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Tag: United Nations

  • Angelina Jolie Rips U.N. a New One

    Angelina Jolie Rips U.N. a New One

    Angelina Jolie recently addressed the United Nations, and her remarks were stinging.

    One of the big concerns that Angelina Jolie has is the situation in Syria. She involves herself in that heavily.

    “Since the Syria conflict began in 2011, I have made eleven visits to Syrian refugees in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Malta. I wish that some of the Syrians I have met could be here today. Any one of the Syrians I have met would speak more eloquently about the conflict than I ever could. Nearly four million Syrian refugees are victims of a conflict they have no part in. Yet they are stigmatized, unwanted, and regarded as a burden.

    Angelina Jolie felt that she had an opportunity to speak on behalf of the people suffering in Syria. She called the United Nations to task for not acting in that region.

    “So I am here for them, because this is their United Nations. Here, all countries and all people are equal – from the smallest and most broken member states to the free and powerful. The purpose of the UN is to prevent and end conflict: To bring countries together, to find diplomatic solutions and to save lives. We are failing to do this in Syria.

    Angelina Jolie recognizes that the conflict in Syria was not the making of the U.N. But she says the peopel of Syria thought the U.N. would act to help the people most harmed by a conflict they have no part in.

    “Responsibility for the conflict lies with the warring parties inside Syria. But the crisis is made worse by division and indecision within the international community – preventing the Security Council from fulfilling its responsibilities.

    “In 2011, the Syrian refugees I met were full of hope. They said “please, tell people what is happening to us”, trusting that the truth alone would guarantee international action.

    “When I returned, hope was turning into anger.

    “On my last visit in February, anger had subsided into resignation, misery and the bitter question: ‘Why are we, the Syrian people, not worth saving?’”

    Angelina Jolie used the United Nations’ own policies to call them to action in Syria.

    “The UN has adopted the Responsibility to Protect concept, saying that when a State cannot protect its people the international community will not stand by – but we are standing by, in Syria. The problem is not lack of information … The problem is lack of political will.”

  • Patricia Arquette: I Was a Single Mother Living in a Garage

    Patricia Arquette’s acceptance speech at the recent Oscars drew quite a bit of attention. She spoke out about pay equality in America and drew thunderous applause.

    “To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America.”

    But some chuckled at the idea that a rich woman accepting an Oscar in a designer dress would talk about pay equality.

    One writer — a female — even condemned Patricia Arquette’s remarks.

    “Arquette’s political grandstanding played into every ugly stereotype about ‘feminism’ being about little more than some privileged white women trying to become more privileged,” Amanda Marcotte wrote in Slate. “Her comments were bad for the cause of equal pay and for feminism.”

    Since then, Patricia Arquette has spoken to a United Nations forum about why she is using her time in the spotlight to speak about this issue. It is not some “give back” pet project. She has been there.

    “People have asked me why I’m doing this, and it’s true, today I’m blessed, having some material success, for which I’m extremely grateful. But I have other truths, too. If I were to tell you as a child, there were times where I lived below the poverty line, literally not having shoes to wear that fit me, that would also be true. If I told you that I was a single mother at 20, and lived with my baby in a converted garage, and that I would worry about my baby’s nutrition while nursing, because I could only afford to eat macaroni and cheese mixed with water for a week so I could afford diapers, that would also be true.”

  • Teri Hatcher Tells How Uncle Sexually Abused Her

    Teri Hatcher recently spoke to a group of bigwigs at the U.N. on a topic that was very personal for her.

    It was a United Nations event commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Teri Hatcher tried to hold it together as she related that she was sexually molested by an uncle when she was seven years old.

    “I was convinced it was my fault and I blamed myself for what had happened, so I didn’t tell anyone and I was silent,” she told the group. “I did however, unsurprisingly, start to act out and my mother decided to keep me away from my uncle. I didn’t see him anymore, but no one in my family ever asked exactly what happened. We remained silent.”

    But Hatcher was not the only person who carried that dark secret. Her uncle had molested other girls.

    “I was helping my parents pack up my childhood home and I came across a current newspaper article about a beautiful 11-year-old girl named Sarah from my hometown,” Hatcher related. “The story recounted how she had wrapped her head in a towel in order to avoid making a mess and shot herself in the head. Her reason? In a suicide note, she implicated my uncle, who had been sexually abusing her for years.”

    Hatcher stopped holding her secret, and cooperated with authorities to put her uncle away. He died in prison.

    Hatcher has dedicated her life to helping other women who have suffered the kind of abuse she suffered. Like Paul Walker, she uses her celebrity and money to shine a light on the plight of those less fortunate.

    “I am simply one in three women who is forced to accept violence as part of their life story,” Hatcher said. “I am one of three women who for the rest of her life battles the voice in her head that accepts blame for abuse, a voice that is antithetical to self-esteem, self-worth, and happiness. This is a statistic that has to change. One in three women can no longer have to face a stigma and a fear that prevent them from seeking help.”

