Category Archives: human rights

In France, Dam Is the Catalyst for a Flood of Young People’s Anger – NYTimes.com

Many of those who gathered to oppose the dam call themselves “Zadistes,” or partisans of the ZAD, the French acronym for zones à defendre, or areas to defend. They say they have come to build an independent society. Increasingly, they are seen as environmental extremists, or “green jihadists,” as Xavier Beulin, the president of the main agriculture union, put it.

“For once, we are fighting a project that represents symbolically what we reject,” said Jordan Samson, a geography student in the southern city of Toulouse. “Our movement is spreading to an entire generation.”

The protests here are the latest aimed at a widening number of projects that the demonstrators criticize as monuments to the overweening ambitions of local politicians and their business connections.

Last month, demonstrations in support of the Zadistes were held across France, including in Nantes, where more than a hundred protesters went on a rampage. In the nearby town of Gaillac, several shops and a memorial to war dead were vandalized.

via In France, Dam Is the Catalyst for a Flood of Young People’s Anger – NYTimes.com.

Support Manuel Borja-Villel, Director of Museo Reina Sofía, and the team at the Museo Reina Sofía in their opposition to the attempted censorship of a work of art in the exhibition “Really Useful Knowledge” (Madrid, Spain) | ArtLeaks

the exhibition Really Useful Knowledge [curated by WHW (What, How and for Whom)]. Religious groups are pressuring the Spanish Ministry of Culture to censure this exhibition. CIMAM is against such pressures on any cultural institution dedicated to promoting the principles of artistic expression and freedom.

via Support Manuel Borja-Villel, Director of Museo Reina Sofía, and the team at the Museo Reina Sofía in their opposition to the attempted censorship of a work of art in the exhibition “Really Useful Knowledge” (Madrid, Spain) | ArtLeaks.

Ebola fears grip North Korea; foreigners to be quarantined | CTV News

Governor Christie and North Korea taking the same stance on public health zealotry/foolishness. If you needed any more “proof” about how silly and bullying people are being about Ebola when they are thousands of miles away from anyone who may have it – here it is!

North Korea announced Thursday it will quarantine foreigners for 21 days over fears of the spread of the Ebola virus, even though no cases of the disease have been reported in the reclusive country, or anywhere in Asia, and very few foreigners are allowed to enter.

An announcement distributed to diplomatic missions in Pyongyang said that, regardless of country or region of origin, all foreigners will be quarantined under medical observation for 21 days.

Foreigners from affected areas will be quarantined at one set of locations, while those from unaffected areas will be sent to other locations, including hotels. The staff of diplomatic missions and international organizations will be allowed to stay in their residences.

via Ebola fears grip North Korea; foreigners to be quarantined | CTV News.

The Farmworker Story Behind Your Cheap Food | Earthjustice

My name is Andrea Cabrera Hubbard. I started working in the fields as a child, picking squash for half the day and then going to school the other half. At school, my classmates would bully me for working in the fields. I made it to fourth grade and then quit. After that, I worked all day, every day, cutting tomatoes in Mexico. Sometimes the tomato cans were heavier than I was and sometimes we would work 14 to 16 hours a day.

In 2001, I came to the United States and began to work in the fields here in Santa Paula, California. I had a lot of fear and didn’t want to come here, because before I arrived, I had heard that this is the land of the slaves.

Today, I don’t work in the fields anymore, and I am studying English. I’m united with the organization Lideres Campesinas to help other women so they don’t have to live the life I had to live. Working in the fields, there’s a lot of abuse. The bosses, foremen and supervisors are the most abusive to the workers. I think most field workers would share their stories but because of the fear, nobody speaks up. The laborers think they are going to be deported, so they would rather keep silent and hold back the pain from all the chemicals they use.

via The Farmworker Story Behind Your Cheap Food | Earthjustice.

Thousands of Hungarians march against Internet tax | News | DW.DE | 29.10.2014

(and how many have not marched in US to retain net neutrality and say no to 3rd class internet for middle and lower income people? ZERO!)

As many as 100,000 people were said to have taken to the streets of Budapest on Tuesday, to protest a plan to tax the use of the Internet from 2015.

The rally was the second in three days objecting to the new law that would force Internet service providers to pay a capped amount of 700 forints ($2.89, 2.27 euros) per month per individual subscriber. Business subscribers would pay 5,000 forints.

“We are not going to let it happen,” the crowd chanted as it passed through the center of the capital to rally in front of the economy ministry.

Zsolt Varady, founder of a Hungarian social media website, told the crowd: “The internet tax is a symbol of the government autocracy.”

via Thousands of Hungarians march against Internet tax | News | DW.DE | 29.10.2014.

Conservative Group Urges Changes at Japanese War Shrine – NYTimes.com

The 14 war criminals were secretly added to the list of souls honored at Yasukuni by the shrine’s priests in 1978, a move that reflected the belief of some Japanese nationalists that they were actually patriots who had been victims of victor’s justice by the triumphant Allies. When the enshrinement was made public a year later, in 1979, the emperor at the time, Hirohito, protested by refusing to visit Yasukuni, a boycott continued by his son, the current emperor, Akihito.

The honoring of the 14 has also been the main reason given by China and South Korea for their objections, starting in the 1980s, to Japanese politicians’ visiting the shrine. In those countries, the inclusion of the war criminals has helped make Yasukuni a symbol of Japan’s perceived lack of repentance for its wartime misdeeds

via Conservative Group Urges Changes at Japanese War Shrine – NYTimes.com.

myMADRE » Sounding the Drum for Women’s Rights

We were right in front of the beautiful home of Rose Cunningham, the Director of MADRE’s sister organization Wangki Tangni.

Within moments, Rose smiled down on us from her balcony and greeted us with a shout: “You made it!” Stepping inside, we found a place buzzing with activity, as the Wangki Tangni organizers worked hard, using her home as a staging ground to put everything in place. It was a big task — no wonder with over 1,000 Indigenous women from across the region converging in Waspam. Some of them had even traveled for days to arrive, some by foot, some on boats along the nearby river, the Rio Coco.

(A few days later, we even met one woman who traveled for two days in a canoe with her one-month old baby daughter strapped to her chest – just so that she could be part of this Forum. Pause for a moment to think about what that must have been like.)

via myMADRE » Sounding the Drum for Women’s Rights.

What Jian Ghomeshi’s Accusers Were Afraid Of – NYTimes.com

Three women spoke to The Toronto Star about the former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi, accusing him of violent behavior. None of them wanted to be identified by name. And their reason for anonymity offers a stark lesson about the effects of online harassment.

One of the women told The Star’s Kevin Donovan and Jesse Brown that “she visited Ghomeshi at his Toronto home and alleges as soon as she walked into his house he suddenly struck her hard with his open hand, then continued to hit her and choked her.” Another said: “He attacked me. Choked me. Hit me like I didn’t know men hit women.

via What Jian Ghomeshi’s Accusers Were Afraid Of – NYTimes.com.