http://www.project-syndicate.org/series/human_rights <p><em>Has the Iraq war fatally undermined the concept of "humanitarian intervention" aimed at stopping human rights abuses? Have the trials of Slobodan Milosevic and Charles Taylor discredited international criminal tribunals? Is universal jurisdiction legal?</em></p> en 2012-02-10T05:55:30+01:00 webmaster@project-syndicate.org webmaster@project-syndicate.org 1994-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 4 hourly http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/schwarzenberg6/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/schwarzenberg6/English>H RIGHTS: Havel Lives</a> <p>PRAGUE – The death of Václav Havel, the former president of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, has been marked with mourning around the world. For his friends, the loss is overwhelming, but we all take comfort from the fact that his courage and his ideas helped to change our world for the better, and are still continuing to do so.</p><p>Throughout his life, Havel was an unconquerable fighter for freedom and human dignity. He was the leader of the Velvet Revolution, which brought communism to a peaceful end in his homeland, a dissident intellectual who, by his unswerving conscientiousness and disciplined, down-to-earth idealism, led his compatriots in their struggle to overcome the totalitarian mindset in the years after they regained their freedom. Indeed, that mental liberation remains a living, essential part of Havel’s legacy.  </p> Karel Schwarzenberg, Desmond Tutu, Richard von Weizsäcker 2012-02-03T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/mahmodi1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/mahmodi1/English>H RIGHTS: Afghanistan’s Terrorized Women</a> Ten years after the end of Taliban leadership, Afghanistan's women live in an environment in which domestic violence, torture, and lack of freedom are the norm. Will the authorities educate the public and prosecute the perpetrators, or will Afghanistan continue to be a world leader in human-rights abuses and oppression of women? Mohammed Musa Mahmodi 2012-01-24T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/jovanovic1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/jovanovic1/English>H RIGHTS: Europe’s Squandered Minority</a> In the midst of Europe's financial crisis, one group – the Roma – have been ignored. The status quo is damaging the lives of millions of Roma, but it is also hurting Europe, both morally and economically. Zeljko Jovanovic 2011-12-30T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/maru1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/maru1/English>H RIGHTS: Legal Power to the People</a> Organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International can use documentation and public advocacy to shame governments guilty of human-rights violations. But without a consistent system for citizens to protect their rights in daily life, naming and shaming alone will not address every breach of basic rights. Vivek Maru 2011-11-09T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/mistura1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/mistura1/English>H RIGHTS: Afghanistan’s Suffering Civilians</a> The Taliban and other insurgents are responsible for nearly 80% of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, so they bear the greatest responsibility to change their behavior. But, while errors by international and government forces are responsible for a far lower rate of civilian casualties, the impact on Afghan communities is no less severe. Staffan de Mistura 2011-11-08T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rteitel8/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rteitel8/English>H RIGHTS: Operation Actual Justice</a> US President Barack Obama has promised to send a group of 100 armed military personnel to Uganda – a high-powered posse to help bring to justice the notorious war criminal Joseph Kony, the leader of the brutal Lords Resistance Army. Coming so soon after the Libya intervention, does this herald a new global police role for the US? Ruti Teitel 2011-11-01T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sherwin1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sherwin1/English>H RIGHTS: The Digital Trial</a> Less discussed than the suspect DNA evidence in the Amanda Knox case was whether a graphic digital animation also contributed to her original conviction. Indeed, the growing use of videos, simulations, and sophisticated graphics as a basis for legal judgments exposes the vicissitudes of justice in the digital age. Richard K. Sherwin 2011-10-12T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/kimoon20/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/kimoon20/English>H RIGHTS: The Power to End Poverty</a> This month, the Millennium Villages Project launches its second five-year stage. Around Africa, and now around the world, governments are scaling up the lessons from this project and others like it: empower communities, help them to invest in their futures using cutting-edge technologies, and thereby end extreme poverty. Ban Ki-moon 2011-10-03T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/cassola5/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/cassola5/English>H RIGHTS: Qaddafi’s Western Friends</a> With Muammar el-Qaddafi’s regime in ruins and Qaddafi himself on the run, it is time to ponder just how he survived in power for so long. Greed for markets and money, it seems, often trumped the West’s supposed concern for human rights. Arnold Cassola 2011-09-08T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/mani2/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/mani2/English>H RIGHTS: All Man’s Land</a> India imagines herself as a woman – Bharat Mata, or Mother India. But, unless far-reaching changes are made soon, a cultural preference for boys – and a widespread willingness to abort girls – could one day leave Mother India the only woman left in the country. Rakesh Mani 2011-08-16T00:00:00+02:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rjones1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rjones1/English>H RIGHTS: The Berlin Wall’s Children</a> Fifty years after construction of the Berlin Wall was begun, its enduring legacy is not the inspiring notion that freedom and the will of the people can knock down any barrier. Instead, the lesson learned has been that border walls are relatively effective at preventing the movement of poor people. Reece Jones 2011-08-12T00:00:00+02:00