Salem-News.com Human Rights articles Page 37

BURMA: Extremist Monks Hold Talks Throughout Strife-Torn Arakan State

The government denies the roughly 800,000 Rohingyas citizenship and claims that the minority in northern Arakan are “Bengalis” who entered the country illegally from neighboring Bangladesh.

(RANGOON) - Leading Buddhist monks of the nationalist 969 movement said they have been holding sermons in several townships in northern Arakan State, which has been wracked by bloody violence between Arakanese Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslim minority.

The activities raise concerns that the monks, who have been accused of spreading hate speech against Islam, will inflame tensions and cause new outbreaks of anti-Muslim violence in the volatile state.

Support Mother Who Resists Court Order to Circumcise Son

The woman has said that she does not wish to harm her son. Circumcision has been shown to result in physical, sexual, and psychological harm.

(LOS ANGELES) - The Jewish Circumcision Resource Center represents Jews around the world who question circumcision and choose not to circumcise their sons.

An Israeli religious court has fined a woman for refusing to circumcise her infant son. The matter is part of an ongoing divorce case. In Israel, religious courts have authority over various family matters like marriage, divorce, and child welfare.

Tamil Council to Count Sri Lanka War Casualties

Sri Lanka has repeatedly rejected allegations that its troops killed civilians while battling the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who were also accused of using civilians as a human shield.

(COLOMBO Arab News) - The provincial government in Sri Lanka's main Tamil region said it would compile its own death toll from the country's ethnic war, saying an ongoing census would play down the number of casualties.

Tamil officials said the census ordered by President Mahinda Rajapakse last month would give a distorted picture because of its "flawed" terms of reference, arguing that a more credible alternative was needed.

Statistics Indicate Israel Kills 25 Palestinians for Every One of Their Own

It is a manic game of over-retaliation that can't last forever.

(SALEM) - Much has been written about the disparity between the killings of Palestinian and Israeli people. Media accounts published in the U.S. often concentrate on the Israeli side of the story, causing the public to believe in many cases, that Palestinians represent a serious threat to the Israeli populace.

The Hamas rockets that are consistently reported in the United States have killed roughly 30 Israeli people - not a small number, but tiny in comparison to the number of Palestinians killed in the same time frame, since the early 1990's when the first rockets were fired. The Gaza rockets are unguided.

Colombo Arrests Indian Journalist Touring Vanni

In recent times, the SL military intelligence operatives, deployed in the name of ‘Terrorist Investigation Department’ of the SL police, have been harassing, detaining and deporting journalists.

(COLOMBO TamilNet) - A young journalist from Tamil Nadu, Thamizh Mahaapirapaaharan, who was touring in the North was arrested by the occupying Sri Lankan military and the SL police Wednesday at noon.

At the time he was talking to the parish priest of St. Antony’s Church in Ponnaavea’li, news sources in Vanni said.

Joy and Fear for Christians in Sri Lanka

Persecution has been growing in the island nation throughout 2013 as Buddhist extremists attacked many churches and gatherings of Christians in the country.

(COLOMBO WorldMag.com) - Christmas is a time of joy, but also of fear for Christians in rural areas of Sri Lanka.

Yamini Ravindran, National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka’s (NCEASL) advocacy officer, said, “Christmas is commercialized for the Christians residing in the main city areas; however, for most Christians in the rural or Buddhist-dominant villages it is a completely different scenario. It is an event filled with joy and fear for them. Joy to remember the birth of Christ—fear to conduct services boldly and fear of attacks against churches, pastors, or Christian members.”

Sinhalese Use of Rape as a Weapon of War or Pleasure

Outrage was mounting when Sri Lankan troops under United Nations “peace-keeping” mission was involved in sex-crime allegations, ranging from charges of rape and exploitation in Haitian women and girls.

(SALEM) - If India had trained Sri Lankan armed forces to defeat the Tamil Tigers, it doesn't speak very much of the Indian training.

How much the Indian training had benefited the Sinhalese, none of us can judge, but the Sinhalese use of rape as a weapon of war, doesn't speak very much of the Indian training. They have the highest rate of rape in international military records as you will see in the account below.

International Rohingya Conference in the USA Calls for Stopping Genocide in Myanmar

The Rohingya people, who mostly live in the western Rakhine state of Myanmar, are the most persecuted people in our time.

(MILWAUKEE) - The first international conference in the USA on the plight of the Rohingya people of Myanmar – “Stop Genocide and Restore Rohingya’s Citizenship Rights in Myanmar” - was held in the campus of University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee on December 14, 2013.

It was jointly hosted by the Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association (BRAFA) and the Rohingya Concern International (RCI).

Afghan Men Now See Women as a Challenge, Says Farkhunda Zahra Naderi

"Our democracy is very fresh and fragile and people are critical of it. But I tell them, you have the power to change the status quo." - Farkhunda Zahra Naderi

(KABUL) - Farkhunda Zahra Naderi, member of the National Assembly of Afghanistan, has unveiled a few myths about the oppressed Afghan women.

While speaking during a round table organized by Asia Society, Farkhunda Zahra Naderi said that women were venturing out of the houses despite being war in the country.

Interfaith Freedom March

This event will set up a concerted and consistent effort in furtherance of freeing the area from the terrible bondage of continued conflict.

(WEST BANK) - The truth is that residents of the area are ready for a durable peace, even those who were not ready a year or two ago.

Similar to the situation in Ireland and other conflict areas, residents of the area have become fed up with, as well as exhausted and disgusted by the violence and truly seek peaceful coexistence.