(2020-06-28). The Stonewall Riots Didn't Start The Gay Rights Movement. popularresistance.org Despite what you may hear during this year's fiftieth anniversary commemorations, Stonewall was not the spark that ignited the gay rights movement. The story is well known: A routine police raid of a mafia-owned gay bar in New York City sparked three nights of riots and, with them, the global gay rights movement. In fact it is conventional to date LGBTQ history into "before Stonewall" and "after Stonewall" periods—not just in the United States, but in Europe as well. British activists can join Stonewall UK, for example, while pride parades in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland are called "Christopher Street…
(2020-06-28). The Struggle To Protect The Sacred Place Where Life Begins. popularresistance.org As the Trump administration neared the end of its first year in office in 2017, it seemed environmental activists had lost one of the most hard-fought battles in the movement's history. Thanks to a last-minute maneuver by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Congressional Republicans succeeded in passing legislation allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR. Some of the worst fears of environmental and Indigenous rights groups for what might happen under the administration appeared to be coming true. | However, two and a half years later, no drilling or seismic testing has taken place in the re…
(2020-06-28). UN highlights urgent need to tackle impact of likely electric car battery production boom. news.un.org Demand for raw materials used in the production of electric car batteries is set to soar, prompting the UN trade body, UNCTAD, to call for the social and environmental impacts of the extraction of raw materials, which include human rights abuses, to be urgently addressed.
(2020-06-28). Rogue States Sanction the International Criminal Court. zcomm.org It should be appreciated that while geopolitical actors can get away with murder, their rogue behavior is a precedent for all states, and weakens what procedures exist to uphold the most basic norms of international law…
(2020-06-28). Sunday 6/28: 'The Condor & The Eagle' New Film & Discussion on Climate & Indigenous Rights (online). indybay.org Online/virtual…
(2020-06-27). Bree Newsome Took Down the Confederate Flag 5 Years Ago. She's Still Organizing. truthout.org Five years ago today, 30-year-old activist Bree Newsome Bass shocked the world by climbing a 30-foot flag pole and taking down the Confederate battle flag at the South Carolina State Capitol Building — a flag that state leaders had first raised in 1961 to tell the budding civil rights movement to "stay out!" | Almost 55 years later, Newsome put her boots, courage and backpack on, and defied those racist warnings in the most daring and audacious way possible, head-on. After taking the f…
(2020-06-27). Israeli atrocities on the rise. peoplesdispatch.org Two recent reports released by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian Territories (OCHA oPT), on June 18 and 24, describe the blatant human rights violations and war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian population in the three occupied Palestinian territories of West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. | The two reports cover May 2020 and the first fifteen days of June 2020, respectively, and compile data on acts committed by the Israeli government, armed forces and intelligence services to subjugate and oppress Palestinia…
(2020-06-27). Rewriting History & Rehabilitating George W. Bush. strategic-culture.org 
To hear Barack Obama now making the claim that Bush was committed to the rule of law and human rights is just the latest betrayal of a Democratic Party that has systematically prevented a reckoning for the crimes of the 43rd president, a party that is clearly uninterested in truth or accountability, and is more than willing to rewrite history to advance its political goals.
(2020-06-27). UN should support Palestine human rights: Rep. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) —Riadh Al-Mansoor, representative of Palestinian National Authority to UN, called on the United Nations and the international societies to support the interests and self-determination rights of all nations such as Palestine.
(2020-06-27). Bahrain: A Police State Built on Intimidation and Torture. thealtworld.com Exclusive— Welcome to Bahrain, the cemetery of the living, the home of chambers of death, the kingdom of widespread impunity, police brutality, extrajudicial killings and repression. | Welcome to Bahrain, where the most gruesome arts of torture are heinously and systematically practised by the security services, including the use of electro-shock devices, forced standing techniques, suspension in painful positions (while handcuffed and exposed to extreme cold or hot temperature), medical negligence, beatings, threats of rape or murder and sexual abuse, etc. in order to inflict permanent suffering on the peac…
(2020-06-27). Israeli Forces Detain Two Palestinians at Qalandia Terminal. imemc.org A Palestinian man was detained by Israeli security guards, on Saturday, north of Jerusalem, at the Qalandia terminal, the Jerusalem Post reported. Israel Police claimed that the "knife-wielding" Palestinian man elicited the suspicion of the security forces. During the arrest, the Jerusalem Post further noted that two security guards were …
(2020-06-27). Bipartisan Crimes Against Humanity In The United States. popularresistance.org Hundreds of people are unnecessarily dying every day with African Americans representing a disproportionate number of those deaths. Eighty million people are now without health coverage, millions are unemployed, over the next two months evictions will resume with an expected explosion of homelessness. And what is the response from the state that is tasked with the responsibility to promote and protect the fundamental human rights of its population? | While trillions of dollars were transferred to the corporate sector though the CARES Act meant to support the economy through the crisis, the state continues to igno…
(2020-06-27). Rights groups condemn harassment of journalists in Sri Lanka. peoplesdispatch.org Several international human rights groups released a statement on June 24, Wednesday, calling on the Sri Lankan government led by Gotabaya Rajapaksa to stop the harassment and targeting of journalists in the country. The joint statement by Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders, Reporters Without Border, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Human Rights Watch demanded that the government ensure the safety of senior journalist
(2020-06-27). Indian bank eyes non-oil imports from Iran to sustain rupee-rial trade. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) — India's UCO Bank is exploring the avenues to keep the rupee payment mechanism with Iran alive, amid the challenges made by the US' unilateral sanctions.
