Category Archives: human rights

“Prison is easier than exile for me,” Zainab Al-Khawaja on being forced to flee Bahrain – IFEX

Al-Khawaja expressed on her twitter account @angryarabiya her feelings about being forced to leave Bahrain, saying “I cannot begin to express the pain I feel [about] having to leave my beloved country. Infact I almost didn’t. Prison is easier than exile for me.” She added, “It pains me to leave, but I leave carrying our cause on my back, and my love for my country in my chest.” Her sister Maryam Al-Khawaja, GCHR Co-Director, said it was “the most difficult decision she’s ever made, and I agree. I wouldn’t wish exile on anyone.” Zainab Al-Khawaja also confirmed that she will continue her peaceful human rights work to support freedom in her country, saying, “We Bahrainis will do all that is in our power for our great grandchildren & their children to live free on this land long after they’re gone.”

Source: “Prison is easier than exile for me,” Zainab Al-Khawaja on being forced to flee Bahrain – IFEX

MP: ‘Only thing worse than a devout Muslim is a convert’ – The Local – Denmark

Ahrendtsen also directed his comments toward devout Muslims in general.    “Devout Muslims damage democracy and therefore we need to crack down on them. And converts are particularly extreme – in fact, they are the worst,” the DFer said.    The organisation AnmeldHad (Report Hate) said over the weekend that it would file a formal complaint against Ahrendtsen on Monday, contending that his remarks violate article 266b of Denmark’s penal code, best known as “the racism paragraph”.   “We were contacted by numerous people who were offended by the remarks Alex Ahrendtsen made on Friday night,” the organization’s chairman, Qasam Ijaz, told TV2.    “They were deeply offensive comments and when a member of parliament speaks in that way, it become acceptable for normal Danes to express themselves in the same way,” Ijaz added.    Ahrendtsen said he wasn’t particularly worried about the complaint leading to a criminal charge.

Source: MP: ‘Only thing worse than a devout Muslim is a convert’ – The Local

Massacre in Orlando: Most victims in Orlando shooting were of Hispanic descent | In English | EL PAÍS

Danny Concepción, a 47-year-old Puerto Rican man, has come to ask for information about his 50-year-old cousin, who went to the club with her 22-year-old son. Orlando officials say her cousin is not on the list of the 53 wounded, which means that, though there is no official announcement yet, she is dead. “She was a single mother raising two sons, a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old who lived with her,” Concepción says. She had five other children from other relationships and she was close with the son whom she accompanied to the nightclub. He was gay and she wanted to be part of his world. “She never judged him,” Concepción says. The son has survived the attack but he saw his mother get shot at the club.

Source: Massacre in Orlando: Most victims in Orlando shooting were of Hispanic descent | In English | EL PAÍS

I Moved Into a House With Lots of Windows. Here’s Why I Had to Cover Them Up – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

There are these tics I’ve developed—a reflexive check out of the windows at that streetlight; my heartbeat speeding up a little when I hear a scooter pass by. I’ve made myself sit in that room, read in it, and write in it. I haven’t yet managed to fall asleep in it. I tell myself that this too, shall pass. And if it doesn’t—well, nobody needs to know. The streetlight stands, grey and ordinary, amidst the green that has sprung up after the rains. The curtains flutter blue and white under the creaking ceiling fan, thin enough to let the light in, opaque enough to keep the world out.

Source: I Moved Into a House With Lots of Windows. Here’s Why I Had to Cover Them Up – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

Update: Outbreak of yellow fever

WHO estimates that 508 million people are living in 31 African countries at risk for transmission of yellow fever. Therefore, the large outbreak of yellow fever in Angola is of concern with regard to the risk of introduction of the virus through viraemic travellers to countries at risk of transmission, especially in neighbouring countries. In DRC, the confirmation of the autochthonous circulation in the capital is a major concern as Kinshasa is highly populated, representing a risk of extension to Brazzaville, the capital of Congo, that is located across the Congo river.   ECDC published a rapid risk assessment on 25 March 2016 and an update on 30 May. The Aedes aegypti mosquito, a competent vector for yellow fever, is not present in continental Europe but is present on the island of Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal.   Proof of vaccination is required for all travellers aged nine months and above entering Angola and DRC. WHO recommends vaccination for all travellers older than 9 months of age in areas where there is evidence of persistent or periodic yellow fever virus transmission. European citizens travelling to, or residing in, Angola should be vaccinated against yellow fever as per their national health authorities’ recommendations. The vaccine should be administered at least 10 days before travelling.   Yellow fever in an urban setting is considered a public health emergency that may result in a large number of cases. Vaccination is the single most important and effective measure for preventing yellow fever. Therefore, additional cases in unvaccinated populations related to this urban outbreak should be expected, until a sufficient proportion of the susceptible population is immunised. The outbreak in Angola, DRC and Uganda is not yet under control and is currently expanding to additional provinces, challenging the ongoing mass vaccination campaign with a potential vaccine shortage in the coming months. The control of the outbreak in the three countries is needed in order to prevent further spread in the region and beyond.

