Equality

Murat Kurnaz Released From Guantánamo!

- Vanessa King

In 2001 German resident Murat Zurnaz was arrested in Pakistan and soon after shipped off to be held in detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. No evidence was presented against him for apparent ‘terrorist related activites’ yet he remained imprisoned for years without a trial.

The good news is that after 5 years and much lobbying by Amnesty International, his family and several lawyers he has finally been released and is back home in Germany. Not only that but during the trial a US federal judge cited his case as “illustrative of the inherant unfairness and fundamental flaws of the adminitrative review process the military authorities conduct in Guantánamo”. This case brings the unjust activity occuring in Guantanamo to light and will likely have an effect on future cases as a result.

Since Amnesty has become involved in cases in Guantanamo 16 prisoners have been released from US detention. Of those detainees transferred to their home countries, 1 remain in detention and 13 have been released indefinatly.
 

Good Voting

- Adam Clare

A basic democracy needs people to vote at the very least. Recently two democracies that have been under question have actually defended the basic tenet of democracy. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), people were able to vote for the first time in forty years!

‘”I voted for the first time in my life!” shouted one man with excitement as he left the voting station’

In the United States, civil rights groups are celebrating the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The act protect minorities from racial discrimination in elections.

“The bipartisan support for the legislation underscores the recognition of and importance of equality for all citizens’ right to use the voting booth to elect officials who reflect their concerns. For, if liberty and equality are found chiefly in a democracy, as Aristotle said, then it is best attained when everyone shares in the government to the utmost.”

Technology Can Help Disabled

- Adam Clare

The UN is pushing for new technologies to help people who need accessibility support. The good news is that this has started to happen. OneWorld South Asia is reporting on the use of ICTs designed for accessibility.

Google recently added more accessibility services to its search engine. Google Labs created Accessible Web Search for the Visually Impaired that returns only sites that are easy to read by screen readers. The search uses the W3C standards, which ThingsAreGood.com passes.

“Governments, at the first World Summit on the Information Society in 2003 in Geneva, committed themselves to building a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge.

“The new computer-based information technologies have the potential for opening up a world of new opportunities for persons with disabilities,” said Sarbuland Khan, Executive Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development.”

Slumming it

- Adam Clare

In India a fantastic social experiment is literally paying off. Sick of being ignored by their government, some slum residents in India have taken matters in their own hands. They used cunning and unrelenting determination to improve their slum with some good self-directed improvements. Change Makers has the story.

“Three citizen organizations in India have joined forces to turn this scenario upside down. They are helping slum residents organize themselves to gain the skills they need to be powerful advocates for their own interests.

As empowered citizens, these slum residents are learning to recruit local government agencies and banks to help them win control of real estate. They are becoming the architects of their slum’s destruction, replacing it with a new community that they help locate, design, build, and eventually own themselves.”

Two Dads are Rad!

- Adam Clare

Nursery school teachers in the UK are being urged to promote acceptance of homosexual families. There is concern from the National Union of Teachers that children of gay couples aren’t being treated kindly and that children are being forced into stereotyped gender rolls. Encouraging openness and acceptance of all genders and people will help curb intolerance.

“The NUT said: “It is particularly important to begin to make three to five-year-olds aware of the range of families that exist in the UK today”. That would includes families with single parents or those with “two mums” or “two dads”, the union said.

The union added: “There will be parents who are gay or lesbian who will want to be reassured that that their children will be safe in the setting.””

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