MARUAH Singapore

CSOs JOINT-STATEMENT_ ASEAN urged to heed UN Sec-Gen call for global ceasefire, ensure human rights amid COVID19 – FINAL 1 April 2020

Please click on link below to view the joint statement which MARUAH has endorsed with 35 other organizations:

17032020 – Joint Statement – ASEAN to ensure human rights and dignity on responding COVID – with SAPA input-final.pdf

The annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – the Human Rights Reports – cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements. The U.S. Department of State submits reports on all countries receiving assistance and all United Nations member states to the U.S. Congress in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Trade Act of 1974.

The 2019 Singapore country report is available at https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SINGAPORE-2019-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf

Download the Peoples’ Summit Report

Dear Team!

We are excited to share the final version of the report on the
Peoples’ Summit on Climate, Rights, and Human Survival! This report
provides an overview of the event, highlights its key outputs, and
outlines next steps and lessons learned that were guided, from all of
you,  by the post-summit evaluation survey. Don’t miss out on the
links to important documents such as the concept note, summaries of
sessions, the Declaration, and collaborations that were initiated at
the summit – you will find them throughout the report!

Here are just a few highlights from the document:

• The summit brought together over 150 actors from the different strands
  of the climate justice movement. The two-day gathering was a mix of
  compelling panels and breakout groups where organizational commitments
  to integrate human rights and climate change were discussed. These
  conversations laid the foundation for numerous collaborative actions
  that have great potential to move this work forward.
• The event’s organizers hope to support groups working at the
  frontlines to take on leadership roles and guide the direction of
  these national, regional, and thematic collaborations. The intention
  is that future working groups will be led and maintained by
  self-designated focal points with support from the organizers if
  requested.
• There was strong interest after the summit to create an email list to
  continue to engage with others working on climate justice. Your active
  participation in this new community is essential to bring it to life.
• The climaterights4all email list has a lot of potential, particularly
  to support the collaborations that came out of the summit or will be
  proposed through the climaterights4all network.
• It is particularly important to have a follow-up team that reflects
  different regions, issue-areas and includes both small and large
  organizations. The intention of the follow-up team is for it to be a
  part of a horizontal process whereby the direction of collaborations
  rests with the self-identified persons and/or organizations that
  choose to be focal points. The hope is that the follow-up team will
  serve the function of supporting, where requested and along with
  others, and as long as needed,  groups working at the frontlines in
  guiding the direction of post-summit activities. We have a growing
  group of individuals interested in joining the follow-up team; if you
  would like to be part of this group, please reach out to  Melanie at
  melanie.allen@amnesty.org by March 24th, 2020.

The organizers commit to encourage, as much as possible, conversations
between funders and the groups focusing on human rights and climate
change. Please look out for more information on this in the near
future.

Last but not least, give a read and review the evaluation survey. It
will help you to better understand how the feedback from the summit
guided the proposed next steps outlined in this summary and the
report.

Also, think about proposing a new collaboration or joining an existing
collaboration, or even being  part of the follow-up team to keep the
momentum going!

Thank you for making the event such a unique call to action. We look
forward to working together with the hundreds of organizations that
engaged in the process for further collaboration towards our common
goals, and believe that we may be able to make a solid contribution to
ending the climate crisis, and the injustices that underlie it.

Organizers of the Peoples’ Summit

Wallace Global Fund, Amnesty International, Center for Human Rights
and Global Justice: NYU School of Law, CIEL, Greenpeace International,
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Harm Reduction International (HRI) has monitored the use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since our first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. This report, our ninth on the subject, continues our work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international law.

View The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2019 in full in the tabs below or download the PDF of the report here.

You can download the PDF of HRI’s Policy Briefing here.

Please visit HRI’s Death Penalty for Drug Offences 2019 portal for more info and infographics for sharing on social media.

https://cil.nus.edu.sg/database-cil/

The World Justice Project Rule of Law Index® measures how the rule of law is experienced and perceived by the general public in 126 countries and jurisdictions worldwide based on more than 120,000 household and 3,800 expert surveys. Featuring primary data, the WJP Rule of Law Index measures countries’ rule of law performance across eight factors: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice.

The WJP Rule of Law Index 2020 – to be launched on 11 March 2020

Subscribe to World Justice Project’s newsletter for the formal invitation to the launch livestream for the Rule of Law Index 2020 @ https://worldjusticeproject.org/our-work/engagement/events/global-launch-wjp-rule-law-index-2020

The WJP Rule of Law Index 2019

Click to access ROLI-2019-Reduced.pdf

Report Highlights

The new WJP Rule of Law Index scores show that more countries declined than improved in overall rule of law performance for the second year in a row, continuing a negative slide toward weaker rule of law around the world.

In a sign suggesting rising authoritarianism, the factor score for “Constraints on Government Powers” declined in more countries than any other factor worldwide over the last year (61 countries declined, 23 stayed the same, 29 improved). This factor measures the extent to which, in practice, those who govern are bound by governmental and non-governmental checks such as an independent judiciary, a free press, the ability of legislatures to apply oversight, and more. Over the past four years, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia have lost the most ground in this dimension of the rule of law.

The second largest decline over last year was seen in the area of “Criminal Justice,” followed by “Open Government” and “Fundamental Rights.” On a positive note, more countries improved in “Absence of Corruption” than declined for the second year in a row.

The top three overall performers in the 2019 WJP Rule of Law Index were Denmark (1), Norway (2), and Finland (3); the bottom three were the Democratic Republic of the Congo (124), Cambodia (125), and Venezuela (126). 

Regional Highlights

Countries leading their regions in overall rule of law scores included: Nepal (South Asia), Georgia (Eastern Europe and Central Asia); Namibia (Sub-Saharan Africa); Uruguay (Latin America and the Caribbean); United Arab Emirates (Middle East and North Africa); New Zealand (East Asia and Pacific), and Denmark (Western Europe and North America, defined as EU + EFTA + North America).

Today is Human Rights Day. It is a day for all States and organisations to adopt, observe and fulfil the United Nations General Assembly’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The formal inception of Human Rights Day dates from 1950. This year the emphasis is on Rights Day is on Youths. The world’s youth population is at an all-time high, at 1.8 billion people aged 15 to 29, (world population is 7.46 billion). The Global Youth Development Index shows many countries are experiencing a “youth bulge” with adolescents and young adults making up a third of the population. This offers hope of a “demographic dividend” as young people contribute towards economic growth and well-being. (https://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/state-worlds-youth-population-new-index-underscores-urgent-need-invest-young)

This year’s Human Rights Day is all about the power of youth. Here are some of our young inspirations standing up for human rights each day. Supporting them and empowering youths, join us:- 

Repost – from the United Nations’ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights