By Christopher Plummer A. Whitney Ellsworth Fellow
The ongoing abuse in Tibet remains one of the most dire human rights crises in the world. In recent years, protesters have taken to self-immolating in the streets to show their despair over the Chinese government’s treatment of ethnic Tibetans. But there is one journalist who has tried to give voice to the many Tibetans who are otherwise forced to stay silent and endure abuse.
Tsering Woeser, an influential blogger living in Beijing, has spent years documenting the persecution of writers and cases of self-immolation in her blog, “Invisible Tibet.” Chinese officials claim that her work “sabotages China’s national solidarity.”
This week at the Centennial Summit and Gala of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Elisa Massimino discussed the need to advance the global fight against discrimination and hate crime. In her remarks, she called upon the United States to take a leadership role in this fight against discrimination.
During the discussion, which featured, the Council for Global Equality’s Mark Bromley, Christina Finch from Amnesty International, and the ADL’s Stacy Burdett, Massimino stressed that anti-Semitism, homophobia, anti-Muslim hatred, xenophobia, religious intolerance, and related forms of hatred are human rights issues that must be confronted head-on by all who seek to advance universal rights and freedoms. Too often, these forms of hatred are only challenged by victims’ groups or those who represent communities of targeted individuals.
The United States has a long history of addressing these challenges at home. Given this legacy, the U.S. government must rise to the challenge of being a global leader on this issue, especially as violent hate crime around the world is on the rise.
Efforts by United States and other nations have succeeded in drawing greater attention to fighting discrimination in the last decade, and their work on this issue is to be commended. However, governments still have much to do to protect all of their citizens from hate crime violence.
Earlier this year, Massimino testified before Congress on practical steps the U.S. government can take to effectively combat the problem of global anti-Semitism.
In her remarks yesterday, Massimino highlighted that for the United States to lead the way in combating discriminatory and hate crime violence, it should take the following steps:
Elevate the importance of religious freedom in U.S. foreign policy by developing a national security strategy that promotes international religious freedom, combats anti-Semitic and related violence and confronts hate speech while protecting freedom of expression.
Establish an interagency mechanism to deploy strategically the resources and programs from across the different U.S. government agencies to combat hate crime globally.
Make combating hate crime an important component of bilateral engagement with other countries.
Maintain the international leadership of the United States in multilateral forums, particularly the OSCE.
Last week, the Indonesian police charged five teenage girls with blasphemy. What was their crime? Dancing to a Maroon 5 song, alternating between pop moves and traditional prayer movements. The video, which was filmed with a cell phone, was posted online.
According to press reports, it was first uploaded in March but entirely ignored. Only after the school headmaster reported the “incident” to the Indonesian authorities did the police take interest. The video has now been viewed over 500,000 times on YouTube. Read More»
By Marc Jayson Climaco New Media Content Specialist
Chen Guangcheng Raises his Family's Safety at the 2012 Human Rights First Award Dinner
The Chinese government is denying urgent medical care to Chen Kegui, the jailed nephew of blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng who has been suffering from acute appendicitis since April 24. Kegui’s father says in a New York Timespiece that the family is “very worried for [Kegui’s] survival.”
By Christopher Plummer A. Whitney Ellsworth Fellow
As one of the main corridors for drug trafficking between Mexico and the United States, Nuevo Laredo has long been a hotspot for drug cartel related violence. Law enforcement officials who dared to investigate and the cartels have suffered grisly deaths. The violence has also been directed at bloggers and other journalists.
In late September, 2011, the decapitated body of Maria Elizabeth Macías Castro, 39, a freelance journalist and online commentator known as “La Nena de Laredo,” was found on a roadside in Nuevo Laredo. Next to her body was a message stating she had been targeted for reporting on cartel business, and next to her head, a keyboard with a pair of headphones.
Her website, Nuevo Laredo en Vivo, provided a forum for anonymous sources to report on gang and cartel activity in Nuevo Laredo and the surrounding area of Tamaulipas. Shortly following her death, three more bloggers were found similarly murdered, accompanied by notes signed with a “Z,” the symbol for a powerful regional criminal organization known as Los Zetas.
Cartel violence in Mexico threatens both the lives and civil liberties of citizens. As long as the violence continues unabated, civil liberties of the people of Nuevo Laredo will exist only on paper.
During the planned visit to Mexico this week, Human Rights First urges President Obama to call on Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to protect the lives and liberty of bloggers and other journalists.
This is part of a series of profiles highlighting the plight of journalists at risk for World Press Freedom Day.
By Christopher Plummer A. Whitney Ellsworth Fellow
Earlier this month, police in Bangladesh arrested journalist Asif Mohiuddin, three other bloggers, and an editor for criticizing the government for its failure to protect religious minorities and for capitulating to the demands of extremist elements. Mohiuddin has long been a vocal critic of both the government and religious fundamentalists, often to the detriment of his own physical wellbeing. Read More»
As a result of recent events, the chorus to close Guantanamo has grown. According to the Department of Defense, 100 out of 166 Guantanamo detainees are currently on hunger strike. Lawyers for the men have put the number at over 130. According to a Defense Department spokesman, more than a fifth of the hunger strikers are being force fed, a practice which the American Medical Association opposes. Read More»
By Glenn Carle Former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Transnational Threats, National Intelligence Council
Author, The Interrogator
The argument about whether torture works is still raging. Four years after President Obama ended the torture program, torture proponents continue to claim that torture saved American lives and was necessary to find criminals like Osama bin Laden. Just last week, Condoleezza Rice said that because of torture, “we have not had a successful attack on our territory.”
I served the CIA for 23 years, and I was directly involved in the “enhanced interrogation” program. I know from experience that torture not only undermined our values and Constitution, it made us less safe. Read More»
Washington, D.C. – Today the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued its annual report on abuses to religious freedom worldwide and issued a damaging judgment of Bahrain’s claims to reform, said Human Rights First. The report criticized Bahrain on a number of issues, including discrimination against its Shia population and continuing impunity for torture and other abuses.
“Today’s report is the triple whammy this month following other sharply critical verdicts on Bahrain from the U.S. State Department and the U.K. government,” said Brian Dooley of Human Rights First. “Even Bahrain’s closest allies are losing patience with its failure to reform.” Read More»
The ongoing abuse in Tibet remains one of the most dire human rights crises in the world. In recent years, protesters have taken to self-immolating in the streets to show their despair over the Chinese government’s treatment of ethnic Tibetans. But there is one journalist who has tried to give voice to the many Tibetans who are otherwise forced to stay silent and endure abuse.
As one of the main corridors for drug trafficking between Mexico and the United States, Nuevo Laredo has long been a hotspot for drug cartel related violence. Law enforcement officials who dared to investigate and the cartels have suffered grisly deaths. The violence has also been directed at bloggers and other journalists.