(2020-12-09). Assassination of social activists continues in Colombia. peoplesdispatch.org 
The assassination of social activists in Colombia continues at a horrifying rate. Community leaders, environmentalists, land defenders, human rights activists and former combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerilla group are relentlessly being targeted by illegal armed groups operating in the country. | Between November 30 and December 7, six Indigenous leaders, two Afro-descendant leaders, two environmentalists and one social leader were murdered. Additionally, in a massacre in Santander de Quilichao, on December 5, another Indigenous leader and one ex-combatant of the FARC were kille…
(2020-12-09). Venezuelan court convicts the CITGO Six. workers.org 
Venezuela's Supreme Court sentenced six top CITGO oil executives to prison for corruption, embezzlement, money laundering and conspiracy on Nov. 26. The former executives went behind the back of the Venezuelan state and signed an agreement with two U.S. based-international financial companies — for which they were detained in Nov. . . . |
(2020-12-09). Beef, Banks and the Brazilian Amazon. globalresearch.ca Preserving tropical rainforests is critical to help stop climate breakdown and to safeguard the rights of the local communities and indigenous peoples who depend on and defend them. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought into sharp relief the importance of …
(2020-12-09). Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin: A Certain Kind of Diversity. scheerpost.com by Maj. Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.) / Original to ScheerPost America's first black presumptive secretary of defense grew up in the same town — Thomasville, GA — as the first black West Point graduate, Henry O. Flipper. I actually took select cadets from my civil rights history class to visit the southwest Georgia city on an academic trip in the summer of 2016. In fact, I vaguely remember the owner… |
(2020-12-09). Report: WWF Knew About Rights Abuses by Park Rangers, but Didn't Respond Effectively. asia-pacificresearch.com …
(2020-12-09). Iran imposes sanctions on US envoy to Yemen. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 09 (MNA) — Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Wed., emphasizing pivotal role of US Ambassador to Yemen Christopher Hansel in humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and placed his name on Iran's sanctions list.
(2020-12-09). UN's Bachelet slams 'reprehensible' political leadership during pandemic, sees hope in new US administration. news.un.org Some political leadership during the pandemic has been "reprehensible", UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday, while holding out hope of a better 2021 as US President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
(2020-12-09). Trump Set to Execute Brandon Bernard Even as Jurors & Ex-Prosecutor Call for Clemency. democracynow.org 
President Trump has sent eight people to their deaths so far this year, breaking a 17-year hiatus in federal executions, and plans to execute five more in the final weeks of his administration. On December 10, International Human Rights Day, the federal government is scheduled to kill Brandon Bernard, a Black man who was 18 years old when he was convicted as an accomplice to the murder of a young white couple in Texas. Bernard did not kill either person and says he was a "getaway driver" during a robbery gone wrong. Citing moral reasons and new evidence, five of the nine surviving jurors have changed their minds,…
(2020-12-09). ICC drops probe into alleged UK war crimes in Iraq. middleeasteye.net 
ICC drops probe into alleged UK war crimes in Iraq | ICC prosecutor stresses, however, that there is 'reasonable basis' UK forces committed abuses, including willful killing and rape, in Iraq | Wed, 12/09/2020 – 19: 36 | Human Rights Watch voiced disappointment about the decision (AFP/File photo) | Despite finding "reasonable basis" for allegations of war crimes against British soldiers in Iraq, an Internation…
(2020-12-09). Egypt: World Bank warned funding for Covid-19 is neglecting jailed doctors. middleeasteye.net 
Egypt: World Bank warned funding for Covid-19 is neglecting jailed doctors | Human Rights Watch calls on the World Bank to condemn Egypt's arrest of medical workers who criticised Cairo's Covid-19 response | Wed, 12/09/2020 – 10: 58 | Data collected by the Doctors' Syndicate shows Egypt to have one of the highest numbers of Covid-19 deaths among health workers in the world (AFP) | The World Bank was urge…
(2020-12-09). France's cabinet greenlights 'anti-separatism' bill amid human rights concerns. middleeasteye.net 
France's cabinet greenlights 'anti-separatism' bill amid human rights concerns | The draft law, renamed the bill 'to strengthen republican values' and seeking to crack down on 'radical Islamism', will head to parliament in 2021 | Wed, 12/09/2020 – 14: 14 | French Prime Minister Jean Castex at a news conference after cabinet meeting discussions over a bill to fight what Macron has called 'I…
(2020-12-09). Want Vaccines Fast? Suspend Intellectual Property Rights. counterpunch.org As some reports would have it, this is the beginning of the end. Three coronavirus vaccines have posted excellent results, with more expected to come. But this is not the beginning of the end; it is only the beginning of an endless wait: There aren't enough vaccines to go around in the richest countries on
(2020-12-09). Demanding Safeway Put an End to Restrictive Covenants this Human Rights Day. indybay.org North Bay Labor Council Joins Food Empowerment Project on Human Rights Day in Demanding Safeway Put an End to Their Restrictive Covenants!
