Topic: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Edward Snowden: Is it illegal for US to block his asylum claim?

NSA leaker Edward Snowden has made it clear that he believes he is being pursued for political offenses. But the US government considers him a common lawbreaker and not a human rights case.
Editor's Blog Feeling for freedom's limits

Free speech and freedom of religion are widely recognized as inalienable human rights. But there are other freedoms as well -- from want and fear, for instance. Determining the extent and limits of these freedoms is a never-ending job in a democracy.
Opinion Do we want drone-architect John Brennan as CIA chief?

At John Brennan's Senate confirmation hearing, the candidate for CIA director should be asked about the killing of Americans, civilian victims of drone strikes, extraordinary renditions, and torture. Do those actions make us safer? Are they consistent with US laws and values?
Why Assange's bid for Ecuador asylum may dismay supporters

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London Tuesday. Ecuador says it expects today to decided if it will grant his asylum request.
The Daily Reckoning Leave Facebook's Eduardo Saverin alone

Eduardo Saverin's timely renunciation of his American citizenship is no reason to keep him out of the US. People should be able to move where they want, when they want, for any reason.
Africa Monitor Nokia publishes policy on African conflict minerals

Nokia says it will not buy mineral products that benefit armed groups or those engaging in human rights abuses. Guest blogger Curt Hopkins asks how they will implement their policy.
Opinion Kofi Annan: Despite flaws, UN Human Rights Council can bring progress

As Human Rights Day 2011 approaches, skeptics say the new UN Human Rights Council has not lived up to its mandate. Some suggest democratic nations should abandon it. At a time when we should be making it stronger, forsaking the Council is the wrong way to advance human rights.
12/08/2011 10:43 am
Opinion British riots: Cameron clashes with basic law

By proposing that rioters and their families be evicted from public housing, British Prime Minister Cameron is promoting collective punishment for the acts of an individual – an ancient injustice that the Old Testament rejected.
08/23/2011 01:10 pm
Cubans may no longer be stuck on Caribbean isle

President Raúl Castro's economic reforms in Cuba appear set to deliver long-sought freedom, even if few can afford to go anywhere.
05/13/2011 03:15 pm
Opinion World Press Freedom Day: Don't believe the numbers, the good guys are winning

Today, on World Press Freedom Day, many will rightly mourn the alarming rise in the number of journalists killed or incarcerated around the world. But the much-cited freedom of expression indices are misleading. The real story on press freedom is that our side is winning. Here's why.
05/03/2011 12:52 pm
Opinion Are human rights really in decline? Look how far we've come.

In the face of reported global abuses, it's tempting to bemoan the lack of human rights progress. But even before protesters in Egypt and the Middle East took a historic stand for freedom, human rights has actually made big gains. Here are four key developments from the last decade.
02/07/2011 09:55 am
France finds a hero in former Nazi prisoner turned bestselling author

Former Nazi prisoner Stéphane Hessel argues that figures like Martin Luther King Jr. prove that hope mixed with an 'unwillingness to compromise on human rights' can defeat oppression.
01/17/2011 12:57 pm
Opinion By admitting its human rights problems, the US helps other nations admit theirs

When the US had its own human rights record reviewed by the UN, the usual repressive regimes took the opportunity to condemn others while glossing over their own abuses. But history shows that human rights reporting can and does advance the cause of human rights worldwide.
11/16/2010 10:05 am
Global News Blog Ban Ki-moon mum on human rights as he visits China

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on a four-day visit to China, has not urged the release of Liu Xiaobo, this year's Nobel Peace Prizewinner. Rights groups are highly critical of his general silence on human rights.
11/02/2010 10:02 am
Was China behind cyber attack on Nobel Peace Prize website?

Tuesday's cyber attack on the Nobel Peace Prize website came less than three weeks after Norway awarded the prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobao.
10/27/2010 09:45 am
Global Viewpoint Liu Xiaobo and the West's naive beliefs about freedom in China

Since the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, the West has naively thought that economic prosperity would inevitably lead to democracy in China. The case of Liu Xiaobo, who just won the Nobel Peace Prize, shows it hasn't. Human rights are the prerequisite for the 'fraternity between nations.'
10/12/2010 09:54 am
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo

Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu Xiaobo, who participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and was jailed in 2008 for advocating human rights.
10/08/2010 09:25 am
Locked out: The 12 million people without a country, and the need to become a citizen

The victims of shifting borders, politics, or the happenstance of birthplace, the world's 12 million stateless people and their need to become citizens are rising on the international human rights agenda.
07/04/2010 10:15 am
Opinion Obama and Medvedev: Does Russia have the courage to change?

To become a truly prosperous and democratic nation, Russia must be willing to abandon cultural obstacles to progress. Based on a meeting I had with Russia's president last month, Moscow may not be ready to do that.
06/24/2010 04:47 pm
Opinion In the name of human rights, France should not ban the veil

The burqa is part of an individual’s religious beliefs. It’s strikingly contradictory therefore that France, in order to liberate women from perceived Islamic oppression, has to violate their universal human rights.
06/03/2010 11:06 am
Global Viewpoint Stand up to the enemies of Internet freedom

If human rights and democracy advocates refused to compromise their principles and used the Internet to defend freedom of expression, repression would be much more difficult.
05/11/2010 02:16 pm
Clinton bluntly condemns China on Internet censorship

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered blunt condemnation of strict Internet censorship in China and pledged to help Chinese citizens jump the 'Great Fire Wall.'
01/21/2010 01:58 pm
Liu Xiaobo: China's top pro-democracy dissident goes on trial

The trial of leading Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo for 'state subversion' lasted just a few hours Wednesday as supporters and diplomats barred from attending thronged the courtroom in near-freezing cold. A verdict is expected Friday.
12/23/2009 06:19 am
Global News Blog Text of Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

Written speech delivered by President Barack Obama when accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Thursday.
12/10/2009 12:00 am
Leading Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo faces subversion case

Police have presented a subversion case against prominent Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, raising the likelihood that he will face trial and then prison. The move furthers China's crackdown on democracy activists.
12/09/2009 12:00 am