Why should I care about human rights?
Thoughts on human rights
This article fleshes out some of the ideas in the introduction and would be a good one to read after that.
The Rwandan massacres
The massacres in Rwanda were an event that touched me deeply, and taught me much about the world. Here are a couple of good summary articles about why the west should also learn from them.
My pacifism is not based on any intellectual theory but on a deep antipathy to every form of cruelty and hatred
Heroes
Heroes is one of the most inspiring and challenging books I have ever read.
John Pilger is an example of what true journalism is about, he hasn't spent his life waiting for the next PR event or corporate press release to come through, he has seen the killing fields of Cambodia, the slave gangs of Burma, the horror of the USA's attack on Vietnam, and he writes about it with a passion and insight that only having been deeply moved can produce.