Human Rights

Interview with Rahmatullah Amiri on the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan and the increasing challenges for the peace process and civil society.

No country is safe from COVID-19 until all countries are safe from COVID-19. To state the obvious: To overcome a pandemic of this magnitude, vaccines must be made available quickly, cheaply, and fairly.

For centuries, resources have been extracted from the African continent without adequate payment or compensation. With colonialism, Khoikhoi and San, the first inhabitants of Southern Africa, lost their land and many lost their lives. During decades of Apartheid they were racially discriminated and still have to fight for political and economic inclusion in the post-Apartheid era. We spoke to the Khoikhoi lawyer Lesle Jansen about her fight for the community and for the legal acknowledgement of the cultural heritage of Indigenous people.

Tunisia is often deemed the main success story of the “Arab Spring” after long-term dictator Ben Ali was ousted ten years ago. But in the first contribution of our series “Reminiscence of the future”, Rim Benrjeb writes about a revolutionary spirit that is in danger of falling asleep, patriarchal and state violence, and the impossibility of discussing all of this with one's own father.

Environmental and human rights activists fight to protect nature, biodiversity and the climate. They champion sustainable development. They defend land and resources from exploitation and destruction. They uncover corruption and abuses of power. And that is precisely what makes their work so dangerous.

What happens in an election when national or global crises prevent rallies, in-person meet-and-greets, door-knocking, fundraisers, and handshakes? Political parties and candidates must reach people where they are: online, at home, on their phones and in their inboxes.

The internet has become the perfect breeding ground and circulatory system for all kinds of untrue or inaccurate claims, thanks in part to the sheer speed and volume of information that it accommodates. As civil society and governments focus on increasing media literacy and pressuring technology companies to change their policies, what can citizens and technology users do in the face of misinformation?

In 2020, we celebrate 75 years of the UN, the intergovernmental organization that, since its formation, aimed to maintain international peace, security, and a protection of human rights. Silke Voß-Kyeck, an expert on the United Nations and rapporteur for Forum Menschenrechte, explores the correlation between finances and human rights protection within the UN for the 75th anniversary of the organisation.

"When we recover we must be better than before." This sentiment has been echoed frequently in the response to the Covid-19 crisis. It is a sign of hope and an invitation to utilise the crisis for progress.  Will this be a positive leap forward or a move in the wrong direction?

Amidst the Covid-19 crisis in Egypt, a recent chain of events reveals the systemic violence that the regime of President al-Sisi exerts. To address those developments, what’s behind them and how international actors might respond to them, we are speaking with Amr Magdi, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch.