Today’s update of human rights events around the world.
US: Freezing Out Hamas No Longer Viable, Say Policy Heavyweights
A new report from a New York-based think tank and delivered to U.S. President Barack Obama by a signatory who is also a current adviser recommends that Washington forcefully reinsert itself into the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, calling for “a more pragmatic approach to Hamas.” IPS
NETHERLANDS: Dutch Police Get Tasers
Today, Holland starts a one-year trial of arming police with Tasers. This sounds like a familiar story, but here’s the twist: The Dutch police don’t want the them. According to Dutch Public TV, the Federal Police issued a statement documenting their objections to using a weapon so rife with problems. AmnestyUSA
MIDDLE EAST: Press Sudan on Darfur Aid
The League of Arab States should call on Sudan to urgently readmit humanitarian aid groups to Darfur, Human Rights Watch said in a letter released today. Arab League foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Sudan when they meet on March 30, 2009, at their annual summit in Doha, Qatar. Human Rights Watch
BOLIVIA: Will the Rule of Law Apply to All Bolivians?
On March 7, a mob of Bolivians occupied the home of Victor Hugo Cardenas, an indigenous politician who served as vice president under former president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. The group, which justified the action as an expropriation based on a provision of the new constitution requiring that land holdings serve a social function, also acted roughly with Cardenas’ wife and children. The mob explicitly stated that they specifically targeted Cardenas due to his opposition to the new constitution. The responses of government officials to this seizure have been contradictory and unclear thus far. High-level officials including Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera and Deputy Interior Minister Marcos Farfan, however, have implied or stated outright their support for the action. Unfortunately, the incident is but one in a series of occurrences that have observers – even those sympathetic to the Morales administration – scratching their heads regarding the government’s relationship with the rule of law. Freedom House
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