Category Archives: Global development

The world faces a pandemic of human rights abuses in the wake of Covid-19 | António Guterres

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The virus has been used as a pretext in many countries to crush dissent, criminalise freedoms and silence reporting

  • António Guterres is secretary general of the United Nations

From the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic almost one year ago, it was clear that our world faced far more than a public health emergency. The biggest international crisis in generations quickly morphed into an economic and social crisis. One year on, another stark fact is tragically evident: our world is facing a pandemic of human rights abuses.

Covid-19 has deepened preexisting divides, vulnerabilities and inequalities, and opened up new fractures, including faultlines in human rights. The pandemic has revealed the interconnectedness of our human family – and of the full spectrum of human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political and social. When any one of these rights is under attack, others are at risk.

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Myanmar coup: Facebook shuts down military’s main page as well-known actor arrested

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Lu Min taken from his home on Yangon as demonstrators take to streets in Mandalay after death of two protesters there on Saturday

Myanmar police have arrested a well-known actor wanted for opposing the military coup as Facebook deleted the military’s main page, saying it breached its standards prohibiting the incitement of violence.

Lu Min was one of six celebrities who the army said on Wednesday were wanted under an anti-incitement law for encouraging civil servants to join in the protest. The charges can carry a two-year prison sentence.

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Colombia tribunal reveals at least 6,402 people were killed by army to boost body count

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The killings, which took place between 2002 and 2008, were declared combat kills in order to boost statistics in war with rebel groups

A special peace tribunal in Colombia has found that at least 6,402 people were murdered by the country’s army and falsely declared combat kills in order to boost statistics in the civil war with leftist rebel groups. That number is nearly three times higher than the figure previously admitted by the attorney general’s office.

The killings, referred to in Colombia as the “false positives scandal”, took place between 2002 and 2008, when the government was waging war against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (or Farc), a leftist guerrilla insurgency, which ultimately made peace with the government in 2016. Soldiers were rewarded for the manipulated kill statistics with perks, including time off and promotions.

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The number of people in need is frightening – we need a global response | Axel van Trotsenburg

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We can rise to the challenge of a green, resilient and inclusive recovery from Covid, but only if critical changes are made

The numbers are well-publicised but bear repeating. Around 120 million more people were pushed into extreme poverty in 2020, a number that could rise to 150 million in 2021. An estimated 250 million jobs have been lost around the world, and the number of people affected by acute food insecurity was estimated to have doubled to 272 million by the end of last year. A decade of progress in the most fragile countries wiped out.

Let’s put a human dimension on these numbers. More than a billion children have been out of school during the Covid-19 pandemic, and girls are much less likely to return to the classroom.

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Myanmar protester shot in head during police crackdown dies

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Grocery store worker Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, 20, is the first protest fatality since military took control in coup two weeks ago

A woman who was shot in the head by police during protests in Myanmar last week has died – the first protest fatality since the military took control in a coup more than two weeks ago.

Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, 20, had been on life support since being taken to hospital on 9 February after she was hit by what doctors said was a live bullet at a protest in the capital, Naypyitaw.

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South Africa leads backlash against big pharma over Covid vaccine access

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Pressure mounts for patent waivers to allow poorer countries to develop their own manufacturing capacity to boost availability

The domination of global medicine by major pharmaceutical companies needs to be confronted to provide fairer access to vaccines, a leading South African official has said.

The scramble over Covid vaccines should alert rich countries to the power of profit-driven companies that control production of crucial medicines, said Mustaqeem De Gama, South Africa’s delegate at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on intellectual property rights.

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Yemen risks worst famine on planet in ‘decades’, say UN officials

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Thousands more civilians could be displaced due to attacks by Houthi rebels in Marib province

The conflict in Yemen has taken a “sharp escalatory turn” and the country is speeding towards the worst famine the world has seen in decades, UN officials have warned, as the US under Joe Biden takes a renewed interest in finding a diplomatic solution to the war.

In one of his more downbeat monthly assessments, the UN special envoy Martin Griffiths told the security council attacks by the Houthi rebels in Marib province are threatening to displace tens of thousands of civilians, many of whom had fled to Marib from fighting elsewhere in Yemen.

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Indigenous peoples face rise in rights abuses during pandemic, report finds

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Increasing land grabs endangering forest communities and wildlife as governments expand mining and agriculture to combat economic impact of Covid

Indigenous communities in some of the world’s most forested tropical countries have faced a wave of human rights abuses during the Covid-19 pandemic as governments prioritise extractive industries in economic recovery plans, according to a new report.

New mines, infrastructure projects and agricultural plantations in Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Indonesia and Peru are driving land grabs and violence against indigenous peoples as governments seek to revive economies hit by the pandemic, research by the NGO Forest Peoples Programme has found.

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Brazil health workers accused of giving Covid vaccinations with empty syringes

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Police are looking into allegations of so-called ‘wind vaccinations’ amid speculation about possible motives

Police in Brazil are investigating allegations that healthcare workers are giving fake Covid-19 inoculations, amid reports of nurses injecting people with empty syringes.

Cases of what local media are calling “wind vaccination” have been reported in four states, adding to the woes of the country’s halting and uncoordinated immunisation programme.

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Educating Zimbabwe: illegal ‘home schools’ defy lockdown in townships

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Priced out of online access, poor children are turning to backyard teachers as Covid closes state classrooms

It’s Friday morning and Help Mabwe is preparing to give the day’s illicit lessons. Round the back of his house the teacher has created a classroom out of some old canvas and some wooden poles.

A few broken chairs and benches, and an ancient chalkboard complete the furniture in Mabwe’s backyard college in Kuwadzana, a township 15km west of central Harare.

