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	Most Popular Human Rights Topics on Twitter in 2012 by Human Rights Watch   In 2012, @hrw sent over 2,000 tweets and a quarter of a million new people started following the feed. Human Rights Watch has over 100 staff actively tweeting human rights developments around the world. In the past year these researchers, advocates and directors tweeted developing human rights stories such as the drafting of the Egyptian constitution, the first trial and conviction by the International Criminal Court and the first women to represent Saudi Arabia in the Olympic games.   Here are the top ten most-clicked stories of the year.   10. Today is Int"l Day of People w/ Disabilities. Show your support, call on US Senators to vote YES to #CRPD http://bit.ly/SBs7mg   The United States missed an opportunity to display global leadership on disability rights on December 4, 2012, as the Senate failed to approve ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.   9. Burma: Government Forces Targeting Rohingya Muslims http://bit.ly/MQUgFp   Burmese security forces failed to protect the Arakan Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims from each other and then unleashed a campaign of violence and mass roundups against the Rohingya.   8. US Supreme Court shouldn"t let #Georgia #execute a man with intellectual disabilities #warrenhill http://bit.ly/ObLjnQ   The issue in the case is the standard Georgia uses for proving intellectual disability. Georgia is the only state that requires defendants to prove their disability beyond a reasonable doubt.   7. Bulgaria: Denounce Call to Stone Gays http://bit.ly/OspIu6   On June 6, Father Evgeni Yanakiev of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was quoted in the Bulgarian Standard newspaper as saying: “Our whole society must in every possible way oppose the gay parade that is being planned. For this reason today I appeal to all those who consider themselves Christians and Bulgarians. Throwing stones at gays is an appropriate way.”   6. Syria: Sexual Assault in Detention http://bit.ly/Np1IHL   Human Rights Watch reported in June that Syrian government forces have used sexual violence to torture men, women, and boys detained during the current conflict. Witnesses and victims also told Human Rights Watch that soldiers and pro-government armed militias have sexually abused women and girls as young as 12 during home raids and military sweeps of residential areas.   5. The #protesters carried flowers. #Bahrain police lobbed concussion grenades. Several injured, one critically http://bit.ly/LdVvJy   Bahrain’s human rights situation remains critical in the wake of the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.   Why are the #Bahrain police tossing stungrenades at journalists covering protests? http://bit.ly/NCZ6Qa #pressfreedom   4. Which country tried more than 12,000 civilians, including children, by military tribunal in 2011? http://bit.ly/K6U0iU   Egypt’s newly elected parliament failed to end the onerous practice of military trial of civilians.   3. Growing Up Locked Down - Youth in Solitary Confinement in Jails and Prisons Across the United States http://bit.ly/RwroQd   US teens in solitary confinement, joint investigative project by Human Rights Watch and the ACLU. Locking kids in solitary confinement with little or no contact with other people is cruel, harmful, and unnecessary.   2. #Saudi women went to the Olympics, but still can’t participate in sports at home http://bit.ly/RgKWpU   For the first time, after considerable international pressure and sustained advocacy by Human Rights Watch, Saudi Arabia sent two women to the Olympics.   IOC @Olympics should ban #Saudi Arabia if women can"t play @London2012 Games! http://bit.ly/L0VBUE   1. #PussyRiot case shocking, image of rights lawyer #Markelov, on the sidewalk w back of his head blown off was worse http://bit.ly/QMsvcj   The trial of the feminist punk rock group Pussy Riot highlighted the deteriorating state of the rule of law and freedom of expression in Russia.   HRW researchers were at the #PussyRiot verdict. Guess what the judge said about feminists? http://bit.ly/Obk7Xe Visit the related web page
	Calls for profound change in India in wake of rape tragedy by Outlook India, Hindustan Times & agencies India   December 30, 2012   India mourns rape victim in vigils and protests   Tens of thousands of people took part in late night candlelit vigils across India for a young medical student who has been the focus of a wave of protests ever since she was savagely attacked by a gang of men on a bus two weeks ago, she died from her injuries overnight.   The demonstrations took place peacefully as mourners vowed the student"s killing would serve as a tipping point for how the nation deals with violence against women. The horrific Delhi gang-rape has shone the spotlight on a crime that occurs on a daily basis in India, with most such assaults taking place in rural areas.   Bela Rana, was among the protesters in Delhi, said women were no longer prepared to suffer in silence. "We are aware that this is not the first case, nor will it be the last case of rape in India, but it is clear that we will not tolerate sex crimes any more," said Rana, a Delhi-based lawyer.   Rapes are a daily occurrence in India and many go unreported by victims who have little faith in an often painfully slow justice system and are deterred by the response they often receive from male police officers.   The particularly savage nature of the attack in Delhi has brought simmering anger to a boiling point and prompted the government to promise better security for women and harsher sentences for sex crimes.   After being lured onto a bus, the student was attacked by the men who took turns raping her and assaulted her with an iron bar before throwing her and her male companion off the moving vehicle.   As crowds mourned the student"s death, the Press Trust of India reported a new series of sex attacks, including the gang-rape of a 14-year-old girl who then tried to commit suicide by swallowing poison in Gujarat state. And a 18-year-old rape victim committed suicide in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh after police allegedly failed to take action against the accused.   