Human Rights in the News: March 2023

Welcome to the March 2023 edition of Human Rights in the News, Woven Teaching’s monthly collection of important human rights stories from around the world.

Traute Lafrenz in 1942, pictured with her chin rested on her fist

Traute Lafrenz, Last Survivor of Anti-Hitler Group, Dies at 103
Alan Cowell  |  The New York Times  |  10 March 2023

Traute Lafrenz, the last surviving member of the anti-Nazi resistance group The White Rose, passed away this month at the age of 103. The White Rose was a group of mostly college students who distributed anti-Nazi leaflets urging resistance against the German government.

Members of the Swiss Senior Women for Climate Protection holding colorful banners outside of the European Court of Human Rights (Credit: Georgios Kefalas/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Swiss women launch landmark lawsuit in Europe claiming weak climate action breaches their human rights
Ivana Kottasová  |  CNN  |  29 March 2023

A group known as Swiss Senior Women for Climate Protection, composed of women who are all more than 64 years old, have brought a case against Switzerland to the European Court of Human Rights. They argue that climate change–specifically heatwaves–is impacting their health and quality of life. More specifically, their lawsuit alleges that the Swiss government can be held responsible, as it is not complying with its obligations related to the Paris Climate Agreement.

Destroyed building in Ukraine (Credit: Head of Donetsk Civil-Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko/Handout via Reuters)

Russia-Ukraine war exposed human rights ‘double standards’
Usaid Siddiqui  |  Al Jazeera  |  28 March 2023

According to a new report by Amnesty International, the Russian invasion of Ukraine–and the world’s response to it–has highlighted a double standard in the way that the international community responds to human rights violations. “In 2022, we had the fantastic example of how the world came to support and show solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” states Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary-general. “But we did not have a similar kind of support and solidarity for the Palestinian people, the people of Ethiopia, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Two people holding flags (an American flag and a Chinese flag) at a World Athletics event

World Athletics regulations on transgender women athletes risk human rights violations, rights groups say
Sammy Mncwabe  |  CNN  |  24 March 2023

World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field, has announced new regulations prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in women’s events. “Advocates of banning transgender women from women’s sport have argued that transgender women have a physical advantage over cisgender women in sports. But the mainstream science does not support that conclusion.”

People hold a yellow and purple banner reading “Intersex rights are human rights” (Credit: Nurphoto/Getty Images)

How arson became a gang weapon at Rohingya camps
Syed Samiul Basher Anik  |  The New Humanitarian  |  30 March 2023

Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh is home to 630,000 Rohingya refugees, most of whom fled genocide in Myanmar in 2017. In a recent fire in the Camp 11 sector, nearly 3,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. Arson is common in the camp, where different armed groups struggle for control of the camp’s sectors.

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