(2020-04-24). Judge shoots down California law mandating background checks for ammunition buyers, citing 'grave injury' to 2nd Amendment. rt.com 
A federal judge has overturned a law forcing Californians to undergo background checks when buying ammunition, arguing the rule set fire to the Second Amendment and deprived citizens of their right to bear arms. | US District Judge Roger Benitez blocked the 2016 law on Thursday from a San Diego courtroom, penning a lengthy 120-page opinion slamming "onerous and convoluted" laws and regulations that trample rights guaranteed under the Constitution. | "The experiment has been tried. The casualties have been counted. California's new ammunition background check law misfires and the Second Amendment rights of Cali…
(2020-04-24). Sean Hannity and Rick Scott's best sheriff friend under DOJ and Fl DOH investigation. indybay.org The Justice Department and Florida Department of Health are investigating Sheriff Carmine Marceno for civil rights abuses, human rights abuses, ADA violations and felony abuse of disabled adults.
(2020-04-23). Immigrant detainee hunger strikes spread amid COVID-19 danger. peoplesworld.org 
"We are human beings and want to be treated as human beings," declared Karopet Vatyan, one of many immigrant detainees on hunger strike since April 10 at the Adelanto Detention Facility. The hunger strikers are protesting refusal by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to protect them from COVID-19 spreading throughout the facility, a privately run …
(2020-04-23). UN chief warns that coronavirus pandemic is becoming a 'human rights crisis'. thecanary.co 
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has said the coronavirus pandemic is "a human crisis that is fast becoming a human rights crisis".The UN chief issued a video message warning there is discrimination in the delivery of public services to tackle coronavirus (Covid-19) and there are "structural inequalities that impede access to them".He said the pandemic has also seen "disproportionate effects on certain communities, the rise of hate speech, the targeting of vulnerable groups, and the risks of heavy-handed security responses undermining the health response".He warned that with "rising ethno-nationalism, populi…
(2020-04-23). Human rights 'uplift everyone'; must guide COVID-19 recovery response, says UN chief. news.un.org The coronavirus pandemic is not only a critical public health danger, it is also a human, economic and social emergency that is "fast becoming a human rights crisis", the UN chief said on Thursday, releasing a new policy brief on shaping an effective, inclusive response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(2020-04-23). Civil Society Groups Urge Immediate Sanctions Relief and Legal Reform. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-04-22). Car caravan to free Gerald Reed, prisoners facing pandemic. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – 100 cars surrounded the Thompson Center in Chicago's Loop, April 20, during Governor J.B. Pritzker's daily press briefing on COVID-19. The caravan protest was held to demand Pritzker free police torture survivor Gerald Reed and all vulnerable prisoners at Cook County Jail, Illinois Department of Corrections prisons and ICE detention centers in Illinois – especially those over 60, those with medical conditions, and those who the governor's own Torture Commission has already confirmed are victims of police torture and therefore wrongfully convicted. | In the lead car of the caravan, Frank Chapman of t…
(2020-04-22). Sanctioned Countries Are Now Leading the World in the Fight Against Coronavirus. mintpressnews.com Countries currently facing US sanctions, around a quarter of the world's population, are faring far better than the United States and leading the global fight against COVID-19.
(2020-04-22). UN rights chief rejects killings acknowledged by Cameroon, and Iran's execution of child offenders. news.un.org The UN's human rights chief has been weighing in on recent killings committed by State authorities, or by rogue members of State military forces, emphasizing that all Governments must strictly abide by international law and hold those who serve, accountable for any violations.
(2020-04-22). Palestinian Detainee Dies In Israeli Prison. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported that a detainee died, on Tuesday at night, in the Negev Desert Detention Camp, after fainting in the shower, and Israeli soldiers failed to provide him with any medical aid for more than thirty minutes. The PPS stated that the detainee, Nour Jaber …
(2020-04-22). How Trump's Foreign Policy Puts Troops at Risk of Covid-19. thenation.com How Trump's Foreign Policy Puts Troops at Risk of Covid-19…
(2020-04-21). Death Trap Jail: Pepper-Sprayed, Otay Mesa Detainees Demand Release as COVID-19 Spreads Inside. democracynow.org 
We look at the mounting number of COVID-19 cases inside immigration jails across the country and one of the largest outbreaks at the Otay Mesa Detention Center near San Diego, run by private prison company CoreCivic. Prisoners were told to sign contracts, written only in English, in exchange for receiving face masks. When some refused to sign, guards pepper-sprayed them. This comes as activists say hundreds imprisoned in detention centers in California are on hunger strike. We get an update from Ruth Mendez, community activist and volunteer with Otay Mesa Detention Resistance.
