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The Chagos Islanders: Britain's Historic Injustice

In the late 1960s, the British government made a decision to send the made to send the inhabitants of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, into exile in Mauritius and the Seychelles Islands, so that their island - unencumbered with people - could be handed to the United States for use as a military base. Their tragic story since shows the willingness of the British government to ignore inconvenient human rights. What will happen now, after last month's High Court ruling in the Chagossians' favour will tell us much about Britain's current government if it is prepared to stand up for the values that really matter. (Iain Orr, Toward Freedom, 14 June 2006)

http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/836/

(Added: Fri Jun 16 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 193)

A joint statement by 14 local and international NGOs on the present situation in Nepal

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), 7 March 2005. Statement adopted by 14 local, regional and international human rights bodies and academic institutions, who gathered in Bangkok, Thailand at the 4th International Criminal Court (ICC) Campaign Network Regional Meeting regarding the present situation in relation to human rights in Nepal.

http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2005/973

(Added: Tue Mar 08 2005   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 396)

After the Tsunami: Human Rights of Vulnerable Populations

After the Tsunami: Human Rights of Vulnerable Populations is based on interviews conducted by research teams in March and April 2005 with hundreds of tsunami survivors, government officials, human rights activists, and aid workers in five tsunami-affected countries-India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Thailand.

http://www.eastwestcenter.org/res-rp-publicationdetails.asp?pub_ID=1961

(Added: Mon Nov 28 2005   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 323)

Assessing the Effectiveness of National Human Rights Institutions [PDF]

National human rights institutions (NHRIs) are now, beyond a doubt, valued as essential partners in the task of protecting and promoting human rights at the national and regional levels. The report presented here is designed to assist NHRIs to measure their own effectiveness. It was prepared through a participatory process involving members of NHRIs and establishes measurement benchmarks and indicators for the compliance of national institutions with the Paris Principles. The report first presents a set of benchmarks as the minimum normative condition that is desirable for a national institution to achieve its objectives. It is followed by a set of indicators, both quantitative and qualitative, to demonstrate progress achieved by the NHRI. These indicators of performance and impact are intended for a NHRI to be able to assess the human rights situation, its own performance and the impact of the institution on the enjoyment of human rights. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, International Council on Human Rights Policy, 2005.

http://www.ichrp.org/paper_files/125_p_01.pdf

(Added: Thu Jan 19 2006   Modified: Fri Jan 20 2006   Hits: 351)

Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)

Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 39/46 of 10 December 1984; entry into force 26 June 1987, in accordance with article 27.

http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/cat.htm

(Added: Thu Jun 09 2005   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 218)

Debt and Human Rights

By Brenda Moyfa. Debt becomes a human rights issue because it is one of the major obstacles to the practical realization and full enjoyment of human rights. Indebted developing countries spend huge sums of their scarce national resources on debt servicing. In fact, they spend more on servicing the debt than on providing people with the necessary basis of education and health. As debt servicing reduces people to poverty and allows creditors to determine a country's political, economic, and social destiny, then debt invariably becomes a human rights issue.

http://www.afsc.org/africa-debt/learn-about-debt/debt-human-rights.htm

(Added: Tue Jan 11 2005   Modified: Fri Sep 08 2006   Hits: 346)

Doing Business in or with Burma [PDF]

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, January 2005. A lot has been written and said about whether economic sanctions in Burma will work or not. Will they speed up the process towards democracy? Are they an effective weapon? Do they harm the dictators more than the general public? This report looks at the following issues: What are the consequences of investment in or trade with Burma? How does it work? Who profits? Who suffers from it?

http://www.icftu.org/www/PDF/Burma-ICFTUReport-January.pdf

(Added: Mon Sep 12 2005   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 214)

Honor Haiti, Honor Ourselves, Forget Haiti, Forget Ourselves

(Counterpunch) By Randall Robinson, January 1, 2004. "Between 1791 and 1804, hundreds of thousands of Africans enslaved in Haiti ignored the rivers, forests, precipices, swamps, mountains, gorges, bloodhounds, rifles, cannon, and whips that separated them and united to launch a massive, brilliantly executed, spectacular war of liberation that the armies of Spain, England, and France (with the help of the United States) all fought desperately--and failed absolutely--to crush ... They had wrested from Napoleon the engine of France's economic expansion, banished slavery from the land, and ended European domination of 10,000 square miles of fertile land and hundreds of thousands of slaves to work it. They had shattered the myth of European invincibility."

