Human Rights in the News: December 2020
/Curated by Nikki Bambauer
Welcome to the December 2020 edition of Human Rights in the News, Woven Teaching’s monthly collection of important human rights stories from around the world.
Image of Karima Baloch from the shoulders up. She is wearing a brown headscarf with red trim (Credit: Baloch Students Organization Azad)
Karima Baloch, Pakistani human rights activist, found dead in Canada
Shah Meer Baloch and Hannah Ellis-Peterson | The Guardian | December 22, 2020
Karima Baloch, a Pakistani human rights activist living in exile in Canada, was recently found dead after going missing. Baloch was an outspoken advocate for the rights of people in the Pakistani state of Balochistan. She is the second Pakistani activist from Balochistan to be found dead in 2020. Learn more >
Displaced persons carrying belongings, photographed from behind (Credit: UN)
Tigray: Hundreds of civilians reported killed in artillery strikes, warns UN rights chief
UN News | December 22, 2020
Fighting between government soldiers and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had continued for weeks. The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights recently warned of the deliberate targeting of civilians in northern Ethiopia. Learn more >
Flag of the European Union – twelve yellow stars on a blue background (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The EU can now punish human rights violators all over the world
Jen Kirby | Vox | December 10, 2020
The European Union recently passed a law that will give it the power to ban travel and freeze the assets of people or groups who have violated human rights. The law is similar to the Magnitsky Act, the U.S. law which gives the U.S. the power to impose sanctions on officials responsible for human rights violations around the world. Learn more >
An unexploded munition sits in a pile of rubble
Greece: Lead Poisoning Concerns in New Migrant Camp
Human Rights Watch | December 8, 2020
Thousands of asylum seekers and aid workers may be at risk of lead poisoning at the newly constructed Mavrovouni migrant camp in Greece. The 7,500+ residents, mostly from Afghanistan and Syria, were recently moved to Mavrovouni after a fire at a different camp. Mavrovouni is built on the site of a military firing range, and according to Human Rights Watch, little was done to mitigate the potential harm of lead before people were moved into the camp. Learn more >
People sitting around a large conference table (Credit: Christina @ wocintechchat.com via Unsplash)
Human rights must find a permanent place in the boardroom. Here’s why
John Morrison and Julia Olofsson | World Economic Forum | December 10, 2020
Members of the World Economic Forum have called for a larger focus on human rights in boardrooms around the world. They encourage increased supply chain transparency, smaller wage gaps, and other means of reducing inequities. Learn more >
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