Petition Tag - discrimination

There is too much discrimination against people with disabilities in South Africa. The latest incident is against a blind lady, Ms Sanet Gouws who was told that she had to leave the MacDonald's premises in Mayville, Pretoria because she had her registered guide dog with her. Despite showing the animal's harness, papers and special tags, Ms Gouws was requested to either leave or have her milkshake outside. The outside area provided to shading and was not comfortable.

You can read the full article: http://www.beeld.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Vrou-se-oe-is-nie-welkom-20111227

Although it is against the policies of MacDonald's or other restaurants to allow animals inside the restaurant, special circumstances allow guide animals to enter the premises according to SA legislation.

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Handong Global University is declared as an "International University." Yet, they put out rules and regulations that give advantages to Korean students and to MK's (missionary kids) or PK's (Pastor kids).

In order to receive an academic scholarship @ this school, foreign students must reach a GPA of 4.5 while other students such as missionary kids and kids from 3rd world countries only need a 2.5 GPA. Furthermore, during the summer and winter breaks, volunteer work to help countries in need are offered. However, favor is only given to students who are Korean or missionary kids which I find to be unfair for our future depends on good deeds we have done during our attendance at the university.

Thirdly, there are not enough English-speaking professors @ this so-called international university and there are no major courses offered during summer or winter breaks so foreigners have to stay longer in order to fulfill their credit requirements.

I say, that if Handong Global University is an "International University" it should live up to its' name, don't you think?

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Transgender people are defined as people who feel they are a different gender than the sex they were born as. Job Corps is a job training facility where the students must live for 5 days a week day and night. At job corps the dormitories are separated by gender.

The current Job corps policy concerning transgender individuals is to place them in the dormitories that match their body parts.

This policy singles out transgender individuals and makes them a target for violence, bullying, and increases the likelihood of Suicide. It must be changed.

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On 30 September 2011, the Hong Kong High Court ruled that the restrictions imposed on foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in the current Immigration Ordinance violated the provision in Article 24 of the Hong Kong Basic Law, on the eligibility to apply for permanent residency after having lived in Hong Kong for seven years.

Under the existing Immigration Ordinance, non-Chinese people who have lived in Hong Kong with a legal identification document for seven years can apply to the Director of Immigration for permanent residency in Hong Kong. Having verified that the applicant takes Hong Kong as their permanent residence, the Department of Immigration will then approve the application. However, the provisions in the Immigration Ordinance amended during the Provisional Legislative Council after the handover discriminatively deprived only FDWs of the opportunity to apply for permanent residency.

The High Court ruling on 30 September restores to FDWs equal treatment as other migrant non-Chinese people, to possess the right to apply for residency in Hong Kong. The ruling successfully eliminates the occupational discrimination in the current Immigration Ordinance and brings along a positive message to the society. It shows Hong Kong’s core value of individual human equality, where “all are equal before the law.”

The High Court ruling also has effectively recognized that the Hong Kong government has committed serious discrimination and injustice against FDWs until now. The Hong Kong government and all Hong Kong society should recognize that a large number of FDWs have been facing deep human rights violations and social and legal discrimination due to current government policies not limited to the exclusion from the right of abode, but including for example exclusion from the statutory minimum wage, the live-in requirement, the limitless working hours per day, the ‘two-week rule’ (by which they may only stay two weeks in Hong Kong after the termination of the contract) and other conditions they uniquely face.

As Hong Kong residents, citizens and workers, we want to achieve a 'world city' based on justice and equal rights for all human beings. We stand together with the foreign domestic workers who we live with and benefit from in our society, to ask for the following:

於2011年9月30日，高等法院裁決現時《入境條例》限制外傭居港7年後申請居港權違反基本法24條。

根據現行《入境條例》，外籍人士合法居港住滿7年可向入境事務處處長申請居留權，處長接納申請人以香港為永久居住地將可獲取居留權。但是，由臨時立法會通過《入境條例》修訂條例於回歸後剝奪外傭申請居港權的機會。