(2020-04-21). NYC Immigrant Communities Fight Hunger, Exploitation & Invisibility Through Mutual Aid. democracynow.org 
We look at how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting undocumented people here in New York City, where the coronavirus has hit immigrant communities the hardest, even as the numbers of daily deaths statewide has declined in recent days. As reports of widespread poverty and hunger continue in the immigrant communities, people are also organizing and helping each other through mutual aid despite extraordinarily difficult circumstances. We are joined by Juan Carlos Ruiz, Lutheran pastor at Good Shepherd Church in Brooklyn and co-founder of the national New Sanctuary Movement and the New Sanctuary Coalition here in Ne…
(2020-04-20). Headlines for April 20, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Fatalities Top 40,000; Nursing Homes Hit Hard as Death Tolls Soar | , Trump and Governors at Odds over Coronavirus Testing as Uneven Reopening of States Commences, Right-Wing Groups Organize Anti-Lockdown Protests Around the Country | , New Deal on Relief for Small Businesses Could Be Imminent But May Lack Key Democratic Provisions, Immigrant Prisoners at Otay Mesa Launch Hunger Strike, Denounce Inhumane Treatment | , Michael Cohen to Be Released from Federal Detention as Prisoners Nationwide Face Mounting Coronavirus Risk, Italy Records Lowest Daily Death Toll in a Week; Spain & France Also Show Signs of Pr…
(2020-04-20). 'The US Reaction to Pressure to Ease Sanctions Was to Double Down' – CounterSpin interview with Joe Emersberger on sanctions under Covid-19. fair.org 
"If there were an opposition movement in countries like Canada and the United States and Europe, the demand wouldn't just be, 'You gotta stop this'; the demand would actually be, 'Hey, we've got to prosecute the people involved with this. This is killing people. This is a crime. People should be facing legal consequences for this.'"
(2020-04-17). What it's Like in ICE Detention During a Pandemic. aclu.org As millions of people in the U.S. shelter in their homes, and millions more who aren't able to stay indoors practice social distancing or other measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a crisis is brewing in the facilities where immigrants are detained. Cramped conditions and inadequate access to hygiene or medical care have created what one medical expert called a "tinderbox" for the disease in a letter to Congress., , Many of those in detention are asylum seekers, who came to the U.S. to ask for protection after fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries. Many others were long-time U.S. resi…
(2020-04-16). Bolivian coup leader freaks out on The Grayzone for 'fascist' label in complaint to OAS 'human rights' arm. thegrayzone.com The director of far-right Bolivian coup leader Camacho's presidential campaign threw a slander-laced tantrum against The Grayzone in a letter…
(2020-04-15). "I Want an Apology": Black Doctor Who Tests Homeless for Coronavirus Handcuffed by Miami Police. democracynow.org 
We speak with Dr. Armen Henderson, an African-American doctor who was handcuffed and detained outside his home Friday as he was wearing a mask and preparing for a volunteer shift to test homeless people for COVID-19. "I want the officer held accountable. There's no way that you racially profile me and then you arrest me, detain me, during a pandemic, when you have no mask on, where hundreds of police officers throughout Miami-Dade County have tested positive," says Dr. Henderson, who is an internal medicine physician, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Miami and an organizer with Dream Defenders…
(2020-04-13). Federal Wardens Must Immediately Flatten the Curve in our Nation's Prisons. aclu.org With 10 deaths and more than 500 positive COVID-19 cases in the nation's federal prisons, wardens must "
(2020-04-13). Congressman John Lewis shares message of support for SPLC's work. splcenter.org Congressman John Lewis has been a tireless champion for equal rights and justice for more than six decades.
(2020-04-10). Mike Elk on Frontline Worker Rights, Joe Emersberger on Pandemic Sanctions. fair.org 
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(2020-04-10). Get-out-the-vote effort goes digital for COVID-19 pandemic. splcenter.org Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Alexis Carr was able to knock on doors in Montgomery, Alabama, register people to vote, instruct them on voting rights and encourage them to cast their ballots on Election Day.