  • Teri Hatcher Address U.N., Talks Childhood Sexual Abuse

    Teri Hatcher addressed a United Nations event commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Tuesday, and divulged the horrors of her own experience with sexual abuse. The Desperate Housewives star was abused by an uncle when she was a little girl–just seven years old. Although that abuse stopped around the time she was eight or nine years old, it haunted her throughout her life.

    “I was convinced it was my fault and I blamed myself for what had happened, so I didn’t tell anyone and I was silent,” Hatcher said. “I did, however, unsurprisingly, start to act out and my mother decided to keep me away from my uncle. I didn’t see him anymore, but no one in my family ever asked exactly what happened. We remained silent.”

    Teri Hatcher explained how later, when she learned that she hadn’t been the only one abused by this same man, she approached a district attorney about her uncle, Richard Hayes Stone. One of his victims committed suicide years after his sexual abuse. That no doubt affected the actress profoundly.

    “I was helping my parents pack up my childhood home and I came across a current newspaper article about a beautiful 11-year-old girl named Sarah from my hometown,” Hatcher said. “The story recounted how she had wrapped her head in a towel in order to avoid making a mess and shot herself in the head. Her reason? In a suicide note, she implicated my uncle, who had been sexually abusing her for years.”

    Richard Hayes Stone was eventually sentenced to 14 years in prison. That seems like a light sentence for a man who essentially robbed several little girls–one of them Teri Hatcher–of their childhoods. He robbed one of her life.

    Hatcher first spoke out about her childhood sexual abuse back in 2006. She has since been active in raising awareness and in seeking to prevent such atrocities from happening. On Monday, Teri helped light the Empire State Building orange in honor of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

    “I am simply one in three women who is forced to accept violence as part of their life story,” Hatcher said on Tuesday. “I am one of three women who for the rest of her life battles the voice in her head that accepts blame for abuse, a voice that is antithetical to self-esteem, self-worth, and happiness. This is a statistic that has to change. One in three women can no longer have to face a stigma and a fear that prevent them from seeking help.”

    Check out Teri Hatcher’s speech in its entirety.

    Kudos to Teri Hatcher and those like her, who have the strength to speak out about what was once deemed unspeakable. They give voices to those who suffered and hope for those who might one day find themselves in similar situations.

  • Samantha Power Visits Ebola-Stricken Countries To Drum Up Health Care Support

    US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power has flown to West Africa to encourage international support for the fight against Ebola. Power traveled through Guinea on Sunday and landed on Monday in Sierra Leone. She also plans to visit Liberia before flying to Brussels in Belgium, meeting health care workers, volunteers and public officials at every stop.

    According to NBC, more foreign medical workers will need to travel to West Africa in order to beat the disease, but restrictions in the US have made some health care workers think twice about helping the efforts to stop Ebola. “The last thing we want is to stigmatize people. There is a category of people that we need to be effective in persuading to come, who are kind of hanging back and wondering,” said Power.

    Power is currently checking out the situation in West Africa so that she can drum up more international support for the fight against Ebola. “In visiting the three affected countries and getting a detailed grasp of the gaps I hope to use my knowledge of those gaps to shake the trees and really push other countries to do more,” Power said. She also plans to make a stop in Ghana to visit the United Nations Ebola response mission, which is coordinating global efforts to stop Ebola.

    Powers revealed that many countries who expressed support for the fight against Ebola and commended the US for its role in it have yet to send their own contingents of medical workers to help out in West Africa. “You have countries at the UN where I work every day who are signing on to resolutions and praising the good work that the US and the UK and others are doing, but they themselves haven’t taken the responsibility yet to send docs, to send beds, to send the reasonable amount of money,” she said.

    The fact that Power was sent to these countries even if she was a member of the US President’s cabinet means that people who want to help shouldn’t be afraid, she added.

  • Emma Watson Delivers Speech At U.N.

    Emma Watson charmed the world as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films and she is continuing to do so as an United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.

    Watson delivered an impressive speech at the U.N. on Saturday and asked that men of all ages stand up and fight for gender equality.

    The speech was part of the launch of Watson’s new campaign, HeForShe, which promotes gender equality.

    Watson said that fighting for gender equality doesn’t mean that she is against men, and she hopes that men will start to stick up for women and help promote gender equality of all types.

    “I was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for U.N. Women six months ago and the more I’ve spoken about feminism, the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop,” she said.

    “Feminism,” Watson continued, “is, by definition, the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.”

    She went on to say that everyone can benefit from gender equality and explained how gender inequality can negatively affect everyone.

    “Gender equality is your issue too. Because to date, I’ve seen my father’s role as a parent being valued less by society despite my needing his presence, as a child, as much as my mother’s. I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness, unable to ask for help, for fear it would make them less of a men—or less of a man. In fact, in the U.K., suicide is the biggest killer of men, between 20 to 49, eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality, either,” she said.

