After the last Israeli bombardment on Gaza, Obama issued a statement stating ‘There is no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders’. In his hasty support for Israel he seems to have forgotten his missiles that rain down daily on the citizens of Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

In comparison to Bush, Obama really represented himself as the “liberal” president; who intended to close down Guantanamo Bay and end all the malarkey of torture and the bewailing families who remained and remain adamant to see the release of their loved ones. But no, he did not close down Guantanamo. However, rather than continuing Bush’s plan of indefinite imprisonment for terrorists, he did devise a new plan to sort out those pesky terrorists. Now, instead of throwing them into Guantanamo and spending money on them, feeding them, clothing them, providing ‘security’ for them; oh and paying guards to torture them he has decided to just drone bomb them: the easiest solution for the messiest of problems.  

Sri Lanka has been engulfed by civil war, between their Government and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) for 40 long years. And yet hardly anyone knows about it. During the last stages of this war in 2009 the Sri Lankan army went on its final offensive; triggering a last brutal confrontation between the two sides. The government side, not surprisingly, prevailed aided by its size and technology as well as the world's indifference.

For the civilians caught in the crossfire (in the northern districts of the tiny Indian Ocean island) during these final months, their last shred of hope rested with the United Nations - established in 1945 to "maintain international peace and promote cooperation in solving international economic, social and humanitarian problems". However, the UN did anything but this during those final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war.

Rio’s shantytowns, or favelas as they are more commonly known are home to millions. It is home to almost ten times as many inhabitants as Dharavi and Soweto combined, and according to some estimates almost 25% of the city’s population live in over 1000 favelas, several of which have been awarded UNESCO world heritage site status. Morro da Providência is Rio’s first and oldest favela, inhabited for over 100 years it is the birthplace of the samba schools that carnival is so famous for and yet Olympic construction projects are threatening its future. Although the city claims that investments will benefit residents, 30%of the community’s population has already been marked for removal and the only public consultations held were to warn residents of their fate. Homes are spray-painted during the day with the initials for the municipal housing secretary and an identifying number. Residents return from work to learn that their homes will be demolished, with no warning of what’s to come, or when.

From time to time, I receive emails and messages from people suffering human rights abuses, maltreatment and the like from across the globe.  When we decided 4 years ago to start Restless Beings, it was with the sole intention of raising the volume on the most voiceless communities in the world.  Yesterday on my way back from the protest, I received one of such messages from a...

Following on from recent sad news from Kyrgyzstan, Africa, is on the agenda due to the widespread practices of the violent natured bride abductions despite numerous attempts to eradicate it throughout Africa by human rights groups.

The threat of bride kidnapping is one of the reasons for the restricted lives of women in certain areas...

Our event, Building Hope proved to be a great opportunity to meet our supporters, old and new- including members of the public in the Brick Lane area, to what was to be an intimate gathering to champion human rights and the issues behind our work.

The evening started with the screening of our documentaries on our Bangladesh Street Children project and Ala Kachuu project in Kyrgyzstan. This...

How important can honour possibly mean? It may be difficult to understand if you are from a culture, which is very much individualistic that for some, honour can be worth dying for, even killing for. I am not talking about killing for self defense, even a random murderous rampage but worse, ending the life of a very close loved one usually a daughter or a sister.

Honour killings usually occur in families with traditional morals living in a very tight community. Regardless of where they live, statistics show that the backgrounds of these families are of cultures with similarities in their views of family honour, female chastity and their private home lives.  There are many countries where honour killings still continue and happen almost on a daily basis especially in rural areas outside big cities. It is impossible to find accurate data, as some of the girls who have been victims were not registered when they were born or even when they die. Is it a coincidence that the majority of honour killings occur in countries, which are primarily patriarchal and have been facing a struggle with gender equality?

'I had to run away'; not a title one would usually expect to see on a report. In fact it sounds more like a story, a tale or the title of a film. This tragic phrase is the heading of a very real report. A report on the Afghan girls and women in prisons for crimes that you and I will probably see as basic human rights.

'I had to run away', 120 pages about these voiceless souls living in four walls in constant fear. These four walls with the most basic facilities lie in the beautiful lands of Afghanistan where so much was celebrated before several wars tore it apart.