The crippling government and Rakhine abuse of Rohingya has been building for decades. When I was first in Burma and Rakhine State I witnessed many many shameful abuses of kind and peaceful Rohingya people. The following is an episode that exposed the deep psychological wounds of persecution upon...
As I begin my blog about Human Rights in Burma, focusing on the Rohingya I would like to share various writings about my experiences with Rohingya. Written February 2013. “We want peace,“ were the Rohingya’s sentiments expressed to me again, as I recently...
The following blog series by the Sentinel Project’s Steven Kiersons explores how the physical sciences and Western philosophy contributed to the modern phenomenon of genocide and totalitarianism. Kiersons illustrates how the rise of scientism following the discoveries of Galileo essentially...
A confidential Sentinel Project source inside Burma has summarized the latest in government and civilian attacks against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state. As the source states, one of the most disconcerting revelations of the past 30 days is a government plan to expel Rohingya Muslims from the...
October saw a potential shift in inter-communal fighting which spread from primarily resource sharing conflicts between agriculturalists and pastoralists to a deepening rift between religious communities as a result of the Westgate Mall attack in September. Government responses and general...
by David Kalmats Violence that has been occurring on a routine basis since the June of 2012 spilled into October. Muslims in the coastal town of Thandwe started the month by evading mobs of Buddhist men whom, armed with machetes raided a string of villages with the intent of inflicting damage to...
Today I have the exciting task of announcing the biggest milestone in the Sentinel Project’s history as an organization so far. Beginning immediately, we are launching a two-year field project in the Tana Delta region of Kenya together with our partners at iHub Research in Nairobi. This work is...
In past instances of genocide, hate-speech has drawn its power to inspire violence from some kind of popular appeal. In many cases, its purpose is to dehumanize to facilitate inhuman action. In Rwanda, Tutsis were referred to as “cockroaches;” in Burma, prominent monk Wirathu has...
In my last blog piece, I wrote about the benefits, and drawbacks of military intervention in humanitarian affairs in the context of punishment or punitive bombing. It turns out that in theory there are some preliminary benefits, however when examined in practice (i.e. in relation to humanitarian...
In last week’s edition of this series, we examined how drone strikes violate human rights and took a closer look at instances when civilians were harmed. When most people hear the word “drone,” it is usually these negative images that come to mind, and it’s safe to say that the...
Saadullah was injured in a drone attack in 2011, losing his eye and both legs. Last week Pakistani girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai visited US President Barack Obama at the White House. Malala had been targeted by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education in Pakistan, and was...
As I write this, approximately 7 million people have been displaced from the country of Syria due to the bloody civil war that continues to rage on. About 50% are under the age of 18 according to some estimates and as the world looks on with dismay and disgust, many look to the world’s...
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