(2019-07-02). Human rights imperialism, social media censorship and the fraud of Facebook's "Oversight Board" wsws.org Behind the recent report on the creation of an Oversight Board to oversee "content decisions" at Facebook is a plan for social media censorship in defense of the global capitalist system.
(2019-07-02). Watch: Chris Marsden's speech to Paris meeting to demand freedom for Assange and Manning. indybay.org "No one who is seriously committed to the defence of democratic rights can stand on the sidelines. The case of Julian Assange is a critical twenty-first century battleground in the defence of free speech, truth, and the fight against exploitation, dictatorship and war, the basic evils of the world capitalist system."
(2019-07-02). March for Immigrant Rights in Fresno's Tower District. indybay.org Immigrant Rights March in Fresno's Tower District…
(2019-07-02). The Social Movement Photography of David Bacon: After Cesar Chavez, United Fruit Workers Tell the World, "We're Still Here." progressive.org A year after the death of labor rights activist Cesar Chavez, United Fruit Workers organize a march and 15,000 workers join in.
(2019-07-02). UK: GCHQ/MI5 admit illegally spying on millions. wsws.org Their admissions were the result of a court case brought by the civil rights group Liberty.
(2019-07-02). Stop ICE Raids! Stop Detentions! indybay.org San Francisco Federal Building | 7th Street at Mission | San Francisco (near Civic Center BART station)…
(2019-07-01). Report Shows Corporations and Bolsonaro Teaming Up to Destroy the Amazon. mintpressnews.com 
"Bolsonaro has overseen the most significant rollback, and full-on assault, on human rights and environmental protection in Brazil since the fall of the country's military dictatorship."
(2019-07-01). Rejecting 'Rainbow Capitalism' of Corporate-Saturated Pride Parade, Tens of Thousands March for Queer Liberation in NYC. commondreams.org "We dont want your rainbow merchandise, we want equal human rights." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……
(2019-07-01). The "American Democracy" and the Torture of Julian Assange. globalresearch.ca In a few days July 4th will be upon us. We will hear endless nonsense from insouciant speakers and editorialists about what a great democracy we are, having won our freedom from being a British colony. | One thing the United …
(2019-07-01). The Autocrats of the Middle East are No Longer a Global Anomaly. counterpunch.org 
President Hassan Rouhani of Iran got it right on Tuesday. He said that the White House is "afflicted by mental retardation and doesn't know what to do".Donald Trump's new sanctions may not be as "outrageous and idiotic" as Rouhani claims, but we've now reached a stage where the American president's mental incapacity is plain for all to see. More
(2019-07-01). Keep America great (don't count on it!). nationofchange.org Make America Great Again? Don't count on it. | Donald Trump was partly voted into office by Americans who felt that the self-proclaimed greatest power on Earth was actually in decline — and they weren't wrong. Trump is capable of tweeting many things, but none of those tweets will stop that process of decline, nor will a trade war with a rising China or fierce oil sanctions on Iran. | You could feel this recently, even in the case of the increasingly pressured Iranians. There, with a single pinprick, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei effectively punctured President Trump's MAGA balloon and reminded m…
(2019-07-01). US Sanctions Maduro's Son as Venezuela Discussed at G20. venezuelanalysis.com Russian President Vladimir Putin challenged Juan Guaido to run in elections while Trump said he has "five different alternatives for Venezuela."