9月30 日高等法院裁定外傭與其他外籍人士一樣擁有申請居港權利。此裁決成功消除《入境條例》中職業歧視，同時對社會發出正確訊息，向公眾表明法律面前人人平等這一核心價值。

高院認為直到現時香港政府嚴重歧視及不公平對待外傭。政府及社會各界應承認大量外傭面對不只是居留權，還包括諸如最低工資、規定外傭於僱主寓所居住、無固定工時、兩週離港要求(即外傭規定於合約完結後兩星期內必須離港)等對外傭嚴重違反人權及法例上歧視的措施。

作為香港市民及僱員，我們將會基於公義平等這些普世原則來建設香港這個國際都會。我們將會與我們休戚相關的外傭站在同一陣線，表達我們的訴求：

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Current immigration laws in Australia prevent people with a disability migrating to Australia because it is presumed that they will be an excessive cost to the Australian community. People are judged hypothetically on what somebody with their condition or disability would be eligible to receive.

They are not given the opportunity to demonstrate how they could offset possible health costs and their personal circumstances are not taken into account. As a result, hundreds of Australian families are torn apart and permanently separated as applicants applying through the family stream are still required to undergo extensive health checks. The current health requirements are therefore detrimental to Australian citizens who also have to undergo the trauma of being separated from loved ones.

The current immigration system is therefore indirectly discriminatory and at odds with Australia's international human rights obligations.

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Beginning in July, a new Pharmacy Services Agreement will come into effect and loyalty programs will be allowed but only on the portion of the prescription paid for by the patient. Details as follows:

On July 7, 2010, the Province of BC concluded an agreement (the Pharmacy Services Agreement) with the BC Pharmacy Association and the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores. This agreement sets out significant changes to the Pharmacy Participation Agreement that defines the Province’s relationship with pharmacies that submit claims to the PharmaCare program.

In recognition of these changes, the Province developed the PharmaCare Enrolment Agreement to replace existing Pharmacy Participation Agreements.

The Agreement disallows pharmacies from offering inducements to secure prescription orders, or in relation to the provision of a drug, medical supply, or service on the portion of the cost of that drug, supply or service paid for or reimbursed by the Province through PharmaCare.

The Agreement defines “inducement” as: “consideration including, but not limited to, cash, points, loyalty points, coupons, discounts, goods, rewards and similar schemes which can be redeemed for a gift or other benefit.”

Inducements to secure prescription orders were previously prohibited under the former Pharmacy Participation Agreement that defined the Province’s relationship with pharmacies that submit claims to the PharmaCare program. The Pharmacy Participation Agreement stated: “No goods or considerations beyond those approved in negotiations between the Government of British Columbia and the British Columbia Pharmacy Association shall be offered by any party to any other party as an inducement to secure prescription orders.” Notwithstanding this prohibition, pharmacies introduced various forms of inducement programs.

In response to correspondence and complaints from pharmacies and the public, the Minister of Health directed the Pharmaceutical Services Division to take action to ensure pharmacies abide by the terms set out in the Pharmacy Participation Agreement.

Under the terms of the Agreement, effective July 4, 2011, loyalty programs will be restricted to the portion of the prescription cost that is borne by the patient.

The Province’s interest is in the inequity that government funded benefits are being provided to patients and not being made available to other taxpayers, and more specifically the perception that this is occurring (i.e., government paying for a large proportion of a patient’s drug costs and the patient accumulating loyalty points as a result and receiving a free gift).

Facebook Group - We are all British Columbians - if the BC Government cannot help us let us help each other - please join to share your story http://www.facebook.com/groups/224146337610345?ap=1

The folks at Occupy Vancouver are working together creating a fair system of sharing the wealth. Please join us at The Vancouver Art Gallery.

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ما مجازات واحکام غیر انسانی اعدام، سنگسار،شلاق وشکنجه درهرشکل آن را درشأن مردم کشورمان ایران با پشتوانه تمدنی کهن نمی دانیم.

ما سرکوب و کاربرد خشونت، محکومیت ها و مجازاتهای وحشیانه را درخور شهروندان کشور خود ندانسته و خواهان لغو و محو اینگونه مجازاتها از سرزمین مان ایرانیم.

