Archive for category: Human Rights

Information and stories about human rights.

, ,

Human Rights in Vanuatu

Human Rights in VanuatuVanuatu is a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean slightly larger than Connecticut and home to fewer than 300,000 people. The nation gained its independence from France and the United Kingdom in the summer of 1980. Despite the several decades of independence, one can still see the strong influence that these European nations have on Vanuatu to this day. For instance, aspects of English common law and French law are heavily incorporated into Vanuatu’s own legal system. The protection of human rights in Vanuatu is sadly lacking in several areas, such as the protection of women against violence and discrimination, prison conditions and governmental corruption.

One of the many struggles that women are currently facing in Vanuatu is an inability to even get their voices heard. The nation has a 52-member parliament but no female representation. Violence against women is a frequent occurrence in Vanuatu. The U.S. State Department 2015 Report on human rights in Vanuatu states that while reliable statistics on this topic are nowhere to be found, police have noticed a growing trend of violence against women. In order for this to change, parts of Vanuatu’s culture will likely need to change. Women in Vanuatu often do not report incidents of violence either due to a lack of knowledge regarding their own rights or fear of possible backlash for their actions.

Corruption is another problem in Vanuatu. Generally, corruption can be quelled by making and effectively implementing laws prohibiting it, but Vanuatu is currently unable to implement the law. As a result, those who are corrupt are seldom held accountable. Transparency International is an organization that, according to its website, works “closely with governments, businesses and citizens to stop the abuse of power, bribery and secret deals.” The organization believes that the Vanuatu government must start and finance a national anti-corruption agency to combat this practice.

The human rights of prisoners in Vanuatu are not being sufficiently protected either. Thankfully, foreign donor funding has allowed for prisoner and detention center conditions in the region to improve, but they still have not met international standards.

Vanuatu clearly has much work to do to improve the protection of its people’s human rights.  A step in the right direction did occur in this past summer as Vanuatu participated in a Pacific Islands Forum review of the nation’s policies and programmes.  A goal of this initiative is to create a toolkit or checklist that the government can use moving forward to help it improve its protection of its people’s human rights. This review is just now coming to an end, so its impact remains to be seen.

– Adam Braunstein

Photo: Google

, , ,

Improving Access to Education in Africa

Access to Education in Africa
The Shule Foundation has two goals. The first of these goals is to expand access to education in Africa by building schools and not just classrooms. The second is to implement a unique self-sustaining model that will exceed the educational needs of all children. The Shule Foundation builds high-quality schools in rural villages across Africa, recycling surplus into scholarships for underserved students.

While many do have access to education in the world, there are still many problems which need to be addressed, especially in specific areas. Of the children that do get the opportunity to attend school, 250 million cannot read or write after four years. Fifty percent of the out-of-school children in the world live across Africa. The Shule Foundation was created to address the conditions of education across Africa including under-skilled teachers, limited resources, overcrowded classrooms, no electricity and a lack of nutrition.

The Shule Foundation believes education is a human right. The organization is dedicated to expanding access to quality education to children in Africa by providing various opportunities. Its goal is to improve the quality of education, increase family income, empower women and girls and produce a more financially stable population across Africa. The opportunities the campaign provides are funded through a few solutions.

The first solution is called the Kitalu Shule Project. The project aims to increase early childhood education and to build preschools that support early development. With this form of nourishment, better opportunities are created for children in the future.

The campaign’s plan is to build primary schools in Jeeja and Uganda and from there expand throughout Africa. The schools will provide the children with two meals a day, access to health care and better sanitary facilities.

The Miche (Seedling) Project is another favorable concept that the Shule Foundation has come up with. The organization planned a concept that starts with educating the community on farming, in turn yielding more crops that provide proceeds to build better schools. This is the Shule Foundation’s plan toward sustainability.

With this project, the Shule Foundation has turned 20 acres of land into efficient organic farms. Along with this successful step, the project will educate farmers on best crop practices, empower women and girls in the workforce, help raise funds for schools in different communities as well as provide food for the schools built.

The Shule Foundation does not just focus on increasing access to education in Africa; it also provides the concept and tools to work toward building schools and sustaining them. By introducing agricultural technologies, it will provide income to gain financial independence for not only the schools but also for families in communities across Africa.

