Human Rights First

Five Things to Look for in the Egyptian Presidential Elections

Neil Hicks | Posted 05.22.2012

Read More: Muslim Brotherhood, Human Rights Defenders, Egypt Elections, Human Rights, Human Rights First, Egypt, Human Rights in Egypt, Egyptian Elections, Democracy in Egypt, World News
Neil Hicks

Egyptians will go to the polls tomorrow to vote in their first-ever competitive presidential election. Whoever wins will have legitimacy in a contest in which tens of millions of voters will choose from a broad range of candidates.

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Facebook: Before You Buy

Human Rights First | Posted 05.17.2012

Read More: Human Rights, Marshall Thompson, Human Rights First, Facebook IPO, Business and Human Rights, Meg Roggensack, Facebook Privacy, Facebook, Facebook in China, China, Global Network Initiative, Human Rights in China, Business News
Human Rights First

By Meg Roggensack and Marshall Thompson Business and Human Rights What investors should know ahead of Facebook's IPO. View PDF Version» Much of Fa...

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Egypt's Presidential Elections: A Moment for the U.S. Government to Lead on Human Rights

Neil Hicks | Posted 05.09.2012

Read More: Human Rights, Middle East, Egypt, Human Rights First, G8 Summit, Egyptian Elections, Camp David, Democracy in Egypt, Arab League, Israel, World News
Neil Hicks

The collapses of authoritarian regimes of the last 15 months should have taught U.S. policymakers one lesson: the old formula of tolerating and colluding with authoritarianism in return for (an often illusory) stability does not work.

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ICE's Detention Reform Promises - A Second Look

Human Rights First | Posted 05.28.2012

Read More: Human Rights, Human Rights First, Immigration, Ruthie Epstein, Immigration Detention, Karnes County Detention Facility, Refugee Protection Program, Detention Reform, Ice, Politics News
Human Rights First

By Ruthie Epstein Refugee Protection Program My drive back from Karnes County, Texas, to San Antonio, two weeks ago, was long and empty. Not long by ...

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Don't Return to Business as Usual in Egypt: Link Foreign Aid to Democratic Progress in Egypt

Neil Hicks | Posted 05.18.2012

Read More: Human Rights Defenders, Egypt Elections, Human Rights, Defenders in Egypt, Arab Spring, Human Rights First, Middle East, Egypt, Neil Hicks, Human Rights in Egypt, President Obama, Democracy in Egypt, Mubarak, World News
Neil Hicks

Ignoring the human rights and democracy conditions that Congress has placed on U.S. foreign assistance to Egypt would be seen as the U.S. government giving its unconditional support to anti-democratic forces in Egypt.

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Obama and Karzai Talk, but the Fate of 3000 U.S. Prisoners in Afghanistan Remains a Mystery

Daphne Eviatar | Posted 05.16.2012

Read More: Human Rights, Human Rights First, Afghanistan, Obama, Afghanistan Withdrawal Timetable, Indefinite Detention, Karzai, Detainees, Torture, Afghanistan War, War in Afghanistan, World News
Daphne Eviatar

President Obama is surely negotiating U.S. troop withdrawal carefully so as to keep U.S. soldiers from facing unnecessary risks. He should take the same care with the lives of Afghans.

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Scenes From a Bahraini "Courtroom"

Brian Dooley | Posted 05.16.2012

Read More: Human Rights Defenders, Arab Spring, Human Rights, Bahrain Trials, Middle East, Human Rights First, Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, Brian Dooley, Bahrain Medics, Defenders in Bahrain, Defenders Under Attack, Bahrain, World News
Brian Dooley

There they sit, squeezed onto two benches in Bahrain's criminal court: the 20 medics who were tortured into making false confessions.

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ICE Pledge on Immigration Detention Tested Today at Karnes Facility

Human Rights First | Posted 05.13.2012

Read More: Department of Homeland Security, Immigration Reform, Asylum Seekers, Human Rights, Karnes County, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Human Rights First, Asylum Reform, Immigration Detention, Refugees, Ice, Politics News
Human Rights First

Karnes County, I hope, will provide a new model for more appropriate detention conditions -- a model that will mean little if it is not just a first step in transforming all facilities where ICE holds immigrants.

