Protesters face police across Iran

Protesters face police across Iran – video report

More than 570 protests have taken place across all of Iran’s 31 provinces, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported on Sunday. An internet shutdown imposed by the authorities on Thursday has largely cut the protesters off from the rest of the world, but videos that trickled out of the country showed thousands of people demonstrating.

Activists have said verification of reported human rights violations is difficult. However, one activist in Tehran told the Guardian they had witnessed security forces firing live ammunition at protesters and saw a 'very high' number killed, while other activists said the claims of police brutality were consistent with testimony they had been given

Fifa rejects own committee's call to compensate Qatar workers

 In 2010 when FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar there was widespread accusations of vote buying, ignoring human rights and the kafala system which governs the rights of foreign workers in the country.  

Vote Buying:

The selection process involved several controversies. Two members of the FIFA Executive Committee had their voting rights suspended following allegations that they would accept money in exchange for votes. More allegations of vote buying arose after Qatar's win was announced. Eleven of the 22 committee members who voted on the 2018 and 2022 tournaments have been fined, suspended, banned for life or prosecuted for corruption.

Indictments: 

In May of 2015 The FBI arrested several members of FIFA's executive committee in Zurich following the unsealing of the charges at a press conference in New York with then Attorney General Lorretta Lynch and then FBI Director James Comey.

Following these arrests former FIFA President Sep Blatter; (Which involved members of his executive committee.) won reelection to be the head of FIFA.

Human Rights In Qatar:

In 2023, activists received reliable reports confirming that in mid-2022 the Criminal Court of Appeal in the capital, Doha upheld the convictions against brothers Hazza and Rashed al-Marri, both of them lawyers, for offences that included contesting laws ratified by the emir, “threatening” the emir on social media, compromising the independence of the state, organizing unauthorized public meetings, and “violating” social values online. They had been sentenced to life imprisonment. The charges related to speeches they made or poetry published online critical of the country’s electoral law that discriminates against members of al-Marri tribe.

Migrants’ rights

Migrant workers continued to face serious abuses, including wage theft, restrictions on changing jobs and inadequate grievance and redress mechanisms.

In early January, hundreds of marshals and security guards contracted to Qatar-based Teyseer Security Services, who had worked excessive hours without rest days on FIFA World Cup 2022 sites, staged protests days before their contracts expired to demand they be paid their dues in full.1 They told Amnesty International that representatives of Teyseer and the government promised they would be compensated, a pledge that was not honoured.

Kafala System:

The kafala, or sponsorship, system defines the relationship between foreign workers and their local sponsor, or kafeel, which is usually their employer. It has been used in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—as well as Jordan and Lebanon. Both Bahrain and Qatar claim to have abolished the system, though critics say reforms are poorly enforced and don’t amount to abolition.

Under this system, the state gives local individuals or companies sponsorship permits to employ foreign laborers (except in Bahrain, where workers are sponsored by a government agency rather than individual employers). The sponsor covers travel expenses and provides housing, often in dorm-like accommodations or, in the case of domestic workers, the sponsor’s home. Rather than hiring an individual directly, sponsors sometimes use private recruitment agencies [PDF] in the countries of origin to find workers and facilitate their entry to the host country.

These employers have complete control of those they hire. Redress for grievances and work and safety violations aren't available.   Its similar to being an indentured servant. 

The governing body's sub-committee on human rights and social responsibility concluded that Fifa "has a responsibility" to contribute to compensation for workers harmed by the tournament's preparation and delivery.

"There are workers who have contributed to the resounding success of the World Cup... who have not yet benefited from any, or any adequate remediation," it says.

What does Fifa say?

In response, Fifa said: "All reports and recommendations were considered during a comprehensive review by the Fifa administration and relevant bodies.

"While all recommendations could not be met, practical and impactful elements were retained. It should be noted that the study did not specifically constitute a legal assessment of the obligation to remedy.

Human rights groups say they have evidence that genocide is taking place in Sudan

The UN says the civil war in Sudan has displaced more than 10 million people within the country's borders, and that number is rising. Much of the violence is taking place in the Darfur region where ordinary people are paying the price.

