The Plot to Discredit and Destroy Julian Assange
Robert Scheer | truthdig.com | 2019-12-06
A day after dozens of doctors around the world released a statement about their mounting concerns regarding Julian Assange's health as he's detained in a British prison, Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer spoke with Tariq Ali, a renowned British journalist and co-editor of a recent collection of essays titled " In Defense of Julian Assange." To Scheer, Ali and the book's many contributors, the case agains…
truthdig.com/articles/the-plot-to-discredit-and-destroy-julian-assange/
Meeting of Australian teachers passes resolutions in defence of Julian Assange
wsws.org | 2019-12-06
The teachers have taken an important stand which points the way forward for other educators, and for all sections of the working class, in the fight for democratic rights and against the persecution of Assange.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/06/foot…
Bolivia's Coup Government: a Far-Right Horror Show
Forrest Hylton | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-06
Since coming to power on November 12, Bolivia's right-wing coup government, led by interim president Jeanine Añez, has quickly consolidated power and achieved international legitimacy. So far, the Añez government has succeeded in calling elections for 2020; persecuting journalists, political opponents, and human rights activists; and, following two massacres of unarmed, mainly indigenous protesters that…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/06/bolivias-coup-government-a-far-right-horror-show/
UN rights chief 'extremely concerned' over deadly crackdown on protesters in Iran
news.un.org | 2019-12-06
In the wake of recent protests in Iran, the top United Nations human rights official expressed alarm on Friday over multiple human rights violations which have reportedly taken place across the country.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1052911
Seton Hall Law School report exposes new details of CIA torture program
wsws.org | 2019-12-06
The report reveals for the first time–with drawings and notes provided by CIA detainee Abu Zubaydah–details of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" used by the US government.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/06/seto…
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Holds Hearing on Afghanistan War Crimes, Including US Torture
Brett Wilkins | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-06
The current hearing will examine allegations that US troops and intelligence operatives tortured, raped and abused Afghan prisoners between 2003 and 2004. | *** | The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened a three-day hearing in the The Hague, Netherlands on Wednesday at …
globalresearch.ca/icc-holds-hearing-afghanistan-war-crimes-including-us-torture/5696925
The Systematic Torture of Palestinians in Israeli Detention
Al-Shabaka | imemc.org | 2019-12-06
by Yara Hawari, for Al Shabaka Palestinian Policy Network Since the establishment of Israel in 1948, the Israeli Security Agency has been torturing Palestinians. Al-Shabaka Senior Palestine Policy Fellow Yara Hawari argues that the use of torture in Israeli detention is systematic and legitimized through domestic law, and outlines steps for the …
imemc.org/article/the-systematic-torture-of-palestinians-in-israeli-detention/
Basta fridayWeekly Save Chelsea from Torture and Death Vigil&Music
orion the elder | indybay.org | 2019-12-06
Out side MacArthur and Fruitvale oakland ca 94602…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/06/18828674.php
PCHR Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (28 Nov. — 04 Dec. 2019)
PCHR | imemc.org | 2019-12-06
Summary This week, PCHR documented 159 violations of the international human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL) by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory. As part of the Israeli violations of the right to life and bodily integrity: In terms of excessive use …
imemc.org/article/pchr-weekly-report-on-israeli-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-28-nov-04-dec-2019/
UK Labour Party votes to stop arms trade with Israel, apply international law to trade, and support refugee return
patrick | bdsmovement.net | 2019-12-06
UK Labour Party votes to stop arms trade with Israel, apply international law to trade, and support refugee return: In the NewsAt the UK Labour party's annual conference, the party voted overwhelmingly for refugees right to return, to stop "any arms trade with Israel that is used in violation of the human rights of Palestinians" and to apply international law to UK trade wi…
bdsmovement.net/news/uk-labour-party-votes-stop-arms-trade-israel-apply-international-law-trade-and-support-refugee
Palestine TV Crew Detained in Jerusalem
IMEMC News & Agencies | imemc.org | 2019-12-06
The Palestinian Authority, today, condemned the detention of Palestine TV crew members in Jerusalem. The Presidency slammed the detention of the crew as a part of the Israeli government's scheme to entrench Israeli control over the occupied city of Jerusalem and its holy sites. It called out Israeli violations that …
imemc.org/article/palestine-tv-crew-detained-in-jerusalem/
Asia Unites Against US Coup Attempt. Decades of US Meddling in Cambodia
Joseph Thomas | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-06
