Tag Archives: Law & Politics

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Myanmar News | Ethnic Minorities

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Ethnic minorities in Myanmar nominated for top government spots under new government
  • Under Myanmar’s National League for Democracy (NLD), politicians from the country’s largest ethnic minorities including the Kachin, Karen, and Rakhine were nominated for top positions.
  • Four MPs were nominated to speaker positions in the new parliament, which convened at the beginning of February.
  • The nominations come as leaders of ethnic rebel factions prepare to meet with government negotiators to address ongoing ethnic conflict in the country.

Read more:
“Myanmar ethnic minority MPs receive Suu Kyi boost” (Channel NewsAsia)
“Myanmar’s Suu Kyi lauds choice of ethnic and army-backed parliamentary speakers” (Reuters)
“Myanmar ethnic groups place faith in Suu Kyi govt for peace” (AFP, via Channel NewsAsia)

(Image Credit: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

Class + Socioeconomics, Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Cuba Feature | Afro-Cubans & Women

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Those Whom Revolution Left Behind

As Cuba’s economy continues to experience a significant boost from normalized relations with the U.S., many black Cubans and women have yet to see the benefits. Structural inequality and ongoing discrimination have shuttled the disadvantaged into an underclass of limited opportunity despite persistent and high-profile government attempts to eradicate the problem. While a significant number of white Cubans were able to flee abroad to the U.S. and send remittances back to their families, many Afro-Cubans were tied to what opportunity they could get in low-paying government jobs. Women have found themselves disproportionately shouldering domestic tasks, disappearing jobs, and lack of social capital relative to men. Boston Review, The Root, and the Thomson Reuters Foundation examine how political, social, and economic developments have re-marginalized Cuba’s black minority and women over the last two decades.

“Prejudice never disappeared. It was simply concealed under the table. And silence allowed all the problems to grow, under the table.”

Read more:
“Cuba After the Thaw” (Boston Review)
“One-on-One With Afro-Cubans: What It Means to Be Black in Cuba” (The Root)
“In Cuba, racial inequality deepens with tourism boom” (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

(Image Credit: Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.K. News | Ethnic Minorities

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U.K. PM Cameron appoints MP to investigate racial discrimination in British criminal justice system
  • Labour PM David Lammy will lead a government review of the British criminal justice system.
  • Black and other ethnic minorities account for more than 25% of British prisoners despite only comprising 14% of the population of England and Wales.
  • Minorities are also disproportionately more likely to represent Crown Court defendants and receive custodial sentences if found guilty than white counterparts.

Read more:
“David Cameron calls on David Lammy to investigate race bias in UK courts” (The Guardian)
“David Cameron appoints David Lammy to lead review into racism in the justice system” (The Independent)

(Image Credit: AFP/Getty, via The Independent)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Italy News | Gay & Lesbian

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Thousands protest same-sex civil union legislation under review in Italian parliament
  • The protesters, estimated in size from the tens of thousands to the millions, gathered as part of Rome’s “family day,” where they expressed opposition to the legislation currently under examination by the Italian senate.
  • A similar protest in 2007 contributed to the withdrawal of a civil union proposal, but PM Matteo Renzi anticipates the legislation’s passage this time.
  • Italy remains the only holdout among the major Western powers in granting same-sex couples the right to legal partnership or joint adoption, with polls indicating around 70% of the country in support of partnership rights and 24% in support of adoption rights.

Read more:
“Tens of thousands protest against same-sex unions in Rome” (Deutsche Welle)
“Italians protest against civil unions for same-sex couples” (The Guardian)
“2m march in anti-civil union protest in Rome, ‘Family Day’ organizer says” (Gay Star News)

(Image Credit: R. Casilli/Reuters, via Deutsche Welle)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Indonesia News | LGBT

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Indonesian city orders Muslim hardliners to remove anti-gay banners
  • Bandung, Indonesia’s third-largest city, ordered the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) to take down banners and encouraged them to leave.
  • The FPI targeted boarding houses in the city they believed to be housing LGBT residents.
  • The pro-LGBT support comes as Indonesia’s education minister has faced a storm of criticism over anti-LGBT comments and a call to ban an LGBT research and counseling group at the University of Indonesia.

