(2018-12-14). The extraordinary and ordinary story of Gulzar Duishenova. amnesty.org 
Gulzar Duishenova is one of the nine women human rights defenders featured in Amnesty's 2018 Write for Rights campaign. She shared her story with Amnesty International. Every possible effort was made to translate the story into English representing Gulzar's style of speaking faithfully and precisely. | Every activist, like any other person, has her or his story. Some have been actively defending human rights since they were young. In other cases, human rights work found the defenders. My story is both extraordinary and very ordinary at the same time. | This year I have been featured, along with other eight wom…
(2018-12-14). Is Harvard Profiting From California's Drought? truthdig.com Harvard University has the world's largest endowment, valued at $39.2 billion in 2018, according to The New York Times. That asset allows the university to take some surprising turns in its investments, including, starting in 2012, buying up vineyards in the drought-stricken region of Paso Robles, Calif., and the increasingly valuable water rights that come with them. | As The Wall Street Journal reported M…
(2018-12-14). CAR: Up to 100 civilians shot and burnt alive as UN peacekeepers leave posts in Alindao. amnesty.org The United Nations must carry out a thorough investigation into UN peacekeeping troops' response to a recent attack that killed as many as 100 civilians in a displaced persons camp in the Central African Republic, Amnesty International said today in a new report. | According to multiple eyewitnesses, UN peacekeepers did not engage an attack by an armed group but instead retreated in an armoured vehicle to their central base, leaving thousands of civilians unprotected at the camp in Alindao on 15 November. | An immediate and impartial inquiry m…
(2018-12-14). Australia: Vet Foreign Soldiers Receiving Training. hrw.org 
| | The Philippine Navy band welcomes the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) vessel Her Majesty's Australian Ship (HMAS) Adelaide (III) upon arrival for a goodwill visit as part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Joint Task Group, Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2017, at the Pier 15, south harbor in Metro Manila, Philippines on October 10, 2017. | © 2017 Reuters/Romeo Ranoco | (Sydney) — The Australian government should require human rights vetting for all foreign military…
(2018-12-13). Australia: Principles of Academic Freedom in Jeopardy. globalresearch.ca It has been an ordinary year for universities in Australia. While the National Tertiary Education Union pats itself on the back for supposedly advancing the rights and pay of academics, several face removal and castigation at the hands of university …
(2018-12-13). Supreme Court considers scope of Bill of Rights. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON — December 15 is Bill of Rights Day. The Bill of Rights protects our most cherished rights, including free speech, freedom of religion, and trial by jury. But the Bill of Rights starts with the words "Congress shall make no law." It doesn't say "The states shall make no law." In 1833, the U.S. …
(2018-12-13). Brazil: Gay Couples Rush to Marry Before Bolsonaro is Sworn-In. telesurenglish.net LGBT people in Brazil are rushing to get married before the openly homophobic President-elect Jair Bolsonaro takes office in Jan.1. | RELATED: | Bolsonaro Abolishes Human Rights Ministry For 'Family Values' | According to one association of notaries public, Brazil has seen a 25 percent increase in same-sex marriage in 2018, and a 42 percent increase in Sao…
(2018-12-13). Brazilian Police Looks For Suspects of Marielle Franco's Murder. telesurenglish.net Special police forces of Brazil are searching 15 addresses in Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais in the hopes of finding the person/s responsible for the murder of councilwoman and rights activist Marielle Franco, and her driver Anderson Gomes. | RELATED: | Brazil: Witness Implicates Councilman, Former Military Officer in Marielle Franco's Assassination | The Homicide Division of the Civil Police of Brazil is complying with search and arrest orders ag…
(2018-12-13). Colombia: Students Mobilize to Protest Murder of Social Leaders. telesurenglish.net Colombians march Thursday in nationwide protests. The National Union of Higher Education Students (Unees) announced that these mobilizations will be in rejection of the recent wave of killings of social leaders. | RELATED: | Indigenous Governor, Edwin Dagua, Murdered in Colombia | "We will mobilize throughout the country to reject the murder of social leaders and the violation of human rights, as well as to defend public higher education," said Santiago Gomez, a spokesman for Unees in Ant…
(2018-12-13). SCOTUS Just Voted in Favor of Planned Parenthood. But Roe Is Far From Safe. progressive.org This is a moment anti-choice politicians and activists have been working toward for years. With Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, state-level activism will be front-and-center for protecting reproductive rights in 2019.