ما خواهان حقوق دمکراتیک برای زنان و جدایی دین از حکومت هستیم.

ما برآنیم که وابستگی دستگاه قضایی ودادگاه های انقلاب و دادسراها به سران حاکمیت جمهوری اسلامی و تبعیت آنها از منافع و مصالح سیاسی اقتصادی حکومتگران اسلامی، مانع از اجرای عدالت شده و درمقابل مطلق گرایی و سرکوبگری چنین دستگاهی، جان، مال و حیثیت هرشهروند ایران درخطر است.

ما خواهان لغو همه احکام غیرانسانی اعدام، سنگسار، وثیقه های ویرانگر و شکنجه درهرشکل آن هستیم.

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Extreme violence and secret genocide is being committed against the white minority of South Africa. Tens of thousands of whites have been murdered since 1994. Brutal torture and rape is common and not even the young or elderly are spared.

Quotes: "Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer" - Peter Mokaba (ANC). (The same Peter Mokaba who denied aids)
"When Mandela dies we will kill you whites like flies" - Mzukizi Gaba (ANC).
"We the members of MK have pledged ourselves to kill them, the whites" - Nelson Mandela.

For more information and graphic images go to FarmMurders.com

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I am appalled at the number of homeless people on the street and I am also appalled by the prejudice that these people face every day.

Things NEED to change for the better.

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Navi Pillay, a former South Africa High Court Judge, is the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She will visit Australia in May.

This follows several years of criticism regarding Australia’s poor human rights record and last year’s visit to Geneva by Aboriginal elders who raised the Northern Territory Intervention with the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The Northern Territory Intervention imposed in June 2007, without consultation or the consent of Aboriginal people, continues to be a source of grave injustice. It has overridden the rights of the people, placed their culture and languages in jeopardy while removing their control over their land and communities.

The legislation passed by Parliament in June 2010, Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Reform and Reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act) Bill 2009, has entrenched discrimination in Australian law and ensured that the Racial Discrimination Act, reinstated on 31 December 2010, is unable to protect Aboriginal people from measures that discriminate against them.

The UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has recommended to the Australian Government that legislative amendments be made to protect and restore the rights of Northern Territory Aboriginal people including provisions to ensure the Racial Discrimination Act overrides other legislation which may be discriminatory.

You can help by signing this letter requesting Navi Pillay to address these issues with the Government, urging them to turn around the blatant human rights violations embedded in the Northern Territory Intervention.

The closing date for signatures is the 7th May 2011.

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My son is 9 and from the start of school there was no place
for him to "fit in" He has Aspergers, ADHD, Reactive
Attachment disorder, speech and language issues and
profound sensory processing issues. He however does not
have an intellectual disability so he is not eligible for Special
school.

He is a gorgeous boy, with so much potential to learn in
the right environment. The QLD school system has let him
down so badly he is now attending a private school, paid for
by his family and by donations, who needs the funding he
receives from main stream school (even though he only
attends there 4 hours a week, with me present) to be used
for a Teachers aide for him at his new school, where he
feels safe and is completing school work and attending
occupational therapy and speech therapy as well. My son
is extremely high needs and needs one on one, which this
school is unable to provide, BUT can provide the security
and safe environment for him to learn grow and prosper.

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The UK officially went into recession during the last 3 months of 2008 where there were more than two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. This evidently had a devastating impact on employment figures in the UK (UK in recession as economy slides: BBC News: website).

Coming out the recession the figures aren't getting any better. Within the last quarter the total number of unemployed people increased by 44,000 to reach 2.49 million. Youth unemployment reaching 965,000, the highest figure since such records began in 1992. And the long-term unemployment also deteriorated, with 17,000 more people out of work for more than a year, to a total of 833,000. (Economy tracker: BBC & Office of National Statistics: Respective websites)

Unemployment can make it hard to pay bills, and failing to do so can damage your job prospects and carry over to your credit rating. More and more companies (especially thoses in the financial sector - those directly linked to the recession between 2008-2010) are demanding that credit checks are conducted before you enter into employment with them.

