International Human Rights News: Weekly Roundup

By Tommaso Poli,  Udita Sharma,   Tola Akindipe, Giulia Carlini

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

Mogadishu truck bomb: 500 casualties in Somalia’s worst terrorist attack- The Guardian

At least eight killed, dozens wounded in protests across Oromia – Addis Standard

Nigeria seeks re-election into UN Human Rights Council – Vanguard

Dozens of Boko Haram members convicted in mass secret trial in Nigeria – The Guardian

South Sudan is a disaster. Its president says: Not my fault. – The Washington Post

In Africa, LGBT Rights Activists Worry About Trump Impact – NBC News

Stop killings or face the music, warns Nasa – Daily Nation

Senegal Makes Strides on Palliative Care – Human Rights Watch

DR Congo: US, EU Should Expand Targeted Sanctions – Human Rights Watch

Central African Republic: UN Special Adviser condemns incitement of violence and hatred – UN News

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HRBDT Weekly News Circular

By Ajay Sandhu

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 6 – 13 October 2017.

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

Student-led campaign leads to scholarships to support refugees at the University of Essex

By Tola Akindipe

Image: Tola Akindipe, Zoe Garshong, and scholarship recipients Rahaf, Nusaiba and Ahmad

Since the beginning of the current refugee crisis in Europe there has been a lot of interest in how higher education can provide opportunities to people who are fleeing persecution. Many universities have drafted policies to make it easier for their admissions departments to admit refugees, or have offered scholarships and fee waivers. During the summer of 2017 the University of Essex decided to join this movement and announced that it would pilot a scholarship scheme to offer three scholarships worth £10,000 to Syrian refugees. This post will discuss the student-led campaign that convinced the University to launch this important initiative.

Labour’s policies are missing one vital ingredient – ‘social rights’

By Stuart Weir*

The Labour party’s 2017 manifesto remains an impressive document with its insistence on equality and human rights. Labour has become the party of commitments to human rights of all kinds, civil and political, workers’ rights, women’s rights, the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, the rights of people with disabilities, and LGBTI rights.

But there is a gaping hole, as a new pamphlet by Paul Hunt, the outstanding human rights lawyer and activist, points out. In Social Rights Are Human Rights – But the UK System is Rigged, published by the Centre for Welfare Reform, Hunt writes that the manifesto’s social policies on education, social security, housing, health and social care are “among its strongest features”, but there is no explicit mention of social rights [my emphasis], except for a single reference to the right to education.

International Human Rights News: Weekly Roundup

By Diana Figueroa, Tommaso Poli,  Udita Sharma,   Tola Akindipe, Giulia Carlini

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

UN resolution condemns death penalty for same-sex relations – ILGA.org

Anti-nuclear weapons group Ican wins Nobel Peace Prize – BBC

Granting “human rights” to rivers: “Wacky” laws protect special interests, not environment – The Rebel

Promoting human rights through science – Science Magazine

HRBDT Weekly News Circular

By Ajay Sandhu

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 29 September – 6 October 2017.

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

International Human Rights News: Weekly Roundup

By Udita Sharma, Giulia Carlini, Diana Figueroa,  Tola Akindipe

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

Plane crash that killed UN boss ‘may have been caused by aircraft attack’ -The Guardian

Cherif Bassiouni, ‘father of international criminal law,’ dies at 79 – The Washington Post

Almost 75% of all children are subjected to violence each year, research finds – The Guardian

• Africa

Kenya: IEBC Fails to Convince Nasa, Jp to Back Ballot Papers Deal – allAfrica

Tanzania: No External Investigators in Lissu Shooting, Says Govt – allAfrica

Cameroon is on edge after security forces opened fire on Anglophone protesters – Quartz Africa