(2018-12-13). Headlines for December 13, 2018. democracynow.org Former Trump Lawyer Cohen Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison, National Enquirer Admits to Suppressing Trump Affair Story to Aid 2016 Presidential Bid, Yemen: Hodeidah Ceasefire Declared, Rep. Pelosi Secures Votes for House Speaker Role, Guardian: FBI Was Surveilling Members of Environmental Group 350.org, NYT: ALEC & Oil Industry Secretly Campaigning to Weaken Car Emission Standards, U.K.: Prime Minister May Survives Leadership Challenge, China Detains 2 Canadians as Huawei CFO Gets Out on Bail, Turkey Threatens Offensive Against U.S.-Backed Kurds in Syria, Australian Media Barred from Reporting on Vatican Official C…
(2018-12-13). EPA slams door to justice on historic Black community. peoplesworld.org 
TALLASSEE, Al. — On December 10, leaders of a historic Black community in Tallassee, Alabama, denounced the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for closing a civil rights complaint filed in 2017 against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) in the face of clear evidence, acknowledged by EPA, that the state's actions caused "adverse harms" to …
(2018-12-13). US sanctions have caused a crisis for Iranian Kurds. zcomm.org An economic recession and a brutal government crackdown have put the people of Rojhilat in a precarious situation…
(2018-12-13). Occupied Western Sahara: A rare look inside Africa's last colony. greenleft.org.au 
In an exclusive broadcast, US-based independent news outlet Democracy Now! broke the media blockade and visited the occupied Western Sahara in the northwest of Africa to document the decades-long Sahrawi struggle for freedom and occupying power Morocco's violent crackdown. | Morocco has occupied the territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. Thousands of Sahrawi people have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the Moroccan occupation. A 1700-mile wall…
(2018-12-13). Mass shooting in Strasbourg kills 3, wounds 12 before "yellow vest" protest. wsws.org The French ruling elite is already seizing upon the attack to trample democratic rights with demands that "yellow vest" protesters abandon their protests against Macron.
(2018-12-13). Huawei executive's arrest provokes anti-US protests in China. wsws.org Meng Wanzhou's detention is part of a broader US campaign, under both the Obama and Trump administrations, aimed at undermining Huawei and other Chinese tech companies.
(2018-12-13). Ford executives in Argentina convicted on 1970s torture charges. wsws.org The Ford directors fingered militant workers to the military dictatorship's police and helped set up a torture center inside the automaker's Argentine plant.
(2018-12-13). Canadian Court Hands Important Victory to BDS Movement. therealnews.com 
A Canadian Court ruled that Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions activists were denied free speech and campaigning rights when the city of Montreal tore down their posters highlighting an Israeli atrocity during an election campaign in Canada. We discuss the case with Bruce Katz, one of the main plaintiffs in the case
(2018-12-13). Togo: Spiraling violence and repressive cybersecurity law hit the country ahead of contested parliamentary elections. amnesty.org ‚Ä¢ At least four deaths during protests in less than a week, including three by firearm | ‚Ä¢ Verified video confirms the location where a 12-year-old boy was shot dead | ‚Ä¢ New cyber criminality law unduly restricts freedom of expression | Deadly protests violence in Togo hit the country ahead of contested parliamentary elections on 20 December, Amnesty International said today, as it urged the authorities to properly investigate and sanction all those responsible of a series of deaths which occurred during protests over the past week. | At least four people have…
(2018-12-13). State of Palestine: Further Information: Hunger-Striking Detainee Admitted to Hospital: Suha Jbara. amnesty.org The Palestinian authorities have transferred social justice activist Suha Jbara to a hospital in Jericho following a deterioration in her health condition. She has been on hunger strike since 22 November to protest against her arbitrary detention. Her next court hearing is scheduled for 20 December.