(2020-06-26). Colombia's Other Pandemic: Unchecked State Violence in the Time of COVID-19. counterpunch.org 
The human rights group Indepaz reports that 800 activists have been killed in the past three and a half years in Colombia, since November 24, 2016, the date the government signed "the Peace Accord" with the FARC.[1] Taking advantage of society's fear and distraction, and the demobilization caused by the novel coronavirus, state and paramilitary
(2020-06-26). Mines, mass graves: Haftar's human rights violations. yenisafak.com An Anadolu Agency team in Libya has monitored the evidence of mines, mass graves, and executions left behind by the militias of warlord Khalifa Haftar as they retreated from south of the capital Tripoli as well as the city of Tarhuna, to the southeast. Libya's internationally recognized government has been under attack by Haftar's forces since April 2019, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence.This March, the Libyan government launched Operation Peace Storm to counter attacks on the capital, and recently retook strategic locations, including Al-Watiya airbase and the city of Tarhuna, Haftar's final stronghol…
(2020-06-26). Belgian parliament urges sanctions against Israel. yenisafak.com The Belgian federal parliament adopted a resolution on Friday urging the government to prepare a list of countermeasures against Israel in case it annexes the occupied Palestinian territories.The resolution was proposed by the Green party, and passed with 101 votes in favor and 39 abstentions.The text calls the government to "play a leading role at European and multilateral level in order to set up a list of effective countermeasures to respond proportionately to any Israeli annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory."The resolution acknowledges the fact that some states might veto EU sanctions. So it sugge…
(2020-06-26). U.N. Human Rights Council condemns racist violence. workers.org 
In the wake of international uprisings due to the lynching of George Floyd, the U.N. Human Rights Council held an emergency hearing on June 19. The council unanimously passed a resolution condemning systemic racism and racist police brutality against people of African descent in all countries, but particularly in the . . . |
(2020-06-26). Infiltrating Black Lives Matter: Cops, Feds, and White Supremacists. counterpunch.org 
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a major step forward in the ongoing struggle for Civil Rights in the United States and around the world. BLM was founded in 2013, following the acquittal over what organizers describe as 17-year-old Trayvon Martin's murderer, the gated community watchman, George Zimmerman. The organization came to international attention in July
(2020-06-26). In central Mali, community fighting and impunity, 'overwhelming' efforts to protect civilians. news.un.org Feeding an entrenched cycle of violence and reprisal, 580 civilians have been killed in Mali so far this year, as worsening security conditions and widespread impunity undermine efforts to protect people caught in intercommunal fighting, the UN Human Rights chief said on Friday.
(2020-06-26). PPS Report: 95% of Palestinian Detainees in Israeli Prisons Subjected to Torture. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) said in a report, issued Thursday, on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, which falls on June 26 of each year, that the torture practiced by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian prisoners, is not limited to the violent tactics …
(2020-06-26). (Part 2) India's internal emergency: A brutal chapter in authoritarianism. peoplesdispatch.org Newsclick's Prabir Purkayastha talks about India's 19-month internal emergency which was imposed on June 25 1975. This period saw a sustained and brutal attack on democratic rights with the poor and the working class suffering the most. The government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was eventually voted out in 1977 but much of the legacy of those years continues to this day, both in positive and negative ways. | Watch part 1
(2020-06-26). Independent UN rights experts call for decisive measures to protect 'fundamental freedoms' in China. news.un.org The repression of "fundamental freedoms" by the Chinese Government prompted nearly 50 UN independent experts on Friday to express their continuing alarm, urging the country to "abide by its international legal obligations".
