Development Blogs.com


Syria: Free Man Falsely Held as Witness via July 23rd, 2010 at 18:51

(New York) - The Syrian authorities should release Ziad Ramadan, who the Syrian authorities falsely claim is detained so he can be interviewed by the international body investigating the assassination of Rafic Hariri, former prime minister of Lebanon, Alkarama, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch said today. The following is the statement from the three groups: read...

Syria: Al-Asad’s Decade in Power Marked by Repression via July 16th, 2010 at 09:50

(New York) - President Bashar al-Asad has not delivered on his promises to increase public freedoms and improve his government's human rights record during a decade in power, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today on the eve of the anniversary of his accession to power. read...

Syria: Political Detainee, Sentence Ended, Held on New Charges via June 19th, 2010 at 09:00

(New York) - Syrian authorities should immediately drop any new charges against the political activist Ali al-`Abdallah for his peaceful political expression and immediately release him, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Syria: Detained Lawyer Receives Martin Ennals Award via May 7th, 2010 at 20:14

(New York) - The decision to present the prestigious Martin Ennals Award this year to the lawyer and rights activist Muhanad al-Hasani, who has been detained by Syrian authorities since last July, should help focus international attention on Syria's systematic repression of human rights activists, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Syria: Investigate Security Force Shooting of Kurds via March 26th, 2010 at 14:08

(New York) - Syrian authorities should conduct an independent investigation into the shootings by security forces on March 21, 2010, that left at least one person dead and others wounded at a Kurdish New Year celebration in Northern Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Syria: Repression Grows as Europe, US Avoid Discussing Rights via March 11th, 2010 at 10:42

(New York) – Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign relations chief, should raise human rights concerns with Syrian officials during her visit next week and seek specific commitments to improve their record, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Publications: Cultural Persecution, Human Rights & IDPs, Iraqi Resettlement/Syria, Natural Disasters & Human Rights via Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog March 9th, 2010 at 15:20

"Cultural Culprits," Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, Forthcoming (SSRN, updated 2010) [text]- In part, explores "the adjudication of asylum claims based on 'cultural persecution'."The Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, March 2010) [text]- Speech to the Human Rights Council upon presenting final annual report as Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.Natural Disasters, Conflict, and Human Rights: Tracing the Connections (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, March 2010) [text]Stateless and Starving: Persecuted Rohingya Flee Burma and Starve in Bangladesh (Physicians for Human Rights, March 2010) [text]Syria: The Road to Third Country Resettlement for...

Drought threatens Syrian wheat crops via Poverty News Blog March 2nd, 2010 at 18:51

A water shortage in Syria is sending many farmers into the slums around Damascus looking for other work. The drought is partially caused by a lack of upgrades to irrigation from the country's government and also by a lack of rainfall. The shortages in enough water to irrigate crops is turning Syria from a wheat exporter into a importer.From Bloomberg Business Week, writer Daniel Williams talks about the causes of the water shortage. Much of Syria’s farmland is irrigated by flooding, which wastes water, instead of through pipes and tubes, Yazigi said. “Modernization of agriculture has been neglected.”Rainfall has averaged between 45 percent and 66 percent less than normal in three eastern provinces during the past two years, according to a February UN report. The country uses more...

Publications: Displaced Iraqis, Pakistan & 1951 Conv., Refugee Resistance/Australia, Security, Women Asylum Seekers/UK via Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog February 24th, 2010 at 19:15

Accession of Pakistan to the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees: 'Signing on Could Make All the Difference' (Pakistan Law Review, 2010) [text via SSRN]Fast-Tracked Unfairness: Detention and Denial of Women Asylum Seekers in the UK (HRW, Feb. 2010) [text]The Great Escape: Refugees, Detention and Resistance, University of New South Wales Law Research Paper No. 2010-8 (UNSW, 2010) [text via SSRN]Refugees, Security and Human Rights: Working Out the Balance (IARLJ Australasian Chapter, 2010) [text via SSRN]A Tough Road Home: Uprooted Iraqis in Jordan, Syria and Iraq (International Rescue Committee, Feb. 2010) [text]Tagged...

World Report 2010: Harsher Climate for Human Rights via January 26th, 2010 at 08:45

(Beirut)-Middle East governments repressed efforts to promote human rights and backed away from bold reforms despite growing human rights challenges and promises to take action, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing the Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen country studies from its World Report 2010. read...

Iraqi refugees and their search for work via Poverty News Blog December 14th, 2009 at 17:30

Iraqi refuges who flee to Syria are not allowed to work in the counrty legally. This leaves the refugees having to work illegally for what are often less wages than normal. Children often have to find work because their parents struggle and often find themselves in harsher conditions.From IRIN, we read more about the struggle that Iraqi refugees have to earn a living. Aseel Ali*, aged 16, and her mother - both refugees from Iraq - earn just enough (US$174 per month between them) in a Damascus handicraft workshop to pay their rent and buy food.“I have to help my mother as our savings ran out,” Aseel told IRIN. “We start early in the morning and finish at 4pm, and also take work home,” she said.Aseel’s family fled to Egypt in 2006. In 2007 her father went back to Iraq for a short...

