NEWSARCHIVE

At the start of the official election campaign in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congolese and international human rights organizations have expressed their concern about the high political tension and deteriorating security situation.

Local human rights defenders in particular experience the difference between human rights on paper and their actual application in practice. What do they need in order to do their job?

Floods and land slides have killed 110 people in Papua province last week. Many more are injured or missing. The disaster is closely related to a change in the ecosystem.

Irregular migrants in The Netherlands are being held in prisons under a regime that is cause for concern. This leaves prison pastors confronted with dilemmas in their work. In Justitia et Pax’ study on humanity of the detention of aliens, prison pastors speak out on the flaws of the system.

The DDR programme implemented in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) so far has been accessed by women only to a very limited extent. Justitia et Pax Netherlands has looked at the reasons for this in its research project ‘Beyond Men and Guns: making DDR work for men and women alike in the Democratic Republic of Congo’.

If people, driven by one inspiration, together want to make the world a better place, they can get pretty far.

European human rights organisations, including Justitia et Pax Netherlands, welcome the EU-Indonesia human rights dialogue. They have spoken out on the agenda for this first-time event which took place in Jakarta on 29th June.

African bishops look to European Justice and Peace commissions for support to the Africa Synod message and for taking up issues in their countries which are hampering the progress of Africa. From March 9 - 16 they spoke with experts on justice and peace in a meeting in The Hague.

On June 9 the Dutch general elections took place. The results confirm a trend of political fragmentation and polarisation in the Netherlands. As a result, forming a government with a majority support in parliament will be extremely difficult.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2010 Human Rights Defenders Tulip award. Nominations must be received by 15 June 2010.