Editor’s Note: Rights & Wrongs is a weekly column covering the world’s major human rights-related happenings. It is written by regular WPR contributor Juliette Terzieff and appears every Friday. ICRC BREAKS SILENCE OVER BURMA — In an extremely rare move, the International Committee of the Red Cross June 29 issued a harsh public censure of the Burmese government over systematic human right abuses of civilians and detainees, including forced relocations, arbitrary detentions and murder. “The ICRC has repeatedly drawn attention to these abuses but the authorities have failed to put a stop to them. . . . The continuing deadlock [...]
TORONTO — Credit the apostle of development aid, Bono, for his unbending consistency. In Heiligendamm, Germany, last week, He accused the G-8 countries of obfuscation and creative accounting in their $60 billion pledge to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. His criticism, shared by HIV/AIDS organizations and other development activists, is twofold: That money is not designated solely for Africa, nor does it have a timeline. “We are looking for accountable language and accountable numbers: We didn’t get them,” Bono said in a statement. “Clear year-by-year steps were needed but this labyrinthine language offers no path — it’s a maze designed [...]
