Stonewalled: US House rejects war crimes report

Edward Said once said,' it is is part of morality not to be at home in one's home.' This is the challenge for those who believe in the universality of human rights, especially when the charge of infringing on them, treads uncomfortably close. On the afternoon of November 3, 2009, the United States House of Representatives voted in favor of House Resolution 867 (H.Res.867), an AIPAC-backed bill that urges both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to "oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the "Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict," referred to commonly as the "Goldstone Report." With this vote, the US Congress has not only enshrined its opposition to investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity found to be committed during last winter's Israeli massacre of over 1,400 Palestinians in the closed-off Gaza Strip, but has also affirmed its outrageous and unconscionable commitment to Israel's continuous unfettered aggression and singular unaccountability to international law, rules of military engagement, human rights, and basic morality.

Read more from Nima Shirazi.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell (Review)

The rebels fought for resources. Charles Taylor fought to stay in power. Young boys were recruited to fight in a war they barely understood. And the women of Liberia, they fought for survival, theirs and Liberia’s.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a gripping, tear-jerking, yet empowering story of the resilience of the human spirit and the capacity of our survival instinct to triumph over the greatest challenges.

Read the rest of Nekessa's review here.

Homosexuality and the Myth of Choice

We continue to publish content setting the tone on the discussion on the rights of Kenya's gay community.

Today Stephanie Migot shows why arguments that homosexuals do not deserve equal rights as do heterosexuals are both misguided and wrong.

Homosexuality is no more a lifestyle choice than being born with straight or curly hair. People do not wake up one day and decide that they want to be a member of a threatened and oppressed minority. While scientific research continues its search for a definitive “gay gene,” at present the only potentially reliable indicator is the number of older brothers a male child has . LGBTQ people are born, not made or “converted.” Despite the attempts of a number of misguided anti-homosexual groups in the USA, there is no scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed.

Why Justice Must Be Served

Perhaps, at the end of the day when we are done debating politics and laughing at the idiocy of the political elite, perhaps then we will think of Njeri and thousands of IDPs whose only wish is that their lives might return to some normalcy and that those who masterminded the PEV would pay.

Nekessa on Ruth Njeri's tragic story.

The UnaAfrican African

What is African? What isn't? What defines who we are? Our identity? From our archives is an article by Stephen Wanyama on why he finds little identity with Africa. The comments that follow are a lively debate.

Read here .

Ngog shows Gerrard he is a good student

Steven Gerrard remains inspiring.

Gifts for Mama

This woman's daughters' misfortunes know no bounds. Sandra Mushi is back on our pages with a story about a woman who's daughters come back home, first with gifts, and then to stay. And they are not alone.

More.

Post-independence land-grabbing in Kenyan uncovered

Business Daily publishes a must-read report on land grabbing and settlement schemes (not the noun) in post colonial Kenya. Alcohol and greed feature prominently.

I am a little irritated right now

One of our bloggers Amina Mohamed read a disturbing blog post. She says why.

Freedom for the thought that we hate

Individuals and groups have a right to their opinions and beliefs. There is absolutely no compulsion for anyone to participate in or even approve of any of these acts. If you don’t like it, don’t do it. But that doesn’t give you the right to impose on someone else.

Gathara's libertarian streak is showing.

Uganda is “under attack”

Uganda is under attack and, as always, it’s the mothers of the nation who are to blame. 

An anti-homosexuality bill has been tabled before the Parliament of Uganda. Many have risen to denounce and oppose it, both within the country and from across the globe.  Many others have risen to support it. Some in the Church have argued in favor of the capital punishment in the Bill, others have argued for life imprisonment. The ones arguing for life imprisonment are actually considered to be in opposition to the Bill. After all, in Uganda “homosexuality is already an offence under the Penal Code of Uganda as is same-sex marriage, which is prohibited by the Constitution.”

Dan Moshenberg shows why Uganda is NOT under attack.

Constitutions don't make Homophiles

...if the written law and social values were two cats, gay rights a mouse and we had only one bell, which one ought we to bell first? The more vicious one of course...

Matathia on priorities.

Gay Census; useful first step

My honest opinion, and I will accept chastisement for my ignorance, is that homosexual Kenyans are far safer, far far safer with the government than they are with the Kenyan public. This is one of those issues like the Mau debate, or caning in schools, or the death penalty where the state will be more likely to defend and protect human rights than the public, the media or even civil society leadership will be to sue for it.

Syzygy Mandaea explains why he thinks gay Kenyans are safer with their government than they would be without: human rights, healthcare and violence.