    Watson also said that she knows some people only know her as the girl from the Harry Potter movies, but hopes that everyone will soon see how passionate she is about the new campaign and how hard she is willing to work for it.

  • Seth Rogen, James Franco Film ‘Act of War’ Per North Korea

    Seth Rogen and James Franco’s new film The Interview has been deemed an ‘act of war’ by North Korea. The country’s ambassador to the United Nations–Ja Song Nam–says the U.S. government shouldn’t allow its release. The film’s plot involves the assassination of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

    “To allow the production and distribution of such a film on the assassination of an incumbent Head of a sovereign State should be regarded as the most undisguised sponsoring of terrorism as well as an act of war,” Nam said in a formal complaint to the U.N.

    Neither Seth Rogen nor James Franco has yet responded to this latest issue regarding The Interview, however when North Korean officials originally complained about the film a couple of weeks ago, Rogen tweeted his feelings on the situation.

    The initial complaint about Rogen’s movie doesn’t mention the name of the film but talks about a plot that “involves insulting and assassinating the supreme leadership.”

    Of course everyone knows the worldwide angst caused by North Korea–most especially at the hands of Kim Jong Un. However it’s more than plain to see that Seth Rogen and James Franco are acting in humor when they take on this ‘assassination attempt’ in their film.

    Do you think The Interview should be reviled as an act of war, or do the people of North Korea–most especially its leaders–simply need to adapt a more American sense of humor?

    The Interview is set to open in U.S. theaters this fall. It likely won’t make it into North Korea–not unless Seth Rogen or James Franco have some duplicitous covert powers of international persuasion.

    Image via YouTube

  • United Nations Now Recognizes Staff Members’ Legal Same-Sex Marriages

    The United Nations will now recognize and provide equal benefits to legal same-sex marriages of its staff members despite the laws of their home country.

    U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the news Monday at the world body.

    Prior to Monday’s announcement, a staff member’s personal status was based solely on the laws of their country of nationality, said U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq.

    “Human rights are at the core of the mission of the United Nations,” said Ki-moon. “I am proud to stand for greater equality for all staff, and I call on all members of our UN family to unite in rejecting homophobia as discrimination that can never be tolerated at our workplace.”

    Now the United Nations will recognize all same-sex couples, but only couples married in a country where it is legal, of which there are currently 18.

    “The Secretary-General said human rights are at the core of the mission of the United Nations,” Haq said. “He’s proud to stand for greater equality for all staff. He also calls on all members of the U.N. family to unite in rejecting homophobia.”

    UN-GLOBE, a United Nations LGBT group, released a statement via its president Hyung Hak Nam.

    “With this new policy in place at the UN, I believe that the entire UN system will follow suit, if history is any guide. And if any agency, fund or programme still refuses to change, we will make sure they hear from us,” said Hyung Hak Nam.

    “This includes the UNJSPF, our pension fund. In fact, with this new policy in place at the UN, it is my hope that the pension fund will be under a lot of pressure to change its discriminatory policies towards staff. And we will be front and center advocating for change.”

    The new policy became effective June 26, and will affect the U.N.’s estimated 43,000 employees worldwide.

    Employees of other U.N. agencies, including the children’s agency UNICEF and the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, are not under the new guidelines, Haq said.

    Image via YouTube

  • Cannes Film Festival: Nicole Kidman Defends Grace of Monaco

    Actress Nicole Kidman gently addressed criticism of her new film Grace of Monaco on the opening day of the Cannes Film Festival.

    “I feel sad because I think that the film has no malice toward the family or particularly towards Grace or Rainier,” said Kidman, who stars in the film’s titular role.

    “I want them to know that the performance was done with love and if they see it I think they’d see there’s an enormous amount of affection for their parents and for the love story of their parents.”

    The controversy over the biopic film, which started more than a year ago, involves the question of how a specific period of French-American cultural history is portrayed on the big screen.

    Set in the 1960s, Grace of Monaco features as a central storyline France’s attempt to annex Monaco and claim its tax revenue. Monaco’s Prince Rainier III, who ascended the throne in 1949, played a key role in the resolution of the crisis, creation of a revised constitution, and restoration of Monaco’s national parliament.

    Prince Rainier III married American actress Grace Kelly in 1956. Their children constitute Monaco’s reining Grimaldi family: Caroline, Princess of Hanover; Albert II, Prince of Monaco; and Princess Stéphanie of Monaco.

    The Grimaldis didn’t hesitate to express their displeasure over the film:

    “The trailer appears to be a farce and confirms the totally fictional nature of this film. The Princely Family does not in any way wish to be associated with this film which reflects no reality and regrets that its history has been misappropriated for purely commercial purposes.”

