(2019-03-27). Activists Decry Expansion of US 'Global Gag Rule' on Abortion. telesurenglish.net The Trump administration's decision to further expand the so-called "global gag rule" that bans foreign aid to groups providing or promoting abortion will "undermine the health and human rights of women and girls globally," rights groups said Tuesday in reaction to the government's statements announcing further actions. | RELATED: | US Congress Fails to Override Veto, Border Wall Emergency Stays | The United States' Trump administration Tuesday expanded its anti-abortion polici…
(2019-03-27). Florida: Why Republican Lawmakers are Defying—and Denying—the Voters. counterpunch.org 
In Florida's November 2018 election, voters approved the following amendment to their state's constitution: "Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any disqualification from voting arising from a felony conviction shall terminate and voting rights shall be restored upon completion of all terms of sentence including parole or probation. (b) No person convicted More
(2019-03-27). National Civil Rights Group Secures Critical Victory in Effort to Combat White Supremacy on Facebook Platform. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-03-27). Australia: Indigenous Youth Suicides Calls for National Crisis. telesurenglish.net The suicides of at least 24 young Indigenous people, this year, in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia has raised concern among government officials and human rights groups. | RELATED: | Australia: Cultural Ineptness Causes Indigenous Suicide 'Shame' | Indigenous children account for a quarter of the nation's child suicides, yet they represent only 5 percent of the youth population. The suicides, which have occurred disparately throughout the countr…
(2019-03-27). Trump Declares Expansion of Ban on Aid for Reproductive Health Services. truthout.org U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday announced another expansion of the administration's anti-choice "Mexico City Policy," dubbed the global "gag rule" by abortion rights proponents. | In his remarks, Pompeo said the administration was making "further refinements" on the global gag rule. "As before, we'll continue to refuse to provide assistance to foreign [nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)] who perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning," he said. "Now, as a result of…
(2019-03-27). UN's Bachelet rejects Sri Lankan official's 'spin' on Human Rights Council encounter, urges reforms. un.org The UN's top rights official on Wednesday rejected claims by Sri Lankan officials that she distanced herself from a report on the country and instructed her staff to be more "cautious" in future, before stressing her commitment to justice for victims of grave abuses during the civil war.
(2019-03-27). Yemen hospital airstrike under investigation amid resurgence of deadly cholera. un.org UN human rights staff in Yemen are investigating an apparent airstrike on a hospital in opposition-held territory which reportedly killed at least seven civilians on Tuesday, amid fears that cholera is spreading "like wildfire", one of the organization's senior humanitarian officials has warned.
(2019-03-27). A Real-Life Game of Risk: Why Civilizationism Is Biggest Threat to Human Rights in the 21st Century. mintpressnews.com True liberal values and human rights face their largest threat to date, a rapidly growing system of global governance based on opportunistic alliances rooted in populism and an unfettered bid for power argues Dr. James Dorsey.
(2019-03-27). Two Million Palestinians Are Victims of Israeli Airstrikes and Collective Punishment Policy… Gaza under 66 Israeli Airstrikes within 12 Hours, Rendering Dozens of Civilians Homeless after Destruction of Their Houses. globalresearch.ca On Monday and Tuesday, 25 and 26 March 2019, Israeli forces carried out dozens of airstrikes on various targets across the Gaza Strip. These airstrikes have been the most violent in recent months that have not spared civilians and displaced …
(2019-03-27). Australian government exploits fascist atrocity in New Zealand to push online censorship. wsws.org The entire political establishment is seeking to cover up its responsibility for the fascist attack and exploit it to crack down on the democratic rights of ordinary people.
(2019-03-27). 'Unethical, Dangerous, and Unacceptable': Trump-Pence Regime Broadens Attack on Women Across the Globe. commondreams.org Healthcare providers and human rights advocates sounded alarm after the Trump administration announced Tuesday moves to attack reproductive and healthcare rights including a further expansion of the global gag rule, which blocks U.S. aid funding to groups that facilitate or work on abortions."This is unethical, dangerous, and unacceptable." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……
(2019-03-26). Spain refuses to apologize to Mexico's indigenous people for colonial abuses. peoplesworld.org 
Spain refused to apologize to Mexico today for the abuses and human rights violations committed during its colonization of the country in the 16th century. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) wrote to Spanish King Felipe VI and Pope Francis earlier this week demanding an apology for the atrocities committed by Spain during the conquest …
(2019-03-26). "Hold Israel Accountable": Palestinians Call on Int'l Community to Oppose Golan Heights Annexation. democracynow.org 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington on Monday to meet with President Trump, who signed an order officially recognizing Israel's control of the Golan Heights in defiance of international law. We speak with Budour Hassan, a Palestinian writer and project coordinator for the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights, and Jehad Abusalim, scholar and policy analyst from Gaza. He runs the Gaza Unlocked campaign for the United States for the American Friends Service Committee.
