Derechos Humanos / Human Rights

Dec. 7 marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most pivotal documents in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history: Dignitatis Humanae, or “On the Dignity of the Human Person.” Issued at the close of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, the work stated the church’s belief “that the human person has a right to religious freedom.”

This declaration was at once revolutionary and reaffirming of Catholic tradition—and its significance has only increased as attacks on religious freedom have proliferated in the intervening years.

In many ways, the Catholic Church’s affirmation of religious liberty echoes the American tradition of religious freedom, articulated so forcefully in the writings of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson and given constitutional enumeration in the First Amendment.

La Corte Suprema de Chile acogió este miércoles un recurso de protección a favor de los dirigentes opositores venezolanos  

Manila, Nov.19.─ El Gobierno de Chile cumplirá el encargo hecho por la Corte Suprema de su país de pedir a la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA) que visite al líder opositor venezolano Leopoldo López y al exalcalde Daniel Ceballos, aseguró desde Manila el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Heraldo Muñoz.

“Es una decisión autónoma que compete al Poder Judicial. No representa una decisión del Ejecutivo, sino del Poder Judicial”, puntualizó en declaraciones a la prensa el canciller Heraldo Muñoz, quien participa junto con la presidenta Michelle Bachelet en la XXIII Cumbre de Líderes del Foro APEC.

National Assembly Law Committee Chairman Phan Trung Ly said all suspects should be viewed as innocent instead of being marked guilty at the beginning of investigations by law enforcement officers  

Hanoi, Aug.24(VNS).─ The legal principle of presuming those being investigated were innocent unless proven guilty must be respected until a verdict was announced, the National Assembly Standing Committee said at its regular meeting yesterday.

This was part of discussions on amendments to the Penal Code brought up for discussion at the meeting.

Wrong thinking

Hong Kong, Aug.14.─ A US official has signaled increasing alarm over the deterioration of human rights in China, saying the topic will be central in an upcoming visit by President Xi Jinping to Washington next month.

Delegations of the two world powers met yesterday and are meeting again Friday (HK time Saturday) in Washington for their annual “Human Rights Dialogue,'' addressing one of the thorniest issues between the two governments.