    To further complicate matters, the film’s US distributor, Harvey Weinstein has been involved in an ongoing dispute with its French director Olivier Dahan.

    The original version Dahan delivered to Weinstein was deemed incomplete and “too much like a Hitchcock thriller and too little like what they anticipated – a yarn about a princess in a gilded cage.”

    Weinstein cut his own version and now wants a renegotiation of the agreed-upon rights fee with the film’s financier to mitigate the additional costs Weinstein Company has incurred.

    Later, disputes intensified, this time over the film’s rollout. In January Weinstein called off the film’s March release, dashing the French filmmakers’ hopes that it would pave the way for a successful European release later in the Spring. Shortly thereafter, Weinstein further angered by the news that Cannes would open with the French version.

    Weinstein didn’t attend the Cannes premiere, instead issuing the following statement:

    “My wife, Georgina, and I have been in Jordan visiting two Syrian refugee camps, Al Zaatri yesterday and Azraq today. This was a long-planned trip with the UNHCR” – the United Nations refugee agency – “and our friend Neil Gaiman to bring attention to the plight of refugees who have been forced to flee Syria and the incredible work of UNHCR.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Connie Britton To Serve As UN Goodwill Ambassador

    A new UN Goodwill ambassador has been chosen, and the role has gone to actress Connie Britton. She gave a speech at One U.N. Plaza on April 2, 2014, in New York, where she announced her appointment as ambassador.

    Connie Britton may not be as well-known as some of her co-stars, but she has been in several hit television shows, and a handful of films. She is currently starring in ABC’s Nashville, which focuses on the music industry in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition, she has had major roles in shows such as American Horror Story and Friday Night Lights.

    The actress thinks that being appointed as the UN Goodwill ambassador will be one of the greatest opportunities of her life. In a way to raise awareness about certain issues and help out, many celebrities have turned to doing work with international organizations.

    Britton is the tenth person to be elected to the position, and follows in the footsteps of actor Antonio Banderas and tennis star Maria Sharapova, among others. She plans to work on the issue of poverty, and have an emphasis on women’s issues.

    Speaking on her new position, Connie Britton said “In my own travels, I’ve seen many places where people are living in extreme poverty. It’s unacceptable that, in 2014, one billion people live in such conditions, and a full sixty per cent of the chronically hungry in the world are women. I look forward to working with UNDP to help change this and improve the lives of vulnerable people worldwide.”

    She plans to use her established name, and aims to raise awareness about UNDP’s global efforts to empower people and fight exclusion. The actress has already been a pioneer of poverty alleviation efforts, and women’s rights for years, and has worked on the causes through a variety of charitable causes.

    UNDP Director for External Relations Michael O’Neill is also excited to have her on board for the position, and said “We are thrilled to have Connie Britton join UNDP’s efforts to fight poverty worldwide.”

    Connie Britton has been nominated for both Golden Globes and Emmy Awards during her television career, and she will be seen on the big screen later this year in This Is Where I Leave You.

    Image via Instagram

  • Saudi Princesses Under House Arrest Cry for Help Over Twitter

    The Saudi Princesses Sahar and Jawaher have begun a Twitter and media campaign to end their thirteen year house arrest.

    In an e-mail to the Sunday Times, the sisters wrote “We slowly watch each other fading into nothingness”. They added their other sisters, Hala and Maha, are facing psychological distress in guarded isolation. They further cited their treatment as human rights abuse over Twitter:


    Their mother, Alanoud Al Fayez, who lives divorced and in exile in the United Kingdom, has signed her support for her daughter’s release. In an interview with Channel 4 News, she says: “They are really in a terrible state, especially Jawaher and Sahar. She’s telling me, ‘Mummy, we are trying to hold on to our sanity’. They are hanging to life. They don’t deserve what happened to them.” Over Twitter, she continues to write and communicate to her daughters, with words of support:


    With over 2000 Twitter followers each, the princesses and their mother have attracted both criticism and support. Princess Jawaher tweeted a response to her opponents over the social media platform:


    Legal action currently lies at a standstill for Al Fayez and her daughters. In November she told Voice of Russia Radio: “I came to London and hired British and American lawyers to help me. But agents of the Saudi King have bribed them, and the lawyers in fact braked my case and didn’t let it enter the international level. I tried to find other lawyers – but found myself in total isolation. Nobody wanted to defend the interests of my daughters.”

    According to the Associated Press, the United Nation’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has received the complaints, but declined to comment whether the U.N. will take any action on the subject.

    Image via Channel 4 News, Youtube

    March 12, 2014

  • Katie Couric to Interview Michael Bloomberg for Yahoo News

    Katie Couric will interview former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg in her new role as Global Anchor for Yahoo.

    The interview, which will air March 14 on Yahoo and on Couric’s Tumblr blog, is Bloomberg’s first since being named special envoy to the United Nations for cities and climate change.