The nations of Southeast Asia have united in efforts to prevent a US-backed coup aimed at fellow-Southeast Asian state Cambodia. | Through a combination of travel bans and detentions across the region in late October and early November, Southeast Asia may …
globalresearch.ca/asia-unites-against-us-coup-attempt-decades-of-us-meddling-in-cambodia/5696897
'Fleeing Not Migrating'
James Goodman | commondreams.org | 2019-12-06
A river at risk of drying up near the agricultural village of Guapinol, Honduras. The phrase "Cuidemos los bosques," painted onto a rock by villagers, translates to "Protect the forests." (Photo: Lawyers for Civil Rights) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/12/06/fleeing-not-migrating?cd-origin=rss
House Delivers on Restoring the Voting Rights Act; Now Senate Must Act
commondreams.org | 2019-12-06
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/12/06/house-delivers-restoring-voting-rights-act-now-senate-must-act?cd-origin=rss
Common Cause Lauds Passage of Voting Rights Advancement Act, Urges Senate to Follow Suit
commondreams.org | 2019-12-06
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/12/06/common-cause-lauds-passage-voting-rights-advancement-act-urges-senate-follow?cd-origin=rss
Rise in Caribbean children displaced by storms shows climate crisis is a child rights issue: UNICEF
news.un.org | 2019-12-06
The number of Caribbean children displaced by storms has risen approximately six-fold in the past five years, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reveals in a new report released on Friday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1052901
House Vote to Restore Voting Rights Will Send Strong Message to U.S. Senators
commondreams.org | 2019-12-06
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/12/06/house-vote-restore-voting-rights-will-send-strong-message-us-senators?cd-origin=rss
Stand Up America Applauds House Democrats For Passing Voting Rights Advancement Act
commondreams.org | 2019-12-06
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/12/06/stand-america-applauds-house-democrats-passing-voting-rights-advancement-act?cd-origin=rss
The Pentagon's Destruction of the Bill of Rights
Jacob G. Hornberger | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-06
It is supremely ironic that Pentagon officials take an oath to support and defend the Constitution because they intentionally destroyed the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution when they set up their "judicial" system at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In …
globalresearch.ca/pentagon-destruction-bill-rights/5696880
China's envoy says European parties to Iran nuclear deal didn't trigger dispute resolution mechanism
rt.com | 2019-12-06
European parties to the Iran nuclear deal did not trigger a mechanism that could lead to the renewal of UN sanctions at talks in Vienna on Friday, according to China's envoy. | "All countries need to refrain from taking actions that further complicate the situation," Fu Cong, director general of the Department of Arms Control of the Chinese Foreign Ministry told reporters after the talks. | "In our view there is an element of automaticity into this and we can't be sure that countries can keep this process under control. It could aggravate tensions," Reuters quoted the envoy as saying. | He said the European po…
rt.com/newsline/475213-iran-nuclear-dispute-mechanism/
'Another propaganda attack': Russian Foreign Ministry hits back over US 'Evil Corp' claims
rt.com | 2019-12-06
Moscow has condemned the 'obviously politicized' US sanctions on Russian nationals allegedly behind the 'Evil Corp' malware operation, with the Foreign Ministry calling the accusations unfounded and promising to retaliate. | Eleven Russian individuals and six companies were sanctioned by the US on Tuesday for "links" to the so-called 'Evil Corp,' an alleged cyber crime syndicate that the US Department of Justice accused of stealing more than $100 million from Western institutions over the past decade. | Though the DOJ said it had received assistance from the Russian Federation authorities, the Russian Foreign…
rt.com/news/475234-russian-foreign-ministry-response-us-sanctions-cyber/
Trump-Led Shift Away From Multilateralism Risks Survival of Future Generations and Planet, Warn The Elders
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-12-06
World leaders working to promote peace, justice, and human rights warned that their mission and the joint goals of people around the world have been seriously impeded by a shift away from multilateralism in recent years, especially since President Donald Trump took office. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2019/12/06/trump-led-shift-away-multilateralism-risks-survival-future-generations-and-planet?cd-origin=rss
Trump's "Economic Terrorism" Directed against Venezuela and Bolivia
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-06
Trump regime economic terrorism on Venezuela includes multiple rounds of illegal sanctions and an embargo — war by other means. | Nations and media supporting hostile US actions against the Bolivarian Republic and other countries are complicit in its crimes against …
globalresearch.ca/trump-regime-economic-terrorism-venezuelan-social-democracy/5696869
Doctors condemn failure of British government to answer letter demanding medical care for Julian Assange
wsws.org | 2019-12-05
The doctors state that "the UK government's refusal to take the required measures to protect Mr Assange's rights, health and dignity appears…unlawfully and unnecessarily exposes Mr Assange to potentially irreversible medical risks."