Bangladesh protest: Families of missing people demand their return

In Bangladesh, the families of alleged victims of forced disappearances and opposition MPs formed a human chain to demand their return. This is part of a wider campaign against human rights violations ahead of next month's election. The government says the allegations are false and fabricated.

Saudi Arabia: Playing the long game

 

In Saudi Arabia’s campaign of reform and rebranding, sports investment plays a big role. Plus, talking God and Godlessness on YouTube in the US.

Saudi Arabia’s massive spending on sport is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s strategy to diversify the petrostate’s economy and re-shape its brand.

Should governments make breathing clean air a human right?

 From New Delhi to Mexico City, there are few places on Earth where air pollution is not a problem.

It affects the quality of life for billions of people.

This last week, smoke from unprecedented wildfires in Canada is engulfing the skies of cities in the United States – making the air too toxic to breathe.

A storm in a teacup': Fifa admits defeat on Saudi sponsorship of Women’s World Cup

 

Despite the Fifa president’s attempts to make light of the situation, this is a significant victory for organisers, who were left blindsided in January by reports suggesting a deal was close, given the Saudi state’s appalling human rights record, and had put significant public pressure on Fifa to change course.

Several players had also spoken out, including Arsenal’s Netherlands striker Vivianne Miedema, who told Fifa it should be “deeply ashamed” for even considering such a deal. However, Infantino, who announced a $150m (£124m) prize fund for this year’s Women’s World Cup – a 300% rise from 2019 – said he didn’t see anything wrong with taking sponsorship from countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia codifies male guardianship and gender discrimination

As the world gathers to mark 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Saudi Arabia’s continued imprisonment of women for their peaceful expression in support of women’s rights and imposition of travel bans against women human rights defenders are a crucial reminder of the inherently discriminatory systems women in the country face.

On International Women’s Day, on 8 March 2022, Saudi Arabia passed its first Personal Status Law (PSL). Previously, matters related to family life were subject to the discretionary application of the rules of Sharia (Islamic law) and interpretations of Islamic texts by a male dominated judiciary. At the time, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman praised the new law for its accordance “with the latest legal trends and modern international judicial practices”. In reality, however, the law codifies many of the informal yet widespread problematic practices inherent in the male guardianship system and entrenches a system of gender-based discrimination in most aspects of family life, including in marriage, divorce, and child custody.

Musawah, a global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family, defines male guardianship, or wilayah, as “the right and duty of fathers or male family members to exercise guardianship over their dependent wards (female or male).”

Saudi Arabia: 10 Reasons Why Women Flee

Rahaf Mohammed, the Saudi woman who managed to successfully flee her allegedly abusive family, has shed new light on the countless women trapped under the abusive male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Watch said today. Women face systematic discrimination and are left exposed to domestic violence under the male guardianship system and have few places to turn when they face abuse, leading some women to undertake dangerous escape attempts to flee the country.

Under the male guardianship system, a man controls a Saudi woman’s life from her birth until her death. Every Saudi woman must have a male guardian, normally a father or husband, but in some cases a brother or even a son, who has the power to make a range of critical decisions on her behalf. The Saudi state essentially treats women as permanent legal minors. Saudi Arabia has done very little to end the system, which remains the most significant impediment to women’s rights in the country.

Yet, FIFA can't see any problems with having Visit Saudi as a sponsor. 

The Taliban barred women from higher education last December, accusing them of violating the country's strict Islamic dress code. The university ban is just one of several measures imposed by the Taliban aimed at erasing women from public life.

Can universal jurisdiction stop impunity?

 

A human rights group has filed a lawsuit in Germany against Myanmar’s military leadership.

A human rights group has filed a criminal complaint in Germany accusing Myanmar’s military of genocide.

A group of survivors from ethnic groups across Myanmar have built the case in what activists say is a show of unity that once seemed unthinkable.

