By Ayman Alhelbawy
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 20 – 26 January 2018.
You can follow the HRBDT Project on twitter: @hrbdtNews.
By Besir Ozbek, Agathe Artus, Övünç Güneş, Francesca Fazio
International
International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust – OHCHR Statement
‘We are all at risk’ when humanity’s values are abandoned; UN honours memory of Holocaust victims – UN News Centre
World Leprosy Day: Time to end leprosy stigma, says new UN human rights expert – OHCHR News
UN flag no longer offers ‘natural’ protection to peacekeepers, says report on mission casualties – UN News Centre
Bring human rights to discussion tables and into decisions at Davos, UN experts urge – UN News Centre
Davos: UN rights chief stresses leading role of businesses in ending LGBTI discrimination – UN News Centre
It has now been a year since Professor Sir Nigel Rodley passed away. A great number of tributes have been shared by friends, colleagues, past students and collaborators. What has been made abundantly clear through these tributes is that Nigel has had a deep impact on many, both professionally and personally.
Tributes have come in various forms, and continue to be developed. Examples include two memorial conferences which were held in September and October of 2017, one organised by the Human Rights Centre and the School of Law at the University of Essex, and the other hosted by The Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights at the University of Cincinnati College of Law; a memorial plaque produced by the Bahrain Human Rights Society in recognition of Nigel’s efforts in advancing human rights in Bahrain; and a documentary on the life and legacy of Nigel is currently being produced by Human Rights in the Picture.
“They took me to a hospital ‘of people’ (supposedly)
And in the emergency room, the receptionist was listening to the lottery.
We’ve got to check your blood pressure, but the room is occupied.
And, my dear, in this hospital there’s no electricity for an EKG.” – J.L. Guerra.
It’s been almost 20 years since Juan Luis Guerra’s famous song ‘El Niagara en Bicicleta’ came out, and the dramatic situation of public hospitals in Latin America has not changed. Anyone who listens to the song would think it embodies part of Latin American magical realism narrative: exaggerated, full of metaphors and borderline sci-fi. However, one needs only to read some of the news concerning the public health crisis in countries such as Venezuela, Brazil or Guatemala, to understand that this is not exaggerated narrative, this is the dramatic reality that millions of people are facing in Latin America.
By Nina Giraudel, Sweekruthi Keshavamurthy, Manon Clayette, and Ayushi Kalyan
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
Near-record warm temperatures fuel deadly, costly weather events in 2017 – UN – UN News Centre
Africa
Mali | Groundbreaking new law strengthens legal protection of human rights defenders – International Service for Human Rights
Nigeria: Providing Much-Needed Care in Isolated Enclaves – Doctors Without Borders
More flee Cameroon’s English-speaking areas; UN concerned over safety of women and children – UN News Centre
DRC: Protesters killed in anti-Kabila protests – AlJazeera
Cape Town confronts looming ‘Day Zero’ water crisis – AlJazeera
George Weah to be sworn in with Liberian hopes sky-high – Agence France Presse
By Ayman Alhelbawy
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 14 – 19 January 2018.
You can follow the HRBDT Project on twitter: @hrbdtNews.
On 30 November 2017 the Home Office issued an open consultation regarding proposed amendments to the UK Investigatory Powers Act 2016. These amendments were proposed in response to an adverse judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union in Joined Cases C-203/15 and C-698/15.
The full scope of the proposed amendments are discussed in the Government’s Consultation Document.
Dr. Daragh Murray, Prof. Pete Fussey, and Prof. Maurice Sunkin QC, members of the Human Rights Big Data & Technology Project, based at the University of Essex Human Rights Centre, submitted written evidence. Their submission focused on the Government’s proposal to amend the statutory purposes for which communications data may be retained or acquired. It argues that the Government’s proposals are overly broad, add uncertainty to the law, and have not been adequately justified. Continue reading
By Besir Ozbek, Agathe Artus, Övünç Güneş, Francesca Fazio
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
Migration, sustaining peace, development high on UN General Assembly’s agenda for 2018 – UN News Centre
Freedom of expression under threat – Human Rights Watch
Migration should be act of hope, not despair: UN chief proposes ways to maximize migrants’ contributions – UN News Centre
By Ayman Alhelbawy
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 7 – 12 January 2018.
You can follow the HRBDT Project on twitter: @hrbdtNews.
By Sweekruthi Keshavamurthy, Nina Giraudel, Manon Clayette, and Ayushi Kalyan
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.
#MeToo is important, but the war on women is a far, far bigger deal – The Guardian
W.H.O. Approves a Safe, Inexpensive Typhoid Vaccine – The New York Times
Defending the environment has become a suicide mission in many parts of the world– Los Angeles Times
