My weekly Guardian column: Western-friendly dictators can die in peace, knowing they’ll be lauded as soon as they stop breathing. So it was for Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, who recently passed away at the age of 91. Tributes poured in from across the globe. Barack Obama called him “visionary” while Australian prime minister…
Showing all posts tagged human rights
Opposing Washington's violence against Venezuela
I’m happy to have recently signed this statement on… Washington’s unprovoked aggression against Venezuela (via Telesur): WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has added his name to a growing list of Australian journalists, academics, politicians, trade unionists and solidarity activists calling on U.S. president… Barack… Obama to… revoke his executive… order against Venezuelan . On March 9, Obama issued… the order which… imposed sanctions… on…
UK Institute of Race Relations reviews Profits of Doom
Britain’s Institute of Race Relations, “at the cutting edge of the research and analysis that inform the struggle for racial justice in Britain, Europe and internationally”, has reviewed my recent book, Profits of Doom, in its Race and Class publication: instituteofracerelationspodreview
South Sudan burns while its people suffer
My following essay appears in Al Jazeera America: On a blazing hot March day in the town of Ganyiel in South Sudan’s Unity state, 19-year-old Elizabeth cautiously smiled. Born in Yei, a southwestern town near the border with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the young woman was unafraid to criticize her country’s leaders.…
What aid dependence does to South Sudan
My following essay appears in Al Jazeera English: The book launch was held in a large restaurant last weekend in the middle of the South Sudanese capital, Juba. Veteran journalist and editor of The Citizen, Victor Keri Wani, was being celebrated for his 40 years in the media business, an eternity in a country that…
In Ganyiel, South Sudanese face food and life challenges
My following story appears in today’s Guardian: Angela has been living in the remote town of Ganyiel, in South Sudan’s Unity state, for 18 months. Trying to feed her five children has been hard. Angela is angry with the country’s warring parties. “I pray for peace,” she says. “But if they won’t stop the conflict,…
Standing for free speech as South African writer assaulted
I just heard about this shocking story in South Africa and signed a statement in solidarity: The savage attack on Zainub Dala shows the terror of the freedom to use words, and the desire to obliterate them. On Wednesday March 18 author, Zainub Priya Dala was violently attacked as she left her hotel during the…
How US evangelicals influence South Sudan and Africa
My following feature appears in the Guardian US: In the small town of Yei, in southern South Sudan, missionary reverend Shelvis Smith-Mather closed his eyes and prayed. On a searing hot February day, wearing a yellow tie and dusty black shoes, the 35-year-old man from Atlanta, Georgia, was opening a community forum dedicated to reconciliation…
ABC Radio Adelaide on disaster capitalism
This week I’ve been in Adelaide for its literary festival. The events, outdoors and free, have been huge, drawing well over 1200 people per session. I was interviewed by ABC Adelaide about my work, including my recent book Profits of Doom:
How and why the "war on drugs" kills millions
My following book review appeared in the Weekend Australian on 28 February: Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs By Johann Hari Bloomsbury, 390pp, $29.99 The numbers are staggering. More than two million American citizens are in prison, about 25 per cent of the world’s incarcerated population. Many are…