A few days ago, the photographer Marcus Bleasdale and Human Rights Watch’s Peter Bouckaert, both working in the volatile Central African Republic, accepted an invitation to meet Colonel Zabadi – an ex-Seleka commander widely feared for his ruthlessness. (The mostly Muslim ex-Seleka forces now rule the country, and the Christian anti-balaka militias are fighting to overthrow them.) This is what happened…
HIV has reached epidemic levels in Louisiana. Although the death rate from AIDS in Louisiana is more than double the US average, the state’s laws and practices still prohibit access to sterile syringes. They also interfere with sex workers carrying condoms.
Four prominent human rights activists in Syria were kidnapped by armed opposition groups. A personal take on this by Human Right’s Watch’s Tamara Alrifai.
Talk about trampling all over Nelson Mandela’s legacy of equality and human rights: deaf viewers among the global audience for Mandela’s memorial service were confronted by a fake sign language interpreter, waving his hands randomly and making up gestures that lacked any meaning.
Today, the UN Security Council was briefed on Darfur by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor. Darfur is still plagued with abuses, but no one facing an arrest warrant for crimes committed in Darfur has appeared before the court.
US-based Time magazine named Pope Francis person of the year for 2013.