Syria: Lift Blackout on Prisoners’ Fate via December 10th, 2009 at 18:14

(New York) - Syrian authorities should make public without further delay the fate of all prisoners whose whereabouts and well-being remain a mystery almost 18 months after security forces put down a riot at the Sednaya prison in July 2008, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Syria: End Persecution of Kurds via November 26th, 2009 at 08:42

(New York) - Syrian authorities should end their unlawful and unjustified practices of attacking peaceful Kurdish gatherings and detaining Kurdish political and cultural activists, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. read...

Syria: Restore Jailed Lawyer’s Credentials via November 13th, 2009 at 10:00

(New York) - The Damascus Bar Association should reverse this week's decision to permanently disbar the lawyer and rights activist Muhanad al-Hasani, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch also urged Syrian authorities to free al-Hasani, who is in detention awaiting trial on charges of "weakening national sentiment" and "spreading false information." read...

Syria: Reveal Prominent Activist’s Fate via October 17th, 2009 at 12:26

(New York, October 17, 2009) - The Syrian government should reveal the fate of the prominent lawyerand rights activist Haytham al-Maleh, 78, who disappeared on October 14, 2009,and should release him immediately and unconditionally if it is detaining him,Human Rights Watch said today.   read...

Syria [In Arabic] via New at IFPRI October 6th, 2009 at 16:10

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Syria: Free Prominent Rights Lawyer via August 4th, 2009 at 15:30

(New York) - The Syrian government should free the lawyer and rights activist Muhanad al-Hasani immediately and unconditionally, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Syria: No Exceptions for ‘Honor Killings’ via July 28th, 2009 at 16:32

(Beirut) - The Syrian government should treat all murders alike and not make exceptions for so-called "honor killings," Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Iraq Resources Round-up via Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog July 17th, 2009 at 14:10

Country of Origin Information Report: Iraq (UK Border Agency, July 2009) [text via Refworld]IOM Emergency Needs Assessments: Post February 2006 Displacement in Iraq (IOM, June 2009) [text via ReliefWeb]IOM Monitoring and Needs Assessments: Assessment of Iraqi Return (IOM, May 2009) [text]- See related press release.Iraqi Refugees: Women's Rights and Security Critical to Returns (Refugees...

Syria: Disclose Fate of Detainees via July 4th, 2009 at 05:01

(New York) - Syrian authorities should immediately make public the fate of all detainees at Sednaya prison, at least nine of whom are believed to have been killed when military police used lethal force during unrest in the prison last July, Human Rights Watch said today. Syria should also free those who have finished serving their sentences, Human Rights Watch said. read...

Syria: Reveal Fate of Hariri-Case Detainee via June 22nd, 2009 at 14:46

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Publications: Asylum/Mashrek, ECCD/Emergencies, Iraqi Displacement, Iraqis/U.S., Somalis/Dadaab via Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog April 29th, 2009 at 14:45

Asylum and Migration in the Mashrek (Euro-Med Human Rights Network, Dec. 2008) [text]IOM Emergency Needs Assessments: Three Years of Post-Samarra Displacement in Iraq (IOM, Feb. 2009) [English text] [Arabic text]Life in the World's Largest Refugee Settlement (openDemocracy, April 2009) [text]The Path of Most Resilience: Early Childhood Care and Development in Emergencies - Principles and...

Syria: UN Rules Dissident’s Detention Illegal via April 29th, 2009 at 08:45

(London) - Syrian authorities should immediately free Dr. Kamal Labwani, a prominent political and human rights activist, following a UN finding that his detention is arbitrary and thus unlawful, a group of leading human rights organizations said today. The groups called on nations engaged in dialogue with Syria to make the release of Dr. Labwani and other activists a priority. read...

Syria: Reveal Fate of 17 Held Incommunicado via April 15th, 2009 at 17:12

(New York) - Syrian authorities should reveal the fate of at least 17 men held in incommunicado detention by members of the security services since August and September 2008, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Syria: Flawed Court Resumes Prosecutions via March 27th, 2009 at 14:41

(New York) -The Supreme State Security Court (SSSC), a special court with almost no due process guarantees that violates the right to a fair trial, resumed its activities this month following an eight-month suspension, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Lebanon: Investigate Syrian Opposition Figure’s Fate via March 24th, 2009 at 14:43

(Beirut) - Lebanese authorities should disclose all available information on the whereabouts of Nawar `Abboud, who disappeared three months ago after Lebanese Military Intelligence detained him in Tripoli, Human Rights Watch and the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) said today. read...

Syria: Dissolve the State Security Court via February 24th, 2009 at 08:59

(New York) - Syrian authorities should abolish the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC), a special court that exists outside the ordinary criminal justice system to prosecute those perceived as challenging the government, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. read...

Syria: Reveal Inmates’ Conditions via January 27th, 2009 at 17:00

(New York) - Syrian authorities should make public the fate of prisoners at Sednaya against whom military police used lethal force during unrest in early July 2008, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

New Issues of Hum. Exch., IJISCRAM, JMRI, Third World Q. via Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog January 6th, 2009 at 13:20

Humanitarian Exchange, no. 41 (Dec. 2008) [full-text] - Features articles on the situation in Myanmar. International Journal of Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 2009) [contents] - Inaugural issue; the preface explains the goals of the journal. Journal of Migration and Refugee Issues, vol. 4, no. 3 (2008) [contents] - Includes articles on social...

U.N. Rights Body In Serious Decline via April 25th, 2003 at 01:00

This year's session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has proved even more disappointing than last year, Human Rights Watch said on the last day of the six-week meeting in Geneva. read...