(2020-06-26). MSM "Fake News" Against Syria. Describe Al Qaeda as "Rebels", Elected President as "Dictator" globalresearch.ca The Editorial Board of They call the Assad government of …
(2020-06-26). Five cruise ships detained by UK revealing atrocious conditions of seafarers. wsws.org Globally there have been numerous suicides reported among crew members stranded at sea.
(2020-06-26). EU must weigh in on West Bank annexation: UN expert. yenisafak.com A UN human rights expert on Friday urged the EU to use its "economic weight, diplomatic expertise and aid, trade and investment leverage" to forestall looming Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank and Jordan Valley.Michael Lynk, the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, said in a statement that annexation would "lead to a marked worsening of the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and daily lives of millions of Palestinians."He said the planned annexation after July 1 was a continuation of Israel's "illegal extension of sovereignty over P…
(2020-06-26). India grants thousands citizenship rights in Kashmir. yenisafak.com As many as 25,000 people have been granted domicile certificates in Muslim-majority Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir since May 18, which local politicians believe is the beginning of disturbing demographic profile of the region.The certificate, a sort of citizenship right, entitles a person to residency and government jobs in the region, which till last year was reserved only for the local population.Last year on Aug. 5, when India revoked the semi-autonomous status of the region, it also scrapped the local special citizenship law, guaranteed under Article 35 (A) of the Indian Constitution.The law was barrin…
(2020-06-26). LGBTQ equality: the work is not over. splcenter.org The fight for LGBTQ human rights and equality is far from over.
(2020-06-25). Boycotting Israel Is Not A Crime, Says European Human Rights Court. therealnews.com 
The EHRC overturned the French court's convictions of 12 BDS activists for "incitement to discrimination" in a watershed ruling for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
(2020-06-25). Indian rights groups demand bail for political prisoners. peoplesdispatch.org The letter by prominent human rights organizations comes days after reports emerged of the appalling conditions in the quarantine facility in the State of Maharashtra in which activist Gautam Navlakha is currently lodged in…
(2020-06-25). Digital tools being used to track people as never before, warns UN rights chief. news.un.org The internet and new digital tools are being manipulated as never before to infringe on people's right to free assembly, the UN's top rights official said on Thursday, in a call for a moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology during peaceful demonstrations.
(2020-06-25). A month after George Floyd's death, what has changed? peoplesdispatch.org A month has passed by since the brutal killing of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The protests that erupted across the United States and continue to rage on have significantly altered the political landscape of the nation's politics. Much like the protests of 2014-15 sparked by the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, the protests happening today have brought some of the perennial questions and unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement. | From talks about police reforms to abolition of the police, from the lingering Confederate legacy to colonial-settler and slave-ow…
(2020-06-25). FROM THE FIELD: Sudanese women ready to 'break taboos' and run for office. news.un.org Since the 2019 Sudan protests, which ushered in a transitional government, and the promise of more rights, over a thousand women have felt emboldened to enter politics in a bid to enact lasting democratic change.
(2020-06-25). Massive Uprisings Confront White Supremacy. popularresistance.org On May 25, a Minneapolis police officer tortured George Floyd to death in what his brother, Philonise Floyd, called "a modern-day lynching in broad daylight." Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in all 50 states and Washington D.C.; the anti-racist uprisings continue. | Why do a majority of people in this country now support the Movement for Black Lives? Why have calls to defund and abolish the police entered the mainstream discourse? Why are people risking the deadly coronavirus to join the protests? And why are we seeing what may be the broadest popular movement in the history of the United Stat…
(2020-06-25). How a US and Qatari regime change deception produced 'Caesar' sanctions driving Syria towards famine. thegrayzone.com Like the mysterious figure it is named for, the Caesar sanctions bill is the product of an elaborate deception by…
(2020-06-25). How a US & Qatari regime change deception produced the 'Caesar' sanctions driving Syria towards famine. thegrayzone.com Like the mysterious figure it is named for, the Caesar sanctions bill is the product of an elaborate deception by…
(2020-06-25). Why You Should Give a F*ck | Ep. 3 | Labor Rights. therealnews.com 
We explore the different areas of labor rights and the role we all play in their enforcement, while digging deeper into the aspect of mental health as it relates to our rights as workers.