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/05/doct…
A Border Officer Told Me I Couldn't Opt Out of the Face Recognition Scan. They Were Wrong
Shaw Drake | aclu.org | 2019-12-05
"Look at the camera," a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) | officer told me as I approached the primary inspection point at the Paso del | Norte port of entry. | "Is that the face recognition technology?" I asked. "If so, I want to opt-out." | "Look at the camera." | "I want to opt-out." | "Look at the camera." | On the evening of November 25, 2019, I crossed from Mexico into the United States. Signs in the port noted the new use of face recognition technology and United States citizens' option to "undergo alternative procedures." After handing over my U.S. passport card, and despite my repeated protests…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/a-border-officer-told-me-i-couldnt-opt-out-of-the-face-recognition-scan-they-were-wrong
New Legislation Aims to End the "School to Confinement Pathway"
Alice Speri | theintercept.com | 2019-12-05
Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts introduced new legislation Thursday aimed at ending the "school to confinement pathway." The bill targets discriminatory and punitive school discipline policies that push black and brown students out of schools at disproportionately high rates, often directly into the criminal justice system. | The bill offers incentives to states and schools that commit to ban most suspensions and expulsions, as well as corporal punishment and the physical restraint of students. It also allots resources to the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights at a time when the Trump administrat…
theintercept.com/2019/12/05/criminalization-students-school-prison-pathway/
Ecuadorean Gov't Slams UN Report About Repressing Protesters
telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-05
The government of Ecuador justified onThursday, through a statement, the repression of protesters who took to the streets in October for ten days to reject the economic reform that Lenin Moreno's regime intended to impose. | RELATED: | UN: Unnecessary and Disproportionate Repression in Ecuador | The text, issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, questions the report presented by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) confirming the unnecessary and…
telesurenglish.net/news/Ecuadorean-Govt-Slams-UN-Report-About-Repressing-Protesters-20191205-0005.html
Donald Trump Keeps Navy SEALs Above the Law
Matthew Cole | theintercept.com | 2019-12-05
Rear Admiral Collin Green had a problem. Green, a Navy SEAL and commander of Naval Special Warfare, knew that his community — 3,000 active duty SEALs, their families, and the several thousand former and retired SEALs who make up their elite military tribe — was locked in a culture war over one notorious SEAL. What could he do about Eddie Gallagher? | Gallagher, a sniper and medic, had stabbed an injured and unarmed ISIS detainee who may have been as young as 14 during a deployment in Mosul, Iraq, in 2017. The case had made headlines internationally, and Gallagher had won prominent support from Preside…
theintercept.com/2019/12/05/donald-trump-eddie-gallagher-navy-seals/
Pompeo vows intervention against "riots" in Washington's "own backyard"
wsws.org | 2019-12-05
Immediately following Pompeo's provocative speech, the US slapped new sanctions on Venezuela and Cuba, which the secretary of state accused of fomenting violence.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/05/pomp…
UAW sanctions "perma-temps" in Fiat-Chrysler tentative agreement
wsws.org | 2019-12-05
The deal reached with FCA does not even include the fig leaf "pathway" for temporary workers to regular employment found in the GM and Ford contracts.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/05/auto…
Rights for workers means no going soft on Hansonism
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-12-05
union rights Sam WainwrightIssue 1248 Australia Ensuring Integrity Bill ACTUDecember 5, 2019Supporters of workers' rights breathed a big sigh of relief when the Coalition's union-busting Fair Work (…
greenleft.org.au/content/rights-workers-means-no-going-soft-hansonism
Aminatou Haidar Honored For Decades of Peaceful Resistance in Western Sahara, Africa's Last Colony
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-05
In Stockholm, Democracy Now! sat down with one of the winners of this year's Right Livelihood Award: Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar. For over three decades, Haidar has led a peaceful campaign to resist the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, which is often called Africa's last colony. Morocco has occupied Western Sahara — a small region just south of Morocco in northwest Africa — since 1975. Thousands have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the occupation. Peaceful protesters, led by women, are routinely beaten in the streets. Despite this violent repress…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/5/aminatou_…
Edward Snowden: If I Came Back to the U.S., I Would Likely Die in Prison for Telling the Truth
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-05
The Right Livelihood Awards celebrated their 40th anniversary Wednesday at the historic Cirkus Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, where more than a thousand people gathered to celebrate this year's four laureates: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; Chinese women's rights lawyer Guo Jianmei, Brazilian indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa and the organization he co-founded, the Yanomami Hutukara Association; and Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar, who has challenged the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara for decades. The Right Livelihood Award is known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Over the past four deca…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/5/edward_sn…
Immigrant rights activists protest ICE detention at Sherburne County commissioners' meeting
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-12-04
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…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/12/4/immigran…
Activists decry Minnesota investments in border militarization, climate destruction
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-12-04
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…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/12/3/activist…
TIAR Countries Blacklist Top Venezuelan Officials as US Slaps New Sanctions
Lucas Koerner | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-12-04
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Venezuela of "hijacking" mass anti-neoliberal protests in "our own backyard."