This means employment opportunities can be lost and the duration of unemployment is lengthened for certain individuals. This creates a vicious cycle of chronic unemployment and state dependency. This form of discrimination hits those most vulnerable as well as disadvantaged groups such as single mothers, young people and disabled individuals.

This petition proposes there should be a ban on credit checks preceding employment contracts. Failing this a policy should be put in place that commands that if a credit check is conducted that this should not affect whether a person is accepted for an employment position.

The individual should be given the opportunity to improve their credit rating by agreeing to pay their debtors through their employer (e.g. an amount can be deducted from their monthly payslip and forwarded to their debtors - like with student loans). This provides a win win solution.

The company will know their employee is keen to solve past destructive credit patterns and they will gain recognition as beneficial company to work for and one that seeks to improve and develop its employees. The employee will gain employment and the ability to pay off their debtors while also gaining a better credit rating - clearing their name and making them more appealing to future employers

After witnessing a recession that took so many jobs from so many people, this is not the time (especially for the financial sector) to be providing a further barrier to employment by be demanding that credit checks be conducted on people who need work the most.

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We have been selectively turned away from this establishment for being in violation of a subjective and ambiguous "dresscode' enforced by rude door staff.

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California's "at-will" Employment Law that Several States have adopted, allows Employers to Terminate an Employee with or without notice AND with or without any cause or reason.

We, California Citizens believe this Law proves that TITLE II of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (These Rights are Being Violated) AND that under The 14th Amendment of The United States Constitution for Equal Protection of The Law.

Furthermore, This Provision of Employment Law, upon Termination of an Employee does not authorize the terminated employee to invoke the right to appeal to Employer Superiors in writing.

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After being diagnosed with serotonin deficiency and suffering severe depression with suicidal behaviour, I was taken off jobseekers allowance, and put onto employment support allowance, after a while I had to face a medical assessment, this was by means of filling in a questionnaire in the presence of a nurse, (the company who carry out these medical examinations, are a private profit making company) there were very few questions around mental health, and apparently if I can make a cup of tea and prepare a simple meal then my cognitive ability was sufficient to get me thrown off ESA after some time I started voluntary work for an organisation and found many people had been subject to a similar ordeal to myself, it is like going into a gestapo death camp selection.

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The last time we checked Cyprus is a sovereign country member of the European Union. NOKIA Corporation under the influence and demands of Turkey IS NOW SUPPORTING TURKEY'S VIEW THAT THIS IS NOT THE CASE AND THAT CYPRUS IS AN ISLAND OF TWO COUNTRIES!

"Τουρκική απαίτηση

Η επίσημη θέση της Νόκια, όπως αυτή φαίνεται μέσα από τη σχετική ηλεκτρονική αλληλογραφία την οποία κατέχουμε, είναι ότι, «λόγω νομικών θεμάτων από πλευράς Τουρκίας, όλα τα δεδομένα και σήματα (σ.σ. για την Κύπρο), τα οποία προβάλλονταν μέχρι πρότινος στο χάρτη, έπρεπε να αφαιρεθούν». Προσθέτει επίσης πως, «σε ό,τι αφορά τη Νόκια, η πλοήγηση για την Κύπρο δεν θα είναι πλέον εφικτή». Καταλήγοντας, η Νόκια επισημαίνει ότι οι όποιοι παραπονούμενοι πρέπει να απευθυνθούν στις τουρκικές αρχές για το θέμα!"

NOKIA Corporation's position is A CLEAR DISCRIMINATION towards the sovereignty of Cyprus and all Cypriots and their tourists visitors.

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Bill C-389 Gender Identity Bill – 389 Will Allow Men (self identifying as women) Into Girls' Bathrooms and Showers.

Private Member’s Bill C-389 - An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression) is on the verge of becoming law. If passed, it will add these terms to the list of identifiable groups listed in sections 318 and 718.2(a)(i) of the criminal code and the Canadian Human Rights Act. The new criminal code would make it a crime to speak or discriminate against gender identity and gender expression. These two conditions are self identified with no proof so anyone at any time can claim to be another gender.

