Bernie and the Biotariat
John Davis | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-03
It is useful to remember that revolution is clearly sanctioned in the United States in one of the nation's foundational documents, the Declaration of Independence, published by the Second Continental Congress, and now celebrated every July 4th. Its second paragraph begins with the familiar stanza:…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/03/bernie-and-the-biotariat/

End Torture and Medical Neglect of Julian Assange
Doctors for Assange | globalresearch.ca | 2020-03-02
On Nov 22, 2019, we, a group of more than 60 medical doctors, wrote to the UK Home Secretary to express our serious concerns about the physical and mental health of Julian Assange.1 | In our letter,1 we documented a history | …
globalresearch.ca/end-torture-medical-neglect-julian-assange-2/5705197

Ex-Brazilian President Lula to Be Honored in Paris Ceremony
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-02
Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva, Brazilian ex-president, will receive the award "Paris's Citizen of Honor" this Monday, as the main event in his commitments agenda in the French capital. | RELATED: | Lula Counters Bolsonaro's and General's Call Against Democracy | This decoration is for those who advocate for human rights, equity, against poverty and on behalf of the oppressed. Lula's fight against social and economic inequities during his administration and as an activist were the…
telesurenglish.net/news/–lula-to-be-honored-in-paris-20200302-0002.html

Protest March Held in Jenin as Concerns Mount Over Detainees' Conditions
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-03-02
In the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday, dozens of Palestinians gathered for a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian detainees inside Israeli jails. The demonstration was organized by the local Palestinian popular committee for lobbying the release Palestinian detainees, the Palestinian committee for detainees and freed detainees affairs and the …
imemc.org/article/protest-march-held-in-jenin-as-concerns-mount-over-detainees-conditions/

Unions join Supreme Court battle against Louisiana reproductive rights restrictions
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2020-03-02
WASHINGTON (PAI)–Declaring "a constitutional right that is not accessible because of state-imposed barriers is no right at all," a group of unions joined more than 60 other organizations in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Louisiana's tough restrictions on reproductive choice. In a friend-of-the-court brief authored by the National Women's Law Center, the unions …
peoplesworld.org/article/unions-join-supreme-court-battle-against-louisiana-reproductive-rights-restrictions/

US Court Blocks Lawsuit Over Mexican Child Killed at Border
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-02
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday prevented the family of a murdered 16-year-old Mexican from filing a civil rights lawsuit against the border patrol agent who shot him dead. | RELATED: | Mexico Halts Migrant Caravan by Closing Border With Guatemala | Agent Lonnie Swartz killed Mexican citizen Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in 2012, after shooting the teenager from across the border in Arizona. | Swartz, standing on an embankment on U.S. soil, shot through a border fence and struck…
telesurenglish.net/news/us-court-blocks-lawsuit-over-mexican-child-killed-at-border-20200302-0010.html

Death Toll Rises in Iran, Middle East Epicenter of Coronavirus, Amid U.S. Sanctions & Gov't Negligence
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-02
The official coronavirus death toll in Iran, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, has risen to at least 54

Indigenous Rights Are Human Rights! RCMP Out of Wet'suwet'en!
Alison Bodine | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-02
In the dark early morning on February 6, 2020, the RCMP violently raided Wet'suwet'en territory in Northern British Columbia, Canada.
counterpunch.org/2020/03/02/indigenous-rights-are-human-rights-rcmp-out-of-wetsuweten/

Ethiopia Detains 13 Canadians for Wrongly Practicing Medicine
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-02
Ethiopian authorities detained Friday a group of 13 Canadian health care workers on allegation they were practicing medicine without authorization in the African country and had distributed expired medication. | RELATED: | Unqualified US Woman Ran Health Center in Uganda, 105 Children Died | Ten Canadian volunteers, three Canadian staff members, and two Ethiopian staff members were taken into custody. | The group worked with Canadian Humanitarian, a non-profit organization ba…
telesurenglish.net/news/Ethiopia-Detains-13-Canadians-for-Wrongly-Practicing-Medicine–20200302-0017.html

