Colombia: UN mission to verify rural reform and Indigenous representation in peace process
There are plentiful opportunities ahead for peacebuilding in Colombia, the head of the UN Verification Mission in the country told the Security Council in early January. Carlos Ruiz Massieu welcomed recent government actions on rural reform and greater equality, in line with the 2016 Peace Agreement between the Government and the FARC EP militia group that ended five decades of...
Rape and killing of Dalit woman shocks India, draws outrage
NEW DELHI—The gang rape and death of a woman from the lowest rung of India’s caste system sparked outrage across the country in late September, with several politicians and activists demanding justice and protesters rallying in the streets. The attack of the 19-yearold is the latest gruesome case of sexual violence against women to rile India, where reports of rape...
Do county payments to judges amount to bribes?
They are drafting legislation to require judges to provide financial disclosure forms to parties that come before them in courtrooms, including who gave political donations, and organizations they belong to and serve on board of directors. The disclosures are already mandated, however, you have to probe the Secretary of State and County Registrar’s Office, said to Atty....
Literary giant decries ‘language colonialism’
GINNEWS (GIN) - Nigeria's celebrated novelist Chinua Achebe has called on contemporary African writers to give priority to their mother tongue, in order to lessen the negative consequences of colonialism on African arts and culture. He also called for the revival of Africa's dying oral traditions of storytelling, which he considers unique. The Panafrican News Agency quoted the world famous...
Council of Europe’s anti-torture committee publishes report on UK prisons
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), in a new report, highlights deleterious effects of chronic overcrowding and poor living conditions in prisons across Britain. The report published by the CPT following a targeted visit to the country in June 2021 notes that the underlying structural causes of overcrowding and violence...
In Barbados, UN Secretary General Guterres highlights power of ‘youth voices’ ahead of key trade and development conference
The UN secretary-general on Oct. 3 said he was committed to ensuring that the organization is a place where “youth voices are heard, and their ideas lead,” as he spent the day in Barbados which hosted a major UN conference on trade and development, focused on the need to build a global green economy and recover equitably from the...
Zimbabwe sanctions resolution fails
UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - A draft resolution calling for sanctions on Zimbabwe, including a travel ban and freezing the assets of President Robert Mugabe and 12 other individuals, was not adopted by the 15-member UN Security Council on July 11. Permanent Security Council members China and Russia vetoed the text with South Africa, Libya and Vietnam voting against the resolution. The...
Report: 200 environmental activists killed globally in 2021
MEXICO CITY—Some 200 environmental and land defense activists were killed around the world in 2021, including some 54 in Mexico, which assumed the position of the deadliest country in the annual report by nongovernmental organization Global Witness. More than three-quarters of the killings took place in Latin America, where Colombia, Brazil and Nicaragua also logged double-digit death tolls. It was the third...
Wales’ first Black leader is a testament to Britain’s political diversity, but racism persists
LONDON—Vaughan Gething’s election as the next leader of Wales marks a milestone: For the first time, none of the U.K.’s four main governments is led by a White man. It’s a striking moment in a country still grappling with racism and the legacy of empire. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has Indian heritage and is Britain’s first Hindu leader. Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf—who, like Gething,...
Amnesty Intl. says Myanmar army has laid landmines in Kayah
BANGKOK—Myanmar’s military has laid landmines that have killed and injured people in and around villages in Kayah, a conflict-affected region near the border with Thailand, Amnesty International said July 20. The human rights groups said its researchers who visited the region found that landmines laid around people’s homes and churches have killed at least 20 people and maimed many other...