world news

March 9, 2010  Cambridge, MA — Stateless refugees from Burma face death from starvation and disease in makeshift camps because the government of Bangladesh denies them access to humanitarian aid, warns a team of health researchers from Physicians for Human Rights who just returned from the region.
 

Monday, 8 March 2010 - A friend asked me a couple of weeks ago if there was going to be a special AG issue celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD). Given the fact that AG is a publication dedicated to women, her inquisition was well placed. I told her “yes;” for what kind of online-publication for “women” kind of editor would I be if I told her that March 8th had totally slipped my mind as one of the important days to be celebrated this year?

March 1, 2010 - The United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights(OHCHR) defines human rights as rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, language, or any other status. 

Amnesty International has called on the authorities of Lithuania to remove all restrictions on the distribution of public information relating to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people decreed in a new law. The controversial "Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information” enters into force next Monday, 1 March.

March 1, 2010 (Washington, DC) - Political parties and candidates in Iraq's parliamentary elections on March 7, 2010, should promise to uphold human rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The election will be a key indicator of whether the country is moving toward greater political stability and respect for human rights and away from the sectarian violence that devastated Iraq after the 2005 election, Human Rights Watch said.

Poor governance and management are jeopardising efforts to provide quality basic education in seven African countries according to a new report published today by Transparency International (TI).

The United Nations Security Council should make improving the quality and security of camps for displaced victims of Haiti's devastating earthquake a top priority, Human Rights Watch said today in an open letter to the Council's member states. The Security Council is being briefed today on the humanitarian situation in Haiti by the UN emergency relief coordinator, John Holmes, and the head of the Peacekeeping Department, Alain Le Roy.

 
AMMAN, 18 February 2010 – A study looking at the impact of poverty on children in Egypt reveals that while significant progress has been made, vulnerable children continue to face serious deprivations.
 

Two women, Sibongile Matupe and Rose Rukwewo, an elderly woman, have been arrested in Mutare today following the peaceful protest in that city yesterday. The two women are currently at Mutare Central Police Station and look set to spend the night in custody. It is unclear why they were targeted for arrest or what charge, if any, will be laid against them.  Lawyers from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) are in attendance but have not been given access to the women.

"The accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights is a new, historic change in the co-operation on democratic security and stability in Europe", said today Thorbjørn Jagland, Council of Europe Secretary General, in his key-note speech in Brussels, at the European Policy Centre (EPC) Policy Briefing "Strengthening human rights across Europe".