Showing our support for the AAU-sponsored L.A.F. Project’s upcoming events, including a photo exhibition at AAU’s |art| SPACE starting October 10, this week’s news summary is comprised of human rights stories and events found on the web.
Just as for September, this news blog is curated by AAU students and EOTW editors, and culminates in weekly and monthly features of “what we’re reading at AAU”. So check back next week, and at the end of the month as this page is updated.
If you’re interested in learning more about what’s happening in the field of human rights, an excellent source for topics, reports and events is Human Rights Watch.
10-14.10
Iran | Actress Marzieh Vafamehr Sentenced to Jail and Lashes
An Australian-produced 2009 film starring Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr, titled My Tehran for Sale, appeared on the Iranian black market and has since created controversy allegedly over scenes in which Ms. Vafamehr appears without a hijab headscarf. Given that the film’s content is critical of the Iranian government, depicting an artist whose work is banned by the country, the allegations abroad are met with skepticism. (BBC News)
Ukraine | Former PM Yulia Tymoshenko Convicted in Dubious Trial
In a transparently political trial former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been sentenced to 7 years in prison, fined 140 million euros, and barred from public office for three years succeeding her prison time. (Huffington Post)
Mexico | “Gangland warfare” or Crimes Against Humanity?
Mexicans are decrying lack of action taken by their government to allay a national crisis of gang warfare that has permeated everyday life and taken a reckless number in “gunfight, assassinations, and torture-murders”. Mexican citizens are appealing to the International Criminal Court based in the Netherlands. (Houston Chronicle)
03-07.10
Afghanistan | Autumn Human Rights Festival
Afghan film makers address the “achievements and abuses” of human rights experienced in their country, those enabled both by domestic and foreign involvement with the country. Organizers of the Autumn Human Rights Festival, including the French Cultural Institute, say the festival does not have any political motives, but serves to transfer to audiences the Afghan experience over the last decade. (Reuters)
Uzbekistan | Securing or Enabling?
An arms restrictions waiver for Uzbekistan, a move to secure supply routes to American troops in Afghanistan, also lifts a symbolic restriction on Uzbek forces, say human rights activists familiar with the region, and at worst could enable a police force that shot hundreds of demonstrators in 2005. (The Washington Times)
Ivory Coast | Post-electoral Violence
Election disputes that resulted in civil war, at a toll of 3,000 deaths, now having ceased, President Ouattara is being called on by advocates around the world to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes against humanity. (Voice of America)
