Annual Report 2015 Table of Contents
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The Year in Elections, 2013: the World's Flawed and Failed Contests
The Year in Elections, 2013: The World's Flawed and Failed Contests The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Norris, Pippa, Richard W. Frank, and Ferran Martinez i Coma. 2014. The Year in Elections 2013: The World's Flawed and Failed Contests. The Electoral Integrity Project. Published Version http://www.electoralintegrityproject.com/ Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:11744445 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA THE YEAR IN ELECTIONS, 2013 THE WORLD’S FLAWED AND FAILED CONTESTS Pippa Norris, Richard W. Frank, and Ferran Martínez i Coma February 2014 THE YEAR IN ELECTIONS, 2013 WWW. ELECTORALINTEGRITYPROJECT.COM The Electoral Integrity Project Department of Government and International Relations Merewether Building, HO4 University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Phone: +61(2) 9351 6041 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.electoralintegrityproject.com Copyright © Pippa Norris, Ferran Martínez i Coma, and Richard W. Frank 2014. All rights reserved. Photo credits Cover photo: ‘Ballot for national election.’ by Daniel Littlewood, http://www.flickr.com/photos/daniellittlewood/413339945. Licence at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0. Page 6 and 18: ‘Ballot sections are separated for counting.’ by Brittany Danisch, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bdanisch/6084970163/ Licence at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0. Page 8: ‘Women in Pakistan wait to vote’ by DFID - UK Department for International Development, http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfid/8735821208/ Licence at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0. -
Factiva RTF Display Format
Mauritanians Doubt Existence of CIA Prisons in Their Country 525 words 9 July 2007 Voice of America Press Releases and Documents English CY Copyright (c) 2007 Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. VOA English Service DATELINE: Dakar Many Mauritanians says they do not believe claims made by an American journalist, and denied by their government, that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency maintains secret interrogation cells in their country. Many also say they do not support military cooperation with the United States. Naomi Schwarz has more from VOA's West Africa bureau in Dakar. The affair began with a tiny mention in a long article in an American magazine, The New Yorker. The author says a senior intelligence official, unnamed, told him the United States had opened a new detainee center in Mauritania in late 2005 to house and interrogate terrorism suspects. The claim has been reprinted in Mauritanian media. It has caused a huge reaction there. Local journalist Salem Bokari says some people believe the claims, but the vast majority is extremely skeptical. But he says people want a government investigation to find out whether or not they are true. On Friday, before the National Assembly, Mauritania's justice minister formally denied the existence of any secret U.S. prisons in the country. The government has said its relationship with the U.S. military is limited to training and information sharing. Bokari says most Mauritanians hope the relationship stays minimal. Page 1 © 2007 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved. He says Mauritanians do not support the government of President George Bush, because they feel he has not done much for the third world and for Muslims around the world. -
Looters Vs. Traitors: the Muqawama (“Resistance”) Narrative, and Its Detractors, in Contemporary Mauritania Elemine Ould Mohamed Baba and Francisco Freire
Looters vs. Traitors: The Muqawama (“Resistance”) Narrative, and its Detractors, in Contemporary Mauritania Elemine Ould Mohamed Baba and Francisco Freire Abstract: Since 2012, when broadcasting licenses were granted to various private television and radio stations in Mauritania, the controversy around the Battle of Um Tounsi (and Mauritania’s colonial past more generally) has grown substantially. One of the results of this unprecedented level of media freedom has been the prop- agation of views defending the Mauritanian resistance (muqawama in Arabic) to French colonization. On the one hand, verbal and written accounts have emerged which paint certain groups and actors as French colonial power sympathizers. At the same time, various online publications have responded by seriously questioning the very existence of a structured resistance to colonization. This article, drawing pre- dominantly on local sources, highlights the importance of this controversy in study- ing the western Saharan region social model and its contemporary uses. African Studies Review, Volume 63, Number 2 (June 2020), pp. 258– 280 Elemine Ould Mohamed Baba is Professor of History and Sociolinguistics at the University of Nouakchott, Mauritania (Ph.D. University of Provence (Aix- Marseille I); Fulbright Scholar resident at Northwestern University 2012–2013), and a Senior Research Consultant at the CAPSAHARA project (ERC-2016- StG-716467). E-mail: [email protected] Francisco Freire is an Anthropologist (Ph.D. Universidade Nova de Lisboa 2009) at CRIA–NOVA FCSH (Lisbon, Portugal). He is the Principal Investigator of the European Research Council funded project CAPSAHARA: Critical Approaches to Politics, Social Activism and Islamic Militancy in the Western Saharan Region (ERC-2016-StG-716467). -
