Rubrik: Bericht

Serbia is, step by step, coming closer to the European Union and has now achieved the official candidate status. The government is committed to the european way and their willingness to change is evident in many areas, for example the extradition of the war criminals Karadzic, Mladic and Hadzic. With the independence declaration of Montenegro on the 03 June 2006 and Kosovo on the 17 February 2008, a new period and state reorganization has started in serbia. Though the way to a democratic society is difficult, because minorities and many human rights are still not respected in the country. More members of minorities should be represented in public administrations.

The Pakistani authorities deported five Uyghurs to China on 8 August 2011– accepting the fact, that the refugees might be imprisoned for years or even sentenced to death in the People’s Republic. This was not only inhumane, but is also to be seen as a serious violation of human rights. Pakistani authorities flew out the Uyghurs – among them two children and a woman – to Urumqi, the capital of the Uyghur Autonomous Region after the government of the People’s Republic of China had criticized Pakistani authorities for being too lenient toward Uyghur refugees.

When Montenegro gained independence on 3 June 2006, the joint state union with Serbia as the successor of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was ended. That same year, Montenegro was approved as a member of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Council of Europe. Today Montenegro is recognized under international law and has been included in numerous international organizations.

More than 200,000 people were displaced by fighting in Northern Mali since the uprising of Tuareg in January 2012. The unrest in Northern Mali and the military coup in March 2012 have caused widespread human rights violations by the army and official security forces and by rebel movements. Mali has experienced one of the worst human rights disasters since the brutal crackdown against Tuareg rebels two decades ago. The fighting led to important restrictions on humanitarian access which has caused more misery and internal displacement creating a massive humanitarian crisis in West Africa.

Arab Israelis currently make up one fifth of the total population of 7,5 million people in Israel. About 80 percent within this group are Sunni Muslims, nine percent Christians, and nine percent Druze. In its 1948 declaration of independence the state of Israel committed itself to grant all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race and gender, social and political equality [as well as] freedom of religion and conscience. Arab Israelis do have an Israeli passport, and they can send their own parties in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. However, economically and socially they are still significantly worse off than their Jewish fellow citizens.

Society of Threatened Peoples is deeply concerned about the situation of the indigenous people living in Gabon. Gabon covers an area of 26.767.000 km², 84.5% of the total land area is covered with forests. Until today there are 13 national parks established across the country. The forest serves the basis for the social structure, the culture, the history and the hunter and gatherer economy of the so called “Pygmies” who are threatened both by commercial farming, logging, conservation projects and discrimination.

France1. Minority languages: Once home to a multitude of regional languages and tongues, the monolingualism of modern France is enshrined in Article 2 of the French constitution which prescribes th…

There are approximately 50,000-60,000 Basarwa, or San, people in Botswana. On 27 January 2011 the highest court in the land reaffirmed the right of the San to return to their previous settlement areas and use the wells there. In June 2011 the Botswana government decided to finally permit access to drinking water for the San indigenous peoples in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) after years of legal battles. Now the San people, once driven from the Kalahari, did have renewed prospect of survival there. This decision by the authorities was long overdue.

There are some 250,000 to 300,000 Roma currently living in the Czech Republic. Since the 1960s until this day an estimated one thousand Roma women have been forcibly sterilized, in order to reduce the “high and unhealthy birthrate” of Roma women.