– Brandi Gomez

Photo: Flickr

, ,

Human Rights in the Solomon Islands

Human Rights in the Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands is a beautiful group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean where some of World War II’s most intense warfare took place. The nation’s official tourism site says “Step back in time, the islands remain unspoiled.” The Solomon Islands gained independence in 1978, two years after it began governing itself. Today, more than 600,000 people live in this parliamentary democracy. When it comes to the protection of human rights in the Solomon Islands, the nation is fairly successful. However, important failures do occur, such as violence and discrimination against women and unreasonably long pretrial detentions.

Women in the Solomon Islands have struggled to gain a role in the nation’s political discourse. While there are no laws explicitly forbidding women or minorities engagement in the political process, antiquated cultural norms have made it challenging for women to get involved. The nation’s parliament consists of 50 members, yet only one woman. The government wants to fix this and has passed laws aimed to increase the number of women in politics, but so far nothing has been successful.

Violence against women in the Solomon Islands is also quite prevalent. According to a 2011 World Health Organization report, more than 50 percent of women in the Solomon Islands experienced sexual violence by a partner at some point in their life. Incidents like these are often underreported due to women having a number of concerns, such as fear of backlash and concern over breaking a cultural norm.

An inability to swiftly move detainees through the criminal justice system is another failure on the part of the government to protect human rights in the Solomon Islands. In fact, about half of the nation’s prisoner population is made up of pretrial detainees. The U.S. Department of State’s 2016 report on human rights in the Solomon Islands states that the average pretrial detention period lasts for about two years. The Solomon Islands needs to address this problem so that people are not effectively prisoners for an extended period of time before they have had a fair trial.

These are important failures, but it is also important to consider that the Solomon Islands has succeeded in many other ways. Prison and detention center conditions generally met international standards, free speech is well-protected and the most recent election was generally free and fair.

Recently, the Solomon Islands has even taken a step towards becoming a global leader in the fight against human rights violations.  The nation did so by condemning West Papua human rights abuses at the U.N. Human Rights Council.  Some of the human rights violations occurring in West Papua include arrest, torture and the killing of peaceful protestors.  The impact of the Solomon Island‘s statement remains to be seen, but no matter the result, it was a powerful action taken by the nation.

– Adam Braunstein

Photo: Flickr

, ,

Human Rights in Samoa Improving

Human Rights in SamoaAn island state in the South Pacific, Samoa makes up one of the westernmost islands of Polynesia. With just over 170,000 people, Samoa is a small country of great cultural indigenous history. Its government is a unitary parliamentary democracy and though there is little political strife, Samoa has struggled in recent years with its human rights.

According to a 2015 Human Rights Report on Samoa, the country did generally well keeping up with the code of conduct prescribed in the Samoan constitution. An executive summary reported that there were no unlawful government or police killings, torture or inhuman punishment, denial of fair trials or restrictions on academic, internet or speech freedoms. However, the report noted some breaches of the human rights standards in Samoa.

In 2015, conditions in men’s prisons were reported to be overcrowded and there was a lack of ventilation and lighting in cells; in fact, one cell at police headquarters in the city of Tuasivi was deemed unfit for human containment. There was also a general lack of security at prison centers, but authorities did properly investigate and monitor conditions.

The report also noted a violation of privacy of homes and families. Lack of privacy in some villages meant possibly granting officials access to homes without a warrant and there were several allegations of village councils banishing people from their villages. Those exiled by traditional government law were banished due to cases of rape, adultery, murder and unauthorized claims to land. There were some reports of government corruption in 2013, but elections were considered generally fair. Reported rape cases in 2015 were thoroughly investigated and had high conviction rates. Domestic violence is considered common criminal assault with a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment and offenders were generally only punished if the abuse was considered extreme.

In August 2017, a United Nations human rights panel released a report on Samoa’s handling of gender-based violence. The U.N. Working Group on discrimination against women noted that it is only once womens’ sexual and reproductive rights are met that laws regarding gender-based discrimination and violence in Samoa can be fully effective. In Samoa, gender-based violence is somewhat taboo and perceptions of discrimination against women are buried deep within the roots of Samoan culture. The goal of the 10-day delegation on Samoan laws was to open a dialogue about gender-based violence and to rally support from government leaders, stakeholders and men and women alike in order to make the necessary reforms to change misconceptions about violence and discrimination against women. Suggestions for new policies at the event included a state-sponsored welfare system, support for female victims of sexual violence and better funding for civil society groups.

