Human Rights in the News: November 2023

Welcome to the November 2023 edition of Human Rights in the News, Woven Teaching’s monthly collection of important human rights stories from around the world.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Gaza (Credit: AP Photo/Leo Correa)

What does the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas look like?
Tia Goldenberg  |  Associated Press  |  23 November 2023

A four-day ceasefire in Palestine has taken effect. Brokered by Qatar, the United States, and Egypt, the ceasefire will allow for an exchange of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Former senator Leila de Lima surrounded by police and paparazzi (Credit: Francis R Malasig/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Philippine opposition leader and Duterte critic freed after almost 7 years
Regine Cabato  |  The Washington Post  |  13 November 2023

Leila de Lima, a prominent critic of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, has been released from jail after almost seven years. De Lima spent five of her six years in jail without trial; the UN concluded in 2018 that her detention was arbitrary.

A Bosnian Muslim woman prays during a funeral ceremony for 30 newly-identified victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide (Credit: Fehim Demir/EPA)

Former Yugoslavia countries must face past horrors or risk return to conflict, Council of Europe official says
Julian Borger  |  The Guardian  |  28 August 2023

A new report from the Council of Europe highlights the failure of countries of the former Yugoslavia to address their violent past. “It was hoped that national courts would continue to pursue the many thousands of other perpetrators, but their momentum has slowed dramatically. Ethno-nationalists are politically dominant across the region, promoting hate speech and denial of genocide and other crimes against humanity.

“After the trials in The Hague, most of the people who served a sentence and were recognised as a war criminals return to their communities as heroes”.

A person photographed from behind, their arms outstretched to show fabric wings on their back that read: “Black Trans Lives Matter”

We misremember marriage equality as 'easy' fight. But it paved the way for trans rights.
Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen and Marc Solomon  |  USA Today  |  17 November 2023

 “These days, [we] often hear how speedy – even easy – that fight was, compared with today’s efforts to win freedom for transgender people.

“But that’s a misreading of history. It forgets how politicians at every level of government either ran from the issue of marriage or weaponized it. And through that misremembering, it makes the fight for transgender equality seem exponentially more difficult, perhaps even impossible, given today’s attacks on trans kids’ ability to access health care, play sports and be respected in school. With a truer memory of the marriage fight – the deep resistance and the strategies that enabled victory – we’re confident we will also win full equality for transgender people.”

Empire State Building in New York City (Credit: Dllu via Wikipedia)

NYC Worker Protections Grow With Rare Ban on Weight, Height Bias
Chris Marr  |  Bloomberg Law  |  21 November 2023

A new law to implement protections against height- and weight-based bias at work has taken effect in New York City. The law will allow for private lawsuits to be brought against companies, as well as bias complaints to the city’s civil rights office. “Workers seeking to claim size-related bias historically have had to connect the discrimination to another protected category, such as claiming a physical impairment protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

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