Britain's spy agencies MI5 and MI6 were authorised to participate in interrogations on foreign soil and permit torture in 'proportion' to the presumed importance of the information sought. The Blair government's secret policy was in use for nearly a decade, reports the Guardian, until it was revoked by the coalition government last year. This, in […]
Happy birthday to RightsBase which turns five years old today. Five years on, RightsBase is still produced in Australia by Olivia Ball and her Lovely Assistant. RightsBase's purview is "human rights news and views." In over 150 articles, RightsBase has covered a broad gamut of human rights concerns in over 100 countries. It tends not […]
Was the lethal shooting of Osama Bin Laden on 2 May legal? Not was it legal under US or Pakistani law, but was it legal under international human rights law? Were his and others' human rights violated? Does it really matter? For answers to these questions I refer readers to this top-notch analysis by Sarah […]
Open letter from Afghan Youth to our World Leaders Dear Mr Obama, Mrs Clinton, Mr Petraeus, Mr Rasmussen and all our world leaders, We are Afghans and we ask the world to listen. Like you, we couldn't live without the love of our family and friends. We were hurt by your criticism of Mr Karzai […]
You could hardly ask for a more peaceful protest. Last year 14 anti-war demonstrators walked onto Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, USA, seeking to hand-deliver a letter protesting the use of drones. Drones — known in military jargon as 'unmanned aerial vehicles' — are miniature flying machines with no pilot or crew on board […]
Key nuclear states Israel, North Korea, India & Pakistan remain non-signatories to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). What is your government's current position on the treaty and issues under review? The next review conference will be held at the UN in New York City in May next year. This Japanese call from arms invites […]
To quote a press release issued today on behalf of those presently involved in this anti-war protest in northern Australia: Christian Activists enter restricted military area during live-fire exercises Four nonviolent Christian activists have entered the Shoalwater Bay Training Area this morning to stop the Talisman Saber exercises. Calling themselves 'the Bonhoeffer 4' after Kevin […]
Extra-judicial killings are a major source of human rights violation in Asia, according to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), and, of eleven countries reviewed in the Commission’s 2006 Report on human rights in the region, Sri Lanka is the worst. On this second anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, reconstruction in the north-east of […]
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