Archivo etiqueta «Derechos Humanos»
By Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Mark Hanis, co-founders of the Genocide Intervention Network (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 31/01/12):
Drones are not just for firing missiles in Pakistan. In Iraq, the State Department is using them to watch for threats to Americans. It’s time we used the revolution in military affairs to serve human rights advocacy.
With drones, we could take clear pictures and videos of human rights abuses, and we could start with Syria.
The need there is even more urgent now, because the Arab League’s observers suspended operations last week.
They fled the very violence they … Seguir leyendo
By Daniel Williams, a senior researcher in the emergencies division of Human Rights Watch. He was previously a foreign correspondent for the Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Bloomberg News, and has covered the Middle East for the last decade (LOS ANGELES TIMES, 25/01/12):
As Egypt marks the first anniversary of the Jan. 25 civilian revolt that eventually toppled the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, there’s no agreement — on how to celebrate or even whether rejoicing is in order.
The current military rulers — the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF — want to … Seguir leyendo
By Vinton G. Cerf, a fellow at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a vice president and chief Internet evangelist for Google (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 05/01/12):
From the streets of Tunis to Tahrir Square and beyond, protests around the world last year were built on the Internet and the many devices that interact with it. Though the demonstrations thrived because thousands of people turned out to participate, they could never have happened as they did without the ability that the Internet offers to communicate, organize and publicize everywhere, instantaneously.
It is no surprise, then, that the … Seguir leyendo
By David J. Kramer, president of Freedom House (THE WASHINGTON POST, 30/12/11):
A months-long campaign against civil-society groups by Egypt’s military leadership came to a head Thursday when Egyptian security forces raided the Cairo offices of Freedom House and several other international and local nongovernmental organizations. These attacks were a major setback to the hopes that emerged this year with the revolution in Tahrir Square. If corrective measures are not taken, the attacks will severely damage Egypt’s long-term stability and prospects for a more democratic future.
The protests in January and February that led to the resignation of Hosni … Seguir leyendo
By Patricia Gossman, who is working with the Afghan Human Rights Commission on its forthcoming report (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 27/12/11):
Watershed moments in Afghanistan happen by stealth. Last weekend — the anniversary of the Soviet invasion 32 years ago — President Hamid Karzai rid himself of his most outspoken critic, a prominent official with one of the few government institutions in Afghanistan that actually performs well — the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. The move, announced Thursday, seems intended not only to silence a critic but bury the truth about the crimes of the past.
Why now? Ahmad … Seguir leyendo
Por Alon Liel, embajador israelí en Suráfrica entre 1992 y 1994 y director general en el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de Israel. Traducción de M. Luisa Rodríguez Tapia (EL PAÍS, 21/12/11):
Cuando asumí el puesto de embajador israelí en Suráfrica, en 1992, la historia estaba ya cambiando en favor de la democracia. Sin embargo, seguían en vigor numerosas leyes del apartheid, aunque ya no se aplicaban de forma estricta. Recuerdo, en especial, las leyes concebidas para incapacitar a la sociedad civil, destruir las organizaciones de la comunidad y sofocar los derechos humanos. Entre ellas estaban las que impedían la … Seguir leyendo
By Emma Sinclair-Webb, a Human Rights Watch researcher working on Turkey (LOS ANGELES TIMES, 19/12/11):
There has been much discussion in the U.S. and European media of Turkey as a rising star after its recent stance on Syria and its general support for the “Arab Spring.”
Turkey is viewed as the successful merger of Islam and modernization. The Muslim religious coloring of the ruling Justice and Development Party is not seen as being at odds with its democratic, pro-Western outlook. The government has won popular support in the region, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan greeted rapturously on his … Seguir leyendo
By Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican, chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 13/12/11):
Saturday marked both International Human Rights Day and one year since Chinese intellectual Liu Xiaobo received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work promoting human rights and democracy in China. Human Rights Day, which commemorates the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), is an occasion to affirm our commitment to advancing the values of human rights common to us all. Nobel Laureate Liu’s continued … Seguir leyendo
By Chen Min, a former editorial writer for Southern Weekend newspaper and a former managing editor of China Reform magazine. This essay was translated by David Liu from the Chinese (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 16/11/11):
The Chinese government often tolerates, and even encourages, abuses of power and extrajudicial punishments by law enforcement officials. These are the underlying evils that sustain a regime that values its own preservation above all else, including human rights and the rule of law.
But how is this possible in a world where outsiders feel free to criticize China’s human rights record? Why does the … Seguir leyendo
By Malcolm Fraser, three times Prime Minister of Australia (Project Syndicate, 02/11/11):
Last weekend, representatives of 54 countries, mostly heads of government, attended the bi-annual Commonwealth Meeting. High on the agenda was a report by the Eminent Persons Group (EPG), established to reinvigorate the Commonwealth, strengthen its Secretariat, and transform its approach to human rights. The group included former Australian High Court Justice Michael Kirby, former British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, former Malay Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and Mozamibique’s former first lady (and wife of Nelson Mandela) Graça Machel, among others. The group’s recommendations were unanimous.
But … Seguir leyendo
By Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican, chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 27/10/11):
Eleven years ago, the U.S. Congress passed Public Law 106-286, granting permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China. I was among the vocal opponents of this legislation, citing concerns about China’s egregious human rights record and the risks to U.S. businesses when trading with a country that plays by its own rules instead of abiding by the rule of law.
As chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a bipartisan … Seguir leyendo
By David J. Kramer, president of Freedom House and assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor from 2008 to 2009 and Robert Kagan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Together they co-chair the bipartisan Russia Working Group (THE WASHINGTON POST, 11/10/12):
Wednesday’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Michael McFaul as the next U.S. ambassador to Russia highlights one of three steps that Congress should take this fall related to Russia and U.S.-Russian relations.
The Senate should confirm McFaul, who has served as President Obama’s top adviser on Russia at … Seguir leyendo
By Karim Sadjadpour, an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (THE WASHINGTON POST, 19/09/11):
The media circus generated by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s annual visit to the U.N. General Assembly in New York is a source of great frustration for many Iranians, who wish Western journalists would ask tougher questions about Ahmadinejad’s domestic practices. The following questions are culled from Iranian democracy and human rights activists who don’t have a chance to query the president directly:
Your boss, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was selected by a few dozen clerics more than 20 years ago. Do you … Seguir leyendo
By Reza Kahlili, a pseudonym for an ex-CIA spy who is a fellow with EMPact America and the author of A Time to Betray, about his double life in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 05/09/11):
American filmmaker Michael Moore has asked for permission to travel to Iran to attend Cinema Verite, an Iranian international festival for documentary films, according to Mehr News, the mouthpiece news agency of Iran’s Islamic regime.
In a big-headlined story in the Iranian media, Mr. Moore is quoted as saying he wants to visit Iran to do research about the … Seguir leyendo
By Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats and deputy prime minister (THE GUARDIAN, 25/08/11):
Libya stands on the brink of a new future, one that holds out the promise of democracy and freedom after 40 years of oppression. One of the most important tasks facing the interim government is the prevention of reprisals. That is why David Cameron and I have urged the National Transitional Council to exercise restraint and respect for human rights.
Britain has a proud history of international leadership on human rights. It was our political leadership and legal expertise that led to the … Seguir leyendo