Human Rights Poem (49): The Slave’s Lament

The Slave’s Lament, Robert Burns
It was in sweet Senegal that my foes did me enthrall
For the lands of Virginia-ginia O;
Torn from that lovely shore, and must never see it more,
And alas! I am weary, weary O!
Torn from &c.
All on that charming coast is no bitter snow and frost,
Like the lands of Virginia-ginia O;
There streams for [...]

Human Rights Quote (80): Impunity

(source)
I deeply hope that the horrors humanity has suffered during the 20th century will serve us as a painful lesson, and that the creation of the International Criminal Court will help us to prevent those atrocities from being repeated in the future. Statement made by Luis Moreno-Ocampo on the occasion of his election as first [...]

Human Rights Facts (48): Resource Curse

(source: http://solitaireinternational.wordpress.com/2007/05/)
Why do countries with lots of natural resources tend to do worse than countries with less resource wealth, both in terms of economic growth and in political, social and human rights terms? We see that countries which own lots of natural resources such as diamonds, oil or other valuables that are found in the [...]

Human Rights Facts (47): Sharia

The term Sharia literally means “path” or “way” (”way to the water source”). So, originally, it wasn’t a legal code or a set or rules as it is now. With the passing of time, the word has come to mean the body of legal rules which were produced through a very long process of scholarly [...]

Human Rights Quote (67): Economic Freedom

“Open markets offer the only realistic hope of pulling billions of people in developing countries out of abject poverty, while sustaining prosperity in the industrialized world.” Kofi Annan

“Africa must be allowed to trade itself out of poverty.” Bob Geldof
Human rights do not include a right to have economic freedom or to have a free market. [...]

Human Rights Quote (64): Infant Mortality

“The child mortality rate—the number of under-fives dying per thousand live births—dropped by almost a quarter worldwide between 1990 and 2006. … Progress in sub-Saharan Africa, where the death rate is highest, has been slower. Around one in six children in the region still die before the age of five and the rate is rising [...]

Human Rights Facts (38): Millennium Development Goals

I’ve mentioned the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before. This post gives some more data.
The United Nations agreed the 8 MDGs in 2000, to be reached in 2015. Now, half-way to that deadline, there is progress, but not all regions in the world are doing equally well. However, even in the poorest region - sub-Saharan Africa [...]

Human Rights Facts (37): Maternal Mortality

Maternal death, or maternal mortality, is the death of a woman during or shortly after a pregnancy. More than half a million women die during pregnancy or childbirth every year, and many millions suffer from inadequately treated complications. About half of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and about one third occur in South Asia [...]

Human Rights Facts (35): Support for Democracy and Political Rights

Democracy and human rights are first of all a conviction and a state of mind. If the people cannot be persuaded to accept democracy and human rights, then the case is lost, even when there is prosperity, when the culture is beneficial to the development of democracy and human rights, and when the necessary laws [...]

The Anti-Democrat’s Paradox

Some people do not believe in the universal validity of human rights and democracy. They say that human rights and democracy are not meant for them, or are not meant for somebody else. They forget, however, that one cannot question, challenge or refute human rights and democracy, for the simple reason that the act of [...]