I heard news today of an old friend. She’s married with two kids and living in an outer suburb of Melbourne in one of those enormous houses widely derided as a ‘McMansion.’ Despite significant housing problems in Australia, these ‘suburban castles’ with four or more bedrooms account for 60% of new housing downunder; 48% of […]
Australians are asked to trust their government. Despite evidence of government lies — in matters as grave as whether to wage war — Australians are expected to trust that the government knows what’s best for them and will act in their interests, all the while violating rights and withholding evidence. Three recent stories illustrate the […]
Freedom of expression, the right to impart and receive information without impediment, the right to dissent and freedom of the press and electronic media are cherished rights essential to a healthy democracy. In Singapore, however, according to the Orwellian-sounding Ministry for Information, "It is a privilege and not a right for foreign newspapers to circulate." […]
Racism and sexism fuel the tragedy that is HIV/AIDS in Africa. Esteemed Canadian Stephen Lewis, in his role as the UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, has highlighted these twin blights — themselves rights violations — in his ongoing effort to draw attention to the crisis and stimulate action. "Gender is at the heart […]
The right to water, the right to health, the right to life, the right to education. They all tie in to something as simple and unmentionable as sanitation. Yes, toilets. The most basic will do, plus some way to wash your hands. One kind that is inadequate is the ‘flying toilet’ found in unsewered shantytowns. […]
If you see only one film this side of the next ice-age, make it An Inconvenient Truth. Please, go out and see it. Make it a priority. Get all your friends to see it. And your politicians, from local government right through to the top. This well-crafted feature documentary brings to a global audience a […]
School fees as low as 875 shillings ($US12) a year is enough to prevent millions of African children getting even a basic education. Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki made the first 8 years of school free in 2003 — including free textbooks — and the response has been tremendous. In that time, school enrolments have risen […]
At least 1,770 people were executed in China last year — probably far more — and China’s Health Ministry and Foreign Ministry have admitted that organs of at least some of these people were harvested and transplanted into paying customers. BBC journalist Rupert Wingfield-Hayes has confirmed in undercover investigations what Canadians David Kilgour and David […]
UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, had this advice for governments at the UN High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development held in New York this month: Governments have to protect migrants against discrimination, racism and xenophobia, in particular by taking effective measures to protect migrants from human rights violations and abuse. It is also vital that Governments […]
It’s hard to believe something so fundamental as water was not mentioned in any of the major human rights treaties until 1989. I guess earlier drafters took water for granted in a way that is now unthinkable. In addition to the explicit provision in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the right to […]
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