(2019-12-04). Immigrant rights activists protest ICE detention at Sherburne County commissioners' meeting. fightbacknews.org Elk River, MN – Immigrant rights activists mobilized to the Sherburne County commissioners' meeting at 9: 00 in the morning Tuesday, December 3 in Elk River, a town of around 20,000 people an hour northwest of Minneapolis. They held signs throughout the meeting, and several of them spoke passionately during the public comment section of the agenda, appealing to the commissioners to stop participating in and profiting from immigrant detention in the Sherburne County Jail. | The Sherburne County Jail has a contract for 300 beds to detain immigrants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), making it the la…
(2019-12-04). Consulting Giant McKinsey Suggested "Detention Savings Opportunities" That Even ICE Staff Viewed as Too Harsh on Immigrants. commondreams.org How McKinsey helped the Trump Administration detain and deport immigrants. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2019-12-04). McKinsey Has Its Fingerprints All Over Trump's Immigration Policy. truthdig.com ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. | This article is co-published with The New York Times. | Just days after he took office in 2017, President Donald Trump set out to make good on his campaign pledge to halt illegal immigration. In a pair of executive orders, he ordered "all legally available resources" to be shifted to border detention facilities and called for hiring 10,000 new immigration officers. | The logistical challenges were daunting, but as luck w…
(2019-12-04). Julian Assange: An Appeal From International Lawyers. globalresearch.ca The ongoing proceedings against Australian citizen Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, presently held in Belmarsh Prison near London, display a grave erosion of time-honoured principles of human rights, the rule of law, and the democratic freedom to gather and …
(2019-12-04). Activists decry Minnesota investments in border militarization, climate destruction. fightbacknews.org St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) held its quarterly meeting at the State Capitol December 2 and got sharp criticism from immigrant rights and anti-war activists, as new documents revealed a nearly $1 million increase in investment in a controversial military technology company. Youth climate strikers also highlighted the SBI's inaction over state ties to environmental destruction. Both groups were met with vacillation and excuses from the board which is tasked with the responsible investment of public pensions and related funds. | At issue was Elbit Systems, an Israel-based manufacture…
(2019-12-04). Palestinian Detainees In Asqalan Prison Declare Hunger Strike. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported that 33 detainees, held by Israel in the infamous Asqalan Israeli Prison, have started a hunger strike, rejected a series of punitive measures against them. The PPS said that the detainees decided to start the strike to protest the bad living conditions, but …
(2019-12-04). Rioting in Hong Kong and Iraq: Human Rights and Hypocrisy in the White House and Congress. globalresearch.ca For months Western media outlets have been retailing stories about riots in Hong Kong. With lip-smacking relish there have been such reports as "On October 1, China's National Day, the first live round to hit a protester was fired by …
(2019-12-04). 'US Is Responsible for Discontent in Latin America' Cuba Blames. telesurenglish.net Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Tuesday rejected the "sanctions, threats, and slander" of the United States against his country and held Washington and the conservative Latin American elites responsible for social protests. | RELATED: | Cuba and EU Share Positions About US Blockade | "We do not comply with sanctions, threats, or slander from the U.S. government,…
(2019-12-04). TIAR Countries Blacklist Top Venezuelan Officials as US Slaps New Sanctions. venezuelanalysis.com US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Venezuela of "hijacking" mass anti-neoliberal protests in "our own backyard."
(2019-12-04). UN Report Finds Over 7 Million Children Worldwide Are Being Held in Detention. truthout.org A damning United Nations report says that 7 million children are deprived of their liberty worldwide, from children imprisoned on the U.S.-Mexico border to the missing children of ISIS fighters. The Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty says that at least 410,000 of those children are detained in jails and prisons, where violence is "endemic." The study also found that the number of children detained in the context of armed conflict has dramatically risen. The global study was published…
(2019-12-04). High-Interest Lenders Can Loan You Money Then Get a Warrant for Your Arrest. truthout.org Cecila Avila was finishing a work shift at a Walmart. David Gordon was at church. Darrell Reese was watching his granddaughter at home. Jessica Albritton had pulled into the parking lot at her job, where she packed and shipped bike parts. | None of the four, who live in northern Utah and were detained last year, had committed a crime. They had each borrowed money at high interest rates from a local lender called Loans for Less and were sued for owing sums that ranged from $800 to $3,600. When they missed a co…
(2019-12-04). The Theology of Politics. globalresearch.ca This is a serious discussion, so let's be sure we are on the same page by ensuring we apply the same meanings to our words. "Democracy" is NOT government. It is not freedom, it is not human rights, it is …
(2019-12-04). Venezuelan FM Condemns New Sanctions Imposed by TIAR Nations. telesurenglish.net Venezuelan Foreign MinisterJorge Arreaza condemned on Tuesday the activation of measures on sanctions against officials of the Venezuelan government during the meeting of the Inter – American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance ( Rio Treaty ), which was held in Bogotá, Colombia on December 3. | RELATED: | With Climate Change the Victims Are Always the Poorest: Venezuelan Gov't | Arreaza said that some of the allied regional governments of the United States seek to push for war again…
(2019-12-04). RIP Fred Hampton: a Black Visionary Assassinated by the FBI. counterpunch.org Fifty years ago this week, a squad of Chicago police officers killed Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in a pre-dawn raid on the apartment where they were sleeping. In the decades since, a revealing body of evidence has emerged showing that Hampton was the victim of a political assassination, sanctioned at the highest levels of the U.S. government. More
(2019-12-04). The Renaissance on Alcatraz 50 Years Later. indybay.org The 50th Anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz is a renaissance of the movement for Native rights. KPFA's Flashpoints host Dennis J. Bernstein talks with Lakota Bill Means and Dine' Lenny Foster. Foster speaks out for Leonard Peltier.