    Couric announced the interview and solicited viewer questions via her blog:

    “What would you ask Michael Bloomberg? Better yet, is there a photo or a video clip you’d like him to see that illustrates your point? If a picture is worth a thousand words, social media is filled with volumes and volumes of stories. I’d like to help you tell those stories as we explore the world together.”

    Couric made her unofficial Yahoo debut on January 13, interviewing former Defense Secretary Robert Gates the day before the publication of his memoir Duty.

    The Gates interview was something of a soft launch for Couric. She’s promoting the Bloomberg interview much more heavily, and referred to it as the “first up” in a series of interviews with “politicians, thought leaders, cultural icons, [and] tech titans.”

    Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has called Couric the “face of Yahoo News.” According to Mayer, Couric will shoot features for Yahoo’s homepage and “lead a growing team of correspondents at Yahoo News who will cover the world’s most interesting stories and newsmakers.”

    In late December, ABC announced that Couric’s daytime talk show, Katie will be canceled after the current season. The network called it a mutual decision and said production would continue through June 2014.

    Image via YouTube

  • Rob Serry, UN Representative, Threatened In Crimea

    Tensions continue to rise in Ukraine. This time hostile pro-Russian’s threatened a UN representative.

    On Wednesday an envoy, United Nations Robert Serry, went to Ukraine’s Crimea on a diplomatic mission, but his mission ended before it could even really start when armed men stopped him.

    The unidentified armed men told Serry he needed to leave Crimea. Serry said the men also told him “they have received orders…. to bring me immediately to the airport.” The men never shared who gave them the orders.

    The UN representative added that the men also said, “it was in my own safety. I refused and a standoff ensued.” Serry also noted that his driver was pulled from the car at one point.

    Serry was trapped inside a cafe he sought shelter in when the hostile group began to crowd around him. After a two hour standoff and a conversation with the mission, Serry agreed to abandon his mission and was escorted to a car to take him to the airport by police. During all this the crowd was shouting, “Putin! Putin!”

    During a phone conversation from Kyiv, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told New York reporters, “He was not kidnapped but he was seriously threatened…this action should be seriously condemned.”

    “I hope this serves as a reminder to all how dangerous the situation has become in the Crimea. There is a very urgent need to de-escalate this situation. All those who are responsible and can do that must have cool heads, lower their rhetoric and fix this situation. I am very worried for what would happen if there is bloodshed. There are people in the Crimea who actually behaved there with a lot of self-restraint,” said Serry.

    Serry is now in Instanbul and admits he was never worried for his own life.

    New pro-Russian prime minister of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov justified the threats made against Serry. Aksyonov is quoted as saying, “We did not send them an invitation.”

    UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement that Serry “will shortly return to Kiev to continue his mission, which was cut short by today’s incident.”

    Here’s hoping an incident like Wednesday’s, or worse, doesn’t happen again.

    One person on Twitter commended Serry for reacting calmly during the crisis.

    Many took to Twitter to voice their opinion on the incident in Crimea.

    Image via YouTube.

  • North Korea Could Face Punishment After Inquiry

    North Korea has had some light shed on the country’s methods of operation and extreme human rights violations with the release of the report from the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights on Monday.

    Horrific testimony from those who were captured and imprisoned, for reasons as shady as having a suspicious family member or trying to find food for their families, have been painstakingly extracted from those who have survived the hell of North Korean Prison Camps.

    These stories, which are painful to hear and excruciating to tell, have been gathered over the last eleven months in an ongoing investigation into human rights violations by leaders of North Korea’s troubled regime, according to CNN.

    Some of the tales from survivors are of the kind that once heard, will never be forgotten. They are the kind that inspire shock and disbelief and admittedly paint a picture of a brutal and heartless government “that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.”

    The story of a malnourished pregnant woman who, against all odds, gave birth in a filthy camp was especially disturbing. A guard was alerted to the baby’s arrival by its cries, for which the young mother was brutally beaten. As he beat her, she begged to keep her new baby. When she was on the verge of unconsciousness, he forced her to pick up her baby and hold it face down in water until the cries stopped forever.

    In August, North Korea condemned the hearings as a “charade” to “hear testimonies from human scum” and in another response, North Korea said in a letter that it “totally and categorically rejects the Commission of Inquiry”.

    As determined as North Korea may be to write off accusations and investigations, the testimonies of North Korea’s survivors are damning enough to erase any doubt there may have been that human rights in that country have been exceedingly and inarguably violated.

    The commission also told China that it might be “aiding and abetting crimes against humanity” by sending defectors back to North Korea to face unspeakable torture and almost certain death.

    “These are not the occasional wrongs that can be done by officials everywhere in the world, they are wrongs against humanity, they are wrongs that shock the consciousness of humanity,” Michael Kirby, a former chief justice of Australia and chairman of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry, told waiting journalists.