Read more:
“Indonesian city reprimands Muslim hardliners for harassing gays” (Reuters)
“Minister on back foot over anti-gay remarks” (The Jakarta Post)
“Affectionate gay students should be banned from university campuses, Indonesian minister says” (ABC)

(Image Credit: Agus Bebeng/Antara Foto/Reuters)

Gender

Taiwan News | Women

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Taiwan elects first female president in significant victory
  • Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Tsai Ing-wen became the nation’s first woman elected to the executive office after securing just over 56% of the vote.
  • The DPP unseated the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the 8-year incumbent party, as questions about the country’s relationship to China, which doesn’t recognize its sovereignty, grow.
  • Analysts view Tsai’s election as an attempt by voters to turn around the country’s struggling economy and reexamine the last administration’s pro-China policies, concerning China’s political leaders.

“The results today tell me that the people want to see a government more willing to listen to the people, a government that is more transparent and accountable, and a government that is more capable of leading us past our current challenges and taking care of those in need.”

Read more:
“Madam President” (The Taipei Times)
“Taiwan Opposition Wins Presidency, Parliament in Rout of Ruling KMT” (Radio Free Asia)
“Taiwan elects first female president” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: CNA, via The Taipei Times)

Nationality + Migration

Iran News | Iranian-Americans

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Iranian government releases five Americans as U.S. sanctions lifted
  • Four of the released, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, were dual Iranian-American citizens released as part of a U.S.-Iran prisoner exchange.
  • A fifth American, student Matthew Trevithick, was released separately.
  • The exchange comes as the U.S. lifts its sanctions as a part of its agreement with Iran to halt its nuclear development program.

Read more:
“Iran Frees 4 Americans, Including Jason Rezaian, in Prisoner Swap” (The New York Times)
“Iran frees Post reporter Jason Rezaian, 4 other Americans, officials say” (The Washington Post)
“Iran separately releases fifth American: U.S. official” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Zoeann Murphy/The Washington Post, via The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration

U.S. News | Central American Migrants

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U.S. government begins detaining asylum-denied Central American families
  • At least six families in Texas and five in Georgia have been detained as the Obama administration begins implementing its 2016 plan to deport undocumented families denied asylum in the U.S.
  • Families were transported to detention centers in south Texas as advocates rushed to provide legal assistance.
  • An ongoing wave of families fleeing Central America has created a political firestorm as anti-immigration politicians have accused the migrants of flouting the immigration system and pro-immigrant advocates have accused the opposition of downplaying the increase in violence in what is already one of the world’s most violent regions.

Read more:
“Families are taken into custody as push to deport immigrants denied refuge begins” (The L.A. Times)
“U.S. Begins Immigration Crackdown on Central Americans” (The Wall Street Journal)
“Immigration Crack Down on Central Americans in US Begins With First Arrests” (teleSUR English)

(Image Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images, via the L.A. Times)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Turkey News | Kurds

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Turkish president backs criminal probe into Kurdish opposition party leaders
  • President Tayyip Erdogan threw his support behind a criminal investigation into the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag.
  • The call comes after a two-day meeting of Kurdish groups called for greater self-governance in Turkey’s embattled southeast region, where Erdogan’s government has attempted to quash a fresh wave of separatist sentiment led by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
  • Erdogan has called for parliament to lift the political immunity of MPs to facilitate the investigation of politicians suspected of working with militants.

Read more:
“Turkish parliament to consider ‘lifting Kurdish leaders’ immunity’” (AFP, via Yahoo! 7 News)
“Erdogan backs criminal probe into Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Christian Hartmann/Reuters)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel News | Arabs

Israel announces multibillion-shekel plan to improve living conditions of Israeli Arabs
  • The government announced that 13 billion shekels ($3.3 billion) will be allocated towards education, infrastructure, culture, sports, and transportation over five years in predominantly Arab areas.
  • Poverty, unemployment, underemployment, and lower educational achievement and attainment have long plagued Israel’s Arab minority, which comprises around a fifth of the total Israeli population.
  • The Mossawa Center, an Arab advocacy organization, criticized the announcement as vague and far short of the funding requested to bring the living standards of Israel’s Arab citizens in line with its Jewish population.

Read more:
“Israel to spend $3 billion more to improve living standards of Arab minority” (Reuters)
“Israel Seeks to Bring Arab Citizens Into Mainstream With Funds” (Bloomberg)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel News | Interethnic

Israel’s education ministry denies inclusion of novel featuring Jewish-Arab romance
  • The request to include Borderlife by Dorit Rabinyan in the high school curriculum was denied out of fear of escalating already tense relations between Jews and Arabs in the country as violence continues.
  • As teachers and students protested, the ministry relaxed its ruling, saying the work could be studied in advanced literature classes, but that other controversial content—including its depiction of soldiers—and concerns about national identity would keep the book from the general curriculum.
  • The book centers on a Jewish Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, who fall in love while overseas in New York.