Somehow this ridiculous Bill C-389 has succeeded through two votes in Parliament and has now passed a 30 minute committee hearing. If it passes third reading and the Senate our children will be exposed to men (self identifying as women) entering girls bathrooms, change rooms and even showers claiming transgender discrimination. The penalty for “discriminating” against them will be up to two years in prison. We are working with leaders across Canada and vow to protect our children.

In addition this Bill would make gender identity and gender expression mandatory teaching in all schools in Canada under the principle that the law is a teacher. Earlier this year Premier McGuinty scrapped such teaching in the Ontario Sex Education Curriculum but now the federal parliament is attempting to re-insert this onerous material by law.

I don’t understand how a Conservative Government would allow this to happen under its watch.

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Today thousands of banks, lending houses and other financial organizations have access to your credit report. Of course this is reasonable. Credit reports should be used to establish or extend credit. They should NOT be used to disallow someone a job, a rented or leased apartment, or any other social or medical benefits.

Credit reports should NOT be made accessible to any and all who would use the report to discriminate against our civil rights. Such discrimination should be against the law.

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The Nottinghamshire Disability Support Team recently took a coach load of disabled young people (two of whom were dependant on wheelchairs) to the theatre on a trip so that they could have the chance to go out and have fun just like other people their age.

Due to an unforeseeable amount of traffic they arrived at the theatre after the show had begun and they were told that the people who could walk could go in but the wheelchair users would not be allowed in until the interval, as was 'theatre policy', meaning that all of the money that they spent was wasted.

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Currently, individuals caught BASE jumping within National Parks and Recreation Areas, without a permit, are charged with unlawful delivery of a person by parachute under 36 CFR 2.17(3) - Aircraft and air delivery;

(3) Delivering or retrieving a person or object by parachute, helicopter, or other airborne means, except in emergencies involving public safety or serious property loss, or pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit.

On the evening of August 19, 2010, Ammon McNeely was tasered, arrested, and thrown in jail for BASE jumping in Yosemite National Park. This has gone too far. It's time to accept BASE jumping.

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President Obama should highlight oppressive and inhuman caste system-culture in India & pay homage to Indian Lincoln Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Founding father of modern India on his visit to India in November 2010

Indian Lincoln Dr. Ambedkar—father of modern India and the Indian constitution, graduate of Columbia University, Oxford-educated scholar, and the first law minister of India after its independence—was from a Dalit community and so created constitutional rights for these poor people. This Indian constitution guarantees equality, liberty, fraternity, and social justice; however, the subsequent state and federal governments have utterly failed to protect Dalits by not following the constitutional codes.
 Every hour in India, two Dalits (untouchables of South Asia) are brutally assaulted.
 Every day, three Dalit women are raped, two Dalits are murdered, and two Dalit homes are burned.
 37% of Dalits live below the poverty line in India.
 More than half (54%) of Dalit children are undernourished in India.
 85 per 1,000 children born in Dalit communities die before their first birthday.
 45% of Dalits do not know how to read or write in India.
 Dalit women bear double discrimination (gender and caste) in India.
 About one-third of Dalit households do not have basic facilities, such as toilets.
 90% of the villages do not have burial ground for the dead.
 There are more children forced into labor in India than throughout the whole world put together.
 Human trafficking and prostitution of poor people are rampant

(Source: Ministry of Welfare of the Government of India, Annual Report 1992–1993)
Crimes against Dalits increase yearly (135,771 cases were reported in 1999; 137,492 cases were reported in 2000). More than 28,000 incidents of crime against scheduled caste/scheduled tribe (SC/ST) Indians were committed in 2005, according to the National Crimes Records Bureau. There are numerous massacres, and Dalit carnages take place under the nose of state governments and law enforcement officials.