Colombian singer Maluma walks out of Qatar human rights interview

Colombian singer Maluma has left a live TV interview after the reporter suggested he could be accused of whitewashing Qatari human rights abuses.

During a broadcast on Israeli public television, Maluma was asked: "Don't you have a problem with human rights violations in this country?"

He responded that was something he couldn't resolve, adding he had come to "enjoy life, enjoy soccer".

The star features alongside Nicki Minaj and Myriam Fares on Tukoh Taka, the official Fifa Qatar World Cup anthem.

The World Cup in Qatar sees a whirlwind of controversy

 

World Cup 2022, which kicks-off in Qatar on Nov. 20, has been surrounded by controversy since it was announced the tiny desert nation would host the tournament.

Stymied by Protests, Iran Unleashes Its Wrath on Its Youth

 

Hundreds of minors have been detained for joining the demonstrations, and many others have died in the crackdown, according to Iranian lawyers and rights activists.

Iran is also a signatory to the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, and its targeting and treatment of children, Mr. Raeesi said, violates its obligations.

The New York Times documented 23 raids on high schools in cities across Iran, where plainclothes militia and intelligence agents interrogated, beat and searched students or where school authorities threatened or attacked students.

In one incident, a Tehran elementary school was attacked last month when security forces threw tear gas in its yard during recess because students were chanting anti-government slogans, according to a parent whose third-grade son attends the school.

The regime in Tehran is so fearful of its children that its security forces have been unleashed upon them causing hundreds of deaths, an unknown number of imprisonments and who knows how many injuries. 

Alaa Abdel Fattah: Egyptian MP confronts sister of jailed activist

 

An Egyptian lawmaker was removed from a press conference at the COP27 climate meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh after defending the detention of British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah.

Amr Darwish said Mr Abdel Fattah was "not a political prisoner", as he addressed a panel including the activist's sister, Sanaa Seif.

Alaa Abdel Fattah has been on hunger strike since April and the UN human rights chief has called on Egypt to release him.

Did China try to suppress the UN report on Xinjiang?

 

After waiting for almost a year, the United Nations Human Rights Office released the Xinjiang report on Wednesday, suggesting that China's large-scale internment and treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in western China may amount to "crimes against humanity."

Taliban oppression escalates, destroying women's lives in Afghanistan

 

In a new report titled "Death in Slow Motion," human rights group Amnesty International says the "suffocating crackdown against Afghanistan's female population is increasing day by day."

Turkey rebrands as the economy continues to crumble

Turkey – or should we say Türkiye – has asked the United Nations to start using the Turkish pronunciation of its name in English communications. This country of 85 million seems to think it needs an image change, to one that has less to do with a funny bird, perhaps.

How does one rebrand an authoritarian government led by a dictator? Erdogan has closed down media outlets , arrested and imprisoned journalists, prosecuted members of opposition parties along with its poor human rights record. Forget the rebrand it won't change the image of the country or its rulers.

Aren't the Taliban ashamed of their human rights record?

Human rights concerns are increasing in Afghanistan, six months after the Taliban took power. The UN and other human rights bodies continue to release deeply disturbing reports of their human rights violations.

What The Chinese Think of The US Boycott of Beijing Olympics and Uyghur Issues | Street Interview

We hit the streets in Shanghai to find out how ordinary Chinese citizens feel about the Western diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the Uyghur human rights controversy.
 

To believe that they aren't going to criticize Western governments over the boycott is just foolish.  

Beijing Olympics: Five things to know

 Covid bubbles, artificial snow and human rights are making Beijing's Winter Olympics hit the headlines.

Here's what you need to know about the Games, which start on Friday 4 February.

The Olympics Will Be The Ultimate Test For China's Zero-COVID Policy | TIME

 

Hosting the Olympic Games is a daunting challenge during any year. Add a global pandemic, and the logistics of welcoming the world’s athletes in while keeping the virus out become complicated fast. But China believes its aggressive stance against COVID-19 is up to the task.

Its not just China's the aggressive stance against COVID-19, but against human rights, the rule of law and free speech.