2020-06-02: News Headlines

Mark Gruenberg (2020-06-02). Illinois Gov. Pritzker, others warn of Trump's dangerous turn. peoplesworld.org CHICAGO — Gov. J.B. Pritzker, D-Ill., the progressive legal group Human Rights First and the pro-worker VoteVets veterans organization are all sounding alarms about GOP President Donald Trump's turn towards fascism, starting with his threats of a military takeover of U.S. cities. Pritzker was irate, saying afterwards that Trump "is strictly trying to make himself …

ACLU (2020-06-02). Know Your Rights While Protesting Police Brutality. aclu.org The right to protest is fundamental to our democracy and enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, people across the country have taken to the streets to demand racial justice and an end to police brutality and systematic racism against Black people. , , Especially in the time of COVID-19, it's important to know your rights and stay safe while protesting. In this video taken over the weekend at a protest in Brooklyn, New York, Emerson Sykes, staff attorney for the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, & Technology Project, sh…

WSWS (2020-06-02). Julian Assange unable to attend court hearing due to illness as legal travesty continues. wsws.org Assange has a chronic lung condition and his health has been ruined by years of psychological torture and medical neglect.

Fight Back (2020-06-02). 100,000-plus join protests called by National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – In cities across the country, more than a 100,000 people responded to the call from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression to make May 30 a Day of Protest against the racist murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery by police and vigilantes. | Protesters demanded that Floyd's, Taylor's and Arbery's killers be arrested and jailed, while the millions who are trapped in prisons, jails, and immigrant detention centers be freed from the threat of COVID-19. Finally, the many thousands who lifted their voices demanded the inalienable democratic right for communities t…

teleSUR (2020-06-02). US: George Floyd's Brother Requests Protesters to End Violence. telesurenglish.net George Floyd's younger brother, Terrence Floyd, Monday requested rioters and looters to cease the violence after visiting the site where four police officers detained and murdered his brother on May 25. | RELATED: | "I understand you're upset, but if I'm not over here wildin' out, if I'm not over here blowing up stuff, if I'm not over here messing up my community – then what are y'all doing? Nothing, because t…

news.un (2020-06-02). Put human rights at the centre of coronavirus response urges Muhammad-Bande. news.un.org The nations of the world must put human rights at the heart of their ongoing response to COVID-19 and ensure that everyone can enjoy "justice and peace" wherever they may be, the President of the General Assembly said on Tuesday.

news.un (2020-06-02). Address 'appalling impact' of COVID-19 on minorities, UN rights chief urges. news.un.org Urgent action is needed to address "the major disproportionate impact" of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic minorities, including people of African descent, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday.

commondreams (2020-06-02). Attack on States' Rights to Reject Fossil Fuel Projects is a Classic, Desperate Trump Temper Tantrum. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Ashley Curtin (2020-06-02). Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law urge officials to withdraw law enforcement, National Guard at elections. nationofchange.org "We are sounding an alarm regarding the potential deployment of the National Guard, state police and local law enforcement on Tuesday as voters prepare to cast ballots in primary elections."

WSWS (2020-06-02). SEP (Sri Lanka) calls for action committees to counter COVID-19 and defend jobs. wsws.org In defending their rights, workers cannot rely on the trade unions which have become appendages of big business.

Flanagin A, Bauchner H, Fontanarosa PB. (2020-06-02). Patient and Study Participant Rights to Privacy in Journal Publication. jamanetwork.com Personal health information is defined as identifiable data related to the past, present, or future health status of an individual. Personal health information has been considered protected health information, which is governed by ethical principles and laws to shield against intrusions into an individual's rights to privacy. However, rapid growth in the volume of electronic health records, access to other health information, and increasing use of personal health data by artificial intelligence, social media, technology, and other companies are threatening the traditional tenets of privacy protections for persona…

Jon Queally, staff writer (2020-06-02). ACLU Demands Congressional Probe Into 'Politically-Motivated' Attack on Peaceful Protest Outside Trump White House. commondreams.org "This appears to be grossly unjustified use of a dangerous chemical weapon on protesters and raises serious human rights concerns under international law," the civil liberties group said. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

