Human Rights

Real Atrocities and Faked Photos

by Sheldon Rampton — May 4, 2004 - 11:00pm

The photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib are bad enough, considering that possibly 25 prisoners have died while in American custody. However, some faked photos are also circulating, including pictures of an alleged rape by soldiers that were actually taken from a porno site. Independent journalist Chris Albritton debunks the fakes and criticizes a cavalier attitude toward the truth that "seems to have taken hold in anti-war journalism as well.

Main Source: 
Back to Iraq, May 5, 2004

Let Freedom Ring? China Says Not So Fast

by Sheldon Rampton — May 2, 2004 - 11:00pm

China's "censorship orders are totally groundless, absolutely arbitrary, at odds with the basic standards of civilization, and as counter to scientific common sense as witches and wizardry," wrote Beijing journalism professor Jiao Guobiao in a recent article that has been widely circulated by Internet in Beijing despite, not unpredictably, being banned by the Communist Party's propaganda department. "Such explicit outbursts of dissent are still rare in China, reports Joseph Kahn. "But Mr.

Main Source: 
New York Times, May 3, 2004

Mayday for GI Janes!

by Diane Farsetta — April 30, 2004 - 11:00pm

A Freedom of Information Act request revealed that Selective Service System acting Director Lewis Brodsky, in a February 2003 proposal to Pentagon officials, recommended that the draft "be re-engineered toward maintaining a national inventory of American men and, for the first time, women, ages 18 through 34, with an added focus on identifying individuals with critical skills." The agency's public and congressional

Main Source: 
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 1, 2004

US Image Czar Jumps Ship, Again...

by John Stauber — April 29, 2004 - 11:00pm

Was it the horrifiic images of US soldiers torturing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners that caused the announcement? If so, no mention was made of it when "Margaret D. Tutwiler, the State Department veteran who was summoned from abroad to overhaul the public diplomacy effort, said Thursday that she was resigning to take a position at the New York Stock Exchange.

Main Source: 
New York Times, April 30, 2004

Press Freedom Declines

by Sheldon Rampton — April 27, 2004 - 11:00pm

"Freedom of the press declined substantially around the world in 2003, including a worrisome drop in Italy, according to a survey released Wednesday by Freedom House. "Despite some specific recent improvements, and an overall upward trend towards greater press freedom worldwide during the late 1990s, the last two years have seen a dramatic deterioration," said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, the survey's managing editor.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, April 28, 2004

Be Careful What You Draw

by Sheldon Rampton — April 26, 2004 - 11:00pm

A 15-year-old boy in Prosser, Washington has been interrogated by the U.S. Secret Service about anti-war drawings he turned in to his art teacher. One drawing depicted President Bush's head on a stick. Another depicted Bush as a devil launching a missile, with a caption reading "End the war - on terrorism." Kevin Cravens, a friend of the boy's family, criticized the Secret Service investigation. "If this 15-year-old kid in Prosser is perceived as a threat to the president, then we are living in '1984,'" Cravens said.

Main Source: 
Seattle Times, April 27, 2004

Vanunu Moves from Prison to House Arrest

by Sheldon Rampton — April 16, 2004 - 11:00pm

Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu is scheduled to be released soon from prison after serving an 18-year sentence for blowing the whistle on Israel's weapons of mass destruction. However, Israel is also forbidding him from communicating with foreigners or moving about without permission and has been told that any infraction of these rules will land him back in prison without trial.

Main Source: 
The Age (Australia), April 17, 2004

Working Hard for the Money

by Diane Farsetta — April 6, 2004 - 11:00pm

The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) may not "ensure adequate remedy for workers' rights abuses, protect women workers from discrimination, or improve domestic labor law enforcement," as Human Rights Watch claims, but it does have an international PR campaign.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, April 7, 2004

Iraqi Human Rights, One Year Later

by Sheldon Rampton — March 18, 2004 - 12:00am

"A year after US-led forces launched war on Iraq, the promise of improved human rights for Iraqis remains far from realized," warns Amnesty International in a detailed new report. "Most Iraqis still feel unsafe in a country ravaged by violence," the report states. Moreover, "Coalition Forces appear in many cases to be using the climate of violence to justify violating the very human rights standards they are supposed to be upholding. They have shot Iraqis dead during demonstrations. They have tortured and ill-treated prisoners and detainees.

Main Source: 
Amnesty International, March 18, 2004

Flacks Back Shock Jocks

by Diane Farsetta — March 5, 2004 - 12:00am

"If we start losing small, independent broadcasters because they can't afford the risk of getting fined on some arbitrary application of a vague standard, all we'll have left are a few big media companies." So reads a letter from the Public Relations Society of America to Federal Communications Commission Chair Michael Powell.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, March 5, 2004
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