Human Rights

Italy is summarily returning unaccompanied migrant children and adult asylum seekers to Greece, where they face a dysfunctional asylum system and abusive detention conditions, Human Rights Watch said in a report published today. Stowaways on ferries from Greece, including children as young as 13, are sent back… »

The French National Assembly should approve a bill for marriage equality, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to members of the assembly. “From a human rights perspective, broadening the scope of civil marriage to couples of the same gender is the right thing to do,” said… »

Aaron Swartz wanted nothing more than to change the world. He was doing just that until he ended his own life, at the age of 26, on Jan. 11. Aaron was a social justice activist, gifted with deep understanding of how computers and the Internet work, and how they could… »

Dozens of Hong Kong-based migrant workers, including Sri Lankans; migrant and human rights groups, protested today the execution of Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan maid, in Saudi Arabia. Nafeek was executed on January 9 for the death of her employer’s child. The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi… »

Between the 20th and 22nd of December 2012 the Third Humanist Forum of West Africa took place in Lomé, Togo (following forums in Ivory Coast in September 2010 and Mali in September 2011). Joining the Togolese humanists were delegations from Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Mali, Ghana and Liberia. Several representatives… »

Following on Pressenza’s recent coverage of the eviction by Israeli forces of the attempted new village on Palestinian territories , Israel starts clearing more land in preparation for settlements. On Monday 14th January, bulldozers of the Israeli occupation authority demolished several Palestinian houses, agricultural structures and barracks belonging to al-Hathaleen… »

Tamara Adrián Hernández is a transsexual activist living in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. However, what actually makes her stand out is her career as a professor in a faculty of law and as an active lawyer. She is a very well-known activist in South America. Not in her own… »

By J C Suresh There are miles and miles to go before capital punishment is at last accepted as a remnant of the gory past and abolished. But indications are that it is slowly on its way out. Amnesty Internationalhas welcomed an upsurge in global support for abolition of… »

Protests against sexual violence continued for the third day in Delhi. The venue had shifted from the India Gate-Rajpath environs to Jantar Mantar. Despite the fact that the government had closed metro stops in central New Delhi (from Rajiv Chowk to Khan Market) so that Vladimir Putin was spared the… »

State media in Egypt are reporting that the new constitution has been approved potentially by around 64% of voters but it is not without its critics who are concerned about a lack of protection for human rights.  Women’s groups and religious minorities are especially concerned. The referendum itself was only… »