Tag-Archive for ◊ Human Rights ◊

Author:
• Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 at 10:11 pm

Un tribunal en Argentina dictó sentencia sobre 18 personas acusadas de crímenes de lesa humanidad en la Escuela de Suboficiales de Mecánica de la Armada, uno de los centros clandestinos de represión más emblemáticos del último gobierno militar 1976-1983.

Hubo 12 sentenciados a cadena perpetua, entre quienes se encuentran figuras conocidas de la época como Jorge Acosta, Alfredo Astiz y Adolfo Donda Tigel. Otros cuatro fueron condenados a penas entre 25 y 18 años de cárcel. Y dos fueron absueltos pero no puestos en libertad ya que aún son enjuiciados en otros casos por violaciones de derechos humanos.

Todos fueron acusados por su participación en el secuestro, tortura y desaparición de 86 personas en la ESMA. Fueron 22 meses de un juicio que tuvo más de 160 testigos, incluyendo casi 80 personas que salieron con vida del lugar.La sentencia fue celebrada en las afueras de los tribunales por organizaciones defensoras de los derechos humanos y de familiares o amigos de “desaparecidos”

“Es uno de los centros de detención donde hubo más sobrevivientes y eso de alguna manera permitió que se conociese más sobre el caso y por ello tuvo más notoriedad”, señaló a BBC Mundo Lorena Balardini, investigadora del área de memoria, del Centros de Estudios Legales y Sociales.

Más de 100 personas escaparon con vida de las aproximadamente 3.000 que fueron detenidas en la ESMA. En cambio, en Campo de Mayo, otro de los centros clandestinos, algunos cálculos estiman que hubo 5.000 detenidos y apenas unos 40 sobrevivientes.

Algunos historiadores señalan que la diferencia es que en la ESMA algunos oficiales de la Armada, liderados por el fallecido Almirante Emilio Massera mantenían con vida a algunos presos para un eventual proyecto político y para combatir lo que ellos denominaban una “campaña de desprestigio internacional” de activistas de derechos humanos.

Una de estas personas es Miriam Lewin, quien declaró en este juicio.”No se porqué yo sobreviví, pero como hablaba inglés y francés me tenían traduciendo diarios y transcribiendo documentos”, señaló a BBC Mundo.Los militares de la ESMA buscaban así contrarrestar con una campaña informativa las denuncias que empezaron a surgir de las violaciones a los derechos humanos en ese entonces en Argentina.

via BBC Mundo – Noticias – Argentina: cadena perpetua para “el Ángel de la Muerte”.

Me da gusto leer esta nota. Qué bien que la justicia esté alcanzando a estos tipos que aterrorizaron a la población argentina por tantos años.

Author:
• Friday, April 01st, 2011 at 12:36 am

Author:
• Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 at 7:00 pm

Este vídeo está muy chévere; lleno de inspiración.

YouTube – Spring Movements.

Inspired by the uprisings occurring in the Middle East and North Africa, this film is an ode to movements striving to reclaim their dignity and sovereignty from their keepers.

As the seeds of spring begin to harvest, the earth purges herself of winter. Credits: Director/ Producer Justin Mashouf – http://Mashouf.tv Dancers: Kian Khiaban – http://www.youtube.com/user/kian45 Justin Mashouf Cinematography/ Editor: Dustin Shepard – http://youtube.com/eldente Motion Graphics and Illustration: Ehsaan Mesghali – http://emdezign.com Music: EQ- Robert Diaz
*Originally sampled from Reza Manbachi’s Spring in Sorrow

Music download link: http://j.mp/SpringMAudio

Author:
• Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 at 10:05 pm


Transcripción de las declaraciones del presidente sobre la situación grave que se vive en Libia.

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Secretary Clinton and I just concluded a meeting that focused on the ongoing situation in Libya. Over the last few days, my national security team has been working around the clock to monitor the situation there and to coordinate with our international partners about a way forward.

First, we are doing everything we can to protect American citizens. That is my highest priority. In Libya, we’ve urged our people to leave the country and the State Department is assisting those in need of support. Meanwhile, I think all Americans should give thanks to the heroic work that’s being done by our foreign service officers and the men and women serving in our embassies and consulates around the world. They represent the very best of our country and its values.

Now, throughout this period of unrest and upheaval across the region the United States has maintained a set of core principles which guide our approach. These principles apply to the situation in Libya. As I said last week, we strongly condemn the use of violence in Libya.