The Humanitarian Impact of Drones
THE HUMANITARIAN IMPACT OF DRONES The Humanitarian Impact of Drones 1 THE HUMANITARIAN IMPACT OF DRONES THE HUMANITARIAN IMPACT OF DRONES © 2017 Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; International Contents Disarmament Institute, Pace University; Article 36. October 2017 The Humanitarian Impact of Drones 1st edition 160 pp 3 Preface Permission is granted for non-commercial reproduction, Cristof Heyns copying, distribution, and transmission of this publication or parts thereof so long as full credit is given to the 6 Introduction organisation and author; the text is not altered, Ray Acheson, Matthew Bolton, transformed, or built upon; and for any reuse or distribution, these terms are made clear to others. and Elizabeth Minor Edited by Ray Acheson, Matthew Bolton, Elizabeth Minor, and Allison Pytlak. Impacts Thank you to all authors for their contributions. 1. Humanitarian Harm This publication is supported in part by a grant from the 15 Foundation Open Society Institute in cooperation with the Jessica Purkiss and Jack Serle Human Rights Initiative of the Open Society Foundations. Cover photography: 24 Country case study: Yemen ©2017 Kristie L. Kulp Taha Yaseen 29 2. Environmental Harm Doug Weir and Elizabeth Minor 35 Country case study: Nigeria Joy Onyesoh 36 3. Psychological Harm Radidja Nemar 48 4. Harm to Global Peace and Security Chris Cole 58 Country case study: Djibouti Ray Acheson 64 Country case study: The Philippines Mitzi Austero and Alfredo Ferrariz Lubang 2 1 THE HUMANITARIAN IMPACT OF DRONES Preface Christof Heyns 68 5. Harm to Governmental It is not difficult to understand the appeal of Transparency Christof Heyns is Professor of Law at the armed drones to those engaged in war and other University of Pretoria. -
Mapping Accountability Efforts in Syria
MAPPING ACCOUNTABILITY EFFORTS IN SYRIA Prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group February 2013 PILPG Syria Transitional Justice Mapping Evaluation, February 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of Purpose 1 Introduction 1 Background on the Syrian Conflict 2 Methodology 4 Legal Framework for Transitional Justice in Syria 5 Syria’s International Legal Obligations 5 International Criminal Law 5 International Humanitarian Law 10 International Human Rights Law 15 Syria’s Domestic Legal Framework 16 The Syrian Penal Code 16 Amnesties in Transitional Justice 18 Amnesties Issued by the Syrian Government 19 Structure of the Syrian Judicial System 22 Supreme Judicial Council 23 Syrian Court Structure 23 Judicial Independence 26 The Transitional Justice Evidence Documentation Process 27 TJE Collection 28 TJE Compilation 28 Facilitation and Training 29 Other Activities 29 TJE Collection in Syria 30 Syrian Groups and Organizations 30 Civil Society Organizations 30 News Agencies 31 International Organizations 31 Intergovernmental Organizations and Bodies 31 Governmental Initiatives 32 Non-governmental Organizations 32 PILPG Syria Transitional Justice Mapping Evaluation, February 2013 News Agencies 33 Needs and Challenges for TJE Documentation Efforts in Syria 33 Deteriorating Security Situation in Syria 34 Coordinating Efforts 35 Lack of Comprehensive International Legal Approach 36 Inconsistent Verification Standards 37 Reaching All Affected Areas and Populations 37 Rape and Sexual Violence 38 Unbiased Documentation of Violations by All -
Egypt: National Council for Human Rights
Egypt: National Council for Human Rights Egypt’s national human rights institution before the Global Alliance of NHRIs Alkarama Foundation – 7 January 2018 Alkarama Foundation – 150 route de Ferney, C.P. 2100 CH – 1211 Genève 2 – Switzerland +41 22 734 10 06 – 7 +41 22 734 10 34 – [email protected] – www.alkarama.org 1. Table of content 1. Table of content ..................................................................................................................... 2 2. Introduction and background .................................................................................................. 3 2.1 Background of the NHRI’s review .................................................................................... 3 2.2 Political developments .................................................................................................... 3 3. NHRC’s Constitutional and legislative legal basis ....................................................................... 5 3.1 Constitutional provisions ................................................................................................. 5 3.2 . Legislative provisions .................................................................................................... 6 4. Mandate and attributions of the NHRC ..................................................................................... 7 4.1 Commenting and providing opinions on national legislation ............................................... 9 4.2 Information and education in human rights ................................................................... -
