human rights violations

Migreurop

Urgency of a moratorium on the expulsions to Tunisia, and for a worthy reception of Tunisian nationals in the EU !!

For the two last months, Tunisia has been highly pressured, notably by Italy, into the strengthening of its borders’ control and the readmission of its nationals landed in Lampedusa. Silvio Berlusconi’s visit, on this April 4th, aims at securing such commitments of the Tunisian government, and this in the spite of the many calls launched by Migrants Rights Defence Organizations as well as the exceptional situation the country has to face. Tunisia is living historical moments and has to take (...) read

date of on-line publication : 4 April 2011

Fatal transactions

Fatal Transactions criticizes: European strategy to secure access to raw materials will harm Africa

Press Release, 26 January 2011 Today, the European Commission was to publish a new Communication entitled The Raw Materials Initiative – Putting the Strategy into Practice addressing challenges of future access to minerals and raw materials for its industry. The publication of the communication was surprisingly held back due to still ongoing negotiations among EU member states. The international campaign Fatal Transactions appeals to the European Commission to develop a strategy that will (...) read

date of on-line publication : 4 February 2011

Tribunal finds corporations complicit in Israeli war crimes, identifies legal remedies and calls for civil society boycott action

22 november 2010 The Russell Tribunal on Palestine this morning announced its verdict after weekend deliberations. The jury said it had been presented with "compelling evidence of corporate complicity in Israeli violations of international law". Juror Michael Mansfield QC, who chaired this morning’s press conference, announced the jury’s call for the mobilisation of civil society to end the involvement of companies in Israeli human rights violations. Both Israel and the complicit businesses (...) read

date of on-line publication : 23 November 2010

Inter Press Service (IPS)

Mideast and North Africa Cited for Press Abuses

A report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on press freedom around the world in 2009 depicts an especially gloomy situation in the Middle East and North Africa, where authorities continue to use repressive measures to muzzle journalists. Read more read

date of on-line publication : 23 February 2010

Take action to control the arms trade

Every year, millions of people suffer as a result of the irresponsible and reckless arms trade. Over 1,000 people are killed by arms every day. Countless more are injured, bereaved, abused and displaced by state security forces, armed groups, criminal gangs and other armed individuals. Two years ago, 153 governments voted at the United Nations to start work on developing an international Arms Trade Treaty. We want as many people as possible to take action to control the arms trade. Tell (...) read

date of on-line publication : 23 September 2008

AFGHANISTAN: Terrified Civilians Flee NATO Bombings

Muhammad ran towards his home, where dozens of villagers were shouting his name as they surrounded his house. "The house was split in half by the bomb," he recalls. "The walls were collapsed and crumbled. Blood was pouring from my nephew (seven-years-old) like it was water. He had shrapnel in his brain and stomach. I then saw my sister’s headscarf peaking out from underneath the rubble and so we raced desperately to save her. When we pulled her out from the wreckage I saw her body — she was (...) read

date of on-line publication : 26 March 2008

MIFTAH

A Quarter of a Century Later, Sabra and Shatilla Massacre Still Alive

September 16 marks the 25th anniversary of the massacre in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon. During the course of the two-day attack, a reported 2,000 Palestinians - mainly women, children and elderly - were slaughtered in their homes at the hands of the pro-Israeli Lebanese Maronite Phalangist militia under the direct eye of the occupying Israeli army. While Israel puts the death toll at 700, some Palestinian and Lebanese estimates put it as high as 3,500. The massacre took (...) read

date of on-line publication : 18 September 2007

Global Witness

Angola : Global Witness calls for immediate release of anti-corruption campaigner required

Human rights and anti-corruption campaign group Global Witness is demanding the immediate and unconditional release of their employee Dr Sarah Wykes, a highly respected international anti-corruption campaigner. Dr Wykes was arrested by armed Angolan police on the morning of Sunday 18th February in Cabinda, while visiting the oil rich enclave to meet with local civil society representatives. She was arrested and taken from her hotel to a police station, not given food or water for at least (...) read

date of on-line publication : 20 February 2007

International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF)

A Valentine’s day report : worker justice and basic rights

> Prepared by the U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project and The International Labor Rights Fund, February 13, 2007, 15 p.