(2020-06-25). Role of sanctions in U.S. plan for world domination — a commentary. workers.org 
By Samuel Thomas Sanctions: This is the well-known method of spreading democracy and prosperity through death, starvation, shortages and economic collapse. Throughout U.S. history, this method of regime change, ostensibly intended to be implemented against countries at war or allied to a country at war with the U.S., they are . . . |
(2020-06-25). Iraqi forces raid HQ of Iran-backed militia as US coalition denies any involvement. rt.com 
Iraqi security forces have raided the headquarters of Kataib Hezbollah, capturing several leaders of the militia at the heart of US-Iranian conflict early this year. The US coalition rushed to distance itself from the operation. | Special forces from the Counter Terrorism Service carried out the raid in the early hours of Friday local time, at a base south of Baghdad, reportedly arresting nearly two dozen militiamen and several commanders. | Their fate remains unclear, however, as government officials insist they are in the custody of security services, while paramilitary sources claim all those detained have…
(2020-06-25). US Embassy in Moscow flies rainbow flag to honor Pride flag day. rt.com 
The US Embassy in Moscow is flying the rainbow pride flag alongside the country's famous Stars and Stripes as a show of support for the LGBT community. | The move comes as Russians begin to head to the polls to vote on proposed constitutional amendments, including the definition of marriage as a union between a man and woman. | "LGBTI rights are human rights. Human rights are universal," said the caption on the embassy's Instagram page. "Pride Month is designed to emphasize that everyone deserves to live a life free of hate, prejudice, and persecution." | In the USA, LGBT Pride Month occurs in June, on the…
(2020-06-25). Speak out against torture, an 'abhorrent denial of human dignity', urges UN chief. news.un.org Torture is an "egregious abuse of human rights", UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday, the International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture.
(2020-06-25). US sanctions against international court staff a 'direct attack' on judicial independence. news.un.org The decision by the United States to authorize sanctions targeting staff at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is "a direct attack to the institution's judicial independence", UN human rights experts said on Thursday.
(2020-06-25). PCHR: Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (18 — 24 Jun 2020). imemc.org Summary Israeli forces continued to commit crimes and multifaceted violations against Palestinian civilians and their properties, including invasions into Palestinian cities that are characterized with excessive use of force, assault, abuse and attacks on civilians. This week, the Israeli military's excessive use of force killed 1 civilian, rendered 22 injuries …
(2020-06-25). Egyptian authorities arrest journalist Nora Younis. peoplesdispatch.org Founder and editor-in-chief of al-Manassa news agency, Nora Younis, has been a critic of the Egyptian government's track record on human rights. She is the third woman journalist to be arrested by the Egyptian authorities in recent weeks…
(2020-06-25). Israeli Soldier Given Derisory Sentence for the Unlawful Killing of a Palestinian Fisherman. imemc.org Press Release By Al-Mezan Center For Human Rights: On 15 June 2020, an Israeli military court sentenced an Israeli soldier, who shot and killed 23-year-old Palestinian fisherman, Nawwaf al-Attar, off the coast of Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip, to a derisory 45-day prison sentence to be served through military-related …
(2020-06-25). The Struggle against Racism in the United States. globalresearch.ca "We beseech independent African states to help us bring our problem before the United Nations, on the grounds that the United States Government is morally incapable of protecting the lives and the property of 22 million African-Americans. And on the …
(2020-06-25). Killing Them Softly With Sanctions. commondreams.org Economic sanctions in Iraq killed an estimated 350,000 Iraqis. (Photo: Adrian Dennis/EPA) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-06-25). Israeli Court Sentences A Detainee To Four Life Terms In Prison. imemc.org An Israeli court on Wednesday sentenced a Palestinian detainee to four life terms, in addition to imposing a fine of 16 Million Shekels after convicting him of killing two Israeli soldiers and of wounding 7 settlers (causing a young woman to miscarry) in two separate incidents in the year 2018, …
(2020-06-25). EU covering up Greek human rights violations, says Turkish spox. yenisafak.com Turkey on Thursday slammed remarks by Greek and EU officials critical of Ankara's handling of the migrant issue along its borders, calling them an attempt to whitewash Athens' human rights violations.The remarks this Wednesday by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell at the Turkish-Greek border show Greece's effort to cover up its crimes against asylum seekers under the EU umbrella, said Hami Aksoy, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman."The fact that the EU Commission is a partner to this is exemplary," Aksoy said.Aksoy cited the words of Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Euro…
(2020-06-25). Friday 6/26: The Stonewall Inn: Birthplace of the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement (online). indybay.org Online on YouTube…