Issues that Malawi Human Rights Commission must consider in its national inquiry on LGBT Rights

By Alan Msosa

It has been reported  that this July the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) will conduct a survey to establish the views of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and  transgender (LGBT) Malawians. This survey follows an instruction by the Ministry of Justice, issued in November 2016, for MHRC to hold a national public inquiry to seek peoples’ views about homosexuality in order to inform the government’s decision  to decriminalise or not anti-gay laws. According to MHRC Chairperson, Justin Dzonzi, a report of the survey will be submitted to the Ministry of Justice by the end of October. In this article, I discuss the importance of the survey and propose how MHRC can use the national inquiry to bridge the gap between opposing views in the debate about homosexuality in Malawi.

International Human Rights News: Weekly Roundup

By Luiza Drummond Veado and Cecilia Grillo

Each week students at the University of Essex Human Rights Centre prepare an overview of the past week’s human rights related news stories from around the world.

• International

Human Rights Watch Country Profiles: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity – Human Rights Watch

Many aid groups unable to manage war zone risks, says UN-backed report – UN News Centre

As crises multiply, UN revises annual aid appeal to assist over 100 million around the world – UN News Centre

Violence and persecution uprooted record 65.6 million people in 2016, UN agency reports – UN News Centre

Human Rights: an interdisciplinary perspective

Michael Freeman

 Have you noticed the weird titles of some recent books and articles about human rights?

In 1999 Michael Ignatieff, formerly Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University, published an article in The New York Review of Books under the title, `Human Rights: the midlife crisis’. If human rights were experiencing a mid-life crisis in 1999, they must, presumably, be approaching their death by now – but they aren’t.

In 2010 Samuel Moyn, Professor of Law and History at Harvard University, published a book entitled The Last Utopia: human rights in history. He didn’t, however, say why he thought human rights was a `utopia’, let alone the last one: the book contains no analysis of utopias.

Is Greece ready to receive asylum seekers under the Dublin system?

By Marios Kontos

On the occasion of Refugee Week, this blog entry aims to provide an overview of the reception conditions for asylum seekers in Greece under the prism of the so-called Dublin system. The Dublin system consists of regulations which purport to streamline the handling of asylum claims amongst most European Union (EU) member states and a small number of other non-member states. With a few exemptions, the core principle of these rules is simple: the member state responsible for an asylum claim will be the state through which the asylum seeker first entered the EU.

International Human Rights News: Weekly Roundup

By Luiza Drummond Veado and Cecilia Grillo

Each week students at the University of Essex Human Rights Centre prepare an overview of the past week’s human rights related news stories from around the world.

 

• International

General Assembly approves creation of new UN Counter-Terrorism Office – UN News Centre

One in five children in rich countries lives in poverty, UNICEF ‘wake-up call’ report shows – UN News Centre

States must provide shelters as “survival tool” for women victims of violence – OHCHR

HRBDT Weekly News Circular

By Baekkwan Park

Each week the Human Rights, Big Data & Technology Project, based at the University of Essex Human Rights Centre, prepares an overview of related news stories from the week. This summary contains news articles from 9 to 16 June 2017.

You can follow the HRBDT Project on twitter: @hrbdtNews.

Bridging the gender digital divide from a human rights perspective

By Krisztina Huszti-Orban & Amy Dickens

This week, the United Nations Human Rights Council will discuss a report prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on ways to bridge the gender digital divide from a human rights perspective.

The Human Rights, Big Data, and Technology Project submitted information to the OHCHR outlining the conditions contributing to the development of the gender digital divide, its negative impact on women’s human rights, and how human rights can contribute to addressing this divide. This post summarises the key components of our submission, focusing on impediments to access and effective use of technology by women.

International Human Rights News: Weekly Roundup

By Luiza Drummond Veado and Cecilia Grillo

Each week students at the University of Essex Human Rights Centre prepare an overview of the past week’s human rights related news stories from around the world.

 

• International

“Diversity in humanity” clarion call for expert on sexual orientation, gender identity and human rights – OHCHR

Businesses must eradicate human trafficking from their supply chains – OHCHR

Domestic violence a form of “arbitrary execution”, says UN rights expert  – OHCHR

HRBDT Weekly News Circular

By Baekkwan Park

Each week the Human Rights, Big Data & Technology Project, based at the University of Essex Human Rights Centre, prepares an overview of related news stories from the week. This summary contains news articles from 2 to 9 June 2017.

You can follow the HRBDT Project on twitter: @hrbdtNews.

International Human Rights News: Weekly Roundup

By Luiza Drummond Veado and Cecilia Grillo

Each week students at the University of Essex Human Rights Centre prepare an overview of the past week’s human rights related news stories from around the world

• Africa

Egypt: NGO law threatens to annihilate human rights groups – Amnesty International

Charles Taylor: Liberia’s former leader’s ex-wife charged with torture– BBC

DR Congo: UN Should Investigate Kasai Violence– Human Rights Watch