The Parliamentary Mandate
THE PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE A GLOBAL COMPARATIVE STUDY THE PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE A GLOBAL COMPARATIVE STUDY Marc Van der Hulst Inter-Parliamentary Union Geneva 2000 @ Inter-Parliamentary Union 2000 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not be a way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold hired or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form or binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher. ISBN 92-9142-056-5 Published by INTER-PARLIAMETARY UNION Headquarters Liaison Office with the United Nations Place du Petit-Saconnex 821 United Nations Plaza C.P. 438 9th Floor 1211 Geneva 19 New York, N.Y. 10017 Switzerland United States of America Layout, printing and binding by Atar, Geneva Cover design by Aloys Robellaz, Les Studios Lolos, Carouge, Switzerland (Translated from the French by Jennifer Lorenzi and Patricia Deane) t Table of Contents FOREWORD ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xi INTRODUCTION l PART ONE: NATURE AND DURATION OF THE PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE I. NATURE OF THE PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE 6 1. The traditional opposition between national sovereignty and popular sovereignty 6 2. The free representational mandate 8 3. The imperative mandate 9 4. A choice motivated by pragmatic rather than ideological considerations? 10 II. DURATION OF THE PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE.. -
United States of America: the Issue of Extrajudicial Killings in Yemen
United States of America: The issue of extrajudicial killings in Yemen Report submitted to the Human Rights Committee in the context of the review of the fourth periodic report of the United States of America 30 August 2013 Alkarama – 2bis Chemin des Vignes – 1209 Geneva – Switzerland +41 22 734 10 06 – F +41 22 734 10 34 - Email: [email protected] – Url: www.alkarama.org About Alkarama Alkarama is a registered Swiss foundation headquartered in Geneva, established in 2004 by volunteer human rights lawyers and defenders. It works on human rights violations in the Arab world with offices and representatives in Lebanon (Beirut), Qatar (Doha), Cairo (Egypt) and Yemen (Sana’a). Its work focuses on four priority areas: extra-judicial executions, disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention. Related activities include protecting human rights defenders and ensuring the independence of judges and lawyers. Alkarama engages with the United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms. It has submitted thousands of cases and urgent appeals to the Special Procedures of the UN, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and various UN human rights treaty bodies. Additionally, Alkarama has submitted numerous reports on the human rights situation in the Arab states reviewed under the Universal Periodic Review, and to the UN Special Procedures and human rights treaty bodies. Basing its work on principles of international human rights law and humanitarian law, Alkarama uses UN human rights mechanisms on behalf of victims of human rights violations and their families. It works constructively with sovereign states, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and national human rights institutions, as well as victims’ lawyers and human rights defenders. -
Annual Report 2017 What Is the IPU? the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Is the Global Organization of National Parliaments
Pantone: 320 C C: 90 M: 0 Y: 30 K: 0 R: 0 G: 170 B: 190 Pantone: 3015 C C: 100 M: 45 Y: 5 K: 20 R: 0 G: 95 B: 154 Pantone: Cool Gray 9 C C: 3 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 65 R: 121 G: 122 B: 123 Annual Report 2017 What is the IPU? The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of national parliaments. We work to safeguard peace and drive positive democratic change through political dialogue and concrete action. The only international organization to bring together the world’s national parliaments, we promote democracy and peace through this unique parliamentary membership. An ever-changing pool of about 45,000 members of parliament, representing citizens worldwide, ensures the IPU always has a finger on the pulse of democracy. The IPU is an independent, self-governing body funded mainly by our Members. Our current membership includes 178 national parliaments and 12 regional parliamentary bodies as associate members. The Global Bubble Parade, São Paolo, Brazil — an event created by the 100 Happy Days Foundation. The IPU works closely with parliaments to assist them to contribute effectively to the implementation of the SDGs, including those on health and well-being, and sustainable communities. © NurPhoto/ Cris Faga Contents Foreword 2 Objective 1: Build strong, democratic parliaments 4 Objective 2: Advance gender equality and respect for women’s rights 10 Objective 3: Protect and promote human rights 14 Objective 4: Contribute to peacebuilding, conflict prevention and security 16 Objective 5: Promote inter-parliamentary dialogue and cooperation 20 Objective 6: Promote youth empowerment 25 Objective 7: Mobilize parliaments around the global development agenda 28 Objective 8: Bridge the democracy gap in international relations 32 Media and communications 35 The IPU at a glance 36 Resource mobilization: who funds the IPU? 43 Financial results 44 1 Achieving the results to which we have committed In the autumn of 2016, following extensive consultations with Member Parliaments, the Inter- Parliamentary Union adopted its Strategy 2017–2021. -
