Photo by Rainier Ridao on Unsplash EC president Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union has acknowledged Europe’s social crisis and the need for fair competitiveness. However, a campaign group says that without Roma economic and political empowerment, both Europe’s economy and democracy will remain incomplete. That is the view of The Roma Foundation…
Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash Twenty years after Saddam Hussein was hanged, Iraq remains mired in corruption, sectarianism, and repression, particularly towards Kurdish citizens and women, writes Denis MacShane. The hope that the 2003 US-UK invasion would bring democracy and the rule of law has long faded. One woman’s story reveals just how…
Freeing all the unlawfully detained in the Ukraine war should be an absolute priority. That is the view of Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and prominent Ukrainian human rights lawyer. Matviichuk was speaking to this website on Monday ahead of a crunch meeting in the White House between President Donald Trump and his Ukraine…
Photo by Boris Smokrovic on Unsplash The EU has thrown its weight behind efforts to support marginalised people. This is timed to coincide with This year’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (Friday 8 August). Brussels says the event is about shaping futures and defending rights. This was the message on Friday from Kaja…
Photo by Elgin Akyurt on Unsplash The French NGO CAP Liberté de Conscience (CAP) and Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) have filed a joint written statement to the United Nations expressing their deep concern about the use of chemical weapons by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the violent civil war that has raged…
Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash On 9 July the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Russia is fully responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, which resulted in the deaths of all 298 onboard, most of them Dutch citizens. The ruling was part of a…
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash The Association de la Presse Internationale – International Press Association (API-IPA) marked its 50th anniversary this week (10 July), celebrating five decades of supporting journalists in Brussels. “We honour 50 years of API’s volunteer-driven efforts to defend correspondents’ interests,” said Dafydd ab Iago, API-IPA president. “Brussels is kinder…
Photo Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elías Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), made a legitimacy dash to Seville in Spain last week, to attend a UN international development summit, the first of its kind in a decade. Addressing the conference, he made sweeping claims about Sudan’s important steps toward ‘civilian-led democratic transition’, claims…
Photo by Michael Schmid on Unsplash The Roma Foundation for Europe has condemned what it claims is a sharp rise in racist attacks and discrimination against Roma and Sinti in Germany, calling it a test of political will and journalistic responsibility. The Foundation’s attack follows the latest annual report by Germany’s Anti-ziganism Reporting and Information…
Photo by Daria Mamont on Unsplash Are you an expat in Belgium with concerns about your rights? If so, an upcoming meeting could be just for you. It is organised by New Europeans UK and will be held both in person and online. The UK based group was launched in 2013 to help protect the…
