human rights

Eritrean refugees in a demonstration
(Photo: EEPA)

Sources: IDN-InDepthNewsEEPA

The European Union (EU) and the European Parliament censured the Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki for sending independent journalists and "thousands of Eritreans" to jail, and urged the African Union to exert pressure on the government to free prisoners. “Europe finally condemns Eritrea; but does it do anything to support the Eritreans?” asked Professor Mirjam van Reisen, founder and director of Brussels-based Europe External Policy Advisors (EEPA).

Hanaa Edwar in Stockholm
(Photo: Hanna Navier/Kvinna till Kvinna)br>

Sources: International Peace BureauKvinna till KvinnaIPS

On October 29 Hanaa Edwar will receive the Sean MacBride Peace Prize in Potsdam, Germany, but she will not rest until seeing her efforts crowned in Iraq. “I have to do this for the Iraqi people. We continue to fight for peace, equality and democracy,” said Edwar, co-founder and current Secretary-General of the Al-Amal Association (focal point of Social Watch in that country), in an interview with the Swedish feminist organization Kvinna til Kvinna.

Source: Third World Network 
Geneva, 21 Jun (Kanaga Raja) - A fundamental problem in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been the lack of a more inclusive strategy of economic development that could integrate and support its "human development" ambitions, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Mr. Roberto Bissio, Coordinator of Social Watch, spoke at the Conference "Making Equal Rights Real" organized on 1 May 2010 by The Institute for Health and Social Policy. The meeting was an opportunity for an international group of leading practice, policy and academic experts to present and discuss how people have found creative and effective strategies for ensuring that their national and international legal rights are met. Bissio said the economic crisis has brought governments back to a leading role and the key question now is what do governments do with the economy and how much people-centered are their policies.

Several organizations, such as the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (Civicus) or Human Rights Watch, have condemned the attack on humanitarian ships, including the killing of at least nine activists and the wounding of many more, by the Israeli military in international waters on 31 May and call for the Israeli government to be held accountable under international law.

The Euro-Mediterranean Non-Governmental Platform has learned with stupefaction the arrest of Mr. Ameer Makhoul, General Director of Ittijah, by the Shabak. It raises the voluntarily dramatization of this arrest since it was carried out at night and at Mr. Makhoul’s home.

Mr. Ameer Makhoul has already been harassed by the Israeli Security Services who exercised humiliating checks on him in the borders and banned him recently from traveling outside Israel.

WEF/Monika FlueckigerThe impact of trade liberalization on the realization of human rights
Geneva, 5 February 2010

Dear Mr Lamy,

We appreciated your speech of 13 January 2010 and willingness to engage in a discussion on the contested and controversial relationship between human rights and trade during the 11-13 January 2010 Colloquium on Human Rights in the Global Economy, co-organized by the International Council on Human Rights and Realizing Rights in Geneva.

Originally published in YES! Magazine
by Tanya Dawkins
Ajamu Baraka is the executive director of the U.S. Human Rights Network, a coalition of more than 250 human rights and social justice organizations working to hold the United States accountable to international human rights standards. YES! Magazine board member Tanya Dawkins talked to him about housing, direct action, and why human rights are relevant during the recession.

After many years of indiscriminate mortar shelling and endless human rights abuses, the poor people of Somalia are left with little hope or expectations of peace and stability. The destruction that has been inflicted on the Somali people is unprecedented in the recent history of Africa as the perpetrators are rarely called to account for their crimes.

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