(2019-12-04). Civil Rights Groups Sue Over Secretive ALEC Meeting. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-12-04). Seventeen Years After His Arrest, Alleged USS Cole Plotter Is Still Fighting to See Records of His CIA Torture. theintercept.com Abd al Rahim al Nashiri's lawyers say that details of his torture are essential to defending him against death penalty charges.
(2019-12-04). U.N. Report Finds Over 7 Million Children Worldwide Are Being Held in Various Kinds of Detention. democracynow.org 
A damning United Nations report says that 7 million children are deprived of their liberty worldwide, from children imprisoned on the U.S.-Mexico border to the missing children of ISIS fighters. The Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty says that at least 410,000 of those children are detained in jails and prisons, where violence is "endemic." The study also found that the number of children detained in the context of armed conflict has dramatically risen. The global study was published in November, on the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the landmark international treaty affi…
(2019-12-04). "Alternative Nobel Prize:" Right Livelihood Award Celebrates 40 Years Honoring Grassroots Activists. democracynow.org 
The Right Livelihood Award is marking its 40th anniversary. The award was established in 1980 to honor and support those "offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us." It has since become known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Over the past four decades, the award has been given to activists and grassroots leaders around the globe. A number of them have gone on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. This year's winners are: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar, who has challenged the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara for decades; Chi…
(2019-12-04). Headlines for December 4, 2019. democracynow.org House Impeachment Report Accuses Trump of Soliciting Foreign Interference in 2020 Election, Report: Europe Could Face Annual Extreme Heat Waves Due to Climate Change, Kamala Harris Ends Her 2020 Presidential Campaign, ProPublica: McKinsey Helped Trump Speed Up Mass Deportation Program, Detained Asylum Seekers Protest in Winnfield, Louisiana, House Votes for Bill to Punish China over Mass Imprisonment of Muslims, ICC Begins Hearing over Alleged U.S. Military Torture in Afghanistan, Rikers Island Officers Stood By as Teenager Attempted to Hang Himself, Today Marks 50th Anniversary of Assassination of Fred Hampton…
(2019-12-04). YouTube takes down Conservative adverts featuring edited BBC footage. thecanary.co 
Google has removed Conservative Party election adverts which used edited BBC clips from its video-sharing platform YouTube.The move follows a similar response by Facebook, after the corporation complained that the adverts infringed its intellectual property rights.Google — which has owned YouTube since 2006 — said it had taken action following a copyright claim by the BBC.One of the adverts the broadcaster was concerned about included an edited clip of its political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, saying "pointless delay to Brexit", followed by newsreader Huw Edwards stating "another Brexit delay".A Conservat…
(2019-12-03). Members of Argentine Delegation in Bolivia tell the horror they recorded (Coup Repression). mronline.org 
Disappearances, murders, arbitrary detentions, rapes, torture and hospitals that refuse to take care of those wounded by the repression were some of the events recorded during the first day of work. They were held and kicked at the airport by a pro-coup mob. Then the Minister of Government of Añez, Arturo Murillo, came out to […] | Source
(2019-12-03). Tuesday's Daily Brief: climate crisis reports, renewal in Iraq, Zimbabwe's hunger crisis, Disabilities Day. news.un.org A recap of Tuesday's stories: New climate change reports on human health and global warming; Zimbabwe's 'worst hunger crisis in a decade'; protests and civil unrest show 'renewed sense of patriotism' in Iraq; UN 'determined to lead by example' on disability rights.
