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2008 (185)
Aug 11 2008 10:42PM
Slugger Awards: political blogger of the year

Mick Fealty at Slugger O'Toole (the daddy of 'em all, in NI blog terms) has asked for help in spreading the word about the 'political blogger' category in the new Slugger Awards . So here goes. The Slugger Awards are in their first...

Aug 10 2008 10:52PM
MPs call for UK Bill of Rights

As reported by the BBC , Westminster's Joint Committee on Human Rights has published the report of its year-long inquiry into proposals for a UK Bill of Rights and has come out firmly in support of the idea. So far I have only speed...

Aug 9 2008 8:06PM
'Zugzwang' - a metaphor for our times?

Ronan Bennett gave an inspiring lecture as part of Feile an Phobail . The former Long Kesh prisoner, author and now writer of his first hundred million dollar movie starring Johnny Depp, gave fascinating insights into the writer's...

Aug 8 2008 11:31AM
Should IOC ban Beijing Olympic opening ceremony?

Should this afternoon's opening ceremony to the Beijing Olympics be banned? That, surely, is the shocking logical conclusion of the Beijing Olympic rules being bandied about at the moment to justify the banning of flags from the likes...

Aug 3 2008 12:00AM
Politicians on parade at Belfast Pride

There were more politicians at today's Belfast Pride parade than you could shake a stick at. Or at least an Amnesty placard which, once again, was the hottest item in town. In the wake of the now infamous series of anti-gay comments...

Aug 2 2008 10:34AM
Unionists to attend Belfast Pride

Today, for the first time ever, unionist politicians will attend the Belfast Pride parade – and not as anti-gay protestors. In the wake of a row started by the homophobic comments of DUP MP Iris Robinson and heightened this week by a...

Aug 2 2008 12:47AM
Death penalty: America considers

The US (or at least parts of it) continues to wrestle with its conscience, not to mention its pocket-book, in the matter of the continued use of the death penalty. Maryland is just one of the States currently examining the future of...

Jul 31 2008 7:15PM
Amnesty bigger than UK political parties

The Daily Telegraph today reports (somewhat gleefully) on the declining membership of the Labour Party and the UK's political parties genrally. Labour Party member numbers are down from a 1997 high of 405,000 to only 177,000 today...

Jul 29 2008 4:45PM
Tatchell: Iris Robinson has united the gay community

Peter Tatchell and last night's Amnesty International Pride Lecture have been at the centre of something of a Northern Ireland media storm for the last couple of days. Peter, with his widely reported comments on Iris Robinson MP, King...

Jul 28 2008 1:06PM
King Billy: an early champion of gay rights?

You have to hand it to Peter Tatchell . The veteran gay rights campaigner – who will be giving the Amnesty International Pride Lecture this evening – really knows how to maximise media attention. In the wake of Iris Robinson MP's...

Jul 27 2008 3:05AM
4,000 US Deaths, and a Handful of Images

A New York Times story of this headline raises important questions about freedom of the press in reporting an unpopular war, which has now generated over 4,000 US fatalities and over 170 UK military deaths , including two from Northern...

Jul 27 2008 2:12AM
Thomas Paine on the BBC

As previously blogged in more detail, the BBC is broadcasting a two-part radio play on the life of early human rights advocate and activist (and much more), Thomas Paine. First part was broadcast today on Radio 4 as its Saturday play...

Jul 25 2008 1:24AM
Obama: Ich Bin Ein Skeptiker

The rest of the world is destined to be disappointed by every American President. This is normal. Don't be depressed. Don't be surprised. American Presidents look after American interests, not European or anyone else's. Sometimes our...

Jul 22 2008 11:35PM
Let's tell Iris Robinson where she can stick it!

That's the rather piquant name of a Facebook group at the heart of a fightback against homophobia in Northern Ireland. The four thousand-strong campaign group on the social networking site is just one element of an online and offline...

Jul 22 2008 10:10PM
Tom Paine and The Rights of Man

It may soon be the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , but December 10th 1948 – albeit a massively significant moment – was not the starting point for human rights. We could have a long argument about...

Jul 17 2008 8:35PM
'Outsourcing abuse'

There is a lot to be said for 'bringing human rights home'. I personally believe that, as individuals and humans, we have the moral authority to criticise other countries and others' governments for human rights abuses. If this was not...

Jul 15 2008 2:21PM
Is Northern Ireland fuelling genocide in Darfur?

Could Northern Ireland be helping to fuel genocide in Darfur? That's the almost incredible prospect opened up by new revelations from the BBC. I have previously blogged about the possibility that Northern Ireland companies could be...

Jul 14 2008 12:22AM
The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder is a recently published book which has now reached the American bestseller lists without having received a single review in the mainstream American media. Irony knowing no bounds, the New...

Jul 11 2008 10:04AM
The law cannot make a man love me... #2

It's July 11th. This time last year I was prompted to write on the personal and political significance of the date in Northern Ireland. A few people were kind enough to remark positively on the piece. Given the day that's in it, our...

Jul 10 2008 1:00AM
'No-one gives a damn about civil liberties

Bob Marshall-Andrews, QC and rebel Labour MP, has joined the campaign to elect David Davis in todays Haltemprice and Howden by-election as a means of defending UK domestic human rights. Writing in the Yorkshire Post , he takes a tilt...

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