Entries from Byline Portal tagged with 'Political Violence'
Former dictator Efrain Rios Montt convicted of genocide in Guatemala
by Sonia Perez Diaz, The Independent, UK - Former dictator Efrain Rios Montt's conviction of genocide is a historic moment in a country still healing from a brutal, three-decade civil war and his trial offered Guatemala's oppressed indigenous communities their...
What Happens When an American Asks Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem Their wishes?
by Ilene Prusher, Jerusalem Vivendi, Israel - “The air over Jerusalem is saturated with prayers and dreams,” poet Yehuda Amichai wrote, “like the air over industrial cities. It’s hard to breathe.” But somehow, when a young American named Joseph Shamash...
“What Happened Was Worse than Death”
by Maryam Hasan, Dawn, Pakistan - Samira* looks like just another girl next door, but on closer inspection, one sees grief in the eyes of the abaya and headscarf-wearing 17-year-old....
Why Terrorism is a Double-Edged Sword
by Nayla Tueni, Al-Arabiya, UAE - Yesterday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad spoke of neighboring countries, including Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, which support terrorists who enter his country. He decreased the gravity of the accusation against the "brotherly" country, Lebanon, due...
Myanmar: Who is Plotting the Meikhtila Riot?
by Chan Myae Khine, Global Voices, Netherlands - Netizens are actively discussing the issue. Some are spreading hate comments on Facebook while others are expressing their frustration over religious clashes....
Vivid Cinematic Essay Examines Hannah Arendt
by Elke Schmitter, Der Spiegel, Germany - Her theory of the "banality of evil" made Hannah Arendt both famous and controversial. Now German filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta has given the philosopher an outstanding cinematic portrait....
A New Army of Ghosts Haunt Corsica
by Ariane Chemin, Le Monde, France - The streets of Napoleon's imperial city are the site of a recent crime wave with as victims, the members of a handful of rival factions that rule the city now that it is...
“Walking the True Word Around the World”: State Violence, Global Solidarity, and a New Campaign to Support the Zapatistas
by Jessica Davies, Upside Down World, Canada - In early September a large number of political party members in paramilitary-style groups carrying high-calibre firearms invaded the Zapatista communities of Comandante Abel and Unión Hidalgo, firing shots....
Performing the Arab Spring
by India Stoughton, The Daily Star, Lebanon - Many of the greatest works of literature, art and theater owe their existence not to the imagination, but to the real-life drama of history events – their glory, but more often their...
Ashes of Sino-Indian War Stay Warm
by Dr. Namrata Goswami, Asia Times, Hong Kong - Half a century has gone by since a border war between China and India broke out in the eastern Himalayas on October 20, 1962. Memories of that war linger not only...
Egypt Fans the Flames
by Jytte Klausen, Foreign Affairs, USA - Why Morsi exploited the Muhammad film -- and why that was a bad move....
Primary Defenses of the Syrian-Syrian Division
by Sawsan Zakzak, Syria Today, Syria - Linguistic brinksmanship, aggravated by violence, is serving to drive the opposing sides further apart....
Portrait of Syria Artists in a Time of Revolt
by Jane Ferguson, Al Jazeera, Qatar - Artists who fled country experienced "torture" by security forces but are still intent on continuing their work....
Makana, Mandela, Marikana — Endings and Beginnings
by Charlene Smith, Mail & Guardian, South Africa - In three decades of covering violence in southern Africa and beyond, I have never yet seen anything as brutal, as deliberately murder as what I saw at Marikana. Never....
Book Exposes Violent Role of Paramilitaries in Haiti
by Judith Scherr, IPS, Italy - Haiti’s brutal army was disbanded in 1995, yet armed and uniformed paramilitaries, with no government affiliation, occupy former army bases today....
Pandora’s Box in Syria
by Merve Busra Ozturk, Today's Zaman, Turkey - With the Syrian crisis escalating and gaining new dimensions, new threats to Turkey have started to emerge. Many in Turkey are said to be alarmed by recent reports that Syrian Kurds have...
