Latest news with #CatarinaDemony
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Scottish parliament approves assisted dying bill in key vote
By Catarina Demony LONDON (Reuters) -The Scottish parliament voted on Tuesday in favour of a bill that would allow people living in Scotland with a terminal illness to take their own lives, bringing the proposal a step closer to becoming a reality in the country. Ahead of a final vote, the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill will move to a committee stage where it will be scrutinised and amended by members of the Scottish parliament. If the legislation is passed, Scotland would join countries such as Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Austria and Ecuador in allowing assisted dying in certain circumstances. It comes after a historic vote last year in the British parliament in which lawmakers backed a bill to allow assisted dying in England and Wales. The Scottish bill would give mentally competent adults who have been diagnosed with a terminal condition the right to end their life, assisted by health professionals. The legislation would include safeguards such as independent assessments by two doctors and a 14-day cooling-off period. There would be a requirement for those requesting an assisted death to have lived in Scotland for at least a year. Individuals would need to self-administer the substance that would end their life. The bill was proposed by Liberal Democrat member of the Scottish parliament Liam McArthur in 2021, and it is the third time that lawmakers in Scotland have voted on such legislation. The last vote was in 2015. Ahead of the vote, McArthur joined supporters outside the Scottish parliament and said he believed the "political mood has shifted dramatically over the last 10 years". Polls show a majority of Britons back assisted dying and supporters say the law needs to catch up with public opinion. Opponents say the bill would fail to safeguard those most vulnerable. Campaign group Better Way said on its website it was concerned the bill, as drafted, could lead to injustices against people with disabilities, those living with dementia and others. "People would feel pressure to die due to inequality; coercion of vulnerable people could not be ruled out; and eligibility criteria would be challenged in the courts," said Better Way spokesman Miro Griffiths.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Enough talk, time for action, CARICOM official says on slavery reparations
By Catarina Demony (Reuters) - The push for slavery reparations is at a defining moment, a Caribbean Community official said on the second day of a United Nations forum, adding it was time to step up actions to hold former colonial powers to account for past wrongs. "Enough talk, time for concrete results," said Hilary Brown on Tuesday, representative of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, at the fourth session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent in New York. Calls for reparations are longstanding but have been gaining momentum worldwide, particularly among CARICOM and the African Union. Backlash against it has also been growing. CARICOM has a reparations plan, which, among other demands, calls for technology transfers and investments to tackle health crises and illiteracy. The AU is developing its own plan. CARICOM and the AU have in recent years joined forces in the fight for reparations, and Brown said that partnership put the movement at a "defining moment" as they can use one voice to demand action. Brown said together they could advance the reparations agenda at the UN and other intergovernmental bodies, co-sponsor a joint UN resolution on reparations and advocate for a high-level political forum on the issue. "CARICOM is ready to take this agenda to the next level, and we welcome the partnership of the AU and other coalitions that share the vision and conviction necessary to ensure that Europe is held to account," Brown said. Many of Europe's leaders have opposed even talking about reparations. At least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported by European ships and sold into slavery from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Opponents of reparations argue, among other things, that contemporary states and institutions should not be held responsible for their past. But advocates say action is needed to address the legacies, such as systemic and structural racism, and say that contemporary states still benefit from the wealth generated by hundreds of years of exploitation.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colombia's VP calls on former colonial powers to confront past as UN forum opens
By Catarina Demony (Reuters) - Colombia's Vice President Francia Marquez, an advocate of slavery reparations, urged former colonial powers to take responsibility for their past wrongs as a United Nations forum on people of African descent opened in New York on Monday. "Colonial states, states that fostered... that form of domination based on the definition of race have to assume the responsibility of restoring the human dignity of people of African descent," Marquez told Reuters in an interview. While the issue of reparations has gained momentum worldwide, from Africa to the Caribbean, so has the backlash. Many of Europe's leaders have opposed even talking about reparations. Marquez, a celebrated environmental activist, was elected in 2022 and is Colombia's first Black woman vice president. At least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported by European ships and sold into slavery from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Hundreds of thousands were shipped to Colombia. Marquez said many Afro-Colombians still lacked basic rights, such as access to health, housing and higher education, a reality she sees as a legacy of that period: "We continue to experience the damage and consequences of that system." Opponents of reparations argue, among other things, that contemporary states and institutions should not be held responsible for their past. But advocates say action is needed to address the legacies, such as systemic and structural racism, and say that contemporary states still benefit from the wealth generated by hundreds of years of exploitation. At the fourth session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD), participants such as Marquez will discuss calls for reparations in the digital age. The forum says systemic inequities risk being replicated in emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI). UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in remarks delivered by his Chef de Cabinet Courtenay Rattray, reiterated his call for reparations, and said there was a need to "eliminate bias" from AI. "Even AI, which holds such promise for humanity, too often mirrors and amplifies the same inequalities and racial biases that have plagued us for centuries," Guterres said. Marquez said although important steps had been taken by the UN in the fight for reparations, such as the creation of the PFPAD, more must be done: "It is not enough to face the challenges of systemic racism the population still faces." Brazil's Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco was among other politicians attending the four-day UN forum. Franco said slavery was a crime against humanity and "must be faced with courage".