ACLU (2020-06-02). Pride 2020 is About Resilience, and we are Resilient Together. aclu.org Pride has never been just about the parties. To the LGBTQ community, Pride is about staking our place in the world and speaking truth to power. It's about making clear that we're here, we belong, and we are resilient — resilient together., , As our Trans Justice Campaign Manager LaLa Zannell has said: "For many Black and Brown queer and trans people, gathering in person has always come with a health and safety risk — including from law enforcement, and others who feel they have the right to harm us for simply being who we are … For many of us, this is not the first pandemic that shows the injust…

pip.hinman (2020-06-02). Speaking the 'language of the unheard' is our only option. greenleft.org.au Dr. Martin Luther King | "Yeah, you're right — we should protect our Second Amendment rights,
| Because in a second a dirty cop could kick our door in at night.<...

pip.hinman (2020-06-02). Refugee rights car cavalcade shows solidarity with Villawood detainees. greenleft.org.au

Staff (2020-06-02). Autopsy Reports Showing George Floyd's Death Was a Homicide Underscore Corruption & Police Impunity. democracynow.org Two autopsies have agreed George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police was a homicide. "I don't think that most of us are surprised that the county medical examiner tried to find a reason related to why George Floyd died that distanced it from law enforcement's role," says Nekima Levy Armstrong, civil rights attorney, activist, founder of the Racial Justice Network and former president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP. She also discusses the local history of police accountability: "What this does is illustrates the corruption that exists within Hennepin County, where you have law enforcement wor…

Staff (2020-06-02). "A Declaration of War Against Americans": Trump Threatens to Deploy Military to Quell Protests. democracynow.org As a historic week-long uprising against police violence continues and curfews are in place across the United States, President Trump has declared himself "the president of law and order" and threatened to send thousands of heavily armed soldiers into the streets. "President Trump's speech almost amounted to a declaration of war against Americans," says Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. We also speak with William Arkin, longtime reporter on the military, who notes Trump is getting "no pushback" from Defense Department officials.

Brenda Norrell (2020-06-02). Sacred Tohono O'odham mountain desecration underway for U.S. Israeli border spy towers. indybay.org The destruction of sacred land is underway in Ali Jegk community on the Tohono Oodham Nation, as the land and plants are being destroyed for the integrated fixed towers, spy towers, that were authorized to be built by the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems. The destruction and Elbit's human rights abuses in Palestine are opposed by traditional O'odham.

VFP (2020-06-02). Veterans Call on the Minnesota National Guard to Stand Down. indybay.org Veterans For Peace calls for the immediate withdrawal of the Minnesota National Guard. We are appalled to see military weapons, vehicles and equipment once again deployed in U.S. cities to control community members who are reacting to a long history of state-sanctioned violence. When an already embattled community is subjected to militarized intimidation, by design, their environment becomes a war zone. We call on all those who are serving with the National Guard to refuse to serve violent and racist interests.

Staff (2020-06-02). Demands for Trump's Removal Grow as Fascist Speech Condemned. truthout.org President Donald Trump's pledge Monday evening to deploy the full force of the U.S. military against demonstrators protesting the killing of George Floyd — and the president's authorization of police violence against peaceful protesters to clear the way for a photo-op — amounted in the eyes of lawmakers, rights groups, and commentators to "declaration of war" against the U.S. public that must result in Trump's removal from office. | Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) characterized Trump's remarks from the Ros…

RT (2020-06-02). Taliban and Al-Qaeda retain ties despite US' Afghanistan deal, UN monitors warn. rt.com Ties between the Taliban, especially its Haqqani Network branch, and Al-Qaeda remain close, despite a US-Taliban pact that Washington hoped would sever them, the independent UN sanctions monitors said. | "The Taliban regularly consulted with Al-Qaeda during negotiations with the US and offered guarantees that it would honor their historical ties," the monitors said in a report to the UN Security Council, which was made public on Monday. | Under the February 29 US-Taliban deal that could pave the way toward a full withdrawal of foreign soldiers from Afghanistan, the Taliban promised to prevent Al-Qaeda from usi…