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Athens accused of ‘downplaying’ risks of lead contamination at Lesbos camp

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Campaign group calls for more testing at Mavrovouni, a temporary facility housing thousands of refugees on the Greek island

The Greek government is “downplaying” the risks of lead contamination in the refugee camp on Lesbos, according to Human Rights Watch.

The group is calling for further comprehensive testing at the Mavrovouni camp after results revealed that one area had particularly high levels of lead contamination.

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‘No way they’ll back out’: tensions rise amid Ethiopia opposition hunger strike

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Supporters say the politicians are prepared to die as government stands firm, with human rights lawyers warning consequences ‘could be huge’

For two hours the doctors had waited outside the gates of Kaliti prison in Addis Ababa. Bekele Gerba, a leading Ethiopian opposition figure from the Oromo ethnic group, was very ill and due to be taken to hospital for treatment. The 60-year-old is one of 20 senior political detainees, including the most prominent, Jawar Mohammed, who have been on hunger strike for the past three weeks.

After a flurry of phone calls, the prison authorities informed the waiting medical team that the prisoner, who has hypertension, would not be going to hospital on Friday. “They wouldn’t let us provide the emergency medical care he needs,” said Dr Illili Jamal, who alleged that the order to keep him in his cell came from senior government officials.

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Nepal proposes ‘ridiculous’ ban on women travelling without permission

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Activists warn new anti-trafficking law requiring permission from families to travel is evidence of ‘deep-rooted patriarchal mindset’

A proposed law in Nepal that would ban women from travelling abroad without permission from their families and local government officials has been called unconstitutional and “ridiculous”.

The proposals, introduced by the Department of Immigration last week in an attempt to prevent women being trafficked, would require all women under 40 to seek permission before they visit Africa or the Middle East for the first time.

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Crew of oil tanker beached off UAE to go home after four years at sea

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Five men abandoned without wages on ship that ran aground have received settlements and will be repatriated to their families

The crew of an oil tanker who have not set foot on dry land for nearly four years after being abandoned on board their ship, which later ran aground off the United Arab Emirates, are finally going home to see their families.

The seafarers, who said they experienced “living hell” on board the 5,000-ton MT Iba after the tanker’s owner hit financial problems and stopped paying salaries almost three years ago, have been given a settlement for wages owed to them. They hope to be repatriated in March.

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Fresh protests in Myanmar after Aung San Suu Kyi trial begins in secret

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Court case begins a day early, without the knowledge of her lawyer and with fresh charges

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Myanmar’s main city Yangon on Wednesday morning to voice their anger after the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi began ahead of schedule and without the knowledge or presence of her lawyer.

Across Yangon, protesters marched with red flags signalling their support for their ousted leader, and carrying signs denouncing the military. Roads were blocked by sit down protests, and by drivers who held a “broken down” protest, parking their cars with bonnets open.

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Malawi sacks heads of Covid-19 taskforce amid audit of use of funds

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President Lazarus Chakwera fires several officials and warns ‘no penny meant for saving lives will be stolen, abused or wasted’

Malawi’s president Lazarus Chakwera has fired the heads of his government’s Covid-19 taskforce, in what is being seen as his first decisive move during the pandemic.

The president fired the head of the disaster management department and the taskforce’s co-chair, and suspended further officials, some “for failing to maintain proper records of how such critical funds were used and others for defying my directive to submit reports weekly to my office”. He said the pandemic called for “strong leadership”.

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Stateless, stuck and desperate: the militants’ wives trapped in Kashmir

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Hundreds married to men who travelled to Pakistan for militant training now find themselves stateless

Under dark skies in Kashmir’s heavily militarised town of Kupwara, Saira Javed mournfully recalled her happy childhood.

Recounting her early life in Karachi, a bustling metropolis over the border in Pakistan, she spoke vividly of her father, Abdul Latif, who would take their large family on weekend picnics and of the moonlit nights she spent dying her hands with henna.

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Sudan declares states of emergency after protests over soaring food prices

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As famine warnings are triggered and food is stolen from markets, the government blames supporters of ousted president al-Bashir

Seven regions of Sudan have declared states of emergency following violent protests against food price rises. Curfews have been imposed and schools have been forced to close in 10 cities across Darfur, North Kordofan, West Kordofan and Sennar. Buildings were looted and burned, and food was stolen from markets and shops. The regions are among the poorest in Sudan.

The joint military-civilian government believes supporters of the former president, Omar al-Bashir, are behind the protests. The government recently ordered the prosecution of members of Bashir’s party.

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Guinea officials race to contain Ebola outbreak as death toll rises

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At least four people have died in the epidemic, causing heightened alarm across west Africa

Health officials in Guinea are racing to contain a new outbreak of Ebola that has killed at least four people and raised concerns across west Africa, which previously suffered the worst from the virus.

On Monday morning, a fourth victim died in Guinea and four others are being treated in an isolation centre, suffering vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding. At least seven of the people who contracted the virus attended the funeral of a nurse in Goueke, a town near the Liberian border, on 1 February the government said on Sunday.

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Risk of global food shortages due to Covid has increased, says UN envoy

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Exclusive: Agnes Kalibata says price rises and scarcity mean people in poverty are in more danger than last year

People living in poverty around the world are in danger of food shortages as the coronavirus crisis continues, the UN’s food envoy has warned, with the risk worse this year than in the period shortly after the pandemic began.

Agnes Kalibata, the special envoy to the UN secretary general for the food systems summit 2021, said: “Food systems have contracted, because of Covid-19. And food has become more expensive and, in some places, out of reach for people. Food is looking more challenging this year than last year.”

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