Archive for category: Human Rights

Information and stories about human rights.

Red Notice Abuse

Red Notice
Interpol was founded as a means to coordinate law enforcement agencies, allowing for the international pursuit of criminals, thwarting the wild-west cliché of outlaws crossing the border and escaping justice. The notice system is the primary tool of that coordination. While each category of notice has its own color code and significance, Red Notices are by far the most famous. Akin to an old-school wanted posters, Red Notices serve as a request from one member country to another asking for the location, arrest and, ultimately, extradition of a wanted individual.

Bill Browder Case

This system provides a valuable service to the whole world. However, it has come under the criticism for the way in which repressive governments have been able to use it to target political refugees. Labeling peaceful protestors, journalists and dissidents as criminals and tricking law enforcement into extraditing them to suffer sham trials and grim fates. Nations like Russia, Turkey and China have been able to do this virtually free of consequence.

The name Bill Browder has become synonymous with Red Notice abuse. Mr. Browder is a prominent critic of Russia, having been instrumental in the creation of the global Magnitsky Act, named after Browder’s lawyer who was murdered after exposing corruption in the Russian government. As recently as May 2018, while giving a talk in Madrid, Browder was arrested by Spanish authorities. Two hours later, after the intervention of Interpol’s General Secretary, Browder was a free man. By his count, “this is the 6th time that Russia has abused Interpol in his case.”

Other Specific Red Notice Cases

While Mr. Browder’s case has received international attention, many others never caught public attention. Baran Kimyongür, a Turkish activist, interrupted an exchange between the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee and the Turkish foreign minister in 2000. Later, the Turkish government gave a Red Notice for him, holding this act as proof of his connection to a terrorist organization. Kimyongür has been arrested three times by the authorities in Netherlands, Spain and Italy. Each government refused to extradite him due to the lack of any proof as well as the human right to self-expression.

Another hidden tragedy is that of Dolkun Isa, a renowned activist and member of the World Uyghur Congress. After fleeing China, now living as a German citizen, Mr. Isa has been subject to a Chinese Red Notice abuse since 2003. The resulting travel restrictions have hobbled his advocacy work to promote Uyghur self-determination. This and many other cases have been collected in a report published by the Council of Europe, an official U.N. observer.

Massive Increase in Red Notices

Each Notice is supposed to be reviewed before publication. Yet, stories like these illustrate the shortcomings of that process. The number of Notices has almost tripled over the past decade, growing from 5,020 to 13,048 by the time of the 2017 Annual report. With such a dramatic shift in volume, the potential for missteps and need for reform come into greater focus.

Each Interpol officer serves as a representative of his home government. Now, after the surprise resignation of Meng Hongwei, the recent election of Kim Jong Yang gives this organization a sorely needed opportunity to improve on the reforms made in 2016 and the organizations’ desire to create safer and more transparent processes.

– John Glade

Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Failed States

Failed statesA country is considered a ‘failed state’ when it cannot control its territory and population as well as when fails to secure its borders. A failed state has barely functioning executive, legislative and judicial institutions, which in turn, breeds corruption since the honest economic activity is not rewarded by the state. Here are 10 facts about failed states.

10 Facts About Failed States

  1. Throughout history, civil wars, ethnic cleansing and human rights violations have led to states losing the capacity to regulate and control themselves. When a state loses the capacity to implement policies throughout the country, when it cannot establish public order and equity, and when the government cannot assure the independence of institutions, instability and insecurity reign.

  2. North Korea is often called the ‘hermit kingdom’ due to its isolated nature. The country frequently receives low scores on its legitimacy of state. Aid organizations estimate that around 2 million people have died from food shortages since the mid-1990s. Part of this can be traced back to the economic institutions that prohibit people from owning property as the state collectively owns most land and capital.

  3. Another sign of a faile state is forced labor. In Uzbekistan, students are forced to pick cotton, one of Uzbekistan’s biggest exports. In September, while teachers are relegated to the role of labor recruiters. The children are given quotas of between 20 and 60 kilograms, which varies according to their age. Thus, the children are unable to break out of the cycle of poverty due to their lack of learning.

  4. Syria can be considered a failed state as it is experiencing a civil war that has claimed 100,000 lives and has no end in sight. The country receives an extremely low score for security apparatus, according to Foreign Policy magazine’s annual metric data.

  5. Egypt’s elite is monopolizing the economy to block the entry of new competitors. Under Hosni Mubarak, the military and government own large portions of the economy. According to some estimates, they collectively own up to 40 percent. Even after liberalization, the economy was privatized into the hands of Mubarak’s friends and sons’ companies. Big businesses put a stranglehold on the economy while Mubarak’s family accumulated an estimated $70 billion fortune.