RT (2020-06-02). Education or propaganda? Nickelodeon makes children watch 9 MINUTES of 'I can't breathe' BLM commercial, polarizing parents. rt.com Children's TV network Nickelodeon went silent for nearly nine minutes as a gesture of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. But pushing social-justice rhetoric on such a young audience has rubbed many the wrong way. | The channel, owned by Viacom, stopped its transmission for eight minutes and 46 seconds on Tuesday "in support of justice, equality, and human rights," presenting children with a black screen on which the phrase "I can't breathe" faded in and out, timed with audio of a person breathing. That spot was preceded by a promotion scrolling Nickelodeon's "Declaration of Kids' Rights" over an oran…

RT (2020-06-02). State of Minnesota files racial discrimination charges against police department over George Floyd death. rt.com Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has announced the state's Department of Human Rights will be investigating Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) for signs of racial discrimination, following the death of George Floyd. | According to state officials, the investigation will go far beyond the death of Floyd — who was choked to death by a police officer during his detention in Minneapolis on May 25 — and look into the policies and practices of the police department for the past 10 years to "determine if the MPD has engaged in systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color and ensure any such practic…

RT (2020-06-02). Turkish authorities issue detention warrants for 118 military, security personnel over suspected Gulen links. rt.com Turkey issued detention warrants for 118 people, mostly members of the military and security forces, who are suspected of links to the network that Ankara says was behind a 2016 coup attempt. | The Istanbul prosecutor's office said Tuesday that detention warrants had been issued for 42 military and gendarmerie personnel as a result of statements by previously detained people and analyses of payphone calls. Among them, 24 officers were on active duty. | It had requested the detention of 76 military, gendarmarie personnel and civilians in a separate operation, after determining they'd used payphones to contact m…

RT (2020-06-02). Almost 400 cities in EVERY US state join wave of protest over George Floyd death. rt.com Hundreds of cities and towns across the US have seen people hitting the streets to join anti-police-brutality protests sparked by the death of George Floyd. Yet, as tensions ran high, many rallies turned into nightmarish riots. | America has once again been gripped by massive protests as the Black Lives Matter movement seemingly regained momentum following the death of another African American at the hands of the US police. The man was choked to death by a police officer during detention in Minneapolis last week. An independent autopsy confirmed that the man's death was a result of asphyxiation. | A total of s…

RT (2020-06-02). More than half of Americans SUPPORT SENDING MILITARY to aid police in dealing with George Floyd protests — poll. rt.com Over 50 percent of Americans would like to see the army deployed to the streets of US cities to help police tackle the riots raging across the country following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. | The US has been gripped by a massive wave of protests for over a week, as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to call for justice for the African American man, who was choked to death by a police officer during a detention process. | While it might seem that the nation, or the larger part of it at least, has rallied behind the cause, a large number of Americans admitted the…

RT (2020-06-02). Pelosi & Schumer accuse Trump of 'dishonoring the faith' after photo-op with Bible amid DC unrest. rt.com Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have blasted the president after police were ordered to clear out an area near the White House so he could make an incident-free trip to a church. | Calling on US President Donald Trump to "respect the dignity and rights of Americans" in a statement late on Monday night, Pelosi (D-California) and Schumer (D-New York) tore into the commander-in-chief after he ordered police to "dominate" the streets amid days of protests and violent unrest — sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody last week. | "At a ti…

RT (2020-06-02). 'We're horrified': Intl media rights group cites 125 VIOLATIONS of press freedom by US police during George Floyd protests. rt.com US police have violated the constitution with arrests and violence against reporters covering the anti-police-brutality demonstrations, a global media rights group has said. The rallies were followed by rioting in major cities. | "We are horrified by the continued use of harsh and sometimes violent actions of police against journalists doing their jobs. These are direct violations of press freedom, a fundamental constitutional value of the United States," Committee to Protect Journalists (CJP) Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said. | We call on local and state officials to explicitly exempt the new…