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Dear DHS: My Husband Is Not a Terrorist -- Can He Come Home?

Human Rights First | Posted 04.04.2012

Read More: Asylum Seekers, Terrorism Bars, Immigration Detention, Dhs, Human Rights First, Asylum, Refugee Protection Program, Impact News
Human Rights First

When Arben's visa was denied, a staffer at one office told me that my only options were to divorce Arben or move to Kosovo. I don't think I should have to do either of those things. I married Arben for better or for worse. I take that vow seriously, and I want to make my life with him.

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Was it Something I Said?

Brian Dooley | Posted 03.18.2012

Read More: Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights, Arab Spring, Human Rights First, Middle East, Brian Dooley, Bahrain, Human Rights Activists, World News
Brian Dooley

With delicious irony, the Government of Bahrain sent out a press release last week declaring that it "welcomes visits by all human rights organization...

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Egyptian Elections: Five Reasons to Stick With the Process

Neil Hicks | Posted 02.01.2012

Read More: Islam, Muslim Brotherhood, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights, Arab Spring, Religious Extremism, Human Rights First, Middle East, Egypt, Human Rights in Egypt, Egyptian Elections, Democracy in Egypt, Mubarak, Sectarian Violence, Human Rights and Democracy, World News
Neil Hicks

Egypt's democratic transition faces two main threats: subversion by anti-democratic religious extremists; and obstruction by an authoritarian military junta loathe to yield power to civilian rule. Those who support continuing democratic progress in Egypt must oppose both.

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U.S. Giving Undue Deference to Bassiouni Commission Report

Brian Dooley | Posted 01.23.2012

Read More: Bahrain Crackdown, Bahrain Human Rights, Bahrain Protests, Bassiouni Report, Human Rights First, Brian Dooley, Bahrain, Bassiouni Commission, Cherif Bassiouni, World News
Brian Dooley

The U.S. Government appears to have too many eggs in the Bassiouni basket. It's the standard the Bahraini Government wants to be judged by, and the U.S. should not so readily agree.

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"Troll" Attacks on #Bahrain Tweets Show Depth of Government Attempts to Silence Dissent

Brian Dooley | Posted 01.17.2012

Read More: Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights, Twitter, Bahrain Protests, Human Rights First, Internet Freedom, Freedom of Expression, Internet Censorship, Bahrain, World News
Brian Dooley

As human rights abuses persist in Bahrain, human rights defenders on the ground there are forced to take their fight for political freedom to other mediums, including Twitter.

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Al-Nashiri Case Will Highlight All That Is Wrong With Military Commissions

Human Rights First | Posted 01.03.2012

Read More: Al-Nashiri Guantanamo, Al-Nashiri USS Cole, Waterboarding Al-Nashiri, Law Security Guantanamo, Human Rights First, Uss Cole Bombing, Prosecuting Terrorism, Human Rights Al-Nashiri, Terrorism Saudi Arabia, Politics News
Human Rights First

The first Guantanamo detainee case will yet again demonstrate that the military commissions are inherently flawed and that terror suspects should be tried in federal courts.

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Activists Continue to Take Stand in Bahrain Despite Hostile Crackdown

Brian Dooley | Posted 12.20.2011

Read More: Bahrain Crackdown, Bahrain Violence, Bahrain Human Rights, Bahrain Protests, Human Rights First, Bahrain, Brian Dooley, Human Rights Defenders, World News
Brian Dooley

Bahrainis who stand up publicly to promote human rights risk harassment and arrest. Human rights defenders remain in constant jeopardy from the Bahraini dictatorship. Despite those threats, they continue to document human rights abuses and work for political freedom.

