The daily update of human rights events around the world.
Zimbabwe: Momentum Builds for Zimbabwe Intervention
Calls are growing for the international community to do more about Zimbabwe, and now global human rights leaders including Desmond Tutu are engaging in a “relay fast” and other nonviolent acts to pressure neighboring countries — particularly South Africa — to support the Zimbabwean people’s struggle for democracy and human rights. Common Dreams
Israel: Olmert Vows Legal Protection for Troops Over Gaza War
International calls to investigate Israel over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip prompted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday to promise military personnel state protection from foreign prosecution. Common Dreams
U.S.: ‘Global Gag Rule’ Lifted
On Friday evening, a time favored by officials trying to avoid attention, President Barack Obama issued a statement reversing one of the most damaging policies ever visited on developing nations by Republican administrations. This was the “global gag rule,” which forbade US government support for any organization that in any way fostered, provided or even advised women about abortion. It was a policy foisted on an unsuspecting world by the Reagan administration at, of all events, a United Nations conference on women and development held in Mexico City in 1984. Common Dreams
Nigeria: Reject ‘Same Gender’ Marriage Ban
A bill before Nigeria’s National Assembly to ban “same gender marriage” would expand Nigeria’s already draconian punishments for homosexual conduct and threaten all Nigerians’ rights to privacy, free expression, and association, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch
Gaza: Ceasefire Broken From Day One
At 7.30 am Jan. 22, five days after Israeli authorities declared a ‘ceasefire’ following their 22-day air, land and sea bombardment of the Gaza Strip, Israeli gunboats renewed shelling off the Gaza city coast, injuring at least six, including four children. InterPress Service
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