REGISTERED ATROCITIES IN INDIA, 1999–2004
Year FIRs filed & Cases Registered under SC/ST Act Poor Conviction rate in the Courts FIR Cases Regist-
ered under PCR Act Con-viction
in the Courts under PCR Total FIR Cases Registered on Atrocity Total Convic-tion in Courts % of Convictions
1999 25093 655 4450 45 29543 700 2.36
2000 23742 901 3958 81 27770 982 3.54
2002 27894 3748 526 150 28420 3898 13.71
2003 22603 2727 651 13 23254 2740 11.78
2004 23629 3259 126 34 23755 3293 13.86
Total 122961 11290 9711 323 132672 11613 8.75

* Data for 2001 are not available.
(Source: Annual Report of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of India)
The conviction rate under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act is 15.71%, and as much as 85.37% of cases are pending. The Indian government enacted the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act in 1989. Unfortunately, it has proved to be lame duck legislature. Nothing has improved, or even changed, for the Dalits. Many atrocity cases remain unreported by the casteist police, so the judicial system does not register the crimes. The caste-dominated newspapers also do not report atrocities.

A recent study of untouchability in rural India that covered 565 villages in 11 states found the following:
 Public health workers refused to visit Dalit homes in 33% of villages.
 Dalits were prevented from entering the police station in 27.6% of villages.
 Dalit children had to sit separately while eating in 37.8% of government schools.
 Dalits did not get mail delivered to their homes in 23.5% of villages.
 Dalits were denied access to water sources in 48.4% of villages.
 Half of India’s Dalit children are undernourished and 21% are severely underweight.
 Literacy rates for Dalit women are as low as 37.8% in rural India.

Untouchability in schools has contributed to drop-out and illiteracy levels for Dalit children far beyond those of the general population, with the “literacy gap” between Dalits and non-Dalits hardly changing since India’s independence. Democracy does not mean anything to Dalits, as they are treated below animals in Hindu society.

Dalit women, who alongside “tribal” women are the poorest of the poor in India, face double discrimination on the basis of caste and gender in all spheres of life. They are subjected to gross violations of their physical integrity, including sexual abuse by dominant castes, and are socially excluded and economically exploited.
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has observed substantial under allocation and under expenditure of the allocation for Dalit welfare and development under the government’s Special Component Plan for Scheduled Castes. Dalits are subjected to bonded and forced labor and discriminated against in a range of markets, including the labor, housing, consumer, capital, and credit markets. They are paid lower wages and subjected to longer working hours and delayed wages. Verbal and physical abuse takes place in broad daylight in public, at times in front of the police.

Brahmin, Shatriya, and Vaishya castes make up 15% of the population, yet claim about 65% of the upper-level jobs (see the following table). This is another form of casteism and discrimination.
Caste Population Politics Employed Commerce Land Education
Brahmin 3.5 41.0 62 10 5 -----
Shatriya 5.5 15.0 12 27 80 -----
Vaishya 6.0 10.5 13 60 9 -----
Total 15 66.5 87 97 94 78
SC 15.0 11.0 4 0.1 0.5 6
ST 7.5 7.6 1 0.1 0.5 2
OBC 52.0 8.0 7 0.8 4.0 2
Minorities 10.5 3.0 1 2.0 1.0 2
Total 85.0 33.5 13 3.0 6.0 22
(Source: Mahanayak, Marathi daily newspaper from Bombay, P1, Head News, 4-30-2006)

Dr. Ambedkar, who fought for civil rights struggle for abolishing caste and untouchability, made the new India possible. Imagine an India that has no dalit/adivasi or minority participation in the administrative, bureaucratic and knowledge structures. Imagine no dalit participation in the higher echelons of the nation in this century. Dalits constitute 16.5 per cent of Indian population and President Obama, as a first black President to visit India, should ideally take note of this.

As we know about Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Americans should also know about Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. President Obama has done a lot to popularize Gandhi, and he could also do the same for Dr. Ambedkar if he visits Nagpur Deekshabhoomi or Chaityabhoomi, Mumbai. The Deekshabhoomi does not represent just Ambedkar’s idea of India but also the secular Buddhist tradition of the nation.
The Bahujan communities (85%, Schedule Castes, Schedule tribes and other backward castes (OBC) and minorities) would be happy if he also pays homage to Dr B R Ambedkar. This will make his visit a historic event. As such, they are looking forward to President Obama’s visit as he symbolizes the hope of freedom for oppressed people across the world. As President Obama emerged out of the historic struggles of the blacks in the US, his visit could also inspire the movement for the abolition of caste, the Indian variety of slavery. Dr. Ambedkar is the best historical link between the Indian oppressed communities and also the blacks of America.