  6. In most failed states, it is typical for the regime and its leaders to prey on its constituents. The regime tends to be motivated by ethnic or intercommunal hostility or even the insecurities of the elite, which lead to the victimization of their citizens or a subset demographic which is deemed ‘hostile.’ This is the case in Mobutu Seke Soso’s Zaire, where the ruling elite oppress and extort the majority of citizens while expressing preferential treatment for a specific sect or clan.

  7. Failed states can often be identified by weak infrastructure. As the rulers or ruling class becomes more and more corrupt, there are often fewer capital resources available for road crews, equipment and raw materials. For example, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, refurbishing navigational aids along aerial waterways was not prioritized.

  8. In order to have a successful economy, a country must have a strong, centralized nation-state. Without this, it becomes exceedingly difficult to provide law and order as mechanisms to solve disputes and provide basic public goods. Somalia exemplifies this failure to exercise control over territories beyond its capital. This can be attributed to the traditional social structure in Somalia where clans made decisions according to the adult males as opposed to adhering to a central authority figure. This persisted in the colonial era and into the modern day with Mohammed Siad Barre’s dictatorship failing to change it.

  9. An economy based on extreme extraction breeds political instability as it incentivizes the non-elites to depose the ruling class and take over. In Sierra Leone, Siaka Stevens and his All People’s Congress (APC) party ran the country from 1967 to 1985 as a dictatorship until he handed control to his protege Joseph Momoh. This invited would-be strongmen such as Foday Sankoh to plunge the country into a vicious civil war in 1991. He was only interested in power in order to steal diamonds. The government revenue went from 15 percent of national income to essentially zero in 1991.

  10. Corruption flourishes on a governmental, nationwide level. Examples include benefitting from anything that can be put to fake tender (medical supplies, bridges, roads, textbooks), wasteful construction projects and licenses for non-existent activities. The corrupt ruling elites mostly invest their ill-gotten money overseas, which worsens the economic situation domestically. Military officers too are guilty of profiting off these corrupt regimes.

In an earlier era where the world was less connected and globalized, it might have been possible to isolate the effects of a failed state from the others. However, in the connected state of today’s global economy and political system, the failures of one state poses grave threats to the security of others. These 10 facts about failed states shed a little more light on sign to look out for when identifying states that have failed or are going in that direction.

– Maneesha Khalae

Photo: Flickr

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Human Rights in Vietnam

Human Rights in Vietnam
The state of human rights in Vietnam is dire and has hit an all-time low level in 2017. Activism, religious diversity, political variance and even integrity within the judicial and police systems are almost non-existent. Vietnam has seen backlash for its controversial and rigid ways from the U.S. and other Western countries, but the country continues to ignore it and even fights opposition to their government in favor of preserving the authority of the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party.

Vietnamese Political Situation

The Vietnamese Communist Party is the sole state of leadership in Vietnam and has been in this position since 1980. The 1992 constitution, however, delegated more authority to the president and to the cabinet. The party, nevertheless, maintained responsibility for overall policy decisions. Challenges to the Vietnamese Communist Party are not tolerated, and often end in incarceration.

In fact, Vietnam actually prohibits the establishment or operation of independent political parties, labor unions and human rights organizations. Approval from Vietnamese authorities is needed for public gatherings. These authorities can refuse permission for meetings, marches, or public assemblies they believe to be politically unacceptable.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of State did a report on human rights in Vietnam and deemed the country to be “neither free nor fair” and claimed a large contributing factor for this state was the corruption of the judicial and police systems. The report stated that the Vietnamese judicial system was inefficient and experienced political influence and endemic corruption. Moreover, there were multiple cases of police brutality in both arrests and later detention, denial to a fair trial, ambiguity in arrests, and inhumane prison conditions. A government official from Vietnam fired back at the report stating that Vietnam supports human rights but opposes initiatives by outside nations interfering in internal affairs.

Reports on the Current Situation

The Vietnamese government has proven to be untrustworthy in their claims about human rights in Vietnam as well. The Vietnamese government has continuously claimed, since 2010, that there are no political prisoners in Vietnam. Yet as of April 2018, there have already been approximately 97 prisoners of conscience in the country.

In 2012, the U.N. ran their own human rights report on Vietnam and the results were increasingly positive, relative to the U.S. report in 2010. Though, the report still urged the government to implement major human rights treaties, like the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment which is an international human rights treaty meant to prevent all acts of cruel and inhuman treatment across the world.

Yet, despite this relatively positive report, human rights in Vietnam took a decline in 2017. The Human Rights Watch reported at least 36 cases of violence against activist from January to April 2017. Moreover, the Human Rights Watch found that the judicial system was still very much under the control of the government and that it has failed to meet international standards.

In Vietnam, people who suffer from a drug dependency, including children, are sent to governmental detention centers where they are forced to do menial work or “labor therapy.” It was reported by state media that during the first six months of 2017, about 3,168 people were sent to centers in Ho Chi Minh City. It was also found that those that are most at risk of violent treatment in these centers are children, women and ethnic minorities which goes directly against the Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment treaty the U.N. urged Vietnam to implement back in 2012.

