Derechos Humanos (Continuación)

Europa,

By Simon Tisdall (THE GUARDIAN, 10/05/06):

Dick Cheney's just-completed east European rampage left Russia in a rage. Peppering grapeshot in his inimitable way, the US vice-president accused the Kremlin of using oil and gas exports to "intimidate and blackmail" European neighbours; of "interfering with democratic movements" in places such as Ukraine; and "unfairly and improperly restricting" civil rights.Mr Cheney's rodeo diplomacy in Lithuania, Croatia and Kazakhstan, all formerly in the Soviet sphere of influence, recalled his roots in Wyoming's cattle-lands. And his down-home criticisms produced a stampede of uptight Russian officials angrily shooting back. The old cold war hustler did not know what he was talking about, they said.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa,

By E. J. Dionne Jr. (THE WASHINGTON POST, 09/05/06):

It came as something of a shock to have to agree with Vice President Cheney, but what he said last week about human rights in Vladimir Putin's Russia was accurate, even laudable. Then Cheney went to Kazakhstan, and you wondered if it was the same guy talking.

Speaking to Eastern European leaders in Lithuania, Cheney made the essential point about Putin's government: that "opponents of reform are seeking to reverse the gains of the last decade."

"In many areas of civil society, from religion and the news media to advocacy groups and political parties," Cheney said, "the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her people."…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa,

By Masha Lipman, editor of the Carnegie Moscow Center's Pro et Contra journal, writes a monthly column for The Post (THE WASHINGTON POST, 02/05/06):

Early in the perestroika years, Mikhail Gorbachev declared the preeminence of human values for Soviet Russia. It was a truly revolutionary pronouncement: During decades of Cold War the U.S.S.R. had staunchly rejected civil liberties and other pillars of liberal democracy as "bourgeois" and alien to the Soviet man and state. Gorbachev sought to convince the West that the Soviet Union was opening up for real.

After the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union, Russia rid itself of its oppressive police state, and the Russian people were finally free to choose how they wanted their country to evolve.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesDemocracia

By Jonathan Steele (THE GUARDIAN, 28/04/06):

here is an ABC of how to promote undemocratic regimes. The leader of country A will be George Bush's guest today after recently supervising a parliamentary election that was widely considered not to have been free and fair. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which sent the usual team of observers, described it as "not meeting international standards".The incumbent leader had tight control over the media, and used state-funded TV to highlight his alleged achievements while ignoring or denigrating his opponents. His police were brutal and broke up rallies. "There were restrictions on the freedom of assembly, as well as harassment, intimidation, and detentions of some candidates and their supporters," as the OSCE put it.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, , ,

By P. Sabin Willet, a Boston lawyer with Bingham McCutchen, represents Saddiq Ahmad Turkistani, who is about to begin his fifth year of imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay (THE WASHINGTON POST, 27/04/06):

I brought flowers to the isolation cell when I visited Saddiq this month. He likes to draw roses and often asks for gardening magazines.

Saddiq is one of the many mistakes at Guantanamo Bay. In 2005 our military admitted that he was not an enemy combatant, but the government hasn't been able to repatriate him. (By a curious irony, Saddiq's opposition to Osama bin Laden makes him too hot to handle in his native Saudi Arabia.)…  Seguir leyendo »

EspañaModelo de EstadoDemocracia,

Por Irene Lozano. Periodista, lingüista y Premio Espasa de Ensayo 2005 (ABC, 23/04/06):

SE suele dar por sentado que la irrupción en las instituciones de un partido de ultraderecha constituye una preocupación para todo buen demócrata y que, por tanto, son acertados todos los esfuerzos que se emprendan para impedirlo.

La posible competencia de una formación de ese tipo, con el sustrato xenófobo y racista que las caracteriza en Europa, provoca un miedo cerval en los políticos, tanto por la merma de votos que supone para los partidos tradicionales como por el cuestionamiento de ciertos principios democráticos que conlleva. Nunca hay que fiarse de los consejos que da el miedo, pues suele ser «la principal razón de que la gente se resista a aceptar los hechos y esté tan dispuesta a envolverse en un cálido abrigo de mitos», como dijo Bertrand Russell.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesDemocracia

By Lord Johan Steyn, chair of the civil rights group Justice and was a law lord from 1995 to 2005; this is an edited version of the Attlee Foundation Lecture he gave earlier this month (THE GUARDIAN, 22/04/06):

