A Federal Crime to Participate in Boycott of Israel?
Glenn Greenwald | zcomm.org | 2018-12-19
Twenty-six states have laws preventing state agencies from contracting with companies or individuals aligned with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-federal-crime-to-participate-in-boycott-of-israel/
May Days in Britain
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-19
It is hard to envisage sympathy for a person who made a name as a home secretary (prisons, detentions, security and such) taking the mast and banner of her country before hopeless odds, but inadequate opponents will do that to you. Vicious, venal and underdone, the enemies from within Theresa May's own Tory ranks resemble…
counterpunch.org/2018/12/19/may-days-in-britain/
Britain Should Stand Up for Saudi Women Activists
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-19
British Prime Minister Theresa May (L) stands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the steps of number 10 Downing Street on March 7, 2018 in London, England. | © 2018 Leon Neal/Getty Images | Last week, the British Foreign Office celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Human Rights Day by highlighting the courageous work of human rights defenders around the wo…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/19/britain-should-stand-saudi-women-activists
Bangladesh to relocate Rohingya refugees on remote island
WSWS | wsws.org | 2018-12-19
Nervous about criticism of its plans, the government is attempting to hide information about the new detention facilities and has placed the island under naval control.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/12/19/rohi…
Advocates Say Sex Worker Rights Are Human Rights
Shared by Hezvo Mpunga | therealnews.com | 2018-12-19
At the annual remembrance of sex workers who were murdered, supporters say violence against them is violence against everyone | The post Advocates Say Sex Worker Rights Are Human Rights appeared first on The Real News Network.
therealnews.com/stories/advocates-say-sex-worker-rights-are-human-rights
China: Further information: Chinese veteran activist executed: Xu Youchen
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-19
Xu Youchen, 58, was executed on 15 November 2018 after the China Supreme People's Court approved his death sentence with immediate execution.
amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/9611/2018/en/
Viet Nam: Police raid major meeting of local NGOs in alarming step-up of repression
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-19
Police in Viet Nam's capital, Hanoi, shut down a major annual meeting of grassroots groups and non-government organizations (NGOs) this morning in an alarming step-up of the authorities' repression of civil society, said Amnesty International. | | "This is an absurd and shocking crackdown on a well-established, peaceful event. To use an arcane wartime decree about holding events in public spaces to stop a…
amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/viet-nam-police-raid-major-meeting-local-ngos-alarming-repression/
English-speaking Caribbean: time to make the death penalty history
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-19
Ten years ago, on 19 December 2008, the authorities of Saint Kitts and Nevis carried out what was to become the last execution in the Americas, outside the USA. This anniversary, which follows on from the observance on 2 November of 25 years since a key judicial decision that put a brake on the implementation of death sentences in the region, offers an opportunity for reflection on the present state of the death penalty in the English-speaking Caribbean. | Trends on the use of this punishment point to the inevitability of its abolition. On the occasion of this anniversary, Amnesty International renews its call on…
amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/9585/2018/en/
Migration: to / from / in
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-19
amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2018/12/migration-to-from-in-middle-east-north-africa/
ALP National Conference a sham
kathy_f | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-19
Bill Shorten surprised no one with his laughingly tiny reforms at the Australian Labor Party National Conference over December 16–18. | If you expected debate, let alone proposals to stop the Adani coalmine or refugee boat turn-backs or the closure of off-shore detention centres, then you would have been disappointed as these things did not happen. | If you were hoping that there might be a commitment to increase the Newstart Allowance or to back progressive industrial relations reforms that will actually change the rules for workers, you would be doubly disappointed as these things were also rejected. | Cl…
greenleft.org.au/content/alp-national-conference-sham
100% of Congress Approves Anti-Nicaragua Sanctions, HR1918
Register Peace & Freedom or Green | indybay.org | 2018-12-19
All members of Congress in both houses, Democrats and Republicans together, approved the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act of 2017, HR1918 (NICA), placing sanctions on the democratically elected government of Nicaragua which is fighting CIA sponsored gangsters, with the last vote taken in the Senate on November 27, 2018 and in the House on December 11, 2018. See www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/hou……
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/15/18819806.php
Animal Rights Meetup: The Power of Nonviolence
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-19
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819791.php
Animal Rights Meetup: Organization & How to Become a Leader
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-19
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819793.php
Advanced Leadership Training: Emergent Leadership
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-19
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819789.php
Advanced Chicken Care Training
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-19
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819794.php
Animal Rights Meetup: New Community Member Celebration
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-19
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819796.php
Animal Rights Meetup: The Legal Case for Animal Rights
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-19
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819795.php
Advanced Leadership Training: DxE's History and Vision
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-19
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819790.php
Sustainable Activism Workshop: Berkeley, CA #ChangeMakersTour
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-19
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819797.php
January Vegan Pop-Up
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-19
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819792.php
Being a journalist in South Sudan
aljazeera | aljazeera.com | 2018-12-18
Practitioners recount experiences covering political, corruption and human rights stories in world's youngest country.
aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/journalist-south-sudan-181214094915498.html
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Condemns School Safety Commission Recommendation to Rescind School Discipline Guidance
commondreams | commondreams.org | 2018-12-18
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2018/12/18/lawyers-committee-civil-rights-under-law-condemns-school-safety-commission?cd-origin=rss
Texas Educator Files Lawsuit after She was Fired for Refusing to Sign an Oath to Israel
Randi Nord | mintpressnews.com | 2018-12-18
Bahia Amawi's federal court suit may constitute the first direct challenge to new legislation aimed at curbing support for the growing Boycott Divest Sanctions (BDS) movement in the United States, which ultimately aims to end apartheid in Palestinian and Israeli territories. | The post Texas Educator Files Lawsuit after She was Fired for Refusing to Sign an Oath to Israel appeared first on MintPress News.
mintpressnews.com/texas-educator-files-lawsuit-after-she-was-fired-for-refusing-to-sign-an-oath-to-israel/253113/
Marc Lamont Hill Speaks Out After CNN Fires Him for Pro-Palestine Speech at U.N
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-12-18
Less than a month after CNN fired Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill for giving a speech at the United Nations supporting Palestinian rights, we speak with him about the international attention his comments have received, academic freedom and why he feels it's more important than ever to speak out about Israeli human rights abuses. Marc Lamont Hill is a professor of media studies and urban education at Temple University. He is the author of several books, including "Nobody: Casualties of America's War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond." We also speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning journa…
www.democracynow.org/2018/12/18/marc_lam…
Glenn Greenwald: Congress Is Trying to Make It a Federal Crime to Participate in Boycott of Israel
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-12-18
Twenty-six states have laws preventing state agencies from contracting with companies or individuals aligned with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. BDS is an international campaign to pressure Israel to comply with international law and respect Palestinian rights. However, its opponents say BDS is a thinly disguised anti-Semitic attempt to debilitate or even destroy Israel. We speak with Glenn Greenwald, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the founding editors of The Intercept. His latest piece is headlined "A Texas Elementary School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath, Now…
www.democracynow.org/2018/12/18/glenn_gr…
The Coming of Hyperwar: "Alexa, Launch Our Nukes!"
Michael T. Klare | commondreams.org | 2018-12-18
A number of human rights and humanitarian organizations have even launched the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots with the goal of adopting an international ban on the development and deployment of fully autonomous weapons systems. (Photo: Sharron Ward/Campaign to Stop Killer Robots/Facebook) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……
commondreams.org/views/2018/12/18/coming-hyperwar-alexa-launch-our-nukes?cd-origin=rss
Colombia: Pivotal Ruling as Court Condemns Trans Woman Femicide
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2018-12-18
For the first time in Colombian history, the Second Criminal Court is prosecuting in defense of a transgender woman, sentencing her murderer to 20 years for the 2017 femicide. | RELATED: | 'Violation of Rights: ' India's Trans Community Rejects Bill | In a historic judicial ruling, a Colombian circuit court sentenced 23-year-old Davinson Stiven Erazo Sanchez to two decades in a psychiatric hospital for the aggravated femicide of Anyela Ramos Claros, in addition to charges of gender-based…
telesurenglish.net/news/Colombia-Pivotal-Ruling-as-Court-Condemns-Trans-Woman-Femicide-20181218-0033.html
Shine a Light for Immigration Rights in Providence
Andrew Stewart | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-18
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is a network of nationwide groups that puts its energy and focus into educating and organizing so-called white people to oppose white supremacy and racism. Recently the co-founders were interviewed on The Laura Flanders Show (youtu.be/mq5NbdVcR_U). On December 18 from 4 to 6 PM the Rhode Island SURJ chapter…
counterpunch.org/2018/12/18/shine-a-light-for-immigration-rights-in-providence/
When 'Watchdogs' Slept, FAIR Barked
FAIR | fair.org | 2018-12-18
Dear FAIR friends, FAIR was relentless in calling out corporate media's blatant disregard for the war in Yemen, where a fragile ceasefire is now in effect. More than ten articles on FAIR's website and on CounterSpin over the last year documented big media's utter lack of interest in one of the worst human rights crises …
fair.org/home/when-watchdogs-slept-fair-barked/
Will the Supreme Court Overturn Roe v. Wade After All?