New NAFTA Curtails Corporate Tribunals, But Loopholes Remain
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-02
Improbably, the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that Congress passed in January guts the nefarious Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system, a development that has been largely left out of mainstream reporting on the deal. | ISDS empowers multinational corporations to sue governments before panels of three corporate lawyers to demand compensation for domestic policies they claim violate their investor rights. The lawyers can award the corporations unlimited sums to be paid by taxpayers,…
truthout.org/articles/new-nafta-curtails-corporate-tribunals-but-loopholes-remain/

Auschwitz Survivors Don't Want Their Past to Be Their Grandchildren's Future
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-02
In January, more than 200 survivors of Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi death camp in Poland, gathered to commemorate the 75th anniversary of liberation from the camp. They testified to the brutalities of the Nazi state-sanctioned killing machine to which, at that time, the rest of the world appeared indifferent. More than 1.1 million Jews

Coronavirus Death Toll Rises in Iran Amid US Sanctions and Government Negligence
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-02
The official coronavirus death toll in Iran, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, has risen to at least 54

Duque Asks Trump For 'Stronger' Sanctions Against Venezuela
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-02
Colombian President Ivan Duque made a one-day visit to the United States Monday with a full agenda that included meeting with Donald Trump to request more attacks against Venezuela, announce the reinstatement of glyphosate fumigations, and to top it all off a keynote speech at the pro-Israeli lobby AIPAC conference. | RELATED: | Colombian Congress to Investigate Duque Over Electoral Fraud Allegations | During his meeting with Trump, Duque immediately began by attacking Venezuela…
telesurenglish.net/news/Duque-Asks-Trump-For-Stronger-Sanctions-Against-Venezuela-20200302-0018.html

Use of religious beliefs to justify rights violations must be outlawed says UN expert
news.un.org | 2020-03-02
Laws underpinned by religious conviction that discriminate against women and the LGBT+ community should be repealed, and gender-based violence carried out in the name of religion by non-State groups must be addressed, an independent UN expert said on Monday in a report presented to the Human Rights Council.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1058411

Civil Rights Advocates Shut Down Klobuchar Rally, Demanding Justice for Teen She Helped Sentence to Life in Prison
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-03-02
Civil rights organizations shut down Sen. Amy Klobuchar's planned rally outside Minneapolis on Sunday night after occupying the stage for more than an hour, demanding the senator address their concerns over her record as a former prosecutor. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2020/03/02/civil-rights-advocates-shut-down-klobuchar-rally-demanding-justice-teen-she-helped?cd-origin=rss

Refugee rights supporters rally for freedom outside detention hotel
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-02
Refugees & migrants Chris SleeIssue 1256 Australia detention centre MelbourneMarch 2, 2020Two hundred people joined a protest organised by the Refugee Action Collective outside the Mantra hotel…
greenleft.org.au/content/refugee-rights-supporters-rally-freedom-outside-detention-hotel

Why are 1000s of Americans Being Detained for Dissent?
RT | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-01
Author and civil rights attorney John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute joins Rick Sanchez to discuss the enduring effects of the PATRIOT Act and erosion of civil liberties in the US. He also explains "Operation Vigilant Eagle," a surveillance program to keep tabs on US veterans and track what they say online.
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/why-are-1000s-of-americans-being-detained-for-dissent/

Children Under 13 Pick Coffee for Starbucks, Nespresso: Report
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-01
Children under 13 in Guatemala are working in the coffee farms that supply beans to giants Nespresso (owned by Nestle) and Starbucks‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã, an investigation by British television program 'Dispatches' uncovered last week. | RELATED: | Child Labor Behind Chocolate Ferrero Rocher: UK Rights Group | During their research, Channel 4's reporters visited seven farms supplying Nespress…
telesurenglish.net/news/Children-Under-13-Pick-Coffee-Beans-for-Starbucks-Nespresso–20200301-0007.html