(2019-03-26). "Blood Gold" in La Rinconada, Devil's Paradise in Peru's Andes: A Crime Gang-run City, Human Rights do not Exist. globalresearch.ca Who buys this gold? Large corporations. One of them is the Swiss registered Metalor, among the world's largest gold foundries. Annually, 3,000 to 3,500 tons of gold are mined across the globe. Switzerland refines about 70-80% of all the gold in the world. An estimated 20% to 30% of it is considered 'blood gold'
(2019-03-26). Tenants 'forced out their homes' by global investment firms, say UN experts. un.org UN human rights experts have condemned the 'egregious' business practices of global private equity and investment firms which, they say, have transformed the global housing landscape by raising rents and forcing some tenants out of their homes.
(2019-03-26). Top 5 Reasons Why the House Should Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. aclu.org The law would give working women the legal tools they need to challenge discrimination and close the gender pay gap. | More than 55 years after the Equal Pay Act was passed, women working fulltime and year-round, on average, are paid only 80 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. The disparity for women of color is even more severe. This wage gap has remained stagnant for years and continues to squeeze women's pocketbooks, erode their earning potential, and deprive them of the means to improve their own lives and support their families. | It's long past time to update the Equal Pay Act to give wo…
(2019-03-26). UN expert condemns new sentence for jailed Venezuelan judge as 'another instance of reprisal'. un.org Maria Lourdes Afiuni, a jailed Venezuelan judge arrested ten years ago, has been slapped with a further five-year sentence, prompting a UN human rights expert to express his "grave concern", describing the further punishment as an act of "reprisal against her".
(2019-03-26). New Jersey Is Addicted to ICE. thenation.com New Jersey Is Addicted to ICE…
(2019-03-26). What I Saw at the Dilley, Texas, Immigrant Detention Center. thenation.com What I Saw at the Dilley, Texas, Immigrant Detention Center…
(2019-03-26). New Zealand government bans fascist terrorist Brenton Tarrant's manifesto. wsws.org The decision is a major attack on democratic rights aimed at covering up the political roots of the March 15 terrorist attack and suppressing discussion about the danger of fascism.
(2019-03-25). TUNE IN: 50th NAACP Image Awards Airs Live this Saturday, March 30 on TV One. naacp.org On Saturday, March 30, 2019, the best and brightest in Black Hollywood will gather at the Dolby Theatre to celebrate the 50th NAACP Image Awards. Shaping up to be a night to remember, NAACP, the nation's foremost civil rights organization, will award activists and entertainers alike for their contributions to the culture over the past …
(2019-03-25). Trump's Sanctions Kill Venezuelan People. Why Can't UN Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet 'Fully Acknowledge' That? venezuelanalysis.com Joe Emersberger takes apart Bachelet's recent comments on Venezuela and US-led sanctions.
(2019-03-25). Pennsylvania Is Jailing Mentally Ill People Who Belong in Treatment. aclu.org The people in jail have disabilities so severe they cannot be prosecuted under the Constitution. | For the third time in less than four years, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and co-counsel from Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer asked a federal judge last week to order Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services to reduce the time that people with severe psychiatric disabilities spend waiting in jail for treatment beds. These people's mental disabilities are so significant that under the Constitution they can be neither prosecuted nor punished, which means they cannot be kept in a prison or jail. | How disabled are our clie…
(2019-03-25). On International Day, UN stands in solidarity with some 20 detained staff. un.org Marking International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members, UN Secretary-General António Guterres paid tribute to UN personnel abducted, detained or missing while serving.
(2019-03-24). Venezuela Update: UN Human Rights Report, More Sanctions. therealnews.com 
UN Human Rights Commissioner presented a critical report on Venezuela, which the government denounced for ignoring opposition violence. Meanwhile, the Trump administration introduced even more sanctions on the economically reeling country…
(2019-03-24). HR1: A Call for Campaign Finance Reform, Ethics, and Voting Rights. therealnews.com 
Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland joins us to explore the legislation that he's spearheading to end the involvement of dark money in politics, allow public campaign financing, and demand major ethics and voting rights reforms, and why Republicans are threatening kill it in the Senate…
(2019-03-23). Trump Official Boasts Crippling US Sanctions on Venezuela Are Like Darth Vader's Death Grip. thegrayzone.com A Trump administration official bragged that US sanctions on Venezuela are "like in Star Wars when Darth Vader constricts somebody's…
(2019-03-23). How a Movement That Never Killed Anyone Became the FBI's No. 1 Domestic Terrorism Threat. theintercept.com 
Joe Dibee's 12 years on the lam came to an end last August, when Cuban authorities detained the 50-year-old environmental activist during a layover in Havana and turned him over to the United States. | More than a decade earlier, police and FBI agents had arrested a dozen of Dibee's associates in the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front within the span of a few months. They were charged with conspiring to burn down factories that slaughtered animals for meat, timber mills that disrupted sensitive ecosystems, government facilities that penned wild horses, and a ski resort perched on a pristine mounta…
(2019-03-22). Human Rights Attorney to Trump: "Israel Is Not Interested in the Golan Heights for Security" democracynow.org 
Just weeks before major elections in Israel that could determine the future of embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump declares the U.S. will recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, in defiance of international law and decades of U.S. policy. The announcement comes as he is set to host Netanyahu at the White House next week amid the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, where Vice President Mike Pence will speak, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, among others. A growing number of Democrats—…
(2019-03-22). Boston: a sanctuary city for business alone. liberationnews.org 
Boston police collaborate with ICE despite "sanctuary city" status.
