Welcome to sharedhumanity.org, the home of Shared Humanity – a non-government organisation dedicated to working towards the elimination of gross human rights violations (human rights violations that are extreme, and systematic or widespread).
Shared Humanity seeks to accomplish this mission by increasing public awareness and advocating for a more effective response to atrocities such as genocide and crimes against humanity.
LATEST NEWS
March 7, 2008 Ghosts of Rwanda Screening and Lecture at the National University of Ireland
National University of Ireland
Galway, Republic of Ireland
Fottrell Theatre
Arts Millenium Building
11 March 2008
7:00 PM
This year is the sixtieth anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the fourteen anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. To commemorate a historic achievement and a historic failure, Kjell Anderson, Executive Director of Shared Humanity will talk about his experience in Rwanda and we will play the Frontline documentary, Ghosts of Rwanda.
Hosted by Shared Humanity and STAND October 18, 2007 Enforced Disappearance
Enforced disappearance is one of the most serious human rights violations. As you are reading these words there are many people throughout the world that have disappeared without a trace. Some of these people are dead, while others are suffering (often horrendous torture) in secret detention facilities. These victims (and their families) have been denied the right to an ordinary existence. In this small update of our website we have added a
Dictionary of Gross Human Rights Violations entry on the
Crime Against Humanity of Enforced Disappearance, as well as the
Convention on Enforced Disappearance. Work on the general redesign and upgrade of the site is continuing and the site should be ready to relaunch with substantially improved and expanded content in late november.
August 17, 2007 Big Changes at Shared Humanity
Sharedhumanity.org is currently undergoing a major redesign and upgrade which will see the addition of a lot of new information and features. There will be no major updates to the site during this process, although the
media monitor will continue to be frequently updated. The organisation itself is also in a major state of development and growth. Currently we are in the process of incorporating in Canada as a non-profit organisation. If you are interested in receiving updates on Shared Humanity send an email to
contact@sharedhumanity.org or if you are interested in being involved email
volunteer@sharedhumanity.org.
July 25, 2007 Urban Child Soldiers and other updates
Shared Humanity is continually upgrading SharedHumanity.org in order to make the site a hub for information about gross human rights violations such as genocide, war crimes, torture, and crimes against humanity. The latest update to the site features a new In-Depth Report on Urban Child Soldiers. Authors Clarissa Huguet and Rebecca Perez argue that, in certain ways, the child gang phenomenon in Brazil is comparable to the use of child soldiers. We have also added new Dictionary of Gross Human Rights Violations entries on Idi Amin, Gross Human Rights Violations in Uganda, Jus Cogens, Afghanistan, and the War Crime of Attacking Civilizans. Finally, the entries on the International Criminal Court and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda have been greately expanded.
June 26, 2007 The International Day to Eradicate Torture
Today marks the anniversary of the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT), and the international day against torture. In recognition of this event SharedHumanity.org is featuring information about torture including greatly expanded Dictionary of Gross Human Rights Violations entries on torture, the recruitment and training of torturers, sensory deprivation, and perceptual deprivation. We have also added a new section to our website called The Surivivors, which features personal testimonies from Surivivors of Gross Human Rights Violations. Our first story is that of a Rwandan named Acleo Kalinga who was a victim of torture in Uganda.
May 7, 2007 Cambodia
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) will soon begin hearing cases. This little-known court, established through an agreement between the United Nations (UN) and the government of Cambodia, is tasked with bringing to justice those the most responsible for the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979. We have added an entry to the Dictionary of Gross Human Rights Violations on the ECCC and have also added the ECCC statute to our Documentation Centre. Moreover, the dictionary entry on Gross Human Rights Violations in Cambodia has been updated and expanded.
April 3, 2007 Chad and Central African Republic - Early Warning Alerts
Shared Humanity has issued a gross human rights violations warning
for Chad and a gross human rights violations watch for the Central African Republic. Both of these countries are at a heightened state of risk due to internal conflicts and potential spillover of the violence in neighbouring Darfur (Sudan). Additionally, we have uploaded a complete early warning brief for Chad to the site. Finally, the briefs on Darfur and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have been updated with timely information and maps.
March 18, 2007 Child Soldiers
The rampant use of child soldiers worldwide has grave humanitarian implications. Children are robbed of their childhood and plunged into a world of extreme violence and abuse (one study of child soldiers in Africa found that over 50% suffered severe nightmares after demobilisation). Moreover, the use of child soldiers also contributes to gross human rights violations by making wars longer and more brutal. Shared Humanity condemns the use of child soldiers. We are updating our site to add two new Dictionary of Gross Human Rights Violations entries (one on child soldiers and one on the war crime of conscripting and enlisting children). We are also updating articles on Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to include information on the use of child soldiers in those countries. Finally, we have added the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict to our Documentation Centre.
March 9, 2007 Shared Humanity is Born!
Today marks the beginning of Shared Humanity, a non-government organisation dedicated to working towards the elimination of gross human rights violations. The website www.sharedhumanity.org is the first phase of this project and will focus on increasing awareness of gross human rights violations such as genocide and crimes against humanity. We will continually improve and expand sharedhumanity.org until it becomes a hub for timely information about gross human rights violations. In subsequent phases of our development we hope to offer memberships and accept donations and eventually to undertake further projects in the areas of education, advocacy, early warning, and assistance to victims of gross human rights violations.