Human Rights Archive

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—In Ethiopia’s two most populous ethnic regions, anti-government rallies turned into a bloodbath in early August as security forces again used live ammunition against protesters. In the western part of Oromia, the largest of Ethiopia’s nine ethnically based states, the town of Nekempte looked like a “war zone,” according to a protester. An opposition party said almost 100 people were killed and thousands arrested after demonstrations across the sprawling Oromia region, which encircles the capital, Addis Ababa, and borders Kenya in the south and South Sudan in the west. A day later in Bahir Dar, the capital of […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the globe. An economic downturn might unexpectedly be improving gender equality in Italy, though many key issues are still not being addressed. After several women were murdered earlier this month in Italy, the government has allocated $13 million for a plan to combat violence against women and an additional $14 million to fight human trafficking. In an email interview, Annalisa Rosselli, a professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, discusses women’s rights in Italy. [marketing]blockbuster[/marketing] […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series inviting authors to identify the biggest priority—whether a threat, risk, opportunity or challenge—facing the international order and U.S. foreign policy today. Just 25 years after winning the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the communist regimes of Eastern Europe, the United States is facing a very different world than the one many had expected. Instead of a world of relative peace, with no proxy wars in developing countries and no major global geostrategic opponents, there is violence and terrorism around the globe, much of it […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the globe. On Saturday, more than 50,000 people took to the streets of Lima and eight other cities in Peru to protest violence against women and what they see as an indifferent judicial system. The demonstrations come after three high-profile cases in which activists believe male perpetrators were given lenient sentences by Peruvian courts. In an email interview, Jelke Boesten, a reader at King’s College London, discussed the fight for women’s rights in Peru. WPR: What […]

In the most serious accusation among many that have damaged the reputation of Peru’s National Police in recent years, the country’s Interior Ministry has identified a group of police officers who allegedly participated in “death squads” that assassinated petty criminals in order to earn extra money or promotions, at a time when crime was rising to unprecedented levels. The charges complicate the urgent challenge of improving public security for a new government that has been in power for less than a month. According to the national press, 97 police officers are under investigation for the extrajudicial killings of 27 criminals […]

YAOUNDE, Cameroon—In June, gay rights activists in Cameroon were dealt a disheartening setback. While revising the Central African country’s penal code, parliament voted to retain a notorious anti-gay provision dating back to 1972. Under the law, known as Article 347 bis, which has enabled the prosecution of dozens of Cameroonians in recent years, same-sex sexual acts between consenting adults are punishable with fines of more than $300 dollars and prison terms of up to five years. Though some lawmakers privately question whether policing alternative sexualities should be a government priority, none was willing to take this position publicly. The only […]

Millions of Iranians went to the polls in February in Iran’s first elections since Hassan Rouhani, a centrist cleric, rode a wave of hope to the presidency three years ago. Among them was the mother of 30-year-old Ali Shariati, who has been in prison since 2015. “My son Ali and a number of other political prisoners issued a statement encouraging people to vote,” she told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran after the election. “We voted. Now President Rouhani should carry out his promise from two years ago to free political prisoners.” In 2013, Ali Shariati enthusiastically campaigned […]

It may be the shortest “golden era” on record. Barely nine months after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s extended visit to the United Kingdom seemed to cement a “very special relationship” between London and Beijing, China’s ambassador to the U.K. is warning that relations are now at a “crucial historical juncture.” The issue nominally at hand is the British government’s decision over whether to proceed with the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant, in which China General Nuclear Power Company (CGN) has a stake. But the real question is whether the new British prime minister, Theresa May, intends to walk away from […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the legal status and socio-economic conditions of indigenous peoples in a range of countries. The recent arrest of an indigenous leader in Guatemala sparked outrage among the country’s indigenous communities, which claim the government is systematically discriminating against them. In an email interview, Jennifer N. Costanza, an independent scholar who focuses on indigenous rights and the politics of resource extraction in Latin America, discussed indigenous rights in Guatemala. WPR: What is the legal status of Guatemala’s indigenous peoples, what legal struggles have they fought in recent years, and […]

