Category Archives: human rights

′No one is asking the women in Cologne what they feel′ | News | DW.COM | 06.01.2016

“No one is talking about the fact that this is happening to women every day,” Tanja, an activist and one of the initiators of the event told DW. Most of the attacks took place in and around the main station in Cologne”People are insisting on making this a political story, trying to shift the focus on pro- or anti-refugees. But in fact, no one is listening to what we have to say – the women – who suffer from this violence in the streets on a daily basis long before refugees even came here,” she says.The violence on New Year’s Eve was not different from any other big-scale celebration in the city, according to Tanja. “Because refugees are now a burning topic, the media all of a sudden report about these events, but what nobody wants to admit is that these things happen all the time. I’m sorry to break this to you, but German-born men also harass and rape.”

Source: ′No one is asking the women in Cologne what they feel′ | News | DW.COM | 06.01.2016

Caribbean Journalists Prepare to Report on Climate Change | Inter Press Service

“Scientific information must be published in clearer language, and we must talk about the real impact of climate change on people’s lives,” journalist Amelia Deschamps, an anchorwoman on the El Día newcast of the Dominican channel Telesistema 11, told IPS.She was referring to the communication challenges posed in the wake of COP21 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 in Paris to produce the first universal agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions and curb the negative impacts of global warming.

Source: Caribbean Journalists Prepare to Report on Climate Change | Inter Press Service

Fear Factor Rising for Federal Workers as Refuge Occupation Goes Unchallenged – The New York Times

So, the notion that these yahoos can take over federal buildings and go on national TV while facing no consequences – and no prospect of future consequences, a la Cliven – means that you are encouraging even more of these incidents.I am not urging a Waco-like mechanized assault.  I am suggesting that Cliven be prosecuted and imprisoned. Moreover, the Department of Justice should begin now preparing federal charges against the Malheur occupiers.The model should be how the feds handled the Recapture Canyon incident. There a Utah county commissioner, some local activists and even a Bundy son defied a federal order to close a trail to protect archaeological and natural resources. The demonstration of driving a parade of all-terrain vehicles through the closed area went off without any law enforcement resistance.Shortly afterward, however, the organizers were all prosecuted— with the leader sentenced to jail with a hefty fine.The utter absence of an appropriate, proximate response tacitly concedes the legitimacy of this utter craziness.  And, we can only expect more of these dangerous incidents.

Source: Fear Factor Rising for Federal Workers as Refuge Occupation Goes Unchallenged – The New York Times

Sri Lanka’s torture machine continues in peacetime

Sri Lanka’s new government has been lauded for efforts at reconciliation after a devastating civil war. Yet, civilians are still being abducted, tortured and sexually abused by security forces, according to a report published today.

Source: Sri Lanka’s torture machine continues in peacetime

Here are some key points included in the report:

· All victims were Tamil and many had come home from other countries or came out of hiding in Sri Lanka, because they felt secure after the change in government. The most recent abduction was last month.

· Researchers interviewed 15 men and five women in four countries. In addition to other corroborating evidence of torture, several victims had fresh wounds and two were still bleeding at the time of the interviews.

· Torture occurred in well-equipped rooms and included being hung upside-down and beaten, being branded with metal rods, and asphyxiated using a plastic bag soaked with petrol or chili. Both male and female victims were raped repeatedly.

· The perpetrators were members of the police and military intelligence, and some were senior officers. The torture took place in army bases in the former war zone, at Terrorism Investigation Division headquarters in the capital, Colombo, and in secret facilities throughout the country.

· The abductions were pre-planned operations and the torturers had information about many of the victims’ political activities, including participation in peaceful protests or elections. Several victims were accused of attempting to start up the Tamil Tigers group again.

· All but one victim paid security forces for their release and escape from the country. The bribes ranged from $2,500 to $7,000 for release from detention and $17,000 to $35,000 to then be smuggled out of the country.

· The report concludes that there is a well-organised “machine” within the security forces that practices torture and extortion in order to terrorise and oppress Tamils. It urges the government to stop denying the extent of the problem and to take action immediately to halt the abuses and hold perpetrators accountable.

Tearful Obama, Announcing Gun Control Steps, Condemns Shootings – The New York Times

As tears streamed down his face, President Obama on Tuesday condemned the repeated spasms of gun violence across America as he announced new executive actions intended to reduce the number of mass shootings, suicides and killings that have become routine in the nation’s communities.Speaking in the East Room of the White House surrounded by gun control activists and the families of gun victims, Mr. Obama broke down as he spoke about the young children shot to death in 2012 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.“First graders,” he said, his eyes drifting to a distant place and becoming red with tears. The president wiped his eye and paused to regain his composure. “Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad,” he said.

Source: Tearful Obama, Announcing Gun Control Steps, Condemns Shootings – The New York Times

Afghan Women’s Writing Project | Racist, Shame on You!

God created us as equal humans, but we divided our humanity into thousands of categories of color, race, tribe, culture, tradition, and religion because of our ethnocentric thoughts.

