Anthropologist Exposes Organ Trafficking

Nancy Scheper-Hughes’ research on global organ trafficking was highlighted in a story by Newsweek recently. Hughes acknowledges that her methods, which include misleading some research subjects, bump up against the association’s ethics code. Her research has, however, helped generate awareness about the black market organ trade and the extent to which some US hospitals are complicit in this trade. If you have thoughts on this subject, please leave a comment below.

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AAA Responds to Threats against Forensic Anthropologists

AAA President Setha Low and the Committee for Human Rights sent letters to the Guatemalan government requesting additional protection for members of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation who have been receiving death threats for their investigation of massacres that occurred in the 1980s. Vice President Rafael Espada responded to this request by temporarily increasing protection for targeted members. CfHR is working to secure continuous protection for these forensic anthropologists. The letters and Espada’s response (in Spanish) are available on CfHR's homepage.

AAA Joins AAAS' Science & Human Rights Coalition

The AAA recently attended the launch of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Science and Human Rights Coalition. The coalition aims to increase communication and collaboration between scientific associations, individual researchers, and the human rights community in the pursuit of universal human rights. The January 14th launch opened with three notable speakers, including Mary Robinson, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and President of Ireland. The coalition has already been involved in two human rights initiatives organized by AAAS: 1) The Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project, which utilizes high-tech mapping tools to gather data on isolated conflicts, environmental destruction, and indigenous rights; and 2) “On-Call” Scientists, a program that connects scientists interested in volunteering their expertise with human rights organizations in need of such expertise. Anthropologists interested in participating in this coalition or volunteering with “On-Call” Scientists can find additional information at http://shr.aaas.org/coalition/

Action Alert: Petition Philippine Government to Halt Attacks on Civil Society Groups

Cultural Survival and the Cordillera People's Alliance issued action alerts for the disappearance of indigenous activist James Balao. The contents of Cultural Survival's petition are copied below. We encourage our readers to consider signing the petition:

Philippine indigenous activist James Balao went missing on Sept. 17th in La Trinidad town in Benguet province. His disappearance could be connected to his work as a defender of human rights among the indigenous people of northern Luzon. Balao is the founder of the Cordillera People's Alliance (CPA). Members of military intelligence and police have been linked to his abduction. He is the second CPA member to disappear since 1987. Two other CPA members were murdered by unidentified assailants two years ago. For more information: www.cpaphils.org.

Write a letter or send an email urging the government of the Philippines to probe the disappearance of Balao and to observe international covenants on human rights by halting attacks on members of civil society groups.
H.E. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President of the Republic
Malacañang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines
E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph / erermita@pop.gov.ph

Dear President Macapagal-Arroyo:

I am deeply disturbed about the "disappearance" of Cordillera Peoples Alliance co-founder and member James M. Balao on September 17, 2008, following months of surveillance. The circumstances of his abduction suggest that military intelligence agents had a role in it. Since then, his family has had no information regarding his whereabouts.

Since the Philippine government implemented its Operation Plan Bantay Laya in 2001, members and leaders of organizations working for Indigenous Peoples' rights, such as the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, have been unjustly labeled communist fronts and terrorist organizations. Their leaders have received death threats, and have been kidnapped and killed.

We urgently call for the democratic government of the Philippines to categorically reject the illegal and globally condemned practices of past military dictatorships; and urge you, as the Philippines Commander in Chief, to leave no stone unturned until James Balao's place of detention is identified, those responsible are arrested, and he is returned to his family and community.

Sincerely yours,

CFP: "Human Rights in the USA"

CALL FOR PAPERS

"HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE USA"

A Conference at the University of Connecticut

October 22-24, 2009.

We invite scholars from the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law to submit abstracts of papers on the application of human rights laws and norms in the USA. Panels will address issues such as children's rights, civil rights, health care, environmental justice, human rights and security since 9/11, domestic violence, gender and sexuality, American literature and human rights, the history of equal rights, immigration, social welfare provision and economic rights. The Human Rights Institute will pay panelists' accommodation and registration expenses.

Please submit a one paragraph abstract and one page resume by February 28, 2009.

Conference Organizer: Richard A. Wilson, Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut humanrights@uconn.edu

For more details, visit: http://humanrights.uconn.edu/conferences/2009.php

Petition Calling for Release of Liu Xiaobo Picked Up by Media

The NY Times recently reported on a petition to free Liu Xiaobo, one of the main players behind Charter 08. Scholars, anthropologists, Nobel laureates, and others signed the petition calling for Xiaobo's release and the need to preserve the basic civil and human right to express one's views.

Sixty-six States Support Statement Declaring Equal Rights

Sixty-six nations of the UN General Assembly supported a statement extending international human rights protections to individuals of all sexual orientations and gender identities. According to Human Rights Watch, "The statement condemned killings, torture, arbitrary arrest, and deprivation of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to health." The statement won broad support in Europe and Latin America, but was opposed by the US, Russia, China, and others. Homosexuality remains banned in 80 countries, and is punishable by the death penalty in six nations. There is still much work to be done to promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and the Triple A remains dedicated to protecting human difference in all its forms.