Full Coverage: Civil rights

31.03.2006 People living with HIV/AIDS are taking on drug major GlaxoSmithKline's efforts to patent its AIDS-medicine Combivir in India.The Manipur Network of Positive People (MNP+), under the aegis of the Indian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+) has filed a pre-grant opposition to GSK's patent application at the Indian Patent office in Kolkata.

30.03.2006 Hundreds of journalists marched in the streets of Kathmandu calling for full press freedom in the country. Media personnel, rights activists and professionals joined a rally organised by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) on the occasion of the 51st anniversary of the establishment of FNJ.

30.03.2006 The city of Dubai is experienceing one of the largest construction booms in the history of the world--on the backs of migrant laborers who face abusive labor practices and squalid living conditions, according to Human Rights Watch.

29.03.2006 Le CAPMA, Collectif pour l'Autonomie du peuple Mapuche (capmamtl@riseup.net), veut informer qu'actuellement 13 prisonnierEs politiques MAPUCHE sont incarcérées en permanence dans différentes prisons du Chili, accuséEs injustement par différentes lois, principalement par la loi anti-terroriste (18.314), une loi au service de l’oppression et de répression de l'État chilien.

28.03.2006 Many believe that the recent mass rallies across the United States in support of immigrants' rights led a Senate committee to promote an immigration reform bill Monday that--in sharp contrast to a House bill passed in December--would put migrant workers on a path to citizenship. Hispanic media outlets paved the way for the impressive show of people power.

23.03.2006 Best Stories from Visa Queues, a collection of stories published by the Citizens’ Pact for the SEE, will be presented to the Members of the European Parliament. The authors of the stories included in the compilation - Vitomirka Trebovac, Ivan Branisavljevic, Nemanja Kuzmanovski and Barbara Pavljasevic - will read excerpts from their works.

23.03.2006 What responsible American citizenry would tolerate torture, rendition, a war based on deception, and an administration that trashes the Bill of Rights, asks Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

21.03.2006 Six years after it was written, only 11 of 46 countries have ratified the Council of Europe's Protocol outlawing discrimination of all kinds by all public authorities.

21.03.2006 The Centre for Peace Studies, Brunkovac Online, Kutina Youth Cultural Centre(KCM), Independent Youth Kutina and Baraka in Kutina organize the marking of the International Anti-Racism and Xenophobia Week, which started on March 18 and will end on March 26, 2006.

17.03.2006 The Croatian Sabor started yesterday afternoon the debate on the Draft-Law on Registered Partnerships. The proposal was submitted to the Sabor by Sime Lucin (SDP) and Ivo Banac (independent). The Draft-Law proposes expansion of rights of same-sex unions, compared to the rights allocated by the existing legislation. The Legal Team established by Iskorak and Kontra associations came out in public and demanded that the legal discrimination of same-sex unions in Croatia is abolished.

17.03.2006 While participants at the official forum and attendees of a parallel civil society meeting may agree that water access is a basic human right, they don't always agree on the best ways to ensure it.

16.03.2006 Supporting fundamental rights is an obligation--not a concession--says Amnesty International, urging Israel's political parties to put human rights at the top of their agendas ahead of the March 28th legislative elections.

15.03.2006 Should the manufacturer of a product dubbed "toxic-cola" in India be a leading sponsor of the World Water Forum? Given its history of land and water pollution, Coca-Cola's sponsorship threatens the credibility of the entire forum, says Amit Srivastava.

09.03.2006 Taking a cue from their counterparts in India, Sri Lankan women are asking for 30 per cent reservation in all elected bodies, including parliament.This follows a finding that there are too few women in these bodies, though women are 50 per cent of the island's population of 20 million, and are over 50 per cent of the electorate.

07.03.2006 For years, we at Brazil Justice Net (Sejup) have been following the case of the massacre at Carandiru. We are most unhappy to report that yet another injustice has been committed concerning the case.

06.03.2006 The Open Society Fund in Serbia started the Future of Information in Minority Languages in Serbia – Towards Optimal and Sustainable Model initiative, under which it implements a survey on status and situation of media in Serbia that broadcast programmes in minority languages.

06.03.2006 A controversial bill before the U.S. Congress would authorize a 700-mile border fence between Mexico and the U.S. and criminalize immigrants, their families, and organizations that advocate on their behalf, say faith, labor and rights leaders rallying in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.

03.03.2006 Several thousands of workers laid off as redundant from companies that declared bankruptcy protested on Wednesday in front of municipal buildings in several cities and towns in Macedonia.