The American people extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all who’ve been killed and injured. The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable. So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters and further punish the people of Libya. These actions violate international norms and every standard of common decency. This violence must stop.

The United States also strongly supports the universal rights of the Libyan people. That includes the rights of peaceful assembly, free speech, and the ability of the Libyan people to determine their own destiny. These are human rights. They are not negotiable. They must be respected in every country. And they cannot be denied through violence or suppression.

In a volatile situation like this one, it is imperative that the nations and peoples of the world speak with one voice, and that has been our focus. Yesterday a unanimous U.N. Security Council sent a clear message that it condemns the violence in Libya, supports accountability for the perpetrators, and stands with the Libyan people.

This same message, by the way, has been delivered by the European Union, the Arab League, the African Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and many individual nations. North and south, east and west, voices are being raised together to oppose suppression and support the rights of the Libyan people.

I’ve also asked my administration to prepare the full range of options that we have to respond to this crisis. This includes those actions we may take and those we will coordinate with our allies and partners, or those that we’ll carry out through multilateral institutions.

Like all governments, the Libyan government has a responsibility to refrain from violence, to allow humanitarian assistance to reach those in need, and to respect the rights of its people. It must be held accountable for its failure to meet those responsibilities, and face the cost of continued violations of human rights.

This is not simply a concern of the United States. The entire world is watching, and we will coordinate our assistance and accountability measures with the international community. To that end, Secretary Clinton and I have asked Bill Burns, our Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, to make several stops in Europe and the region to intensify our consultations with allies and partners about the situation in Libya.

I’ve also asked Secretary Clinton to travel to Geneva on Monday, where a number of foreign ministers will convene for a session of the Human Rights Council. There she’ll hold consultations with her counterparts on events throughout the region and continue to ensure that we join with the international community to speak with one voice to the government and the people of Libya.

And even as we are focused on the urgent situation in Libya, let me just say that our efforts continue to address the events taking place elsewhere, including how the international community can most effectively support the peaceful transition to democracy in both Tunisia and in Egypt.

So let me be clear. The change that is taking place across the region is being driven by the people of the region. This change doesn’t represent the work of the United States or any foreign power. It represents the aspirations of people who are seeking a better life.

As one Libyan said, “We just want to be able to live like human beings.” We just want to be able to live like human beings. It is the most basic of aspirations that is driving this change. And throughout this time of transition, the United States will continue to stand up for freedom, stand up for justice, and stand up for the dignity of all people.

Thank you very much.

Author:
• Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 at 9:43 pm

EL CAIRO, 23 de febrero (apro).- El avanzado desmoronamiento del régimen de Muamar Gadafi en Libia es otro acontecimiento inesperado de este invierno de revoluciones árabes. Los dictadores de Túnez y Egipto también parecían fuertes cuando de repente sus pueblos se levantaron contra ellos y los echaron del poder.

La diferencia trágica radica en que el tunecino Zinedine Ben Ali y el egipcio Hosni Mubarak prefirieron retirarse del juego antes de sufrir una derrota total, mientras que Gadafi se muestra dispuesto a llevarse al país completo al despeñadero.

El discurso televisado a la nación que hizo su hijo Saif al Islam, el domingo 20, pareció sugerir que el padre le había dejado la responsabilidad de resolver la crisis, una tarea que podría consolidarlo como heredero en caso de llevarla a cabo con éxito.

Amenazó con la guerra civil, pero al mismo tiempo se mostró conciliador y cercano con el pueblo, al que le prometió grandes reformas hablándole en el dialecto árabe local en lugar de usar la lengua coránica, como es usual.

La intervención de Gadafi mayor, el martes 22, hizo pensar que lo que Saif al Islam estaba en realidad tratando de hacer era evitar que él empeorara las cosas.

Muamar apareció nervioso, insultando a diestra y siniestra (“ratas”, “drogadictos”, “perros callejeros”) y anunciando su disposición a destruir la nación –que es la herencia que Islam espera recibir— antes que rendirse: “Voy a morir aquí como un mártir”.

Muamar Gadafi es el decano de los dictadores árabes. Como coronel del Ejército, en 1969 encabezó un golpe de Estado que acabó con la monarquía de jure y estableció una de facto, la de su propia familia.