In the western world, the view prevails that democracy is a better form of government than any other. Probably it is. But the assertion of the superior moral value of democratic government compared, for example, with the organisation of society according to moderate Muslim principles, ought not to be conceded without examination. In the light of Guantánamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, Falluja, the other horrors of the Iraq war, and the continuing revelations about so-called extraordinary rendition - a fancy phrase for kidnapping - the Muslim world may not be over-impressed with protestations about the rule of law.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia,

By Rebecca MacKinnon. She was CNN's Beijing bureau chief from 1998 to 2001. Now is a research fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and is co-founder of Global Voices Online, an international bloggers' network (THE WASHINGTON POST, 20/04/06):

On Feb. 16, Hu Jia, a Chinese AIDS activist, was asked to get in a car with men he didn't recognize. They put a black hood over his head and pushed him down so he couldn't see where he was being taken. Then they locked him in the inner room of a hotel suite and interrogated him for 41 days.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, ,

Por Ariel Dorfman, escritor chileno; su último libro es Memorias del desierto (EL PAÍS, 20/04/06):

¿Puede alguien ser musulmán y también patrióticamente norteamericano? Es la pregunta que me planteé la otra noche, cuando cené con el capitán James Yee. Se trata del primer militar norteamericano que le ha contado al mundo lo que verdaderamente pasa dentro de las jaulas y detrás de las alambradas del centro de detención que opera los Estados Unidos en Guantánamo, Cuba: la tortura, la profanación del Corán, la hostilidad incesante que exhiben los interrogadores hacia el islam.

El capitán Yee conoce a fondo esta desolada situación porque ofició, a partir de noviembre de 2002, como capellán musulmán en Guantánamo, atendiendo las urgencias espirituales de aquellos enemigos del Estado norteamericano que se han visto encarcelados en ese sitio en forma indefinida bajo el rótulo de "enemy combatants".…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia,

By Martin Samuel (THE TIMES, 11/04/06):

KEN LIVINGSTONE would like to install a countdown clock for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, but is uncertain where to put it. I know, I know, but try to keep it clean, will you? Ken’s suggestion is Trafalgar Square. His fear is that it will be opposed by the conservatism of Westminster council, a body he bravely denounced on a fact-finding trip to the host city for the 2008 Games, Beijing. If only all leaders could be as enlightened as the Chinese, eh, Ken? If only the men and women of Westminster could be as foursquarely behind progress as our dear friend Wen Jiabao.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial, , ,

By Minette Marrin (THE TIMES, 10/04/06):

There can be no point whatsoever in taking a little boy to court for calling another little boy names in the playground. It is insane. That ought to be glaringly obvious. Unfortunately it isn’t. Last week a 10-year-old boy found himself before a district court judge in Salford being prosecuted for allegedly calling an 11-year-old “Paki”, “Bin Laden” and “nigger”.

This was considered by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to be “a racially aggravated public order offence”. The boy denied the charge and claimed that the other boy had called him “white trash”.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial, ,

Por Sergio Ramírez, escritor nicaragüense (EL PAÍS, 06/04/06):

"Aunque usted no lo crea, por Ripley". Banalidades para el asombro que nos acompañaron desde la infancia en los periódicos, al lado de las tiras cómicas y los crucigramas: todo lo inusitado, lo que rompía la lógica, lo que era de extrañar; desde la estatura descomunal de una persona a su longeva edad, más terneros de dos cabezas, una papa de una arroba de peso, el silbido más prolongado del mundo, alguien capaz de dormir una semana continua, o comerse cien hamburguesas, o el faquir con más horas sin comer.

Hoy, no se trata de Robert Ripley, el eterno viajante que comenzó a acumular su interminable listado de proezas y rarezas desde el año 1917 hasta su muerte.…  Seguir leyendo »

EspañaPolítica Exterior, ,

Por Miguel Ángel Moratinos, ministro de Asuntos Exteriores (EL PAÍS, 05/04/06):

España acaba de ratificar el Protocolo de Naciones Unidas contra la tortura, cumpliendo con un compromiso del PSOE en las pasadas elecciones generales. El texto de este Protocolo, que complementa y prolonga los acuerdos de Naciones Unidas contra el tormento al ser humano, aúna dos objetivos de nuestra política exterior: la defensa de los derechos humanos y la apuesta por el multilateralismo eficaz.

