Blogs about: Human Rights

A few decades ago, the United Nations established the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, covering such important topics like equality, personal freedoms and the right to have a family. Since that time, many countries are still struggling to meet these declarations, but the more information we have online, the more we can fight back against human rights atrocities.

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Muslims to Tea Party: Welcome to our world
Global Public Square

By Sahar Aziz, Special to CNN Editor’s note: Sahar Aziz is an associate professor at Texas Wesleyan School of Law where she teaches national security and civil right law. She previously served as a senior policy advisor at the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The views expressed are her own. Reports that the Internal revenue Service has been targeting Tea Party-affiliated nonprofit organizations has grabbed headlines, but should come as no surprise. In part because of ten years of expanding government powers, much of it under the guise of national security, selective enforcement of the law has increasingly become a norm rather than an aberration. But some in the Muslim community might have a question – why are conservatives so surprised (and outraged) by this news when Muslim nonprofits and their leaders have been under intense scrutiny for over a decade? And when so many Muslim groups and individuals have faced scrutiny simply fo

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This is what you get when you dare to question a tabloid journalist in the UK
Pride's Purge

(not satire sadly) Recently I wrote a blog post about what happened when I dared to ask a journalist who writes for national newspapers how she managed to ‘trace’ (her words) the personal phone numbers and home addresses of Twitter users: Daily Mail hack boasts about being able to ‘trace’ personal phone numbers of Twitter users My polite enquiry resulted in extremely aggressive trolling by a handful of her supporters as well as a threat to sue me for libel if I continued “being an idiot” as she put it: Mail hack threatens to sue me for asking how she traced Twitter users’ personal information That was 5 days ago – the trolling and insults have continued by her supporters and if anything have been getting worse. So I thought I should share some of the choicest insults with you from a handful of her supporters (trigger warning – bad language, violent imagery and aggression): A lot of people have asked me why I haven’t blocked any of them. Well, a

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Life After Napalm (article)
I can still run

Girl from AP’s Vietnam napalm photo finds peace with her role in history In the picture, the girl will always be 9 years old and wailing “Too hot! Too hot!” as she runs down the road away from her burning Vietnamese village. She will always be naked after blobs of sticky napalm melted through her clothes and layers of skin like jellied lava. She will always be a victim without a name. It only took a second for Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong “Nick” Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image 40 years ago. It communicated the horrors of the Vietnam war in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of the most divisive wars in American history. But beneath the photo lies a lesser-known story. It’s the tale of a dying child brought together by chance with a young photographer. A moment captured in the chaos of war that would be both her savior and her curse on a journey to understand life’s plan for her. … The media eventu

Podcast: Exclusive interview with Noam Chomsky
Contrivia
A LETTER FROM PRISON WRTITTEN BY HASHEM SHABBANI THE AHWAZIAN PRISONER
المجهر الأحوازي

A LETTER FROM PRISON WRTITTEN BY HASHEM SHABBANI THE AHWAZIAN PRISONER The Ahwazi cultural and intellectual activist, Hashem Shabani has revealed a humanitarian appeal from Karoon prison that is addressed to all human rights organizations and the amnesty international organization highlighting the fact that the whole accusations which flung out on him and his mates are fully fabricated by the Iranian intelligence service which is now playing with the lives of our best highly educated youths through accusing them with vague accusations to bring them to the gallows rope. In his letter which is written in Arabic by his own handwriting, he describes the imposed charges on himself and his cellmates are really cruel and unfair. He starts his desperate appeal as follow: To those whom concern about human rights Dear sisters and brothers: I would like to take up this opportunity to thank you on your continued humanitarian supports and efforts for being voiced out the suffocated voices of people

Iraj and his Manamali
Lanka on Globe
Penny Wong vs the Australian Christian Lobby
Iain Hall's SANDPIT
Justice Jobarteh is sacked – one month after presiding over a ‘widely criticised’ false information law
Front Page International
Tula. The Revolt Official Poster and Trailer
WENSHOW
Obama Visit to Africa: Why Nigeria Was Snubbed
GlobalVille News
Haiti: the unlucky nation
Phil Ebersole's Blog
Guantanamo Attorney Found Dead in Apparent Suicide
The Red Pill