Su estilo provocador lo ha llevado a perder una guerra con su vecino del sur mucho más pobre, Chad, y a enfrentarse con el Estados Unidos de Ronald Reagan en 1986, cuando su país fue bombardeado (con saldo de 45 soldados y 15 civiles muertos, entre ellos una bebé, hija adoptiva de Gadafi) como represalia por un ataque terrorista contra una discoteca de Berlín, que mató a dos soldados estadunidenses y a una joven turca, y dejó 200 heridos.

via Proceso – 2010.

¿Si tanto quiere a su patria, por qué prefiere destruirla antes de dejar el trono? Gaddafi no es más que un cruel déspota. Debe dejar el poder lo más pronto posible y dejar que el pueblo libio tenga oportunidad de talar su futuro.

Author:
• Saturday, February 12th, 2011 at 12:51 am

Miren qué lindo está este vídeo de Egipto.

“Nuestras armas son nuestros sueños”

YouTube – Sout Al Horeya صوت الحريه Amir Eid – Hany Adel – Hawary On Guitar & Sherif On Keyboards.

Sout Alhoureya ~

Amir Eid ~ Featuring ~ Hany Adel, Hawary on guitars & Sherif Mostafa on keyboards ~ video by Moustafa Fahmy, Mohamed Khalifa and Mohamed Shaker

LYRICS

English (incomplete)

“I went down and I said I am not coming back, and I wrote on every street wall that I am not coming back.

“All barriers have been broken down, our weapon was our dream, and the future is crystal clear to us, we have been waiting for a long time, we are still searching for our place, we keep searching for a place we belong too, in every corner in our country.

“The sound of freedom is calling, in every street corner in our country, the sound of freedom is calling..

“We will re-write history, if you are one of us, join us and don’t stop us from fulfilling our dream.”

(from Al Jazeera live English blog Feb 11)

español

LA VOZ DE LA LIBERTAD (1)
Hemos levantado la cabeza hacia el cielo
Ya no nos importa el hambre
Lo más importante es nuestro derecho
Y escribir nuestra historia con nuestra sangre
Si eras uno de nosotros, deja de despotricar y de decirnos
Que nos vayamos y olvidemos nuestros sueños
No sigas hablando en mi nombre
En todas las calles de mi país, llama la voz de la libertad

LA VOZ DE LA LIBRTAD (2) He bajado a decir que no vuelvo
He escrito con mi sangre en todas las calles
Nos ha oído el que no oía
Y se han levantado todas las prohibiciones
Nuestras armas son nuestros sueños
Y tenemos un mañana claro ante nosotros
Hace tiempo que esperamos
Buscamos y no encontramos nuestro sitio
En todas las calles de mi país Llama la voz de la libertad

(thanks to YT user jabira9!)

Author:
• Friday, February 11th, 2011 at 11:09 pm

Acá está el discurso que pronunció el Presidente Obama en este día histórico para el pueblo egipcio y por qué no para el mundo. Fue un discurso magnífico. Es que da gusto que el presidente gire a otro lado al cual los EE.UU. está acostumbrado a seguir.

La alborada para Egipto llegó.

Presidente Obama:

Los egipcios han dejado claro que nada menos que la democracia genuina va a estar a la orden del día.

La rueda de la historia cambió porque el pueblo de Egipto exigió sus derechos fundamentales

Acá está la versión en inglés:

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. There are very few moments in our lives where we have the privilege to witness history taking place. This is one of those moments. This is one of those times. The people of Egypt have spoken, their voices have been heard, and Egypt will never be the same.

By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian people’s hunger for change. But this is not the end of Egypt’s transition. It’s a beginning. I’m sure there will be difficult days ahead, and many questions remain unanswered. But I am confident that the people of Egypt can find the answers, and do so peacefully, constructively, and in the spirit of unity that has defined these last few weeks. For Egyptians have made it clear that nothing less than genuine democracy will carry the day.

The military has served patriotically and responsibly as a caretaker to the state, and will now have to ensure a transition that is credible in the eyes of the Egyptian people. That means protecting the rights of Egypt’s citizens, lifting the emergency law, revising the constitution and other laws to make this change irreversible, and laying out a clear path to elections that are fair and free. Above all, this transition must bring all of Egypt’s voices to the table. For the spirit of peaceful protest and perseverance that the Egyptian people have shown can serve as a powerful wind at the back of this change.

