Human Rights Digest

Global: Human Rights Day, Embrace Diversity, End discrimination

Jim — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:54:56 +0000

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) Today marks the 61st anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the General Assembly of the United Nations. This year, Human Rights Day is devoted to non discrimination and the [...]

UK: Complicity in Torture

Jim — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:37:08 +0000

A newly released report, Cruel Britannia contains detailed accounts from victims and their families of 5 UK citizens of Pakistani origin who were tortured by Pakistani security agencies in Pakistan. The report, published by Human Rights Watch, found no evidence of UK officials being directly involved in the torture, however they did find evidence of [...]

Somalia: Woman Stoned to Death for Adultery

Jim — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:45:33 +0000

A 29 year old woman was stoned to death on the 17th November after being convicted of adultery by an Islamic court in the Al-Shabab controlled village of El-Bon 45km west of Wajid district in Bakool region. The village judge Sheikh Ibrahim Sheikh Abdurrahman verified that the woman pledged that she was guilty of committing adultery. “This [...]

Morocco/Western Sahara: Human Rights Defender Expelled and Others Arrested.

Jim — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:33:45 +0000

Last week Aminatou Haidar, the 42-year old Sahrawi human rights campaigner, was arrested and expelled by Morocco. She visited the US last month to receive the Civil Courage Award from the Train Foundation and was also awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. On her return to El Ayoun airport in Western Sahara she [...]

UK: Call for public inquiry into allegations of abuse by UK Military in Iraq

Jim — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:08:06 +0000

Claims that British military personnel committed sexual and physical abuse of Iraqi civilians are being investigated by the Ministry of Defence. Lawyers acting for former Iraqi detainees are calling for a full public inquiry into 33 abuse claims made during British military involvement in Iraq, among the allegations is that two soldiers raped a 16-year-old boy [...]

Global: International Tolerance Day

Jim — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:04:16 +0000

A report published today on International Tolerance Day by OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concludes that hate crimes continue to be a serious problem in many OSCE participating States. The report finds there were numerous instances of intimidation, threats, vandalism, assault, arson and murder during 2008 however the lack of reliable data [...]

US: Call to Reform Detention Policy in Afghanistan

Otto — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:59:12 +0000

Amnesty International, Human Rights First, and Human Rights Watch have called on the US to end arbitrary detention in Afghanistan and to fully align US detention practices with international law. The organizations noted that the US has made some recent changes in its detention policy in Afghanistan. These include providing detainees with “notice of the basis [...]

Azerbaijan: bloggers jailing political

Jim — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:18:05 +0000

Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, described the sentencing on the 11th November 2009 of two Azerbaijani bloggers to prison terms on charges of alleged hooliganism and infliction of light bodily injuries as political. “These new imprisonments cement Azerbaijan’s image as the pre-eminent jailer of journalists in the OSCE region. Five journalists [...]

Refugees: On the run through Asia

Jim — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:14:24 +0000

Fleeing countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar, refugees are risking their lives on a new smugglers route through Asia in search of a better life.

China: Secret Black Jails Hide Severe Rights Abuses

Otto — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:14:43 +0000

Since 2003, large numbers of Chinese citizens have been held incommunicado for days or months in secret, unlawful detention facilities known as “black jails” by state agents who violate detainees’ rights with impunity. The Human Rights Watch report, “An Alleyway in Hell,” documents how government officials, security forces, and their agents routinely abduct people off the [...]