Louise Melling | commondreams.org | 2018-12-18
Anti-abortion (in front) and abortion-rights (in back) advocates demonstrating in front of the Supreme Court in June. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……
commondreams.org/views/2018/12/18/will-supreme-court-overturn-roe-v-wade-after-all?cd-origin=rss
Every single member of U.S. Congress approved crushing sanctions on Nicaragua
Ben Norton | mronline.org | 2018-12-18
After defeating a violent U.S.-backed coup attempt, Nicaragua's elected government faces the NICA Act. The bill aims to force the Sandinistas from power by ratcheting up economic despair. | Source…
mronline.org/2018/12/18/every-single-member-of-u-s-congress-approved-crushing-sanctions-on-nicaragua/
US: Fears of Prescribing Hurt Chronic Pain Patients
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-18
| (New York) — F…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/18/us-fears-prescribing-hurt-chronic-pain-patients
South Sudan: Spate of Sexual Violence
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-18
Women line up for food rations at a distribution site in Bentiu, South Sudan, on December 8, 2018. | © 2018 Nyagoah Tut Pur/Human Rights Watch | (New York) — South Sudan's government should urgently investigate rape and other sexual violence against women and girls traveling in the former Unity state and provide protection and services to survivors. Investigations should focus not only on the individual crimes, but also on whether the crimes were coordinate…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/18/south-sudan-spate-sexual-violence
Maldives: New Government Should Promote Rights
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-18
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih interacts with supporters during a gathering in Malé, Maldives, September 24, 2018. | © 2018 Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo | (New York) –The Maldives' new government should make human rights protections a top priority, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih made public today. Solih, who was elected pr…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/18/maldives-new-government-should-promote-rights
Mali: Militias Kill Over 75 Civilians
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-18
Members of the Dogon militia, Dan Na Ambassagou, which was founded to defend the Dogon community from attacks by Islamist armed groups. Dan Na Ambassagou has been implicated in numerous serious abuses against Peuhl civilians. | © MALIJET | (Bamako) — Ethnic militias in Mali killed at least 75 civilians during a one-week period in early December 2018. Malian authorities began investigations into the incidents and made some arrests, and should appropriately prosecut…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/18/mali-militias-kill-over-75-civilians
Don't Punish US Companies That Help End Abuses in the West Bank
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-18
Barkan, located in the occupied West Bank, is an Israeli residential settlement and industrial zone that houses around 120 factories that export around 80 percent of their goods abroad. In the background is the Palestinian village of Qarawat Bani Hassan. © 2004 David Silverman | Today the US Congress is weighing draft legislation based on problematic logic that conflates a call for businesses to stop operating in West Bank settlements, which are unlawful under the 1949 Geneva Conventions that prohibit transferring…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/18/dont-punish-us-companies-help-end-abuses-west-bank
Former UN Rights Chief Joins Human Rights Watch Board
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-18
Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, addresses the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland February 26, 2018. | © 2018 Reuters | (New York) — The former United Nations human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, has joined the board of Human Rights Watch, where he will be one of 34 directors overseeing the work of the organization, Human Rights Watch said today. | "We're thrilled that Zeid is joining the board of Human Rights Watch at this crucial time,…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/18/former-un-rights-chief-joins-human-rights-watch-board
Iran's Oil Revenues Surged Despite Sanctions
Tsvetana Paraskova | iranian.com | 2018-12-18
Iran's revenues from crude oil and oil products surged by 55 percent between March and October, the first seven months of the Iranian year, compared to the same period of the previous year, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Monday, quoting data from the Central Bank of Iran. Between March and October, Iran's oil exports […] | The post Iran's Oil Revenues Surged Despite Sanctions appeared first on The Iranian.
iranian.com/2018/12/18/iran-oil-revenues-surged-despite-sanctions/
DeVos' Solution to Mass School Shootings? Scrap the Rules Designed to End Discrimination Against Students of Color
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2018-12-18
The highly anticipated Final Report from the Federal Commission on School Safety, led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, was released Tuesday—and includes a long-rumored recommendation that is alarming civil rights advocates: to rescind Obama-era policies crafted to end racial disparities in school disciplinary practices. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……
commondreams.org/news/2018/12/18/devos-solution-mass-school-shootings-scrap-rules-designed-end-discrimination-against?cd-origin=rss
World's Journalists Have Never Faced 'As Much Violence and Abusive Treatment' as This Year
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2018-12-18
The international press freedom group Reporters Without Borders detailed an "unprecedented" level of violence and hostility toward journalists around the world in 2018, with the number of reporters killed and detained while working—or in retaliation for their work—shooting up from the previous year. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……
commondreams.org/news/2018/12/18/worlds-journalists-have-never-faced-much-violence-and-abusive-treatment-year?cd-origin=rss
Take the Money Out of Prison Slavery
Shared by Hezvo Mpunga | therealnews.com | 2018-12-18
Activists and students continue a national divestment movement to stop the corporate funding of private prisons. Sylvester Owino, a Kenyan immigrant, spent 10 years in an immigrant detention center while his case bounced between the lower and higher courts. Owino and other activists talk about the private prison divestment movement and abuses in the transporting… | The post Take the Money Out of Prison Slavery appeared first on The Real News Network.
