I write to you from Australia, where an area bigger than Germany and France combined is under water. Filthy, noxious water and mud. Three-quarters of Queensland has been declared a disaster zone – that’s a disaster twice the size of Texas. In a small town called Grantham, west of Brisbane, buildings were not so much filled […]
As one of the most loyal members of the 'Coalition of the Willing,' Australia has been involved in the present war in Afghanistan for nearly a decade. Under the Australian Constitution, the Prime Minister can declare war without the endorsement of parliament. Bush's 'deputy sheriff' in the Antipodes, Prime Minister John Howard, committed Australia to […]
When people like Desmond Tutu describe the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories as apartheid, it's not mere hyperbole. Israel's self-proclaimed 'policy of separation' seeks to segregate Palestinians and Jews in the West Bank, writes Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard. Apartheid is an Afrikaans word meaning literally, separateness. It's hard to see how Israel's policy […]
The "villains' charter" debate has reached Australia, it would seem. Reviewing Victoria's Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities 12 months after it came into effect, the Sunday Herald-Sun's 'star political reporter' Ellen Whinnett wrote last month that the Charter had been "hijacked by criminals." Her view echoes Britain's Daily Mail which attacks the UK's 'disastrous' […]
Australia awaits with anticipation next week’s long-overdue apology to the survivors of the Stolen Generations, their families and descendants. This landmark step towards reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians is something the previous Prime Minister, John Howard — that formidable opponent of human rights — conspicuously failed to do, despite the 1997 Bringing Them Home […]
Peter McGregor, Australian pacifist and ‘education radical activist’ for over 40 years, died yesterday. An academic by trade, McGregor was also a convener of the Australian Anti-Apartheid Movement along with Meredith Burgmann. Last year he attempted to arrest senior members of the Australian government on suspicion of war crimes. According to Queensland anti-war activist Ciaron […]
The United Nations wants to hear about people suited to the top human rights positions known as ‘Special Procedures mandate-holders’. Also called Special Rapporteurs, Special Representatives or Independent Experts, or appointed to Working Groups, these leading experts investigate human rights violations and their causes. There are presently 13 country mandates concerned with the human rights […]
Controversial Oxford ethicist Julian Savulescu cites evidence that intellect is an attribute that ‘makes life go well.’ IQ is negatively correlated with things like unemployment, divorce, poverty, jail and the need for welfare benefits. If you could somehow improve the IQ of the whole population by as little as three points (or 3%, on average), […]
Last year, RightsBase hailed the introduction of free primary education in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda, resulting in huge increases in school attendance and great knock-on benefits to the kids and their society. Now Uganda is offering free secondary education, in accordance with its human rights obligations. The International Covenant on the Economic, Social and […]
Homeless people in France will have legal redress if a draft bill is passed in the current parliamentary session. Homelessness was forced onto the French political agenda when fires in inadequate, overcrowded Paris housing killed almost 50 people in 2005. The issue has been kept alive by the ‘Children of Don Quixote’, a small voluntary […]
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