An American lawyer representing detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp has been found dead in an apparent suicide. Reuters / Deborah Gembara May 02, 2013 Article from RT The body of Andy P. Hart, a 38-year-old US federal public defender, was found last week with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to Truthout, an investigative blog, news of the attorney’s death came only this Wednesday from an investigator working on Guantanamo detainees’ habeas corpus petitions. That investigator requested anonymity. According to court documents, Hart had previously represented Kahlid Saad Mohammed, a 39-year-old Guantanamo detainee from Saudi Arabia who was transferred back to his home country in 2009 after being identified as having only “low-level” terrorist affiliation. Perhaps most notably, Hart was assigned to defend Mohammed Rahim al-Afghani, one of 16 detainees at Guantanamo which the US government has designated as “high-value.” Al-Afghani, thought to be Osama bin Laden’s translato

Iran: Der Starke ist am Mächtigsten allein
Free Saeed Malekpour

Mascha‘i und Rafsandschani ausgeschlossen Inzwischen hat das iranische Innenministerium die Liste der vom Wächterrat für die Präsidentschaftswahlen zugelassenen Kandidaten veröffentlicht. Und tatsächlich: Weder Esfandiyar Rahim Mascha‘i noch Ajatollah Haschemi Rafsandschani wurde für geeignet gehalten, zu den kommenden Wahlen zugelassen zu werden. Acht Namen stehen auf der Liste, genau die Namen, die einige Zeitungen schon zuvor unter Berufung auf „Gerüchte“ veröffentlicht hatten. Der neueste Wunschkandidat von Ajatollah Chamene‘i, Sa‘id Dschalili, ist auch darunter, ebenso wie seine anderen Lieblinge, also Bagher Qalibaf, Mohsen Resa‘i, Haddad Adel und der ehemalige Außenminister Ali-Akbar Welajati. Ahmadineschads Pläne durchkreuzt Mit der Ablehnung von Mascha‘i, den Ahmadineschad zu seinem Nachfolger erkoren hatte, musste auch Ahmadineschad rechnen, und er hat im Vorfeld oft genug damit gedroht, Dinge auszuplaudern, die auch dem Religiö

Salisbury School Board Thrilled With Decision To Keep School Open
BPW New Zealand

MEDIA RELEASE Tuesday 21 May, 2013 Salisbury School Board Thrilled With Decision To Keep School Open Salisbury Board Chair Helen McDonnell says the school is thrilled that the Education Minister has decided to keep Salisbury School open into the future. The Minister of Education Hon Hekia Parata met with Salisbury School students and the Board this morning and confirmed that Salisbury will remain open as part of the delivery of service within the new Intensive Wrap-Around Service, along with the other two residential special schools. Helen McDonnell says that the hard work by the Board and the school’s supporters for over a year has ensured that the Minister understood the importance of retaining a single sex residential option for girls with complex intellectual needs. “We are absolutely delighted that the Minister has confirmed our future,” McDonnell says. “She was very clear with us about her vision for special education in New Zealand, and could see how Salisbury School fitted into

Saudi Arabia blocks access to Jpost.com
Atasteofcreole's Blog

http://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Arts/Saudi-Arabia-blocks-access-to-Jpostcom-website-313866 Blogger confirms on Twitter that ‘Post’ website blocked; Website editor: Shame Saudi regime determined to stifle freedom. A man reads a newspaper in Jeddah June 17, 2012 Photo: REUTERS/Susan Baaghil BERLIN – Saudi Arabia’s government appears to have denied access to the website of the Jerusalem Post since early May. The conservative British-based news and opinion website—The Commentator—first drew attention to the disruption on Tuesday in a report headlined: Has Saudi Arabia blocked the Jerusalem Post? The article wrote a “A lecturer from Saudi Arabia has claimed that the country is blocking access to the Jerusalem Post website.” The prominent Saudi blogger and journalist Ahmed Al Omran confirmed on his Twitter feed that the Post website “is blocked,” whilst Haaretz and Ynet are both accessible. The writer of the Commentator article Ahmed Abdel-Raheem is an Egyptian artist

