Human Rights

Time to Move Past the Errors of the War on Terror
- December 10, 2018
The aftermath of 9/11 produced many problems in many countries. Canadian police and security agencies made numerous mistakes as followers and participants in an ill-considered American-led War on Terror declared shortly after that tragedy. The evidence in two public inquiries …
By Daniel Livermore
Canadian Foreign Policy, Defence and Intelligence, Human Rights, International Security, Middle East
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Human and Non-Human Rights — Convergence or Conflict?
- December 10, 2018
Today is the 70^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Most reflections on this milestone are likely to sound a sombre note, dwelling on the many challenges faced by those championing human rights in an increasingly …
By David Petrasek
Environment, Human Rights, United Nations
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Democracy’s Promise Unfulfilled while Violence against Women in Politics Persists
- December 10, 2018
In October 2018, the Office for the High Commissioner on Human Rights’ Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls presented a report to the UN General Assembly recognizing violence against women in politics (VAWP) as a human rights violation …
By Gabrielle Bardall
Democracy, Gender, Human Rights, Women
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Blue Wave Swamps Taiwan Elections
- November 28, 2018
Taiwan’s mid-term elections on 24 November brought a renewed “blue wave” to the island democracy. In this case, the blues are the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT) and allies who favour rapprochement with China. The greens are the …
By Scott Simon
Asia, Democracy, Gender, Human Rights, International Relations
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Bulldozing Human Rights in Tanzania
- November 16, 2018
by Dane Degenstein

Tanzania has recently started a campaign to identify, track down, and arrest gay people, an unprecedented move in a previously more tolerant country. The regional governor of Dar es Salaam, Paul Makonda, announced a task force to …
By CIPS
Africa, Gender, Health, Human Rights
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Khashoggi Murder Case a Test for Despots Everywhere
- October 18, 2018
The disappearance and possible murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi is an important test case for despots everywhere. Can they get away with interrogating, kidnapping, and even assassinating their critics in other countries?

Khashoggi, a resident of the United …
By Roland Paris
Democracy, Human Rights, International Law, Middle East
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Understanding “Ethnic Conflict”
- October 7, 2018
By Marie-Eve Desrosiers and Srdjan Vucetic

“Ethnic conflict” elicits no shortage of strong scholarly opinion and debate. But what exactly is the causal relationship between ethnicity and violence? And what does “causal” mean in this context anyway? Since ethnic conflict …
By Srdjan Vucetic
Africa, Europe, Human Rights, Theory
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Decisive Action is Overdue to Protect the Rohingyas
- September 15, 2018
By John Packer

Director of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa and Neuberger-Jesin Professor of International Conflict Resolution

Finally, the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar has stated the obvious: the Rohingya …
By CIPS
Asia, Canadian Foreign Policy, Human Rights, International Law, Refugees, United Nations
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Germany: Yet Another Migration Debate?
- August 1, 2018
Asli Ilgit, Cukurova University

Audie Klotz, Syracuse University

Once again, pundits predict the downfall of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Why? Her migration policies appear to fuel the rise of the nationalist …
By CIPS
Europe, Human Rights, Middle East, Refugees
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UK Rendition and Torture: Lessons for Canada
- July 18, 2018
The British Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee has produced two reports on collusion in rendition (the legal term for shipping someone from one jurisdiction to another) and torture operations in the US-led War on Terror. They remind us in blunt …
By Daniel Livermore
Defence and Intelligence, Human Rights, UK
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Mona Mahmudnizhad, 10 September 1965–18 June 1983
- June 19, 2018
by Ruth Bradley-St-Cyr

The 35^th anniversary of the death of Mona Mahmudnizhad seems to have passed without world notice yesterday. On 18 June 1983, she was executed in Iran for being Baha’i and for teaching that faith to the …
By CIPS
Human Rights
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Need More Proof of Genocide in Myanmar? It’s Being Born Right Now
- June 3, 2018
by John Packer

Nine months since the violent attacks of August 25, 2017, and thereafter forced 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, the first of thousands of pregnancies as a result of rape are coming to term.

For these …
By CIPS
Asia, Canadian Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Refugees, Women
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