News Archives » Human Dignity
Transparency and Reputation: There Is No Place to Hide April 8th, 2014
Reputation, brand and image are very important priorities for corporations, organizations and institutions. These characteristics and the products and services that they provide are closely related. Because we are now able, in most instances, to put a quantitative value on reputation, brand and image, they are considered as important to overall worth as the products and services that a corporation offers.
Welcome to the age of globalization, the worldwide web, social media and the 24/7 news cycle.
Read the blog on Huffington Post…
UN HR Council Mandates Sri Lanka War Crimes Investigation March 28th, 2014
The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution mandating an international inquiry into allegations of major human rights violations in Sri Lanka during the last seven years of the war, with 23 countries voting in favor of the document in the 47-nation strong body. While 12 countries including Pakistan, Maldives, Cuba, Venezuela, China, Russia voted against the Resolution, 12 member-states abstained from voting, including India and Indonesia.
The Resolution that passed this year’s session of the HR Council is stronger than those of previous years, largely due to the recent report on Sri Lanka by Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her report concluded that the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which identified the need to ensure independent and credible investigations into past violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, had failed in this. The UN estimated that 40,000 people – mostly Tamil civilians – were killed in the final stages of the war. Other estimates run as high as 80,000. Both sides have been accused of war crimes.
The International Crisis Group, the Chair and CEO of which is Louise Arbour, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, asserts that the “… government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has failed to comply with two successive Human Rights Council (HRC) resolutions. Failure is most obvious with respect to accountability for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the final phase of the civil war, but also by the lack of devolution of power, ongoing militarisation of the north and east, and deepening authoritarianism throughout the country. Decisive HRC action now is required in light of GoSL’s repeated failures to undertake the necessary steps alone; it is necessary also in order to decrease the risk of a return to deadly conflict in Sri Lanka.”
Read the resolution here…
The Pope and President Obama Discuss Common Commitment to Eradicate Trafficking March 27th, 2014
The Vatican Press Office released a statement regarding Thursday morning’s meeting between Pope Francis and U.S President Barack Obama. The statement notes that the two leaders discussed “current international themes” and expressed the hope that “in areas of conflict there would be respect for humanitarian and international law and a negotiated solution between the parties involved.”
The statement goes on to say that in the context of bilateral relations between the U.S. and the Holy See, the Pope and the President discussed “questions of particular relevance for the Church in that country, such as the exercise of the rights to religious freedom, life and conscientious objection, as well as the issue of immigration reform.”
Finally the statement notes that Pope Francis and President Obama spoke of a “common commitment to the eradication of human trafficking. Text from the Vatican Radio website.
Missionary Oblates Join Supreme Court Filing in Argentina/NML Capital Case March 25th, 2014
Jubilee USA Network, a religious anti-poverty coalition, along with 78 other religious and development groups filed with the US Supreme Court in the case between Argentina and NML Capital. The Amicus Curiae brief takes the side of Argentina because the precedent of the case impacts predatory behavior on vulnerable populations. The friend-of-the-court brief argues that the case will have a detrimental impact on the poor, undo bipartisan United States debt policy and cause global financial instability. Filers joining Jubilee USA include: American Jewish World Service, Church World Service, Action Aid USA, numerous synagogues and churches across the US and a large number of Catholic religious orders of nuns and priests, including the Missionary Oblates. Read the full list of the 79 groups and Jubilee USA’s Amicus Curiae.
“At the end of the day, this case is about a precedent that could expose developing economies to extreme predatory behavior,” noted Kent Spriggs the attorney representing the 79 groups “The Supreme Court’s decision will affirm or harm current bipartisan US debt policy.”
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Senate Foreign Relations Chair Supports UN Resolution on Sri Lankan War Crimes Investigation March 19th, 2014
Catholic Nuns in northern Sri Lanka protest the arrest of human rights defender, Balendran Jeyakumari
Senator Robert Menendez, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter earlier today addressed to Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The letter supports the US-sponsored Resolution before the UN HR Council in Geneva calling for an international investigation into crimes committed during the Sri Lankan civil war. In his letter, Chairman Menendez also said: “Over the past year, this committee has noted with concern the deteriorating environment for the democratic process and human rights in Sri Lanka. While this is particularly acute in the north, there are also disturbing reports of an increasingly authoritarian approach across the South and East.”
Read Chairman Menendez’s letter here…