RT (2020-06-02). Police detain store owners live on air after they use shotguns to PROTECT property from suspected looters (VIDEO). rt.com Police have detained store owners who used firearms to defend their premises from alleged looters in Los Angeles. The dramatic incident was caught in a live broadcast by a local news crew. | The tense standoff at the city's Van Nuys neighborhood was filmed by a FOX 11 news crew. According to the reporter at the scene, several vehicles drove up to a gold store, and a group of apparent looters attempted to enter the premises. They were confronted by the store's owners, two of whom were wielding shotguns. Another person at the scene had a large machete-type knife on his belt. | Arrest goes wrong | Police handcuff…

_____ (2020-06-02). UK Government Urged To Suspend Export Of Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets And Riot Shields To US. popularresistance.org The government is being urged to suspend the sales of British tear gas, rubber bullets and riot shields to the United States amid fears they are being used against civil rights protesters. | The US has been rocked by angry demonstrations for nearly a week following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died pleading for air while a Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck for eight minutes. | The police response, apparently endorsed by president Donald Trump, has seen security forces ramming crowds with cars, deploying gas and baton rounds against peaceful demonstrators, and arresting and shoo…

Stephen Sefton (2020-06-02). Nicaragua — False Witness, False Memory. COVID-19 and Nicaragua's Community Approach to Health Care. globalresearch.ca On Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The standard Western canonical sources of record, namely international institutions, non-governmental organizations and media outlets, practically universally contend that all three countries are authoritarian or even tyrannical regimes, denying their peoples' basic democratic rights. The …

Ricardo Vaz (2020-06-02). US Sanctions Shipping Companies, Torpedoes Venezuela Oil-for-Food Deal. venezuelanalysis.com Washington is cracking down on swap deals that provide Venezuela with food, fuel and other vital imports in exchange for crude oil.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-02). Israeli forces arrest several Palestinians in occupied territories. peoplesdispatch.org Israeli forces arrested 23 Palestinians from different parts of the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on June 1, Monday. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), among those arrested are two former prisoners and two minors. | At least six Palestinians were arrested from Hebron and five from a Jordan Valley village. The reasons for the arrest were not made clear by the Israeli forces. An 18-year-old school boy and a 16-year-old minor have been arrested from Beit Umar town near Hebron city. | Though Israeli forces regularly detain Palestinians, the number of such arrests has increased in the last c…

The Commonwealth Club (2020-06-02). Tuesday 6/9: My Vanishing Country: Bakari Sellers talks about memior on being son of civil rights hero. indybay.org Online via Livestream…

en.mehrnews (2020-06-02). US should be tried in intl. courts for human rights violation: Judiciary Chief. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 02 (MNA) — Iran's Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi slammed the US police violence against American citizens, noting that the regime in Washington should be sued internationally.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-02). US sanctions should not disrupt developing economic ties between Iran-Serbia. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 02 (MNA) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the US sanctions should not create any obstacle in development of economic relations between Islamic Republic of Iran and Serbia.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-02). US has taken hostage health of 83 million Iranians: Rouhani. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 02 (MNA) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned the unjust sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran which is affecting the civilians.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-02). US' cruel sanctions behind tough economic conditions: Hemmati. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 02 (MNA) — Governor of Central Bank of Iran [CBI] Abdolnasser Hemmati called on the government to cooperate with the bank in order to contain the rising inflation in the country.

Staff (2020-06-01). "America's Moment of Reckoning": Cornel West Says Nationwide Uprising Is Sign of "Empire Imploding" democracynow.org As thousands from coast to coast took to the streets this weekend to protest the state-sanctioned killing of Black people, and the nation faces its largest public health crisis in generations and the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression, professor Cornel West calls the U.S. a "predatory capitalist civilization obsessed with money, money, money." He also makes the connections between U.S. violence abroad and at home. "There is a connection between the seeds that you sow of violence externally and internally."

