Tag Archives : human rights abuses

Zimbabwe: Failure of Power-Sharing Government

Zimbabwe: Failure of Power-Sharing Government

The government of the much-beleaguered country of Zimbabwe has been in a power-sharing agreement between the two opposing factions of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party and Tsvangirai’s MDC party. People hoped that such a much-awaited turn of events not too long ago will mean that the country would be able to surmount its massive economic woes, health crisis, [...]
Migrant Workers: Exploited Heroes

Migrant Workers: Exploited Heroes

Nisha Varia, senior researcher in the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, says, “Governments seem to forget that when men, women, and children migrate, they don’t leave their rights at home. Instead of protecting people who already are at special risk of abuse, many governments further marginalize migrants, punish them, or push [...]
Criticized by the West for its human rights abuses, Sri Lanka turns to the East

Criticized by the West for its human rights abuses, Sri Lanka turns to the East

The United Nations recently announced that internally-displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka, housed in refugee camps since the time they fled their homes during the final and fatal offensive against the LTTE, can now go back to their homes. The questions are whether they still have homes to go back to and how safe is it for them to go back. The Sri [...]
The Trade in Blood Minerals: Your Gadgets are Killing the Congo

The Trade in Blood Minerals: Your Gadgets are Killing the Congo

The mindboggling violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the past ten years has seen more dead bodies than the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur and Iraq combined. At the heart of the conflict are the so-called ‘blood minerals’ or ‘conflict minerals’ whose unregulated trade has been ruling the country, enriching its politicians [...]
Freedom Hell on Earth

Freedom Hell on Earth

The social investigation was conducted by Freedom House. The organization’s Freedom in the World report entitled Worst of the Worst: The World’s Most Repressive Societies 2009 enumerates the bottom 21 countries and territories with regards to repression of human freedom. Here are some of the worst of hell on earth: North Korea is the nadir of freedom [...]
Financial sanctions, not negotiations, will denuclearize North Korea

Financial sanctions, not negotiations, will denuclearize North Korea

Pyongyang has proven its nuclear doggedness. In spite of tremendous international criticism that puts North Korea in a pariah state, it has gone ahead to test nuclear and ballistic missile weapons. Add to that is its ‘nuclear technology proliferation to terrorist-supporting states,’ plus its mounting human-rights abuses. Those opposed to North [...]
The Cartel War in Mexico and the Use of Mexican Military

The Cartel War in Mexico and the Use of Mexican Military

Since his ascension to the highest office in the land in 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderon has deployed more than 35,000 federal troops in security operations around the country. The extensive use of Mexican military in counternarcotics operations has met considerable criticism. Calderon has widely defended his strategy since the drug trafficking [...]
Eroding Democracy in Somaliland

Eroding Democracy in Somaliland

The 56-page report entitled ‘Hostages to Peace: Threats to Human Rights and Democracy in Somaliland’ affirms that the government in Somaliland has, indeed, instituted a semblance of democratic stability in the country despite the existence of armed conflict. However, the government continues to disregard the rule of law and undermine democratic [...]