Archive for November, 2012

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15/11/2012

‘Serious Violations’ of Freedom of Association in Argentina, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Peru

Human Wrongs Watch

Geneva, ILO*,  15 November 2012 – The ILO has named Argentina, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Fiji and Peru – out of a list of 32 cases examined– as the most serious and urgent regarding freedom of association.

The ILO Committee on Freedom of Association examined cases concerning employers’ and trade unions’ rights to organize, collective bargaining and social dialogue.

**Image: Torch, by Antonu | Wikimedia Commons

The ILO supervisory body dealt with the murder of four workers and injury of two others in Argentina.

The murders happened during the eviction of over 500 workers, demanding decent housing, from a construction site in Mar del Plata in 2009.

The Committee recalled the importance of an immediate and independent judicial inquiry in such cases to clarify the facts, determine responsibility, punish those responsible and prevent the repetition of such acts. It requested the Government to communicate the outcome of the judicial inquiries underway.

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15/11/2012

World Philosophy Day – Think, Reflect, Dialogue

Human Wrongs Watch

The diversity of philosophies prevalent around the world is humanity’s greatest asset to building an inclusive and tolerant global citizenry, the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said, marking the tenth edition of World Philosophy Day on 15 November 2012.

Sculpture “The Thinker” by Auguste Rodin. World Philosophy Day takes place every November. Photo: Hans Andersen | Source: UN

In her message for the Day, UNESCO’s Director-General, Irina Bokova, called on nations to invest more in philosophical training for schoolchildren while stressing the “urgent need” to pass on to the world’s youth “the taste for philosophy, its rigour and its joys, from the earliest age.”

“UNESCO reaffirms the power of philosophy to change the world, because it can help us to change ourselves by giving weight to our indignation before injustice, lucidity to ask the right questions, and conviction to defend human dignity,” Bokova said.

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15/11/2012

Safety of Journalists: Why Should You Care? — UNESCO

Human Wrongs Watch

More than 600 journalists and media workers have been killed in the last ten years. In other words, on average every week a journalist loses his or her life for bringing news and information to the public, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)*.

Finalist of the eYeka competition in support of World Press Freedom Day | UNESCO

To end violence against journalists and to combat impunity, the United Nations Chief Executives Board approved the first ever UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and  the Issue of Impunity, in April 2012, in a process spearheaded by UNESCO.

Now, in order to advance the plan and produce concrete strategies, a second UN Inter-Agency Meeting will take place in Vienna, Austria on 22 and 23 November, convened by UNESCO and co-hosted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UNESCO reports*.

23 November is the International Day against Impunity, declared by the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a network of 90 international, regional and local organisations worldwide.

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15/11/2012

Mass Demonstrations in Spain, Portugal, Italy against Austerity and Unemployment

Human Wrongs Watch

By WSWS* reporters, 15 November 2012 — Hundreds of thousands of workers took to the streets Wednesday [14 November] in a number of European countries to demonstrate against rapidly rising unemployment and the austerity measures dictated by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

**Photo: Kotsolis at English Wikipedia | Wikimedia Commons

General strikes in Spain and Portugal brought transport to a halt and led to the closure of many businesses and schools. Airlines were hit by strike action, with hundreds of flights cancelled. Trade unions in both countries claimed that millions of workers took part in the strikes.

Strike action officially began in Spain at midnight, with demonstrators already taking to the streets on Tuesday evening. Angry demonstrators in Madrid clashed with police at a number of locations.

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14/11/2012

‘Business Must Prevent, Monitor Use of Trafficked Labour’ — UN

Human Wrongs Watch

Businesses must help prevent and monitor the use of trafficked labour in their supply chains, a United Nations independent expert stressed, urging enterprises to do their part to protect human rights.

Photo: UN

“Trafficking in persons is a global phenomenon which crosses borders, markets and industries,” the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, said on 14 November at an international expert meeting in Ankara, Turkey.

“In today’s globalized world,” she added, “the risks of human trafficking in supply chains are significant throughout economic sectors and affect all States, whether as source, transit or destination countries.”

Over 20 specialists on human trafficking, business and human rights from international organizations, trade unions and non-governmental organizations gathered at the international meeting – which was convened by Ezeilo – to share information on trends and good practices to address trafficking and reach concrete proposals to protect the human rights of trafficked persons, the UN reported.

According to a news release from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Ezeilo noted that supply chains in the global economy are often complex and involve multiple layers of sub-contractors, which hampers the monitoring and reporting process.