    The stories are unmistakably inhumane and invoke images of Nazi concentration camps. Take this testimony from a young woman, for example.

    “We finished our work and we were about to pick up this grass or the plant that we knew we could eat,” former prisoner Jee Heon A told the commission of her friend, Kim Young Hee. “And then the guards saw us, and he came running and he stepped on our hands and then he brought us to this place and he told us to kneel.”

    The guard forced the two girls to eat grass, roots, and soil. Kim Young Hee became extremely ill with diarrhea after eating the soil, and soon died, leaving Jee Heon A feeling alone and helpless.

    “There was nothing I could do,” Jee said. “I could not give her any medicine. And when she died, she couldn’t even close her eyes. She died with her eyes open. I cried my heart out.”

    She then told of the mass burial of her friend, Kim, with about 20 other bodies, a fairly common occurrence.

    “We covered the hole with clumped and frozen earth, but after a week when we went to the tomb, it was gone, the bodies were not there. We felt strange when we were going up that hill. We later found out that the old man who was guarding the place had his dogs eat the bodies. He raised five dogs and the dogs were eating the heads and the body parts of dead bodies.”

    These are just a partial example of the unimaginable conditions for prisoners in North Korea.

    Supreme leader Kim Jong-un and his security chiefs could possibly face international justice for the systematic Nazi-style torture and killing of the citizens of North Korea, according to Reuters.

    Michael Kirby said he expected the group’s findings to “galvanize action on the part of the international community”. If it doesn’t, we should be eternally ashamed of ourselves.

    Image via You Tube

  • Pope Defrocked 400 Priests Over Sex Abuse

    Pope Defrocked 400 Priests Over Sex Abuse

    According to a document obtained by the Associated Press, in his last two years as pope, Benedict XVI defrocked roughly 400 priests in connection to sex abuse allegations.

    Much of the criticism leveled at the Catholic Church is that their “in house” means of responding to abuse didn’t go nearly far enough to punish child predators within its ranks. The guilty priests were often able to go on victimizing children even after abuse allegations were made due to simply being transferred. They were not tried and there was no effort to turn the priests over to law enforcement.

    The Vatican defended its policies by saying that there was nothing in their actions that prevented victims or their families from going to the police.

    The infamous cover ups associated with the sex abuse allegations has dealt a terrible blow to the global image of the Church in recent years.

    In 2008, the Holy See was named as the defendant in a landmark lawsuit where it was revealed that over the years, 68 priests had been defrocked in total over accusations of child molestation and rape. By 2012, the number rose to 414.

    Even worse, these cases represent the direct actions of Benedict XVI in the recent years prior to having stepped down; these were the cases that were so bad, they went to Rome. Despite the hundreds of cases reported across the United States and Europe, there are likely thousands and thousands of cases that date back many years that never saw any real exposure for the priests guilty of acts of child sex abuse.

    The church is facing heavy scrutiny from the United Nations and individual governments regarding whether or not the religious body knowingly shielded child predators from justice.

    The Church has presented reports to show that an effort has been made to be more forthcoming with the public about its actions. However, given the amount of trust the Church has lost due to its handling of sex abuse allegations in the past, it will take a long time for the public and various governments to be convinced the efforts are sincere.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • U.S., Iran Finally Reach Nuclear Agreement

    U.S., Iran Finally Reach Nuclear Agreement

    After nearly a decade, America and five other world powers were able to finally reach a tentative agreement with Iran concerning their nuclear program.

    Secretary of State John Kerry left for Geneva to attempt to move negotiations along early yesterday – apparently, his efforts worked. Around 3:00 a.m. Sunday, the deal was signed.

    For two weeks, Kerry has been traveling to Geneva to try and finally reach an agreement with Iran. It has long-been a concern that Iran was enriching uranium at levels which would produce nuclear warheads. Iran has repeatedly denied this concern, saying that they only use the enriched uranium for ‘peaceful purposes’ and that they have a right to do so – under the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

    Now, all entities have agree to a six-month plan in which Iran will cease enriching uranium beyond the 5% level that is enough for energy production, but not enough to produce material needed for the nuclear warheads. The agreement also states that Iran will convert their reserve of 20% enriched uranium; will not create any new enriching facilities, nor open any that are not already in operation. Also in the agreement, international auditing of cameras will be allowed daily at the enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordo to ensure that Iran is holding up their end of the bargain. One other point of the deal says that the plant near Arak currently in construction – which would be able to produce plutonium – will halt, or at least no further reactor elements will be added.

    However, Iran did not agree to all aspects of what the U.S. was offering, such as allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency to closely monitor and invade the country to ensure no nuclear missiles are being produced. As well, the deal does not require Iran to shutdown their existing uranium-enriching facilities.

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    In return for Iran’s cooperation, the U.S. agreed to supply $6-$7 billion in sanctions relief.

