One of the initiatives is Sadaka Reut, and this is what they say about their program:

With the majority of Palestinian and Jewish youth physically segregated from one another (in separate communities and schools) and fears, racism and prejudice the result, we look to build alternative models for interaction between the two groups. The ‘Building a Culture of Peace’ program seeks to create a space in which both Palestinian and Jewish youth may feel equal, respected and recognized as individuals and as national collectives.

The members of their program have also been participating in the One Minute Video Project, where they learn about video activism during a one-week workshop. Here are some of the results, and you can see the rest by clicking through to their site:

Arab:

AM/FM:

Few Love Singing:

Another initiative is the Windows for Peace project, which started back in 1991 as an effort to produce a bilingual and bicultural magazine for youth as a way for them to connect and learn about the conflict, promote equality and empower youth. However, it hasn't been easy, as they explain on their site:

It is no simple task for Israeli and Palestinian youth to overcome the vast amount of misinformation and stereotypes they are taught about one another. The limited availability for interaction, a result of living in mostly segregated communities and exacerbated by the ongoing violent political conflict, perpetuates the historical fears, prejudice, and hatred that divide the two peoples. Windows is therefore dedicated to fostering large scale change in the way Israeli and Palestinian youth see themselves, “the other” and the conflict. Participants in Windows programs go through experiences that promote conflict transformation among both peoples, towards a peaceful reality with which both sides can live. We believe that a just and lasting peace must be based on democratic values, human rights, and mutual knowledge and acceptance of “the other.”

They are also working on a new initiative called Through the Lens, where 15 to 17 year old youth who “graduate” from the magazine continue developing skills to create short films, news pieces and other video productions to further “productive, peace-building dialogue and positive interaction”.

Here is a video where the participants of Windows speak about their experience in the group and how they have dealt with the challenges it represents to get out of their comfort zone and speak about difficult topics such as the conflict between Israel and Palestine:

As the children in the video state in so many words: they may have a hard time dealing with many of the opinions and perceptions other children express, but having the space to discuss issues in a safe and secure manner helps them understand the world they live in with a possibility to interact, learn and share with other children and youth and even change these perceptions.

In what may be one of the worst cases of police brutality, ranks from the Leonora Police Station have been accused of setting a 14-year-old boy’s genitals alight while questioning him about the murder of former Region Three Vice Chairman, Ramnauth Bisram.

Kaieteur News confirmed the report yesterday after obtaining graphic photographs of the severely burnt lad.
The teen has been in custody since Tuesday and his parents, Doodnauth Jaikarran and Shirley Thomas, allege that ranks had them going from one police station to the next without disclosing his whereabouts….

It is unclear whether the teen is still being considered a suspect or whether he has received any medical treatment for what appeared to be severe burns to his genitals, midriff and upper thighs.

The photograph of the teenager's injuries was reproduced at several blogs and websites, including Propaganda Press [warning: this link leads to a graphic image that some readers may find disturbing].

Many Guyanese citizens, including bloggers, reacted with shock and anger. Attorney Gino Persaud reported in his blog Freedom Under the Law that he was one of two dozen lawyers at a “spontaneous gathering” who issued a public statement “to register their outrage at this latest atrocity”. After quoting relevant sections of the Guyana constitution, the attorneys stated:

We the undersigned wish to condemn in the strongest possible terms the torture of a minor and for a matter of fact any other person while in custody by members of the Guyana Police Force.

We wish to record our unreserved condemnation of the Guyana Police Force of their refusal to permit the minor access to a legal advisor of his choice after his detention by the Guyana Police Force.

Journalist Imran Khan also posted the lawyers' statement on his blog, and proposed that concerned Guyanese use Twitter and Facebook “to keep the torture issue on the front burner”. On 1 November via Twitter (username: mediaimran), he issued this plea:

Please GYnese tweeters, keep #GuyanaPoliceTorture on the agenda. Post once per day with your thoughts.views

Other Guyanese used Twitter to share breaking news about the case, and information about other police brutality cases, introducing the #TortureInGuyana hashtag. On the afternoon of 31 October, Demerara Waves (username: demwaves) reported: “police call beating of man and setting ablaze genitals of 14 yr old ‘excessive use of force'. two investigating ranks arrested for offence.” Imran Khan noted that “This is not the first time a child has been allegedly tortured by police”, linking to a post at the Thoughts of a Minibus Traveller blog which stated:

This is the second report of a child being tortured while in police custody. There was another report in Region 6 of another child who had been brutalised in police custody and his lawyer had made several attempts to seek justice.

The condemnations of police brutality seem not to work when sections of the society believe that it is okay for the police to behave this way.

Following the Kaieteur News report, the teenager was released from police custody and taken to hospital for treatment. An article published in the Stabroek News on 1 November gathered dozens of readers' comments. Sand Hurst First wrote:

The government continues to say they do not condone torture yet still the citizens are crying out constantly of being tortured by either ranks of the Guyana Defense Force or the Police Force and nothing is and will be done to stop it.

