

29.07.2005 JERUSALEM, Jul 28 (IPS) - A growing number of Palestinians are beginning to believe that Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip will not mean the end of occupation.

29.07.2005 The recent crisis that forced the resignation of Bolivia's second president in less than two years stems from a much deeper problem that is plaguing the entire Latin American region: namely, what is best for the people and who decides?

29.07.2005 On August 1-4, a fast and vigil will be held outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C. for an end to the genocide in Darfur. Africa Action asks you to show your support and get involved.

28.07.2005 The son of a prominent Pakistani human rights activist, himself a committed peace activist, was tortured and killed in November. The investigation into his death is stalled, and human rights advocates have launched a letter-writing campaign to ensure justice is done and the impunity and intimidation is brought to an end.

27.07.2005 While exact details of the case remain somewhat unclear, it appears that Mahmoud Asgari, 16, and Ayaz Marhoni, 18, were hanged in Iran earlier this month for being gay. Rights groups have vowed to pursue the case to the highest international levels.

26.07.2005 Hundreds of community members from across the United States have joined the public awareness campaign on modern-day slavery and human trafficking by taking photos showing their commitment to fighting the practice. Learn more about the issue, listen to the voices of survivors, and add your photo today.

26.07.2005 Ce que proposent les journées Alternatives 2005 : Créer des espaces pour débattre des luttes et des solidarités qui nous animent, en démontrant comment chacune de ces batailles, aussi locale soit-elle, s’inscrit dans une résistance globale pour le bien commun. Parce qu’en renforçant notre mouvement social ici, en préparant nos batailles et en consolidant nos solidarités au Québec et au Canada, c’est à un mouvement global que nous contribuons.

26.07.2005 Amnistie internationale a révélé ce mardi 26 juillet que des milliers d’enfants au Népal étaient confrontés à des exactions et violences graves dans le conflit en cours au Népal, où rebelles maoïstes et forces de sécurité se livrent à une lutte interne brutale depuis neuf ans.

Dans un rapport sur le Népal rendu public ce mardi 26 juillet, intitulé en anglais Nepal : Children caught in the conflict, l’organisation explique que des enfants népalais sont tués, détenus illégalement, torturés, violés, enlevés et recrutés de force pour des tâches militaires ; l’organisation accuse les deux parties au conflit de violer les droits les plus élémentaires des enfants.

26.07.2005 Huit années se sont écoulées depuis l’échec de l’approche coordonnée des gouvernements occidentaux en vue de mettre un terme aux violations des droits humains en Chine par des mesures multilatérales, approche qui avait surtout pris la forme d’une résolution présentée par ces pays devant la Commission des droits de l’homme des Nations Unies (CDHNU). En 1997, le Canada a mis fin à son coparrainage de la résolution sur la situation en Chine pour entreprendre son « dialogue bilatéral Canada-Chine sur les droits de la personne ». Cette approche fondée sur le dialogue, qui a également été adoptée par plusieurs autres gouvernements, avait été proposée à l’origine par la Chine comme moyen de répondre aux critiques de la communauté internationale face à son dossier en matière de droits humains.

26.07.2005 Armed opposition groups in Iraq have shown blatant disregard for civilians and are guilty of crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said in a report released Monday. Adding that human rights violations have no justification--despite resistance to the U.S. presence in Iraq--Amnesty is calling on leaders to speak out against the groups.

26.07.2005 As a result of the cooperation between the Amnesty International Croatia and the Motovun Film Festival, the “Amnesty International Film Award” will be awarded for the best short or feature film on the subject of human rights presented at the Festival that will take place July 25-29 in Motovun, Istria.

26.07.2005 The independent inquiry into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by plainclothes police must fully examine the circumstances leading up to the incident and compliance with international law, demands Amnesty.

25.07.2005 Twenty-seven jounalists, novelists, and internet writers from 17 countries have been awarded this year's Hellman/Hammett grants, recognizing those who have shown courage in the face of political persecution. The writers honored this year have been harassed, assaulted, indicted, jailed on trumped up charges, or tortured merely for providing information from nongovernmental sources.

25.07.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Jul 25 (OneWorld) - Congress has done little to protect lives in Darfur in the year since it declared, unanimously, that mass killings there amounted to genocide, a leading U.S.-based advocacy group has charged amid an upsurge in violence in the western Sudanese region.

25.07.2005 A stinging U.N. report released Friday condemns President Mugabe's urban clean-up operation, saying it was carried out "with indifference to human suffering," and was a breach of both national and international human rights law. The report calls for an immediate halt of the demolitions, urging the government to pay reparations to the affected and punish those who carried out the forced evictions.

25.07.2005 The leadership asserted by the U.S. Congress one year ago, when it unanimously declared that genocide was taking place in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, has now dissipated, says Africa Action, faulting the legislators for failing to exert pressure on the Bush administration to provide protection for Darfur's civilians, where threats of sanctions and divestment have proved insufficient.

25.07.2005 Many fear the current draft of Iraq's constitution would set back the once-powerful women's movement in the country by 50 years or more, subordinating women's human rights guarantees to subjective interpretations of Islam under Sharia law. Furthermore, says MADRE Associate Director Yifat Susskind, varying religious interpretations of the law could increase tensions among groups, further endangering Iraqis and undermining democracy.

25.07.2005 Some young filmmakers featured in this year's Media that Matters Film Festival talked with Children's PressLine about their documentaries, why they made them, and why other young people should use the media to express their own messages for social change. "People will take you more seriously when they find out that you are young and trying to make a difference, said journalist Antonina Zielinska, 16.

23.07.2005 NABLUS, West Bank, Jul 22 (IPS) - "Before the 2000 Al-Aqsa Intifadah I was very optimistic. I was ambitious and strong, but now I do not feel strong any more. We are all frustrated in our small prison," says Sawsan Aishe, a 24-year-old graduate from An Najah National University in Nablus in the West Bank.