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2010 (248)
Jul 2 2010 6:15PM
New testimonies put spotlight back on Uighurs

Why can’t we get a little bit of openness from the Chinese authorities? I know it’s a bit of a Groundhog Day -type question, but it is Friday afternoon and surely I’m allowed to show a bit of frustration! Anyway, why am I asking this...

Jul 1 2010 7:05PM
Veiled threats from the backbenches

Tory MP Philip Hollobone has tabled a private members' bill which would ban Muslim women from wearing burqas or full-face veils in public places. Reportedly the bill has very little chance of becoming law, as the main parties aren’t...

Jun 30 2010 12:41PM
This blog may be filtered by the Cuban government

Open any newspaper on any day and you will almost certainly read an article thats criticising the government in one way or another. Whether it be the governments stance on immigration, on the economy or even on the human rights of...

Jun 29 2010 2:01PM
Getaway (with it) driver-rapists like Reid and Worboys expose cultural failings

Systematic failings from the police over investigating a series of rapes and sexual offences perpetrated by a sexual predator in a car – the Kirk Reid case has an unpleasantly familiar ring. Yes – it’s like the John Worboys case , the...

Jun 28 2010 5:51PM
Kyrgyzstans SOS to the world

If in Britain we’d recently had major unrest with hundreds – possibly thousands – of people killed in apparently ethnically-motivated bloodletting, I don’t think we’d have conducted a polite referendum on the constitution within a...

Jun 25 2010 4:49PM
Gilad Shalit: four years of isolation must end

As regular readers of this blog will know – both of them! – the topic of Israel and Palestine has a marked tendency to polarise opinion (see Sebastian and Alex’s epic, Wimbledon tennis-like exchange in the comment thread for a recent...

Jun 25 2010 2:26PM
G8 leaders have got to be starting something

While queuing to buy a paper at my local newsagents this morning I noticed Michael Jackson’s greatest hits were being played in the background. It took me a little while to clock that as well as the shop owners being Jacko fans, they...

Jun 24 2010 4:48PM
Day in court: UN-der performance, no ace served yet

The epic stand-off on Wimbledon’s court 18 yesterday, made compelling viewing as the two men battled it out under the gaze of a sweltering, yet captivated audience, trying desperately to commit the players’ names and ever ascending...

Jun 23 2010 1:11AM
Mad dogs and Englishmen: Libyas failure to reform

No longer run by the mad dog of Tripoli (in Ronald Reagan’s infamous phrase ) but by a “reformed” Muammar Gaddafi, an elder statesman of the Middle East, Libya has recently been rebranding itself. To put it mildly, Libya used to have...

Jun 22 2010 3:09PM
The human story behind UK counter-terror measures

First, a confession – I’m very late with this blog and many of you may already have watched the film concerned (it aired on BBC Newsnight last Thursday). “ No place like home ” is a powerful documentary that looks at the reality of...

Jun 21 2010 3:08PM
The penalty for listening to Supertramp is death: Ronnie Lee Gardners execution, Troy Davis life-saving hearing

As I’m sure you noticed, the media coverage of the recent execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner in Utah, USA was unusually extensive. A casual observer might have thought “Right. This must be a big thing”, but in actual fact it was just the...

Jun 18 2010 4:58PM
Amnesty highlights case of missing Algerian ahead of game

The uncertainty of not knowing Who should play in goal for England against Algeria in the World Cup tonight has been the subject of much speculation. Should Robert Green be given another chance, or should he be replaced by David James...

Jun 18 2010 4:36PM
B day, letters

Tomorrow is B day. All eyes will be on Burma as “The Lady of Burma” celebrates her 65th birthday, her 15th under arrest. There has been a great deal of coverage on Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi today, and the gallery of intimate images on...

Jun 17 2010 3:21PM
Turkey prosecutes 12-year-olds under terrorism laws

Thousands of children in Turkey, some as young as 12, have been prosecuted under anti-terrorism legislation, solely because they’ve been accused of taking part in demonstrations which the government says support terrorism. The demos...

Jun 16 2010 4:12PM
When hes got his coat cleaned Alan Bennett should write a play about trafficking

Imagine, like poor Alan Bennett, you’re the victim of a street theft. Someone accosts you, tricks you and steals all your money. You’d be shaken up. You might feel a fool, thinking you’re even partly responsible. Self-reproachingly...

Jun 15 2010 6:43PM
Match points: North Korea

North Korea will take to the pitch tonight, for their first appearance in world cup finals since 1966. In something of a David and Goliath fixture, they will take on Brazil in their opening match. The bookies did not take long to call...

Jun 14 2010 5:17PM
Shoot to kill: lets not drop the ball over Kyrgyzstan

In the aftermath of the England-USA goalkeeper debacle, I was sitting in a pub reading match reports on my phone, thinking … how far removed the Kyrgyzstan crisis felt from all the World Cup chat. (BTW, if you thought I had something...

Jun 11 2010 7:28PM
How will South Africa fare for human rights?

I admit it. I know absolutely nothing about football. I don’t know my penalty-kicks from my corners. But that said, I always enjoy the World Cup. It’s the buzz, the spirit of national camaraderie and the general jubilant atmosphere...

Jun 10 2010 5:24PM
Pakistan: no human rights in tribal belt

The first time someone told me about a human rights-free zone, it sounded like some sort of utopia that had been happened upon. Then I saw it in print, and there was a hyphen, not a comma. Amnesty published a report today, ‘ As if Hell...

Jun 9 2010 11:17AM
UN: don't let Iran nuclear concerns mean human rights are ignored

Iran is in the headlines once again today, as the UN Security Council prepares to vote on tougher sanctions against the country in response to its nuclear programme. But a report from Amnesty today urges that political considerations –...

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