· August, 2008

Stories about Human Rights from August, 2008

Thailand: People’s coup or putsch?

Since Tuesday, anti-government protesters have invaded Thailand’s Government House demanding the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. The rallyists, estimated to be as low as 3,000 to as high as 25,000, are members of the People's Alliance for Democracy

30 August 2008

Saudi Arabia: Independent women

While there are no doubt restrictions for women living in Saudi Arabia, they do not necessarily match the oppressive image that many foreigners have of the country. In this post we have advice for women wanting to visit Jeddah alone, a review of a women-only hotel in Riyadh, and a plea to those foreigners who feel they want to speak on behalf of oppressed Saudi women.

29 August 2008

Afghanistan: Child Sexual Abuse

Azar Balkhi says that child sexual abuse is becoming a disturbing widespread reality in Afghanistan, where traditionally the victim is the one to take the punishment, not the rapist.

29 August 2008

Russia: Anti-War Music

LJ user marchenk posts a collection of links (RUS) to videos of various anti-war songs in Russian, French, English, Italian, German, Hebrew, Serbian, Spanish, Polish, Arabic and other languages.

28 August 2008

Haiti: Homes Being Destroyed

“Cite Soleil, a shanty town in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is under siege by the UN occupying forces”: The Haitian Blogger publishes a statement by the Haitian Lawyers Leadership “condemning the wholesale...

28 August 2008

Venezuela: Yukpa Indians, Chávez and land disputes

Citizen media videos have been uploaded informing of the situation arising in Venezuela between the Yukpa Indians of the Perijá Mountains, landowners and President Chávez. This dispute over land limits is 30 years in the making, when military forces displaced the Indigenous communities of the Yukpa by force and established landowners who have cattle ranches and have been working the lands ever since.

28 August 2008

South Korea: Sex Offender Bracelet

Korea Beat translated a local news about the implementation of sex offender bracelets policy: beginning on September 1st the bracelets will be able to report the movements of sex offenders...

28 August 2008

Georgia, Russia: Interethnic Relationships

Tbilisi-based LJ user shupaka and Russian war journalist Vadim Rechkalov (LJ user voinodel) share stories about interethnic relationships in Georgia and North Ossetia, Russia, in the time of conflict between the two countries.

28 August 2008

Brazil: The rice war on indigenous land

Brazil's Supreme Court decides today about the future of Raposa Serra do Sol's Indigenous land. Observatório da Imprensa [Press Observatory, pt] have published two texts about the media coverage of...

27 August 2008

Saudi Arabia: Off the road

Desert Flower, an American Muslim living in Saudi Arabia, is tired of not being permitted to drive: ‘…it gets down right stupid when you have to schedule an appointment to...

27 August 2008

Lebanon: Maid is Lebanese for Slave

How are some housemaids or domestic helpers being treated in Lebanon? Nash Suleiman sums up the reactions of Lebanese bloggers to this tragedy, following the release of a report on the situation by Human Rights Watch.

27 August 2008

Cuba: Punk Rocker Arrested

As several bloggers voice their outrage at the arrest of Cuban punk rocker Gorki Aguila, Havana-based Generation Y claims: “They took him because nothing destabilizes the intransigents more than a...

27 August 2008