En la defensa de los derechos humanos el multilateralismo es fundamental para impermeabilizar la membrana por la que a veces se escapan acciones inaceptables contra la persona.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional,

By Anna Plitkovskaya, a special correspondent for the Moscow-based paper Novaya Gazeta and the recipient of the 2005 Civil Courage Prize (THE WASHINGTON POST, 01/04/06):

We are using Stalin's methods again, this time to fight terrorism. I am writing for this American newspaper on a subject that one can no longer write about in Russia -- islamskiy terrorizm, or Islamic terrorism cases. There are hundreds of such cases going through the courts in our country. Most of them have been fabricated by the government so that the special services can demonstrate how "effective" Russia is in fighting terrorism and so that President Vladimir Putin has something with which to impress the West.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial

Par Kevin Watkins, directeur du bureau du Pnud chargé d'établir le rapport mondial sur le développe-ment humain (LIBERATION, 25/03/06):

Soyons honnêtes. Personne n'a vraiment entamé «la journée de l'eau» en parcourant 1,5 kilomètre pour aller chercher au ruisseau la provision quotidienne en eau d'une famille. Aucun d'entre nous n'a subi l'affront d'avoir à utiliser un champ, le bas-côté de la route ou un sac en plastique pour faire ses besoins. Et nos enfants ne meurent pas faute de disposer d'un verre d'eau potable, de sanitaires et d'égouts.

Cela pourrait expliquer notre vision étroite de la «crise de l'eau». Le niveau du réservoir en baisse, un saut d'humeur à propos de compteurs d'eau obligatoires et un ministre qui demande qu'on tire la chasse d'eau moins souvent et qu'on abandonne le bain au profit d'une douche rapide suffisent à constituer à nos yeux une urgence.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial,

By Katharine Weber, the author of the forthcoming novel "Triangle." (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 25/03/06):

NINETY-FIVE years ago, March 25 also fell on a Saturday. At 4:40 p.m. on that sunny afternoon in 1911, only minutes before the end of the workday, a fire broke out on the eighth floor of the Asch Building, a block east of Washington Square in Manhattan.

The Triangle Waist Company occupied the top three floors of the 10-story building. There, some 600 workers were employed in the manufacture of ladies' shirtwaists, most of them teenage girls who spoke little English and were fresh off the boat from Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial,

By Tristram Hunt, the author of Building Jerusalem: the Rise and Fall of the Victorian City (THE GUARDIAN, 25/03/06):

As befits the MP for Hull, John Prescott has assumed William Wilberforce's mantle and placed himself in charge of next year's 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in British ships.It promises to be a suitably august commemoration with an exhibition in Parliament Hall, renovated museums in Liverpool and Hull, and academic conferences. But if the anniversary is to have any lasting value, the heritage sector must say something more challenging about Britain's multiracial past.

To historians such as Richard Beck, the story of the slave trade is a morality play with the British cast as evil knaves.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalONU

Par Kofi Annan. Secrétaire général de l'Organi sation des Nations Unies (LE FIGARO, 24/03/06):

Malgré les différences entre ma proposition de départ et la résolution adoptée, il n'y a pas eu de gros changements sur les points essentiels. Comme je l'ai proposé, le principal organe au sein duquel les gouvernements se rencontrent pour débattre des droits de l'homme sera désormais un Conseil à part entière, dont les membres seront choisis directement par l'ensemble des États membres.

Le nouveau Conseil se réunira régulièrement tout au long de l'année et, en cas de crise des droits de l'homme, sera en mesure de réagir rapidement puisque des sessions extraordinaires pourront être convoquées à brève échéance pourvu qu'un tiers des membres le souhaitent.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea,

By Professor Rod Morgan, chair of the Youth Justice Board. Response of The restraint of childhood (THE GUARDIAN, 23/03/06):

Children and young people in custody come generally from "chaotic and difficult family backgrounds". That's a fact I have frequently publicised. So Carolyne Willow's suggestion that by discussing this I am inferring that "these young people deserve much of what they get" is unwarranted (The restraint of childhood, March 16).The Youth Justice Board (YJB) in general, and myself in particular, welcomed the establishment of the Carlile Inquiry into child custody and gave every assistance. We take extremely seriously our duty of care to young people in custody, and will respond carefully to Lord Carlile's recommendations.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, , ,

By Colleen Graffy, the United States' deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy. Response of Trial by spin machine (THE GUARDIAN, 22/03/06):

Victoria Brittain rose to defend the innocence of Moazzam Begg from her unbiased position as co-author of Begg's book, Enemy Combatant (Trial by Spin Machine, March 14). She laid out her case on how three different journalists in three different papers were wrong to question his innocence by attacking the integrity of the journalists. Those who wondered why, for example, Begg and his bookshop were under surveillance by MI5 before he went to Afghanistan are dismissed as "spin machines".…  Seguir leyendo »