The United States will continue to be a friend and partner to Egypt. We stand ready to provide whatever assistance is necessary — and asked for — to pursue a credible transition to a democracy. I’m also confident that the same ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that the young people of Egypt have shown in recent days can be harnessed to create new opportunity — jobs and businesses that allow the extraordinary potential of this generation to take flight. And I know that a democratic Egypt can advance its role of responsible leadership not only in the region but around the world.

Egypt has played a pivotal role in human history for over 6,000 years. But over the last few weeks, the wheel of history turned at a blinding pace as the Egyptian people demanded their universal rights.

We saw mothers and fathers carrying their children on their shoulders to show them what true freedom might look like.

We saw a young Egyptian say, “For the first time in my life, I really count. My voice is heard. Even though I’m only one person, this is the way real democracy works.”

We saw protesters chant “Selmiyya, selmiyya” — “We are peaceful” — again and again.

We saw a military that would not fire bullets at the people they were sworn to protect.

And we saw doctors and nurses rushing into the streets to care for those who were wounded, volunteers checking protesters to ensure that they were unarmed.

We saw people of faith praying together and chanting – “Muslims, Christians, We are one.” And though we know that the strains between faiths still divide too many in this world and no single event will close that chasm immediately, these scenes remind us that we need not be defined by our differences. We can be defined by the common humanity that we share.

And above all, we saw a new generation emerge — a generation that uses their own creativity and talent and technology to call for a government that represented their hopes and not their fears; a government that is responsive to their boundless aspirations. One Egyptian put it simply: Most people have discovered in the last few days…that they are worth something, and this cannot be taken away from them anymore, ever.

This is the power of human dignity, and it can never be denied. Egyptians have inspired us, and they’ve done so by putting the lie to the idea that justice is best gained through violence. For in Egypt, it was the moral force of nonviolence — not terrorism, not mindless killing — but nonviolence, moral force that bent the arc of history toward justice once more.

And while the sights and sounds that we heard were entirely Egyptian, we can’t help but hear the echoes of history — echoes from Germans tearing down a wall, Indonesian students taking to the streets, Gandhi leading his people down the path of justice.

As Martin Luther King said in celebrating the birth of a new nation in Ghana while trying to perfect his own, “There is something in the soul that cries out for freedom.” Those were the cries that came from Tahrir Square, and the entire world has taken note.

Today belongs to the people of Egypt, and the American people are moved by these scenes in Cairo and across Egypt because of who we are as a people and the kind of world that we want our children to grow up in.

The word Tahrir means liberation. It is a word that speaks to that something in our souls that cries out for freedom. And forevermore it will remind us of the Egyptian people — of what they did, of the things that they stood for, and how they changed their country, and in doing so changed the world.

Thank you.

END 3:13 P.M. EST

Author:
• Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 10:35 pm

Author:
• Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 10:33 pm

Al ver este vídeo es difícil no echar la memoria hacia los años de guerra en el El Salvador y por qué no todos los años bajos dictaduras por toda América Latina. Es que si nosotros no le damos luz a los anhelos de estas personas en Egipto que claman por un mejor porvenir, estaríamos desconectándonos con la humanidad.

¡Ojalá que el pueblo egipcio logre su mejor mañana!

YouTube – The Most AMAZING video on the internet #Egypt #jan25.

Author:
• Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 10:15 pm

Egipto se prepara para lo que podría ser un día crucial tanto a nivel nacional como en todo el Medio Oriente, con la llamada “marcha del millón de personas”, contra la cual el ejército dijo no intervendrá al considerar “legítimas las demandas del pueblo”.

Para este martes, grupos de oposición hicieron llamados a una huelga general en contra del gobierno de Hosni Mubarak y a una manifestación de un millón de personas en El Cairo. Una marcha masiva similar fue convocada para Alejandría.

clic Siga aquí las últimas noticias sobre las protestas

Los servicios de trenes en el país árabe se han detenido entre las horas del toque de queda de 15:00 y 08:00 (13:00 y 06:00 GMT), y la aerolínea EgyptAir anunció la cancelación de todos los vuelos nacionales e internacionales entre esas horas, algo que según los corresponsales podría repercutir en la asistencia a las manifestaciones.

via BBC Mundo – Noticias – Egipto a la espera de la “marcha del millón de personas”.

El ejército egipcio declaró que no usaría la violencia en contra de los manifestantes. Ojalá así sea. Y es que todavía no me acostumbro a ver a los manifestantes dándole la mano al ejército. La referencia que tengo de los ejércitos de América Latina es que han sido todo lo contrario.