There are organizations who are actively attempting to intervene in the high number of arrests being made by law officials of The Vietnamese Communist Party, and who are also fighting for the improvement of Human Rights conditions in Vietnam.

Organizations Involved in improving Human Rights in Vietnam

Organizations like the Human Rights Watch and the International Federation For Human Rights (FIDH) have urgently been asking for donations and letters to intercede the Human Rights violations being made in Vietnam. Moreover, there has been an increase in the number of activists for Human Rights, within Vietnam, in the last decade.

However, Vietnamese activists have to remain relatively quiet in their effort to bring these violations to the attention of the rest of the world due to the high probability of being arrested. Since 2014, there have been a little over 160 human rights activists that have been jailed in Vietnam, and this number continues to rise.

Thus, it remains to be seen if the conditions of Human Rights in Vietnam will improve in the coming years, but with the high number of arrests already in 2018, the outlook does not look so bad. The government has to change it’s attitude towards this issue if the country plans to grow in this aspect.

– Isabella Agostini
Photo: Flickr

 

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5 Facts About the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women

Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women
People often think of slavery as a thing of the past. They think of cotton plantations and the transatlantic slave trade, the Abolitionist movement and the Civil War. Yet, slavery remains present all over the world today in the form of human trafficking. In 2016, more than 40 million people were victims of human trafficking. Of this number, 25 percent were children and 75 percent were women or girls. These people are subjected to inhumane conditions, forced labor and sexual exploitation. Many organizations and movements are fighting to end this modern slavery. The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) is one of those organizations.

5 Things to Know about the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women

  1. The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women is a group of more than 100 non-governmental organizations from countries all over the world that promotes human rights and fights human trafficking, specifically trafficking of women and girls, as they account for a great majority of human trafficking victims.
  2. The network was founded in 1994 at an international conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand, by a group of women mainly from the Global South, many of whom had personally experienced migration, displacement and/or trafficking. The alliance, now based in Bangkok, revolutionized the way human trafficking is perceived as it was one of the first entities to apply a human-rights approach to the issue. This involves recognizing that human trafficking is both a “consequence and cause of human rights violations” and emphasizing the need to protect victims’ rights.
  3. Member organizations include anti-trafficking groups as well as human rights, women’s rights and migrants’ rights organizations from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Though member organizations work independently, they must adhere to the GAATW’s basic principles and abide the certain conditions. Collaboration among members is crucial to the network’s success and is coordinated by the International Secretariat.
  4. Every three years the GAATW’s member organizations and other relevant actors meet at an International Members Congress and Conference, where the network’s strategy to fight the trafficking is refined and updated. The alliance’s strategy has three central themes: increasing accountability of different actors to implement anti-trafficking plans, access to justice and the protection of victims’ human rights and power in migration and work, which involves analyzing how labor and migration policies affect women and empowering women in these areas.
  5. Raising awareness of human trafficking, conducting research and advocating for victims’ rights are a central part of GAATW’s operations. In 2012, the GAATW began publishing the Anti-Trafficking Review, the first peer-reviewed open-access journal centered on human trafficking. Through these processes, the Global Alliance in Traffic Against Women has made remarkable progress. The GAATW helped establish an internationally recognized definition of trafficking. It also created the Human Rights Standard for the Treatment of Trafficked Persons, a system of standards that are used around the world to protect the rights of those who have been trafficked.

Human trafficking is modern slavery and represents a severe violation of people’s rights. The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women is an incredible network that is raising awareness of this problem and pushing governments and other parties to do more to end it. As history has taught us, eliminating any form of slavery is a long and difficult process, but with the GAATW and many other important organizations working tirelessly, ending human trafficking is achievable.

– Laura Turner
Photo: Flickr

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Top 10 Facts About Human Rights in Syria

Top 10 Facts About Human Rights in Syria
On the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and surrounded by Muslim, Jewish, and Christian nations, Syria has long been at the crossroads of Middle Eastern and Western commerce and culture.

In March 2011, during the Arab Spring, pro-democracy protests erupted in the city of Deraa. The unrest triggered nationwide protests demanding the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. The government attempted to crush the dissent with force, but merely fueled protesters’ resolve. As the conflict escalated, more pro-government and rebel factions have emerged and a number of outside parties, including Lebanon, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, the U.S., the U.K. and France involved themselves as well.

Throughout this conflict, innumerable Syrians have suffered. Human rights abuses have been perpetrated on all sides. This article will discuss the top 10 facts about human rights in Syria that are mostly related to the current situation and the war in the country.