Protest demands reversal of decision in Chicago police torture survivor case
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-02-29
Chicago, IL – In an attack on the human rights movement to stop police torture in Chicago, a Cook County judge ordered a torture survivor back to prison for life on February 14. In doing so, Judge Thomas Hennelly ignored irrefutable X-ray evidence of Gerald Reed's torture at the hands of the infamous Jon Burge "midnight crew," flouted the findings of the governor-appointed Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission

Fighting discrimination against women is key to beating AIDS
news.un.org | 2020-02-29
"The struggle to beat AIDS is inseparable from the struggle for women's rights and from the struggle against all forms of discrimination". This is the message from Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, on Zero Discrimination Day, which falls on Sunday March 1. The theme of this year's Day is the fight against discrimination faced by women and girls, and the organization aims to raise awareness, mobilize action, and promote equality.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/02/1058341

Weekend Read: 55 years after 'Bloody Sunday,' voting rights are still under attack
splcenter.org | 2020-02-28
When they looked over the steel-arched crest of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, the voting rights activists knew there would be trouble.
splcenter.org/news/2020/02/29/weekend-read-55-years-after-bloody-sunday-voting-rights-are-still-under-attack

Connecticut prison warning: Prolonged solitary confinement may 'amount to torture', UN expert warns
news.un.org | 2020-02-28
The "excessive use" of solitary confinement by the prison service in the US state of Connecticut, prompted an independent UN human rights expert to voice alarm on Friday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/02/1058311

Prominent Iranian physician clears up misconceptions about outbreak & impact of sanctions
Sina Toossi | iranian.com | 2020-02-28
Prominent Iranian physician & member of the Health Ministry Minoo Mohraz has for her part defended the health ministry's data but has also said the number of people infected has been underreported because sanctions had blocked access to diagnostic kits: twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409214… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409467… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409591… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409679… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409919… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233410030… twitter.co…
iranian.com/2020/02/28/prominent-iranian-physician-clears-up-misconceptions-about-outbreak-impact-of-sanctions/

Headlines for February 27, 2020
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-27
Fears of Coronavirus Pandemic Grow as U.S. Cites First "Community Spread" of Pathogen, Trump Blames "Caronavirus" Fears on Democrats and Fake News Reporting, Trump Taps VP Mike Pence, Who's Blamed for Indiana HIV Outbreak, to Lead Coronavirus Response, Gunman Kills 5 at Molson Coors Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Physicians Group Calls U.S. Migrant Family Separations "Torture", U.S. Drops Charge Against Scott Warren, Who Aided Migrants Crossing Desert, House Approves Emmett Till Act to Make Lynching a Federal Hate Crime, Feds Arrest Five Neo-Nazis for Threatening Journalists and Activists, ABC Suspends David Wr…
www.democracynow.org/2020/2/27/headlines

Defending Immigrants' Rights and Reproductive Freedom in the U.S. Supreme Court
Eva Lopez | aclu.org | 2020-02-27
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a number of cases this term that will have a crucial impact on civil rights and civil liberties

Julian Assange, Political Offences and Legal Restraints: Day Three of Extradition Hearings
Binoy Kampmark | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-02-27
Wednesday, February 26, Woolwich Crown Court. Today, the focus shifted to the protagonist himself and the nature of the US-UK Extradition Treaty of 2003, a contentious document that shines all too favourably for US citizens. Julian Assange, whose deteriorating condition has been noted for months by psychologists, doctors and UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Nils …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/02/julian-assange-political-offences-and-legal-restraints-day-three-of-extradition-hearings/

Myanmar: 'Multidimensional and long-standing' root causes behind rights minority abuses, says Bachelet
news.un.org | 2020-02-27
The Human Rights Council on Thursday held an interactive dialogue with UN rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, on the root causes of violations and abuses suffered by the Rohingya mainly-Muslim minority and other minorities in Myanmar. She said the Government now has a historic opportunity to counteract systematic violations, "by bringing its people together, as one".
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/02/1058261

