Archive for the ‘Commentary’ Category
When I interviewed 20-year-old Tun Tun Aung (not his real name) he had a bullet wound in his shoulder that had shattered his arm.
He was shot escaping the Burmese army early this year, after weeks of service as a front-line porter.
South Africa is a middle-income country and the richest in sub-Saharan Africa. It spends more on health per person than any other on the continent, and it provides this healthcare free, including services for pregnant mothers.
In a report released last month Human Rights Watch called on the US government to launch criminal investigations into allegations of detainee abuse authorized by senior Bush administration officials.
MANILA, Philippines — In a dimly lit house in the central Philippine island of Negros, Jaime, a little boy not yet 4 feet tall, described the horror when several soldiers killed a family friend before his eyes.
Riding roughshod over the rule of law and the right to life may be effective, but Iran’s killing spree violates international law
As soon as India assumed the rotating presidency at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) this month, the government had the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to human rights.
I met Hellene in a Ugandan prison. She was 16 years old and living in rural Uganda when she was raped, leaving her pregnant and HIV-positive. Hellene told me that her rapists also kidnapped a child in her care, and she was arrested soon after.
Character assassination is a hot topic in Jordan these days as thousands of demonstrators, riding the winds of the ‘Arab Spring’, call for reform and accuse government officials and business leaders of abuseof power and corruption.
When it comes to ending violence against women, Puerto Rico has taken a giant step backward. To be sure, the islands have had a comprehensive law to protect women and girls against domestic violence since 1989. But the Puerto Rican Supreme Court has blocked a lot of women from its protection.
Egyptians were glued to their TV screens yesterday as the trial of the deposed President Hosni Mubarak opened. Friends gathered at each other’s houses, and some coffee shops put up large screens to accommodate crowds who had risen painfully early to eat before they began fasting.
When the United Nations Security Council unanimously referred the situation in Libya to the International Criminal Court prosecutor on Feb. 26, it made clear that impunity for crimes against humanity threatens international peace and security. The referral sent a strong message that systematic attacks with deadly force against peaceful protesters have criminal consequences.
In May, the ministry of information and broadcasting banned some television commercials for men's deodorants claiming it wanted to curb ads "aimed at tickling the libidinous male instincts" and portraying women "as lustily hankering after men under the influence of such deodorants".
The Chinese government didn't bully or buy Canada's silence on human rights last week. On his July 16-20 debut visit to China, Foreign Minister John Baird gave it away free.