SPLC and allies seek federal court injunction in system-wide suit to protect people detained by ICE from contracting COVID-19
splcenter.org | 2020-03-25
The SPLC and its allies asked a federal court today to issue a preliminary injunction requiring that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) take immediate steps to protect people in its custody, particularly those who have medical conditions making them more susceptible to serious illness and death from COVID-19.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/25/splc-and-allies-seek-federal-court-injunction-system-wide-suit-protect-people-detained-ice

Iran: Campaign to Lift US Sanctions Gets Around 100K Signatures
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-25
Iran's international campaign calling for the United States to lift illegal sanctions will soon reach 100,000 signatures, the state's Islamic Republic News Agency reported Wednesday. | RELATED: | EU Supports Iran, Venezuela Bids for IMF COVID-19 Funds | The signatures of the campaign have passed 97,500 and will reach 100,000 in no time, Abolfazl Fateh, an Iranian media activist wh…
telesurenglish.net/news/Iran-Campaign-to-Lift-US-Sanctions-Gets-Around-100K-Signatures-20200325-0014.html

Rights of Nature Law Forces Pennsylvania to Revoke Industry Permit
commondreams.org | 2020-03-25
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commondreams.org/newswire/2020/03/25/rights-nature-law-forces-pennsylvania-revoke-industry-permit?cd-origin=rss

Pentagon: 60-Day Freeze on Overseas US Forces Over COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-25
U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper issued an order to stop movements of overseas U.S. forces for up to 60 days to curb the spread of the coronavirus among military, according to media reports. | In a Wednesday interview with Reuters, the Pentagon chief said the order applied to all U.S. forces, civilian personnel, and families while noting that there would be some exceptions. | RELATED: | Iran: Campaign to Lift US Sanctions Gets Around 100K Signatures | Esper said that the U.
telesurenglish.net/news/Pentagon-60-Day-Freeze-on-Overseas-US-Forces-Over-COVID-19-20200325-0019.html

Deflection: Pompeo Issues '5 Facts' Claiming Iran Exported COVID-19 To "At Least 5 Countries"
Zero Hedge | iranian.com | 2020-03-25
As even Britain is urging its close US ally to moderate its stance on Iran sanctions as the Mideast country's death toll surges from the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington-Tehran tit-for-tat exchanges and blame game over Covid-19 continues unabated. Yesterday Pompeo issued a new list of five allegations of how Iran's leaders have handled the outbreak. Notably, this featured the …
iranian.com/2020/03/24/deflection-pompeo-issues-5-facts-claiming-iran-exported-covid-19-to-at-least-5-countries/

Exclusive: ICE Detainees Are Being Quarantined
Ken Klippenstein | thenation.com | 2020-03-24
Exclusive: ICE Detainees Are Being Quarantined…
thenation.com/article/society/corona-covid-immigration-detention/

"Humanitarian Solidarity": Even Under U.S. Sanctions, Cuba Sends Doctor Brigade to Italy and More
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-24
As Italy's death toll soars past 6,000, Cuba has sent medical brigades to combat COVID-19. Cuba has also deployed doctors to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Suriname and Grenada. "The arrival of a medical brigade from Cuba to Italy is pretty historic. You have a leading European nation accepting support in the form of a medical team from a small Caribbean island," says our guest, Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive at George Washington University. "It just goes to the history of Cuba's deep and long-lasting commitment to humanitarian solidarity with other cou…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/24/cuba_medi…

Technology of Death: The Not-So-Shocking Report on Israeli Weapons Exports
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2020-03-24
SIPRI and Amnesty International are right in exposing Israel's thriving weapons exports market while emphasizing the fact that much of these weapons proliferate freely among human rights violators.
mintpressnews.com/technology-of-death-shocking-report-israeli-weapons-exports/265971/

Ease sanctions against countries fighting COVID-19: UN human rights chief
news.un.org | 2020-03-24
As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday called for an easing of sanctions against countries such as Iran to allow their medical systems to fight the disease and limit its global spread.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1060092

From Noncompliant Bodies to Civil Disobedience
Susan Stryker | thenation.com | 2020-03-24
From Noncompliant Bodies to Civil Disobedience…
thenation.com/article/society/crip-camp-disability-rights/

