Sunday, June 21, 2009

Iran: Hope for the Green Revolution


As the situation in Iran deteriorates, we can only hope and wish that a positive outcome will result for this conflicted country: a complete reversal from the dictatorial clutches of its suffocating theocracy.

Recent reports show that the brutal death of 16-year-old Neda Soltani, an innocent bystander who was shot during a street rally, is pushing the Iranian people onto the brink - the brink of a revolution that this region so desperately needs.

Iranians are hungry for democratic reform. They are tired of being dismissed as a rogue state that threatens nuclear destruction by the international community. The Iranians are denouncing their crazed leader
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with shouts of "death to the dicator!", particularly shocking in a nation that brutally supresses free speech and executes individuals for infidelity.

The Iranian leadership scoffed at President Obama's previous overtures for open dialogue, but the images and footage of protests online indicate that the people think otherwise.

We need to continue to support the Iranian people by providing them with today's weapons: access and resources to the Internet, online support groups, blogs, anything that will give them a voice for the rest of the world to hear, the voice that truly represents the real Iran boiling beneath the grip of a Hitlerish madman and his brainwashed minions.

- Anthony Shelley

Image courtesy of Daily News.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Back on Track


First and foremost, I would like to thank our readers for waiting earnestly for UWJHR to return with updates and activities. For the past eight months, enormous changes have occurred throughout the world that have been both extremely positive and disappointing.

Our current goal is to provide somewhat of a bulletin board that will expose blatant attacks (from all over the globe) against journalistic freedom alongside our regular blog entries. Below is an example of a bulletin board update.

  1. Journalists accompanying President Obama on his trip to Saudi Arabia were threatened with "arrest and detention by Saudi authorities" if they reported on anything other than the president's visit.




Image courtesy of AFP/Getty
Sunday, September 14, 2008

A New Direction

Dear Readers,

Please bear with us as the University of Washington Journalists for Human Rights chapter undergoes changes in terms of the online newsletter and the overall direction of the group. We hope to keep the newsletter constantly updated and expand our activities in advocacy, collaboration, and raising funds for the causes that we support.

Thank you for patience.

- Anthony Shelley
Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Save Georgia.




Sign the petition and show your support for the free world. Make a stand against tyranny and oppression. Save Georgia.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-georgia.html



Image courtesy of The Telegraph.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The World Around Us: Colombia

"Injustice for the Indigenous"
Nick Wong

Colombia's history of drug trafficking, extortion, and brutal assassinations have significantly diminished, but have not completely disappeared. A strong public sentiment exists that the current president, Alvaro Uribe, attempts to paint a picture that the civil war has long passed, but political kidnappings still occur and journalists continued to be murdered for reporting too close to the situation. While the combat has drastically calmed, (to the point where I can travel the country relatively safely), the after-effects of this tragic history remain prevalent.

Like most civil conflicts, the marginalized demographic suffers the most, which in Colombia's case means the indigenous and Afro-Colombians. According to codhes.org, Colombia is the world's leading country of displaced people with the majority being disproportionately Afro-Colombian. Many are moved from their war-torn home towns to bigger cities, like the country's capital, Bogotà.

Colombia's cities are divided into "stratas", ranging from 1 to 6; the ranking indicating accordingly the area's local income, availability of public services and so on. Not surprisingly, most politically displaced people are relocated in "strata 1 or strata 2" areas, often time the least government supported and also the most dangerous parts of the city. And as if things weren't difficult enough, adequate employment is hard to come by in a city as populated as Bogotà (estimated population 9 million).

Whether fabricated by media or true in reality, the former injustices that define Colombia's reputation have since lessened considerably, but a new form of human rights issues spawn from the past. While perhaps not as viciously obvious, it is still equally problematic at its core.
Friday, June 27, 2008

Political Commentary

"Conscription… or You May Know it As…"

Elliot Jacobsen

The military draft. Those words are being etched back into our everyday speech in such a subtle way that to many, it goes undetected. Lawmakers talk about it using code words and disguised speech in order to keep the option alive but not tip the public to the eventual application of the idea.

The United States tends to boast our status of having one of the world's only all-volunteer armed forces but as our undeterred elected warmongers continue to advance their quest of profiteering by force, that claim will be forgotten due to the basic necessity of disposable soldiers. We are stretched to the very limit of every branch of our military due to the forgotten war in Afghanistan and the unlawful invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq.

This past month has also brought us rumors and renewed lobbying that inch us ever closer to a conflict with Iran. With the looming possibility of three wars within a year's time, I beg the question, when (not if) will the draft begin?

John McCain, the Republican Nominee for President, stated on June 24th that only World War III would justify the resurrection of the practice. He was hoping that people wouldn't realize that World War III is in its infancy stages as we speak. He supports military action in Iran. He stated that he could see an occupation of Iraq lasting 100 years.

He has vowed to continue the fruitless hunt for Osama bin Laden and the continued battle against the Taliban in Afghanistan. He has done nothing to smooth extremely strained diplomatic ties with Pakistan. His campaign has used the idea of another domestic terrorist attack as a political advantage over his opponent. John McCain seems to be pushing World War III so that he would be able, by his own words, justify a military draft.

Conscription is the actual term for a draft. It is the mandatory service of an individual demanded by their government. The penalty for non conformity is incarceration in the prison of their choosing. The irony of a Country who at its fundamental core was based on the simple ideal of individual freedom also possessing the ability to rob you of that central virtue at the whim of a warmonger should be lost on no American.

Conscription is a legal form of military slavery in which a citizen simply has no choice and is given no consideration concerning their moral compass. Conscription gives no mind to basic human right we all have to decide for ourselves whether the value of the conflict is worth the cost of one's life. John McCain is leading us down the path were conscription, the military draft, will tear apart the very foundation this land is built on and he is asking for our vote in prime position to make it a reality.

A McCain presidency will lead to forced military service - "insert your name here".

We still have a choice though. We can choose to stand in the way of the stripping of our freedom and vote against John McCain. It is a choice we must consider with great diligence and hold in the highest regard because one day soon, the very ability to make a choice could be taken from us.

Monday, June 23, 2008

The World Around Us: The Philippines


"Philippine Ferry Deaths Reveal More than Typhoon Tragedy"
Anthony Shelley


Reuters reported that rescue efforts for the 800 people missing from the capsized Princess of the Stars ferry near Sibuyan Islands in the Philippines ended today. Only 20 were mentioned to have survived the tragic trip.

What makes this incident especially provoking is the sad fact that safety precautions are rarely taken during inter-island ferry travel in the Philippines. As a predominately poor nation, the lower class are forced to use this method of transportation which usually involves the use of dilapidated ferries.


I've ridden those ferries, traveling from the main island of
Luzon to Samar - the experience is very fresh in my memory. Witnessing a typhoon in action is also an event that I won't soon forget either; fortunately, I wasn't present on a boat and traveling out to sea during such bad weather conditions.


The Philippines is a country of great beauty but danger as well. There are basically no rules while traveling the roads. Children constantly risk the chance of getting struck of a vehicle by playing in the streets.


Bus drivers speed recklessly to reach their intended destinations before zipping off to other locations and packing on as many people and objects (to the point of excess) on the bus without regards to safety and security.


As long as the Filipino government continues to allow its suffocating atmosphere of corruption to exist, much-needed transportation funding will continue to be ignored, streets will crumble, old ferries will sink, and innocent lives will be lost.



Images courtesy of Reuters.
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