US defends human rights record before UN body
The United States stood accused Friday of human rights violations ranging from racial discrimination to prison overcrowding and abuses by its troops, as friends and foes lined up to chide Washington in a U.N. forum the U.S. has pledged to be an equal m…Continue Reading
US faces calls for torture probes at UN rights meet
The United States faced a barrage of calls from its diplomatic foes on Friday to investigate allegations of torture, during its first review in the UN Human Rights Council.Continue Reading
Cuba and Iran blast U.S. human rights at U.N. forum
The United States defended its human rights record on Friday from criticism from foes including Cuba and Iran, who called for it to close Guantanamo prison and investigate alleged torture by its troops abroad.Continue Reading
Saving Pakistan
Ali Dayan Hasan, Senior South Asia Researcher for Human Rights Watch, spoke to Friday Times reporter Raza Rumi about the importance of respecting human rights while taking on the Taliban in Pakistan.
Is it possible to fulfill human rights’ obligations…Continue Reading
US defends human rights record before UN body
Senior U.S. diplomats have defended America’s human rights record at the United Nations while acknowledging imperfections and expressing willingness to engage other countries in a debate on the issue.Continue Reading
Guinea: Ensure Restraint by Security Forces During Elections
(Dakar) – The special unit to maintain security during the second round of Guinea’s presidential elections, on November 7, 2010, should act with discipline, minimum force, and neutrality, Human Rights Watch said today. While the first round of election…Continue Reading
Syria: Jailed Rights Defender Assaulted, Punished in Prison
(London) – Eight leading human rights organizations today called on the Syrian government to guarantee the safety of Muhannad al-Hassani, a human rights defender serving a three-year prison term, after he was assaulted last week in ‘Adra prison, Dama…Continue Reading
Criminalizing Identities
This 62-page report details how the government uses article 347 bis of the Penal Code to deny basic rights to people perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). The report describes arrests, beatings by the police, abuses in prison, …Continue Reading
Letter to the Government of Iran Regarding the Abuse of Sexual Minorities
His Excellency Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani
Head of the Human Rights Council of the Judiciary
His Excellency Alireza Avai
Head of the Tehran Judiciary
His Excellency A…Continue Reading
Canada: Ignatieff Has Some Explaining to Do
It was not surprising that last week Stephen Harper’s government defeated a modest opposition private member’s bill that offered an opportunity to improve the human rights records of Canadian oil, mining and gas companies.
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Cameroon: Same-Sex Relations Bring Attacks, Arrests
(Douala) – Cameroonians are attacked by police, politicians, the media, and even their own communities if they are suspected of having sexual relations with a person of the same sex, four human rights organizations said in a joint report released today…Continue Reading
Guinea: Civil Society Groups Urge Restraint
(Paris) – A total of 101 organizations from Guinean, French, regional, and international civil society today condemned the violence and attacks against civilian populations, human rights defenders, and Guinean political figures during the past three mo…Continue Reading
Tunisia: International Body Should Press Tunisia to End Harassment of Judges
(New York) -A number of international human rights groups sent the following letter to officials of the International Association of Judges in advance of their meeting in Dakar on November 6 through 11, 2010, to ask them to press the government of Tuni…Continue Reading
The Trial That Wasn’t: The Sentencing of Omar Khadr
A layer of mold covered my tent in "Camp Justice" at Guantanamo last week. It was on the walls, on the thick yellow cables that bring in power from the noisy generators, and even on my pillow.
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Opinion: Oil rich but rights poor in Azerbaijan
BAKU, Azerbaijan – Baku is bustling. Every time I visit, I am amazed at the new office buildings, homes, highways, bridges, parks and enormous flags that dominate the city’s landscape. Thanks to its oil riches, this country in the South Caucasus has on…Continue Reading