Can Hong Kong Bring Democracy to China?
by Kirsten Han, Nonviolent Action Network, USA - Hong Kong will remain more or less autonomous until 2047 — what happens after that, no one quite knows — but pro-democracy activists say Beijing’s control has already begun to creep into...
The Arms Trade Is a Feminist Issue
by Julie Tomlin, Huffington Post, USA - People who want democracy in these countries need the British Government to abide by the committees' recommendations that it "apply significantly more cautious judgements" when considering arms export licence applications for goods to...
Libyan Woman Breaks Silence on Torture
by Jannie Schipper, Radio Netherlands, The Netherlands - While Libya is looking forward to its first democratic elections on July 7th, many people still live with painful memories of the violent events that led to the removal of Muammar Gaddafi....
The Gaddafi Archives: Libya before the Arab Spring London 2012
by Farah Abushwesha, The Tripoli Post, Libya - Whilst the last six months have seen an explosion of exhibitions, talks and publications focusing on Libyan art and other forms of creative expression as a result of the Arab Spring –...
Democracy under Threat
by Asma Jahangir, Dawn, Pakistan - The masks are off and daggers drawn. Pakistan’s democratic process may once again become a part of history, leaving the world to wonder how we could so willingly poison ourselves in the belief that...
Peru's Great Transformation
by Stephanie Boyd, Al Jazeera, Qatar - Ollanta Humala's crackdown on anti-mining protesters has alienated many of those who voted for him....
Saddam's Brutality Still Haunts Iraqi Kurds
by Jane Arraf, Al Jazeera, Qatar - Relatives and friends share their grief as bodies of 730 victims of infamous Anfal campaign are reburied....
Bahrain's Women Doctors Tell of Assault, Threats and Torture
by Rachael Fulton, Safeworld, UK - “Either you cooperate and say whatever we want and we’ll treat you like a human, or you get stubborn and we beat you like a donkey.”...
66 Minutes in Syrian Detention
by Aline Sara, NOW Lebanon, Lebanon - This month, immerse yourself in a theatrical experience unlike any other. You are a tourist who has somewhat imprudently decided to visit Damascus, the capital of a nation where a fiery anti-regime uprising...
Syrian War Profiteers Cash In on Insurgency
by Nadia Bitar, Der Spiegel, Germany - EU sanctions were designed to undermine rich businesspeople propping up the Assad regime in Syria. But they are actually helping entrepreneurs with close ties to the government. Syrian profiteers are cashing in by...
In a Damascus Suburb, Ballet Goes On
by Emma LeBlanc and Phil Sands, JO, Jordan - As the Syrian revolution grinds on, bloody and chaotic, middle-class Damascus clings to rituals of everyday life....
Argentina's Desaparecidos – the Epilogue
by Marcela Valente, IPS, Italy - The identification of the remains of victims of forced disappearance of Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship – whose bodies were buried in secret graves or thrown into the sea - is moving forward, with periodic...
Inevitable Democracy
by Mona Alami, Now, Lebanon - Many in the Middle East have labeled the Arab Spring a vast Western conspiracy. In his new book “Inevitable Democracy in the Arab World: New Realities In An Ancient Land,” Lebanese author and technologist...
Syria: 'Why Is the World Not Doing Anything to Help Us?'
by Donatella Rovera, Al Jazeera, Qatar - For more than a year the international community has stood by as Assad's forces torture and murder indiscriminately....
Euro 2012: A Victim of Power Games
by Jagienka Wilczak, Polityka, Poland - With less than a month left to go before the kick-off of the Euro 2012, the fate of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko has poisoned relations between the EU and Ukraine — the co-organiser of...
A Step towards Democracy in Egypt?
by Sarah Mousa, Al Jazeera, Qatar - While the presidential election may not be held in perfect conditions, the poll was unthinkable just over a year ago....
Mourning and Anger on Dobrovoljacka Street
by Marija Arnautovic and Tina Jelin Dizdar, RFE, Czech Republic - Bosnia this month marked the 20th anniversary of one of the milestones of the country's 1992-95 war: the fighting on Sarajevo's Dobrovoljacka Street, in which an unknown number of...
