Every Human Has Rights

To the Members of the UN Security Council,

One year after the start of the Syrian uprising, we are saddened to see divisions in the Security Council prevent a unified and proactive international response to the crisis. Responsibility for the current bloodshed ultimately rests with those in Syria ordering, permitting, or themselves committing, horrific crimes. However, splits among the international community have provided the Assad government with a license to kill. This license must be withdrawn.

Human Rights Council 19 Session-Geneva: 2012-03-07

African Statement on Sexual Orientation and Gender identity report on the High Commissioner for Human Rights Report

We African activists speak on behalf of the people throughout the continent who continually face persecution and violence on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity. We also speak in solidarity with the sentiments of the Women Living under Muslim Laws in their letter addressed to the President of the Human Rights Council.

Excellency,

The African organizations of human rights defenders are writing to you to solicit your support for the resolution on Sri Lanka which will be presented by the United States of America in the course of the March 2012 session of the Human Rights Council (HRC).

As a matter of fact, almost three years has past after the end of the military conflict between the government of Sri-Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), that the government has not fulfilled its commitments towards the population of Sri Lanka. The Secretary General and the Human Rights Council should take credible steps towards establishing justice and accountability for the serious and widespread violations of human rights that took place during the war.

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation was aprt of a fascinating workshop recently, "From Cape to Cairo: The Role of Youth in Democratic Transition”, which brought together passionate activists from far flung countries such as Venezuela, Belarus, Egypt and Zimbabwe, among others, to share their stories, explore ideas with peers and meet with experts on transitional justice mechanisms and tools. The focus of the workshop and the date had been very carefully selected, bringing this group together on a very significant date that serves as a reminder of the struggles of the past, and ones that are still going on today.