HUMAN WRONGS WATCH

Human Wrongs Watch

By Rev. Olufemi Oluniyi*

23 November 2015 (TRANSCEND Media Service) – Boko Haram, the terrorist Islamic organisation crashed into the Nigerian national stage with fury (2002), fire (2007) and firestorm (2009).

**Map of the maximum extend of Boko Haram’s territorial control in West Africa’s Lake Chad region, in mid-January 2015. After the Lake Chad African nations joined together in a Coalition to defeat Boko Haram, Boko Haram lost most of its territory by March 2015. On March 7, 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIL, becoming ISIL’s West African province of Wilāyat al Sūdān al Gharbī.| Author: 햄방이 | Source: Wikimedia Commons

The word Boko, a Hausa adulteration of the English word “book,” and haram, the Hausa word for forbidden, together mean aversion to Western education.

Human Wrongs Watch

By Busani Bafana*

This is a potential sales pitch to Africa’s “youth dividend” to make a living from agriculture, considered a less attractive sector for a career but the mainstay of a number of economies on the continent.

Agriculture is keeping more than 1.1 billion Africans fed but those who produce the food are not young, well resourced, and technologically savvy or with the convincing image to boot. There is growing concern that family farming may fail to keep food on Africa’s tables for long.

Human Wrongs Watch

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 24 November 2015 warned Balkan States that border restrictions based on a refugee’s or migrant’s nationality infringed human rights, with the United Nations refugee agency reporting that 1,000 people are already stranded, 60 of them on hunger strike and 11 reportedly stitching up their mouths in protest.

Syrian refugee Mohamed, his wife Fatima and their two babies wait in Serbia to cross into Croatia. Photo: UNHCR/Mark Henley

Human Wrongs Watch

By Mario Osava*

RIO DE JANEIRO, 24 November 2015 (IPS) – Different degrees of economic problems are a common denominator in South American countries where governments that identify as leftist may start to fall, in a shift that began in Argentina and could continue among its neighbors to the north.

In the near future it will become clear whether the triumph of Mauricio Macri, to become president of Argentina on Dec. 10, marked the start of a new era in South America, with the emergence of conservative governments in a scenario where leaders identified as left-wing have been predominant so far this century. Credit: Mauricio Macri | Source: IPS

“It is not possible yet to say whether this is the end of a cycle, because the reasons for it are still very present…but there is a very complex crisis affecting the governments that I call ‘distributionist’, which are facing difficulties, especially in Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela,” Professor Tullo Vigevani of the São Paulo State University told IPS.

Human Wrongs Watch

JERUSALEM, 23 November 2015 (IRIN)* – Faten Ghosheh, a 33-year-old Palestinian mother of five, stands on the roof of her partially demolished home in Jerusalem’s Old City, the Al-Aqsa Mosque visible behind her.

**Photo: May Guarnieri/IRIN | The view of Al-Aqsa from the Ghosheh’s Old City home

She recalls the moment five years ago when Israeli forces arrived at 5am to tear down the two rooms and bathroom that her husband had built with their life savings of 700,000 shekels ($180,000).

To avoid the fine that the Jerusalem municipality would charge for the demolition, the Ghoshehs called on the men in their family to come and tear down the walls.

Human Wrongs Watch

Posted by Antonio C. S. Rosa, Editor – TRANSCEND Media Service – 23 November 2015*

15 November 2015

The Barcelona Declaration – Refugees: Meeting the Challenge to Our Humanity

We, the Nobel Peace Laureates and Peace Organisations, in the presence of youth from all over the world, gathered together in Barcelona from 12 – 15 November 2015, have considered issues affecting world peace – with special emphasis on the current refugee and migration crisis.

We are profoundly shocked and outraged by the barbaric killing of more than 150 innocent people in Paris on the evening of 13 November. We express our deepest sympathy and solidarity with the families of the victims and with the people of France.

This outrageous attack stresses the urgent need to address the root causes of the current refugee crisis and insecurity in the world. This situation should not be abused to demonise refugees and the Muslim community.

Human Wrongs Watch

By Catherine Shakdam*

**Entrance to the Bourj el-Barajneh refugee camp in southern Beirut. | Author: Al Jazeera English | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. | Wikimedia Commons

Human Wrongs Watch

As last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut continue to reverberate round the world with calls to restrict refugee and migrant movement in the name of security, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 20 November 2015 warned against “misplaced suspicions” about refugees and migrants, especially Muslims, who can help fight violent extremism.

A group of Afghans arrive on the island of Lesbos after travelling in an inflatable raft from Turkey to Greece. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants used the dangerous sea route across the Mediterranean in 2015. Photo: UNHCR/A. McConnell