HUMAN RIGHTS

Photo: Voting station in Kamchatka Krai in the Far East region of Russia, with a population of 322,079. CC BY-SA 4.0

Putin's "Soft Authoritarian" Regime and Russian Freedom

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – One of the founders of Russia's Pussy Riot rock band, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, was interviewed at length on the BBC this past weekend. She has no time for President Vladimir Putin. When the group played inside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour she was sent to jail for two years for "religious hatred". She doesn’t seem bitter but she seems damning. She thinks that last week’s referendum on a new constitution was only held to cement Putin in power for another couple of decades. She barely discussed the other articles of the constitution.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 07 July 2020

Photo: Cape Coast Castle's 'Door of No Return' that slaves would pass through right before they were put on ships to the Americas and elsewhere. Source, Wikimedia Commons.

'Black Lives Matter' Continues to Spur Changes in Africa

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – As Americans explore the renaming of army bases, statues, streets, and schools that honour racist slave-holders or portray demeaning relationships between whites and Black, Brown and Latinx citizens, similar efforts are underway in Senegal and Liberia most recently.

Goree, an island in Senegal linked closely with slave trade, has decided to rename one of its main squares in response to the anti-racist movements around the world.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 July 2020

Photo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the Indian troops during his visit to the forward post at Nimu in Ladakh, Friday, July 3, 2020. Credit: PIB/PTI

Cultural Wisdom Might Help Resolve India-China Conflict

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 42nd in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous reports.

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a special address given on Asadha Poornima day on July 4 marking the anniversary of Gautama Buddha's first sermon said Buddhism teaches respect for people, and respect for peace and nonviolence.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 06 July 2020

Election Rerun in Malawi Scores Upset Victory for Opposition

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | LILONGWE (IDN) – In a landmark presidential rerun, Malawi's sitting President has been ousted from power after a sweeping victory by a popular Pentecostal preacher and former theology lecturer who promised to unite and serve all Malawians.

" want to provide leadership that makes everybody prosper, that deals decisively with corruption and theft of public funds and a leadership what will follow the rule of law," declared Lazarus Chakwera, who chalked up more votes than the former incumbent, Peter Mutharika, in the election rerun.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 29 June 2020

Photo: Standoff in Washington. Credit: Eleanor Goldfield. Source: Consortium News.

Policing Is Irrelevant for Public Safety—Here Are Some Alternatives That Are Proven to Work

Society doesn't need a large group with a license to kill.

Viewpoint by Justin Podur *

Justin Podur is a Toronto-based writer and a writing fellow at Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute. You can find him on his website at podur.org and on Twitter @justinpodur. He teaches at York University in the Faculty of Environmental Studies. He is the author of the novel Siegebreakers.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 25 June 2020

Photo: A number of roads, mostly in the affluent suburbs of Kampala, derive their names from personalities of the British occupation era. Credit: New Vision.

Ugandans Launch Drive to Rename Streets with Colonial Names

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | KAMPALA (IDN) – A petition to rename roads honouring British colonial figures has gathered thousands of names. The appeal ties into the Black Lives Matter protests.

Running through the centre of the city and past Kampala's impressive Independence Monument is Speke Road, named after the British explorer and officer John Hanning Speke, the first European to identify the source of the Nile.

: Global Information Network; HUMAN RIGHTS; Racism; 23 June 2020

Photo: The Pentagon U.S. Department of Defense building Credit: Wikimedia Commons

If We're Going to Defund Militarized Police Departments, Why Not Add the Pentagon?

The U.S. military’s budget, like so many police department budgets, is bloated, and diverts our tax dollars into forces of domination and violence. Now is the time to question our spending priorities at the local and federal level.

Viewpoint by Sonali Kolhatkar

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Sonali Kolhatkar is the founder, host and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 June 2020

Photo: Moruga - Columbus historical monument. Columbus landed here on his third voyage in 1498. This is on the southern coast of the island of Trinidad, West Indies. the sea in the background is named the Columbus channel. it separates the island of Trinidad from Venezuela. Kalamazadkhan CC BY4.0

Black Power Move to Remove Columbus Statue Contravenes Heritage Protection Act

Viewpoint by Dr Kumar Mahabir

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (IDN) – The National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago has been strangely silent on the rowdy and relentless campaign to remove the historical statue of Christopher Columbus in the capital city of Port of Spain. I was the Vice Chairman of the Trust from 2013 to 2015.

The Trust seems to place its current Afro-centric agenda above and beyond the public and national interest.

: Opinion Editor; HUMAN RIGHTS; Racism; 22 June 2020

Photo: Anthony Quintano | Black Lives Matter Protest Times Square New York City June 7 2020. CC License via Flickr. Source: UN Dispatch Podcast.

How the Black Lives Matter Movement Went Global

By Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch Podcasts

NEW YORK (IDN ) – The Black Lives Matter movement has spread quickly around the world. Over the last several weeks, there have been BLM demonstrations in nearly every major city in Europe. Tens of thousands of people showed up for protests in Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, and London, just to name a few. There were also many protests across Latin America, Australia – even Asian cities like Seoul and Tokyo saw Black Lives Matter protests.

So how did the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota spark an anti-racism and civil rights movement that extends far beyond the United States?

: UN Bureau; HUMAN RIGHTS; Racism; 18 June 2020

Photo: A bronze statue of Nelson and Winnie Mandela, The Long March to Freedom, at Maropeng, 480 kilometres from Johannesburg. Mandela said: "To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity." Source: Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0

UN Senior African Officials 'Outraged' at Systemic Racism and Police Brutality

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – Twenty-two United Nations senior African officials who hold the rank of Under-Secretary-General have in their "personal capacity" signed "Joint Reflections" on the last few weeks of protests at the killing of George Floyd in the hands of police, which they say in no uncertain terms have left them all "outraged at the injustice of racism that continues to be pervasive in our host country and across the world".