IPS Human Rights
One world, one humanity, now one court to defend its rights. Another step towards universal human rights, but not remotely a step far enough. The United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights more than half a century ago, but that has done little to stop violations the world over, just as the Geneva Convention has not protected prisoners of war enough. Democracy itself and the freedom it presupposes has not been protective enough. This is the century to move from politicisation of human rights towards humanising political ways. IPS keeps an eye on that difficult path.
Updated: 10 hours 40 min ago
MIGRATION-MEXICO: A Cemetery without Tombstones or Epitaphs
With a backpack full of dreams, Gelder Lizardo Boche, a 17-year-old from Guatemala, set out for the United States on Aug. 9 from his hometown of San Antonio La Paz, with two brothers-in-law.
Categories: Human Rights
LABOUR-MEXICO: Employment Agencies Multiply, But Regulation Lags
The global economic crisis has taken its toll in Mexico, as elsewhere, leading
thousands of people to turn to private employment agencies to find jobs -- even
though some of their labour rights may be left unprotected.
Categories: Human Rights
RIGHTS-JAPAN: Death Penalty Still Hangs In The Balance
It has been a long and exhausting wait for anti-death penalty
campaigners like Akiko Takada, but there are few signs that
capital punishment will be taken off Japan's law books any
time soon.
Categories: Human Rights
Poor Thirst as Nile Taps Run Dry
The midday sun punishes a group of veiled women as they wait in line to fill their
buckets and jerrycans. They have travelled on foot to a rusty tap on the outskirts
of Cairo that gushes irrigation water never intended for human consumption.
Categories: Human Rights
EUROPE: New Expulsions Hit People Without a Place
Roma gypsies are routinely described as Europe's largest ethnic minority.
Numbering between 10 and 16 million, their combined population exceeds that
of many European Union countries. Yet their numerical strength offers no
compensation for the poverty, persecution and scapegoating that the Roma have
to endure -- or for how their welfare is accorded a low priority by the EU's
institutions.
Categories: Human Rights
INDIA: Fears of Privacy Loss Pursue Ambitious ID Project
Fears about loss of privacy are being voiced as India gears up to launch an
ambitious scheme to biometrically identify and number each of its 1.2 billion
inhabitants.
Categories: Human Rights
MIDEAST: Media New Battleground for Palestinians and Israelis
Palestinians and Israelis are using the media as a new battleground in their war
to win hearts and minds across the globe, even as the protracted conflict in the
Mideast drags on with no apparent end in sight.
Categories: Human Rights
MIDEAST: The Lights Are Going Out on Gaza
The Muslim festival Eid approaches, but not the end to power cuts that have
darkened the month-long Ramadan fasting leading up to the festival. Or to the
agony of Gazans, made worse by the reminder that it's approaching festive time.
Categories: Human Rights
SOUTH ASIA: Fishers' Release A Good Catch for India-Pakistan Ties
It took almost two hours before Jeenti Deva, 16, could board the bus that would
bring him home to India, but the long wait did not stop him from smiling.
Categories: Human Rights
MIDEAST: Ramadan Goes Down Under Rubble
With power cuts up to 16 hours to full days, a soaring heat wave and unbearable
humidity, the Israeli-led siege on Gaza is but one of many factors leaving
Ramadan miserable for the majority of Palestinians in Gaza.
Categories: Human Rights
PORTUGAL: Prominent Figures Sentenced in Child Sex Ring Scandal
A trial that dragged on for six years amidst public outrage ended Friday in Portugal with the unexpected sentencing of prominent personalities, found guilty in a child sex abuse scandal that shook the nation.
Categories: Human Rights
/UPDATE*/: Further Victims Identified in DRC Mass Rapes Case
Twenty-eight minors have been documented as victims of last month's four-day
raid of more than a dozen villages centred around Walikale, Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC), U.N. officials told reporters here today. Children, including
one 12-years old boy were identified. The Walikale victim toll has risen to over
240.
Categories: Human Rights
FILM-CUBA: "I Fought for This, But Not Just to Be a Housewife"
Mavi Susel, the first transsexual in Cuba to undergo sex reassignment surgery, back in 1988, has found herself trapped in the traditionally assigned gender role of a housewife.
Categories: Human Rights
Price Hikes Trigger Mozambique Protests
September in Mozambique's capital has begun with violent protests. Thousands have been striking over an increase in the prices of basic goods, including bread. Police responded with force - firing on crowds gathered on the streets in several suburbs and townships in and around Maputo.
Categories: Human Rights
EGYPT: Brotherhood Struggles Against Shut Doors
As Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood gears up to contest November parliamentary
elections, some analysts note the relatively few gains made by the Brotherhood-
led opposition over the last five years in an assembly dominated by the ruling
National Democratic Party (NDP).
Categories: Human Rights
Flood-Ridden Pakistan Ineligible For Emergency Debt Relief
A loan deal between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and flood-stricken
Pakistan announced Thursday has drawn the ire of several NGOs that claim the
deal represents an "inadequate" and "cynical" response to the disaster that is
estimated to have affected the lives of millions.
Categories: Human Rights
Tamaulipas, Mexico's Black Hole
Tamaulipas state has become the black hole of organised crime in Mexico. But there are few accounts of the rapid social breakdown that the northeastern border state has experienced since the start of the year, because the local press is silenced.
Categories: Human Rights
BRAZIL: Inequality Declines in Rio as Rich Get Poorer
The huge gap between the poorest and richest neighbourhoods of Brazil's most famous city shrank between 1996 and 2008. But the news is not as good as it sounds, because the decline in inequality was due to lower incomes in the richer zones, rather than to an increase in wealth in the "favelas" or shantytowns.
Categories: Human Rights
BOLIVIA: UN Calls for Broad Pact on Children's Needs
A national pact to focus on the rights of children was proposed by United Nations representative in Bolivia Yoriko Yasukawa on the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Categories: Human Rights
LEBANON: Rich Feast Through Month of Fasting
Although not a celebration in the traditional sense, Ramadan in Lebanon is a
time of joy for many, during which families reconnect and share their wealth with
the poor. But in this country of extremes, not everyone has the luxury of
celebrating the holy month.
Categories: Human Rights