The country, which is making several strides toward bettering human rights for all, has a history of ratifying treaties which work in favor of all Samoans and give people equal and humane treatment. Some include the 2016 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the 1994 Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the 2008 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. With continued pressure on leaders to make permanent changes to the human rights standards of the country, and with the participation and education of the public, human rights in Samoa are on their way to serious improvement.

– Olivia Cyr

Photo: Flickr

,

Justice System Violates Human Rights in Guinea-Bissau

Human Rights in Guinea-Bissau
While the nation does possess legitimate political rights, including free and fair elections, lack of human rights in Guinea-Bissau continues to make victims out of its citizens. As of 2016, these included abuses such as corruption of government officials as well as violence and discrimination of women and children.

The list continues on, according to the U.S. Department of State. Other abuses included unfair and abusive treatment of detainees, lack of due process and human trafficking. No effective action was taken against the perpetrators of human rights in these situations.

In particular, prisoner detention stands out as one of the most grotesque human rights abuses. The conditions of detention facilities are life-threatening, according to the state departments.

“Cells lack running water, adequate heating, ventilation, lighting and sanitation. Detainees’ diets were poor and medical care was virtually non-existent,” stated the human rights report in 2016. The means by which detainees arrive in these deplorable conditions often violates another human right, lack of due process, as authorities often “arbitrarily” arrest and detain people.

Police are, for the most part, ineffective and corrupt, which might result be a result of their lack of regular payment by the state. Lack of funding results in insufficient of training as well as scarce resources for police to carry out their duties properly. Unfortunately, almost all levels of law enforcement are susceptible to coercion, threats and bribes, including the attorney general’s office.

Consequently, unlawful arrests continue to be made, violating human rights in Guinea-Bissau. These include arrests without warrants and the holding of detainees for longer than the permitted period of time. Additionally, military detainees were often not informed of charges against them.

To add to the human rights abuses conducted throughout the justice system, the independent courts, including judges, were “poorly trained, inadequately and irregularly paid and subject to corruption.”

It appears that those accused of suspected of crime in the state have very little security, as human rights in Guinea-Bissau are not enforced. Furthermore, there continues to be no administrative means of addressing human rights violations.

Little progress had been made in improving these conditions, and the justice system remains extremely weak to this day. One of the only few actions of accountability undertaken by the state was in July 2015 in the Oio region, where three officers were sentenced to imprisonment for human rights abuses.

Investigations continue to be made by human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International. The citizens of Guinea-Bissau are desperately in need of intervention from the international community.

– Melanie Snyder

Photo: Flickr

, ,

Human Rights in San Marino: The Fight for Gender Equality

Human Rights in San Marino

Securing human rights in San Marino, one of the world’s oldest republics, has been a progressive and relatively successful venture. The state is a multi-party democracy where authorities maintain effective control over law enforcement.

According to the Department of State, no outrageous human rights abuses have taken place in San Marino in recent years. Although, according to various international organizations, the state still needs to reduce gender inequality and further the protection of women’s rights in particular.

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, recently congratulated the state for its success in combating violence against women during his visit in 2015.

The prevention of violence against women has been successful due to legislation passed throughout the last decade, including the “Prevention and elimination of violence against women and gender violence” in 2008. The decree to implement the law was passed in 2012, according the U.N. It also provided an assistance center for victims of violence.

Additionally, during this time, a special study group was established by the San Marino delegation which specializes in meeting the requirements of the Council of Europe Convention for preventing and combating violence against women.

Despite progress against violence, women in San Marino continue to face hurdles in practicing their human rights. According to Muižnieks, action should be taken to address the gender gap in employment and political participation, along with action to combat harmful gender stereotypes.

