A blog about human rights in their many forms.

Charles M. SennottDecember 13, 2012 15:15

Copper mine strikes raise questions in Myanmar

Copper mine strikes have raised questions about China's 'soft power' in Myanmar. The government's response has raised questions about Myanmar's move toward democracy.

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A man holds a banner during a protest in Yangon on December 2, 2012 against a Chinese-backed copper mine in Monywa in northern Myanmar. (Soe Than Win/AFP/Getty Images)

YANGON, Myanmar – A stream of protesters, many of them Buddhist monks clad in saffron robes, trickled through the capital Monday as part of what observers here say is a growing movement against the government’s brutal crackdown on strikers at a Chinese-backed copper mining project in the northwest.

Hundreds of protesters carried placards and chanted a phrase that has become their slogan: “Violence is not the solution.”

Alex PearlmanDecember 13, 2012 13:35

UN adopts resolution on universal health coverage

Call it the world's Obamacare, or just another step forward toward meeting the development goals, but the General Assembly moved to insure everyone, everywhere.

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The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution to ask the world's nations to implement universal healthcare systems. (John Moore/Getty Images)

The United Nations General Assembly Wednesday voted in favor of a draft resolution that would support universal health coverage for people everywhere, and help those nations that require extra advice and financing meet their healthcare goals.

Alex PearlmanDecember 12, 2012 13:34

Global pressure mounts against Ugandan 'Kill the Gays' bill

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, British lawmakers and the international hacker collective Anonymous are all vehemently opposed to the Ugandan bill, which could be passed at any time.

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Archbishop Desmond Tutu, pictured here in October in New York, compared Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill to apartheid and Nazi Germany in a letter on Wednesday. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

Last we heard, the Ugandan parliament and the international press released conflicting reports about the inclusion of the death penalty in a bill about to be passed that would punish homosexuality in Uganda.

It seems the latest news is that the death penalty is indeed still included in the bill, and pressure is mounting from all sides sides of the globe, for Uganda to not pass the bill into law.

Alex PearlmanDecember 11, 2012 14:56

Cuba cracks down on activists, journalists

After a year away, Cuba returns to the list of countries imprisoning journalists.

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Supporters rally for the Las Damas de Blanco, Ladies in White, who are peaceful dissidents, on March 25, 2010 in Miami, Florida. The Ladies in White were part of a crackdown on activism for International Human Rights Day this week. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Human rights defenders, political dissidents and journalists have been threatened, beaten and arbitrarily imprisoned in Cuba recently, and the widespread government crackdown continued on International Human Rights Day yesterday.

Alex PearlmanDecember 6, 2012 11:54

Mexico Supreme Court rules for marriage equality

Overturning a ban on same-sex marriage in Oaxaca may have opened the door to marriage equality for the whole country.

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Lol kin Castaneda (L) and Judith Vazquez, Mexico's first legally married LGBT couple, hold hands in a 2010 photo in Mexico City. Mexico's Supreme Court ruled this week to overturn a ban on marriage equality in a southern state, possibly opening the door for same-sex marriage across the country. (LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images)

In a unanimous decision yesterday, Mexico's Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage in the southern state of Oaxaca, saying the law was unconstitutional and "violates the principle of equality."

The Associated Press reports the ruling came after three couples filed a lawsuit against the state, and makes Oaxaca the second locale after Mexico City to have legal same-sex marriage.

Mellissa FungDecember 5, 2012 11:54

The New Conquistadors: Canadians mining in Panama

Indigenous communities are the ones impacted by multinational companies mining in the rainforest, but with no one to stand up for them, can their traditions be maintained? Or will corporate interests win out?

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A woman from the Ngobe village of Nueva Lucha, one of several communities threatened by Canadian mining companies. The Ngobe are an indigenous people native to Panama. (Lynn Burgess/Courtesy)

This is part two of a series on mining in Panama as part of Canada's foriegn policy. Check out part one.

It is not inconceivable to think that the rainforest remains much the way Christopher Columbus would have found it when he first landed on the shores of what would become Panama in the fall of 1502.

Mellissa FungDecember 4, 2012 11:11

The New Conquistadors: Mining Policy as Foreign Policy

Canadian mining interests threaten the Panamanian environment as well as the livelihoods of subsistence farmers and indigenous villages.

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A Ngobe activist protests against a Canadian mining company in Nueva Lucha, Panama, where indigenous people see the mining industry as a threat to their way of life. (Pulitzer Center/Courtesy)

This is part one of a two-part series. Check out Part Two.

The “Tower of the Americas,” a gleaming behemoth of a skyscraper occupying an entire block of downtown Panama City, is home to the Panamanian satellites of hundreds of international companies.

Alex PearlmanNovember 29, 2012 19:26

Will the Supremes rule on DOMA and Prop 8?

There are a number of possible outcomes, but if the Supreme Court decides to rule on marriage equality, the nation could see a profound shift in policy.

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Only four of the nine justices need to agree to take on a case. They could decide to hear cases related to the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8 this week. (TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court has its hands full, as it ponders whether to take up LGBT rights cases from around the country, including California's on-again, off-again Proposition 8.

On Friday, the justices will enter conference, where they meet in private to look at questions from lower courts and decide if they want to rule on them.

Four of nine justices must agree to take a specific case, and they can decide to take one, some, or all of them. (This is called granting certiorari.)

Stephanie RiceNovember 27, 2012 16:50

A humanitarian crisis after Guatemala's earthquake

Remote communities have been most affected by the earthquake that hit earlier this month, leaving many homeless and without warm food or heat.

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Red Cross worker Yuly Hoffens takes down the information of indigenous Guatemalans affected by the earthquake. Lucia Arazil Lopez (left) is sleeping in the home of a neighbor because she's afraid her damaged home will collapse during ongoing aftershocks. (Stephanie Rice/GlobalPost)

CAJOLA, Guatemala – Antonio Huinil Lopez didn’t have the easiest life before a massive earthquake destroyed his family’s home earlier this month.

Alex PearlmanNovember 27, 2012 16:16

US retailers again eye safety standards after deadly Bangladesh fire

Major clothing manufacturers like Walmart and Gap are seeing pressure from labor rights groups to implement better fire safety standards after another fire in a Bangladeshi factory.

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The skeletal remains of rows of sewing machine tables, covered in ash after a fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory outside Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Palash Khan/LEADFOTO.COM/Courtesy)

On this national day of mourning in Bangladesh, the country is coming to terms with a devastating factory fire that killed 112 people at the Tazreen Fashions factory outside Dhaka last weekend.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Today, there are ongoing struggles for human rights in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the Americas and every corner of the world. When we talk about rights today, we rarely think of just how many there are, and how often they’re infringed upon or taken away. It’s easy to forget that the rights many take for granted are the very same others die fighting for.

The arc of the modern human rights movement is born of the aftermath of World War II with the formation of the United Nations General Assembly and its adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This is a reported blog dedicated to highlighting these basic human rights, how they are defined, why they are needed and who are the people struggling to uphold them. The blog is also a way for us to provide GlobalPost’s in-depth reporting and foundation-supported Special Reports — on rights relating to labor, gender, sexuality, the environment, the Internet, children, speech and assembly, and more — with steady updates, insights and analysis worth sharing. This is a blog called RIGHTS, but the story telling here about those rights are not intended as advocacy and will always stay true to GlobalPost’s reporting standards of fairness, accuracy and independence.

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