(2019-07-01). U.S. Sanctions Block Medicine from Venezuela, Killing Thousands. therealnews.com 
Ordinary Venezuelans talk about how the sanctions have made it increasingly difficult to access life-saving medications…
(2019-07-01). Trump's drive to war with Iran intensifies by the day. peoplesworld.org 
Editor's note: This article by Jane Green, from the Committee for the Defense of the Iranian People's Rights, was prepared for the Peoples World's sister publication, Morning Star, in the UK. Although it contains some details specific to that country it outlines for us all the dangerous situation that continues regarding Trump's preparation for war …
(2019-07-01). Urban League President Morial: "We Must Not Let Our Guard Down" Because Supreme Court Temporarily Blocked Trump's Bigoted Census Citizenship Question. blackstarnews.com 
National Urban League President Marc Morial: "We must not let our guard down" because Supreme Court temporarily blocked Census citizenship question… | Civil rights groups and advocates for a fair census breathed a sigh of relief this week when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's "contrived" justification for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. | However, the court did not categorically rule out the addition of a question, should the administration eventually provide sufficient justification. | We must not let down our guard. | We have known from the beginning that the additi…
(2019-07-01). The Lie of the Century. Kushner's 136 Pages of Lies. Palestinians have No Rights Whatsoever. globalresearch.ca Well, it's happened. It's real. Mr. Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and Senior Advisor of President Trump has delivered 136 pages of lies, suppositions and conjuring tricks to seduce or compel us Palestinians to accept our fate and surrender our …
(2019-07-01). Abortion discrimination in the workplace is illegal says U.S. district court. nationofchange.org A district court in Louisiana has issued a landmark ruling asserting that abortion discrimination by an employer is illegal and violates women's protections in the workplace. | A yearlong civil rights discrimination case came to a close in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana when U.S. Federal Judge Janis van Meerveld ruled that Nicole Ducharme, a bartender that was fired within 48 hours of having an abortion, was terminated illegally. | Ducharme was a former bartender at the Deja Vu Bar & Grill in New Orleans. She notified her supervisor that she needed time off to terminate her pregn…
(2019-07-01). The Philosophical Origins of Patriarchy. thenation.com The Philosophical Origins of Patriarchy…
(2019-07-01). The 'greatest country in the world' can't afford soap for kids — and it's not Sarah Fabian's fault. rt.com 
A single DOJ lawyer has become a lightning rod for anger over conditions for kids in US border detention facilities — but let's not gloss over the utter absurdity of having debates over soap and toothpaste in 21st century America.
(2019-07-01). Trump renews threat of mass immigrant raids "sometime after July Fourth" wsws.org The passage of a bill funding immigration detention centers last week, with the support of the Democratic Party, makes the Democrats full partners in the savage repression of immigrants.
(2019-07-01). #NeverAgainIsNow: 36 Arrested As Hundreds of Jewish Protesters Block Road to Migrant Detention Center. commondreams.org Rejecting the notion that denouncing the Trump administration's immigrant detention centers as "concentration camps" does harm to the memory of the Holocaust, 200 Jewish people demonstrated at a facility in New Jersey Sunday evening and demanded the release of thousands of immigrants in U.S. custody. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……
(2019-07-01). Border Patrol's Scandalous Facebook Group Exposed. truthdig.com Members of a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents joked about the deaths of migrants, discussed throwing burritos at Latino members of Congress visiting a detention facility in Texas on Monday and posted a vulgar illustration depicting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaged in oral sex with a detained migrant, according to screenshots of their postings. | In one exchange, group members responded with indifference and wisecracks to…
(2019-07-01). Inside the secret border patrol Facebook group where agents joke about migrant deaths and post sexist memes. nationofchange.org The three-year-old group, which has roughly 9,500 members, shared derogatory comments about Latina lawmakers who plan to visit a controversial Texas detention facility on Monday, calling them "scum buckets" and "hoes."
(2019-07-01). Trump Is Dumping Asylum Seekers on American Streets—but Solidarity Activists Are Fighting Back. thenation.com Trump Is Dumping Asylum Seekers on American Streets—but Solidarity Activists Are Fighting Back…
(2019-07-01). Ocasio-Cortez Live Tweets 'Horrifying' and 'Dehumanizing' Treatment of Migrants as She Tours US Detention Facilities. commondreams.org "We're talking systemic cruelty with a dehumanizing culture that treats them like animals." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……
(2019-07-01). Xenophobic and Misogynist Posts in Secret CBP Facebook Group 'Confirm Our Worst Fears' of Agency Culture, Lawmakers Say. commondreams.org Lawmakers who visited an immigrant detention center near El Paso, Texas on Monday spoke out about revelations of a secret Facebook group in which current and former Border Patrol agents had shared violent and misogynist comments about the members of Congress. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……
(2019-07-01). Dallas rally to demand "Close immigrant concentration camps!" fightbacknews.org Dallas, TX – Activist groups in Dallas are calling a rally at the Grassy Knoll, 7 p.m., July 2, that will demand the closure of President Trump's concentration camps where refugees and immigrants are detained. There will be speakers from peace and justice, immigrant, and socialist groups. | "We demand that President Trump close these inhumane concentration camps. The camps are cold, unsafe and dirty. Thousands of children are forced to sleep on the hard concrete floors with no mattress. There is no soap or toothbrushes. Children are dying there!" said Sydney Loving of the North Texas Action Committee. | Loving…
(2019-07-01). Nationwide 'close the camps' demonstrations announced to protest horrific conditions at Trump detention centers. nationofchange.org 
As appalling details of the conditions at immigrant detention centers in the U.S. continue to pour in—with one doctor recently comparing them to " torture facilities"—a coalition of rights groups on Friday announced nationwide "Close the Camps" demonstrations for next week to protest the Trump administration's treatment of migrant children. | "We've seen the images and heard the stories coming out of child detention centers," said MoveOn.org, one of the groups help…
(2019-07-01). U.S. Sanctions Block Medicine from Venezuela, Killing Thousands. counterpunch.org 
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(2019-07-01). Jewish activists say 'never again is now' as they shut down US 'concentration camp'. thecanary.co 
On 30 June, US police arrested over 30 Jewish activists protesting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in New Jersey. The activists, citing the Holocaust, said " never again
(2019-06-30). World Pride underscores that all people are born 'free and equal' in dignity and human rights. un.org The empowering message straight from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and human rights" resonated on Sunday from UN-GLOBE members who participated in the World Pride parade in New York City.