The commissioner suggested in 2015 that these goals regarding human rights in San Marino, particularly for women, can be achieved through increased efforts by and resources towards the Authority for Equal Opportunities in the state. He also suggested goals of gender equality could be made through the state’s ratification of the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention. San Marino ratified and entered the Istanbul Convention early in 2016, confirming its commitment to ensure human rights and women’s rights in the country.

– Melanie Snyder

, , , ,

Reproductive Health App for Youth in Rwanda

Health App for Youth in Rwanda

Tantine is an app that has been developed for youth in Rwanda. It was created by Sylvie and Sylvain Muzungu Uhirwa to tackle the issue of lack of reproductive and sexual health information. A barrier to sexual and reproductive health information has teens in Rwanda vulnerable to unintended pregnancies and diseases, which can hinder their ability to complete their education as well as find stable employment in the future.

Sylvie and Sylvain Uhirwa are twin medical students at the University of Rwanda who originally won the Youth Spark Innovation Grant in 2015. This grant is an initiative from the Resilient Africa Network in Partnership with USAID and the Makerere University School. It has helped them to build a website containing reproductive health information as well as youth mentorship opportunities.

As one of four initiatives chosen at the iAccelerator challenge 2017, the pair received $10,000 to further develop Tantine. Half of the funds went to developing the Android app and website content, as well as to continue to advance and develop the platform.

The app was recently shared in the Mahama camp of 50,000 Burundian refugees. The app for youth in Rwanda, specifically in the camp, gives reproductive health information via the web. Tantine works with a medical professional and psychological team to deliver this education, mentorship and counseling services.

Sylvie has stated that members in the camp do not have consistent access to wi-fi and do not own smartphones, so “…that’s why we thought of bringing those tablets and establishing a centre where they come and then access the internet in the camp. So we are going to equip them with those tablets and then a router with wi-fi.”

Therese Karugwiza, a gender and human rights program specialist at UNFPA, has stressed the importance of Tantine also targeting youth who may not be in school, as it is crucial that they also have access to this information. By taking Karugwiza’s account into consideration, the Uhirwa twins are putting Rwandan youth on a multimodal track to better reproductive health.

– Gabriella Paez

Photo: Flickr

, ,

3 Violations of Human Rights in Tanzania

Human Rights in TanzaniaOn June 22, 2017, Tanzanian President John Magufuli stated that pregnant adolescent girls will not be allowed to return to school because their pregnancies encourage other girls to have sex. This statement represents one of the several ways young women and other vulnerable Tanzanian populations are set up to fail, trapped in an endless cycle of poverty. There are numerous violations of human rights in Tanzania. This article will discuss three.

To understand the extensive violation of human rights in Tanzania, one must first understand what the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says. This document was created on December 10, 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly because of the events of World War II. The document lists thirty articles or rights that belong to all people. The three articles of the document that are regularly transgressed in Tanzania are:

  1. Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
  2. Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
  3. Article 26: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

Mistreatment of Young Women

Tanzanian women lack the human rights guaranteed to all in articles 3 and 26: the rights to livelihood, freedom, safety and an education. In their 2016 report, “I Had a Dream to Finish School,” the Human Rights Watch reported that girls in Tanzania are sexually harassed by teachers, bus drivers and adults. The leaders in their lives who are supposed to guarantee their safety instead request sex in exchange for gifts, rides or money. Schools in the country do not report sexual abuse cases to police. In addition, there is no system for reporting these infractions confidentially. The result? Less than one-third of girls entering lower-secondary schools graduate.

In addition to being sexually harassed, girls also are forced to take pregnancy tests at school. If a girl is pregnant, the school then expels her. Tanzanian schools expel around 8,000 pregnant girls each year. This policy reinforces President Magufuli’s June comments and is intended to discourage an upsurge in teen pregnancies. In reality, the policy violates the human rights of these young women. It also targets the victims rather than the offenders.

Barring Education through Testing

Tanzanian school children lack the human rights guaranteed in articles 5 and 26: the rights to not be exposed to cruel punishments and to seek an education. According to the Human Rights Watch, the Tanzania government controls the number of students who can seek a secondary education by making it mandatory for all students to take the Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE). The only students who can attend secondary school are students who pass the exam.