(2019-12-03). China Retaliates Against Hostile US Legislation. globalresearch.ca In late November, House and Senate members unanimously passed the so-called Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act (HKHRDA) of 2019. | Trump signed the measure into law, along with a companion bill, restricting exports of US crowd control devices to …
(2019-12-03). Congress Must Act to Protect the Right to Vote. aclu.org Read the ACLU's report to Congress on the importance of restoring the Voting Rights Act. | This week, the House is expected to vote on H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019. The bill would help ensure racial barriers to voting are removed from elections across the country. Passing the VRAA will advance needed protections for people whose right to vote is under attack based on the color of their skin. | This will be the first time Congress votes on a bill to restore and update the protections of the Voting Rights Act since the Supreme Court…
(2019-12-03). Anti-Abortion Extremism Goes Full Psycho. thenation.com Anti-Abortion Extremism Goes Full Psycho…
(2019-12-03). How I Won a Florida Swing Seat as a Proud Abortion-Rights Supporter. thenation.com How I Won a Florida Swing Seat as a Proud Abortion-Rights Supporter…
(2019-12-03). Meet Yetnebersh Nigussie: A Blind Ethiopian Lawyer Fighting for Global Disability Rights. democracynow.org 
December 3 is International Day of Persons With Disabilities. "Unfortunately, disability-based discrimination is still a global phenomenon," says Yetnebersh Nigussie, a lawyer and disability rights activist from Ethiopia who in 2017 received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Nigussie is the director for advocacy and rights at Light for the World and the former chair of the Ethiopian National Association of the Blind women's wing. She has been blind since the age of five. Yetnebersh Nigussie speaks with us in Stockholm. She is one of many former Right Livelihood Award recipie…
(2019-12-02). Amid a Violent Crackdown, Bolivia's Coup Gov't is Trying to Convict Evo Morales of "Crimes Against Humanity" mintpressnews.com The new Bolivian government's apparent grave concern for human rights when it comes to Morales may not ring true when judged against their actions in just three short weeks of rule.
(2019-12-02). 'Continuing deterioration' leaves Mali facing critical security level: UN expert. news.un.org Security in Mali has become critical, with unprecedented incidents of communal violence and increasingly more deadly terror attacks, reported a UN human rights expert on Monday, following a 10-day visit to the country.
(2019-12-02). Venezuela's PDVSA Secures Temporary Lease Extension for Curacao Refinery. venezuelanalysis.com Despite the extension, refinery owners are looking to end the 34-year cooperation under pressure from US sanctions.
(2019-12-02). UN 'determined to lead by example' on disability rights: Guterres. news.un.org The UN is determined to lead by example when it comes to the rights of people with disabilities, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a message to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which falls on 3 December.
(2019-12-02). An alternative to liberal globalization. mronline.org 
In the Bandung Conference of 1955, the governments and peoples of Asia and Africa expressed their ambitions to reconstruct a global system based on the recognition of the rights of countries that had previously been under the yoke of colonialism. In that period, "the rights to development," as applied to the frameworks for negotiating multipolarity […] | Source
(2019-12-01). The Sanctuary Strategy. progressive.org Policies and activism that work to shelter undocumented immigrants have spread across the country—and are remarkably effective.
(2019-12-01). How We Win via NVDA Campaigning. dissidentvoice.org 
Long-time peace, justice, democracy and lgbtq activist and trainer George Lakey has written a book, How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning, about the strategic centrality to movement-building of the approach of nonviolent direct action campaigning. Built upon his decades of organizing experience going back to the '60s civil rights movement, there …
(2019-11-30). Iraqis Rise Up Against 16 Years of 'Made in the USA' Corruption. dissidentvoice.org As Americans sat down to Thanksgiving dinner, Iraqis were mourning 40 protesters killed by police and soldiers on Thursday in Baghdad, Najaf and Nasiriyah. Nearly 400 protesters have been killed since hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets at the beginning of October. Human rights groups have described the crisis in Iraq as a …
(2019-11-30). US Enraged After 6 More EU Nations Join Effort to Bypass Iran Sanctions. theantimedia.com Finland, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden issued a bombshell joint statement of "the utmost importance."
