By Arwa Hleihel “Parallel time” became a well-known phrase in the Palestinian political prisoners’ culture, following the prisoner Walid Daka’s play based on his experience in jail. The play is about their time parallel to the time of people at liberty:in jail nothing moves and there is no meaning to time unless it intersects with real time, such as the few occasions when family or lawyers visit.
By Liesbet Debecker A little over a year ago, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rendered its judgement in the case of Alexandru Enache v Romania. Despite this, it is hard to find analyses of the decision in legal literature. This is remarkable, because the court seems to be, to some extent, deviating from previous case law. But is this deviation justified?
By Mustapha Hadji On 5 August 2015 my father passed away after twelve years of chronic illness. His passing was devastating to the whole family, but it would have been even more devastating for my sisters and my mother had we followed Moroccan inheritance law. This law is based on Sharia law, and according to it would have been my brother and I that would have taken most of what my father had left us. Legally speaking, two men would have taken more than the share of four women. Luckily, my family cares more for fairness than the law.
by Cassandra Bockstael “Children in ISIL controlled territory are the responsibility of their parents, we will not put ourselves at risk for people who decided to leave for this region”. This citation comes from Peter de Roover, head of N-VA at the Belgian Parliament. Currently, 162 minors residing in Syria and Iraq have at least one parent of Belgian nationality. According to Belgian law, even if these children are not born on Belgian territory, they have Belgian nationality and are Belgian citizens.
By Cristiana Marques “The crimes in Rakhine State, and the manner in which they were perpetrated, are similar in nature, gravity and scope to those that have allowed genocidal intent to be established in other contexts” UN panel – Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar.
By Emilien MinerThe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, was adopted on 7 April 2011 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and entered into force on 1 August 2014. It sets the minimum standards for the prevention of gender-based violence.
By Marwa Azelmat The world today is home to the largest generation of young people in history. Almost 90 percent of youths live in developing countries, where they constitute a large proportion of the population.
By Milena Österreicher Here we are now: Ali, Amal, Mohamad, Fatima, Ahmed, the other students and I, sitting around one table in the classroom. The sun is shining brightly—it’s one of those beautiful summer’s-end days. Falafel, tabouleh, boulani, mamoul and other delicious food piles up on the table. My pupils from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Chechnya try to convince me, a vegetarian, to try at least one bite of the meat dish they have devotedly cooked. We are having our farewell dinner on the last day of our four-month German course and finally it pops up, the one question I am by now afraid to be asked: “What comes next?”
By Jacquelyn O'Keefe The Right to Vote is the bedrock of democracy. Yet within the United States of America, there are existing barriers that circumvent, limit, and prevent citizens from accessing the political system and exercising their right to vote. Entrenched political interests stagnate the system, aggravate pre-existing limitations, and impede positive change.
By Lauryane Leneveu The history of freedom of expression corresponds to the history of democracy in Europe. Hence, both the affirmation and the considerable importance of this freedom were emphasised following large European social strains such as the Holocaust or the fall of the Berlin Wall. Rapidly, freedom of expression has been recognised as being an indispensable component for the full development of individuals and European communities by guaranteeing open and free pluralistic democratic societies.
