“When I was four, the government took my father,” said nineteen-year-old Aliya El-Sharif. Speaking for the first time in public about how her father was killed along with more than 1,200 other detainees, according to Human Rights Watch, during the 1996 Abu Salim prison massacre in Tripoli. The massacre stands as one of the more [...]
Tag archives for Human Rights
Government Contractors and Trafficking in Persons—what we are doing to cut those links
On July 7, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that the ArmorGroup North America has paid $7.5 million to “settle accusations that they filed false claims on a contract to guard the United States Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.” The Associated Press article published by The New York Times on Friday, July 8, noted that [...]
Observing the Brave in Vilnius
by Sarah Mendelson, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance We’re Together, Even When We Are Not The Arab Spring has left many activists at the Community of Democracies hopeful—perhaps none more so than Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma. She wasn’t physically in attendance but virtually and spiritually, her presence was [...]
Harnessing the Power of Music to Combat Human Trafficking
Simon Goff, CEO of the MTV EXIT Foundation “Human trafficking: No, No, No” rang out the chant from 20,000 people, repeating ASEAN Secretary-General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan’s call to action live from stage. They had travelled from across Thailand to be there and braved torrential rain, however, their spirits were not dampened. They were there to [...]
A Dream in a Nightmare in the Eastern DRC
A guest post by Dr. Denis Mukwege, Director of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, DRC. Dr. Mukwege is the winner of the 2010-2011 King audouin International Development Prize and recently spoke at USAID in a roundtable discussion about gender based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The views in this post do not necessarily [...]
Ordinary People Make Extraordinary Contributions to Combat Trafficking
About the author: Holly Burkhalter is Vice President of Government Relations for International Justice Mission The sheer size of the State Department’s 11th Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released this week, is a reflection of the enormity and ubiquity of the crime of modern day slavery. Yet there is much to celebrate in the document [...]
Stop Human Trafficking App Challenge
Sarah Mendelson, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance When was the last time you used your mobile phone to look up an address, stream a video clip, or play a game? Now think about the last time you used your mobile phone to support human rights, raise awareness for a cause, or [...]
Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance 2.0
Next week, USAID is excited to be hosting DRG 2.0: Promoting Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance in 2011, and we’d like you to participate. What is DRG 2.0? Our own David Yang, Director of our Office of Democracy & Governance, says it best. With the exciting emergence of the Arab Spring, USAID experts in Democracy, [...]
Working to Meet the Challenges to Freedom of the Press in Eastern Europe and Eurasia
Several months ago at a reception for Vice President Biden in Moscow, I met a 30-year old journalist named Oleg Kashin. He is a special correspondent for the Russian newspaper Kommersant and runs a blog called Live Journal. I noticed Oleg walked with a cane and his face was bruised and swollen. He was missing [...]
Empowering Youth in India
By: Laura Rodriguez, USAID At the age of 17, Ishita Chaudhry recalls watching violent riots in her home country of India and being struck by the lack of political will and voice that her fellow peers had in decision making. It was 2002. Ishita was a senior in high school and suddenly became motivated to [...]
