As the present year draws to an end, we feel bound to fulfill the usual ritual of taking stock of the main events of the past 12 months. 2016 is filled, no doubt, would meaningful events, some expected at one point or another, like Fidel Castro’s death. Some unexpected and for many people scary, like […]
After 52 years of armed conflict between the government of Colombia and the FARC (the Spanish language acronym for Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) and following protracted negotiations, the Colombian government and the insurgents have reached a detailed agreement to reach a peaceful solution to the longest lasting armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere. The conversations […]
We are pleased to report that we have now more than 20,000 students registered in our free online courses, counting together the 2014 course of human rights (in English and Spanish) and the 2015 course on anticorruption (in English, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese). These students come from 133 different countries, including places such as Afghanistan, […]
It has been said, rightly, that Patricio Aylwin will be remembered, on many accounts, as a great President of Chile, but that his human rights legacy was perhaps his foremost contribution. At the time of his inauguration, in March of 1990, there were not many precedents of what is today called transitional justice and at […]
On March 8 the International Women’s Day was commemorated. The deep skepticism of many vis-avis this kind of commemorations is understandable. In recent times they have multiplied, spurred by United Nations or by shopping malls. However, both International Women’s Day and Human Rights Day (celebrated every December 10) are not the object of such scorn. […]
Race, gender and religion have been historically the main grounds for arbitrary discrimination. By ‘arbitrary discrimination’ we mean a different treatment based on characteristics that persons cannot change or that is not legitimate to demand that they change them. Nowadays, racial discrimination is generally condemned, although there are still important remnants. Similarly, with significant exceptions, […]
A proper global assessment of human rights for the present year would largely surpass the extension of a brief column. Let us limit ourselves, then, to pointing out the most outstanding trends. These are the following ones: 1. Regarding global security, the main event is, of course, the sheer power acquired by the Islamic State, […]
In a well ordered market, every economic agent should gain knowledge at the same time of relevant information for making their decisions. Now, different public authorities, as well as high level executives of some private corporations who represent or safeguard the interests of consumers or stockholders usually possess, due to their position, information about future […]