Colombia is the largest flower exporter to the United States, followed by Ecuador. Approximately 60% of all flowers sold in the U.S. come from Colombia and almost a third of Ecuador’s yearly production is exported to the U.S. for Valentine’s Day. Meanwhile, workers earn poverty-level wages, making less than half of what is needed to meet basic needs ; 55% of women workers in Ecuador’s flower plantations have been the victims of some form of sexual harassment in the workplace ; 66% of (...) read

date of on-line publication : 19 February 2007

THANT Myint-U

What to do about Myanmar

> The London Review of Books, Vol. 29 n° 3, 8 February 2007

There is an enduring myth that in 1948, when it achieved independence from Britain, Burma (Myanmar) was a rich country with every reason to expect a bright future and that the policies and practices of the military government are alone to blame for today’s miseries. It is beyond dispute that many of these policies and practices have been disastrous. But there is a deeper history of misfortune which needs to be understood. At independence, Burma was a country devastated by war, with a (...) read

date of on-line publication : 8 February 2007

International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Aid agencies say new violence threatens humanitarian response in Darfur

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and five other humanitarian aid agencies expressed concern that half a million people are increasingly vulnerable after evacuations of more than 250 staff in ten days. The agencies say a ceasefire is desperately needed. Nearly half a million people have less access to humanitarian assistance as a result of increasing military activity, banditry and direct violence against aid workers in early December. The insecurity led to 250 humanitarian staff (...) read

date of on-line publication : 20 December 2006

KHATIB Ghassan

Middle East crises : inextricable from each other

> Bitterlemons international, December 14, 2006, Edition 46, Volume 4

The double standard that has resulted from the US compromising international legality because of its relations with Israel is a major cause of the regional hostility toward America. To understand the different conflicts in the Middle East, it is important to understand their growing interrelation. This interrelation is growing to an extent that it is becoming nearly impossible to understand one conflict in isolation. Similarly, solving one requires dealing with the others. More and more (...) read

date of on-line publication : 20 December 2006

Sudan: Press Under Pressure

> Human Right Watch

While international media attention has been focused on Darfur, the Sudanese authorities in Khartoum have been stepping up their harassment of Sudanese journalists and newspapers,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The harassment is symptomatic of Khartoum’s fear of mounting popular dissent and frustration at government policies and actions.” In recent months government security forces have carried out numerous acts of censorship, arrests of journalists, and (...) read

date of on-line publication : 14 November 2006

OTTOLINI Cesare

Katrina one year later: civil movements demand right of return

http://www.habitants.org/noticias/in (...)

2005 Katrina demolished the United States Golf Coast with catastrophic results, previously known only to residents of the poorest countries like Bangladesh, but with an unprecedented mass media impact: this time the first world was the victim.
After the emotion and the initial phase of confusion, everything seemed to be under control, so much that the Bush Administration declared that America was able to handle the catastrophe on its own, refusing the assistance of countries that, like Cuba, were ready to send urgently needed assistance. More than 110 billion dollars were immediately allocated for the reconstruction. The government, marking August 29th a National Day of Remembrance of Hurricane Katrina, today affirmed that in excess of 70% of the resources were either utilized or available.
This is not the truth. We are familiar with the dramatic images of those days, with survivors desperately clinging to their roofs in Louisiana and Missouri, the inferno of the Superdome transformed into a welcome center, and the army set to patrol to keep order and defend private property.
We know even less about what happened during the last 12 months: the solidarity initiatives, the marches, the protests, the lawsuits, the network proposals, the citizens’ organizations, the labor unions relegated to the local news.  read

date of on-line publication : 18 October 2006

WARSCHAWSKI Michel

The future of Israel at stake

http://www.alternativenews.org/index (...)

The following article was written 30 July at 6.00 a.m., an hour before the announcement of the tragic news of the Qana massacre on Israeli radio. Unfortunately, the massacre was already visible in the content of my writing even before hearing the terrible news:
“In these wars, lives of civilians are not only of very limited value, like in any other war, but considered as a legitimate target, guilty of supporting terrorism, actively or passively, a terrorism which is, in fact, part of their very culture. In ten years, we witnessed a gradual evolution of the dominant discourse: from terrorist groups, to terrorist states, to terrorist peoples...”
Nothing is missing from the original text except a deep feeling of failure, an immense rage and a renewed commitment to take to the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to denounce Israeli barbarism, from within the belly of the beast.  read

date of on-line publication : 1 August 2006

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Sudan: No Justice for Darfur Victims

Special Courts Failing to Prosecute War Crimes

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006 (...)

The Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced it had opened an investigation into the events in Darfur. The next day Sudan’s chief justice announced the establishment of the Special Criminal Courts on the Events in Darfur (SCCED), telling the Sudanese media that the court was “considered a substitute to the international criminal court.” “The cases before the court so far involve ordinary crimes like theft and receiving stolen goods, which don’t begin to reflect the massive scale of destruction in Darfur,” said Sara Darehshori, senior counsel to the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch and author of the briefing paper. “The Sudanese government must do more than pay lip service to the idea of justice.”  read

date of on-line publication : 22 June 2006

Global Exchange

Most Wanted Corporate Human Rights Violators of 2005

> Global Exchange, Dec 2005

http://www.globalexchange.org/getInv (...)

This is Global Exchange’s list of the 14 worst corporations for violations of human rights. However, not only does the article give an introduction to the human rights abuses committed by each company, it also gives a list of the associations working to make the specific companies more accountable, thus stressing the need for citizen’s action.  read

date of on-line publication : 16 December 2005