Top 10 Facts About Human Rights

  1. The Syrian government has launched numerous airstrikes on civilians in opposition-held areas. With support from Iran and Russia, Syria’s government has conducted attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure. At the end of 2016, in their operation to regain rebel-held land in Aleppo, the Russian-Syrian military coalition conducted airstrikes on serval medical facilities, killing 446 civilians, including 91 children.
  2. The government has employed starvation as a war tactic and has unlawfully restricted access for humanitarian aid. The U.N. estimated that around 540,000 persons were trapped in besieged areas as of June 2017. The deteriorating humanitarian conditions have forced residents into surrendering to brokered ceasefires and evacuation deals with the government. The U.N. Commission of Inquiry and Amnesty International found that some of these evacuations were unlawful.
  3. Hay’et Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), the dominant rebel group in Idlib province, continues to commit human right violations. In response to civilian protests in Idlib province, HTS group members shot at protestors, killing and injuring civilians. HTS has also interfered with humanitarian aid delivery in the province and targeted religious minorities with car bombings. In March 2017, HTS took responsibility for two explosions in the Bab al-Saghir cemetery. The attacks killed 44 civilians and injured 120.
  4. Airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS increased. A local group, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, reported 2,286 civilian deaths at the hands of U.S.-backed airstrikes up to September 2017. These strikes raise concerns that the U.S.-led coalition did not take precautions to avoid and minimize Syrian civilian casualties.
  5. The Syrian government continues to use chemical weapons. Nerve agents have been deployed throughout opposition strongholds in Syria. In September 2017, the U.N.-appointed Commission of Inquiry’s report concluded that “the Syrian air force used sarin in Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib, killing dozens, the majority of whom were women and children.” Human Rights Watch also documented government helicopters dropping chlorine on at least eight occasions in an attempt to recapture Aleppo.
  6. Arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, torture, and enforced disappearances continue. In 2017, the Syrian Network for Human Rights documented more than 4,252 individual unwarranted arrests. As of August 2017, over 80,000 individuals were “disappeared.”
  7. Abuses of civilians by ISIS continue. During its defense of Raqqa and other towns, ISIS used civilians as human shields and used internationally banned landmines. The U.N.-OPCW’s (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) joint investigation found that ISIS has used chemical weapons, sulfur mustard gas specifically, against civilians.
  8. The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (or PYD) has detained and harassed members of the political opposition and activists. Human Rights Watch received reports of torture and ill-treatment in facilities controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the majority of which are members of the PYD.
  9. More than 6.9 million people have been displaced. Women and children account for 75 percent of the refugee population. The neighboring countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey have sought to curb the massive inflow of refugees through unlawful administrative, legal and physical barriers. Incidents of Turkish border guards shooting at Syrians and smugglers trying to cross the border continue, including the fatal shooting of a 3-year-old in 2017. In the first five months of 2017, the Jordanian government deported around 400 Syrian refugees per month.
  10. The true scope of the war’s death toll is unknown and is still growing. As the Syrian war drags many international monitoring groups ceased counting the dead. The U.N., which regularly released death toll reports during the war’s first years, gave its last estimate in 2016 and stated that it had become impossible to verify how many people have died, but at least 400,000 people were killed by that moment. In March 2018, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that at least 511,000 people have been killed in the war since March 2011.

These top 10 facts about human rights in Syria hopes to make evident the suffering of millions of people and inspire additional diplomatic and humanitarian efforts to stop the war. The U.S. has the important diplomatic part to play in the support of the Syrian people and it cannot supplant that role with military force. Military involvement cannot replace diplomacy. The people of Syria are in dire need of humanitarian aid. Politics and military force alone will not build the trust needed to get that aid to the country’s besieged populace.

– Carolina Sherwood Bigelow
Photo: Flickr

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Top 10 Facts About Human Rights in Kenya

Top 10 facts about Human Rights in Kenya
The World Bank, in its latest report on Kenya, credited the country with possessing the potential to become one of Africa’s success stories.  From its growing youthful population and dynamic private sector to its highly skilled workforce, improved infrastructure and new Constitution, Kenya plays a pivotal role in East Africa. However, Kenya continues to struggle with the protection of the basic human rights of its people. The top 10 facts about human rights in Kenya below shed light on the inequalities faced by the Kenyan people and the organizations working to improve conditions.