Business as Usual: Coronavirus, Iran and US Sanctions
Binoy Kampmark | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-24
Never discount the importance of venality in international relations. While pandemics should provide the glue for a unified front in response

Even Under US Sanctions, Cuba Sends Doctor Brigade to Italy
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-24
As Italy's death toll soars past 6,000, Cuba has sent medical brigades to combat COVID-19. Cuba has also deployed doctors to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Suriname and Grenada. "The arrival of a medical brigade from Cuba to Italy is pretty historic. You have a leading European nation accepting support in the form of a medical team from a small Caribbean island," says our guest, Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive at George Washington University. "It just go…
truthout.org/video/even-under-us-sanctions-cuba-sends-doctor-brigade-to-italy/

Venezuela: US Blocks Flights to Repatriate Citizens
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-24
Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza denounced Tuesday that the United States refuses to authorize humanitarian flights to bring back the stranded Venezuelans in the North American nation. | RELATED: | Venezuelan President Demands US Lift Economic Sanctions | "We denounce that the U.S. insists on its air blockade of Venezuela and…
telesurenglish.net/news/Venezuela-Denounces-US-Impedes-Flights-to-Repatriate-Citizens-20200324-0020.html

Iran: Rouhani Dennounces US Blockade During COVID-19 Outbreak
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-24
Hasan Rohani, Iran's President, denounced the U.S. blockade against the Islamic Republic amid the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak. | RELATED: | EU Supports Iran, Venezuela Bids for IMF COVID-19 Funds | Rohani said the sanctions limit bank interactions, the import of medicines and medical equipment as well as the safety of the Iranian people during the worldwide pandemic due to Covid-19. The Iranian President requested the international community condemn the U.S.' policy towards Iran. Rohani…
telesurenglish.net/news/iran-rouhani-dennounce-us-blockade-during-covid19-outbreak-20200324-0015.html

Because 'Anne Frank Did Not Die in a Gas Chamber,' Jewish Activists Cite Disease in Nazi Death Camps in Call to Free Detained Immigrants
Eoin Higgins, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-03-24
"Crowded, unsanitary detention camps are a death sentence for the people inside. These are the conditions that killed Anne Frank, who died of typhus in 1945." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2020/03/24/because-anne-frank-did-not-die-gas-chamber-jewish-activists-cite-disease-nazi-death?cd-origin=rss

'Take This Seriously': Digital Rights Group Urges Americans to Beat Back Attempts to Exploit Coronavirus Crisis to Erode Civil Liberties
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-03-24
Fight for the Future launched a campaign unequivocally urging supporters to help "flatten the curve" and slow the spread of the respiratory virus—while warning that government agencies are liable to undermine civil liberties and human rights. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2020/03/24/take-seriously-digital-rights-group-urges-americans-beat-back-attempts-exploit?cd-origin=rss

UK, Europe & IMF Ramp Up Pressure For Trump To Ease Sanctions On Virus-Ravaged Iran
Zero Hedge | iranian.com | 2020-03-24
Reports and in some cases video began emerging last week of mass shipments of humanitarian supplies being halted and grounded by skittish EU countries worried about violating US-led sanctions on Iran. This as Iranian leaders have lashed out at Washington for ensuring a worsening coronavirus death toll through its "inhuman" sanctions. But the White House has also …
iranian.com/2020/03/23/uk-europe-imf-ramp-up-pressure-for-trump-to-ease-sanctions-on-virus-ravaged-iran/

Defectors Tell of Torture and Forced Sterilization in Militant Iranian Cult
The Intercept | iranian.com | 2020-03-24
Interviews with defectors, including several who held senior positions, offer the most detailed account to date of what life was like inside the MEK. Read the full story here.
iranian.com/2020/03/24/defectors-tell-of-torture-and-forced-sterilization-in-militant-iranian-cult/

