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Photo: Lockdown hasn't stopped Luz Marina Bernal's activism. Credit: UN Women

Pandemic Yet Another Test for Colombian Human Rights Defenders

Viewpoint by Luz Marina Bernal*

This article was originally published on openDemocracy. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News

BOGOTA (IDN) – I am Luz Marina Bernal. I live in Soacha, a municipality neighbouring Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, which is the main destination for displaced people from the rest of the country.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown have made things very difficult for me as I work on the ground with people and communities, but I live alone.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 14 August 2020

Never-Ending Russia-US-Africa Geopolitical Triangular Games

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – Instead of concentrating on developing its newly-established strategy for Africa, Russia has locked horns with United States over its funding for educational programmes, media and NGOs.

Russia has also accused foreign players of adopting neocolonial tendencies and approaches in dealing with Africa, according to analytical reviews and observations by diplomats, policy experts and researchers.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 13 August 2020

UN Women Bashed for Indiscriminate Partnership with Unilever

Viewpoint by Sharanya Kanikkannan

The writer is Legal and Policy Adviser at AIDS-Free World and its Code Blue Campaign.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Like so many Indian girls, I learned at an early age that light skin was feminine, precious, and desirable.

Pink tubes of Fair & Lovely cream—a product that comprises 40 percent of the skin lightening market in India—were a staple of my childhood, tucked away in dressing table drawers in every home and displayed on the shelves of every corner store. Looking back, I wonder why so many adults failed to imagine a world where girls were more than a “pantone” shade on a plastic tube.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 13 August 2020

Photo: The sculpture Non-Violence by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, in front of UN headquarters at New York City. CC BY-SA 3.0

The UN at 75: A Glass Half Full or One Draining Through the Cracks – Part Two

Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona

This is the second of a two-part article by Dr Palitha Kohona, Former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, Former Chair of the UNGA Sixth Committee and the Former Co-Chair of the UN Ad Hoc Committee on BBNJ. Click here for Part One.

COLOMBO (IDN) – The way UN’s constitution (The Charter) is formulated ensures that its powers are strictly constrained. At the same time the rights and privileges of those who won the Second World War are well and truly entrenched in a blatantly undemocratic manner in the Charter, causing much disenchantment in a world where the political, economic and social power centres have shifted significantly.

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; OPINION; 13 August 2020

Photo: A view of the Secretariat Building, with Members States’ flags flying in the foreground, at United Nations headquarters in New York. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

The UN at 75: A Glass Half Full or One Draining Through the Cracks – Part One

Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona

This is the first of a two-part article by Dr Palitha Kohona, Former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, Former Chair of the UNGA Sixth Committee and the Former Co-Chair of the UN Ad Hoc Committee on BBNJ.

COLOMBO (IDN) – As the United Nations enters its 75th year, faded photographs stare down at corridors emptied by Covid 19 and ageless memorabilia faintly glisten in the semi darkness. Almost a sad reflection of the lofty dreams and aspirations of its founders not fully realised.

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; OPINION; 12 August 2020

Photo: The Chavista march was one of the biggest in years. Credit: Rachael Boothroyd Rojas/Venezuelanalysis

Reviewing U.S. Failure of Its Foreign Policy Toward Venezuela

Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad and Érika Ortega Sanoja *

This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) – On August 4, 2020, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Venezuela. Appearing before the committee was U.S. State Department Special Representative Elliott Abrams. Abrams, who has had a long—and controversial—career in the formation of U.S. foreign policy, was assaulted by almost all the members of the Senate committee. The senators, almost without exception, suggested that Abrams had been—since 2019—responsible for a failed U.S. attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 12 August 2020

Photo: Thousands of protestors march on newly named “Black Lives Matter Plaza” in Downtown DC on June 7.

Spreading the Seeds of Multiculturalism: A Moroccan Perspective

By Jacqueline Skalski-Fouts

VIRGINIA, USA (IDN) – Since early June, an estimated 15 to 26 million people across the United States have participated in protests against the death of George Floyd and the persistence of systematic racism in America, making it one of the largest movements in the country’s history.

Recent trends have shown that support for the Black Lives Matter movement—now more than 67%— has doubled since 2016, and the majority of Americans favour working directly with Black Americans to solve local issues.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 12 August 2020

Photo: Mauritius Declares Environmental Emergency After Massive Oil Spill, Credit: India.com

Dirty Oil Floods Pristine African Beach in Major Spill

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – An Indian Ocean island nation, beloved for its sandy beaches, pristine lagoons and reefs, its tropical climate and its multi-ethnic population, has become another world treasure soiled by the relentless trade in oil, shipped by tankers, unsafe at any speed.

The ship that ran aground off the shores of Mauritius began spilling oil into the country’s famed blue lagoons this week, setting off an environmental crisis in a tiny island nation that relies on its waters for fishing, food and tourism.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 11 August 2020

Death Cult Appears to Be Part of Trump's Reelection Strategy

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.

LOS ANGELES (IDN) – When President Donald Trump was challenged by Axios national political correspondent Jonathan Swan to respond to the fact that, “a thousand Americans are dying a day” due to COVID-19, the president responded as though the grim tally was perfectly acceptable, saying, “They are dying, that’s true. And it is what it is.”

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 11 August 2020

Map: Soviet Invasion of Manchuria (1945), based on Glantz's maps in Levenworth Paper No 7 - Feb 1983. CC BY-SA 3.0

Soviet Advance Not U.S. Atomic Bombings Forced Japan To Surrender

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Seventy-five years ago the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima on August 6 and on Nagasaki on August 9 was premeditated mass murder.

President Harry Truman had a workable alternative to using the atom bomb – to cooperate with Stalin, as Roosevelt and Churchill had done on the Western front, in the Soviet advance on Japan, rather than making it a race for control.

Indeed, it was the Soviet advance that convinced Japan to surrender.** Although unaware of each other’s thinking both Truman and the Japanese leadership shared a common cause – they both wanted to pre-empt the possibility of the Soviet Union occupying parts of Japan before the U.S. had got its boots on Japanese ground. Truman did not want to be compelled to concede Soviet participation in the government of post-surrender, occupied, Japan.