Category Archives: human rights

India Bans Film About Infamous 2012 Gang Rape : The Two-Way : NPR

Udwin said she was “deeply saddened” by the controversy, and she urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to deal with this unceremonious silencing of the film.” She added:

“India should be embracing this film — not blocking it with a knee jerk hysteria without even seeing it. This was an opportunity for India to continue to show the world how much has changed since this heinous crime; sadly, the FIR and the banning of the film will see India isolated in the eyes of the world. It’s a counter productive move. Whoever is behind this — please see the film and then come to a conclusion.”

via India Bans Film About Infamous 2012 Gang Rape : The Two-Way : NPR.

IRIN Middle East | What refugees really think of aid agencies | Israel | Jordan | Lebanon | Syria | Aid Policy | Human Rights | Refugees/IDPs

Aid agencies are partial, unaccountable and potentially corrupt, and they fail to meet refugees’ most pressing needs.

These are just some of the criticisms emerging from a series of new focus groups with refugees and others who receive aid across the Middle East.

Concerns included a lack of consultation about people’s needs, a failure to protect the most vulnerable, confusion over which agency was responsible for what, duplicated aid, as well as instances where help was perceived to be withheld or prioritised due to political or religious affiliation.

“When you decide to help someone you have to remove all their affiliations and simply treat them as humans,” noted one female youth leader from Palestine.

via IRIN Middle East | What refugees really think of aid agencies | Israel | Jordan | Lebanon | Syria | Aid Policy | Human Rights | Refugees/IDPs.

Noa: Netanyahu’s speech writer [wish it was real]

To summarize my offer:

1.    No nuclear weapons, for anybody in the middle-east.

2.    A regional agreement that will start with the Palestinians, and embrace the entire Arab world, wherever there are partners for dialogue, and I know they exist, backed and secured by the US and the international community as a whole.

I am willing to take the first, courageous step, in the name of my people, the citizens of Israel.

I believe we have no chance to survive in the region if we do not initiate a positive dynamic, one of good will and action, and I would like to lead this movement

I have no idea if this plan, at this moment in time after all that has come to pass, will lead us to the fulfillment of our goals, but I do know, that continuing on the present  destructive track we are all on, will lead to our certain demise.

I do not know if I will be in office long, as elections are coming up. My words are not meant to serve me, but a higher ideal. I wish these words to be my legacy, continued by my successors and on into the future.

A future of life.

Thank you for your attention.

via Noa: Netanyahu’s speech writer.

Opinion: Manipulate and Mislead – How GMOs are Infiltrating Africa | Inter Press Service

About 80 percent of Africa’s food is produced by smallholders, who seldom farm on more than five hectares of land and usually on much less.  The majority of these farmers are women, who have scant access to finance or secure land tenure.

That they still manage to provide the lion’s share of the continents’ food, usually without formal seed, chemicals, mechanisation, irrigation or subsidies, is testament to their resilience and innovation.

African farmers have a lot to lose from the introduction of GMOs – the rich diversity of African agriculture, its robust resilience and the social cohesion engendered through cultures of sharing and collective effort could be replaced by a handful of monotonous commodity crops owned by foreign masters.

via Opinion: Manipulate and Mislead – How GMOs are Infiltrating Africa | Inter Press Service.

Women’s bodies can’t perform magic. Someone please tell Republicans | Jessica Valenti | Comment is free | The Guardian

One congressman this week thought that if women swallow pills, they end up in their vagina. The GOP still knows nothing about female anatomy.

via Women’s bodies can’t perform magic. Someone please tell Republicans | Jessica Valenti | Comment is free | The Guardian.

Mexican man dies during violent police response to teachers protest in Acapulco | World news | The Guardian

Juan Angulo, director of the respected local newspaper El Sur, said retired teacher Claudio Castillo, who died in hospital early on Wednesday, was singled out by police as he sat in a truck from where he had been chanting slogans through a microphone.

“The police pulled him out and hit him, before letting him go. Then he was beaten up again by other officers,” Angulo told Radio Fórmula.

The newspaper director added that one of El Sur’s photographers was also beaten by police and his camera was smashed. “The police acted with a lot of violence, but there are not many images of what happened,” Angulo said.

Photographs of the incident were widely shared on social media – including an image of a man covered in blood being marched away by police and another of dozens of detainees lying facedown in the road.

The authorities reported that 106 people were arrested during the operation, of whom 99 were released on Wednesday morning.

via Mexican man dies during violent police response to teachers protest in Acapulco | World news | The Guardian.

​Pussy Riot offers two video versions of ‘I Can’t Breathe’ song

“This song is for Eric and for all those from Russia to America and around the globe who suffer from state terror — killed, choked, perished because of war and state-sponsored violence of all kinds — for political prisoners and those on the streets fighting for change,” Pussy Riot members said.

via ​Pussy Riot offers two video versions of ‘I Can’t Breathe’ song.

Myanmar army deepens offensive on “rebels” near China border – Channel NewsAsia

Those who oppress and enslave their own people “get” to call them rebels, even if they are just trying to defend themselves from a government that has rebelled against humanity for 40 years…

Myanmar has blamed Kokang leader Phone Kya Shin for the upsurge of violence – after six years of relative peace – and called on Beijing to rein in any local officials who might be helping the group on its side of the border. President Thein Sein has vowed “not to lose an inch of Myanmar’s territory” to the rebels.

via Myanmar army deepens offensive on rebels near China border – Channel NewsAsia.

Teresa Rodríguez | Teresa Rodríguez

Teresa Rodríguez-Rubio Vázquez

Eurodiputada de PODEMOS

Tenemos otra forma de entender la política porque tenemos otra forma de entender la vida. Venimos de abajo y en la calle nos encontramos, nos miramos, nos enamoramos en primera del plural, más allá del dual. Confluimos, aprendemos rápido y de repente se nos ocurre que llevamos riendas y que las queremos llevar nosotras y nosotros. Y si metemos un pie en las instituciones es para darles la vuelta, demostrar que sí se puede hacer política de otra manera y reforzar los otros miles de pies que seguimos manteniendo en las calles. Yo soy el resultado de las luchas que me tocó dar, de las victorias que arrancamos y de las que nos robaron: anticapitalista, feminista, antimilitarista, ecologista y defensora de todas las libertades que no pasan por preferir lo injusto. Soy profe de instituto, eventualmente eurodiputada de PODEMOS. Lo que sigue es parte de ese camino que recorremos colectivamente.

via Teresa Rodríguez | Teresa Rodríguez.

El álbum de fotos de Pablo Iglesias en Nueva York

Poco más de dos días. El líder de Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, aterrizó en Nueva York el lunes y abandonará Manhattan este miércoles.

Su viaje ha estado repleto de actos en los que Iglesias ha desgranado los puntos básicos de su formación política. El momento más interesante ha sido la reunión con el nobel de Economía Joseph Stiglitz que, según reconoció, le había “inspirado” y reafirmado en sus posturas en contra de medidas de austeridad.

via El álbum de fotos de Pablo Iglesias en Nueva York.