(2018-12-13). Bahrain: Further Information: Expected Verdict For Human Rights Defender: Nabeel Rajab. amnesty.org On 31 December Bahrain's Cassation Court is expected to issue its verdict in the case of prominent human rights defender and prisoner of conscience, Nabeel Rajab. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison in June 2018 in relation to peaceful tweets about the conflict in Yemen and torture allegations in Jaw prison.
(2018-12-13). Rights at stake in Bangladesh on Human Rights Day. amnesty.org At a time when the most powerful countries in the world are closing their doors to refugees, Bangladesh has allowed in more than 700,000 Rohingya people, who fled violent attacks by the military in Myanmar since August 2017. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has shown tremendous compassion and courage at embracing such a large population in spite of Bangladesh's own socioeconomic challenges.
(2018-12-13). Tunisian authorities must sustain progress on transitional justice. amnesty.org As Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) nears the end of its mandate, the government must commit to implementing its recommendations in order to ensure that perpetrators of historic human rights violations are brought to justice, victims receive reparation and measures are taken to stop such crimes being repeated, said Amnesty International. | On 14 and 15 December, after four and a half years, the IVD – which has investigated more than 62,000 cases of human rights violations dating back six decades – is due to deliver its main findings and recommendations at a conference with key stakeholders from govern…
(2018-12-13). Iraq: Dead land: Islamic State's deliberate destruction of Iraq's farmland. amnesty.org One year after Iraq declared military victory over the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) our report finds that IS's deliberate destruction of Iraq's rural environment continues to have debilitating effects on poor, small-holder farmers. The research focuses on the area around Sinjar, scene to some of the most extensive destruction. Irrigation wells were often sabotaged with rubble, oil, or other foreign objects, and pumps, cables, generators and transformers stolen or destroyed. Efforts to hold IS responsible under international law should include these specific crimes. Meanwhile, Iraq's government sh…
(2018-12-13). Poland: Judges who turned to EU's Court of Justice must not be harassed. amnesty.org The authorities in Poland have accused two judges of "possibly" committing a disciplinary offence after they sought clarification from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding whether new disciplinary proceedings against judges were compatible with EU law. Amnesty International is alarmed by the action taken by the deputy Disciplinary Prosecutor against the judges and the wider campaign of harassment and intimidation of judges who are or who are perceived to be critical of the authorities.
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(2018-12-13). Yemen: Ceasefire in Hodeidah brings long-awaited glimmer of hope to millions. amnesty.org Responding to news that the warring parties in Yemen have agreed to a ceasefire for the port city of Hodeidah, Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International's Middle East Director of Research said: | "Today's announcement of a ceasefire agreement in Hodeidah brings hope to millions of civilians who are heavily dependent on the port for access to essential goods and humanitarian aid. | "The conflict has had a devastating impact in terms of interrupting vital supplies in and around Hodeidah. Both parties to the conflict have deliberately impeded humanitarian assistance in violation of international humanitarian law. They mus…
(2018-12-13). Iran: Escalating Crackdown on Lawyers. hrw.org 
| | Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and Farhad Meysami, a human rights defender, protest the suspension of Sotoudeh's law license in front of the Tehran bar association in Tehran, February 2015. | © Private 2015 | (Beirut) — Iranian authorities have escalated their crackdown on lawyers, Human Rights Watch said today. Over the past month, revolutionary courts have sentenced at least three lawyers to long prison terms for their human rights activ…
(2018-12-13). China: Repression of Christian Church Intensifies. hrw.org 
