AUTHOR
LISA JUNG & MAGDALENA SUZA
IN THIS BLOG WE’LL REPORT ON RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN THE LAST WEEK AND THEIR RELEVANCE. THIS WEEK’S CONCERNS A VARIETY OF HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD, BOTH CLOSER TO HOME AND FAR AWAY.
“THE MOST DISGRACEFUL EPISODE IN AUSTRALIA’S MILITARY HISTORY’’
AFTER FOUR- YEAR INQUIRY BY THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE FORCE’S (ADF), IT WAS ALLEGED THAT 39 AFGHANS CIVILIANS AND PRISONERS WERE KILLED UNLAWFULLY BY AUSTRALIANS ELITE FORCES DURING THEIR SERVICE IN AFGHANISTAN. ACCORDING TO THE OFFICIAL REPORT, SOME PATROL COMMANDERS, WHO WERE TREATED AS ‘DEMIGODS’ BY THEIR YOUNGER COLLEAGUES, MADE JUNIOR SOLDIER SHOOT PRISONERS TO PASS THEIR FIRST KILL, THIS PROCESS WAS KNOWN AS ‘BLOODING’. MOREOVER, THE SOLDIER PLACED THE WEAPON OR HANDHELD RADIOS BY A BODY TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE THE KILLING HAPPENED IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE. THE ‘’COMPETITION KILLINGS’ AND ‘WARRIOR CULTURE’ WERE A NORM AMONG SOME MEMBERS OF AUSTRALIA’S SPECIAL FORCES SERVING IN AFGHANISTAN. THERE WERE NO COMBATANTS AMONG 39 ALLEGED UNLAWFUL KILLED PEOPLE, THERE WERE CIVILIANS OR NO LONGER COMBATANTS. THE AUSTRALIA’S FEDERAL POLICE WERE RECOMMENDED BY ADF TO INVESTIGATE 19 INDIVIDUALS FROM THE AUSTRALIAN SPECIAL FORCES OVER 36 ALLEGED WAS CRIMES IN AFGHANISTAN BETWEEN 2009-2013.
POLISH PHOTOJOURNALIST AGATA GRZYBOWSKA WAS ARRESTED BY THE POLICE DURING THE WOMAN’S PROTEST
LAST MONDAY, PEOPLE WERE PROTESTING IN FRONT OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AS A PART OF WOMAN’S STRIKE IN POLAND. AGATA GRZYBOWSKA WAS TAKING PHOTOS OF THE PROTESTER WHEN SHE WAS ARRESTED BY THE POLICE. AGATA IS A PHOTOJOURNALIST WHO WORKS FOR INTERNATIONAL PRESS AGENCY – ASSOCIATED PRESS AND POLISH NEWSPAPER GAZETA WYBORCZA. GRZYBOWSKA BEFORE HAS BEEN PLACED IN POLICE’S CAR, HAD SHOWN HER PRESS LICENCE, EVEN THOUGH, THE POLICE TOOK HER TO THE POLICE STATION. MOREOVER, DURING THE ARRESTING, THE POLICE WERE INFORMED BY THE PROTESTERS AND OTHER JOURNALISTS THAT AGATA REPRESENTS MEDIA AND SHE SHOULD NOT BE ARRESTED. SHE HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF BREACHING OF PERSONAL INVIOLABILITY OF PUBLIC BECAUSE WHEN SHE WAS TAKING PHOTOS, SHE FLASHED A CAMERA FLASH IN POLICEMAN’S FACE. AGATA WAS RELEASED THE SAME DAY, IN HER OFFICIAL STATEMENT, SHE PLEADS NOT GUILTY. ‘’TODAY ANOTHER BORDER HAS BEEN CROSSED’ SHE SAID, AGATA ALSO THANKED FOR ALL SUPPORT TO PROTESTERS AND HER COLLEAGUES.
PROPAGANDA BY SAUDI ARABIA
IN RECENT YEARS, THE SAUDI AUTHORITIES TRIED TO BOOST THEIR IMAGE WITH EXPENSIVE PR CAMPAIGNS. DURING LAST WEEK’S G-20 SUMMIT, SAUDI ARABIA HAS USED PROPAGANDA TO IMPROVE THE IMAGE OF THE COUNTRY TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD. CROWN PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN WAS PRESENTED TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD AS A REFORMED FOR ABOLISHING THE BAN ON DRIVING FOR WOMEN. WEEKS BEFORE LIFTING THE BAN HOWEVER, SEVERAL MAIN ADVOCATES FOR LIFTING THE BAN HAD BEEN PUT IN PRISON. WHILE THEY PRETEND THAT WOMEN’S RIGHTS ARE ONE OF THEIR PRIORITIES, LOTS OF FEMALE ACTIVIST ARE CURRENTLY STILL BEHIND BARS. WORLD LEADERS DID HOWEVER NOT USE THE SUMMIT TO CALL SAUDI ARABIA ON THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARDS WOMEN. THE REAL REFORMERS OF SAUDI ARABIA ARE WOMEN AND GIRLS, FIGHTING FOR AN EQUAL POSITION.
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