Top 10 Facts About Human Rights in Kenya

  1. From 2007 to 2008, Kenya received international attention and criticism for severe violation of human rights after the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta. While the political party in power challenged the independence of the judiciary, and the police manhandled opposition protestors, the NGOs Coordination Board threatened to close down human rights organizations. Administrative and legal measures were adopted to curb the activities of civil society, media and human rights organizations.
  2. Human Rights Watch confirmed that the post-election human rights violations included sexual and gender-based violence against men, women and children in Kenya by the police and security forces.
  3. In 2010, in an attempt to address the past human rights abuses and injustices, Kenya adopted a new Constitution alongside a Commission to implement it.
  4. The Human Rights Watch, in its 2016 report, criticized the country’s inaction. The criticism was aimed at Kenya’s ineffective implementation of the new Constitution and lack of addressing the post-election human rights violations of 2007 and 2008.  These violations left at least 1,200 people dead and 650,000 people displaced.
  5. Amnesty International questioned the government’s legislative curtailment of basic rights of the people, media and refugee communities. As a response to the persistent terrorist attacks and killings orchestrated by Somalia-based Islamist group Al-Shabaab, the Kenyan government increased the power of the police and security agencies. This, in turn, led to extrajudicial killings, disappearances, arbitrary detentions, raids on communities, harassment and extortion of money.
  6. The Amnesty International Annual Report for 2017/18 lauded the “landmark judicial decisions on human rights” by the Kenya High Court stopping the government’s decision to close the Dadaab refugee camp. Dadaab is the world’s largest refugee camp, and the decision prevented the return of 250,000 refugees to Somalia, where they would have been at risk of abuse.
  7. Outside the scope of political turmoil, there are also issues of the rights of women and children in the country. In 2016, the National Gender and Equality Commission released a report titled Gender-Based Violence in Kenya. According to its study, 39 percent of women and girls aged 15 years and above have encountered physical violence, and more than one-fifth of the women have been victims of sexual abuse. Domestic abuse has also been noted as a common problem in Kenya. Acts like the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (2011), Employment Act (2007), the Protection Against Domestic Violence (2015) and the National Policy on the Prevention and Response to Gender-based Violence (2014), have been introduced to promote social justice and preserve the rights of women in the country.
  8. Kenya’s Vision 2030’s Medium-Term Plan II (for 2013 to 2017) outlined the establishment of gender-based violence recovery centers in all health care facilities in Kenya. The National Gender and Equality Commission has also developed a National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to prevent such violence. Organizations like Childline Kenya in partnership with the government have been trying to stop the high instances of child abuse prevalent in the country. The National Policy on the Elimination of Child Labor and the Kenyan police’s Child Protection Unit have been introduced to prosecute and investigate child exploitation.
  9. Clashes between different ethnicities in Kenya, which initially began in 1991, have also emerged as one of the human rights issues in the country. Certain ethnic communities, like the Sengwer, have been in conflict with the government. This year, the European Union suspended it’s Water Towers Protection and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Programme due to the killing of a person by the Kenya Wildlife Service. The EU stated that the rights of indigenous people must be respected and balanced with the conservation work on water towers.
  10. The Kenya Human Rights Commission has been striving to foster human rights and democracy at all levels in Kenya. To add to that, The Kenya National Commission of Human Rights acts in an advisory role and as a watchdog to promote a culture of human rights in Kenya.

In July 2018, members of The United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, following their visit to Kenya, appreciated the new Constitution’s efforts to improve human rights conditions and democratic institutions. In addition, the group underscored the need for delivering the promises of the constitution in order to secure human rights protection. Kenya is set to become the first country in Africa to develop a National Action Plan based on business and human rights. While these top 10 facts about human rights in Kenya demonstrate many areas in need of improvement, the Kenyan government has begun to take steps in a promising direction.

– Jayendrina Singha Ray

Photo: Flickr

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Top Facts About Human Rights in Taiwan

facts about human rights in Taiwan

In August 2018, Taiwan was selected to host the Human Rights Forum. The Forum, according to the New York Times, is run by the New York-based Human Rights Foundation and has been held in Oslo every year since 2009. The Human Rights Foundation’s chief strategy officer Alex Gladstein explained that the forum’s goal is to inform activists around the world about Taiwan’s transition to democracy, which is an example of democracy in a Chinese society. As international human rights organizations recognize Taiwan’s unique position in Asia as an advocate for human rights and democracy, it is important to highlight several key facts about human rights in Taiwan.

Judiciary reform

According to the Taiwan 2017 Human Rights Report, there are no acknowledged instances of torture carried out against accused persons. Furthermore, to address issues of overcrowding in prisons, in June 2017, Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice gave prison inmates the right to maintain jobs outside the prison. The report indicated that 19 inmates had minimum monthly salaries of 690 U.S. dollars of which 60 percent was used as restitution to crime victims. Even more encouraging is that detention centers allowed both government and non-governmental inspections of the prisons. It is also important to note that prisoners have rights to legal counseling.

Also, arrests of individuals require warrants or summons. The report emphasized that all defendants are innocent until proven guilty. Regarding civil issues, an “impartial judiciary” is provided.

Freedom of speech

Freedom of speech and the press are observed in Taiwan, especially involving internet access. Taiwan also does not restrict academic freedom or cultural events.

In April 2018, the New York Times noted that Reporters Without Borders are going to open their first Asian bureau in Taipei, the Taiwanese capital. They decided to do so after considering, but rejecting Hong Kong. Taiwan’s selection over Hong Kong is tied with increasing pressure from the Government of China to Hong Kong, allowing Taiwan to surpass Hong Kong as the synonym for free speech in Asia.