YouTube user arinton99 assembled press photographs to create a video montage called Torture of Teenager in Guyana [warning: this link leads to graphic images], which includes a statement condemning Guyanese president Bharrat Jagdeo:

The president of Guyana has always been silent on these issues. He calls it “ruffing up”. As you can see its more than that. Its called inhumane human right abuse. Jagdeo please stop the dictatorship of your rule

On the morning of Monday 2 November, journalist Nazima Raghubir used Twitter (username: nazrag) to report a press conference held by police commissioner Henry Greene. She began: “Greene says that the entire Force is being castigated for what a few ranks did. (torture of boy)”; followed by “Commissioner Greene says police must have ‘good and sufficient reason' to use violence against a prisoner.” Lloyda Garrett (username: craziebutiful) responded: “Ask the commissioner if there have been other cases that can fit into #TortureInGuyana and give him an example…see what he says”. Michael Leonard (username: xcessi) also weighed in: “we need more than scapegoats…we need a reform of the entire police force.” He added: “these seemingly isolated incidents are part of a general breakdown of the structure and integrity of the force.”

Meanwhile, as news of the incident spread internationally, the Barbados Underground blog posted a report which elicited this comment from reader Dictionary:

Horrible, and requiring serious intervention, serious enough that the government of Guyana should be called to publicly answer before the full Caricom heads of Government and/or the Caribbean Court of Justice…

Guyana’s police need to be publicly investigated and reformed from top to bottom, similar to Jamaica’s [and maybe others too]. A full formal regional commission needs to be empanelled to do this — the police systems in the region are similar enough that if there is that big of a hole in the Guyana system, we had better be concerned from Belize to Trinidad as well.

The power of the sword is given to government to defend the public civil peace with justice, not to torture 14 yo boys like this.

baby by gabi_menashe

When a woman dies during pregnancy, childbirth or due to complications after delivery, it affects not only the family, but also the whole community. These videos, by different human rights organizations, go beyond statistics to tell us the stories of women and their families as they struggle to understand why it is that so many women are dying during childbirth and what needs to be done to stop this.

First, the White Ribbon Alliance produced a four minute video titled Birth and Death explaining the seriousness of Maternal Mortality and how it can be stopped:

UNICEF also created a two minute video to raise awareness about this issue, with 5 steps that can be taken to diminish maternal mortality: education, respect, empowerment, investing and protection.

In this next video, In Silence: Maternal Mortality in India by Human Rights Watch, photographer Susan Meiselas and reporter Dumeetha Luthra traveled to India to follow the story of a woman who died after giving birth:

In Peru, as told by this piece done for CARE by Phil Borges, the Watchmen for Lives program to decrease maternal mortality has proven to be a success: by empowering and educating women from within the communities in the importance of healthcare during pregnancy and by making a chart for midwives with warning signs on when to send women to a clinic - so more are going to clinics to give birth, dramatically reducing the numbers of deaths due to complications during labor.

Amnesty International has this documentary piece, 18 minutes long, about Maternal Mortality in Sierra Leone. One in 8 women die in Childbirth there: the inability to pay for medical attention, a practically non-existent healthcare system, lack of trained medical practitioners and understaffed and understocked clinics are the main reasons. As the women in the video tell: everyone there knows a woman who has died during pregnancy or labor.

And from Australia, students from the Nursing and Midwife program at the University of Sydney have created Birthing Kits that they've delivered to developing countries to try and prevent unnecessary deaths. It includes a plastic sheet to put under the mother, surgical gloves, scalpel blades, gauze, soap and string to tie off the umbilical cord. In the video, they tell of their initiative and the successful experience they've had in Bangladesh.

Zineb Chtit at the trial (courtesy Oujdacity)

In September, we learned about Zineb Chtit, the young Moroccan girl who was severely beaten while working as a maid.  Last week, it was announced that Zineb's attacker Nawal Houmin, the wife of the couple who had hired her, was to be punished for the crime with a sentence of three years imprisonment and a $13,000 fine.  Many human rights groups have spoken out about the sentence, calling it too lenient. 
Says blogger Crazy Moor:

But several Moroccan rights groups say they would appeal on behalf of the country’s estimated 60 thousand to 80 thousand child labourers.

The chair of the Association, “Don’t Touch My Children”, Najia Adib, says the sentence does not regret the scale of the atrocities committed, because the little girl was locked up in a cellar.

The case occurred in the eastern Moroccan city of Oujda.  Popular website Oujdacity.net, which calls itself the “premiere portal for eastern Morocco,” remarked on the incident, saying [ar]:

Solidarité Maroc remarked somewhat sarcastically [fr]:

Malgré les dénonciations concernant les deux époux, seule l'épouse a été inculpée, alors que le juge a été innocenté. Encore une illustration de la justice, au Maroc.

Blogger Moustapha Mouden of the collective blog SidiSlimane [ar], remarking on a 2M program on child labor, says of the issue:

The blogger also remarks on the issue of awareness, something that the laws cannot change:

Special thanks to Hisham for assistance with this post.