Beyond the sadness there is an underlying anger in Delhi and across India, not only at this attack, but at the treatment of women in the world"s largest democracy.   Sexual violence is common, particularly in Delhi, which carries the unhappy epithet of the "rape capital" of India.   The victim"s father, a poor farmer from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, had sold all of his land, so his daughter could have an education - the first woman in her family to be given that opportunity.   He told the speaker of India"s Parliament that he and his wife would often go without food, so that they could pay for their daughter"s studies and give her a better life.   In the wake of the attack, much of the country"s anger has been directed towards a police force seen as apathetic, corrupt and misogynist, and a political class that often seems uncaring. Senior police are regularly quoted in the Indian press as saying women who are raped are to blame for their attacks - for being out at night, for talking to men, or for wearing jeans.   Most rapes and other sex crimes in India go unreported and offenders are rarely punished, women"s rights activists say. Data provided by India"s National Crime Records Bureau show 228,650 cases of crimes against women were reported in 2011. It typically takes years for ordinary Indians to get justice because of a slow-moving legal process and overburdened courts.   Long-running trials and lax enforcement of laws have also fueled protests in the nation"s capital. At least 40,000 rape cases are pending in the Supreme Court, of which 67 percent have been on the roll for more than a year, government data show.   India has about 15 judges for each million of its 1.2 billion people, according to UN data. In China, there are about 159 judges for each million people, while in the U.S. the figure is about 108.   Rape and the crisis of Indian masculinity, by Ratna Kapur.   We need to inquire why young Indian men are routinely committing rapes against women who are just going about their daily lives. What is the anger that motivates this level of violence? In recent decades, women’s rights have risen and greater numbers of women are asserting their identity as women as opposed to being someone’s wife, daughter or sister. And with the opening up of the market, women are ever more visible in the workplace. Increasingly entering what was considered male bastions of power, challenging the sense of superiority and entitlement of the traditional Indian male.   This idea of a woman as a fully formed human subject remains a difficult concept to embrace for sections of the male population. Even those who are in favour of women’s rights such as the National Commission of Women and the Department of Women and Child Development, continue to refer to women as vulnerable objects and discuss the issue of violence against women in highly protectionist language.   Women writers point to a larger social malaise.   Women have been living in fear, the causes of which are not just violence by certain elements but the malaise of society at large, said Kendra Sahitya, Akademi award winner Vaidehi.   Talking at the celebrations of Karavali Lekhakhiyara Vachakiyara Sangha (Karavali Writers, Readers’ Association), she said the recent gang-rape of a woman in New Delhi had shown how vulnerable women were in society.   “When a woman gets off a bus at 10 p.m. and there are men around on the road, why should only she fear and not them? And when a complaint is given, she is asked what she was doing out on the road in the middle of the night. “Why are women treated as second-grade citizens with lesser rights and freedom?”   Known for her feminist writings, the writer said atrocities against women had long history. She said it was heartening to see even men protesting against the horrendous New Delhi rape.   Scathing in her commentary on the masculine and misogynic tendencies of society, writer and professor at Kannada University, Hampi, H. Nagaveni said discrimination against women was at all levels, and was even seen even in literature.   “Culture” and “traditions” were the reasons given to exclude women, she said.   Having grown up in rural Dakshina Kannada, she said harassment of women was a daily sight, with “pregnant women seen at clinics after having been sexually exploited in factories or isolated farms.”   Rape is manifestation of patriarchal society, says Medha Patkar.   Convenor of National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) and social activist Medha Patkar addressing a press conference said she hoped that the ongoing spell of protests rape would bring greater awareness about women’s rights in the society and see them as equal citizens. Rape is manifestation of the patriarchal society with caste and class culture that is being practiced in the country, she stated.   She condemned the violent police action against the youth protesting against increasing sexual violence on the streets of Delhi and also called on the youth to observe restraint.   http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=784559   http://www.ndtv.com/topic/delhi-gang-rape   http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/delhi-gang-rape/specialcoverage/17675360.cms   http://www.firstpost.com/breaking%20views/young-india-shakes-power-corridor-want-ears-to-their-demands-566719.html   * Dr Ranjana Kumari, the director of the Centre for Social Change in India, writes on Women’s empowerment – challenging patriarchy; globally and overviews the Indian experience, for the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development: http://www.fsd.org.qa/app/media/689   http://www.csrindia.org/ http://csrindia.org/blog/   * UN human rights chief calls for profound change in India in wake of gang-rape tragedy:   http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43862&Cr=india&Cr1=#.UOJqN6z_nTo   http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12950&LangID=E
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