Former ICE Director: Release Immigrants from Detention or COVID-19 Will Spread Like Wildfire Inside
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-23
Alarm is growing about the safety of more than 37,000 people held in immigrant detention centers and private jails that contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, where it is nearly impossible for them to avoid close contact to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Nearly half of those detained by ICE are accused of no crime other than civil immigration violations. Immigrants at three jails in New Jersey are now on hunger strikes over unsanitary conditions that put them at high risk during the pandemic.‚Ä®‚Ä® We hear from a detained person on hunger strike and speak wit…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/23/ice_dente…

COVID-19 Will Spread Like Wildfire in Migrant Jails If Detainees Aren't Released
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-23
Alarm is growing about the safety of more than 37,000 people held in immigrant detention centers and private jails that contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, where it is nearly impossible for them to avoid close contact to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Nearly half of those detained by ICE are accused of no crime other than civil immigration violations. Immigrants at three jails in New Jersey are now on hunger strikes over unsanitary conditions that put them at high…
truthout.org/video/covid-19-will-spread-like-wildfire-in-migrant-jails-if-detainees-arent-released/

UN expert raises alarm over migrant, asylum seeker 'pushbacks' at Turkey-Greece border
news.un.org | 2020-03-23
Greece must take immediate action to end the violence against migrants and asylum seekers at the border between Turkey and Greece, an independent UN human rights expert said on Monday, expressing alarm at reports of violence at the hands of some Greek security officers and unidentified armed men.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1059992

Car protest at Gov. Walz's mansion demands immediate release of immigrants in Minnesota jails
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-03-23
Saint Paul, MN – In one of the first known protests organized since the widespread implementation of 'social distancing' and 'shelter-in-place' with the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, a car caravan lined Summit Avenue outside Governor Tim Walz's mansion in Saint Paul to demand immediate release of all immigrant detainees in Minnesota jails. | The protest participants stayed in their cars to avoid social spread of coronavirus. Cars were painted and adorned with posters with slogans like "Governor Walz: Free them all." People in some cars led chants with megaphones. Periodically, all the cars would honk at the…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/3/23/car-prot…

Trump intensifies murderous Iran sanctions during COVID-19 crisis
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2020-03-23
As Iran struggles to contain COVID-19, the US has imposed new sanctions that further weaken the Iranian economy and health…
thegrayzone.com/2020/03/23/trump-intensifies-murderous-iran-sanctions-during-covid-19-crisis/

Israeli Colonists Attack A Young Man In Northern Plains, Homes In Nablus
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2020-03-23
Several fanatic illegal Israeli colonists attacked, on Monday evening, a Palestinian shepherd in Ein al-Hilwa area, in the West Bank's Northern Plains, and attacked many homes in Madama village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Palestinian human rights activist, Aref Daraghma, said several colonists assaulted a young …
imemc.org/article/israeli-colonists-attack-a-young-man-in-northern-plains-homes-in-nablus/

Arab League Demands Israel Release Palestinian Prisoners
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-03-23
The League of Arab States, consisting of 22 Arab countries, addressed international human rights organizations and other relevant bodies, on Monday, what they describe as an imperative release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, from Israeli jails. A press release, issued by the Deputy-Secretary General of the Arab States' League for …
imemc.org/article/arab-league-demand-israel-release-palestinian-prisoners/

PHRI calls on the Israeli authorities to provide Gaza with missing equipment and assist patients needing treatment
Staff | imemc.org | 2020-03-23
Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) has called on the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) to provide Gaza with the equipment it urgently needs to combat COVID-19, including basic antiseptics, intensive care beds, and ventilators. PHRI's further urged COGAT and the …
imemc.org/article/phri-calls-on-the-israeli-authorities-to-provide-gaza-with-missing-equipment-and-assist-patients-needing-treatment/

Justice Dept reassures Americans only judges can suspend their constitutional rights during coronavirus epidemic
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The US Department of Justice has reassured Americans freaked out by a request to Congress for powers of indefinite detention without trial by explaining that only judges

This is No Time to Play Politics with our Democracy
Sonia Gill | aclu.org | 2020-03-23
To ensure elections proceed and eligible Americans can vote, any federal legislative package addressing the impact of COVID-19 on our elections must include an immediate, substantial infusion of federal funding and federal requirements for no-excuse mail-in absentee voting and early in-person voting. While the coronavirus pandemic should not be a political issue, with presidential primaries and the general election coming up, it could soon directly impact our politics. It is simply not an option for Congress to fail to act on these basic issues to protect American elections while the pandemic is ongoing. , , F…
aclu.org/news/voting-rights/this-is-no-time-to-play-politics-with-our-democracy

