LGBT rights have become a geo-political battleground Georgina Rannard October 6, 2015 Twelve United Nations agencies have taken the unprecedented step of making a joint statement to push states to protect the human rights of LGBT people around the world. This could not come at a more crucial tim...
This Country is Using the Threat of Terrorism as a Pretext to Ban Beards Georgina Rannard September 22, 2015 Beard-banning — a fantasy for many in hipster-fatigued New York City, but in some countries, the mortal threat to facial hair is a reality. In the small Central Asian nation Tajikistan, the government is in ...
Guatemala Has a Big Public Reckoning Coming Georgina Rannard September 14, 2015 They are walking through deep mud, heads stooped in concentration. On their backs rest large wooden boxes, strapped to their bodies with rope. At first glance, the people look like tired travelers, heading home...
The Killing of Farkhunda Georgina Rannard September 1, 2015 A new BBC Our World documentary tells the shocking story of Farkhunda Malikzada, a young Afghan woman who was lynched in central Kabul earlier this year. Using audio footage recorded on phones at the scene of F...
5 Humanity-Affirming Times Europeans Have Opened Their Doors, And Hearts, to Refugees Georgina Rannard August 20, 2015 “Hordes. Marauding. Floods. Swarms. Boat People”. An observer seeing photos of desperate Syrians arriving on the beaches of southern Greece might think that Europe has become a braying and xenophobic fortress. ...
Is Kazakhstan’s Olympic Loss A Win for Human Rights? Georgina Rannard August 14, 2015 On July 31st the city of Almaty, in eastern Kazakhstan, quietly mourned. Across the border in China, Beijing celebrated: earlier that day the International Olympics Committee announced that Beijing, a city with...
How the Story of a Jailed Kyrgyzstani Dissident Poses a Big Challenge for US Human Rights Policy Georgina Rannard July 30, 2015 Kyrgyzstan used to be a reliable US ally in Central Asia. That ceased being the case earlier this month, when Kyrgyzstan terminated a longstanding cooperation agreement with the United States over the USA's d...
Hacking Team Hack–A View from Uzbekistan Georgina Rannard July 21, 2015 Spying in Central Asia was once reserved for shadowy figures bugging apartments to deliver intelligence to Moscow. But the post-Soviet surveillance state has a new accomplice - European software companies. Expe...
