HUMAN RIGHTS

An anti-Erdoğan poster during 2013 Gezi Park protests in Cologne, Germany

Turkey Winding the Clock Back Before the EU Lowers the Drawbridge

Analysis by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) - In the 1970s there was a cult film, “Midnight Express”, directed by the young Oliver Stone. It was based on the story of an American who was sentenced to 30 years in a Turkish prison for smuggling drugs. It showed in stark reality the total lack of any semblance of human rights or normal human behaviour by the Turkish authorities. It was that impression of Turkey that many of us carried forward, even as Turkey in fact was profoundly changing.

Even today some hold on to what is now a discredited viewpoint, particularly in France, a country that has long made it clear it will obstruct any move to bring Turkey into the European Union. Anti-Turkey feeling exists elsewhere, particularly in Germany which has far more Turkish immigrant workers than any other nation. However, the truth is the Turkey of today is unrecognizable from that of the 1970s. Not least it has become a democracy, albeit a not perfect one.

: Jonathan Power; SYNDICATION; Individual Journalists; 29 March 2016

Photo: News organizations standing up for the safety of media professionals. Credit: UNESCO

UNESCO Promotes Journalists’ Safety and Coverage of Refugees

By Guy Berger, Director, IPDC Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development.

PARIS (IDN) - Media development matters moved ahead at the 60th anniversary meeting of the Bureau of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).

The two-day (March 17-18) meeting of eight Member States, chaired by the Netherlands, focused attention on contemporary media issues, including the Sustainable Development Goals, security of journalists, gender equality, and the refugee crisis.

An evaluation report about IPDC’s contribution to the safety of journalism, discussed at the meeting, noted: “Never has the UN advanced so much on the issue of journalistic safety in so little time as in recent years.”

Almost $900 000 in funding was allocated to 51 media development projects worldwide, and six other initiatives focused on ending impunity for attacks on journalists.

: Guy Berger; UN INSIDER; 25 March 2016

Photo: Ulisses Correia E Silva of the Movement for Democracy (MpD), which defeated the ruling African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). Credit: MpD

‘Super Sunday’ Polls in Africa

NEW YORK (INPS | GIN) – Voters trooped to the polls in six countries across Africa on March 20, electing presidents and in Senegal approving a constitution with shorter presidential terms.

Among the surprises, the hand-picked successor to the outgoing president of Benin was defeated by a self-made entrepreneur Patrice Talon – “the king of cotton” – who ran as an “authentic Beninese” candidate. During the campaign he repeatedly attacked his opponent’s dual French nationality and the fact that he was living in France until being appointed prime minister by the outgoing former president.

Lionel Zinsou, with light skin, was also attacked as a “yovo” or “white man” during the campaign. He congratulated his opponent even before the official release of voting results was announced.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 22 March 2016

UN Women Launches a Landmark Media Compact

Analysis by J Nastranis

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, UN Women, has launched an innovative partnership with media organizations from every region of the world that work in print and broadcast or are online news media to ensure wide reach and robust efforts towards women’s rights and gender equality.

While Goal 5 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka explained the rationale behind the move.

“Media have great influence over how we perceive and understand the world around us. That influence has many dimensions. Even when reporting is entirely factually accurate, if it is reported predominantly by men, about men, it is actually misrepresenting the real state of the world. At UN Women, we want to address this through partnership to change the media landscape and make media work for gender equality,” she said.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 22 March 2016

A group of monks. | Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne

Sri Lanka Buddhists Divided over Bill To Control Monks

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

SINGAPORE (IDN | Lotus News Features) - A bill tabled in the Sri Lankan parliament in January to create a legal framework to control the behavior and conduct of Buddhist monks has created deep divisions within the majority Buddhist community in the country.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; HUMAN RIGHTS; Religion; 20 February 2016

Court Rules in Favour of Dutch Human Rights Advocate

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

Mirjam van Reisen | Credit. Philips Foundation

AMSTERDAM (IDN) - A Court in Amsterdam struck down Meseret Bahlbi lawsuit against Mirjam van Reisen, Dutch professor and human rights advocate. The judge found that she was not guilty of libel and slander and that the youth party of the Eritrean regime can be seen as a means of collecting intelligence abroad. The decision comes as a huge relief not only for the Dutch professor, but also for the Eritrean diaspora across Europe.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; HUMAN RIGHTS; Democracy; 10 February 2016

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea Sheila B. Keetharuth introducing New UN report detailing litany of human rights violations, ‘rule by fear’ in Eritrea in June 2015. UN Photo/Amanda Voisard

Dutch Court Examines Alleged Eritrean Surveillance & Intimidation

AMSTERDAM (IDN) - The reach of an allegedly long arm of the Eritrean regime abroad has been the subject of a series of high profile articles in the media. Latest reports say that it is not only targeting Eritrean refugees but also Dutch citizens.

At the core of the debate is a series of articles by OneWorld journalist Sanne Terlingen who revealed that members suspected to have links to the Eritrean regime were serving as interpreters in asylum cases. Two siblings of the chair of the YPFDJ, the youth wing of the only party of Eritrea, were still employed by the interpretation service, even though the rules of the Dutch government agency would not allow this.

: Reinhardt Jacobsen; HUMAN RIGHTS; Democracy; 09 February 2016

Buddhist Revival in China Fuels Animal Welfare Movement

By Kalinga Seneviratne*

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

SINGAPORE (IDN | Lotus News Features) - A Buddhist revival in China is fuelling a growing animal welfare movement across the country with the Chinese government poised to revise the decades-old animal welfare act. In January, the National People’s Congress (NPC) started soliciting public comments on four draft laws. One is the revision of the Wildlife Protection Law, which came into effect in 1989.

This law created a system of wild animal breeding permits, issued by what is now called the State Forestry Administration. The belief was that the best way to protect threatened wildlife was by developing a wild animal breeding and training sector. China’s success at breeding captive pandas is the global poster child for the success in this sort of conservation.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; HUMAN RIGHTS; Religion; 03 February 2016

‘Dissenting Voices Must be Protected’

Journalists, policemen, and emergency services in the street of the shooting, a few hours after the January 2015 attack. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

On the anniversary of the brutal attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, PEN and journalists’ associations from around the world reaffirmed their commitment to the defence of the right to freedom of expression, even when that right is being used to express views that some may consider offensive.

INPS reproduces the statement web posted by PEN International on January 7, 2016:

: Opinion Editor; HUMAN RIGHTS; Press Freedom; 07 January 2016

UN Sees Opening For Women in Political Space in Saudi Arabia

NEW YORK (INPS) - Saudi women were able to cast votes and run for seats in municipal elections for the first time in Saudi Arabia, representing an opening for women in the political space. This is the latest in a series of steps the Kingdom has taken toward women’s rights, following the 2013 decision of the late ruler of Saudi Arabia His Highness King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz Al Saud to grant 30 seats to women in the Shura Council.