Dr. Ambedkar was not only the father of the constitution of India but also the liberator of all oppressed people. The ruling classes do see the similarities between Dalit-Bahujan struggles and the black struggles the masses can make out that historical linkage. The religious minorities also look up to Dr. Ambedkar as a Buddhist. President Obama, being a Christian, shares the blood of a Muslim father. If he pays homage to a Buddhist Ambedkar, he will be respecting the multi-cultural tradition of India. This will also attract global attention to Dr. Ambedkar’s legacy, life and philosophy.

India as a nation has the Buddhist cultural & tradition as Buddha was born/grew up and built his spiritual and social Sangha system in India. No other icon than Dr. Ambedkar can represent that cultural heritage in the modern period.

Will our ruling class ensure that President Obama at least lays a garland on the statue of Ambedkar in parliament premises? Such a deviation from protocol will respond to the changing needs of the nation and will be positive and desirable.

President Obama was keen to learn about the plight of the untouchables during his student years. And interestingly, both he and Dr. Ambedkar were educated at Columbia University. It could also turn out to be an occasion for the country to come to terms with the caste and untouchability problem in the international arena. The stance of caste denial taken by the Indian government in the United Nations had done some damage.

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This is a petition to call for a system that represents the shared responsibilities, care and love involved in raising children. As it stands, most men do not qualify for statutory leave for when their child is born / adopted, and any statutory leave given can only amount to two weeks maximum.

This means that men are taken away from their newborns at a fundamental stage in their development as studies show that the first three months are crucial to a child’s character and interaction.

This also leaves women with the stigma attached to childcare in the workplace. Despite being illegal, it is estimated 30,000 women a year in the UK lose their jobs directly due to pregnancy and it is a well known fact that women of childbearing age (i.e. from puberty to the menopause) are discriminated in interviews for even the slightest possibility of becoming pregnant and therefore taking time off (even though the government reimburses employers for statutory maternity leave).

Introducing Parental Leave will relieve both women and men from their gender stereotypes and from making tough choices. In the case of Iceland, in 2004 Parental Leave was introduced where each parent received 3 months off work at 80% pay and then a further 3 months to divide accordingly. In Sweden, the allowance is 18 months at 80% pay (3 months reserved for the father). In both countries it is common to see fathers pushing prams and taking their children to day care leaving the UK living in the dark ages.

Equal Parental Leave also speaks volumes for economic recovery. For many households it makes sense for the mother to continue working as she may have a more financially viable job, yet as the father is not entitled to paid leave, it is he who must continue working. Financial recovery equates to productivity – and productivity is directly linked to employee morale. It is time politicians see that family is as the heart of our society and our involvement in the economy. Removing the stigma and endemic discrimination from women and childcare will keep their talents and skills within the economy – which will without a doubt, keep the economy healthy and recover faster.

But the main benefactor and most important aim of Parental Leave is the happiness and well being of the child. To have both parents present throughout the child’s first moments on the earth; to nurture the child, to teach the child, and to build a stable family environment for the child is what will make the child most happy and most healthy.

David Cameron and the Coalition Government forever talk to the British public about changing the structures of our society and economy to support and sustain a FAIRER Britain. This will not be achieved until the needs of the family unit as a whole are recognised by a structure that supports it. We advocate the introduction of gender neutral Parental Leave and the abolition of separate and distant maternal and paternal Leave.

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Legislation currently before the Commonwealth Government includes plans to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act which was suspended when the Intervention was introduced into the Northern Territory in June, 2007.

However, this new Act will be a very restricted version to the one which was suspended in 2007. It will NOT have the powers to protect Aboriginal people from the consequences of so-called special measures.