(2020-12-09). Russia Sends Data From Its Second COVID-19 Vaccine To WHO. telesurenglish.net Russia's Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection Director Anna Popova announced her country sent the EpiVacCorona vaccine's clinical data to the World Health Organization (WHO). | RELATED: | "On Dec. 8, the documentation of another Russian vaccine was sent to the WHO. It is EpiVacCorona. We are awaiting the decision of the WHO" on its registration, Popova said, as reported by the Interfax agency. | Developed at th…
(2020-12-09). Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Hold Hearing on Haiti. cepr.net The follow is a guest post from the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. On Thursday, December 10, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will hold a hearing on pervasive impunity and a lack of judicial independence in Haiti. The event will be broadcast live here. The Commission, a quasi‚Äêjudicial body of the …
(2020-12-09). Wednesday 12/9: Stand Together SF: Systemic Racism and How it has Affected the Asian and Black Communities. indybay.org Online via Zoom…
(2020-12-09). Thursday 12/10: Human Right's Day Virtual Gathering w/ National Union of the Homeless & NWRU. indybay.org Online via livestream: YouTube & FB…
(2020-12-08). Disability rights — and justice. workers.org 
The following remarks were delivered during a webinar hosted by the Peoples Power Assemblies—NYC on Dec. 3 in observence of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities. Welcome to our webinar on disability rights — or the lack of them. December 3 is the day the U.N. declared International Day . . . |
(2020-12-08). Action for Change Starts in Congress. counterpunch.org 
We know their names! We've given immense power to Five Hundred and Thirty-Five People to do good or bad. One Hundred Senators and Four Hundred and Thirty-Five Representatives. Unfortunately, some 1500 corporations control most Members of Congress. Think about all the dreams for a better world that could come to be realized if our elected officials
(2020-12-08). Colin Kaepernick has a right to a job. liberationnews.org 
Refusing to give him a job is an attack on Black liberation and labor rights.
(2020-12-08). Stuck in a Lift with John Pilger: News and How to Use It by Alan Rusbridger. dissidentvoice.org 
Noticing the way journalists seemed unable to resist commenting on our work, even if it was just to slag us off, Glenn Greenwald tweeted us in 2012: 'You are really deeper in the heads of the British establishment-serving commentariat than anyone else — congrats.' ((Greenwald, Twitter, 12 September 2012.)) If that was true then, our relationship …
(2020-12-08). 'Not a Criminal': Top UN Anti-Torture Official Urges Julian Assange's Release. commondreams.org The WikiLeaks founder's "prolonged solitary confinement in a high security prison is neither necessary nor proportionate," said United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-12-08). In America Democracy Destroyed Democracy. thealtworld.com In the United States democracy was destroyed by democracy. Read on and you will learn what I mean. | When I refer to the US as a democracy usually a couple of readers will inform me that the US is a republic, not a democracy. They are behind the times. The US was born as a republic, but the Lincoln Republicans valued empire more than the republic and destroyed the republic by overthrowing the secession of the Southern states with military force. | Once states rights were overthrown, the other parts of the structure built by the Founding Fathers of the Republic were discarded. Women and people who were not propert…
(2020-12-08). US imperialist alliance cause of trade war with China. greenleft.org.au China's restrictions on a range of Australian goods has come about because of Australia's double standard on human rights and its alliance with the United States, argues Chris Slee.
