Human Rights – An IB Global Politics Site

What’s Next for the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

January 18, 2022

This story raises important questions around the enforcement of such laws. I really like that the specific logistical hurdles are dealt with rather than the broader idealized goals of such legislation.

Independent audits are impossible to conduct in Xinjiang, and due diligence remains difficult in other parts of China. The U.S. government has noted reports of auditors being detained or intimidated. In 2020, five audit organizations announced they would withdraw from Xinjiang, as the Chinese government’s oppressive conditions in the region made it too difficult to conduct the work.

https://uphill.thedispatch.com/p/whats-next-for-the-uyghur-forced

Judge throws out historic female genital mutilation case, calls feds ‘vindictive’

October 11, 2021

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the nation’s first female genital mutilation case, delivering a major blow to the prosecution and FGM survivors who had hoped the Detroit case would help end a practice that is still performed on millions of girls worldwide.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2021/09/28/judges-tosses-detroits-historic-female-genital-mutilation-case/5902782001/

In secret tapes, palm oil execs disclose corruption, brutality

October 11, 2021

Global Witness, an environmental and human rights organization, sent undercover investigators to get the scoop

Global Witness’s two-year investigation is a rare behind-the-scenes look at the corruption, labor abuses and destructive environmental practices in an industry that is clearing carbon-rich rainforests and emitting greenhouse gases at a rate that has become a growing concern for climate scientists. The world’s most common vegetable oil has spawned vast fortunes, while coming under scrutiny for its labor practices and environmental impact.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/10/09/png-palm-oil-undercover-sting/

HOW THE U.S. DERAILED AN EFFORT TO PROSECUTE ITS CRIMES IN AFGHANISTAN

October 7, 2021

“This just proves one more time to Afghans that international mechanisms do not value their life when foreigners are involved and international forces are involved,” Shaharzad Akbar, who chaired Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission until the Taliban took control of the country in August, told The Intercept. “This decision reinforces the perception that these institutions set up in the West and by the West are just instruments for the West’s political agenda.”

https://theintercept.com/2021/10/05/afghanistan-icc-war-crimes/

“How to Hide an Empire”: Daniel Immerwahr on the History of the Greater United States

September 9, 2021

“How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States.” That’s the title of a new book examining a part of the U.S. that is often overlooked: the nation’s overseas territories from Puerto Rico to Guam, former territories like the Philippines, and its hundreds of military bases scattered across the globe. We speak with the book’s author, Daniel Immerwahr, who writes, “At various times, the inhabitants of the U.S. Empire have been shot, shelled, starved, interned, dispossessed, tortured and experimented on. What they haven’t been, by and large, is seen.” Immerwahr is an associate professor of history at Northwestern University.

How Beijing Is Redefining What It Means to Be Chinese, from Xinjiang to Inner Mongolia

September 9, 2021

Although Article 4 of the constitution of the People’s Republic of China theoretically guarantees equality for all its 56 ethnic groups, in reality the Chinese Communist Party rules according to a Han Chinese orthodoxy, which claims a direct lineage from the early Yellow River basin tribes and alone defines the national vision. It is this ideology that drives not just the assault on religion in Xinjiang but also the erosion of freedoms in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, curbs on local language in Inner Mongolia and the corralling of 2.8 million Tibetans into urban work groups under the guise of “poverty alleviation.”
The goal, according to an official ordinance on the government website for the Xinjiang city of Kashgar, is to “break lineage, break roots, break connections and break origins.”

https://time.com/6078961/china-ccp-anniversary-identity/

Indicator Podcasts on Water Scarcity

September 8, 2021

Here is a series of four 9 minute podcasts exploring different aspects of water security, scarcity, access, and other related issues. This topic provides great connections to HLX concepts like Health, Environment, Borders, and Security along with issues related to economic development.

Here are some other articles under the category of “water”

The 9/11 Effect and the Transformation of Global Security

September 8, 2021

The scale and audacity of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, spurred sweeping changes in the way the United States, its partners, and adversaries used the machinery of state and technology to respond to threats. In this Council of Councils global perspectives, five experts reflect on the legacy of the attacks and offer insights into the biggest changes in counterterrorism, human rights, surveillance, international law of war, and border security.

https://www.cfr.org/councilofcouncils/global-memos/911-effect-and-transformation-global-security

Why it Matters Podcast: Water Scarcity

September 7, 2021

Fresh water is more than just a resource, it is the source of all life. But in many arid regions of the world, water supplies are under pressure from climate change, and outdated rules and infrastructure are making the problem worse. What does the world need to know about water consumption, and how can societies build better systems for a dryer future? Featured Guests: Mark Giordano (Professor of Geography and Cinco Hermanos Chair in Environment and International Affairs, Georgetown University) Sandra Postel (Founder and Director, Global Water Policy Project)

cfr.org/podcasts/water-scarcity

The Violent Logic of Humanitarianism

September 6, 2021

The U.S. occupation of Afghanistan sacrificed politics—the only viable route to peace—for massive corruption and violence, all committed in the name of humanitarian compassion.

“The idea that we’re able to deal with the rights of women around the world by military force is not rational.” This single sentence from President Biden’s ABC interview with George Stephanopoulos on August 18 exposed the paradox of humanitarian intervention. It acknowledged that trying to address violence with violence only serves to perpetuate it.

https://bostonreview.net/war-security/faisal-devji-violent-logic-humanitarianism

Water In The West: Bankrupt?

Liquid Markets

Water’s Cheap… Should It Be?

Should The Lawns In Vegas, Stay In Vegas?