Stories of Human Abuse and Human being in wretched plight all around the World

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ifMjzcQdQOsQ8mtLkzZndQTvL7_w http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10248149.stm 9 June 2010 Prominent human rights defender slain After exposing abuses by the security forces and government for years, an extremely vocal Congolese rights defender was found dead on 1 June, report Journaliste en Danger (JED) and Human Rights Watch. Floribert Chebeya was executive director of one of the country's most highly regarded human rights organisations, Voix des Sans Voix pour les Droits de l'Homme (Voice of the Voiceless for Human Rights), based in the capital, Kinshasa. On 1 June he was summoned to a meeting with the inspector general of police. The next day, police reported his body was discovered in the back seat of his car. Chebeya's driver is still missing. "Floribert Chebeya's shocking death is a serious blow for human rights in the Congo," said Human Rights Watch. "The announced police investiga...

States must not ignore human rights in efforts to end poverty © Anna Kari"> Improving maternal health is an area that has seen far too little progress © Anna Kari © Private"> women and girls continue to suffer from gender discrimination in all societies © Private © Nicolas Axelrod"> An estimated 1.4 billion people will live in slums across the globe by 2020 © Nicolas Axelrod 9 June 2010 Governments risk failing some of the world's most impoverished and vulnerable groups unless human rights are put at the centre of efforts to eradicate poverty, Amnesty International warned on Wednesday. In a new report looking at how to strengthen the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs], the organization highlights how key targets fall short of existing international human rights standards. The report, From Promises to Delivery , outlines crucial steps governments can take to deli...

First convictions for 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal too little, too late © APGraphicsBank"> Thousands of pounds of deadly chemicals leaked from UCC's pesticide plant © APGraphicsBank 7 June 2010 Following convictions on Monday of seven Indian citizens for the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak disaster, Amnesty International has called on the Indian and US governments to take the next step by bringing the US-based Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) to justice. Seven Indian nationals, who formerly worked for the Indian company Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL), were found guilty by the Bhopal Court of causing death by negligence, a charge that carries a maximum two year sentence. "These are historic convictions, but it is too little, too late. Twenty-five years is an unacceptable length of time for the survivors of the disaster and families of the dead to have waited for a crimi...

Suffocating Gaza - the Israeli blockade's effects on Palestinians © Amnesty International"> More than half of Gaza's population are children © Amnesty International 1 June 2010 Israel's military blockade of Gaza has left more than 1.4 million Palestinian men, women and children trapped in the Gaza Strip, an area of land just 40 kilometres long and 9.5 kilometres wide. Mass unemployment, extreme poverty and food price rises caused by shortages have left four in five Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid. As a form of collective punishment, Israel’s continuing blockade of Gaza is a flagrant violation of international law. The situation in Gaza has been made worse by the Egyptian government’s general closure of the Rafah crossing, although this was opened following the deaths of activists on the Gaza flotilla. However, it is Israel, as the occupying power, that bears the fore...

Zimbabwe's 700,000 victims of forced eviction still ignored five years on © Amnesty International"> Victims are left to survive in plastic shacks without basic essential services © Amnesty International 18 May 2010 The government of Zimbabwe must take action to protect hundreds of thousands of people left to survive in substandard settlements five years after a program of mass forced evictions, Amnesty International Zimbabwe and a coalition of partners said on Tuesday. Amnesty International and the Coalition Against Forced Evictions are calling on the government to provide adequate alternative accommodation or compensation to those left homeless and jobless. “It is a scandal that five years on, victims are left to survive in plastic shacks without basic essential services. The needs of these victims are at risk of being forgotten because their voices are consistently ignored,” sa...

For immediate release – 2 June 2010 Free Speech Campaigners in London Protest Against Continued Persecution of Jailed Editor Freedom of expression campaigners will protest on Thursday 3 June outside the Azerbaijani embassy in London, calling for an end to the persecution of jailed journalist Eynulla Fatullayev. Amnesty International UK, ARTICLE 19, English PEN and Index on Censorship will also hand in a letter to the embassy – signed by key literary figures including Monica Ali, Alan Ayckbourn, William Boyd, and Philip Pullman - calling for Fatullayev’s immediate release and for new politically-motivated charges against him to be dropped. Newspaper editor Fatullayev, 33, is currently serving an eight-and-a-half year prison sentence based on trumped-up charges of terrorism and defamation. In April this year the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that he had been wrongfully imprisoned for exercising his right to...

International's Demand Dignity campaign "Whats that?? Explanation follows. So firstly and very simply the Demand Dignity campaign believes that Human Rights = Less Poverty. Within the Demand Dignity Campaign we are focusing on largely 3 areas: 1. Slums Right to adequate housing High levels of insecurity Lack of access to basic services Forced evictions without warning 2. Maternal Mortality The right to safe motherhood Equal access of women to emergency obstetric services Accurate data: make the problem visible Accountability: political, legal, practical, local Participative rights: responding to the voices of poor women 3. Corporate Accountability Global rules on corporate responsibility for human rights: duties beyond borders Robust human rights safeguards and transparency measures by extractive industry companies in their operations. Participative rights, listening to local communities This is a campaign where we aim to change the debate on poverty. And we want your vo...

Protect women and girls at risk of sexual violence in Haiti's camps Pascaline* is a 21-year-old. Since the earthquake, she has been living in a makeshift camp in Port-au-Prince, just one of the 1,300 camps where more than a million displaced people struggle to survive. One night, Pascaline was alone in her tent, when a man entered. He raped and beat her. Neighbours failed to intervene, they say because they believed she was with her partner. After the abuse, Pascaline received medical assistance and managed to lodge a complaint with the police. However, the police did not conduct a thorough investigation, and this lack of responsiveness allows the perpetrator to remain free. Since the violence took place, Pascaline has seen him several times in the camp and she is afraid that he might kill her if he f...

Annual Report 2010 - Amnesty International In a troubled and divided world, Amnesty International reveals truth, bears witness and campaigns for change. For every human rights abuse Amnesty International exposes, it demands accountability. In 2009 this led our members and supporters to push for robust international and national laws and to insist that these laws must be used to bring about real justice. The Amnesty International Report 2010 documents the state of human rights in 159 countries in 2009. It details a year in which accountability seemed a remote ideal for many, as people’s lives continued to be torn apart by repression, violence, discrimination, power plays and p...

From: "U.S. Department of State" Date: Fri, 28 May 2010 13:20:14 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Secretary's Remarks: Remarks With Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs G.L. Peiris After their Meeting Secretary's Remarks: Remarks With Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs G.L. Peiris After their Meeting Fri, 28 May 2010 12:49:46 -0500 Remarks With Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs G.L. Peiris After their Meeting Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Treaty Room Washington, DC May 28, 2010 SECRETARY CLINTON: I am delighted to welcome Dr. Peiris here to the State Department. I first met him 15 years ago when I was in Colombo, Sri Lanka. And it is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to discuss Sri Lanka’s efforts to rebuild after more than two decades of violence and terrorist activity that have deprived the Sri Lankan people of the progress they deserve. Dr. Peiris is a capable, experienced public servant whose leadership is helping to move ...