The visit of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. is an opportune occasion to return to the “saying sorry” series. Full coverage by the BBC.

Four years ago, the Australian government seized control of 73 indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. The Age reports that in Ampilatwatja, 350 km north-east of Alice Springs, Richard Downs, the leader of the Alyawarr people asked that no pictures be taken of his people as it embarrasses them to be pictured living in dirt.

Along dirt streets littered with rubbish and abandoned vehicles, he points out a $500,000 building, the home and office of a government business manager, one of 60 appointed across the territory to supervise delivery of government services under the emergency intervention. ”That’s all we got over four years … a government business manager living here who everyone in the community tries to avoid and doesn’t listen to,” Downs says. Downs says 500 of his people living in Ampilatwatja have been treated as outcasts from white man’s decision-making. ”No one has asked us what will work for us,” he says.

Federal funding for homelands has been capped at $20 million a year for three years and runs out next year. No government funding is available for new houses on homelands, leaving people living in substandard, overcrowded accommodation with poor infrastructure.

The Guardian reports on findings by the High Pay Commission, which suggests that current trends unaltered, the gap between the very rich and the poor could reach levels last seen under the reign of Queen Victoria by 2030.

Germany has launched a campaign in the quest for a symbol that will represent human rights the way that the dove signifies peace. Submission deadline: July 31, 2011.

A recurring human rights violation, this time in Brazil: preparing for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, Brazil may be violating human rights, particularly the right to housing following evictions of those living in areas selected for construction, says the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik. “I am particularly worried about what seems to be a pattern that’s lacking transparency, consultation, dialogue, fair negotiation, and participation of the affected communities in processes concerning evictions undertaken or planned in connection with the World Cup and Olympics,” Rolnick said in an interview with Bloomberg.

ISDE Bangladesh highlights the results of excluding minorities from census data. During the 2001 census, “a large number of minorities from Hindu and Christian were excluded from counting. In an Upazila, Mohammadpur of Magura the 2001 census shown that the Hindu Population was 21,808 where the number of Hindu voters was 35,503,” in the 2008 voter list. Also, people of Christian faith were grossly underrepresented in census data. ISDE calls for inclusion, also of Dalit people in the upcoming 2011 census.

A successful campaign to provide health care as a human right in Vermont, despite the fact that the United States have no intention of ratifying the Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: the Vermont Worker’s Center has accomplished the task of advocating for health care based on international obligations and its guiding principles, including: universality, equity, accountability, transparency and participation.

A  brave and reconciliatory response by the mother of Northern Irish police man Ronan Kerr , who was killed April second by a bomb as reported by BBC:

“We don’t want to go back into the dark days again of fear and terror.”

“This is at a time when we are striving for a neutral police force for the good of our country and I urge all Catholic members not to be deterred.”

“We all need to stand up and be counted and to strive for equality.”

The Australian portraits Professor Mary Crock who has painted a portray of her husband, Senior Australian of the Year 2011, Ron McCallum for the upcoming Archibald Prize. Professor Crock, a renown public law professor at the University of Sydney specialized on migration law – see her recent book on immigration – took up her painting brush after more than two decades to paint her husband of 25 years, who was the first blind person to become a professor of law – industrial law is his speciality – and subsequently dean of the University of Sydney’s Law School.

(c) The Australian

CBM Australia has launched a campaign, “End the Cycle” on the need to empower persons with disabilities to stop the sequence of persons with disabilities being among the poorest of the poor on account of being invisible, marginalized and excluded. Sign up here to support the call.

On the occasion of women’s day, an indepth look by the NYTimes at the challenges women in Egypt face as the movement for a change of government makes its way.

The BBC provides a moving account of children that were forcefully taken from their parents during the military rule in Argentina and are now reuniting with their parents: the intimate side of reconciliation, an important and challenging part in the aftermath of human rights violations.

The important report of the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victim Assistance, ITF, which highlights the impact of landmines, particularly on children uses some very powerful imagery to convey the message:

The BBC features an unsung hero on the theory behind the current uprisings of societies in the Middle East: Dr. Gene Sharp is credited with sketching what it takes for people to rise and demand equality, justice, accountability and other features of democracy.

For what they are worth – and they are worth a lot less than one is made to believe  – diamonds can have a bloody history. As a reminder some recent reports by Human Rights Watch on the conflict related origins of some of the gems as well as the child and slave labour that often is part of the chain of production of the precious commodity.

As always, The Atlantic piece by Edward Jay Epstein on “Have you ever tried to sell a Diamond?,” here as a reminder on the actual value of diamonds and the power of marketing.

The NYTimes online has a series on the “Realm of Senses“: it features the New York impressions and perceptions of people who have lost a sense. Pictures by Béatrice de Géa accompany the description of people like Katherine Vasquez who does not have sense in her legs and feels like “walking on clouds” when exploring the city in her wheelchair and Martin Greenberg, who is deaf-blin and “captures the city through its vibrations.”

The Universal Periodic Review is the United Nations Human Rights Council’s new mechanism to verify the human rights performance of all 192 UN Member States based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and any human rights treaty the Member State has adopted. The review is now in its fourth and final year for the first cycle of reviews.

Austria and Australia are both up for review in the last week of January 2011: Austria on Australia Day, January 26 and Australia the next day, January 27.

The documents on Austria can be found here, for Australia click here.

The Austrian NGO Coalition for the review can be found here.

The Austrian Daily Salzburger Nachrichten published the following cartoon by Thomas Wizany on the occasion of People’s Republic of China President Hu’s State Visit to the United States:

President Obama is holding a board that depicts Mr. Hu with his name – Hu – underneath, the shape of a person with the description “man” underneath and an arrow to the right, the bottom line reading Hu + Man + Rights. President Hu looks at the board quizzically.