The Aggressive Tactics of the Greek Right Wing
by Xenia Kounalaki, Der Spiegel, Germany - Greek far-right parties could end up with as much as 20 percent of the vote in Sunday's elections. The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has intensified the xenophobic atmosphere in the country. Those who...
Armenian, Turkish Locals in Court over Land Rights
by Vercihan Ziflioğlu, Hurriyet, Turkey - An Armenian community that was forced to vacate their villages in the southeastern province of Batman 25 years ago due to politically motivated violence in the region has mounted a legal battle to retrieve...
Crisis in Mali: Fundamentalism, Women's Rights and Cultural Resistance
by Jessica Horn, Pambazuka News, Kenya - In conversation with Jessica Horn, a leading Malian women’s rights activist (name supplied but withheld on request) identifies the roots of the crisis in Mali, and the opportunistic use of the crisis by...
Syria Street, Lebanon
by Alia Brahimi, Al Jazeera, Qatar - Sentiment about Syria in Lebanon is mixed, as refugees flood in and survive thanks to goodwill....
Mali's Perfect Storm of Woes Creates a Perfect Militant Breeding Zone
by Leela Jacinto, France 24, France - A military coup followed by a rebel advance, capped by crippling economic sanctions have combined to make Mali an ideal abode for Islamist militants of varying stripes....
The Lost Innocence of Cote d’Ivoire’s Children
by Kristin Palitza, IPS, Italy - Children had to fear for their lives, and deal with the death of family members, hunger and displacement during the country’s violent unrest, which lasted from December 2010 until May 2011. Thousands were separated...
Syria’s Sniper Alleys
by Alexandra Renard, France 24, France - Reporting from the western Syrian city of Al-Qusayr near Homs, FRANCE 24’s reporters find a city terrorised by snipers in the second part of our exclusive coverage from inside Syria....
Myanmar Democracy Still in Chains
by May Ng, Asia Times, Hong Kong - On January 13, 2012, Myanmar did the previously unthinkable and released a number of political opponents from its malevolent, colonial-era prison system....
Civilians Trapped as Aid to Baba Amr Blocked Again
by Zoi Constantine, The National, United Arab Emirates - The situation in Baba Amr is "extremely difficult, the weather conditions are tragic", Mr Daccord said. "It is very cold, there is fighting and people don't have access to food or...
A Festering Wound in Pakistan
by Anita Joshua, The Hindu, India - The conspiracy of silence over Balochistan is finally breaking but the alienation of the province runs too deep for any easy solutions....
Jailed Protester Put in Psychiatric Ward
by Natalya Krainova, Moscow Times, Russia - An opposition protester on Red Square carrying a banner calling for the destruction of the Lubyanka was whisked off to a psychiatric hospital Sunday after refusing to talk to police....
'Ugly Babies' Exhibit Depicts Life under Oppression In China
by Courtney Brooks, Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic - "When you go to China, you clearly see the emergence of a civil society," Sorman says. "The people talk their mind and you also discover that there is a huge underground...
Santiago Xanica: A Zapotec Village's Fight for Autonomy in Mexico
by Emma Volonté, Upside Down World, Canada - In 1998, the state government of Oaxaca approved a law that allowed the communities to govern themselves by the “uses and customs” of their traditional indigenous system. Gerardo Froylán González Cruz explains...
Democracy under the Gun in the Maldives
by Sudha Ramachandran, Asia Times, Hong Kong - The dramatic exit last week of Maldivian president Mohammed Nasheed, the country's first to be democratically elected, now forced to resign at the point of the gun, followed months of street protests...
Paradise on a Knife's Edge
by Amantha Perera, IPS, Italy - A slew of diplomats from the United States, Bahrain, the United Nations, India and the Commonwealth arrived in the country Saturday, all pushing for an independent inquiry into the circumstances of Nasheed’s departure from...
Universities Are the First Test for Tunisian Secularism
by Omezzine Khelifa, The Daily Star, Lebanon - In Tunisian universities, equality is assured; all students have access to universities regardless of their religion or how they practice it. Currently young women have the right to wear the niqab in...