(2019-03-22). UPDATED: US Sanctions Venezuelan Banks After Guaido Aide Accused of Leading 'Terrorist Cell'. venezuelanalysis.com After vowing "consequences" over Marrero's arrest, the US Treasury sanctioned Venezuela's development bank BANDES and two major public banks.
(2019-03-22). The Silencing of Manuel Duran Ortega. progressive.org A journalist fights detention and deportation by ICE.
(2019-03-21). The FBI Won't Hand Over Its Surveillance Records on 'Black Identity Extremists,' so We're Suing. aclu.org The ACLU and the Center for Media Justice are suing the FBI for records about the surveillance of Black activists—a tactic with a long, sordid history | At a time when violence by white supremacists is on the rise, the FBI appears to be targeting Black people in a secret intelligence program concerning so-called "Black Identity Extremists"— an inflammatory term for a group that doesn't even exist. The bureau's practice echoes earlier, shameful government surveillance programs that sought to discredit civil rights and Black power activists who were critical to advancing racial equality — and it e…
(2019-03-21). Catholic Bishops Stopped My Surgery Because I'm Transgender. aclu.org Gender-affirming care is lifesaving and supported by medical professionals. Yet Oliver Knight and many other transgender people are denied this care. | After years of working to affirm my identity in a world where transgender people are questioned constantly about their decisions, I felt hopeful as I arrived for the surgery I had waited so long for. I was 27, and I would finally be closer to calling my body home. | Since I was a kid, I've felt like my body didn't match my soul. I felt uncomfortable in clothes. I felt disgusting when I showered. Everything felt wrong, but it took me a while to figure out why. | On…
(2019-03-21). Ilhan Omar responds to attacks: Rashida and I are here to stay. greenleft.org.au 
Two young Muslim women were elected to the United States House of Representatives in the 2018 election. Ilhan Omar is Black, and a refugee from war-devastated Somalia. Rahida Tlaib is of Palestinian descent, and has family living under Israeli oppression. | Both are outspoken supporters of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, which was initiated by the Palestinian grassroots to protest Israel's oppression. | As supporters of BDS, they have been under attack from the Israeli lobby in the US, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which falsely claims BDS is anti-Semitic. Following I…
(2019-03-20). Ex-UN Human Rights Expert Blasts 'Manipulation' on Venezuela: 'We Are Swimming in an Ocean of Lies'. thegrayzone.com Former UN Special Rapporteur Alfred de Zayas criticized the human rights commissioner's past reports on Venezuela, calling them "unprofessional" and…
(2019-03-20). Headlines for March 20, 2019. democracynow.org Trump Hosts Brazilian President Bolsonaro, Threatens New Venezuela Sanctions, SCOTUS Rules Gov't Can Detain Immigrants with Criminal Records Indefinitely, 40-Year-Old Mexican Migrant Dies in Gov't Custody, Asylum Seekers Waiting in Mexico Return to U.S. for Hearings, Report: U.S. Airstrikes Killed At Least 14 Civilians in Somalia Since 2017, At Least 10 Migrants Drown Off Libyan Coast, Israeli Forces Shoot and Kill 3 Palestinians in West Bank, Egypt Cracks Down on Online Dissent, Russia Signs New Laws Censoring State Critics, Colombia: 2 Community Leaders Killed as Violence Against Activists Mounts, Trump Nominat…
(2019-03-20). The Government Is Hiding Its Plans for Anti-Pipeline Protests. aclu.org 
Federal and state responses to public records requests raise concerns of a crackdown on First Amendment-protected speech. | President Trump likes to build things — apartment buildings, casinos, golf courses, walls —…
(2019-03-20). The Torture Machine: Flint Taylor on Chicago Police Brutality from Fred Hampton to Today. democracynow.org 
We look at the Chicago Police Department's long history of violence against African Americans, from the murder of Black Panther Fred Hampton to the reign of torture overseen by commander Jon Burge. The brutality of the Chicago police force is laid bare in a new book by leading civil rights lawyer Flint Taylor. It's called "The Torture Machine: Racism and Police Violence in Chicago." The book exposes decades of corruption and cover-ups in the Chicago Police Department. We speak with Flint Taylor, who has represented survivors of police brutality in Chicago for nearly half a century.