Punishing sanctions against Iran are turning the coronavirus pandemic into a massacre
Massoud Shadjareh | iranian.com | 2020-03-23
Coronavirus is a crisis. In Iran, it's a massacre – because of Trump's sanctions. Even before COVID-19, these sanctions were recognised by Human Rights Watch as undermining access to healthcare. The virus has taken lives globally but in Iran it has been particularly shocking, with hospital beds in parking lots and mass graves visible from space. Hundreds of lives have been …
iranian.com/2020/03/23/punishing-sanctions-against-iran-are-turning-the-coronavirus-pandemic-into-a-massacre/

Pakistan PM once again asks Trump to lift Iran sanctions
IRNA | iranian.com | 2020-03-22
Prime Minister of Pakistan who believes that US sanctions against Iran are cruel and unfair has once again called upon Donald Trump to lift economic sanctions from the Islamic Republic. Imran Khan in a tweet on Sunday said the people of Iran are facing untold suffering as sanctions are crippling Iran's efforts to fight COVID19. …
iranian.com/2020/03/22/pakistan-pm-once-again-asks-trump-to-lift-iran-sanctions/

[Comment] UN General Assembly tuberculosis targets: are we on track?
Suvanand Sahu, Lucica Ditiu, Lovett Lawson, Francine Ntoumi, Denise Arakaki, Alimuddin Zumla | thelancet.com | 2020-03-21
The 2018 UN General Assembly (UNGA) Political Declaration on Tuberculosis was a turning point in global efforts to end the tuberculosis epidemic.1,2 Ambitious targets were set for scale-up and roll-out of diagnostic, treatment, and prevention services, political commitments, principles of equity and human rights, and financing, implementation, and research. Targets included diagnosing and treating an additional 40 million people with tuberculosis by 2022 and generating US$13 billion per year for tuberculosis care and prevention and $2 billion per year for research and development.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30565-1/fulltext?rss=yes

How the ACLU Organized to end Racial Profiling on Greyhound Buses
Andrea Flores | aclu.org | 2020-03-20
Two years ago, the ACLU set a clear goal: push Greyhound to refuse Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers access to their buses to conduct warrantless searches. As part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, CBP officers were targeting bus passengers around the country, boarding their buses to racially profile, harass, and too often, detain people who they suspected of being undocumented. Of course, you can't tell someone's immigration status by how they look or sound

Expert: US sanctions on Iran, Venezuela during pandemic could be genocidal
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2020-03-20
Intensified US sanctions on Iran, Venezuela during the COVID-19 pandemic could amount to genocide, a former UN expert warns. Iran…
thegrayzone.com/2020/03/20/expert-us-sanctions-on-iran-venezuela-during-pandemic-could-be-genocidal/

Grassroots effort sponsored by SPLC protects voting rights for hundreds across South Florida
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
Clutching a clipboard full of voter registration forms under his arm, Marq Mitchell knocked on the front door of a small, beige, stucco house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/20/grassroots-effort-sponsored-splc-protects-voting-rights-hundreds-across-south-florida

Fight To Vote: Florida man's voting rights restored by Amendment 4
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
Abdul Yaw Akachi was talking to his neighbors one sunny day in Florida when a voting rights advocate walked up to him.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/24/fight-vote-florida-mans-voting-rights-restored-amendment-4

We Know Prisons Need COVID-19 Plans, but our Arizona Prison Tour Suggests it's not Happening
Corene Kendrick | aclu.org | 2020-03-19
Earlier this month, the Prison Law Office and the ACLU National Prison Project filed an emergency motion in federal court in Phoenix. The motion asks the judge to order the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) to consult with a correctional health care expert to develop a plan to prevent, manage, and treat any COVID-19 outbreaks in the state's 10 prisons. You might think this is an obvious request, but we've spent the last decade observing the Arizona pri…
aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/we-know-prisons-need-covid-19-plans-our-arizona-prison-tour-suggests-its-not-happening