Otherwise Occupied / Friendly Fire?
by Amira Hass, Haaretz, Israel - Who will protect Gaza citizens from their supposed defenders - the government and armed resistance groups?...
Tareq Aziz: Life Hanging In The Balance
by Felicity Arbuthnot, Countercurrents, India - As the US occupiers leave Iraq the fate of former Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq Tareq Aziz's fate hangs in the balance....
China: Enforced Disappearances on the Rise
by Emily-Anne Owen, IPS, Italy - China is experiencing the worst crackdown since 1989 with a rising number of enforced disappearances of activists, a prominent Chinese dissident now living in exile has stated....
Egypt: Elections, or No Elections -- That Is the Question
by Mona Anis, Al Ahram, Egypt - Egyptian political forces go to the polls in a fortnight's time as polarised and divided as they have ever been....
The Syria Imperative And Israel
by Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, Countercurrents, India - The Assad regime in Syria is facing increased scrutiny for its handling of demonstrators. The Syrian opposition has asked for arms and NATO intervention similar to what was witnessed in Libya . Washington Hawks...
Liberals, Islamists Struggle Over the Future of Tunisian Society
by A. Mahjar-Barducci, MEMRI, USA - On October 7, 2011, the private Tunisian satellite TV channel Nessma aired the award-winning French animated film Persepolis, which is based on Iranian-born illustrator Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel and tells of the challenges...
When Humanitarian Law Is Just Rhetoric
by Constanza Vieira, IPS, Italy - The constant violations of international humanitarian law in Colombia claimed the life of an 11-year-old indigenous girl a month ago in the mountains of the southwest province of Cauca....
Church Fire Fires up Copts
by Reem Leila, Al-Ahram, Egypt - Dozens of angry Copts protested in front of the National Radio and Television building against the torching of the Marinab Church....
Putting Defence In the Hands of Civilians
by Thelma Mejía, IPS, Italy - Prominent academics and activists say one of the main pending challenges in Honduras is a resumption of the demilitarisation of the country and the strengthening of civilian control over defence policy that was brought...
Weddings without a Groom; Only in Gaza
by Rana Baker, The Electronic Intifada, Palestine - The outside world, the checkpoint-less expanse, doesn’t know why wrinkles map our faces so early. Our tears are different, and so is their cause. So, too, are the causes of our moments...
Libya Revolution: Bosnian Companies Count the Cost
by Senka Kurt, Balkan Insight, Serbia - Bosnian companies based in Libya are facing an uncertain future with discontinued contracts and unpaid claims racking up following six months of violent unrest....
The Last Days of Gaddafi
by Yuriko Koike, Project Syndicate, Czech Republic - Unlike leaderless post-Saddam Iraq, rebuilding Libya will be aided by the National Transitional Council's presence....
Dear Protesters for 'Social Justice'
by Diana Kimmerling, Ha'aretz, Israel - How could it be that you have nothing to say when the country is sinking into anti-democratic laws, but you have so much to shout about when it comes to money?...
The Blood that Feeds the Heart of DRC’s Conflict
by Sokari Ekine, Afronline, Italy - Mining of cassiterite and other minerals may be just one of the many contributing factors to the war in the DRC but Walikili and other similar camps are central to it’s sustenance....
Police Need Ministers' Support, not their Scorn
by Yvette Cooper, Guardian, UK - In the aftermath of the riots the police have a tough enough task in restoring law and order, and yet they are being undermined....
Leaving Tunisia
by Alexandra Deniau and Francois Renaut, Al Jazeera, Qatar - Despite the recent revolution, thousands of Tunisians are risking their lives in search of a new life in Europe....
The Face of Evil Infecting Europe
by Linda Heard, Arab News, Saudi Arabia - For all his impeccable family background (his father was a diplomat), superior intellect, high education and sophistication, the Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik is consumed with hatred toward Muslims in Europe whom...
Violence and Vengeance in Ivory Coast
by Tendai Marima, Al Jazeera, Qatar - As reprisals continue between rival forces, Alassane Ouattara needs to guarantee justice for all Ivorians....