| | Official seal notices are sticked on a backdoor entrance of the Zion church after it was shutdown by authorities in Beijing, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018. | © 2018 Andy Wong/ AP | (New York) — Chinese authorities should immediately release the pastor and scores of members of an independent Protestant church in the southwestern city of Chengdu, Human Rights Watch said today. Authorities should also return church properties and allow the m…
(2018-12-13). Bangladesh: Crackdown as Elections Loom. hrw.org 
| | Police rush Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supporters at a protest on February 9, 2018, Dhaka, Bangladesh. | © 2018 Allison Joyce/Getty Images | (New York) — Bangladesh security forces have been arresting and intimidating opposition figures and threatening freedom of expression in advance of national elections on December 30, 2018, Human Rights Watch said today. The United Nations, European Union, United States, India, China, and others should press the go…
(2018-12-13). Lebanon: Stalled Effort to Get Syrian Children in School. hrw.org 
| | Fewer than half of the school-age refugee children in Lebanon are in formal education. | (Beirut) – The number of Syrian refugee children enrolled in school in Lebanon has stalled at the same inadequate levels as in the 2017-2018 school year, Human Rights Watch said today. | Fewer than half of the 631,000 school-age refugee children in Lebanon are in formal education, wit…
(2018-12-13). Ethiopia's Torture Problem and the Court of Public Opinion. hrw.org 
Ethiopia's state broadcaster EBC aired a documentary this week, detailing numerous horrendous acts of torture carried out by security services in recent years. Many Ethiopians were shocked and outraged. | | | Screenshot from EBC documentary detailing numerous horrendous acts of torture carried out by security services in recent years. | © 2018 EBC/YouTube | These allegations are not new. Human rights groups have …
(2018-12-13). Colombia: New Armed Groups Plague Afro-Colombian Zone. hrw.org 
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(2018-12-13). No Justice for Horrors of Brazil's Military Dictatorship 50 Years On. hrw.org 
| | Tanks occupy the Avenida Presidente Vargas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 4, 1968. | © 1968 Correio da Manh࣠| Fifty years ago today, Brazil ¥s military regime unleashed all-out repression with the publication of Institutional Act 5. Brazil's president, army general Artur da Costa e Silva, immediately invoked the Act to close Congress and state legislatures, arrest opposition politicians, and revoke their political rights. He established widespread censorship and suspended habeas corpus for offenses th…
(2018-12-13). Singapore: Drop Defamation Charges Against Editor. hrw.org 
| | A general view of the Parliament House in Singapore June 2, 2016. | © 2016 Reuters | (Bangkok) — Singapore authorities should drop criminal defamation charges against Terry Xu, editor of the online news site The Online Citizen, for publishing a letter alleging government corruption, Human Rights Watch said today. Xu is scheduled to appear in court on December 13, 2018. The authorities should also drop the criminal defamation charge f…
(2018-12-12). Goodyear Shutters Venezuela Operations, Blames Sanctions. venezuelanalysis.com The tire manufacturer claimed that economic conditions and sanctions have made production "impossible."
(2018-12-12). Headlines for December 12, 2018. democracynow.org Trump Threatens Government Shutdown over Border Wall Funding, U.K.: Prime Minister May Faces Leadership Challenge, France: Gunman on the Loose After Killing 3 at Christmas Market, Brazil: Gunman Kills 4 in Cathedral Shooting, Brazil: 2 Members of Landless Workers' Movement Killed, Report: Illegal Mining On the Rise in Amazon, Report: Arctic Is Warming at Rapid Rate, California: Activists Protest for Green New Deal at Pelosi's Office, ICE Arrested 170 Potential Sponsors for Unaccompanied Migrant Minors, Arizona Judge Orders Deportation of Immigrant and Reproductive Rights Activist, Ex-Frat President Accused of Vio…
(2018-12-12). Grinnell College 'Invites Trump onto Campus,' Aiming to Limit Student Collective Bargaining. progressive.org Student unionization efforts are underway at twenty-four U.S. universities—while the first independent undergraduate union in the country fights for survival.
(2018-12-12). Political warfare in Washington escalates to crisis of capitalist rule. wsws.org Trump's embrace of murder, his defense of fascists, his racist attacks on immigrants are blowing up an ideological pillar of US imperialist foreign policy—the pretense that the United States is a bulwark of human rights and democracy.