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14737
Seventeen Years After His Arrest, Alleged USS Cole Plotter Is Still Fighting to See Records of His CIA Torture
Alex Emmons | theintercept.com | 2019-12-04
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri's lawyers say that details of his torture are essential to defending him against death penalty charges.
theintercept.com/2019/12/04/guantanamo-uss-cole-cia-torture/
Wednesday's Daily Brief: 2020 humanitarian plan, malaria latest, greener tourism, people key to SDGs, Fall Armyworm
news.un.org | 2019-12-04
A recap of Wednesday's stories: A record number of people will need humanitarian aid in 2020; WHO calls for more funding to protect women and children from malaria; the transport and tourism sectors are urged to tackle carbon emissions; a group of rights experts want to see more people helping make the SDGs a reality; Fall Armyworm pest sparks new global action plan; and how the UN is helping impoverished landlocked nations develop.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1052781
"Alternative Nobel Prize:" Right Livelihood Award Celebrates 40 Years Honoring Grassroots Activists
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-04
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…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/4/right_liv…
U.N. Report Finds Over 7 Million Children Worldwide Are Being Held in Various Kinds of Detention
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-04
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…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/4/un_report…
Tuesday's Daily Brief: climate crisis reports, renewal in Iraq, Zimbabwe's hunger crisis, Disabilities Day
news.un.org | 2019-12-03
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.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1052681
Congress Must Act to Protect the Right to Vote
Sonia Gill | aclu.org | 2019-12-03
Update 12/06/19: The House passed the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would update the Voting Rights Act for the first time since it was last reauthorized in 2006. | 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…
aclu.org/news/voting-rights/congress-must-act-to-protect-the-right-to-vote
Meet Yetnebersh Nigussie: A Blind Ethiopian Lawyer Fighting for Global Disability Rights
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-03
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…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/3/internati…
'Continuing deterioration' leaves Mali facing critical security level: UN expert
news.un.org | 2019-12-02
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.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1052531
Amid a Violent Crackdown, Bolivia's Coup Gov't is Trying to Convict Evo Morales of "Crimes Against Humanity"
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-02
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.
mintpressnews.com/bolivia-coup-evo-morales-crimes-against-humanity/263133/
Venezuela's PDVSA Secures Temporary Lease Extension for Curacao Refinery
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-12-02
Despite the extension, refinery owners are looking to end the 34-year cooperation under pressure from US sanctions.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14736
UN 'determined to lead by example' on disability rights: Guterres
news.un.org | 2019-12-02
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.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1052571
The Sanctuary Strategy
James Goodman | progressive.org | 2019-12-01
Policies and activism that work to shelter undocumented immigrants have spread across the country–and are remarkably effective.
progressive.org/magazine/the-sanctuary-strategy-goodman/
Operation Condor 2.0: After Bolivia coup, Trump dubs Nicaragua 'national security threat' and targets Mexico
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2019-11-28
After presiding over a far-right coup in Bolivia, the US dubbed Nicaragua a "national security threat" and announced new sanctions,…
thegrayzone.com/2019/11/27/operation-condor-2-coup-trump-nicaragua-mexico/
US Vows to 'Reinforce' Sanctions, Accuses Venezuela and Cuba of Stirring Regional 'Strife'
Lucas Koerner | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-11-28
Elliott Abrams reiterated support for Guaido and denied that sanctions are damaging the Venezuelan economy.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14734