The Martin Ennals Award 2009 goes to Emad Baghi, Human Rights Defender from Iran(…)
Baghi, a leading Iranian human rights defender based in Tehran. He founded the Society for the Defense of Prisoners' Rights, and has been a vigorous and outspoken opponent of the death penalty in Iran. His campaigning includes a scholarly examination of Islamic law (shari`a) on the subject, in which he demonstrates the absence of any doctrinal requirement for maintaining capital punishment. In addition, Baghi's inventory of death row prisoners in Iran, including juvenile offenders, has been an important resource for UN human rights bodies as well as human rights groups outside the country. Baghi has spent four years in prison over the past decade for his campaigning against the death penalty and other rights activities. Currently out of jail, he still faces charges relating to his work for the defense of prisoners rights. Baghi suffers from serious heart and kidney ailments; in August 2008 prison physicians declared his condition critical. The Chairman of the Jury of the MEA, Hans Thoolen, describes the laureate as “an exceptionally brave man defending human rights despite imprisonment and poor health”.
The Ceremony of the Martin Ennals Award will take place in Geneva in November 2009 (...)
The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) - the main award of the human rights movement - is a unique collaboration among ten of the world’s leading human rights organizations to give protection to human rights defenders worldwide. The Jury is composed of the following NGOs: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, International Federation for Human Rights, World Organisation Against Torture, Front Line, International Commission of Jurists, German Diakonie, International Service for Human Rights and HURIDOCS.
Cinque anni dopo l’approvazione della legge che riformava il codice di famiglia – la cosiddetta “Moudawana” – in Marocco è tempo di fare un bilancio sui progressi da essa apportati e sui problemi che questa legge non è riuscita a superare, in un paese ancora in bilico fra tradizione e modernità. (...)
The Advocates for Human Rights present their newest curriculum, The Road to Peace: A Teaching Guide on Local and Global Transitional Justice, a powerful tool for introducing audiences to the concepts of conflict resolution and peace-building. According to Jerome Verdier, Chairman of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, this teaching guide serves an important role in promoting peace: “It is essential to sustaining global peace and justice that our children are taught the consequences of violent conflicts, the values of tolerance and securing a future free of violence.” The teaching guide addresses conflict resolution and restoration of justice in the aftermath of war, emphasizing the processes that countries coming out of conflict undertake to seek resolution, address past human rights abuses, reform their societies, and heal from violence. It challenges students to apply these methodologies to transform conflict in their own lives and stop the cycle of violence.
The Road to Peace provides educators with ten creative, thought-provoking and innovative lessons plans that help students explore these topics. Here are a few examples of what can be found inside the teaching guide:
- Lessons on the root causes of war and conflict - An overview of human rights and different transitional justice mechanisms - Mock war crimes tribunal and mock truth commission role plays - In-depth country case studies - Individual case studies on human rights abuses - Investigative tools to study the need for transitional justice in the U.S. - Skill-building resources on how to apply reconciliation on a local level - Conflict resolution and peer mediation exercises - A transitional justice glossary - Resources for further study and action on peace and justice
We hope this teaching guide will inspire and empower students to promote peace and justice in their own communities and around the world.
[Dal sito del quotidiano "La Repubblica" riprendiamo la versione integrale dell'articolo di Roberto Saviano uscito il 13 maggio 2009 col titolo "Il coraggio dimenticato"]
Chi racconta che l'arrivo dei migranti sui barconi porta valanghe di criminali, chi racconta che incrementa violenza e degrado, sta dimenticando forse due episodi recentissimi ed estremamente significativi, che sono entrati nella storia della nostra Repubblica. Le due piu' importanti rivolte spontanee contro le mafie, in Italia, non sono partite da italiani ma da africani. In dieci anni e' successo soltanto due volte che vi fossero, sull'onda dello sdegno e della fine della sopportazione, manifestazioni di piazza non organizzate da associazioni, sindacati, senza pullman e partiti. Manifestazioni spontanee. E sono stati africani a farle. Chi ha urlato: "Ora basta" ai capizona, ai clan, alle famiglie sono stati africani. (...)
Le autorità birmane hanno incriminato Aung San Suu Kyi per violazione degli obblighi legati agli arresti domiciliari. La leader dell’opposizione, ex premio Nobel per la Pace, e nemica giurata dei militari che governano Myanmar, è stata già trasportata nel penitenziario di Insein a Rangoon dove dovrà affrontare il processo che si aprirà lunedì 18 maggio 2009. (...)
United Nations Forum to seek further implementation of Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) will meet in at UN Headquarters in New York from 18 to 29 May 2009 to discuss ways to further implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which gained momentum last month when Australia officially endorsed the Declaration after previously having voted against it.
Some 2,000 indigenous representatives from all regions of the world are expected to participate in the eighth session of the Forum, as well as State representatives, civil society, academia, some 35 UN system bodies and other inter-governmental organizations.
The Forum will also discuss the relationship between indigenous peoples and industrial corporations, and the need to promote corporate social responsibility. A report submitted to the Forum notes that extractive industries, such as mineral, oil and gas extraction, disproportionately impact indigenous peoples. Other issues on the Forum’s agenda include climate change, the Arctic region and land tenure.(...)