God created us, but we created racism, and we let it divide our homes, our countries, and the world.

I want to use my words to take a stand against racism, to say:

Shame on you, racism.

Shame on you, racists!

The virus of racism affects our families, friends, schools, universities, and offices, as well as relationships between our tribes and nations. I lose sleep thinking of it and get up at night to write about how it makes me feel. Tonight I sat up until midnight trying to forget the racist words I heard today from an educated and stylish Pashtoon man who sees me as inferior, a freak, based on my tribe. Cheap Tajik, he called me.

Often people in our tribes have cultural differences in that they know different languages and wear different styles of clothing or some tribes have facial features that appear more Asian.

Pashtoons are one of the most populated tribes of Afghanistan. They consider themselves as the native citizens of Afghanistan, as “real Afghans.” Some of them will imply that people who are Tajik, Uzbek, or Hazara are non-native Afghans from central Asia. They think these groups are the descendants of Chinese warlord Ghengis Khan.

Some Pashtoons like to point out that they descend from kings and rulers of Afghanistan for hundreds of years. They often are conservative about their views of women. I think Tajiks are often more openminded—men and women can eat together and shake hands.

All four tribes have cultural differences, but we all share the same religion and our national languages of Dari and Pashto.

Pain fills my chest and sorrow fills my thoughts, and I wish I could banish that man’s words from my mind. I write to empty my heart, to put the bitter words on paper. How sad and disappointing to experience racism from an educated person; what can we expect from the uneducated?Racist, burn your clothes and throw away your tie, your name-brand shoes. Shame on you.

I suffer an escalating shock every time I experience racism. I will take a stand against it. Racism is the seed for the crop of un-civilization. Civilization emerges from fair thinking. Racism is not civilized at all.

Racists of the world, wherever you are, when you look at me you seem to forget that I am like you: one head, two legs, two arms.

When you look at me you see a label, a single word tied to a tribe or color: black or white, Tajik, or Hazara. Hazaras were long oppressed but today Hazara girls are being educated more than some other groups that still believe in old, discriminatory practices against women such as honor killings.

You categorize me by caste and class and religion. You ignore my human value and try to bully me for my own heritage, all because of a single word.

Shame on you, racists!

Shame on you, racism!

By Paana

Photo by Balazs Gardi

Source: Afghan Women’s Writing Project | Racist, Shame on You!

DHS Secretary speaks out about deportation raids as children and parents are rounded up | Latina Lista

{He fails and so do we all on all accounts for not giving refuge to families suffering from violence that began with US intervention in their home countries}

I know there are many who loudly condemn our enforcement efforts as far too harsh, while there will be others who say these actions don’t go far enough. I also recognize the reality of the pain that deportations do in fact cause. But, we must enforce the law consistent with our priorities. At all times, we endeavor to do this consistent with American values, and basic principles of decency, fairness, and humanity ~ Sec. Jeh C. Johnson.

Source: DHS Secretary speaks out about deportation raids as children and parents are rounded up | Latina Lista

Argentina seeks negotiations with UK over Falklands | News | DW.COM | 04.01.2016

Argentina is firmly committed to “peacefully settling its differences” and to “international law and multilateralism,” the nation’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.The statement confirmed that the new Argentinean government would continue to press its territorial claim on the Falkland Islands, with the conflict remaining the key stumbling block between Buenos Aires and London.The administration “invites the United Kingdom to resume, as soon as possible, the negotiations aimed at settling the sovereignty dispute over the Malvinas [Falklands] islands, South Georgia, South Sandwich islands and surrounding territorial seas fairly and definitively,” the ministry said.

Source: Argentina seeks negotiations with UK over Falklands | News | DW.COM | 04.01.2016

Islamic Development Bank supports polio elimination with $90 million grant | Vaccine News

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) recently granted $90 million in funds to help Pakistan implement the latest step of its polio elimination program through 2018. This decision was made by the IDB’s board of executive directors during a meeting at their headquarters in Jeddah. At the meeting, they evaluated the program’s status and chose to donate the finances. The IDB previously promised $227 million so that Pakistan could implement various disease elimination programs until 2015. In the past year, approximately 80 percent of the world’s wild poliovirus cases were located in Pakistan. A report from the World Health Organization showed serious vaccination gaps inside South Waziristan, Peshawar, Khyber Agency, northern Sindh, Karachi, and regions in Balochistan.

Source: Islamic Development Bank supports polio elimination with $90 million grant | Vaccine News

Obama to Expand Gun Background Checks and Tighten Enforcement – The New York Times

In addition to background checks, Mr. Obama will direct agencies to engage in more gun research, encourage more federal prosecution of domestic violence cases, crack down on gun purchases by corporations and trusts, and request new funding for 200 law enforcement agents and better access to mental health care.“Although we have a strong tradition of gun ownership, even those who possess firearms for hunting, for self-protection and for other legitimate reasons want to make sure that the wrong people don’t have them for the wrong reasons,” Mr. Obama told reporters.

Source: Obama to Expand Gun Background Checks and Tighten Enforcement – The New York Times