· May, 2010

Stories about Human Rights from May, 2010

Pakistan: The Lesson In The Facebook Ban

  31 May 2010

Following the lifting of the ban on Facebook by Lahore High-court, Adil Najam at All Things Pakistan questions: “So, what is the lesson in all of this? Who gained what in this entire episode? And who lost what?”

Maldives: A Non Muslim In the 100% Muslim Nation

  31 May 2010

Hasan Ziayu reports about a Maldivian who openly announced his disbelief in Islam on state television and was detained by police. Now the dilemma is: one cannot become a Maldivian unless he is a Muslim, but since the person is already a citizen, what will happen to his citizenship?

Bangladesh: Facebook Temporarily Blocked

  30 May 2010

Bangladesh has become the second country in Asia after Pakistan to block the entire Facebook domain. Bangladeshi bloggers are expressing their astonishment, anger and protest against this ban.

Angola: Similarities between Cabinda and East Timor

  29 May 2010

Orlando Castro discloses [pt] the similarities between the Angolan enclave of Cabinda and the recent history of East Timor, criticizing the positions of the Portuguese and Timorese leaders for failing to recognize the self determination of a province that produces 70% of domestic oil.

France: Questions and Controversy about ICC

  29 May 2010

EU-LOGOS blog explains why France was questioned by an Amnesty International report about its implementation in internal criminal law of the 1998 International Criminal Court status (fr). An impending bill seems to require a condition of  the “usual country of residence” to be France for legal proceedings to take place.

Brazil: Rapper assaulted by Police Peacemaker Unit

  29 May 2010

MC Fiell, who recently launched a booklet about police approach at ‘favela‘ (slum) Santa Marta, was the target of a violent assault by members of the Police Peacemaker Unit (UPP). In his blog [pt], he describes the event and claims having been beaten when he tried to dialogue besides being...

Jamaica: Dudus, Security & Seaga

  27 May 2010

In the Tivoli Gardens area of Jamaica's capital city – home turf of alleged drug lord Michael Christopher “Dudus” Coke and epicentre of the unrest that has gripped the Caribbean nation for the past several days – the loyalties are clear, at least from those who care to be vocal about...

Brazil: Exchange Student Victim of Racism at the University

  27 May 2010

Kadija Tu, an exchange student from Guinea-Bissau, was severely beaten inside the campus of UFPB [Federal University of the State of Paraíba] on May 24th, reports Eugenio Cruz from the blog Quase nada sobre quase tudo [Almost nothing about almost everything, pt]. Witnesses say she was called ‘dog-nigger‘ (Negra-Cão) by...