human rights

Written by S'Thembiso Msomi

There is an important lesson for us citizens to learn from the stinkingly scandalous open-toilets saga.

Much of the public attention around this issue has been on the DA and the ANC, the political parties governing Cape Town and Free State's Moqhaka municipalities, respectively.

And rightly so.

The two largest political parties profess to be the country's greatest champions of human rights and dignity.

A top human rights activist has been arrested in Zimbabwe, in what Amnesty International deplored as an attempt to silence government critics.

Abel Chikomo, director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with failing to properly register his organisation, police said.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has never shied away from speaking out against the inequalities, intolerance and human rights abuses he witnessed under apartheid. But he has been equally outspoken about the problems of post-apartheid South Africa.

Written by Gladys Terichow

Although Canada is a world leader in mining, its laws don’t ensure that Canadian mining companies operating in developing countries conform to human rights and environmental standards, said a Tanzanian Lutheran minister with an interest in mining issues.

“A voluntary code of conduct is not enough,” said Godfrey Walalaze, who was visiting Canada and the U.S. in November 2010 as part of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Africa Peacebuilding Learning Exchange.

The Swiss church-backed group Bread for All says numerous human rights violations are being committed in certain Zimbabwe's diamond mines by State security forces and the minerals should be labelled "blood diamonds". 



Bread for All (Switzerland) is calling on the government of Switzerland, as a member of the Kimberley Process, to demand the exclusion of certain Zimbabwean diamonds tainted by links to human rights' violation from international trade. 



Bishops of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa say they are deeply disturbed by news of growing human rights abuses in Swaziland, a kingdom sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique. 



The bishops, meeting in Benoni near Johannesburg from 27 to 29 September for their twice-yearly synod, challenged their church to become more involved in the quest for democracy in Swaziland. 



Pontifical groups on culture and evangelization released a communique on Tuesday announcing an upcoming forum next year in Africa which will highlight development strategies in the country, “focusing on the human person made in the likeness and image of God.”

Church-backed campaigners on water issues say they have received a boost from a global body representing 80 million Protestants that has called on its members to support access to water as a basic human right. 



"Preserving the world's water resources, and securing access to water for all, is one of the greatest challenges we face," Maike Gorsboth, the Geneva-based coordinator of the secretariat of the Ecumenical Water Network told ENInews. 



Deep concern over the recent death of Floribert Chebeya Bahizire and the "increased oppression against Congolese human rights defenders" during the past year was expressed by the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in a letter to the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 4 June.

Chebeya was the executive director of La Voix des Sans-Voix (Voice of the Voiceless), one of the DRC's most important human rights organizations.

Church leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and Rwanda have made a "firm commitment to work together in promoting human dignity and fundamental human rights".