(2019-03-20). The Roots of Police Violence in Chicago: How Cops Have Targeted Communities of Color for Decades. democracynow.org 
We look at the long history of police brutality against Latinos in Chicago. Latinos, especially immigrants, have faced police violence and killings for decades, and have a long history of fighting back against brutality through community organizing and activism. But their stories have received little news coverage. We speak with Lilia Fernández, a professor of history and Latino studies at Rutgers University and the author of "Brown in the Windy City: Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in Postwar Chicago." We also speak with Flint Taylor, an attorney with People's Law Office and author of "The Torture Machine: Racism and…
(2019-03-20). Trump & Bolsonaro Join Forces to Back Regime Change in Venezuela & to Attack Media as "Fake News" democracynow.org 
Brazil's far-right president and former Army captain Jair Bolsonaro visited President Trump at the White House for the first time on Tuesday. During the visit, Trump announced he would designate Brazil a major non-NATO ally, opening the door for Brazil to receive more U.S. military aid. Trump also suggested Brazil could even become a member of NATO. Both leaders criticized what they called the "fake news" and discussed increasing efforts to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from office. We speak with Maria Luísa Mendonàßa, director of the Network for Social Justice and Human Rights in Brazil. She i…
(2019-03-20). Palestinians Salute Pitzer College for Overwhelming Vote in Support of Palestinian Rights, Condemn Anti-democratic Veto by University President. bdsmovement.net 
Palestinians Salute Pitzer College for Overwhelming Vote in Support of Palestinian Rights, Condemn Anti-democratic Veto by University President: UpdatePitzer College faculty, students and staff voted overwhelmingly to suspend a study abroad program with Haifa University over Israel's discriminatory policies against Palestinians. In an anti-democratic move, Pitzer's president ve…
(2019-03-20). US Imposes New Sanctions as Venezuelan Government Denounces Takeover of Diplomatic Offices. venezuelanalysis.com Trump warned that the "toughest sanctions" have yet to be imposed.
(2019-03-20). Border Patrol and ICE Routinely Violate Immigrants' Religious Rights. aclu.org Seizing rosaries, forbidding turbans, and serving pork sandwiches to Muslims are just some of the reasons we're demanding an investigation. | One pork sandwich every eight hours for six straight days. That's the only food that Border Patrol provided to Adnan Asif Parveen, a Muslim immigrant who was detained in South Texas in January because his work permit had expired and was pending renewal. Mr. Parveen reportedly informed officials that his religion forbids him from eating pork, but the…
(2019-03-19). VIDEO: The Grayzone testifies at the UN — 'Humanitarian crisis in Venezuela: Propaganda vs. reality'. thegrayzone.com The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal and Anya Parampil spoke about Venezuela at a side event at a United Nations Human Rights…
(2019-03-19). Facebook Settles Civil Rights Cases by Making Sweeping Changes to Its Online Ad Platform. aclu.org The ACLU expects other social media and advertising platforms to follow suit in recognizing that civil rights laws apply online. | The ACLU, along with our client Communications Workers of America and other civil rights groups, announced a historic settlement agreement with Facebook that will result in major changes to Facebook's advertising platform. Advertisers will no longer be able to exclude users from learning about opportunities for housing, employment, or credit based on gender, age, or othe…
(2019-03-19). The Future of Line 3. progressive.org Climate, indigenous rights, and water security are all at stake in the ongoing fight against Enbridge's tar sands pipeline.
(2019-03-18). 10 NAACP Women You Should Know About. naacp.org 
Since its founding in 1909, women have been at the forefront of leadership at NAACP. Rosa Parks, Myrlie Evers, and even Eleanor Roosevelt are just a few of the iconic women who have shaped the NAACP into the civil rights force that it is now. From our founders, Executive Directors, staff and members, Black women have always …
(2019-03-15). Venezuela: US Threatens New Sanctions as Hyperinflation Slows Down. venezuelanalysis.com The US government has increased pressure against Caracas mainly by targeting the oil industry.
(2019-03-14). Una semana de manifestaciones contra la prohibición del aborto en Nuevo México culmina en manifestación frente al capitolio. liberationnews.org 
°El renacimiento de los movimientos militantes y callejeros para los derechos al aborto seguramente va a continuar!