For example, when the RDA was suspended, Aboriginal people had no means of appeal against compulsory acquisition of their land by government on 5-year leases. When this new Act is reinstated, NOTHING WILL CHANGE. There will be no legal avenue to address this issue, or any other issue related to the measures.

Regarding the 5-year leases, former High Court Justice, Michael Kirby, said, "if any other Australians, selected by reference to their race, suffered the imposition on their pre-existing property interests of non-consensual 5-year statutory leases.......it is difficult to believe that a challenge to such a law would fail...."

If this new legislation is implemented, the government will have again failed to keep its promise to Aboriginal people.

Calls to the Australian Government to reinstate an uncompromised Racial Discrimination Act have been ignored.

For Australia to be classified as a racist country is shameful for all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

If you wish to assist by conducting your own hard-copy petition, please indicate this in the comments column Thank you.

'concerned Australians'

UPDATE 10 July 2010

Thank you to all who signed this petition. The same petition was also circulated in hard copy and the total number of signatures received was 5,404. The petitions were sent every three or four days over the last two months to the Committee for the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination at the UN.

There were many signatures from the Northern Territory and this included signatures from almost forty communities: : Willowra, Kalkaringi, Daguragi, Yuendumu, Lajamanu, Utopia, Papunya, Kintore, Nyiripi, Areyonga, Docker River, Ulpanydi, Ti Tree, Santa Theresa, Hermannsburg, Ali Curong, Barron Creek, Mt. Allan, Ampilatwatja, Epenarra, Mungalwurra, Katliwumpa Homeland, Maningrida, Nakara, Mataranka, Galiwin’ku, Nhulunbuy, Tiwi, Yirrkala, Bama, Mairrngatja, Gangan, Raymangirr, Buymarr, Djarrkpi, Baly Baly, Dhalinybuy, Imangara, Suburbs of Alice Springs, Darwin, Katherine and Tennant Creek.

The seventy-seventh session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will be held at the United Nations Office in Geneva in August 2010. The Australian Government will report to the Committee on the 10th and 11th of the month and non-government organisations, including ‘concerned Australians’ will also provide reports. If you wish to send your own comments to the Committee expressing your own concerns, the email address to write to is ghabtom@ ohchr.org

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OJSC Pavlohradzhytlobud construction company in the town of Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk region of South East Ukraine dismissed ten managers for speaking Ukrainian.

This petition is aimed at residents/citizens of Canada only. If you are a resident of the UK you can sign the following petition: http://www.gopetition.com/online/34261.html.

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In 1983, the United States Food and Drug Administration began to require all blood to be screened. One such required screening was for what we now know as Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Very little was known about the disease and at the time it was known as "gay related immune deficiency." Science has now shown that HIV is not a "gay disease."

The American Red Cross, the naiton's leader in blood collection, has criticized the FDA's policy as "medically and scientifically unwarranted."

All blood that is collected is screened for the HIV virus.

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The current provisions of the Equal Opportunity Act 1995 (Vic) (EO Act) do not make it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis of their homelessness. Law reform to include homelessness as an attribute under the EO Act is necessary to protect some of the most vulnerable members of our community from unfair and unjust treatment.

The experience of discrimination is destructive for individuals experiencing homelessness and for society more generally. Discrimination can lead to and further entrench homelessness in cases where it prevents individuals from securing accommodation and accessing services. Discrimination can also lead to negative health consequences for individuals who feel anxiety, depression and a sense of loss of control as a result of being discriminated against.

For more information, visit http://pilch.org.au/Social_Status_Discrimination/

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Businesses can decide whether to hire someone due to tattoos.

I think this should be a form of discrimination due to the fact that just because people have tattoos doesn't mean they're bad people or incapable of doing a job.

In this generation it's all about body modifications and a lot of people could be denied their dream careers just because of some art work on their body.

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A petition to support SPEDA, the Single Parent Employment Discrimination Act to offer Single Parents the same protection offered to other minorities.

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I'd like for any student who goes to Jennings County High School who is willing to support the right to wear piercings at school to sign.

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This petition is about the unnecessary harassment of selected foreign guests at International US Airports. In the name of security checks, those travelers are harassed for hours by Custom Officers.

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