    The Foreign Minister of Iran said that he hopes that this pact will be able to “restore” trust between Iran and the U.S., as the people of his country deserve Western respect.

    President Obama and Secretary Kerry both spoke about the agreement; Obama called the deal the “most significant and tangible” of such a feat.

    Secretary of State Kerry also discussed the conclusion of the decade-long negotiations, including the disappointment of Israel, who wanted the U.S. to stick to a much more stringent contract, ending uranium enrichment altogether. The U.S. assures, however, that Iranian persecution of Israel will not be a concern. Kerry said, “It will make our partners in the region safer. It will make our ally Israel safer.”

    The agreement was to be in effect for only a six-month time period, at which the nations will meet again. The U.S. is hoping this will lead to a more absolute and substantial pledge from Iran at the end of the six-month term.

    Main image courtesy RT via YouTube.

  • Google Autocomplete Misogyny Serves as the Focal Point for These Powerful Ads

    Google autocomplete, for all its various detractors, is simply a reflection of the people. Google’s not picking what it suggests to you when you start typing a query – you are. Well, maybe not you entirely. Google’s autocomplete suggestions are based on a complex algorithm that take into account the popularity of specific search terms, your own personal search history, and more. Basically, if you see some odd or downright repulsing suggestions in Google autocomplete, it’s because humanity sucks.

    UN Women, the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, has created some incredible new ads using Google autocomplete as the backdrop.

    Have you ever typed in “women cannot” or “women shouldn’t” into Google and looked at what comes up? Obviously it’s going to be different for each person depending on where they are in the world – but for the most part the suggestions are full of misogyny. Seriously. Try it.

    Yeah.

    To UN Women, these autocomplete suggestions show that there’s still a lot of work to do when it comes to promoting gender equality. Check out the ads:

    If you were wondering, here’s what men should do:

    Images via UN Women, AdWeek

  • Haiti Cholera Victims Sue UN, But Deeper Problems Plague Progress

    Haiti cholera epidemic victims filed a lawsuit against United Nations on Wednesday pleading for compensation over the outbreak that took the lives of 8,300 people.

    The legal petition was filed at the New York district court and claims that at the very minimum, 679,000 people contracted cholera since the outbreak originated in October 2010. In addition, the epidemic spread from Haiti and resulted in additional cholera cases in Cuba, the Dominican Republic and the United States, claims the petition.

    Haiti had been cholera free for 150 years, until Nepalese troops under UN command introduced it in Haiti’s water streams, according to Ira Kurzban, the attorney representing the victims. United Nations maintains its position that it is legally immune from legal action and has categorically refused to reach an out-of-court settlement.

    The cholera strain that devastated Haiti, matches the one endemic in Nepal, according to researchers from France and United States.

    The defendants in the lawsuit are listed as a) United Nations, b) UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti and c) Two of their officers, whereas US-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) is representing the 8,000 victims and their families.

    The epidemic has dealt a new blow to Haiti’s already weak human development indices, as it continues to claim 1,000+ lives a year, adding to the 250,000+ death toll in the aftermath of January 2010 earthquake.

    Even before the earthquake, Haiti was at or near the bottom of UN’s human development rankings, far behind its Caribbean neighbors such as Barbados as well as Trinidad and Tobago.
    Barbados is placed among the top-tier in human development rankings alongside Finland, Japan, United States and Singapore. So why is Barbados doing so well, whereas Haiti is seen as the poster-child of misery?

    Population explosion and unsustainable fertility rate might partly account for Haiti’s failure to cultivate human capital, a pre-condition to build robust health care, education and crisis management sectors. Whereas Barbados has a total fertility rate and demographic momentum resembling South Korea, Haiti’s fertility rate is closer to impoverished Nepal, with whom it shares the cholera strain.

    If UN wishes to help Haiti and Nepal, not only should it provide immediate help in eradicating cholera, but it should also do more to offer family planning and long term contraception services in partnership with Haitian and Nepalese governments as well as local and international non-governmental organizations such as the Gates Foundation.

    [image from wikipedia]

  • Gambia President Says Gays Are A Threat To Humans

    The president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, has made some extremely harsh statements involving gay people and how he feels about them. He has used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to attack the gay and lesbian community, calling homosexuality one of the three biggest threats to human existence. Several senators and other people in the political world of the United States have shown their strong stance against the gay community, but nothing as serious as this, and it needs to be addressed.

    Gambia’s president ranked homosexuality right up at the top along with greed and obsession with world domination, saying that they are “more deadly than all natural disasters put together.” It would be interesting to see where he gets such outrageous information since natural disasters are known to kill and displace people all over the world, and the only destructive thing that the gay community has been a part of seems to be when they are attacked themselves.

