Human Rights Today: 2-12-09

by admin on February 12, 2009

Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

COLOMBIA: Crisis means more child soldiers

Colombian flagGlobal financial turmoil could drive more children to become fighters for Colombia’s rebel groups as the country’s poorest people suffer the fallout of the economic slowdown, a U.N. agency said on Wednesday. Colombia Reports

EGYPT: Van Spirits Away Protester, Signaling Crackdown on Criticism Over Gaza

Egyptian flagState security came for Philip Rizk on Friday night. He had just finished a six-mile protest walk with about 15 friends to raise support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip when he was detained for hours and then hustled into an unmarked van and driven off. He has not been seen or heard from since. Common Dreams

UGANDA: Supreme Court Declared Mandatory Death Sentence Unconstitutional

Ugandan flagThe Supreme Court of Uganda decided on appeal1 on 21 January 2009 that mandatory death sentence is inconsistent with the Constitution and that all the laws on the statute books in Uganda that provide for this are void. According to the decision, such mandatory sentence can only be regarded as a maximum sentence. FIDH

U.S.: How Will Obama Engage on Human Rights?

American flagA pair of imminent decisions by the Obama administration will reveal how committed it is to engaging the world on universal human rights issues, and whether it is willing to stand up to special interests and a predictable conservative outcry in Washington. On the issue of human rights, bipartisanship will be even harder to achieve than on a domestic economic rescue package. Common Dreams

Stumble It!

{ 0 comments… add one now }

Leave a Comment

You can use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>