(2020-12-08). US Sanctions Have Caused Iranians Untold Misery — And Achieved Nothing. globalresearch.ca "My young cousin passed away last week," an Iranian Twitter user recently lamented. "She needed medication for her cancer that doctors said can't be found." | The tweet tragically went on: "Maybe she'd be alongside her little daughter now if she …
(2020-12-08). Venezuela: Free and fair election day confirmed by international observers. fightbacknews.org Caracas, Venezuela – A middle-aged man in Guairda waits in line to vote for the National Assembly and says, "Here voting is easy and safe. It takes 30 seconds to one minute. With all the participation from the people in the Guairda area, we will show the world that we want to live in peace, without guarimbas [street blockades], without violence, without economic sanctions, and we will show to other people that we are demanding sovereignty. This is why the majority of Venezuelans are carrying out our duty and our right to vote." | The election of the National Assembly in Venezuela was Sunday, December 6. Election…
(2020-12-08). US House Passes Defence Bill With Sanctions on Nord Stream 2, Turkey's S-400 Purchase. sputniknews.com The Defen—Åe Bill, totaling more than $740 billion, includes $635.5 billion for the Pentagon's basic needs, $26.6 billion for the implementation of national security programs through the Department of Energy, and $69 billion for operations abroad.
(2020-12-07). Arabic press review: Family of Egypt's Mubarak to sue EU over 'illegal sanctions'. middleeasteye.net 
Arabic press review: Family of Egypt's Mubarak to sue EU over 'illegal sanctions' | Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia prepares for reconciliation with Qatar, Bashir's health deteriorates in jail, and video of Egyptian man throwing cash from balcony goes viral | Mon, 12/07/2020 – 16: 38 | Gamal Mubarak (seen to right of his late father Hosni) said he will sue the Council of the European Union after winning…
(2020-12-07). US Congress and corporate media deploy massive lie, claiming Venezuela's gov't threatened to starve non-voters. strategic-culture.org Max BLUMENTHAL, Anya PARAMPIL | Spun out by the US Congress and Wall Street Journal, the cynical deception is part of an assault on Venezuela's legislative election, in which even opposition politicians were sanctioned for participating. | Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US corporate media Among the most blatant distortions deployed against…
(2020-12-07). Threat of More Illegal US Sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. globalresearch.ca The US under both right wings of the one-party state is waging a long war on Russia by other means — and all other nations unwilling to bow and scape to its imperial demands. | US aggression includes endless smashing of …
(2020-12-07). Stuck In A Lift With John Pilger — 'News And How To Use It' by Alan Rusbridger. zcomm.org Pilger tells the unfiltered, uncompromised truth about the foundations of power. His focus is on speaking up for the victims of power, not on serving power…
(2020-12-07). Emergency Press Conference On Human Rights Day to Address the Worsening COVID-19 Crisis and to Demand Medicare for All. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-12-07). Citing 'Historic Abuse' of Judicial Process, Over 1,500 Attorneys Call for Sanction of Trump Campaign's Legal Team. commondreams.org "Every attorney, including the organized bar and disciplinary authorities, should disavow lawyers who trample the truth and undermine democracy through their false statements." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-12-07). Bob Dylan sells entire catalog of songs to Universal Music Publishing. salon.com The 600+ copyrights span 60 years, ranging from 1962's "Blowin' in the Wind" to this year's "Murder Most Foul"
(2020-12-04). US Slaps More Sanctions on Iran, Claiming Tehran Has Secret Chemical Weapons. theantimedia.com Iraq used chemical weapons against Iran in 1980s war while receiving support from the US.