Nelson Mandela - Biography - President (non-U.S.), Writer, Civil Rights Activist
Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South Africa in 1994, serving until 1999. A symbol of global peacemaking, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Synopsis Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in Mveso, Transkei, South Africa. Becoming actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement in his 20s, Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1942. For 20 years, he directed a campaign of peaceful, nonviolent defiance against the South African government and its racist policies. Early Life Nelson Mandela was born Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918, in the tiny village of Mvezo, on the banks of the Mbashe River in Transkei, South Africa. Nelson Mandela's father, who was destined to be a chief, served as a counselor to tribal chiefs for several years, but lost both his title and fortune over a dispute with the local colonial magistrate. At the suggestion of one of his father's friends, Mandela was baptized in the Methodist Church. Mandela's Imprisonment In Recent Years
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Nelson Mandela
Ända sedan början av 1900-talet fram till 1948 fanns det många afrikaner som ansåg att engelsmännen, som utgjorde ungefär 60% av Sydafrikas vita befolkning, diskriminerade den övriga befolkning och då främst den svarta ursprungsbefolkningen. Sydafrika upptäcktes av européerna 1488 och under 1600-talet började området koloniseras av holländarna och senare i början av 1800-talet av Storbritannien. Liksom i många andra afrikanska länder behandlades ursprungsbefolkningen mycket illa och många stridigheter ägde rum om vem som skulle ha rätten till olika områden. Ursprungsbefolkningen hade inte samma rättigheter som de vita. I valet 1948 ställdes det regerande partiet United Party mot en koalition med Nationalistpartiet och Afrikanderpartiet. Den vita befolkningen utgjorde 1948 ungefär 20% av befolkningen. 1950 införde man raslagar i Sydafrika som byggde på att man delade upp befolkningen i fyra olika grupper: De olika folkgrupper skulle inte blandas.
An abuse of human rights
Violence against women is a human rights abuse that directly affects one-third of women and indirectly affects all men and women. Each year millions of women are affected by beatings, rape, torture, intimidation, humiliation and discrimination. The perpetrators can be strangers, soldiers or colleagues. More commonly, they are partners or relatives. Violence against women cuts across race, religion, income, class, culture and age. What is violence against women? Article 1 of the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defines violence against women as: "any act of gender based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life." There are many different kinds of violence perpetrated against women and many different names for it, including: A snapshot of abuse Respect
North Korea human rights abuses resemble those of the Nazis, says UN inquiry | World news
North Korea's leadership is committing systematic and appalling human rights abuses against its own citizens on a scale unparalleled in the modern world, crimes against humanity with strong resemblances to those committed by the Nazis, a United Nations inquiry has concluded. The UN's commission on human rights in North Korea, which gathered evidence for almost a year, including often harrowing testimony at public hearings worldwide, said there was compelling evidence of torture, execution and arbitrary imprisonment, deliberate starvation and an almost complete lack of free thought and belief. The chair of the three-strong panel set up by the UN commissioner on human rights has personally written to North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, to warn that he could face trial at the international criminal court (ICC) for his personal culpability as head of state and leader of the military. The inquiry heard public evidence in Seoul, Tokyo, London and Washington.