(2019-06-30). Europeans Bowing to Trump on Iran Sanctions, Despite Their Opposition. therealnews.com 
Trita Parsi, founder of the National Iranian American Council, says that military confrontation between the US and Iran becomes more likely, especially since Europeans who oppose US sanctions are not really pushing back against Trump…
(2019-06-30). Civil Rights Group Denounces New Racist Voter Suppression Law Signed By Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. blackstarnews.com 
Civil Rights lawyer Kristen Clarke says Florida Governor DeSantis' signing of SB7066 will deny voting opportunities to over 1 million Blacks and Latinos… | The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law issued a statement after Governor DeSantis Friday signed SB 7066 into law on Friday–which undermines Amendment 4 to the Florida Constitution. | Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law issued the following statement: | "Florida joins a host of states actively working to suppress the rights of voters on the eve of the 2020 election cycle. This…
(2019-06-30). Stop the repression in Germany! Stand with those who stand with Palestine! fightbacknews.org Freedom Road Socialist Organization joins with people around the globe in condemning the German authorities for trampling on the rights those who fight for the liberation of Palestine. On June 22, the German government banned prominent Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat from speaking at an event against Trump's "deal of the century." This outrageous act come on the heels of the German government's preventing a speech by the Palestinian leader Rasmea Odeh, and her subsequent deportation. | The Israeli occupation Palestine is being challenged by the growing struggle of the Palestinian people, and a rising tide of an…
(2019-06-30). U.S role in Hong Kong protests. workers.org 
The corporate media have used recent protests in Hong Kong to attack and vilify the People's Republic of China and the ruling role of the Chinese Communist Party, under the pretext of defending human rights. Without knowing the history, as well as all the ways the U.S. super-rich and their . . . | Continue reading U.S role in Hong Kong protests at Workers.org
(2019-06-29). Smart Ass Cripple: Happy Birthday Olmstead. progressive.org Twenty years ago, a civil rights victory helped disabled people escape institutional life.
(2019-06-29). History Has Taught Us That Concentration Camps Should Be Liberated. We Can't Wait Until 2020. theintercept.com 
Few of us have fully considered what we would do if concentration camps were built and operated in our nation, by our government, on our watch, on our dime.
