Posts Tagged ‘Human rights’

Wellington priest makes private submission to GCSB select committtee

Friday, July 5th, 2013

A Wellington priest has made a submission to the Select Committee considering the the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and Related Legislation Amendment Bill. Monsignor Gerard Burns said his deepest concern about this bill is that it shakes the relationship of trust between the State and the citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand. “Because a healthy society Read more

Why the wealth gap is bad for everyone

Friday, June 21st, 2013

Charles Clark probably doesn’t win a lot of friends in his chosen profession when he says that most economists don’t really understand the economy. But even though he earns a living teaching economics at St. John’s University in New York, Clark believes that understanding how the economy really works requires more than just a classroom Read more

Human rights of refugees demand ‘priority’

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013

The world’s governments must give “absolute priority” to the fundamental human rights of refugees, a new Vatican document declares. The strongly worded document, entitled Welcoming Christ in Refugees and Forcibly Displaced Persons, was released jointly by the Pontifical Council for Migrants and the Pontifical Council Cor Unum. It says Catholic laity have an obligation to Read more

How legal euthanasia changed Belgium for ever

Tuesday, May 28th, 2013

The ideology of absolute self-determination has become sacred and unquestionable. In 2002, Belgium became the second country in the world after its neighbour, The Netherlands, to legalise euthanasia. Over the next decade our country has become a living laboratory for radical social change. With many other countries debating legalisation at the moment, now is a Read more

Church praised for work after 1973 Chile coup

Friday, May 10th, 2013

Isabel Allende, a leading Latin American novelist, has praised the efforts of the Church in Chile on behalf of human rights following the 1973 overthrow of her cousin President Salvador Allende. She said Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez, Archbishop of Santiago from 1961 to 1983, “established an office inside the cathedral” to document cases of disappearance Read more

Nobel laureate refutes allegations against Pope Francis

Tuesday, March 26th, 2013

An Argentine pacifist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980 has come to the defence of Pope Francis’s actions between 1976 and 1983, when the military ruled the nation. Adolfo Perez Esquivel said Pope Francis preferred to carry out a “silent diplomacy” in helping victims, rather than leading a more public outcry during Argentina’s Read more

Anti-Semitism seen as threat to Catholics too

Tuesday, March 5th, 2013

A new anti-Semitism is rising in several countries and could lead to dire consequences for democratic societies and members of all religions, according to witnesses who testified at a United States Congressional hearing. Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders spoke of the threat anti-Semitism poses to non-Jewish communities and even to democratic government. The hearing was called Read more

PNG Bishops oppose death penalty

Friday, February 22nd, 2013

The Archbishop of Port Moresby says Papua New Guinea’s government will be slow to activate its death penalty laws because of church opposition, after the Pacific nation’s attorney-general said he is revisiting the idea. Archbishop John Ribat says Attorney-General Kerenga Kua’s plan to activate the never-before-used law is the wrong way to deter crime and Read more

Compensation law change is “eye-for-an-eye” justice – Ombudsman

Friday, February 22nd, 2013

A bill allowing victims to get part of the compensation paid to prisoners is “eye-for-an-eye” justice,  according to the Ombudsman Beverly Wakem. Some criminals have received large compensation payments for violation of their human rights. The Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims (Continuation and Reform) Amendment Bill will make permanent earlier temporary legislation which allowed victims of crime to Read more

US Supreme Court and same-sex marriage debate

Friday, December 14th, 2012

The United States Supreme Court has a history of playing a pivotal role in emotive cultural debates including, for example, abortion (Roe v Wade), racial segregation (Brown v Board of Education) and the death penalty (Roper v Simmons). Marriage equality will now join this list. In a much anticipated move, the US Supreme Court announced Read more