Voting rights and protection of sexual assault victims

While Taiwan currently does not offer refugees protection, it does allow its citizens to migrate within its borders, emigrate from, and travel internationally. Such policies are not necessarily permanent, however, as Taiwan offers citizens the rights to elect government leaders through “secret ballot.” Suffrage is given to all citizens, including women.

Taiwan law prohibits rape, especially spousal rape, and domestic violence, but it is important to note that these crimes are often not reported. In addition, rape survivors are given protection in a way that they can endure their trials away from the public eye and the law permits a charge of rape even if the victim chooses not to press charges. This provision is one of the key facts about human rights in Taiwan, as charges for sexual assault can still be carried out, regardless of the social pressures that discourage victims to report. Also, the Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act allows the use of one-way mirrors, video conferencing, or other practices to protect victims during questioning and trial.

In recent years, Taiwan became the front-runner of human rights in Asia, as seen through its shift toward judiciary reform, freedom of expression and increased protections for sexual assault victims. These key facts about human rights in Taiwan merit activists’ decision to host the upcoming Human Rights Forum and showcase Taiwan’s accomplishments and the path towards achieving even better results in the future

– Christine Leung
Photo: Google

Top 10 Facts About Human Rights in Chile

Facts About Human Rights in Chile

Chile was under an oppressive, military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. Gen. Augusto Pinochet ruled the country and used the failings of the last presidency as a justification for the regime. The dictatorship was characterized by the “disappearances” of thousands of suspected leftists in the earliest months of the regime.

Chilean courts are still prosecuting people for their abuses during the military rule. Many of the perpetrators of human rights offenses have faced reduced sentences. This has resulted in miniscule punishments in comparison to the crimes. Chile is still recovering from its period of military rule.

However, the Chilean people are demanding a change. As a result, legislation is reflecting the demands of its people.

Facts About Human Rights in Chile

  1. The government of Chile has been attempting to rectify past human rights violations from the time of the military period. In December 2015, the Ministry of the Interior’s human rights program announced that justice authorities are investigating 1,048 cases of human rights violations from the military period.
  2. Chilean prisons are filled past capacity. These institutions were functioning at a capacity of 103.2 percent in August of 2016. In some regions, prison capacity was exceeded by 200 percent. In October of that same year, the Santiago Sur Preventive Prison Center reached the volume of 5,057 prisoners, contrary to its maximum capacity of 2,384 inmates. In a 2017 report by the U.S. government, it was noted that the government was working toward a long-term effort to ameliorate this issue.
  3. Living conditions for children under the state are seeing improvement. The National Service for Minors (SENAME) has been under extreme scrutiny after the death of 34 children between January to June of 2016. In 2017, 171 SENAME centers were investigated. Out of 405 children questioned, 197 recounted their abuses. The government responded to the investigation by accelerating the processing of bills to improve the structure of the institution.
  4. Indigenous people still face discrimination. Throughout Chilean history, the Mapuche people have been discriminated against. President Bachelet has publically apologized for the affronts to the Mapuche by the government. Poverty levels have declined and government scholarships are increasing the Mapuche education rates. Furthermore, the government has offered land transfers and increased social spending on this historically mistreated group.
  5. There are still reports of the government using excessive force, especially on indigenous groups. Although the government has developed new ways to investigate and punish police corruption, excessive force and human rights offenses are still being done by the national police force (Carabineros de Chile). Lack of repatriation of ancestral land for the Mapuche people has resulted in years of violent protest. Mapuche activists have led numerous arson attacks as well as protests, targeting churches and logging equipment. The Carabineros as well as security forces have sometimes violently raided southern Chile. As a result, Mapuche arson leaders have been arrested.
  6. In November 2016, President Bachelet signed a bill into law that would change Chile’s criminal code. This bill modernized the nation’s criminal code to obey international standards on torture, cruelty, and inhumane treatment of its citizens. The Public Ministry reported that within the first months of this bill, reports of crimes against humanity rose to 193 percent. Most of these accounts involved groups such as the Carabineros.
  7. The nonprofit, Human Rights Watch, is concerned that the military courts are not yet completely transparent. Typically, Chilean civilian authorities have had control over the Carabineros and Investigative Police, and the government the as infrastructure in place to rectify abuses and prevent corruption. Yet, the military justice system handles these discrepancies. Recently, Human Rights Watch reported that these reports by the military courts may not be effective, and instead are riddled with corruption.
  8. The government of Chile has been rectifying relations with the indigenous communities. In June this year, the government declared its Plan for the Recognition and Development of Araucanía. The goals of this plan include economic development, protection of victims from violence, and the overall promotion of participation from indigenous people. President Bachelet has apologized to the Mapuche People for the wrongs they faced.
  9. The Chilean government has recognized nine distinct indigenous groups in the Law on Indigenous Peoples Protection and Development. The administration created a system to protect these mistreated groups. New services to provide social, cultural and economic development have been implemented.
  10. Chile now has laws against discrimination in the workplace. This law forbids employment discrimination centered on race, sex, civil status, religion, affiliation with a union, politics, disability, sexual orientation and many others. Furthermore, this law offers civil legal options to victims of employment discrimination. This past June, congress passed the Law on Workplace Inclusion, especially for disabled people. The government is doing a very good job at administering anti-discrimination laws. There is no evidence of police or judicial unwillingness to implement these laws. Sanctions have been given to companies denying maternity leave that has generally proven to be deterring violations.

