Category Archives: human rights

Aung San Suu Kyi Seems to Have Myanmar’s Countryside in Her Corner – The New York Times

In an impoverished country without a tradition of opinion polls, there is no way to reliably predict the outcome of Sunday’s election. Five years after the end of the brutal military dictatorship here, the military remains powerful, not only controlling the current government but also retaining the power to appoint a quarter of the seats in Parliament and the heads of several key ministries.But if this village is any guide, the country’s heart remains with Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, whose rallies across Myanmar have been drawing frenzied crowds. Such outpourings suggest that her backing goes well beyond the Internet-connected city dwellers who have plastered their support for her on their Facebook pages and the celebrities who have very publicly broadcast their affection.

Source: Aung San Suu Kyi Seems to Have Myanmar’s Countryside in Her Corner – The New York Times

France now more repressive of boycott calls than Israel | The Electronic Intifada

On 20 October, France’s highest court of criminal appeals upheld the conviction of a dozen Palestine solidarity activists for publicly calling for the boycott of Israeli goods.The ruling by the Court of Cassation adds to growing concerns about the harsh crackdown on free speech, backed by French President François Hollande, since the murders of journalists at the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo in January.It also makes France, along with Israel, the only country to penalize appeals not to buy Israeli goods.But the French law, which includes criminal penalties, is arguably harsher than Israel’s which allows boycott supporters to be pursued for financial damages, but not jailed.

Source: France now more repressive of boycott calls than Israel | The Electronic Intifada

Poems by Ismat, Safdar to vanish from Rajasthan textbooks – The Times of India

JAIPUR: In its ongoing mission to revolutionize school education, the Vasundhara Raje government plans to omit from Hindi text books stories and poems written by noted Urdu writers Ismat Chugtai and Safdar Hashmi and short narratives that revolve around Muslim characters. The move has drawn flak from educationists.

Source: Poems by Ismat, Safdar to vanish from Rajasthan textbooks – The Times of India

Mortality Rates Rising Among Middle-Aged White Americans, Study Finds | News | PND

Ellen Meara and Jonathan S. Skinner noted that the least educated also faced the most financial distress. Increases in mortality rates for middle-aged whites rose in parallel with increases in indicators of pain, poor health, and distress, said Deaton, which provided the rationale for the increase in deaths from substance abuse and suicides.In their commentary, Meara and Skinner considered a variety of explanations for the trend — including a pronounced racial difference in the prescription of opioid drugs and their misuse, and a more pessimistic outlook among middle-aged whites about their financial futures — but said they could not fully account for the effect. “It is difficult,” they wrote, “to find modern settings with survival losses of this magnitude.”

Source: Mortality Rates Rising Among Middle-Aged White Americans, Study Finds | News | PND

October: 74 Palestinians killed, 2355 injured | PNN

The Palestinian Ministry of Health Ministry on Monday said that during the month of October, 74 Palestinians, including 17 children and two women, have been killed by Israeli army fire, and more than 2355 have been injured.The Ministry also said that 2355 Palestinians were shot with live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets, including many who suffered fractures and bruises after being repeatedly beaten by soldiers and paramilitary settlers in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem. The percentage of wounded children is 21.The names of those killed by IOF in October:

Source: October: 74 Palestinians killed, 2355 injured | PNN

No way out for deported Balkan Roma | Europe | DW.COM | 04.11.2015

“The German authorities put an end to the family’s hopes, ordering them to leave by March. But the family stayed longer, for a reason made clear on Sasa’s chest: a scar received from a heart operation that he had to undergo in Germany.Time was up though in the middle of October. Police hammered on the door at five in the morning. “We showed them two different doctor’s notes saying that I have chronic heart troubles, that I am not allowed to travel in this condition and that I could die in Serbia because I won’t receive the proper care here.But they just said “pack your necessities.”

Source: No way out for deported Balkan Roma | Europe | DW.COM | 04.11.2015

Mimi Writes…….: Dona Nobis Pacem ~ Peace and The Power of Love

Welcome to the tenth year of BlogBlast For Peace aka Blog4Peace. We speak Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant us Peace) all over the Blogosphere today.  I hope you have a wonderful Blog4Peace. Please visit each other on your blogs and see all the beautiful new peace globes flying around. Don’t forget to sign the Mr. Linky below! We want to read your posts! This is my peace story for NOV 4.

Source: Mimi Writes…….: Dona Nobis Pacem ~ Peace and The Power of Love

Fear and Silence in Bangladesh as Militants Target Intellectuals – The New York Times {Whole Nation is Hostage!}

Ms. Farzana, 37, cannot shake the feeling that, as she puts it, “there is a blueprint,” and that someone, somewhere has added her name to a list.“I am really scared this time,” she said. “I have something in mind that maybe they would like to open up a new chapter and kill a woman. These days, you may not have a single idea how you are related to the whole thing. But maybe you are the target. You never know.”So far this year, four bloggers and one publisher have been hacked to death in Bangladesh — a tiny number for a country with a population of around 160 million. But anonymous threats are common, and the cumulative psychological effect has been profound, prompting public figures to steer away from discussing the terrorist threat openly.Salil Tripathi, chairman of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee, approached a long list of Bangladeshi writers for a commentary after a blogger was killed in May. All refused, saying that attaching their name to the subject would be too dangerous. He was reduced to publishing a column written by an expatriate, under a pen name.By threatening intellectuals, “you’re trying to silence opinion, and shape opinion, and I think that’s happening,” said Mr. Tripathi, the author of “The Colonel Who Would Not Repent,” a book about Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan and its legacy.

Source: Fear and Silence in Bangladesh as Militants Target Intellectuals – The New York Times

Dear Black Children: Everyone Can Beat You! | Dame Magazine

The South Carolina student’s reported refusal to give up her cell phone is understandable to me. Children in foster care don’t have much property or many lifelines. There is so little that you can call your own, much less control. You’ve already been abused, abandoned, violated and made to feel like a number rather than a child. Rather than a human. You have to deal with the shame and embarrassment of the violation and circumstances that landed you in the system. Your trauma is likely to be misdiagnosed and rather than receiving adequate counseling, too many children in foster care are given psychotropic meds, with no caring adults to monitor their response to the drugs, potential side effects or even if they’re helping at all.

Source: Dear Black Children: Everyone Can Beat You! | Dame Magazine