Archive: Society | Human rights Human rights

Czech Republic to provide aid to devastated Texan town

19-04-2013 15:50 | Jan Richter

West, Texas, April 18, 2013, photo: CTK The Czech Republic will provide aid to the Texan town of West, which has been devastated by a massive explosion at a local fertiliser plant. The country’s ambassador to the US has arrived in the town, which has a very strong Czech heritage, and says the Czech government will help rebuild the community. More assistance for West should also come from the north Moravian towns whose inhabitants settled in the town more than a century ago. More

AI launches Europe-wide campaign to end discrimination against Roma

08-04-2013 15:51 | Jan Richter

Photo: Vojtěch Berger Marking International Roma Day on Monday, Amnesty International has just launched a Europe-wide campaign entitled Human Rights Here, Roma Rights Now. It aims to end persisting discrimination and segregation that an estimated six million Roma face in many European countries, including the Czech Republic. Mark Martin, the head of Amnesty International’s Czech branch, explains what the campaign hopes to achieve. More

Václav Havel award for human rights founded in Prague

26-03-2013 15:45 | Jan Richter

Václav Havel, photo: Tomáš Vodňanský The Václav Havel award for human rights has been established in Prague in memory of the late Czech president, dissident playwright and human rights advocate. The prize, which will reward activities in defence of human rights around the world, will be first handed out this autumn by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe along with the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation. More

Whites only South African town focus of fascinating One World film

13-03-2013 15:38 | Ian Willoughby

'Orania', photo: official website of the film Orania, which has been shown at this year’s One World film festival of human rights documentaries, is a fascinating portrait of a controversial purely white town founded in 1991 by a group of Afrikaners averse to post-apartheid South Africa’s “rainbow nation”. Two decades later, Orania now has a population of around 1,000, and even its own currency. More

OW doc Beyond Wriezen delivers gripping portrait of post-prison lives of three young Germans

12-03-2013 15:30 | Ian Willoughby

'Beyond Wriezen', photo: HFF Potsdam Beyond Wriezen, a gripping portrayal of three troubled young men as they attempt – with varying degrees of success – to build new lives after being released from a prison near Berlin, is among the 14 films in competition at the One World festival of human rights documentaries, which is currently running in Prague. I discussed the idea behind Beyond Wriezen with its Dutch director Daniel Abma, who in the past was a counsellor at Wriezen. More

Helle Faber – Russia’s Nashi like Hitler Youth, says producer of Putin’s Kiss

11-03-2013 13:40 | Ian Willoughby

'Putin’s Kiss', photo: Made in Copenhagen Helle Faber’s production company Made in Copenhagen has been behind a string of documentary films that have made an impact far beyond the borders of her native Denmark. The producer has just been in Prague for the One World festival of human rights documentaries, giving workshops for local filmmakers at the East Doc Forum sidebar and introducing her company’s Putin’s Kiss, an excellent documentary that maps the fate of a leading member of Russia’s pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi. More

Plight of gay Palestinians hiding out in Israel subject of OW film The Invisible Men

07-03-2013 15:32 | Ian Willoughby

'The Invisible Men', photo: archive of the One World festival At the start of The Invisible Men, which is being shown at the One World festival of human rights documentaries in Prague, a gay Palestinian named Louie describes how his father – on discovering his sexual orientation – brutally attacked him, slashing his face open with a knife. Louie has moved to Israel where he is relatively safe (and even wears a Star of David to blend in), but he faces great uncertainty every day. Prior to a screening, the film’s Israeli director Yariv Mozer outlined the predicament of such “invisible men”. More

OW doc Sofia’s Last Ambulance captures dedication of medics in face of failing system

06-03-2013 15:16 | Ian Willoughby

'Sofia’s Last Ambulance', photo: archive of the One World festival The award-winning film Sofia’s Last Ambulance, which is now screening at the One World festival of human rights documentaries, records the experiences of an ambulance crew in the Bulgarian capital over two years, capturing moments of high human drama against the backdrop of a barely functioning system. Travelling with the medics were two filmmakers, director Ilian Melev and soundman Tom Kirk. The latter, who is a guest at the festival, told me it had often been an intense experience. More

One World opener Bravehearts maps year in life of Norwegian students shaken by Breivik attacks

05-03-2013 | Ian Willoughby

'Bravehearts', photo: One World festival Bravehearts, which opened the One World festival of human rights documentaries in Prague on Monday night, follows politically engaged Norwegian students preparing for student elections. However, midway through filming Norway suffered a terrible tragedy, when Anders Behring Breivik shot dead 69 people at a Labour Party youth camp after setting off a bomb in Oslo. One of the film’s protagonists was there. More

Council of Europe urges Czech Republic to improve the lot of people with mental disabilities

28-02-2013 16:06 | Daniela Lazarová

Illustrative photo: archive of Radio Prague The Council of Europe last week released a report criticizing the Czech Republic for the way it treats people with mental disabilities. The criticism targeting the living conditions and rights of this most vulnerable segment of the population is not the first of its kind. The Czech authorities have previously come under fire for using caged beds in mental institutions. On a fact-finding visit to the Czech Republic, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks went further, arguing that many of the patients in mental institutions could be living a more dignified life outside of these walls. More

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