In The News

Vatican Says Lawmakers Have Duty to Oppose Gay Marriage

Kirk Semple July 31, 2003
In North America and Europe, recognition of gay rights is slowly growing. Homosexual civil unions – which grant same sex couples the same rights and responsibilities of married couples – are legal in several European countries, including Germany, France, Sweden, and Denmark. Canada recently disposed of a ban on gay marriages; and the US Supreme Court recently struck down a long-standing Texas...

What the Millennium Development Compact Means

Romeo Austria Reyes July 23, 2003
Although slow progress in aid, trade, and debt relief casts doubt on the feasibility of the Millennium Development Goals and the sincerity of rich nations to the Millennium Development Compact, Indonesia is generally making good progress toward realizing the development objectives. However, inter-provincial inequalities are plentiful. To ensure the good national trend is matched at the sub-...

Wrong on Rights

Harold Hongju Koh July 18, 2003
A powerful recourse for human rights victims is in danger, says Harold Hongju Koh, Professor of International Law at Yale University and former US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. In response to a lawsuit brought by Burmese citizens against the US energy company Unocal, the Bush White House has filed a brief in a California Federal Court to overhaul a...

Setting America above the Law

Soha Abdelaty July 18, 2003
The US and Egypt recently signed a bilateral agreement guaranteeing the immunity of each other's officials and military personnel from prosecution in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Cairo's decision to exempt the US personnel from Court jurisdiction has angered those who uphold the need for an encompassing, multilateral judicial institution. Cairo was initially an enthusiastic...

What Next?

July 17, 2003
In an interview with the Straits Times, Singapore’s Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew expresses his views on the recent protests in Hong Kong against the proposed anti-subversion legislation. Lee predicts that Hong Kong’s special legal status is unlikely to be threatened, as it is based on the Basic Law for the territory. He also contends that Beijing would not sacrifice Hong Kong’s Chief Executive...

Xenophobia has no place in Thailand

Pravit Rojanaphruk July 16, 2003
Writing in Thailand’s major newspaper the author urges his fellow citizens not to view Burmese refugees as unwelcome invaders. Though historical enmity, national security, and the "ungratefulness" of Burmese people are regularly cited whenever there is a crackdown against student protestors or migrants, Thai people should not be blinded by mistrust. The reality is that, regardless of...

The Sweetest Revenge

Stefan Theil July 14, 2003
The 2,000 year old Jewish community in Uzbekistan in Central Asia is all but a relic of the past. Due to the economic crisis in Uzbekistan, the majority of its Jewish population is choosing to immigrate to Germany, more even than to Israel. As a result, only 60 years after the Holocaust decimated Germany's Jewish population, the influx of Central Asian Jews is revitalizing the Jewish-...