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14/11/2012

Remember Haiti? Now 1,5 Million People at Risk of Food Insecurity in 2013

Human Wrongs Watch

The United Nations food relief agency warned that more than 1.5 million Haitians could remain at risk of food insecurity well into 2013 if they do not receive adequate assistance to recover from a series of natural disasters that have hit the country over the past six months, including a drought, Tropical Storm Isaac and Hurricane Sandy.

Small children like Stechina Alexis in Marigot, Haiti, are the most vulnerable in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Photo: WFP/Elio Rujano

“At the moment, one of our biggest worries is in areas that are still isolated after Hurricane Sandy, where women and children face worsening nutrition,” said on 13 November the UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) Director in Haiti, Myrta Kaulard.“

“At the same time, it is crucial to help Haitian farmers so that they can plant crops for the small December season and for the main agricultural season in the spring.”

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14/11/2012

Is It Time to Improve Nuclear Disaster Preparedness?

By , IPPNW* — The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) proposes to do just that, following a consultation among 16 national member societies more than a year after the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster.

**Image: The Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami | Credit:Digital Globe | Wikimedia Commons

The world’s largest humanitarian organization announced in May that it would establish “a resource centre offering specialist advice on nuclear disaster preparedness, along with chemical and biological hazards.”

The center, the IFRC said, will consider “how national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies can be active in helping to protect communities, by raising awareness, helping to manage evacuation if needed and providing psychosocial support and health monitoring in the event of a nuclear disaster.”

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13/11/2012

Kill or Be Killed… Or Both!

Human Wrongs Watch

‘The doctrines of nuclear deterrence and massive retaliation are still based on the Stone Age maxim: “Kill or be killed”, and the voice at the back of the hall is still right in adding “Or both!” We have to remember that the total explosive power of the nuclear weapons in the world today is 500,000 times as great as the power of the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What is threatened by a nuclear war today is the complete breakdown of human civilization.’

ICAN video Beating the Bomb: http://icanw.org/node/5947

By John Scales Avery* – TRANSCEND – “Beyond the Fringe” was a satirical review that performed in London’s West End in the early 1960′s. In one of the sketches, the Prime Minister of England was being interviewed by a journalist, and the following exchange took place:

Journalist: “Sir, could you say something about our nation’s foreign policy?”

Prime Minister: “Our foreign policy is very simple: Kill or be killed.”

Voice at the back of the hall: “Or both! Or both!”

During the 60 years that separate us from that sharp observation, it has lost none of its relevance. The doctrines of nuclear deterrence and massive retaliation are still based on the Stone Age maxim: “Kill or be killed”, and the voice at the back of the hall is still right in adding “Or both!”

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13/11/2012

‘2012 Nobel Peace Prize is Unlawful and Cannot Be Paid to the EU” – 320 Peace Organizations

“The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the EU is unlawful and cannot be paid,” says the International Peace Bureau* (IPB), in a letter** to the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm.

Alfred Nobel | IPB

The demand from IPB is based on the fact that the Nobel Foundation is by law responsible for overseeing that all the five Nobel Prizes are awarded in accordance with the will and testament of Alfred Nobel.

The latest prize to EU may even be seen as directly contradicting the purpose to reach demilitarized international relations, the purpose Alfred Nobel had with his prize, according to this global network of 320 peace organizations.

IPB refers to the Swedish Foundations Authority (Länsstyrelsen in Stockholm) decision of Mars 21, 2012, which underlined that all prizes must comply with the purpose Nobel described in his will, and clarified that under the Swedish Foundation Act the Swedish Nobel Foundation has the supreme authority and responsibility also for the decisions made by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

“The European Union, announced by the Norwegian Nobel Committee as the winner of the peace prize for 2012, clearly is not one of “the champions of peace” Alfred Nobel had in mind and described in his will as “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.””

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12/11/2012

Kuwait – ‘Lift Protest Ban’… Now!

Beirut – Kuwait’s authorities should revoke a ministerial order to ban all demonstrations because it denies the right to peaceful assembly, says Human Rights Watch.

**Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf | By SpLoT at en.wikipedia

Since October 15, 2012, security forces have used teargas and stun grenades to disperse at least three large rallies protesting an effort by the country’s ruler to amend the country’s electoral law in a way that might reduce opposition representation in parliament, it adds.

“Opposition groups – consisting of Islamists, liberals, and nationalists – have called for another gathering in al-Erada Square in front of the National Assembly building in Kuwait City on November 11, marking the 50th anniversary of the country’s constitution.”

“The right to peaceful assembly is enshrined in the constitution Kuwaitis will be celebrating,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Authorities should lift the ban and permit people to express their views.”

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