(2020-04-24). UN: Israel must release vulnerable Palestinian inmates. yenisafak.com A group of UN human rights experts on Friday called on Israel not to discriminate against thousands of vulnerable Palestinian prisoners facing high-risk exposure to the coronavirus.Women, children, older persons and those with pre-existing medical conditions are among the most vulnerable, according to experts."There are currently more than 4,520 Palestinian prisoners, including 183 children, 43 women and 700 detainees with pre-existing medical conditions in Israeli jails," they noted."They remain dangerously vulnerable in the context of the current pandemic and the relative increase in the number of transmission…
(2020-04-19). Free the refugees detained in Kangaroo Point at risk of COVID-19. greenleft.org.au 
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(2020-04-20). Human Rights Watch cabildea por sanciones letales contra Nicaragua y Venezuela, mientras arrecia la crisis de Covid-19. thegrayzone.com Human Rights Watch está orgullosamente asumiendo el crédito por sanciones devastadoras contra Nicaragua, mientras busca escalar la guerra económica en…
(2020-04-23). Sanctioned, Alone, but Still More Efficient: How Iran Fights Coronavirus and the US. iranian.com The 2019—20 coronavirus pandemic is taking a toll all over the globe, causing severe socioeconomic disruption, the stock market crash, millions of job losses,…
(2020-04-23). EU censures US for refusing to ease sanctions on Iran. iranian.com The European Union has censured the United States for refusing to ease sanctions on the Islamic Republic and blocking an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to Iran to help it fight the COVID-19 pandemic. "We supported first to soften the sanctions and second, the request by Iran to the International Monetary Fund for financial help," EU foreign …
(2020-04-22). Iran Non-Oil Exports Hit $60bln in Two Years. iranian.com Iran has pocketed around $60 billion from exports of products, services and energy since the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed its sanctions on the country's sale of crude two years ago. A senior official at the ministry of trade (MIMT) said on Tuesday that Iran had shipped a total of 135 …
(2020-04-21). 'US sanctions prepared Iran to face historic oil crash'. iranian.com First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri says America's tough sanctions targeting Iran's economy and energy sector have helped the Islamic Republic adapt to the historic oil market crash, which has seen US crude futures plunge below zero for the first time in history. "Crises and sanctions [imposed by] the United States of America have enabled us …
(2020-04-23). 70+ Groups Demand Trump Immediately End US Sanctions Against Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and Others During Covid-19 Crisis. commondreams.org "In a context of global pandemic, impeding medical efforts in one country heightens the risk for all of us." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-04-10). Civil Liberties Never Sleep: The ACLU in the Pandemic. aclu.org The COVID-19 pandemic has closed down many businesses, but the work of preserving civil liberties and civil rights continues, as essential as ever. Reports of courts closing down can be misleading. While public trials that require jurors and in-person testimony have been suspended, most courts and lawyers can do their work remotely. The filing of legal briefs continues, and oral arguments and hearings are being held remotely. The work of securing justice continues., , At the ACLU, our most immediate focus has been on civil liberties and civil rights issues arising from the government's response (or lack thereo…
(2020-04-08). Nativist Hate Groups Want to Keep People in ICE Detention Despite COVID-19 Threat. splcenter.org Anti-immigrant think tanks are pushing for the U.S. to detain immigrants and asylum seekers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, even as prisoners stage hunger strikes and other protests in response to what they describe as deteriorating health conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.
(2020-04-04). Stop Tightening the Thumb Screws: A Humanitarian Message. zcomm.org One way to help others survive is to insist that the United States lift sanctions against Iran and instead support acts of practical care…
(2020-04-03). Detained immigrants across Deep South feel like 'sitting ducks' as ICE ignores their safety amid global pandemic. splcenter.org COVID-19 began to infect the nation at rapid speed in March, reaching every corner of the country and taking the lives of more than 6,000 people by April 3. The United Nations has dubbed the coronavirus the "most challenging" crisis the globe has witnessed since World War II.
(2020-04-02). Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic. splcenter.org As people across the country are confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to a group of people whose health is in danger because they are locked away from the outside world — people in immigrant detention centers.
(2020-03-13). No, Venezuela does not have a six child per family policy. zcomm.org 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,
(2020-02-08). Iraq and Russia Prepare to Boost Military Ties as US Threatens Sanctions. theantimedia.com Iraq and Russia are preparing for deepening military coordination.