(2019-06-29). Tech privacy pioneer Ola Bini released after 70 days of extrajudicial detention in Ecuador. mronline.org 
After 70 days in preventive detention without formal charges, Ola Bini's request for habeas corpus was granted, and shortly after, he was released from prison. | Source
(2019-06-28). Working in Prison, I Witnessed the Inhumane Conditions of Solitary for Incarcerated Women. aclu.org Solitary confinement can amount to torture. One practitioner witnessed this first hand, and shares her story and her journey to action. | At the first checkpoint at Tennessee Prison for Women, there was a large, scrolling television screen behind the desk displaying the image of two pairs of hands — one pair with a key and one pair in handcuffs. The message read, "You can either be one of us or one of them." I had been working in the facility for less than a year, but this message exemplified an uneasiness I had long felt without articulating: The prison's faàßade of "rehabilitation" masked a system s…
(2019-06-28). US Threatens to Sanction Any Nation That Imports Iranian Oil. theantimedia.com (CD) — President Donald Trump's special envoy for Iran further stoked tensions between Iran and the U.S. on Friday when he said the United States will sanction any country that imports Iranian crude oil. Envoy Brian Hook, in his comments to reporters in London, said that there were no exemptions, reiterating a threat the Trump administration made two months earlier. …
(2019-06-28). 'Hands off Venezuela' forum calls for solidarity. greenleft.org.au 
"We are resisting", is the answer that Venezuelan-Australian activist Eulalia Reyes receives when she speaks to friends and family back home. "Right now, international solidarity is so important for the Venezuelan people, who are fighting against US sanctions and threats of military intervention", she said. | Reyes was speaking at a "Hands off Venezuela" public meeting held at the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) offices on June 25. The forum addressed the current crisis in Venezuela and the US-led campaign for "regime change" against President Nicolas Maduro. | The meeting opened with an Acknowledgement of Cou…
(2019-06-28). Harry Hay: Communist pioneer in the fight for gay liberation. peoplesworld.org 
Beginning with the "ghetto riot" at the Stonewall Bar in Greenwich Village in 1969, an open gay liberation movement came into existence which has been a significant force in the larger peoples' movements for almost a half-century. While most people identify gay liberation with the "New Left" of the 1960s, it, like the civil rights, …
(2019-06-28). Five trans women making Pride history. peoplesworld.org 
June marks the month-long celebration of Pride, a global acknowledgment of the social progress made by LGBTQ communities. The founding history of what we now know as Pride is largely rooted in the work of Black and brown trans women and the festivities serve as a commemoration of the Stonewall riots that sparked the gay …
(2019-06-28). Supreme Court Hands GOP Big Victory on Gerrymandering, Ensuring "Massive Election Rigging" democracynow.org 
The Supreme Court hands down two major decisions. The first is a victory for Republicans, allowing extreme partisan gerrymandering to continue. The other temporarily blocks the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question on the 2020 census. We get response from Ari Berman, senior writer at Mother Jones, a reporting fellow at the Type Media Center and author of "Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America." He says the ruling that federal courts can't resolve claims of partisan gerrymandering is "almost guaranteed to facilitate massive election rigging in the future."
(2019-06-28). How to Help Families at the Border Right Now. aclu.org We know that a better future is possible, and we at the ACLU, along with our supporters and allies, are daring to create it. | The images of Oscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria, who lost their lives trying to seek refuge in the United States, have left us haunted. They serve as an ever-important reminder of the urgency of the fight for immigrant justice on our southern border and the need to stand up to the Trump administration's policies denying humanitarian protection and basic due process to families fleeing for their lives. | We remain at the frontlines of the family separation fight…
(2019-06-28). Why the ACLU Is Suing Florida For Its New Poll Tax. aclu.org The law forces returning citizens with criminal records to pay for the right to vote. | On November 6, 2018, nearly 65 percent of Florida voters—more than 5 million people—resoundingly approved Amendment 4, restoring voting rights to over a million of their fellow citizens. By passing Amendment 4, Floridians successfully ushered in the largest expansion of the electorate in nearly 50 years. The people of Florida did it on their own, using a constitutional ballot initiative, to finally achieve change where Florida politicians had failed. | Instead of celebrating this progress, Florida politicians are t…
(2019-06-28). Josh Gottheimer Warned Democratic Leaders He Had Votes to Block Bill Mandating Better Conditions for Children in Detention. theintercept.com The bill passed by Congress "does nothing to hold a rogue agency accountable for its cruelty," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
(2019-06-27). Thursday's Daily Brief: dire living conditions in Idlib, migrants at US southern border, end in sight for trachoma, Human Rights Council. un.org This Thursday, we cover: the dire humanitarian situation in Syria's Idlib; living conditions at the US-Mexico border denounced by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF); trachoma-related blindness on the verge of being eliminated; and updates from the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
(2019-06-27). 'Words must never be met with violence' urges UN, following Taliban threat to journalists. un.org Following last week's public threats by Taliban militants to deliberately target media outlets in Afghanistan, the United Nations mission chief in the country reiterated his call on Thursday for journalists' rights to be protected, underlining the power of press freedom to advance peace, justice and human rights.
(2019-06-27). Protecting encryption is about protecting democracy. greenleft.org.au 
Lawyer, writer and digital rights activist Lizzie O'Shea has been named a 2018 Human Rights Hero by Access Now for her leading role in highlighting, analysing and protesting expansive surveillance laws in Australia. Below is an edited version of her acceptance speech on June 11. | *** | Thanks so much to Access Now for this wonderful award. It's such a great initiative to support activists in the field doing important work. Awards usually go to famous people at the top of their fields, and the challenging activist work of mobilising people and community building is rarely acknowledged. I feel honoured, especially…