(2018-12-12). Nicaragua: US legislation Key for Accountability. hrw.org 
| | A person is arrested by riot police during a protest against the government of President Daniel Ortega in Managua, on October 14, 2018. | © 2018 INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images | (Washington, DC) — United States President Donald Trump should move quickly to sign into law a bill that will allow targeted sanctions against top Nicaraguan officials and others implicated in egregious human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today. The legislation will create…
(2018-12-12). A Dark Anniversary for Press Freedom in Myanmar. hrw.org 
| | Detained Reuters journalist Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo sit beside police officers as they leave Insein court in Yangon, Myanmar July 9, 2018. | © 2018 Reuters | It's been one year since Myanmar police arrested Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo on December 12, 2017. Over the past year, Myanmar's increasingly restricted state of press freedom has been laid bare for the world to see. | Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been impri…
(2018-12-12). Thailand: Lift Draconian Speech Restrictions. hrw.org 
| | Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha arrives at a weekly cabinet meeting at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, January 17, 2017. | © 2017 Reuters/Chaiwat Subprasom | (New York) — Thailand's junta should immediately end restrictions on the right to free expression so that credible national elections can be held on February 24, 2019, Human Rights Watch said today. | On December 11, 2018, the ruling National Council for Pea…
(2018-12-12). Justice Moves Ahead in the Central African Republic. hrw.org 
On December 12, Patrice Edouard Nagaissona, a one-time self-declared political coordinator of anti-balaka militias, was arrested in France on International Criminal Court (ICC) charges. With his arrest, the prospects for justice for grave crimes committed during the Central African Republic's most recent crisis took a welcome step forward. | | | A burned Pentecostal church in Zéré. Hundreds of Christian and Muslim homes and places of worship were destroyed in th…
(2018-12-12). UN: Act on Reprisals by Egypt. hrw.org 
| | Egyptians shout slogans against the government while on a ferry during the funeral of Syed Tafshan, who died in clashes with residents of the Nile island of al-Warraq island, when security forces attempted to demolish illegal buildings, in the south of Cairo, Egypt July 16, 2017. | © 2017 Reuters | (Geneva) — The United Nations should ensure an urgent and robust system-wide response to credible reports that the Egyptian authorities have attacked pe…
(2018-12-11). ACTION ALERT: CNN Must Rehire Pundit Who Defended Democratic Rights. fair.org 
Marc Lamont Hill appearing as a political commentator on CNN | As Marc Lamont Hill delivered his widely discussed speech at the United Nations on November 28, in which he expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and emphasized the need to protect the human rights and self-determination of all who lived "from the river to the sea," he probably expected some critical response. What he likely didn't expect was to be fired from his position as a CNN commentator, and to have his job as a professor at Temple University threatened. | Pro-Israel partisans and commentato…
(2018-12-11). US & Canada Violate International Law with the Arrest of Chinese Huawei Exec. therealnews.com 
Col. Larry Wilkerson explains that it's not the Chinese Huawei executive that violated law when circumventing US sanctions, but it is the US that violates them by imposing sanctions that were never agreed to on an international level
(2018-12-11). Google CEO Hammered by Members of Congress on China Censorship Plan. theintercept.com Google CEO Sundar Pichai came under fire from lawmakers on Tuesday over the company's secretive plan to launch a censored search engine in China. | During a hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee, Pichai faced sustained questions over the China plan, known as Dragonfly, which would blacklist broad categories of information about democracy, human rights, and peaceful protest. | The hearing began with an opening statement from Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who said launching a censored search engine in China would "strengthen China's system of surveillance and repression." McCarthy questioned whether it was…
(2018-12-11). Activists Found Guilty of Terrorism-Related Offense for Stopping U.K. Migrant Deportations. theintercept.com The guilty verdict arrived around lunchtime on December 10 — Human Rights Day, which this year marked the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It signaled the end of a nine-week trial and three days of jury deliberations in Chelmsford Crown Court, about 30 miles northeast of London. More than a year and a half after the 15 defendants had locked themselves around a deportation charter flight at London's Stansted Airport, successfully stopping it from taking off, the defendants were convicted of intentional disruption of services at an aerodrome, a terrorism-related offense with a po…
(2018-12-11). Rights Groups Turn Up Pressure on Google Over China Censorship Ahead of Congressional Hearing. theintercept.com Google risks being "complicit in human rights violations" if it brings censored search back to China, said a global coalition of over 60 groups.