As Cambodia prepares for national elections in two years, its politics have veered dangerously out of control. Even though young Cambodians are demanding political alternatives and accessing more information outside of state media, the country’s transition toward two-party politics has collapsed. The government’s brutal tactics of the 1990s and early 2000s, when political activists were routinely murdered and opposition parties nearly put out of business, have returned. Young Cambodians may be left with no outlet for their grievances, creating a potentially explosive situation, especially given the promise of reform and dialogue just a few years ago. In 2013, the opposition […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the legal status and socio-economic conditions of indigenous peoples in a range of countries. The Ecuadorean indigenous political party Pachakutik yesterday officially validated the results of its presidential primary, naming Lourdes Tiban as the party’s nominee for next year’s election. In an email interview, Manuela Picq, professor of international relations at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) in Ecuador, and currently a Loewenstein Fellow in the department of political science at Amherst College, discusses the legal, political and socio-economic status of Ecuador’s indigenous peoples. WPR: What is the […]

Editor’s note: This is the first article in an ongoing WPR series on the legal status and socio-economic conditions of indigenous peoples in a range of countries. Bolivian President Evo Morales entered office in part thanks to Bolivia’s politically organized and potent indigenous movement. In an email interview, Linda Farthing, a writer and editor specializing in Bolivia and Latin America whose latest book is “Evo’s Bolivia: Continuity and Change,” discusses the legal status and socio-economic conditions of Bolivia’s indigenous communities. WPR: What is the legal status of Bolivia’s indigenous peoples, and what are the key political and socio-economic issues facing […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss Cuba’s economic downturn and the future of economic reforms, Lebanon’s policy toward Syrian refugees, and coup rumors and the state of civil-military relations in Pakistan. For the Report, Simone Schlindwein joins us to talk about politics in the Democratic Republic of Congo as President Joseph Kabila angles for a third term. Listen:Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant Articles on WPR: Venezuelan Contagion Hits Cuba’s Economy, Putting Reforms in Jeopardy Terror Attacks Test Lebanon’s Welcome for Syrian Refugees Corruption Scandal and Coup Rumors Put Pakistan’s Sharif […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the globe. Last month, Pakistani social media star Fauzia Azeem, who went by the name Qandeel Baloch, was murdered by her brother in an alleged honor killing that was condemned by women’s groups, but praised by some people on social media. In an email interview, Anita Weiss, a professor at the University of Oregon, discusses women’s rights in Pakistan. WPR: What is the current status of women’s rights and gender equality in Pakistan? Anita Weiss: Many […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the globe. The Colombian government and rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) agreed during peace negotiations last month to promote women’s access to property and to deny amnesty to perpetrators of sexual violence. In an email interview, Felipe Jaramillo Ruiz, a founding member of Colombian Network of International Relations and doctoral student at the Graduate Institute of Geneva, discusses women’s rights in Colombia. WPR: What is the current status of women’s rights and […]

In the early hours of June 27, four suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts in the sleepy Lebanese town of al-Qaa, which lies just a few kilometers from the Syrian frontier. Another four attackers would strike later in the evening, with the two attacks killing five and wounding scores more. In the context of spillover from the Syrian civil war, the violence itself was not an anomaly. Lebanon has been on high alert for retaliatory terrorist activity ever since 2013, when Hezbollah leader Sayed Hasan Nasrallah publicly announced the party’s fighters were active in Syria alongside longtime ally President Bashar […]

The United Nations is constantly embroiled in brutal conflicts, but some do it vastly more political harm than others. The organization has never fully recovered from its failure to prevent the Rwandan genocide and Srebrenica massacre in the 1990s. Now it faces simultaneous crises in South Sudan and Syria that may do it equally severe damage. In South Sudan, peacekeepers have been thrown off balance by an outburst of violence for the second time in three years. The U.N. mission (UNMISS) there was unable to stop the country collapsing into civil war in 2013, but managed to protect tens of […]