However, passing the exam is very difficult. This is because quality of education at the primary level is poor. At the primary level, students are taught by teachers who have not specialized in the subject they instruct and class sizes are enormous. The average class has 70 students enrolled. Many students fail the PSLE as a result and are not allowed to retake it. Since 2012, more than 1.6 million adolescents can’t pursue secondary education because of their exam results. This violation of human rights in Tanzania thus denies an opportunity for upward mobility.

Corporal Punishment in the Classroom

In addition to impeding children’s chances to continuing their education, adults utilize corporal punishment to discipline students when they do attend school. Students suffer from physical and psychological abuse in Tanzanian schools. Some teachers beat students with bamboo or wooden sticks, or with their hands or other objects. These actions make securing rights that much harder for this population.

While the state of human rights in Tanzania may seem grim for vulnerable populations, there is hope. Legislation currently in Congress can help to reverse these violations if passed. The Protecting Girls Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act seeks to work with international governments to ensure all women and children can peaceably seek an education. Help get this important piece of legislation passed by contacting your leaders today.

– Jeanine Thomas

Photo: Flickr

, ,

Relatively Clean Record of Human Rights in Monaco

According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2015 human rights report, there have been no recent outstanding abuses of human rights in Monaco.

The country is governed by a sovereign prince, and legislative acts are conducted by the prince and the popularly elected National Council. Elections in 2013 were accepted by international organizations as free and fair.

Despite meeting its commitment to the protection of citizens human rights, there continues to be some pressure to further protect human rights in Monaco in the following areas:

In 2015, the Department of State reported instances of prisoner mistreatment in the country. There is one single detention center in Monaco, in which detainees have been reported to not be given enough time in the sunlight and outdoor exercise. Monaco’s government has allowed independent human rights observers, such as the Council of Europe’s European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), to continue to monitor the situation. The CPT regularly schedules visits to the detention center.

Additionally, much can still be done to strengthen human rights in Monaco, especially for children and people with disabilities, which the council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights acknowledged after his visit to Monaco at the beginning of the year.

The Office of the High Commissioner, which was created for the protection of rights, liberties and for mediation, was urged to strengthen the legislation against all forms of discrimination in general. For example, Monaco is still in the process of ratifying the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Other issues on the horizon for human rights in Monaco include the recent passing of a law on the preservation of national security. The law allows for Monaco authorities to undertake administrative surveillance using voice recordings. Since the enactment of this law in 2016, the Monaco police can monitor anybody presenting a threat or suspected of organized crime and terrorism.

The commissioner for human rights emphasized the use of effective democratic control when it comes to security surveillance during his visit. With proper legislation, the already good record of human rights in Monaco can only continue to improve in the future.

– Melanie Snyder

Photo: Flickr

Human Rights in Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a small, prosperous country in western Europe. Since the beginning of the 21st century, Luxembourg has made great strides in continuing to achieve and secure basic human rights in Luxembourg for their citizens.

As of 2017, the government of Luxembourg has met the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking. According to the U.S. State Department, “These achievements included increasing the number of prosecutions and convictions, finalizing and adopting a written national referral mechanism, enhancing the number of dedicated personnel to anti-trafficking positions” and others.

There were reported occasional cases of discrimination throughout the country over the last decade, specifically discrimination with respect to employment on the basis of race, color, political opinion, sex, gender, disability and other categories. Luxembourg law requires quotas for hiring diverse types of employees. It also mandates equal pay for equal work.

In September 2014, in reaction to reporting that employers paid women 8.6 percent less on average than men for the same work, the Ministry of Equal Opportunities began an awareness campaign using newspapers, online advertisements and posters in order to end the unequal treatment of women in the workplace.

On a more controversial note, Luxembourg legalized euthanasia in 2009, making it the third country in Europe to legalize euthanasia. The law on palliative care, advance instructions and end-of-life accompaniment “applied to anyone in a hopeless medical situation as a result of an accident or serious illness.” Many human rights advocacy groups, such as the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Global Outreach, have spoken out against the practice.

The Human Rights Council will be reviewing human rights in Luxembourg early next year to determine whether they are fulfilling their human rights commitments. But it is safe to say that with a stable government and human rights laws that are routinely enforced, human rights will continue to be respected in Luxembourg.

– Melanie Snyder

Photo: Flickr