Fighting years against an oppressive government, the future of Chile is looking up. Human rights issues are being acknowledged and global organizations are holding Chile accountable. These facts about human rights in Chile show areas that need improvement, as well as cases in which positive strides are being made. Cases of discrimination are being acknowledged and challenged, preventing the government and companies from continuing prejudice.

– Stefanie Babb

Photo: Flickr

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Seven Facts About Human Rights in Rwanda

Human Rights in Rwanda
It’s been over 20 years since the Rwandan Genocide and, while this event is how most know of the small African nation, a reexamination of human rights in Rwanda is well past overdue. In 1994, over the course of a hundred days, nearly a million Rwandans were executed in an ethnic conflict. However, over the next two decades an exemplary justice and reconciliation process unfolded. Due to these efforts, Rwanda’s reputation for human rights violations no longer fits the reality of human rights in Rwanda today. Here are some important facts regarding human rights in Rwanda:

Seven Facts About Human Rights in Rwanda

  1. The 1994 genocide was largely drawn on ethnic lines. Following the overthrow of the Tutsi Monarchy in 1959, the Hutus (who had an 85 percent majority in the country) ruled for the next three decades. In April of 1994, however, the Hutu president was killed in a plane crash prompting Hutu extremists and ruling party officials to begin the systematic execution of the Tutsis. One hundred days later, between 800,000 and 1 million Tutsis were killed and 250,000 women had been raped by militia forces.
  2. By the close of 1994, following the genocide, the U.N. Security Council established The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Over the next decade and a half, The ICTR oversaw the sentencing of 61 people and received thousands of hours of witness testimony. The ICTR is now regarded as one of the preeminent mass violence tribunals and has been used as a model for similar events since. Seeing as The ICTR was so widely and successfully implemented across Rwanda, it is not surprising to learn the attitudes of those leading Rwanda still reflect the lessons learned from The ICTR. Today, human rights in Rwanda is treated with the utmost efficiency with a serious consideration for truth-seeking.
  3. In order to ensure the remaining fugitives were held accountable following the completion of The ICTR, The U.N. Security Council established The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT). MICT oversaw what remained of both the Rwandan and Yugoslavian criminal tribunals. One of those sentenced by MICT was former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda – the first head of government to be convicted of genocide. This was a clear signal sent that human rights in Rwanda were now being taken extremely seriously by the international and Rwandan community.
  4. The ICTR and MICT have not been the only judicial bodies present in Rwanda. The Rwandan National Court System has tried over 10,000 suspects accused of violating human rights relating to the genocide and has remained committed to trying human rights abusers. Interestingly, in the midst of these genocide trials, Rwanda abolished the death penalty, which reflects the growing divide between the former Rwanda, ravaged by genocide, and the Rwanda of today. The Rwandan national court system today strikes this balance well. While they no longer utilize the death penalty, judges continue to strike harsh sentences against human rights abusers to set the precedent that such actions will not be tolerated in contemporary Rwanda.
  5. An essential factor in restoring peace and reconciliation in Rwanda to avoid further human rights troubles was the need to rectify the fates of low-level participants in the genocide. To accomplish this task, the national government reestablished traditional Gacaca Courts. There, community members were tasked with hearing the confessions of those involved in the human rights violations. Confessions were important to the community as they allowed many families to learn of the fates of many of their missing loved ones. While the Gacaca courts held thousands of trials, some of the confessing suspects were permitted to return home with mandated community service, others were sentenced to hard labor. Gacaca courts today continue to play an integral role in maintaining a free and fair Rwanda. Contrary to popular belief, human rights violations seldom begin as a national level conspiracy, but rather those in the communities feel drawn to participate through local influences. Gacaca courts fight this by addressing and prosecuting the instigators at the local level – before it becomes a national crisis.
  6. During the Rwandan genocide, human rights violations spread to Burundi and The Democratic Republic of Congo. This spread was largely due to the influx of fleeing Tutsi refugees across the Great Lakes region and the subsequent pursuit of those attempting to execute the Tutsis. Those intending harm to the Tutsis took advantage of Burundi and DRC’s own internal strife to sew chaos across the region. Today, however, Rwanda works closely with its neighbors, playing an active role in monitoring for and preventing human rights violations. This is one of the biggest lessons learned from the genocide. Rwanda, while a small inland country, is nevertheless an integral regional partner. As such, human rights abuses within the country can spread outward and external abuses can spread inward. Seeing as this is the case, Rwanda has put forth an incredible effort to stymie human rights abuses in its neighboring countries.
  7. While in 1994, the Rwandan government was the sponsor of the genocide, the government today is not only one of the freest and fairest governments but also the most diverse in the region. In fact, women make up a majority of the legislature in Rwanda with 49 out of 80 seats in the lower house and 10 of 26 in the upper house.

