Human Rights Archives - Foreign Policy In Focus

Arms Trade Treaty: Let the U.S. Opt Out for Now

by Miriam Pemberton, Scott Stedjan | Nov 20, 2006

The global market and technological advancements have the ability to transform the world with remarkable speed. Not many would be surprised to hear that the computer I am using to write this article may be comprised of components from at least 10 different countries. The monitor may come from Singapore, the processor from Israel, the software designed in India, and all assembled in Tennessee. We are becoming so accustomed to this phenomenon, that we don’t even blink an eye.

Dude, Where Are My Rights?

by John Feffer, Col. Daniel Smith (Ret.) | Nov 19, 2006

Guantanamo, CIA secret prisons, and Abu Ghraib represent the first round of the Bush administration’s assault on constitutional guarantees. Now they’ve introduced Round Two with an attack on habeas corpus: the right to Âpresent one’s bodyÂ before an impartial interlocutor to contest the basis for unexplained, secret, or wrongful incarceration. Habeas corpus is the oldest civil right in the western world and the foundation of constitutional democracy.

3D Security

by Aaron Kishbaugh, Miriam Pemberton, Lisa Schirch | Nov 17, 2006

By defining development and diplomacy as security strategies, the administration officially recognizes that building stable and sustainable peace involves preventing conflict and addressing the root causes of insecurity. The concept of Âhuman security,Â focusing on a wide range of threats to individuals rather than nations, is gaining wider currency. When former President Bill Clinton called AIDS one of the greatest threats to U.S. security he elevated the priority of AIDS from a health issue requiring charity to a security issue even for those who do not have AIDS.

Dealing with Ortega

by Nadia Martinez | Nov 15, 2006

For the Bush administration, it wasn’t just the U.S. elections that brought bad news last week. Citizens of Nicaragua voted Nov. 5 to return former leftist President Daniel Ortega to power.

Gaza Plunges Deeper into Misery

by Anthony Newkirk, Emily Schwartz Greco | Nov 7, 2006

This month, the Shurat HaDin Law Center is taking foreign tourists on an eight-day "exploration of Israel’s struggle for survival and security" that includes briefings by intelligence officers and demonstrations by masked commandoes, as well as visits to military trials of Hamas members.

Bush’s Dysfunctional Cuba Policy

by Emily Schwartz Greco, Wayne S. Smith | Nov 6, 2006

The Bush administration’s Cuba policy has reached a dead end, with no hope of success. Its objective is nothing less than to bring down the Castro regime. Or, as then-Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega put it on October 2, 2003: "The President is determined to see the end of the Castro regime and the dismantling of the apparatus that has kept him in office for so long."

Youth Walk Out to Get Out of Iraq

by Saif Rahman, Emily Schwartz Greco | Nov 6, 2006

Photo: Jonathan McIntosh

What Has Invasion Unleashed in Iraqis?

by Adil E. Shamoo | Oct 23, 2006

What has my new country, the United States, done to my old country, Iraq?

The Horrors of "Extraordinary Rendition"

by Maher Arar, Emily Schwartz Greco | Oct 18, 2006

Editors Note: Canadian citizen Maher Arar, who is barred from entering the United States, delivered his acceptance speech for the Letelier-Moffitt International Human Rights Award in a pre-recorded videotape. This is a transcript of his speech, which was viewed at the award ceremony hosted by the Institute for Policy Studies on Oct. 18, 2006 in Washington, DC.

Postcard From Singapore

by Sameer Dossani, Emily Schwartz Greco | Oct 17, 2006

It’s 2 a.m. on a Saturday night. I’m in a Singapore police station. No, this story doesn’t involve alcohol. Fortunately neither the death penalty nor caning is likely. The story begins earlier on September 16, when I arrived in Singapore, the site of the annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF, from neighboring Batam, […]