    It is puzzling why political leaders and people all over the world continue to be so threatened by something such as homosexuality, which is no threat to them whatsoever, especially politically. ABC News mentions that this is not the first time that he has used such harsh words either, and in fact in 2008 told gays and lesbians to leave the country or they would have their heads cut off. He has been criticized throughout his career, and took power in the small West African country in 1994, after a coup.

    He has also drawn international criticism for claiming that he can cure AIDS with an herbal body rub and bananas. What does he even mean with an outrageous statement like that and how does a leader like this remain in power? In the gathering of world leaders in New York, Jammeh stated “Those who promote homosexuality want to put an end to human existence. It is becoming an epidemic and we Muslims and Africans will fight to end this behavior.”

    Andre Banks, executive director of global gay rights group All Out, said Jammeh’s remarks were “paranoid and disturbing.” Both male and female same-sex sexual activity has been deemed illegal in the country, according to The Huffington Post.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3taGDlZNJfQ

    Image via Youtube

  • Syria Chemical Weapons: UN Votes To Eliminate

    Syria’s chemical weapons have been stirring up quite the controversy in recent weeks, leading up to an eventual vote from the United Nations. Syria’s use of chemical weapons gained the attention of President Obama and became a very serious issue in the United States recently. On Friday night, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to secure and destroy Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons.

    The Syrian rebels have been reportedly using the chemical weapons and killing their own citizens, causing outside countries to want to intervene. The vote came after two weeks of intense negotiations marked a major breakthrough in the paralysis that has gripped the council since the Syrian uprising began, according to CBS News. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons will begin in November and will likely be completed by the middle of next year.

    U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council after the vote that “Today’s historic resolution is the first hopeful news on Syria in a long time.” Ban said that the target date for a new peace conference is in November. The conflict has been escalating for 2 and a half years now, and it is important that something is done, but the main thing that the American people is concerned with is not wanting another war. The recent decision made by the U.N. should avoid that, and this comes as great news.

    As a sign of the broad support for the resolution, all 15 council members signed on as co-sponsors. As can be expected from the likes of Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, they both dismissed the resolution as “another triumph of hope over reality.” Time Magazine mentions that the resolution would ban any country from obtaining chemical weapons or the technology or equipment to produce them from Syria.

    The U.N. resolution’s adoption was secured after the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, which Russia, China, the United States, France and Britain, signed off on the text on Thursday. Negotiations, primarily between the United States and Russia continue, as they discuss how to destroy Syria’s stockpile of weapons.

    Image via Youtube

  • UN Inspectors’ Report Suggests Damascus to Blame

    The United Nations released its report on the chemical weapons attack that killed masses of civilians in Syria on 21 August and while the conclusions are not definitive in assigning blame, the report suggests the complicity of the Syrian government. The report confirmed that the attack was conducted with chemical arms. The report also included details on the particulars of the munitions used and the exact direction from which two originated. The combination of these details leads to a strong suggestion that Syrian President Bashar al-Asad’s protestations—that anti-regime rebels, not his government—are likely misleading.

    While many nations, including the US, have conducted their own investigations with results that appeared weeks ago, this investigation, commissioned by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, is the first independent, on-the-ground, scientific review of the attacks outside the Syrian capital.

    Western policy makers are capitalizing on the report to support their own investigations, just as Russian diplomats continue to press for more proof. Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly I. Churkin, in questioning the implications of the report, stated, “We need not jump to any conclusions.”

    “We understand some countries did not accept on faith that the samples of blood and hair that the United States received from people affected by the August 21 attack contained sarin,” US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power said while pointing out that the UN probe came to the same conclusion. The statement of the British ambassador to the UN, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, said that the report erased all remaining doubts that Damascus initiated the attacks. Alexis Lamek, France’s deputy envoy to the UN echoed the remarks, pointing to the weapons’ directionality as using, “great precision,” by the Asad regime.

    The Secretary General said, “The report makes for chilling reading… The findings are beyond doubt and beyond the pale. This is a war crime.” He skirted assigning blame and instead conveyed his hope that the attacks themselves would prompt a new diplomatic decision at the UN to resolve the Syria conflict.

    By now, much of the political turmoil over the attacks, how best to respond and the deal struck for Syria to turn over chemical weapons stores has already been played out in Act I of the saga. Syria has so far made no response to the UN results. Damascus officially agreed to join the international convention on banning chemical weapons, and has agreed to plans for the US and Russia to withdraw the weapons as identified by the middle of 2014.

    The final conclusion of Monday’s report is that, “chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, also against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale,” citing the large quantity of evidence removed from the location, “samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used.”

    The report further details the tactics used in the attack, such as taking advantage of temperatures that day to ensure the sarin gas would stay closer to the ground where people would be most likely to shelter. UN inspectors were even fired upon just days after the attack, while collecting the samples that would support the report’s conclusions, as reported in this broadcast from 26 August.

    [Image via United Nations official website. Video via YouTube.]