While Rwanda is internationally known for the horrific 1994 genocide, this picture does not clearly paint the reality of human rights in Rwanda today. Following the genocide incredible strides were made to bring not only justice but reconciliation to Rwandans. While no reconciliation process is perfect, Rwanda was successful in not only starting to heal the wounds of the past but also ensuring that human rights in Rwanda are taken seriously, so that there is no chance of such tragedies happening again.

– Sam Kennedy
Photo: Flickr

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Why Is Poverty Among Minorities So High?

Minorities
In countries all around the world, rates of poverty among minorities are distressingly high. There are many different types of minorities: racial and ethnic, national and linguistic, cultural and tribal, political and religious, gender and sexual. There are immigrants and refugees. People with disabilities and mental health disorders.

Poverty, unemployment and incarceration rates are typically much higher among these populations than among majorities. Physical and mental health is poorer. Educational attainment is lower.

Examples of Poverty Among Minorites

  1. Ethnic minorities account for only 15 percent of Vietnam’s population, but 70 percent of the population living in extreme poverty. There are great discrepancies in educational attainment as well: 18.8 percent of ethnic majorities have completed university or upper-secondary education, compared to 8.5 percent of ethnic minorities.
  2. In the United States, Latinos and Hispanics are incarcerated at 1.4 times the rate of white Americans, and African Americans at an average of 5.1 times white Americans. Though the unemployment rates for Hispanics and blacks have been declining since 2010, they are still higher than that of white Americans: the unemployment rate of blacks is nearly double that of whites.
  3. LGBT+ individuals are severely persecuted in many nations. In Turkey, 78 percent of people say that society should not accept homosexuality. Same-sex marriage is unrecognized, same-sex adoptions are prohibited and LGBT+ individuals face severe discrimination in obtaining employment and housing. Violence against these people is widespread and often goes unpunished.
  4. Indigenous people are among the most discriminated-against people in the world, and many populations experience high rates of poverty and health problems. For example, the diabetes prevalence rate among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, indigenous people in Australia, is six times that of the national average. The suicide rates among the Inuit in Canada is 11 times the national average and one of the highest in the world.
  5. In many countries where a vast majority of the population belongs to a certain religion, those who practice a different faith experience strong discrimination and high rates of poverty. In Nepal, the poverty rate among Muslims, a minority in the mainly Hindu country (approximately 81 percent of Nepali are Hindu) is 41 percent, about 10 percent higher than the national average. In Bangladesh, where 89 percent of the population is Muslim, Hindus face serious barriers in obtaining education and employment and are often subject to displacement and arbitrary seizure of their property.

High Rates of Poverty Among Minorities

Why do these disparities in poverty, prison, education and employment exist? Why do minorities tend to have poorer health and experience more violence? Prejudice, discrimination, social exclusion and marginalization are major factors.

Institutional discrimination in governments, corporations and education systems, exists in countries around the world. This discrimination breeds inequality, and inequality restricts people’s ability to obtain jobs and education, to access housing and healthcare, or to enjoy judicial and legal protections.

Sociological and psychological research has demonstrated that discrimination and social exclusion can contribute to poor mental and physical health, which impact an individual’s ability to work and earn an income. All of these factors contribute to the high levels of poverty among minorities.

How We Can Solve this Problem

Eliminating institutional discrimination and individual prejudices can reduce poverty among minorities. Though not an easy task, it is vital to the pursuit of a world without poverty. Governments, educational institutions, corporations and the media, which often use prejudicial rhetoric and discriminatory practices, must be held to a higher standard.

Education should highlight instead of hiding the discrimination that exists around the world. It should teach the importance of human rights and promote equality and respect of others.

Various social movements and nonprofit organizations attempt to do this. They strive to raise awareness of discrimination and inequality and eliminate these from society. The Black Lives Matter, MeToo, Sanctuary Campus, feminist and LGBT+ movements serve as examples. The Human Rights Campaign, Equal Rights Advocates, Race Forward and Global Rights are just a few of the many organizations that fight for equality for different minorities.

All of these movements and organizations and the many others that exist are crucial to the elimination of discrimination as well as reduction of global poverty. And so are individuals.

Individuals have a prominent role to play in the fight for equality. Every person has the ability to make a difference. You can help reduce poverty among minorities by supporting movements and organizations that advocate for minorities. You can speak up when you see discriminatory actions or hear prejudicial remarks. As Nelson Mandela said, “as long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest”.

– Laura Turner

Photo: Flickr