The Military Should not be Searching Cars or Checking Documents at the Border
Shaw Drake | aclu.org | 2020-03-18
There's an old saying that goes, "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." This adage is especially applicable to the Trump administration's approach toward border policy, which is ever more militarized. On March 6th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials announced that the Department of Defense would deploy 160 active-duty troops to ports of entry at the border

Delay or Hold Primaries: Can the 2020 Election Be Safeguarded Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic?
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-18
Tuesday night's primary election for the Democratic presidential nomination was marred by chaos, confusion and fears over the spread of coronavirus at polling places as former Vice President Joe Biden consolidated his lead as he won Florida and Illinois by a wide margin and scored a victory in Arizona. We are joined by Vanita Gupta, former head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in the Obama administration, now president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation's oldest and largest civil rights coalition. They issued a call with 100 voting rights groups for states to proce…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/18/democrati…

US ramps up sanctions devastating Venezuela's health sector as coronavirus spreads
Leonardo Flores | thegrayzone.com | 2020-03-17
Promising to "smash" Venezuela's government during a "maximum pressure March," Trump has imposed crushing sanctions that force Venezuela to spend…
thegrayzone.com/2020/03/17/us-sanctions-venezuelas-health-sector-coronavirus/

Spain Locks Down & Nationalizes Private Healthcare as Coronavirus Deaths Double & Cases Skyrocket
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-17
Europe is the epicenter of coronavirus, and Spain now has the second most cases in Europe, with more than 2,000 new cases in 24 hours and the number of deaths doubled. We'll go to Madrid for an update, where more than half of the country's cases have been reported. This comes as the Spanish government announced it is nationalizing hospitals and private healthcare companies to better manage the pandemic. We are joined by María Carrión, a freelance journalist and former Democracy Now! producer who is also executive director of FiSahara and co-founder of Nomads HRC, which focus on human rights in Western Sahara.
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/17/spain_cor…

SPLC offices, Civil Rights Memorial Center close
splcenter.org | 2020-03-14
Our work continues with fervor and is needed more now than ever.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/20/splc-offices-civil-rights-memorial-center-close

No, Venezuela does not have a six child per family policy
Joe Emersberger | zcomm.org | 2020-03-13
I respect UK journalist Andrew Buncombe. As I noted for FAIR last year, he was one of the few corporate journalists who reported on a study linking Trump's financial sanctions on Venezuela to thousands of deaths by the end of 2018. Since 2018, Trump has repeatedly intensified the sanctions and threatened Venezuela with military action, Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/no-venezuela-does-not-have-a-six-child-per-family-policy/

Anti-LGBTQ Hate Group Presents "Make the Family Great Again" Petition to U.S. State Department Commission
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2020-03-13
Anti-LGBTQ hate group Ruth Institute presented a "Make the Family Great Again" petition to the State Department at its Commission on Unalienable Rights meeting Feb. 21.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/16/anti-lgbtq-hate-group-presents-make-family-great-again-petition-us-state-department

This Law Makes Voting Nearly Impossible for Native Americans in Montana
Alora Thomas-Lundborg | aclu.org | 2020-03-12
Voting has never been easy for Native Americans living on rural reservations in Montana, which are often geographically isolated, with limited access to postal service and transportation. The passage of the Montana Ballot Interference Prevention Act (BIPA) has made these obstacles even greater, severely inhibiting Native Americans' access to the ballot. That's why we're suing. | In a state where the majority of individuals vote | by mail, rural tribal communities often work with get-out-the-vote organizer…
aclu.org/news/voting-rights/this-law-makes-voting-nearly-impossible-for-native-americans-in-montana

Keep Calm and Carry on Voting: How to Vote By Mail During the Coronavirus Outbreak
Nicole Hansen | aclu.org | 2020-03-11
Coronavirus should not be a political issue, but with presidential primaries and the general election coming up, it could soon directly impact our politics. We should protect not only our health, but our civil liberties at this time

[Commentary] Women and girls' health agency: Operationalizing the "Can-Act-Resist" of the women's empowerment process
Anita Raj | thelancet.com | 2020-03-04
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Bejing Declaration and Platform for Action