America's Iran Policy Backed Into a Corner By MEK in Albania
Anne Khodabandeh | iranian.com | 2020-02-27
Since well before President Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, the U.S. and Iran have been in a de facto state of non-military warfare with sanctions, economic sabotage, cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns and social media attacks the weapons of choice. Both countries have exploited conflict in the region, especially after the rise …
iranian.com/2020/02/27/americas-iran-policy-backed-into-a-corner-by-mek-in-albania/

Family Separation, Two Years After Ms. L
Leila Rafei | aclu.org | 2020-02-26
When the ACLU filed Ms. L v. ICE exactly two years ago, it was clear what was going on at the border was shocking and unprecedented: A Congolese mother and her six-year-old daughter had been torn apart by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for seemingly no reason at all. ICE sent them to detention sites thousands of miles away from one another, where for four months they had hardly any contact and didn't know whether they'd ever see each other again. It was an act of senseless cruelty

Impunity persists for alleged violations in Occupied Palestinian Territories, UN Human Rights Council hears
news.un.org | 2020-02-26
Justice is still absent for Palestinian demonstrators shot by Israeli soldiers during weekly protests in Gaza, the UN Human Rights Council heard on Wednesday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/02/1058191

Stopping the Anti-Abortion Ordinances of East Texas
Anjali Salvador | aclu.org | 2020-02-26
Waskom. | Naples. Joaquin. Tenaha. Rusk. Gary. Wells. These names might sound unfamiliar | now, but you'll be hearing more about them soon enough. | They | are seven cities in East Texas that, within the last several months, each | passed so-called "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinances

The murder of Hannah Clarke shows what's wrong with the system
Kathy Fairfax | greenleft.org.au | 2020-02-26
feminism Sue BoltonIssue 1255 Australia men's rights femicideFebruary 26, 2020The day after Rowan Baxter brutally incinerated his ex-partner Hannah Clarke and their children, the detective in charge of the inv…
greenleft.org.au/content/murder-hannah-clarke-shows-what%E2%80%99s-wrong-system

Union leader: 'There are no jobs on a dead planet'
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2020-02-26
Climate crisis Paul McAleerIssue 1255 Australia workers rights SydneyFebruary 26, 2020Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) Sydney Branch secretary Paul McAleer sent the following message to the Western…
greenleft.org.au/content/union-leader-there-are-no-jobs-dead-planet

From Being Tortured in Sri Lanka to the U.S. Supreme Court
Ashoka Mukpo | aclu.org | 2020-02-24
On a frigid day in early February, Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam | stands under an awning on a street corner in lower Manhattan along with one of | his attorneys, Celso Perez of the ACLU. Both are bundled in heavy winter | jackets. Perez is holding his phone up and squinting as he concentrates on the | tinny voice of a translator emanating from its speaker. | "I want them to be aware that you're traveling," Perez says | into the phone. | The voice on the other line translates what Perez said into | Tamil, the native language of Sri Lanka's largest ethnic minority. Thuraissigiam, | heavyset in his late 40s with a…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/from-being-tortured-in-sri-lanka-to-the-u-s-supreme-court

Weekend Read: SPLC files civil rights complaints as asylum seekers wage hunger strikes
splcenter.org | 2020-02-21
splcenter.org/news/2020/02/22/weekend-read-splc-files-civil-rights-complaints-asylum-seekers-wage-hunger-strikes

We won a major victory for voting rights
splcenter.org | 2020-02-20
splcenter.org/news/2020/02/20/we-won-major-victory-voting-rights

Iraq and Russia Prepare to Boost Military Ties as US Threatens Sanctions
Tyler Durden | theantimedia.com | 2020-02-08
Iraq and Russia are preparing for deepening military coordination.

Iraq and Russia Prepare to Boost Military Ties as US Threatens Sanctions

SPLC and the SPLC Action Fund Hire Internationally Renowned Human and Civil Rights Leader as New President and CEO
splcenter.org | 2020-02-02
Margaret Huang brings 25 years of experience advocating against discrimination and oppression around the world.
splcenter.org/news/2020/02/03/splc-and-splc-action-fund-hire-internationally-renowned-human-and-civil-rights-leader-new