(2019-11-30). US cryptocurrency expert arrested for 'aiding adversary & sanctions violation' over North Korea trip. rt.com 
The FBI has arrested an American citizen accused of illicitly traveling to Pyongyang to give a talk on cryptocurrencies, claiming that the tech expert knowingly undermined Washington's efforts to isolate North Korea economically. | Virgil Griffith was taken into custody in Los Angeles over the trip to Pyongyang, where the Department of Justice says he gave "a presentation and technical advice on using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology." | "Mr Griffith allegedly traveled to North Korea without permission from the federal government, and with knowledge [that] what he was doing was against the law," the De…
(2019-11-29). Friday's Daily Brief: violence in DR Congo, protester deaths in Iraq, human rights in Colombia, climate change conference, 'high human cost' of Ecuador unrest. news.un.org A recap of Friday's stories in brief: attacks on communities in an Ebola outbreak hotspot in eastern DRC sparks a humanitarian crisis; Guterres expresses concerns at continued protester deaths in Iraq; UN-appointed panel raises concerns about violence against indigenous rights defenders in Colombia; 5 things you need to know about COP25; UN rights chief urges dialogue to ease Ecuador unrest.
(2019-11-29). UN rights chief calls for dialogue to prevent conflict, ease social unrest in Ecuador. news.un.org The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, on Friday denounced the "high human cost", of the recent unrest in Ecuador and urged all actors in the South American country to engage in dialogue to prevent new conflicts and forge an inclusive society "with full respect for its multicultural nature".
(2019-11-28). 'This Was a Test Case to See How a Couple of Photos Could Silence Women' – CounterSpin interview with Mallory McMaster on Katie Hill. fair.org 
Janine Jackson interviewed reproductive rights advocate Mallory McMaster about Katie Hill for the November 22, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…
(2019-11-28). Operation Condor 2.0: After Bolivia coup, Trump dubs Nicaragua 'national security threat' and targets Mexico. thegrayzone.com After presiding over a far-right coup in Bolivia, the US dubbed Nicaragua a "national security threat" and announced new sanctions,…
(2019-11-28). US Vows to 'Reinforce' Sanctions, Accuses Venezuela and Cuba of Stirring Regional 'Strife'. venezuelanalysis.com Elliott Abrams reiterated support for Guaido and denied that sanctions are damaging the Venezuelan economy.
(2019-11-28). Arundhati Roy: It's Hard to Communicate the Scale and the Shape of This Shadow Taking India Over. democracynow.org 
Human rights groups are condemning the Indian government for carrying out widespread torture, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and other crimes in Kashmir after the region's special status was revoked in August. We speak to the acclaimed Indian author Arundhati Roy about the crackdown in Kashmir, rising authoritarianism in India and other issues.
(2019-11-28). Vigil for West Papua. greenleft.org.au 
international solidarity Bernadette SmithIssue 1247 Australia West PapuaNovember 28, 2019Human rights activists are holding regular vigils outside the Indonesian Consulate in Sydney, calling for a United Nations-supervised referendum to allow the people of…
(2019-11-28). Sam Watson 1952-2019: A giant of the Aboriginal rights struggle. greenleft.org.au 
Indigenous rights Jim McIlroyIssue 1247 Australia Sam WatsonNovember 28, 2019Sam Watson, a leader of the Aboriginal rights struggle, died on November 27, aged 67. A prominent author, playwright and filmmaker, Watson was also the Socialist Alliance's (SA) Aboriginal and…
(2019-11-28). Animal testing saves profits, not lives. greenleft.org.au 
environment Doug Leith Mary MerkenichIssue 1247 Australia animal rights MelbourneNovember 28, 2019Melbourne Save Animals in Lab…
(2019-11-28). Argentina: abortion rights in sight. greenleft.org.au 
abortion rights Pip Hinman Rosana FanjulIssue 1247 Argentina reproductive rightsNovember 28, 2019Pro-choice campaigners are hopeful that Argentinian president-elect Alberto Fernández will…
(2019-11-28). The Ensuring Integrity Bill is not just an attack on unions. It's an attack on our prospects for a better future. greenleft.org.au 
workers' rights Tim GoodenIssue 1247 Australia Ensuring Integrity BillNovember 28, 2019The federal Coalition government's latest union-busting bill is not only an attack on the rights of workers to organise for better wages and conditions — it…
(2019-11-28). Trump backs Hong Kong protesters, signs 'human rights' bill… 'out of respect for President Xi'? rt.com 
President Donald Trump has approved legislation backing Hong Kong's 'pro-democracy' protest movement, disregarding Beijing's repeated warnings for Washington to mind its own business and stop meddling in China's internal affairs. | Dubbed the 'Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act,' the bill blazed through both houses of Congress earlier this month with virtually unanimous consent from lawmakers. In addition to threatening sanctions over human rights violations, the law requires the State Department to "certify" once a year whether Hong Kong enjoys sufficient "autonomy," though exactly how officials will qu…