HUMAN RIGHTS

Photo: Vice President U Myint Swe delivering an address on 2 November, 2016. Credit: globalnewlightofmyanmar.com | MNA

Myanmar Commission Slams UN for “Smear Campaigning”

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 17th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

YANGON, Myanmar (IDN) - A Myanmar government commission that investigated allegations made by an international human rights organisation and the media about the country’s security forces abusing the human rights of Muslims known as Rohingyas in Rakhine State has found these allegations to be “unproven” and slammed its critics, including the United Nations, for carrying out an international “smear campaign” against the country.

The 13-member Investigative Commission on Maungtaw in Rakhine State headed by Vice-President U Myint Swe released its report at a press conference on August 6.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 10 August 2017

Photo Credit: Minority Rights Group International | Mirza Arif Beg.

International Law is a Powerful Tool to Reduce Ethnic Disputes

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - It’s not that many years ago that Warren Christopher, the U.S. Secretary of State, commenting on the outbreak of separatist ethnic strife in the 1990s in countries such as Somalia, Zaire, Rwanda, East Timor and ex-Yugoslavia, asked. “Where will it end? Will it end with 5,000 countries?”

It was a serious misjudgement. Separatist wars have fallen sharply. Minorities are not fighting for their own patch of territory at the rate they were. Since 1993 the number of wars of self-determination has been halved.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 08 August 2017

Photo: Najma Hassan cooking in her kitchen in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya, Credit: Justus Wanzala | IDN-INPS

Clean Energy Coming to Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp

By Justus Wanzala

KAKUMA, Kenya (IDN) – As the sun shrinks into a red ball steadily disappearing beyond the horizon, residents of Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana County, north-western Kenya, adjust to their evening routines. Late shoppers rush out to food stores, school children pick up their books and mothers start preparing the last meal of the day.

Darkness quickly envelopes the camp – which is administered by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) – and only a few businesses and homesteads are in the fortunate position of possessing diesel generators or solar and kerosene lanterns to provide lighting.

: Justus Wanzala; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 July 2017

Photo: Morocco's Villes Sans Bidonvilles Programme aims to upgrade shantytowns and douar and prioritises relocation of their inhabitants. Credit: Maroc Diplomatique

Morocco: Addressing Shantytowns in an Emerging Democracy

Viewpoint by Wajiha Ibrahim*

BOSTON (IDN) – What peaked in 2011 as a series of political protests sweeping the Middle East and North Africa is today an opportunity to celebrate and evaluate how various regimes mould their path towards democracy. A noteworthy component of these transitions includes the shifting role of the informal sector.

While many countries have increased political participation, achieved macroeconomic stabilisation and restored growth, millions of people remain excluded from political and economic systems.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 24 July 2017

Photo: Religious Leaders from Israel and Palestine pose with UN Secretary-General António Guterres (6th from left) and UNAOC High Representative Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser (6th from right). Credit UN Photo

Inter-Religious Coalition Aims For Peace in the Middle East

By Joan Erakit

NEW YORK (IDN) - There is a famous bible passage that alludes to the unfortunate kinship between siblings; a child is questioned by God about his brother and he, at the time having killed his brother, denies allegiance by asking: “Am I my brothers keeper?”

Some may interpret the parable about Cain and Abel as follows: being humans, we are brothers by birth meant to look out for one another, yet circumstances have arisen that have turned us against each other. In the end, it is religion that is called upon to solidify bonds, bringing people from various backgrounds and points of view, together on the same page.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 21 July 2017

Photo: The Dzong in the Paro valley, built in 1646. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Bhutan: A Buddhist Development Model Worth Emulating

Viewpoint by the Venerable Dr Omalpe Sobhitha Mahathera*

This article is the 16th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

ENBILIPITIYA, Sri Lanka (IDN) – There will be many answers to the question: which is the country where the happiest people live? In response many famous, developed nations will come to mind, but you will be surprised that the name of a little-known country could be the right answer to this question. It is Bhutan, the wonderful and amazing country that beats all others on the happiness index.

Bhutan has been so identified following a worldwide survey on Gross National Happiness (GNH) – not Gross National Product (GDP). Its capital is Thimpu, which reminds us of the peace talks held there between the Sri Lanka Government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) separatists in 1985.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 19 July 2017

Image: Polish mural in Warsaw, reading "Solidarity with Liu Xiaobo". Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Liu Xiaobo’s Death Holds China to the Light

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - China, since the days in 1793 and the mission of Earl Macartney, emissary of King George 11, has kept its distance from the West, preferring to be “as self-contained as a billiard ball”, to quote the great historian Alain Peyrefitte.

It was Peyrefitte who argued in “The Collision of Civilizations” that Macartney’s decision not to kowtow to the emperor gave the Chinese the impression that their civilization was denied. They withdrew into their bunker and have remained for the last two centuries prickly, ultra-sensitive, quick to take offence and too ready to assume the worst of West’s motives.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 18 July 2017

The Royal Usurpation of Kaaba

Viewpoinrt by Esad Duraković

Professor Esad Duraković is a well-known academic and a member of three Arab Academies of Art and Science.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (IDN) - In late June 2017, four Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain) adopted a decision to isolate the “brotherly” Qatar for several reasons, the main being “Qatar’s support for terrorism”.

In the subsequent ultimatum, they demanded of Qatar to close down Al-Jazeera, which, without doubt, embodies the greatest value of the Arab world in general today, and as such poses a threat to totalitarian regimes that want to rule in media darkness.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; OPINION; 12 July 2017

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.