Archive for September 30th, 2015

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30/09/2015

Colombia on ‘Final Path’ to End 50-year Conflict, President Santos Tells UN

Human Wrongs Watch

President Juan Manuel Santos on 30 September 2015 told the United Nations General Assembly that Colombia’s 50-year conflict is coming to an end, following the latest advances in the three-year peace process between the Government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels.

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nternally displaced children, victims of conflict in Colombia. UN Photo/Mark Garten

Internally displaced children, victims of conflict in Colombia. UN Photo/Mark Garten

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Colombia had put an end to the longest armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere.

“Using courage and responsibility,” Colombia he said, was bringing an end to more than 50 years of internal warfare.

“Peace is a difficult path, but not an impossible one, and [we] are dedicated to it. Peace “requires that every person inside opens their mind, heart and soul to reconciliation,” he added.

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Posted in Latin America & Caribbean, Mother Earth, The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

30/09/2015

The Ministry of Fear

Human Wrongs Watch

By Uri Avnery*

29 September 2015

“WE HAVE nothing to fear but fear itself,” said President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was wrong.

Uri Avnery

Uri Avnery

Fear is a necessary condition for human survival. Most animals in nature possess it. It helps them to respond to dangers and evade or fight them. Human beings survive because they are fearful.

Fear is both individual and collective. Since its earliest days, the human race has lived in collectives. This is both a necessary and a desired condition.

Early humans lived in tribes. The tribe defended their territory against all “strangers” – neighboring tribes – in order to safeguard their food supply and security. Fear was one of the uniting factors.

Belonging to one’s tribe (which after many evolutions became a modern nation) is also a profound psychological need. It, too, is connected with fear – fear of other tribes, fear of other nations.

But fear can grow and become a monster.

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Posted in Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

30/09/2015

US, China, Israel, India, N. Korea, Iran, Egypt and Pakistan Delay Banning Nuclear Testing

Human Wrongs Watch

Lamenting the fact that nearly two decades after its negotiation the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) has still not entered into force, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 29 September 2015 urged world leaders gathered at the United Nations to demonstrate the necessary political will to usher in a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Atmospheric nuclear test conducted by the United States on 18 April 1953 at the Nevada Test Site. Photo: US Government | Source: UN News Centre

“A breakthrough is long overdue,” Ban said at a conference on facilitating the entry into force of the CTBT, held on the margins of the General Assembly’s high-level debate.*

“I welcome all the Treaty’s steadfast supporters here. I am also pleased to see representatives from States that have not yet either signed or ratified the Treaty. I count on you to do so quickly.”

Posted in Market Lords, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

30/09/2015

Human Rights Missing from Social Justice Activism

By Sara Burke*

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30 September 2015 (openDemocracy)* – Whether human rights will help us get social justice is on the minds of activists. But is it on the agendas of human rights institutions?
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**An artist's depiction of a prototypical angry mob protesting with the threat of violence | Four men, perhaps farmers, make angry gestures while holding an axe, rifle, pitchfork and stick. They typify the traditional Western concept of an angry rural mob protesting something with the threat of violence. | Author: Robert Couse-Baker | Source: Flickr: angry mob | Wikipedia Commons

**An artist’s depiction of a prototypical angry mob protesting with the threat of violence | Four men, perhaps farmers, make angry gestures while holding an axe, rifle, pitchfork and stick. They typify the traditional Western concept of an angry rural mob protesting something with the threat of violence. | Author: Robert Couse-Baker | Flickr: angry mob | Wikipedia Commons

In recent years the world has been shaken by protests demanding real democracy and justice for socioeconomic grievances.

Research (in which I was involved) shows that between 2006-2013—and encompassing a wide spectrum of governments—protests against antisocial economic policies and for meaningful democracy topped the findings (See Figure 1).

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30/09/2015

Gandhi Jayanti, Gandhi’s Dream

Human Wrongs Watch

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By Robert J. Burrowes*

30 September 2015

On behalf of those of us who struggle to honor Gandhi’s legacy to the world, I would like to wish Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi ‘happy birthday!’ Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 and had he defied both the assassin’s bullet and the aging process, he would have been 146 years old this year.

**Photo: Mohandas K. Gandhi | Author: Unknown| public domain in India | public domain in US | Source: http://flickr.com/photos/55638925@N00/255569844/ | Wikimedia Commons.

**Mohandas K. Gandhi | Author: Unknown| public domain in India | public domain in US | Wikimedia Commons.

In theory, the world celebrates 2 October as the International Day of Nonviolence but it is a day that few remember or commemorate meaningfully.

Perhaps this is appropriate given the rather desultory progress we have made in making our world nonviolent.

Still, while our scorecard might not be what Gandhi would have hoped nearly 68 years after his death, a number of people are making a committed effort to create this nonviolent world.

This effort, by its nature, must be multifaceted. Much of it is mundane; some of it profound. Let me tell you about some of these efforts by people I find pretty inspiring.

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Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

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