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia For the last nine years, citizens of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have increasingly called for modernization, democratization, and the renewal of religious discourse to pave the way for the necessary institutional, constitutional, and legislative reforms to end discrimination against women and the Shiite minority. Rights activists have boldly established independent human rights organizations despite the official authorities’ hostile stance towards independent civil society. The authorities’ response to these calls has changed according to different levels of international pressure for reform following the terrorist attacks of September 2001. At times the government has shown a degree of tolerance, while at other times it has severely repressed reform advocates and independent human rights activists. King Abdullah’s assumption of power in August 2005 raised expectations of possible reform given his discourse, which focuses on four issues closely linked to human rights: women’s rights, freedom of expression, a fair judicial system, and religious tolerance. The king’s reformist discourse has allowed a broader margin for differences of opinion and permitted the emergence of voices critical of government policies, provided the critique does not extend to the king or the ruling family or encroach on Islam, religious institutions, or clerics. Nevertheless, the king’s discourse is not matched by sufficient political will and has been met with resistance by extremely conservative factions inside the ruling family, the security (291) -
Crimes Against Humanity in Syria Systematic Torture to Quell Public Dissent
Crimes against Humanity in Syria Systematic Torture to Quell Public Dissent Report submitted to the Committee against Torture in the context of the special review of the Syrian Arab Republic 20 April 2012 Alkarama recalls that it concentrates its work on four priority areas: extrajudicial executions, enforced and involuntary disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention. We base our work primarily on the documented individual cases we submit to UN Special Procedures and Treaty Bodies, as well as our contacts with local actors including victims, their families, lawyers and human rights defenders. Alkarama – 2bis Chemin des Vignes – 1209 Geneva – Switzerland +41 22 734 10 06 – F +41 22 734 10 34 - Email: [email protected] – Url: www.alkarama.org Table of contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................................ 2 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................................... 3 1. CONTEXT ............................................................................................................................................................................ 3 1.1 ERUPTION OF DEMONSTRATIONS AND EXCESSIVE STATE REACTION ................................................................................. 3 1.2 PATTERNS OF COLLECTIVE REPRESSION.......................................................................................................................... -
Qatar and Terror Finance Part II: Private Funders of Al-Qaeda in Syria
Qatar and Terror Finance Part II: Private Funders of al-Qaeda in Syria David Andrew Weinberg | January 2017 FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES FOUNDATION Qatar and Terror Finance Part II: Private Funders of al-Qaeda in Syria David Andrew Weinberg January 2017 FDD PRESS A division of the FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES Washington, DC Qatar and Terror Finance - Part II: Private Funders of al-Qaeda in Syria Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................................6 Qatar’s Record on Terror Finance .................................................................................................................7 Legal Impunity .................................................................................................................................................9 QATAR’S APPROACH TO NUSRA/JFS .........................................................................................................10 Nusra’s Special Treatment ...............................................................................................................................10 Qatar’s Nusra Financier Problem ..................................................................................................................12 THE ‘ABD AL-SALAM BROTHERS ................................................................................................................14 Ashraf ................................................................................................................................................................14