Source: News – Epidemiological update: Outbreak of yellow…

To the man who asked me if I swallow. | Rebelle Society

If we can’t recognize the links between any kind of sexual harassment and more grave sexual assault, then there is a disconnect. If you think Brock Turner’s behavior is despicable, but see no issue with harmless catcalls, then there is a disconnect. Is every man who catcalls a woman in the street a potential rapist? No. But, every man who catcalls a woman is demonstrating a belief that women exist for men’s viewing pleasure, that they are fair game for foul comments. And that line of thinking is dangerous. When we shrug off street harassment and sexual innuendo, when we minimize indecent behavior and sexist jibes, we are advocating for a world where women are oppressed and objectified. As Ann Voskamp said, “When the prevailing thinking is that boys will be boys, girls will be garbage.” We owe it to ourselves, as women, to stand up and speak out. Remember, silence is often misconstrued as acquiescence.

Source: To the man who asked me if I swallow. | Rebelle Society

Jane Marchant: A Century of Progress – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt won a landslide reelection in 1936, his New Deal political reforms brought forth the Chicago Housing Authority. Chicago’s first three housing projects opened in 1938, with space for 2,378 white families. In 1939, engineers, plumbers, steam fitters, and structural-steel workers broke ground on a forty-seven-acre property that would cost nearly nine million dollars and shelter 1,662 black families. The Homes were segregated in accordance to the federal “Neighborhood Composition Rule,” which required housing developments to mirror the racial composition of the neighborhood they were being built in. Named after the renowned black journalist and social reformer, the Ida B. Wells Homes were composed of two-to-four-story buildings; the community even had space for vegetable gardens. Some 17,544 applications were received, including my great-grandmother’s. Jean miraculously received a housing assignment and she held her head high as she walked through Chicago’s South Side, her three adolescents in tow. They were tired, they were poor, and it was 1941. They had essentially been homeless for a decade when they entered 684 East 39th Street. Between Cottage Grove to the east and South Parkway (now Martin Luther King Drive) to the west, their home had its own kitchen and bathroom. Sisters Norma and Barbara shared a bedroom; their brother, Robert, had his own room; and Jean slept downstairs on the couch. Rent was thirty-six-dollars per month – if one had it. Sometimes, payment arrangements could be made, or neighbors chipped in to help. The Homes were a community and a respite for families during the Depression. Jean’s children took free dance, music, and art lessons at the Abraham Lincoln Center. Norma tapped her pillow at night, practicing her imaginary piano. Barbara dreamed of becoming a professional ballerina. Robert wanted to be a cowboy, like his heroes on the radio. An enumerator from the Sixteenth Census of the United States marked Jean, Norma, Barbara, and Robert Galvin as “Negro” in his wide logbook. The enumerator asked Jean if she worked, to which she replied she had no income. She told the enumerator she’d been married to the same husband since she was eighteen-years-old.

Source: Jane Marchant: A Century of Progress – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

On Sky News last night, I realised how far some will go to ignore homophobia | Owen Jones | Opinion | The Guardian

Today, the “we only care about LGBT rights if Muslims are involved” brigade are out in force. As a gay man, I am proud to live in a city represented by a Muslim mayor who has faced death threats for supporting and voting for LGBT people to have the same rights as everybody else. The bigots must not be allowed to hijack this atrocity. Tonight at 7pm in Old Compton Street – in the heart of London’s LGBT community – LGBT people and straight people will link arms in memory of what happened in Orlando. Let it be a show of solidarity – and defiance against those who hate.

Source: On Sky News last night, I realised how far some will go to ignore homophobia | Owen Jones | Opinion | The Guardian

Leonard Cohen – Anthem (w/lyrics) London 2008 – Peace for the Soul

There is a crack A crack in everything That’s how the light gets in. We asked for signs and the signs were sent: the birth betrayed the marriage spent Yeah the widowhood of every single government signs for all to see I can’t run no more with that lawless crowd Ah but they’ve summoned, they’ve summoned up a thundercloud and they’re going to hear from me.

Source: Leonard Cohen – Anthem (w/lyrics) London 2008 – Peace for the Soul

Man with weapons and explosives arrested, was going to L.A. gay pride parade, police say – LA Times

  • We need to find a cure for hate and fear!

Early Sunday, Santa Monica police received a call about a suspected prowler near Olympic Boulevard and 11th Street. Patrol officers responded and encountered an individual who told officers he was waiting for a friend, according to a law enforcement source familiar with details of the arrest. That led officers to inspect the car and find several weapons – including three rifles, one of them an “assault rifle” — and a lot of ammunition as well as tannerite, an ingredient that could be used to create a pipe bomb, said the source. The car had Indiana plates.

Source: Man with weapons and explosives arrested, was going to L.A. gay pride parade, police say – LA Times