Twitter and Latin American Presidents: Does It Make Them Closer to Us?
by Laura Schneider, Global Voices, The Netherlands - Five years ago it was unimaginable to think that the president of a country could be so close that one could know what he/she thinks, what he/she does or doesn't do, basically...
Drugs and the Valley
by Dilnaz Boga, Dawn, Pakistan - The two-decade conflict in Kashmir, the highest militarised region in the world, is responsible for a spiraling drug problem amongst its populace, psychiatrists maintain....
Bad News in Syria, but the Reality Could Be Worse
by Anne Allmeling, Al Arabiya, United Arab Emirates - No one really knows what’s happened, and this is exactly what Syria’s president Bashar Al Assad wants. As long as there is no evidence, anything could have happened in the Syrian...
International Interventions and Contradictions
by Beril Dedeoglu, Today's Zaman, Turkey - In our time, when it is about economy, trade or finance, people more easily accept limitations on state sovereignty; in fact, no one can resist much as it is part of globalization. However,...
Dorothy Parvaz: Inside Syria's Secret Prisons
by Dorothy Parvaz, Al Jazeera, Qatar - Most of the our days were spent listening to the sounds of young men being brutally interrogated – sometimes tied up in stress positions until it sounded like their bones were cracking, as...
Is Congo's Mineral Trade Really the Key to the Country's Conflict?
by Laura Seay, The Christian Science Monitor, USA - Most scholars of the DRC would agree that the mineral trade is one dimension of the conflict, but that it isn't the entire story, and most of us are very perplexed...
Violence Sends Syrian Families to Lebanon
by Zoi Constantine, The National, UAE - "We were scared to be in our houses. What if they shot through the windows and we die?" he said, mimicking being hit by a bullet and falling over on the floor....
Where Tyrants Run After They’re Kicked Out of Power
by Christine Mungai, The East African, Kenya - In the past, ousted African leaders usually went into exile in friendly African countries, and sometimes in Arab countries. Today, however, there are few options for a quiet exile that are out...
ETA Makes Its Move on the Mainstream
by Dale Fuchs, The Independent, UK - The Basque separatists want a new political life – but so far their electoral ambitions have been thwarted....
Year of the Boomerang? Frantz Fanon and the Arab Uprisings
by Fatin Abbas, OpenDemocracy, UK - This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth. Fatin Abbas argues that the uprisings that have erupted across north Africa and the Middle East in...
Contagious IIlusions of Gaddafi's Power
by Soumaya Ghannoushi, Al Jazeera, Qatar - The resilience of the Libyan regime is creating a false sense of security among other Arab despots, analyst argues....
US and Germany Offer 'Feeble Opposition' to Bahrain Crackdown
by Mary Beth Warner, Spiegel, Germany - A government-led crackdown in Bahrain led to three protester deaths on Wednesday. Though the situation appeared calmer on Thursday, German editorialists criticize Saudi Arabia's decision to send troops in to help suppress the...
Bahrain's Regime Talks Softly while Bringing the Big Guns in
by Tahiyya Lulu, Guardian, UK - The Bahraini government claims to listen to protesters yet mobilises armed thugs and now a Saudi army against them....
Côte d’Ivoire: On the Brink of Civil War
by Sokari Ekine, Pambazuka, Kenya - Two African countries are presently on the verge of civil war. One is being reported minute by minute by international media, twitter and on blogs. The other is just beginning to emerge from the...
After Davis, What?
by Zubeida Mustafa, Dawn, Pakistan - So the cat is out of the bag. Raymond Davis, or whatever his real name is, was a CIA agent. But should that shock us as is being made out by media analysts and...
Kurdish ‘Day of Rage’ Goes Unnoticed
by Ruwayda Mustafah, Middle East Online, UK - Protests are a clear indicator that people see a need for reform, and what must be addressed is not so much the way protesters conducted themselves, or the governmental response but the...
Could an Uprising be Initiated in Kurdistan?
by Ruwayda Mustafah Rabar, Ruwayda Mustafah Rabar, UK - Hakim Zangari, father of 6 children in Iraqi Kurdistan contacted numerous journalists and news agencies of his plan to burn himself in front of Dargay Sara in Sulaymania. An act inspired...
