Since its invention in ancient Greece more than 2,500 years ago, democracy has depended on rules and institutions that strike a balance between participation and power. The objective is to create a system of governance in which elected leaders bring to bear their knowledge and experience, in order to advance the interests of the people. The rule of law and the separation of powers, guaranteed by a system of checks and balances, are vital. Democracies all over the world are enduring a stress test. If they are to pass, their institutional underpinnings must be reinforced. That requires, first and foremost, an understanding of what those underpinnings are, why they matter, and who is trying to dismantle them. By Alexandra Borchardt
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Results for human rights
Friday 29 November 2019
Oxford, United Kingdom
Tuesday 14 May 2019
Bangkok, Thailand
Having watched popular protests, from the color revolutions in the former Soviet Union to the Arab Spring, challenge their counterparts’ power, the world’s autocrats have been adopting legal measures aimed at incapacitating civic groups, including pro-democracy movements and human-rights NGOs. Among the most sweeping measures are those enabling officials to monitor and punish activists’ online activities. For activists, pushing back against draconian cyber laws and other forms of digital repression will not be easy, not least because it remains uncharted territory. By Janjira Sombatpoonsiri.
Wednesday 10 April 2019
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Auckland, New Zealand
Tongan people, a product of centuries of monarchy and social hierarchy, are never born free or equal, and the Tongan language has no word for ‘rights’ as in ‘to have rights’, nor a conventional way of saying that one has a voice in something. Dr Melenaite Taumoefolau examines the gulf between modern and traditional Tongans and why the language has no term for human rights. She says the knowledge gulf between the two camps is huge.
Thursday 27 December 2018
London, United Kingdom
Seven decades after its adoption, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) remains a beacon of hope for the world, sending out an unequivocal message that an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and that no abuse of human rights can be allowed to continue without challenge. But despite major advances over the last seven decades – such as the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN’s Responsibility to Protect doctrine – human-rights abuses continue to be perpetrated at an alarming rate and with virtual impunity. By Gordon Brown.
Tuesday 16 October 2018
Amman, Jordan
Arab countries have a long history of rewarding journalists who toe the official line, while punishing those, like Khashoggi, who dare to speak truth to power. Such behavior is not limited to dictatorships. It does not help that many of those press-freedom violators – including Saudi Arabia – are among America’s closest allies. President Donald Trump’s attacks on the US press, together with his silence on attacks occurring elsewhere, have gone a long way to embolden violators of press freedom around the world. By Daoud Kuttab
Monday 15 January 2018
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Geneva, Switzerland
Tonga’s human rights record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the third time tonight, Monday, 15 January 2018, in Geneva. The UN in the Pacific is encouraging Tonga to continue constitutional reform and amendments "to widen the country's democratic space and respect for human rights."
Saturday 10 June 2017
Vienna, Austria
British Prime Minister Theresa May has, of her own volition, stripped her Conservative Party of its governing parliamentary majority by calling an early election. If she stays on as prime minister, she will also strip British citizens of the political and economic rights conferred by membership in the European Union. But May’s habit of stripping away people’s rights and powers is not new: for years, she has been normalizing the practice of stripping certain Britons of their citizenship altogether, even at the risk of rendering them stateless “citizens of nowhere.”
Tuesday 1 September 2015
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Tonga government has reneged on its commitment to the United Nations of March 9 to ratify the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
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Friday 22 May 2015
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A crowd of people from various churches in Tonga led by some church leaders, today marched to the Palace Office in Nuku'alofa to present four petitions to King Tupou VI, in opposition to Tonga's intention to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Friday 2 January 2015
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Australian Government is offering scholarships targeting anyone in the Pacific Islands (including Tonga) who has worked or volunteered in social welfare or community development.
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Wednesday 6 February 2013
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A United Nations review conducted on the state of human rights in Tonga was completed on 25 January 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland, when Tonga's Minister for Internal Affairs, Lord Vaea was questioned over women’s rights, police violence, establishing a national human rights institution, the living conditions of persons with disabilities and the reasons for Tonga's failure to accede to numerous core international human rights instruments.
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Thursday 18 December 2008
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Berlin, Germany
The 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights represents a symbolic moment to reflect on the relationship between fighting corruption and preventing human rights abuses. Transparency Watch spoke with Secretary General of Amnesty International Irene Kham about the hurdles corruption presents to furthering human rights.
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Saturday 6 December 2008
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Suva, Fiji
Four courageous Pacific Islanders were yesterday, Dec 6 honoured with this year...s RRRT/SPC Pacific Human Rights Award to mark the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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Wednesday 19 November 2008
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London, UK
Human rights should not only be enshrined in every country's constitution, but they must be made real in order to safeguard the rights of citizens, said Dr Purna Sen, Head of Human Rights at the Commonwealth Secretariat.
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Sunday 2 March 2008
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Suva, Fiji
The Fiji Human Rights Commission has strongly recommended to the interim government not to renew existing work permits for expatriates in the media industry.
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Monday 6 June 2005
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A workshop on the Convention on the Right of the Child held in Nuku'alofa last week aimed to help Tonga finalise its first country report on the rights of the child, 10 years after Tonga ratified the convention.
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Wednesday 16 March 2005
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The status of the Tonga government's Human Rights Practices during 2004, according to the US Department of State was “Poor”.
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Monday 13 December 2004
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Human Rights Day, December 10, was marked in Tonga with a march along Hala Taufa'ahau in central Nuku'alofa by non-government organisations, volunteer organisations, and Methodist Church youth groups from Samoa, Fiji and Tonga.
Human Rights was the theme of the day and the march ended 16-days of human rights activities organised by various human rights protectors, the Legal Literacy group, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Tonga National Youth Congress, Tonga Human Rights and Pro Democracy Movement and the Iron Man Ministry.
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Monday 13 December 2004
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
When the world, and Tonga, commemorated Human Rights Day on December 10, the USA, the world's only Super Power, in leading its war against terrorism declared that weak and authoritarian states are a threat to the United States. Editor's Comment by Pesi Fonua.
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Wednesday 5 May 2004
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga copied Singapore's suppressive media laws when it drafted its new media legislation that came into force this year, Tongan journalists marking World Press Freedom Day in Tonga on May 3 were told.
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Tonga weather forecast from yr.no, delivered by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the NRK. See also Fua'amotu Weather Forecasting Center, Tonga, for latest local weather bulletin.