human rights

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Poland OKs Chemical Castration for Pedophiles

Controversial new law also covers incest

(Newser) - A new law in Poland will require convicted pedophiles or those who rape family members to undergo chemical castration when their prison term is up. Human rights groups immediately raised objections, but Poland's prime minister isn't budging—he says the criminals in these cases don't qualify as "human,"...

US to Engage Burmese Junta
 US to Engage Burmese Junta 
Sep 24, 2009 6:09 AM CDT

US to Engage Burmese Junta

Clinton announces change in policy, says sanctions will remain

(Newser) - The US will directly engage with Burma's military leadership in addition to its current sanctions, Hillary Clinton said yesterday. The secretary of State acknowledged that sanctions alone had failed to change "the lack of democracy in Burma and the authorities’ abysmal record on human rights," and it was...

Spain Nabs Alleged Pilot in 'Dirty War'

Charged in 'death flights' that dumped Argentines into sea

(Newser) - Spanish police have arrested a commercial pilot they say flew "death flights" that dumped political malcontents into the sea for Argentina's junta during the Dirty War, the BBC reports. Julio Alberto Poch was nabbed in Valencia as he was preparing to fly a Transavia passenger plane to Amsterdam....

Yemen Right-Wingers Blocked Push to End Child Marriages

Conservatives claimed introducing minimum marriage age was un-Islamic

(Newser) - Conservative lawmakers in Yemen, where a 12-year-old girl died giving birth to her husband's child last week, shot down an attempt to set the minimum marriage age at 17 earlier this year, CNN reports. The lawmakers kept the bill from reaching the country's president by arguing that it violated Islamic...

Yemeni Child Bride, 12, Dies in Childbirth

Girl forced to marry 24-year-old dies after three days in labor

(Newser) - A pregnant 12-year-old Yemeni girl has died after three days of excruciating labor that also claimed her baby, a human rights group tells CNN. Fawziya Ammodi's poverty-stricken family forced her to drop out of school last year to marry a 24-year-old man. More than half of Yemeni girls are married...

Cuban Activists Rally Around Drunken YouTube Ranter

Man thrown in prison for video plea for food

(Newser) - Cuban activists have found an unlikely cause celebré in the case of Juan Carlos González Marcos, who was sent to prison last month for drunkenly interrupting a shoot for a video about reggaeton with a rant about hunger. González was drinking, as he often did, at his neighborhood...

Pentagon Tells Red Cross Who's in Secret Prisons

Military grants group access to prisoners

(Newser) - After years of refusing the Red Cross information about terror suspects held in two secret camps in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has quietly reversed course, the New York Times reports. The military has begun providing the identities of prisoners at the sites in Balad, Iraq, and Bagram, Afghanstan. Under...

Obama Defends Mexico's Drug War

Cartels are the biggest violators of human rights, president says

(Newser) - President Obama expressed his support for Mexico’s war on drug cartels after today's North American summit, the New York Times reports. Obama defended Felipe Calderón—who some criticize for not holding the Mexican army accountable for reported human rights abuses against the drug traders—saying that the ruthless...

Mexico Drug Aid Delayed Over Rights Concerns

(Newser) - More than $100 million in anti-narcotics aid to Mexico has been delayed because of alleged human rights abuses in the country's war with drug cartels, the Washington Post reports. Sen. Patrick Leahy, chair of a subcommittee that oversees foreign aid spending, blocked plans to release a favorable State Department report...

Judge Orders Gitmo Detainee Returned to Afghanistan

But Mohammed Jawad may still face conventional prosecution

(Newser) - A Guantanamo Bay inmate may be released to Afghanistan next month after successfully challenging his detention under habeas corpus, the Washington Post reports. US District Judge Ellen Huvelle ordered Mohammed Jawad’s release based on the dodgy evidence against him—mainly, a confession allegedly obtained by threatening to kill Jawad...

Putin, Chechnya Silence Yet Another Voice

(Newser) - The kidnapping and murder of activist Natalya Estemirova in Chechnya was horrific, her friend writes in a Washington Post op-ed, but not surprising in the "grossly misruled" region where "anyone who challenges the authorities risks her life." Tanya Loshkina, a director of Human Rights Watch, had...

Chechen Activist Murdered; Prez Eyed

(Newser) - A human rights activist whose probes into abuse by authorities were a constant irritation to authorities has been kidnapped and murdered in Chechnya, the Wall Street Journal reports. Natalya Estemirova was found shot dead along a roadside hours after witnesses saw her being bundled into a car. Chechnya's president, pro-Russia...

US Quashed Inquiry Into 2001 Afghan Mass Murder

(Newser) - The Bush administration stonewalled human rights organizations and branches of the US government that sought an investigation into the alleged mass murder of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan in 2001, the New York Times reports. As many as 1,500 people may have died in the incident, under the command of...

Mexican Army Slammed for Drug War Torture

US holds up aid until Mexico can 'pass' human rights investigation

(Newser) - A growing body of evidence points to widespread human rights abuses by the Mexican military in its battle against drug cartels, the Washington Post reports. Human rights groups say the army has responded to the traffickers' brutal tactics with equal brutality, carrying out deadly campaigns of "disappearances," forced...

Shell Settles Nigeria Case for $15.5M

Saro-Wiwa settlement is milestone for international law

(Newser) - Royal Dutch Shell agreed to settle a lawsuit over the 1995 deaths of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Nigerians for $15.5 million, reports the Financial Times. Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists against petroleum exploitation were executed by the Nigerian military government, allegedly at the behest of the oil giant. In...

Spain's Human Rights Probes Spark Backlash

(Newser) - Judges in Spain are pressing human rights cases against top officials around the world, prompting threats abroad and criticisms at home, the Washington Post reports. Invoking so-called universal jurisdiction, judges are probing 16 cases, including US approval of torture and Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. But nervous Spanish lawmakers...

Pelosi Won't Slap China on Human Rights

Long critical of Beijing, speaker will focus on environment in visit

(Newser) - Like Hillary Clinton before her, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will sidestep Beijing's human rights record on her weeklong trip to China that began today, reports the Washington Post. Pelosi, who has been a vocal critic of the Tiananmen Square massacre and Chinese policies on Tibet, says the focus of her...

Obama Meets With Human- Rights Leaders

Under fire for recent moves, holds 'probing' pre-speech discussion

(Newser) - Dogged by criticism over recent decisions, President Obama invited a crew of human-rights and civil-liberties leaders and academics to discuss Guantanamo, tribunals, and transparency ahead of today’s speech on similar themes, the Huffington Post reports. Obama said he was unhappy with Congress’ denial of funds to close Gitmo and...

Brit Families Can Sue Over Soldier Deaths

Court: Troops protected by human rights law, even on battlefield

(Newser) - A British court has ruled that defense heads can be sued for neglecting soldiers’ human rights—meaning decisions made on the battlefield could be subject to litigation, the Times of London reports. The ruling stemmed from an inquest into the heatstroke death of a soldier due to what the coroner...

US Lands Seat on UN Human Rights Council

Bush White House had boycotted body over Israel, Darfur stances

(Newser) - The US today won a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for the first time, along with four countries accused of serious human rights violations: Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia. President Bush's administration had boycotted the council over its repeated criticism of Israel and its refusal to cite...

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