Sri Lanka Is Destroying Lifeline of Future Generation
Lanka on Globe

Vimukthi Weeratunga By Marianne David We are raping our own heritage due to human-centric thinking, asserts Environmental Foundation Ltd. Director – Operations Vimukthi Weeratunga, pointing out that land management is key to protecting the forests, trees and animals, which are Sri Lanka’s lifeline. While EFL fights battles on behalf of the environment on the legal front, Weeratunga says there isn’t sufficient awareness among the citizens of this country, despite Sri Lanka being one of the few countries in the world that has given an environmental right to every single citizen in its Constitution. Weeratunga is a wildlife biologist who is very passionate about and deeply committed to preserving the country’s wildlife no matter how high the personal sacrifice – a fire that was ignited when he first stepped into Yala at the age of six. He describes his journey in conservation as one where every single moment has been a memorable experience, representing animals who have no voice or power

British government deports refugee to Afghan war
Dear Kitty. Some blog

This video is called US soldier kills Afghan civilians in shooting rampage. From daily The Morning Star, about Leicester in Britain: Locals rally for asylum-seeker Monday 20 May 2013 Dozens of locals rallied in Victoria Park on Sunday for 23-year-old asylum-seeker Abdul Ghafar Rajabali, who is set to be deported to Afghanistan by the Border Agency. An orphan, Mr Rajabali fled to Britain in 2006 aged 16 to avoid being forced to fight for Taliban insurgents and to seek treatment for a medical condition. But officials have withdrawn permission for him to stay while his case is reviewed and he was detained on May 10. Mr Rajabali fears he will be killed if he is deported, having converted to Christianity. Lawyers are working to secure an 11th-hour reprieve. Local anti-racist six-a-side club FC Kolektivo Victoria called on the government to release their midfielder. Supporter Colleen Molloy told the Leicester Mercury: “Abdul’s only ambition is to be at peace. “He arrived he

Trans People – do we have Cooties?
Challenging Journeys (Phase 2)

Just under 3 hours ago the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill gained its third reading in the House of Commons with a majority of 205. While this Bill removes a huge issue for married trans people in terms of them seeking gender recognition, and the Government has “conceded” on another big issue which was threatening to replace it, there are many issues that still remain. I’m going to quote quite extensively from Hansard.  Given that the link will change tomorrow, I’ll just quote rather than link.  Helen Grant was the Minister responding to the debate on behalf of the Government. Helen Grant: Government amendments 40 to 47 deal with pension entitlements. They amend part 6 of schedule 4, which provides for same-sex married couples to be treated in the same manner and to be entitled to the same survivor benefits as civil partners. As drafted, that includes couples in same-sex marriages who have preserved their marriage following the change of legal gender of one of

APPLICATION TO WILLIAMS LAKE CROWN COUNSEL, SABINA THOMPSON, TO VARY BAIL BY CONSENT
The Rantings of Rick Maddocks - A crazy former BC Probation Officer

Here’s the link to the .pdf document.  Still haven’t figured how to post the image directly. CLICK below v v v v APPLICATION TO WILLIAMS LAKE CROWN COUNSEL, SABINA THOMPSON, TO VARY BAIL BY CONSENT

Kathy Kelly> Tales in a Kabul Restaurant
WAMMToday

The Afghan Atrocities Update by Kathy Kelly  May 21, 2013 Kabul–Since 2009, Voices for Creative Nonviolence has maintained a grim record we call the “The Afghan Atrocities Update” which gives the dates, locations, numbers and names of Afghan civilians killed by NATO forces.  Even with details culled from news reports, these data can’t help but merge into one large statistic, something about terrible pain that’s worth caring about but that is happening very far away. Photo caption:  Twelve children killed in the Kunar province, April 2013. Photo credit:  Namatullah Karyab for The New York Times It’s one thing to chronicle sparse details about these U.S. led NATO attacks. It’s quite another to sit across from Afghan men as they try, having broken down in tears, to regain sufficient composure to finish telling us their stories.  Last night, at a restaurant in Kabul, I and two friends from the Afghan Peace Volunteers met with five Pashtun men from Afghanistan’s northern a