HUMAN RIGHTS

Image: "Dawn Reflections" Indigenous art projected on the Sydney Opera House, to kick off Australia Day, 26 January 2023. CC BY-SA 4.0

Heated Debate on Giving a Constitutional Voice to Indigenous Australians

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — Each year on January 26, Australians celebrate “Australia Day”, a national holiday that marks the day Captain Arthur Phillip sailed into Sydney Cove in 1788, planted the Union Jack and proclaimed the continent for the British Crown.

Later it was enshrined in the Australian constitution that it was “terra nullius” (unoccupied land). But Australia’s Indigenous People claim otherwise, and they have protested in growing numbers in recent decades, calling it the “Invasion Day”.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 25 January 2023

Image: The Church of Abba Afse, Yeha, Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Split in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

By Karen Smith

BRUSSELS (IDN) — Three months after the two-year Ethiopian civil war came to an end, displacing millions, the Orthodox Church is facing a split. Three bishops have announced that they will form a separate church with its own decision-making body.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has criticised "bigotry by religion and place of origin" focused on divisions", according to Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA), a Belgium-based Centre of Expertise with in-depth knowledge, publications and networks, specialised in issues of peacebuilding, refugee protection, and resilience in the Horn of Africa.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 25 January 2023

Photo: Protests in Iran. Source: Deutsche Welle.

Iran’s Human Rights Violations Are Indescribable

Viewpoint by Alon Ben-Meir*

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Iranian government continues to commit human rights violations and crimes against humanity in its effort to strike terror into the heart of its people. That the government considers itself a devout Muslim regime is sacrilegious and makes a mockery of Islam.

: Africa & ME Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 20 January 2023

Photo: Frail Dalai Lama being supported by two monks. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne

Ageing Dalai Lama Attracts Huge Crowds to Buddhist Sacred Site

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 51st in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship agency of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous reports.

BODHGAYA, India (IDN) — The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, has just concluded a three-day speaking engagement here at Bodhgaya, known as the 'land of enlightenment' that has attracted over 100,000 mainly Tibetans from across the world. This huge response surprised the organizers, as the event coincided with the Indian media talking about a new wave of Covid sweeping the country.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 01 January 2023

Photo: Major General Lucky Irabor, Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff. Credit: Twitter/@BashirAhmaad

Nigerian Military Performed "Forcible Abortions on Thousands"

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — U.S. security assistance and cooperation programs with Nigeria are facing a review after an investigation by a Reuters news team found evidence of a secret illegal abortion program carried out by the Nigerian military during its war against an insurgency in the largely Muslim northeast since at least 2013.

It was estimated that thousands of illegal abortions were carried out by soldiers in the belief that the women had been kidnapped and raped by the militants.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 28 December 2022

Image: EU and Iranian flags. Source: EU EEAS Website.

EU Cracks a Gentle Whip at Iran

By M.K. Bhadrakumar*

This article was produced in partnership with Indian Punchline and Globetrotter.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The European Union has returned to the ritual of sanctioning Iran to leverage its foreign and security policies. The highlight of the EU Foreign Affairs Council ministerial meeting in Brussels on December 12 was the imposition of sanctions against Iran over a range of issues.

The issues were “the unacceptable repression of the ongoing protests and the worsening human rights situation” in Iran, Iran’s military cooperation with Russia, including the delivery of drones deployed against Ukraine, the prospects of renewal of the JCPOA, and regional security.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 14 December 2022

Putting Anti-racism & Anti-discrimination High on the International Agenda

Viewpoint by Simone Galimberti*

KATHMANDU (IDN) — A recent UNESCO Forum provided some impetus to the fight against racism and discrimination, but the level of the problems involved required a much bigger commitment.

It is unfortunate that the second edition of the Global Forum against Racism and Discrimination, organized by UNESCO in Mexico City on November 28-29, did not get the attention and visibility it should have commanded.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 03 December 2022

Photo: Austrian Chancellor Karl Nechammer, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić during the meeting in Budapest. Credit: BKA/Dragan Tatic

Combating the Migrant Crisis Along the Balkan Route in Europe

A Special Report by Aurora Weiss

VIENNA (IDN) — The flow of refugees is unceasing. According to the European border agency Frontex, between January and September this year, 228,000 people "arrived illegally" in the Schengen area, which is 70 per cent more than last year. The vast majority still come from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

This number does not include millions of Ukrainian citizens who are not considered asylum seekers. As agreed within the EU, they can simply come to any country in the European Union as long as the Russian aggression continues.

: Europe Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 20 November 2022

Photo: Bahrain Dialogue Forum in session. Credit: Seikyo Shimbun.

Bahrain Dialogue Forum Urges Action for Peaceful Coexistence

By Katsuhiro Asagiri

Manama (IDN) — “Our world today is facing unprecedented challenges where conflicts are multiplying, and people whose identities are defined by religion, culture, or ethnicity continue to be besieged by hatred. Social and cultural divides are deepening; tribalism, ethnic violence, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, hate speech and ultra-nationalism are in full swing.” said Miguel Angel Moratinos, the High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). He was addressing the opening session of the first Bahrain Dialogue Forum on November 3.

: Katsuhiro Asagiri; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 18 November 2022

Photo: Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Secretary General for Foreign Affairs. (BMEIA). Credit: BMEIA/Grube

An Attack on Journalists is an Attack on Democracy, Emphasises a UN Conference

A Special Report by Aurora Weiss

VIENNA (IDN) — United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA) joined in early November to mark the 10th anniversary of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists at a high-level conference entitled "Safety of Journalists: Protecting media to protect democracy".