An important Op-Ed by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus in the NYTimes on sticking to the principles of the brilliant idea to provide microfinance to those in need of (economic) empowerment and criticizing those who loose sight of the intentions and focus on the potential profits.

A feature in the NYTimes about deaf people communicating while diving:

The Observer profiles the success of the Innocence Project , which so far has exonerated 260 people!

As ASIL notes in its International Law in Brief (ILIB), the 2006 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance entered into force late last month, December 22, 2010.  Another core human rights treaty joins the expanding collection!

In a piece on high-impact advertisement the BBC highlights the overrated value that diamonds have based on  – the admittedly brilliant (sic!) – marketing strategies. The human rights, gender and value implications of that industry are a long time favourite of mine.

New Year. Old challenges. The Guardian discusses the perpetually important issue that while private charity and welfare may be a necessary societal cause it does not let the public off the hook of responsibility.

I have penchant for the European Court of Human Rights’ frequently invoked principle that  “[i]t is not merely of some importance but it is of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.” The quotation is taken from a King’s Bench Division decision in 1924, R. v. Sussex Justices, Ex parte McCarthy.

It comes to mind in the current discussion of the judgement rendered in Austria’s biggest banking-trail to date, related to the BAWAG-Bank. The then judge is now the Minister of Justice. The judgement is currently under review in the Appeals Court and the prosecution has voiced criticism over some of the findings. The ensuing public debate also questions the wisdom of making the judge, Mrs. Bandion-Ortner, Justice Minister. I post here the commentary I wrote in January 2009, right after her appointment in juridikum – juridikum-2009-kommentar.pdf – and liga: liga-012009. Apologies for German version only.

(c) http://i.imgur.com/JOTDe.jpg

The revised version of

A Handbook on the Human Rights of Persons With Disabilities: Understanding the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

is now online.

The NYTimes reports that India is discussing the constitutional recognition of the right to food. While obviously part of a political debate, which also eyes likely effects in upcoming elections, the essential question is: should there be a right, an entitlement to have access to basic food stuffs?

On July 28 2010 the United Nations’ General Assembly declared access to clean water a human right. So far, access to water has been interpreted as part of the right to food as enshrined in Article 11 of the Covenant on Economic & Social Rights, which states inter alia:

The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.

The Committee charged with monitoring the implementation of the Covenant and its interpretation, in 2002 explained in great detail why water is an essential part of food, declaring:

The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.

The move by the General Assembly adds to this the weight of a resolution, recognizing the importance of access to clean water on a human rights based approach.

The BBC relays a study reported by the British Medical Journal suggesting that health related inequality is currently greater than it was during the Great Depression in the 1920ies.

The Age reports for the Australian State of Victoria what is already common knowledge among torture prevention experts and others working on human rights issues in police and related work: lack of resources, particularly understaffing can cause human rights violations. Compare, e.g. the Standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).

Based on a 5.000 page, 10 volume report of 12 years, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron apologized for the “unjustified and unjustifiable” killings of 14 civil rights activists on Bloody Sunday, reports the Guardian.

Big report in the NYTimes on universal coverage of health care “in dirt-poor country,” Rwanda.

Jennifer Bartlett in a NYTimes Online column, “Assumptions” for city room blog describes her experience venturing through New York with cerebral palsy.

Micah Kellner, a NY assembly man, responded with the following letter:

Ordinary New Yorkers expect to be treated according to a simple standard of common courtesy and respect, and those of us with disabilities are no different. Yet too often we are confronted by strangers who make bizarrely inappropriate comments or offer unnecessary and unasked-for expressions of sympathy. There is a double standard here — as if we are not entitled to the same basic consideration taken for granted by others in their daily interactions.

Kellner stresses the importance of overcoming social barriers: “equality begins with respect for people’s differences, and with overcoming deep-seated preconceptions about people with disabilities.”

As part of its Demand Dignity Campaign, amnesty international, in its Report From Promises to Delivery demands that the fight against poverty – the spear head of the Millennium Development Campaign – be based on human rights.

The Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty, Magdalena Sepulveda in her Report to the Human Rights Council warns that the changing of societal patterns and family living arrangements means that older persons are at an increased risk of extreme poverty.

“Societies are abandoning traditional care practices,” the Special Rapporteur warns and calls on systemic measures such as realization of the right to social protection through universal pensions.

There are apparently 105.000 homeless people in Australia, half of them are estimated to be below 25 years of age. Sarah Davies of the Melbourne Community Foundation discusses in The Age how, despite being a complex issue, the right to housing can be realized.

The United Nations have set eight goals to be reached by 2015: halving poverty, ensuring universal primary education for all among others. Persons with disabilities are largely being left out of the policies and programs put in place to reach the so called Millennium Development  Goals (MDGs).

The General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted a resolution calling for the realization of the MDGs also for persons with disabilities. The world’s parliament among others calls for ‘explicit’ mention of persons with disabilities in the upcoming review of the goals. The Journal for Disability & Development has published an analysis of the resolution. More information on the issue can also be found at www.IncludeEverybody.org

After a while – two years to be exact – returning to the issue of soccer & human rights ahead of the World Cup in South Africa. The NYTimes has a piece on the history of soccer in the host country. As one interviewee describes it, soccer “was a way to keep us out of trouble, a form of freedom, a chance to meet people from different areas.” The piece highlights the repercussions of Apartheid one-and-a-half decades after its end as “complicated.”  Tellingly, South Africa had four different federations: for blacks, whites, Indians and the so-called coloreds.