http://www.counterpunch.org/robinson01012004.html

(Added: Wed Mar 31 2004   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 274)

Human Rights and the Environment (pdf)

Earthjustice, April 6th, 2004. The "Human Rights and the Environment" report presents a review of recent developments and case studies in the area of human rights and the environment at the international, regional, and domestic levels. The report also provides a comprehensive list of domestic constitutional provisions relating to human rights and the environment. "Nations and legal systems around the world are working to establish and protect the right to a clean and healthy environment as a basic human right," said Marcello Mollo of Earthjustice, author of this year's report. "The UN Commission on Human Rights can, and should, advance the right to a healthy environment until it is seen as an international standard worthy of inclusion in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

http://www.earthjustice.org/news/documents/4-04/2004UNreport.pdf

(Added: Thu Apr 08 2004   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 451)

In depth: The right to adequate housing

At first glance, it might seem unusual to address housing as a basic human right. Insecure and inadequate shelter, however, threatens physical and mental health and the overall quality of life. In other words, human dignity. This idea is mirrored in relevant international legislation, such as the Universal Declaration and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This Choike webpage has a variety of links and resources looking at the right to adequate housing.

http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1162.html

(Added: Fri Jul 23 2004   Modified: Fri Jan 19 2007   Hits: 191)

Land rights in crisis : restoring tenure security in Afghanistan [PDF]

By Liz Alden Wily (2003). Published by Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. This report discusses how, until recently, land tenure - the holding and transacting of land - has not been more than peripherally on Afghanistan's planning agenda. Though it is a marvel that any substantive land planning has taken place at all, what has been thought through is driven by the limited objective of helping foreign investors secure land. A more poverty-focused approach to reconstruction, within which land tenure conflicts are most visible, has been slow to emerge, which has meant that issues of land access and the concerns of the majority remain a low priority.

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN016656.pdf

(Added: Mon Jul 25 2005   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 208)

Local Government and Human Rights: Doing Good Service [PDF]

This report discusses how local governments can improve the services they deliver. It argues that national and local governments have legal obligations to promote and protect human rights. It also argues that local governments can that find it is in their interest to use the human rights framework because, used thoughtfully, it can help them to become more effective and more legitimate. International Council on Human Rights Policy, 2005.

http://www.ichrp.org/paper_files/124_p_01.pdf

(Added: Thu Jan 19 2006   Modified: Fri Jan 20 2006   Hits: 282)

Planting the Rights Seed: A human rights perspective on agriculture, trade and the WTO

3D Backgrounder No. 1 in the THREAD series, March 2005. This Backgrounder examines the global agriculture system from a human rights perspective. It explores the link between the rural sector, agricultural trade, and the realization of human rights. In so doing it highlights the limitations of the agriculture trade liberalization agenda that currently dominates policy-making, including in the World Trade Organization (WTO). This Backgrounder suggests ways to approach the global agricultural trading system with a view to making it more responsive to human needs.

http://www.3dthree.org/pdf_3D/HRAgTHREADfineng

(Added: Wed May 18 2005   Modified: Thu Jun 16 2005   Hits: 405)

The International Center for Transitional Justice

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) assists countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity or human rights abuse. The Center works in societies emerging from repressive rule or armed conflict, as well as in established democracies where historical injustices or systemic abuse remain unresolved.

http://www.ictj.org

(Added: Tue Jan 24 2006   Hits: 237)

The Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights

The Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights is an autonomous network of groups and individuals in every continent who aim to achieve and support reproductive rights for women. Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights strives for women's right to self-determination in keeping with their freedom, dignity and personally held values. Transforming social, political and economic conditions are part of the reproductive rights agenda so that all women are able to fully enforce reproductive rights.

http://www.wgnrr.org

(Added: Mon Nov 08 2004   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 281)