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Not Giving Egypt's Military Junta What It Wants

Neil Hicks | Posted 12.11.2011

Read More: Egypt Protests, Human Rights, Violence in Egypt, Egypt Revolution, Human Rights First, Egypt, Coptic Christians, Middle East, Human Rights Defenders, Arab Spring, Democracy in Egypt, World News
Neil Hicks

The quality of the U.S. relationship with Egypt will be determined by the progress Egypt makes towards democratic governance that protects and upholds the basic rights and freedoms of all of its people.

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Pressure Mounts on Obama Administration to Release Legal Justification for al-Awlaki Killing

Daphne Eviatar | Posted 12.06.2011

Read More: Targeted Killings, Yemen, Human Rights, Drones, Human Rights First, Law and Security, Anwar Al-Awlaki, World News
Daphne Eviatar

A growing number of former Bush administration officials and policy wonks across the political spectrum are calling on Obama to provide a more detailed legal justification for the lethal drone strike.

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Alex Becker

Human Rights Groups Tell Biden To Hold China Accountable

HuffingtonPost.com | Alex Becker | Posted 10.16.2011

Read More: Video, Human Rights, Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei, Human Rights First, Freedom Now, Liu Xiaobo, Human Rights Abuses, China Human Rights Violations, Joe Biden, China Human Rights, Vice President Joe Biden, Ai Weiwei, China, World News

WASHINGTON -- Human rights groups have wasted little time calling on Vice President Joe Biden to focus on human rights abuses as he meets with high-le...

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The ABCs of Asylum, Post-DSK

Human Rights First | Posted 09.07.2011

Read More: Asylum Seekers, Refugees, Refugee Protection, Human Rights, Refugee Protection Act, Human Rights First, Refugee Protection Program, Politics News
Human Rights First

As revelations and speculations concerning the sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund...

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Egypt's Malaise

Neil Hicks | Posted 09.07.2011

Read More: Democracy in Egypt, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights, Human Rights First, Egypt, Human Rights in Egypt, Egyptian Elections, World News
Neil Hicks

The outbreaks of violence in Egypt have to date not been that serious, but they have been sufficient to deal a serious blow to people's confidence.

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More Political Wrangling Over the National Security State

Daphne Eviatar | Posted 09.07.2011

Read More: Guantanamo, Mitch McConnell, Counterterrorism, Human Rights First, Buck Mckeon, Human Rights, Cia, National Security, Terrorism, Criminal Justice, Republicans, Chesney, Warsame, Decade After 9/11 - National Security, Politics News
Daphne Eviatar

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and his colleagues are predictably using the Obama Administration's latest successful arrest and indictment of a suspected terrorist to bash the Democratic administration.

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Deja vu All Over Again on NYC Terror Trial

Sharon Kelly | Posted 09.05.2011

Read More: Fearmongering, Human Rights, Human Rights First, Terrorism, Terrorism Prosecutions, Prosecuting Terrorism, Law and Security, Fight Fear, Terrorism Trials, Fighting Fear, Video, Politics News
Sharon Kelly

Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, a Somali terrorism suspect, is headed to New York City for trial. What's that sound you're hearing from the usual suspec...

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Stopping Enablers of Mass Atrocities in Sudan

Human Rights First | Posted 07.27.2011

Read More: Darfur, Stop Arms to Sudan, Enablers, Sudan, Human Rights First, Atrocities, China, Crimes Against Humanity, World News
Human Rights First

If China is genuinely interested in "regional peace and security," as it asserts, it should immediately suspend its financial, material, and practical support to Khartoum

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Wanted: More Light, Less Heat About Drone Attacks

Gabor Rona | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Targeted Killings, Taliban, Drones, Predator Drones, Human Rights First, Pakistan, Law and Security, World News
Gabor Rona

The use of drones to deliver deadly force is not necessarily a violation of law. In war, killing is permitted, but subject to certain limitations. The U.S should make public the criteria it uses to determine that a drone strike is lawful.

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Wanted: More light, less heat about drone attacks

Human Rights First | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Taliban, Drones, Predator Drones, Human Rights First, Pakistan, Gabor-Rona, Law and Security, World News
Human Rights First

By Gabor Rona International Legal Director Drone strikes conducted by the United States in Pakistan are an increasingly hot flash point in relations ...

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