CUIDAD DEL ESTE January 2002
One of the least known battles in the war against terror is being waged in a confined area in the depths of Latin America, where the US believes Islamic fundamentalism has been able to grow unchecked. […]
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Europe’s apartheid
RHODES, GREECE September 2001
The Council Europe – set up partly to eradicate genocide and racism – has launched a blistering condemnation on the way Roma gypsies are being treated. They are Europe’s biggest single minority – but, says the Council, subject to violence, racism, and exclusion from society. The European Roma Rights Centre has called it a European apartheid. […]
Read MoreThe blonde and the dying
ASUNCIUN, PARAGUAY, March 2001
In Paraguay, the small ethnic Indian community has vowed to make a stand against the government – which has been recently accused by the US of violating their basic human rights, of shelter, medicine and schooling. Traditionally, the Paraguayan Indians were among the most accommodating in Latin America to Spanish colonizers, but recently they’re have been an increasing number of incidents involving land rights and other disputes. The Indians make up less than a 100,000 of the 5 million population. […]
Read MoreNever to be freed
ACCRA, GHANA January 2000
Human rights groups in West Africa are meeting in Ghana to try to stamp out a ritual slavery called Trokosi which is widespread in some parts. As part of religious sacrifice, young women – often under ten – are handed over to village priests as life-time slaves in order to ensure nothing bad happens to their families. The women are sexually abused and are put to heavy manual work without pay. Ghana’s new president, John Kufuor, has pledged to stamp it out. […]
Read MoreOne wrong turning
MONTENEGRO May 1999
NATO’s bombing campaign of Serbia in 1999, left the tiny province of Montenegro in an unenviable position. Technically still part of a disintegrating Yugoslavia, most of its citizens wanted independence. The police were loyal to Montenegro, yet the army took its orders from Belgrade. Navigating through the pitfalls was hazardous. […]
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