Archive for the ‘Racism and Discrimination’ Category
(Berlin) – Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany should consider the political signals her government is sending to Saudi Arabia before approving a deal to sell 200 German-made tanks to the kingdom, Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi Arabia has a dismal human rights record and has deployed forces to Bahrain to help suppress pro-democracy protests there.
Imagine registering to vote in the upcoming election, only to be told by a local government official not to go to the polling place because you would "spoil the election." Betty, a woman I met in northern Uganda, was told just that. Why? Because she is blind.
Despite great risks to them in a sexist society, thousands of women have stood up to demonstrate against President Saleh
Israeli President Shimon Peres visited Washington earlier this month, hot on the heels of an announcement that Israeli authorities had approved yet more housing units for Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
(Abuja) – Candidates in Nigeria’s April 2011 elections should put the country’s pervasive human rights problems at the heart of their political campaigns, platforms, and upcoming debates, Human Rights Watch said today in a "Human Rights Agenda" to candidates. If elected, they should carry out long overdue reforms, Human Rights Watch said.
(Rome) – The Italian government is failing to take effective action to prevent and prosecute racist and xenophobic violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Immigrants, Italians of foreign descent, and Roma have been the victims of brutal attacks in Italy in recent years.
(Washington, DC) – Hearings of the US House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security on the alleged radicalization of the Muslim American community threaten to unjustly conflate Islam with violence and encourage discrimination against a minority population, Human Rights Watch said today.
(Jackson) – Thousands of Mississippians are at risk for HIV, and many who are infected are denied lifesaving measures and treatment because of counterproductive state laws and policies, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
(Beirut) – The rights of Iraq’s most vulnerable citizens, especially women and detainees, are routinely violated with impunity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch conducted research in seven cities across Iraq during 2010 and found that, beyond the country’s continuing violence and crimes, human rights abuses are commonplace.
(Washington, DC) – Many Muslims and undocumented immigrants in the United States face hostility, fear, and resentment. Whether expressed elegantly or with vitriol, in plain words or in code, there are daily expressions of intolerance and prejudice that condemn these and other minority groups, and seek to define "American" in narrow terms that belie the nation’s multicultural history.
(Paris) – French senators should remove provisions in the draft immigration law that are incompatible with human rights norms, Human Rights Watch said in an open letter to senators today.
(New York) – State legislatures in the United States should reject a proposal to mark birth certificates of US citizens on the basis of their parents’ immigration status, which would violate the internationally protected right to equal protection, Human Rights Watch said today.