therealnews.com/stories/take-the-money-out-of-prison-slavery
Congress Is Trying to Make It a Federal Crime to Participate in BDS
Shared by Samantha Borek | truthout.org | 2018-12-18
Twenty-six states have laws preventing state agencies from contracting with companies or individuals aligned with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. BDS is an international campaign to pressure Israel to comply with international law and respect Palestinian rights. However, its opponents say BDS is a thinly disguised anti-Semitic attempt to debilitate or even destroy Israel. We speak with Glenn Greenwald, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the founding editors of The Intercept. His latest piece is headlined "A Texas Elementary School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath,…
truthout.org/video/congress-is-trying-to-make-it-a-federal-crime-to-participate-in-bds/
MENA governments must end discriminatory crackdowns and abuse of migrants
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-18
Governments across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are collectively failing to protect the rights of migrants in their countries, said Amnesty International, marking International Migrants Day. | Across the region, migrants regularly face discrimination, exploitation and other forms of abuse as well as in some cases arbitrary arrest, detention and unlawful expulsion. Whether they are sub-Saharan African migrants passing through North African countries on their way to Europe or domestic or const…
amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/mena-governments-must-end-discriminatory-crackdowns-and-abuse-of-migrants/
Bermuda: A Human Rights Friendly School approach
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-18
Students and teachers of a school in Bermuda talk about their experience after five years participating in the Human Rights Friendly Schools project | Warwick Academy was the first school established in Bermuda, in 1662. 300 years later, it was the first traditionally white school in the country to integrate, almost a decade before the 1971 Bermuda Education Act made it illegal for any school in Bermuda to base admission on race. In 2011, the school achieved another first: the first school in Bermuda to make themselves human rights friendly. A few years on, students and teachers from Warwick Academy tell their st…
amnesty.org/en/latest/education/2018/12/bermuda-hrfs/
Summary Report TB-NET & Amnesty International Event on Treaty Body Elections
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-18
This is the summary report of a roundtable working meeting under the Chatham house rule to discuss amongst States and other key stakeholders including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and NGOs, the current nominations and elections processes for Treaty Body membership, and proposals for improvements which aim to enhance the quality, independence and diversity of Treaty Body membership.
amnesty.org/en/documents/ior40/9608/2018/en/
Egypt: Court orders release of woman human rights defender imprisoned for speaking out against sexual harassment
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-18
Egyptian authorities must immediately comply with a court decision to release Amal Fathy, a woman human rights defender who was given a two-year sentence in September for posting a video online in which she criticized the Egyptian authorities for failing to tackle sexual harassment. | A Cairo criminal court today ordered Amal Fathy's release on probation after accepting…
amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/egypt-court-orders-release-of-woman-human-rights-defender-imprisoned-for-speaking-out-against-sexual-harassment/
Nicaragua: Further information: Human rights organizations at risk
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-18
As the National Assembly approved cancelling the legal registration of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), the National Police broke into their offices, and the premises of other three human rights organisations and an independent newspaper. These recent attacks are examples of the continued strategy of repression by the Nicaraguan state against journalists and human rights defenders.
amnesty.org/en/documents/amr43/9592/2018/en/
Paraguay: Further information: 200 families no longer at risk of forced eviction
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-18
Families from the Guahory Community, Eastern Paraguay, are no longer at imminent threat of forced eviction. The implementation of the Joint Action Plan for Punishable Actions for Trespassing on Property has been suspended in their community.
amnesty.org/en/documents/amr45/9610/2018/en/
China: Christian house church members criminally detained: Li Yingqiang
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-18
amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/9590/2018/en/
Crowdsourced Twitter study reveals shocking scale of online abuse against women
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-18
Content warning: contains screenshots of racist and sexist abuse and threats of violence | One in ten tweets mentioning black women politicians and journalists in a sample analyzed by Amnesty International was abusive or problematic, the organization said today, as it released a ground-breaking study into abuse against women on Twitter conducted with Element AI, a global artificial intelligence software product company. | More than 6,500 volunteers from 150 countries signed up to take part in Troll P…
amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/crowdsourced-twitter-study-reveals-shocking-scale-of-online-abuse-against-women/