Beyond SOPA/Pipa: a human rights approach to Internet regulation

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Wikipedia’s move three weeks ago to block access to its site across the English speaking world in protest against two proposed US bills - SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and Pipa (Protect Intellectual Property Act) – had its intended effect. A post on the Guardian joked, “the Internet seems a little...quiet today, don't you think?” as the web buzzed with activity about the “blackout”. Countless independent blogs and a few big sites such as Wordpress and Reddit joined Wikipedia by “turning the lights out”, while other big Internet sites used banners, pop-ups and logo-changes to signal their opposition to the bills and their backers. Google ‘censored’ its logo on its search engine. In many ways, the objective of the protest was simple: to raise awareness of, and mobilize opposition against the badly designed anti-piracy bills and to dent their support in Congress. In this effort, opponents of the bills won an overwhelming victory. The Wikimedia Foundation reportedthat 162 million people experienced...
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Notes from the field: Indonesia’s water justice movement

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Reza sits on the couch in the reception area of KRuHA’s shared office in South Jakarta, chatting with two visiting PhD researchers about the current state of Jakarta’s water crisis. KRuHA is the Indonesian language acronym for the People’s Coalition for the Right to Water, and, with the help of an SYLFF Summer Research Grant, I travelled to Jakarta in August to research Indonesia’s small, but vocal, water justice movement. Specifically I was interested in how this movement was engaging the human right to water (see another blog post of mine on the evolution of this new right) as an advocacy tool, and the sorts of opportunities and challenges the human rights framework might present organizations like KRuHA.   Meeting KRuHA It’s common for students, journalists and fellow NGO activists to drop by this small office and discuss the country’s ongoing water woes, particularly those faced by Jakarta – drought, worsening pollution and decreasing quality of drinking water, increasing tariffs, and intermittent supply....
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LGBT Equality in Africa: Somewhere Over the Rainbow?

LGBT Equality in Africa: Somewhere Over the Rainbow?

by Editor3 Comments
By Kristen Thompson, student at Columbia University “We are holy, angry people, and we are singing for our lives” What do you do when your government is trying to criminalize your identity?  For Nigerian LGBT rights activist Ifeanyi Orazulike, the answer is: fight back.  On Monday I joined Ifeanyi and other activists outside the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations to protest the anti-gay “Same-Gender Marriage Bill” passed by the Nigerian Senate, which currently awaits the approval or veto of President Goodluck Jonathan. But this bill is not really about marriage.  It broadly defines “same-sex marriage” as including all same-sex relationships, and charges people who “witness,” “aid” or “abet” such relationships with imprisonment for up to five years.  It's a modern day witch-hunt, which puts LGBT rights activists and HIV/AIDS service providers for the LGBT population, like Ifeanyi, in particular peril. This is insult on top of severe injury – today Nigerian same-sex relationships are punished with up to 14 years...
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Condoms as evidence: a discriminatory practice and contradictory policy in NYC

Condoms as evidence: a discriminatory practice and contradictory policy in NYC

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By Erica Mac Donald, recent graduate from Columbia University Do you carry a condom with you? Is it in your pocket? Your purse? Your wallet? If you answered yes, you are at risk of being arrested for prostitution in the State of New York. Sounds odd doesn't it? While this is a bit of an oversimplification, it reflects what is at the heart of the policy that allows police to profile, target and arbitrarily arrest those who are suspected to be sex workers. As New York state law is currently written, police and prosecutors can use the fact that someone is carrying a condom to prove that they are guilty of a prostitution-related crime. This routine police and prosecutorial practice has significant negative implications in that it perpetuates discrimination against sex workers and contradicts public health efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases. A discriminatory practice Clearly, condoms themselves are not illegal. However, profiling of sex workers based on their appearance, location, and...
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Realizing Shannen’s Dream: the fight for quality education for First Nations in Canada

Realizing Shannen’s Dream: the fight for quality education for First Nations in Canada

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By Jillian Carson, Student at Columbia University Rights violations and struggles in developed countries are regularly overlooked as human rights issues. In Canada, human rights claims are consistently re-framed as purely political or constitutional in nature, denying the violation of rights at home that would be openly criticized abroad. In response to the growing influence of human rights abroad, First Nations youth in Canada are becoming increasingly aware of the language and mechanisms of the human rights system and how this international body of rights affects their lives at home. First Nations youth have been especially active in raising awareness about education rights and the rights of the child. In June of this year, young First Nations students, and non-Native Canadian youth from Quebec launched a report aimed at bringing attention to the lack of culturally based, equitable education for First Nations students in Canada. The report will be submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child along with Canada’s...
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