HUMAN RIGHTS

Photo: In the rural areas of Kenya, the burden of collecting, carrying and managing water (often contaminated) has always rested on the shoulders of women. Credit: Robert Kibet | IDN-INPS

Solar Power to the Rescue of Kenya’s Rural Women

By Robert Kibet

NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – Braving a scorching temperature, 38-year-old Caroline Rono rambles barefoot along a tiny path that snakes in the direction of the reptile-infested salty seasonal Lake Solai in Kenya’s Rift Valley with the giggling baby on her back swaying to the movement of her mother’s hips.

In the rural areas of Kenya, as in virtually in all African countries, the burden of collecting, carrying and managing water has always rested on the shoulders of women, and under the weight of recurrent droughts, this burden has almost become unbearable.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 04 July 2017

Photo: Violence results in dozens – if not hundreds – of violent deaths and thousands of displacements each year in Papua New Guinea, says Mark Kessler, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) chief official in PNG, seen here speaking to members of the Foreign Correspondents’ Association (Australia & South Pacific) in Sydney. Credit: Neena Bhandari

Violence Surfaces in Papua New Guinea Elections, But Not Only

By Neena Bhandari

SYDNEY (IDN) – As Papua New Guinea – one of the world’s most ethnically and linguistically diverse nations – prepares for national elections from June 24 to July 8, authorities are calling for peace and calm.

Historically, tensions during polling, vote counting and the announcement of winners has erupted into widespread violence, but the phenomenon is not limited to election periods in this south-western Pacific island country.

“Increased access to high-powered guns such as military style M16s and homemade shotguns, and the breakdown of traditional rules of warfare, has amplified the effects of violence, resulting in dozens – if not hundreds – of violent deaths and thousands of displacements each year, especially in the Highlands. We are seeing wounds that one would see in war zones,” says International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) chief official in PNG, Mark Kessler.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 22 June 2017

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt (left), King Salman of Saudi Arabia (centre) and US President Donald Trump (right) during the opening of a centre for combating “extremist ideology” in Riyadh. Credit: Saudi Press Agency

After Arms Deal, Trump Unleashes Riyadh in Mideast

Analysis by Emad Mekay

CAIRO (IDN) – The image could have passed for a Harry Potter cover; three powerful leaders with hands on a creepy, lit miniature globe in a darkened room – US President Donald Trump was posing for a photo with two authoritarian Middle East rulers: King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

On a May 20-21 visit to Saudi Arabia, the US president had just vowed to improve ties with Egypt and Saudi Arabia as the three leaders pledged an energised battle under US sponsorship of what they termed “extremist ideology”.

The message from the room was that the head of the world's most powerful nation is now firmly behind notoriously harsh regimes in measures they take in the name of fighting extremism, a crusade that often turned into a justification for cracking down on opposition and broad abuse of human rights.

: Phil Harris; ARMAMENTS; Arms Trade; 20 June 2017

Photo: UN Secretary-General with Adel Ahmed Al-Jubeir, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

UN Defends Saudi Arabia's Election to Rights Council

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – Questioning Saudi Arabia’s membership on the Human Rights Council is a “distraction,” a “gross oversimplification,” and an “attempt to stigmatize", according to Philip Alston, a prominent New York University (NYU) scholar who serves as the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

Alston, who presented a report on June 8 on Saudi Arabia, was responding to a question posed in the plenary of the 47-nation Human Rights Council by Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based human rights group monitoring the world body.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 18 June 2017

Voters queuing to cast their votes in Qachas Nek district, bordering on Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Credit: Sechaba Mokhethi

Lesotho – Crisis Beyond Polls

Analysis by Sechaba Mokhethi

MASERU, Lesotho (IDN) – Snap elections held on June 3 have ushered Lesotho into a new political era, but the outgoing Pakalitha Mosisili government insists on setting terms for the new administration after losing the election on the heels of its earlier loss of a vote of no confidence on March 1.

The tiny Southern African kingdom has been plagued by political instability since 2014, with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) periodically intervening to restore peace and order – having also called for the 2015 snap election that was envisaged to resolve internal strife.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 18 June 2017

Across Latin America, thousands of girls under the age of 15 suffer from sexual violence and are forced to become mothers against their wishes. Credit: YouTube

Where Forced Child Pregnancy is Not Fiction

By Phil Harris

ROME (IDN) - She is 10-years-old when she is raped by her mother’s companion and becomes pregnant. Extremely ill, undernourished and underweight during her pregnancy, her mother requests an abortion and although the law permits termination of a pregnancy if authorities deem the carrier’s health is in danger, the request is denied by the State.

The girl’s mother is arrested and temporarily imprisoned for failing in her duty of care to her daughter, despite having previously reported the abuse to the police, who did not act.

Meanwhile, the State sends the girl to an institution against her wishes, where she is made to stay until the birth of her child. She is not allowed any visitors, apart from an aunt who is allowed to come once a week for two hours.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 09 June 2017

UN’s Myanmar Fact-Finding Mission Raises Many Questions

By Shenali Waduge

COLOMBO (IDN) - The appointment of a three-member team by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on May 30 to investigate alleged abuses by Myanmar military forces against the country’s Royingya Muslim minority raises many questions about its neutrality, particularly as all the three members have questionable backgrounds as to their fitness to carry out an impartial inquiry.

The three-member panel comprises lawyers Indira Jaising from India and Radhika Coomaraswamy from Sri Lanka, and Australian human rights advocate Christopher Dominic Sidoti, according to a statement from the UNHRC.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 07 June 2017

/Hermine Tomaino Ndam Njoya (right) is out to educate Cameroonians on the whole range of activities that can be developed along the coffee value chain. Credit: N.K. Chimtom

Blazing the Trail with Coffee Culture in Cameroon

By Ngala Killian Chimtom

YAOUNDE (ACP-IDN) – Hermine Tomaino Ndam Njoya is arguably Cameroon’s largest coffee farmer. Her farm spans some 150 hectares, and she depends on the labour of a whole village to keep the farm alive.

But what sets her apart is not just the size of her farm. What makes her different is that she is a woman excelling in a venture generally reserved for men.

Growing up in her native Noun commune in Cameroon’s West Region, she saw her parents tend their coffee farm with great care. “So I fell in love with coffee,” she says, smacking her lips after a sip of the aromatic drink.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 27 May 2017

Photo: Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations. Credit: Mitsu (Eric) Kimura, SUA Archivist.

Critical Next Steps in Enhancing Women's Equality and Empowerment

By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury

“I am proud to be a feminist … all of us need to be. That is how we make our planet a better place to live for all,” writes Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations. He is an internationally recognized initiator of the UNSCR 1325 as the President of the UN Security Council in March 2000. He is the Founder of the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP), a civil society entity promoting the UN Declaration and Programme Action on Culture of Peace.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 21 May 2017

Photo: Indian delegation headed by Mukul Rohatgi, Attorney General, at the human rights review of India. Credit: UN Human Rights Council.

UN Finds Fault With India’s Human Rights Record

By Ravi Kanth Devarakonda

GENEVA (IDN) - India says it implements universal human rights as it reckons the world is one family – “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” – in which it is imperative to comply with the existing international rules governing civil, political, economic, and social rights.

But reports prepared by several special rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council and civil society groups paint a grim picture of continued violations of the fundamental human rights that India had agreed to in various international conventions and treaties.During the recent third cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of India under the auspices of the Council on May 4, 2017, these two clashing narratives came under scrutiny, according to several participants in the meeting.