_____ (2020-06-01). First US Citizen Convicted For Protests At Nuclear Weapons Base In Germany. popularresistance.org A US Air Force veteran of the US war in Vietnam and two other nuclear weapons protesters were found guilty of trespassing and damage to property in Cochem District Court May 11, 2020, as a result of July 2018 protest action at Germany's Bàºchel Air Force Base, where the United States positions 20 of its nuclear bombs and where German pilots train to use them in possible attacks against Russia. There have been repeated arrests and detentions of US citizens during protests at the Bàºchel base since 2017, but no charges have been brought to trial until now. The judge sentenced all three to fines equivalent…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-01). Activists demand end to illegal confinement of Sahrawi human rights defender. peoplesdispatch.org Moroccan authorities have kept prominent Sahrawi activist Mahfouda Lekfir illegally confined in her father's house after she was released on May 15 following six months of political detention…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-01). Amid lockdown, dissenting voices choked in Indian universities. peoplesdispatch.org Two student-activists of the Aligarh Muslim University were apprehended by the police in the State of Uttar Pradesh on May 28. With a growing number of such arrests, human rights defenders in India are raising concern about the ongoing COVID-19 crisis being used to target critics of the government and control dissent…

Raul Diego (2020-06-01). Lawyers of George Floyd Family to Open UN Human Rights Case, Seek Sanctions Against US. mintpressnews.com If there ever was a clear cut case for human rights abuse, it is the ongoing and pervasive disregard for communities of color by the police and concomitant prison-judicial complex in America.

teleSUR (2020-06-01). IACHR Warns Ecuador on COVID-19 in Amazon's Indigenous Nations. telesurenglish.net The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed concerns Saturday about the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths among Amazon's Indigenous people in Ecuador. | RELATED: | "The IACHR alerts the (Ecuadorean) state to the special vulnerability of Indigenous peoples and recalls the need to take extreme measures to guarantee their right to health through intercultural, gender and intergenerational solid…

teleSUR (2020-06-01). Venezuela: FM Denounces US Pressure Against Mexican Aid Company. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, Sunday denounced the U.S. government's influence over the Mexican company Libre Abordo and Schlager Business Group's bankruptcy. | RELATED: | "Given the illegal and criminal pressures by the U.S. government, the Mexican firm that swapped Venezuelan oil for food and humanitarian supplies declared bankruptcy. This is how Washington violates human rights in Venezuela and free trade's rights," Arreaza tw…

Pepe Escobar (2020-06-01). Beijing Sees Trump's Hand and Won't Fold. globalresearch.ca Stranger things have happened. | Everyone was expecting US President Donald Trump to go nuclear by de facto sanctioning China to death over Hong Kong. In an environment where Twitter and the President of the United States are now engaged in …

Jake Johnston (2020-06-01). An Impending Crisis: COVID-19 in Haiti, Ongoing Instability, and the Dangers of Continued U.S. Deportations. counterpunch.org Prepared remarks by Jake Johnston to Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson's forum on COVID-19 and ICE's deportation of detainees to Haiti First, I want to thank Congresswoman Wilson for convening this forum and for her leadership on this issue. The introduction of legislation mandating a halt to these deportations is a concrete and necessary step. I'd

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-06-01). Federal Judge Upholds Expanded Absentee Ballot Law in Virginia, Blocking Right-Wing Group's Attempt at Voter Suppression. commondreams.org Civil rights advocates applauded a victory for voting rights Monday after a federal judge denied a right-wing, pro-voter suppression group's request to restrict the use of absentee ballots in Virginia. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-05-31). Palestinian Prisoner in Israeli Jail on 21st Day of Hunger Strike. imemc.org Palestinian prisoner, Sami Janazreh, 47, has embarked on the third hunger strike over the past four years of incarceration. According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Society, prisoner Janazreh from the al-Fawwar refugee camp, has been on hunger strike for 21 days consecutively, in protest of his Administrative Detention inside Israeli prison. …

PCHR (2020-05-31). PCHR: "In Under 15 Hours: IOF Kills Two Palestinians, Including a Person with Disability, in Ramallah and East Jerusalem" imemc.org The Palestinian Center For Human Rights (CPHR): Within less than 15 hours, Israeli occupying forces killed two Palestinian civilians, including a person with disability, and injured another person with disability in new crimes of excessive use of lethal force in two separate incidents in Ramallah and East Jerusalem. According to …