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rising populism should not stop discussions on reparations, says African Union official
By Catarina Demony LONDON (Reuters) - The rise of right-wing populism in Europe and elsewhere should not prevent Africa from bringing reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism to the table, the head of the African Union's (AU) diaspora division said. "There is no better time as this to discuss the issue of reparations as Africans ... irrespective of the various issues going on that may seem intimidating," the official, Angela Naa Afoley Odai, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. Others, including the president of the African island nation of Cape Verde, Jose Maria Neves, previously said the growth of right-wing populism has made it difficult to hold a serious debate over reparations. Neves said debating the issue in the "public arena" could potentially lead to more political polarisation in European countries formerly involved in slavery and colonialism, such as Portugal, France and Britain. While the issue of reparations has gained momentum worldwide, so has the backlash. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he "doesn't see it happening," and many of Europe's leaders have opposed even talking about reparations. African leaders launched a new push for reparations in February, and say they will set out their own plan of what reparations may look like, from financial compensation and formal acknowledgement of past wrongs to policy reforms. The AU said in a statement that reparations could involve "diplomatic pressure or legal actions at international courts". Afoley Odai said diplomatic pressure would stem from the work the AU was doing, including with the Caribbean, to "build a united front" involving both those who live on the continent and the African diaspora. She said ongoing links between the African Union and the European Union, from summits to partnerships, would be used to push for reparations. Opponents of reparations argue, among other things, that contemporary states and institutions should not be held responsible for their past. But advocates say action is needed to address the legacy of slavery and colonialism, such as systemic and structural racism, and say that contemporary states still benefit from the wealth generated by hundreds of years of exploitation.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK government, museums urged to stop display of ancestral remains, repatriate them
By Catarina Demony LONDON (Reuters) - Some British lawmakers, NGOs and researchers have called on the government to fix what they have described as a "legislative vacuum" that allows museums and other institutions to hold and display African ancestral remains taken during the colonial era. For centuries, African ancestral remains, such as mummified bodies, skulls and other body parts, were brought to Britain and to other former colonial powers, often as "trophies" or as commodities to be traded and displayed. There are growing calls worldwide for such remains, as well as looted art, to be repatriated to their communities or countries of origin. Although some efforts have been made to confront the long-standing issue, African remains are still held in various institutions across the country, such as museums and universities. "We cannot allow the dehumanisation of our ancestors," Connie Bell, from the 'Decolonising the Archive' project, said at an event on Wednesday organised by a cross-party parliamentary group on reparations, chaired by Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy. In November 2024, Ribeiro-Addy brought the issue to parliament, saying colonial-era remains were being listed for sale by auction houses, on e-commerce platforms and social media. A month before Ribeiro-Addy's remarks, an auction house in Tetsworth, Oxfordshire, withdrew a sale of such remains, including skulls from West Africa's Ekoi people, following criticism by native by local communities and advocates. UK's deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said it was horrifying to hear Ribeiro-Addy's account, and agreed to further discuss the issue. A meeting with the culture minister will take place soon, Ribeiro-Addy said on Wednesday. The cross-party group will present to the government 14 policy recommendations, including making all sales of remains illegal "on the basis they are not commercial objects but human beings". The policy brief, produced by the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD), said the government should close loopholes in the Human Tissues Act 2004, which covers the removal, storage, use and disposal of human tissue. The act does not, however, cover activities related to remains of people who died over a century ago, which excludes most ancestral remains held by museums and other institutions, AFFORD said. AFFORD said the act should be amended to make public display of human remains an offence if done without consent. It also said a national restitution policy should be adopted, a body should be created to handle repatriation claims and collections of human remains should be mapped out.