Iran’s Resilient Rebellion
by Nasrin Alavi, openDemocracy, UK - Tehran’s ruling elite proclaims Iran’s revolutionary experience as the inspiration for the Arab insurrections, yet seeks to crush demonstrators at home. Iran’s citizens can see through the lies....
Condemn Rwanda’s Trials in Absentia
by Domitila Mwangi, East African, Kenya - Arbitrary arrests, and extrajudicial killings have characterised Kagame’s rule in the past decade; the severity of abuses accelerates during election periods....
The Battle for Egypt
by Anjali Kamat, The Hindu, India - Vicious battles rage between thugs unleashed by the government and pro-democracy activists....
Words Matter: How Media Can Build Civility or Destroy It
by Sarah van Gelder, Brooke Jarvis, Yes!, USA - The media can, as we know, promote fear, hatred, and extremism. Can it also lead us to greater civility and more productive debate?...
Giffords Shooting Raises Questions About Mental Health Care
by Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check, USA - Beyond the political and environmental questions of motivation, one thing really should be clear from the New York Times profile of Loughner---at this point in time, he seems to be another example...
Swearing off the Rhetoric of Violence
by Joan Walsh, Salon, USA - Can't we agree to stop urging supporters to "reload" or pursue "Second Amendment remedies?"...
Cambodia Remembers Its Fallen Muslims
by Julie Masis, Asia Times, Hong Kong - The persecution of Muslims remains an understudied aspect of Cambodia's genocide experience - where as many as two million people perished - but the extent of that suffering is now coming to...
Spanish Families Maintain Babies Were Stolen under Franco Regime
by Hazel Healy, Deutsche Welle, Germany - A growing movement claims that hundreds of Spanish babies were trafficked during General Franco's dictatorship, some as late as the 1960s. So far, courts have denied families' demands for investigations....
Aung San Suu Kyi: Burma's First Lady of Freedom
by Hannah Beech, Time, USA - Far from being a simple morality tale of good vs. evil, the Lady against the generals, what happens in Burma carries global significance. Jammed between Asia's two emerging powers, China and India, Burma is...
Human Suffering Escalates in Cote d'Ivoire
by Alexis Adele, IPS, Italy - For three days, 25-year-old Ousmane Traoré attended the private clinic in the populous district of Abobo, north of Abidjan. Suffering from gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen as a result of the Ivorian...
UN Cites 'Massive' Rights Abuses in Post-Election Violence
by Olivia Salazar Winspear, France 24, France - The UN said on Sunday that it has received hundreds of abduction reports and that more than 50 people have been killed in the past three days amid mounting evidence of "massive...
South Sudanese Begin Exodus from the North
by Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Al Jazeera, Qatar - If you drive around Khartoum, one can easily forget that soon there is a referendum that could change the borders of Sudan forever....
Refugees Flee Myanmar Vote Unrest
by Martina Ortigas, Al Jazeera, Qatar - About 20,000 people have fled Myanmar to seek refuge in neighbouring Thailand after clashes between government troops and ethnic Karen fighters along the border that were sparked by Sunday's controversial general elections....
Honduras Has Much to Explain in Human Rights Exam
by Thelma Mejía, Inside Costa Rica, Costa Rica - Honduras must answer to the United Nations Human Rights Council this week with respect to the numerous complaints of human rights violations committed before, during and after the Jun. 28, 2009...
Troubles in Turkey's Backyard
by Aliza Marcus, ForeignPolicy.com, USA - Forget Gaza or Iran, Prime Minister Erdogan needs to focus on the reignited war with Kurdish separatists -- before a full-fledged war breaks out in Turkey's restive southeast. Turkey's rugged Kurdish region in the...
The Break up of Thailand
by Sanitsuda Ekachai, Malaysian Insider, Malaysia - The month of May was a nightmare for Bangkok. But it was only for a month. For the restive South, where casualties have exceeded 4,000, the Muslim-dominated region remains trapped in a six-year-long...
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