Read more:
“Israel bars novel about Jewish-Arab love affair from school curriculum” (Reuters)
“Bennett Backs School Ban on Novel About Jewish-Arab Love Affair” (Haaretz)
“Education Ministry under fire for excluding novel about Jewish-Arab love story” (The Jerusalem Post)

(Image Credit: Ofer Vaknin/Haaretz)

Gender

South Korea News | Women

Protesters demonstrate against Japan’s accord with South Korea over Korean “comfort women”
  • Hundreds protested in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul following the release of the terms of the agreement between the two countries over the long-divisive issue of the Korean women forced to work in Japanese military brothels in WWII.
  • The terms included a 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) fund for survivors and the reiteration of an official national apology.
  • Protesters argued that none of the 46 public survivors had not been consulted when the terms were set and that the agreement still allowed Japan to evade responsibility in educational and diplomatic channels.

Read more:
“South Korea ‘comfort women’ reject deal with Japan” (Deutsche Welle)
“South Korean ‘comfort women’ protest against accord with Japan” (Reuters)
“Group says as victims were not consulted, ‘comfort women’ deal not final” (The Japan Times)

(Image Credit: K. Hong-Ji/Reuters, via Deutsche Welle)

 

Nationality + Migration

Central America News | Cuban Migrants

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Cuban asylum-seekers bound for U.S. stranded in Costa Rica and Panama as Nicaragua refuses entry
  • As the influx of Cuban asylum-seekers increases to levels not seen since 1994’s “raft exodus,” more than 6,000 have found themselves stranded in Costa Rica and Panama for the last six weeks after having been refused entry to Nicaragua, whose government is allied with Raúl Castro’s.
  • As Costa Rica has reversed its open transit policy for Cuban migrants, the Central American Integration System has arranged a massive airlift to El Salvador, allowing refugees to bypass Nicaragua, although thousands who began their journey in Ecuador are unaccounted for.
  • Emigrant Cubans, fearing a revision of the U.S.’s “wet foot, dry foot” immigration policy allowing Cubans who land in the U.S. a path to permanent residency, have taken to Central American land routes in addition to well-known routes by sea.

Read more:
“Central American countries agree airlift of Cuban migrants seeking to enter US” (The Guardian)
“Central American nations announce deal on Cuban migrants” (Miami Herald)
“Costa Rica deports Cubans amid ‘transit crisis’” (Deutsche Welle)

(Image Credit: Marcelino Rosario/EPA, via the Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Turkey News | LGBT

Court fines Turkey’s football governing body for firing gay referee
  • Istanbul’s 20th Court for Serious Crimes fined the Turkish Football Federation 23,000 Turkish lira ($7,900) for revoking the refereeing license of Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ, the country’s first openly gay referee, in 2009.
  • Dinçdağ’s release came after the TFF declared him unfit for military service due to the military’s exemption of gay men from military service, with which referees are required to be in good standing.
  • Dinçdağ’s lawyer plans to appeal the ruling, which fell considerably short of the 110,000 lira originally demanded.

Read more:
“Turkey’s top football body fined over dismissal of gay referee” (Hürriyet News Daily)
“Turkish Football Federation fined for sacking gay referee” (BBC)
“Turkish FA ordered to compensate referee who lost licence for being gay” (AFP, via the Guardian)

(Image Credit: DHA Photo, via Hürriyet News Daily)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Colombia News | LGBT

Colombian high court legalizes adoption for same-sex couples
  • Colombia’s constitutional court ruled 6-2 in favor of opening adoption up to same-sex couples, drawing on both constitutional and international law as justification.
  • The Court struck down the prohibition against adoption by same-sex couples by affirming the rights of children to a family, arguing that parental gender and sexual diversity has no negative impact on a child.
  • The country joins regional neighbors Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay in allowing same-sex couples to adopt.

Read more:
“Corte Constitucional da vía libre a adopción gay en Colombia” (El Tiempo, in Spanish)
“Colombia joins growing group of countries that allow adoption by same sex couples” (Fusion)
“Colombia Rules in Favor of Same-Sex Adoption” (teleSUR English)

(Image Credit: El Tiempo)