By Rowena McNaughton
Defended by religion yet feared by many, the wearing of Burqas has become an issue that everyone wants a say in but few acknowledge is part of the right to freedom of expression and religion.
PRIME MINISTERS want it banned; religious leaders are in uproar. The cause of both parties turmoil is the burqa, or, rather, should women wear it. This week the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina reignited the debate about prohibiting the wearing in public of clothes which prevent identification. The burqa being the target. It is understood a draft law will come before the parliamentary elections scheduled for 3 October.
The Prime Minister of the Bosnian Serb Republic, Milorad Dodik, has made his position clear: “Such law has been adopted in several European countries and we believe that we need to get closer to these European standards,” Dodik said in April. The argument posed by Dodik, and fellow advocates of such a law, is that it’s needed to address security concerns. Yet which security concern that is has so far not been put forward.
Human rights groups have been resolute in their stance – a ban is a violation of an individual’s right to freedom of expression and religion. Continue reading →
By Arafat Matovu
I know we are in the middle of xenophobic period and its true foreigners are fleeing the country for the sake of their lives. I see people (foreigners) in trains with their belongings well packed frequently.
On the day I met this woman and her daughter, I was on the way from Retreat (Cape Town-Western Cape). Both were so sad and the mother was crying which forced me to approach them. I asked her where they were coming from and what happened to them, the mother told me that they were staying in a location called “Over Come”. Continue reading →
Posted in Every Human Has Rights, Human Rights and the MDGs, MDGs, No to Violence, Take Action, UDHR
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Tagged Indigenous people, inequality, MDGs, minorities, No to violence, UDHR, Xenophobia
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By Rowena McNaughton
The cruel denial of rights and oppression spawned by colonial settlement is – shockingly – still all too real for millions of indigenous people worldwide. The scars of inequality remain fresh, and every new agenda taken up by domestic governments sends promoting minority rights further down the priority list.
The despondency is understandable, and a review of recent data on the state of the world’s minorities and indigenous people show – alarmingly – that we are on a path going no-where.
The adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) by the United Nations general assembly in September 2007 should have been a turning point. Just on 143 countries voted in favour of the 46 articles of the declaration that acknowledged that indigenous peoples had suffered from historic injustices, recognized the inherent rights of indigenous peoples, and reaffirmed their right to freedom from discrimination of any kind. Continue reading →
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