Opinion and Analysis Archive

28.04.2006 Twelve years ago on 27 April, millions of South Africans took part in the first non-racial democratic election following the end of minority white rule. Piers Pigou reflects on the unfinished business of the country's truth and reconciliation process.

28.04.2006 The international community must help ensure that the commitment made by the King of Nepal, to give sovereignty to the people, is fulfilled, says human rights defender Shobhakar Budhathoki.

27.04.2006 1 May - International Workers’ Day: 10 reasons to support the rights of immigrants, who are among the groups most vulnerable to exploitation by governments or corporations.

26.04.2006 Never again, it was said after the Holocaust. Then came Rwanda. Now some say it is happening in Sudan. The latest issue of the online magazine Perspectives looks at genocide prevention.

26.04.2006 Although events in Darfur are complicated, and the situation continues to deteriorate, there are clear priorities and paths that must be taken to save millions of lives, says Ann-Louise Colgan.
* UN Council imposes sanctions on four individuals

25.04.2006 AFRICAN MALARIA DAY, 25 APRIL: The World Bank, a leader in the global effort to control malaria, has been accused of deception and medical malpractice by a group of public health doctors for failing to carry out its funding promises and wrongly claiming its programmes have been successful at cutting the death toll from the disease.
+ Failure to fund combination drug treatment shows an emphasis on saving money rather than saving lives

24.04.2006 The European Union balks at "Islamic terrorism" and other phrases. It's working on a lexicon that counters the terrorists' terminology, says Peter Ford.

21.04.2006 Censorship by journalism is virulent in Britain and the US - and it means the difference between life and death for people in faraway countries. By John Pilger.

20.04.2006 With the end of King Gyanendra’s direct rule looking increasingly likely, says a briefing on the crisis, a Contact Group of India, the US and UK, working with the UN, should help Nepal escape from its worsening conflict.

19.04.2006 "I love my country, but I hate the government." A leading Nepali journalist reports from prison.

19.04.2006 Western donors' withholding of almost $1 billion from the Palestinian National Authority in an effort to force Hamas to recognise Israel and accept the Oslo Peace Accords will fuel extremism, create a humanitarian crisis, and undermine Palestinian civil society, says Ian Guest.

18.04.2006 Costa Rica, dubbed the "Switzerland of Central America" for its high living standards, is becoming less Swiss and more Central American every day, reports María Flórez-Estrada.
* OneWorld UK Guide to Costa Rica

17.04.2006 By cutting funding to elected Palestinian representatives, the US and the EU are dooming the region to continued chaos, argues Michelle Woodward.

14.04.2006 Twelve years after the Rwandan genocide, Gerald Caplan argues that understanding about its real causes remains limited, while the superpowers continue to act in their own self-interest when it comes to other genocides.

13.04.2006 As tensions mount over Iran's nuclear standoff, the risks of radiation-based technologies are surging back into the headlines and onto public agendas. Marilyn Smith looks at the UN agency at the centre of the fray.

12.04.2006 UN sanctions against Saddam Hussein enriched both the Iraqi dictator and corporations able to manipulate the world body's Oil-for-Food programme. Among the profiteers, reports Marc Moncrief, was the Australian Wheat Board, which funnelled $208 million into Saddam's coffers even as the “Coalition of the Willing” was preparing for invasion.

11.04.2006 Women farmers have become a dominant force throughout India, as more and more men migrate to earn money. Yet the slow pace of land and property rights reform has failed to keep up, says Keya Acharya.

10.04.2006 One year ago on from the launch of a plan to tackle the discrimination and poverty faced by millions of Roma throughout Europe, not enough has been done.

07.04.2006 Evidence is mounting, argue Naima Bouteldja and Robin Virgin, that the UK Foreign Office, armed forces and intelligence services are complicit in "extraordinary rendition", exposing British citizens and residents to "coercive interrogation" techniques and opening up British airspace to US "torture flights".

06.04.2006 "This year I will again sow maize. But if it is again contaminated [with genetically engineered maize] I will abandon the growing of organic maize. It is obvious that I cannot carry on my shoulders the episodes of contamination like these, year after year."