(2021-01-08). Hunger strikes at three New Jersey prisons. workers.org 
The filthy conditions, indefinite incarceration and escalating COVID infections have touched off desperate hunger strikes at three New Jersey county jails. Each jail operates as a prison-for-profit, renting space at $120 a day for ICE to jail out-of-state migrant detainees. The N.J. counties use the contracts to generate tens of . . . |
(2021-01-07). Libya urged to investigate fate of hundreds missing in Tarhuna. middleeasteye.net 
Libya urged to investigate fate of hundreds missing in Tarhuna | Dozens of mass graves were found in Tarhuna last summer after withdrawal of forces aligned with eastern commander Khalifa Haftar | Thu, 01/07/2021 – 19: 12 | Since June, Libyan teams have been searching for graves and exhuming bodies in Tarhuna, southeast of Tripoli (AFP) | Human Rights Watch urged Libya's internationally recognised government to…
(2021-01-07). Saudi Arabia: UN rights expert welcomes 'positive first step' toward détente in Gulf. news.un.org Saudi Arabia's action in lifting sanctions against Qatar is a "positive first step" towards normalized relations in the Gulf region, a UN independent human rights expert said on Thursday, urging the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt to follow suit.
(2021-01-07). Hong Kong: UN human rights office urges immediate release of arrested activists. news.un.org The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Thursday voiced deep concerns over the arrests of over 50 individuals under the new National Security Law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, and called for their immediate release.
(2021-01-07). Callamard calls for 'clear, explicit and unambiguous standards' to protect civilian planes during conflicts. news.un.org Urgent measures are needed to protect civilian aircraft flying over conflict zones or other areas where military tensions are high, a UN independent human rights expert said on Thursday.
(2021-01-07). Brutal Human Rights Abuses — Torture, Sanctions and Our Failure to Discuss Economic Rights. zcomm.org People in advanced nations assume that their governments do not torture prisoners, but it is practized by the US, and was used by Britain in its colonies and in Northern Ireland…
(2021-01-07). Police Arrest Several People Near Court After Assange's Bail Denied. popularresistance.org London – The police arrested several supporters of Assange who did not have press IDs and refused to disperse as the city is currently under a lockdown and public gatherings prohibited. Among the detained are several women and an elderly man. | Journalists with proper identifications were allowed to continue their work. Earlier in the day, Westminster Magistrates Court refused to release Assange on bail, leaving him incarcerated while a US appeal against the decision not to extradite him to the United States is considered. | Assange was arrested in London in April 2019 and sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for jump…
(2021-01-07). PDF of January 7 issue. workers.org 
Download the 12-page PDF. Alabama prisons: ON STRIKE! 'Relief' bill offers little; Outrage at year's end; Workers as 'contractors'; Massive hack; Historic postal strike; Editorial: COVID unpreparedness. GLOBAL: Cuban and Haitian revolutions; Brexit crisis; Long live DPRK; Argentina: abortion rights victory. TEAR DOWN THE WALLS: Exonerate Mumia! Letter from Pennsylvania . . . |
(2021-01-07). The DWP is continuing with sanctions despite a national lockdown. thecanary.co The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has just DWP Jobcentres: remaining open: | On Wednesda…
(2021-01-07). Police Reform Advocates Press Minnesota Legislature For More. popularresistance.org Civil rights organizers were back at Minnesota's Capitol as a new legislative session got underway Tuesday, ready to mount another push for changes to police accountability laws less than a week after another fatal police shooting in Minneapolis. | "We know that George Floyd is not an anomaly," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "George Floyd represents the history of state violence against people of color in this country and particularly against Black people." | Floyd's death last May in the custody of Minneapolis police officers made M…
(2021-01-07). Pamela Winn Fights the Shackling of Pregnant People. aclu.org Pamela Winn was sent to federal prison when she was six weeks pregnant. In prison, she fell down attempting to step into a van while shackled. She was not given prenatal care and she miscarried a little over three months later, shackled to a prison bed., , Winn, who was released from prison in 2013, is now an activist for the rights of incarcerated women. She helped enact a law to prevent the shackling of pregnant people in Georgia and is leading a mission to end prison birth altogether , But her story is not unique. There are currently thousands of pregnant people in prison. Many are not given proper medical…
(2021-01-07). Hirak activists on hunger strike against pre-trial detention hospitalized in Algeria. peoplesdispatch.org The three Hirak activists – Mohamed Tadjadit (25), Noureddine Khimoud (25) and Abdelhak Ben Rahmani (38) – began a hunger strike on December 27 last year after they were denied bail and their pre-trial detention was extended by the authorities…
(2021-01-06). UN human rights expert 'cautiously' welcomes UK court's refusal to extradite Julian Assange. news.un.org An independent UN human rights expert has welcomed a British court's refusal to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the United States on the basis that he would be exposed to oppressive conditions of imprisonment.
(2021-01-06). Human Rights Watch Urges Biden to End Trump's 'Devastating' Remain In Mexico Policy. commondreams.org The global organization Human Rights Watch urged President-elect Joe Biden to "quickly and decisively" end a two-year-old policy under which tens of thousands of asylum seekers have been forced to stay in squalid and often dangerous makeshift shelters in Mexico. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2021-01-06). Medical doctors respond to Assange extradition ruling: "He must be released without delay" wsws.org "We demand that all legal proceedings be dropped and that he be released from prison, and only then will his psychological torture finally end."
(2021-01-06). Trade union coalition in Sudan launches campaign to dissolve government-backed militia. peoplesdispatch.org The Sudanese Professionals Association launched the campaign following the torture and killing of a young activist, Bahaeldin Nouri, who was abducted by the intelligence wing of the government-backed Rapid Support Forces on December 21…
(2021-01-06). Journalists, Activists Condemn UK Decision to Keep Assange Locked Up without Charge. mintpressnews.com 
"To us, that is nothing more than a pretext to keep him detained. This seems unnecessarily punitive and adding insult to injury after the 10 years of hell that he has endured" — Rebecca Vincent, Reporters Without Borders…
(2021-01-06). Iran Uses Its Grip on Strait of Hormuz to Fight Back US-Imposed Sanctions. globalresearch.ca Iran has found an original way of dealing with sanctions and limitations imposed on it by the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign launched by the Trump administration. | On January 4, the Navy of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps detained a …
(2021-01-06). The COVID-19 RT-PCR Test: How to Mislead All Humanity. Using a "Test" To Lock Down Society. globalresearch.ca The misuse of the RT-PCR technique is used as an intentional strategy by some governments, supported by scientific safety councils and by the dominant media, to justify the violation of a large number of constitutional rights, the destruction of the economy with the bankruptcy of entire active sectors of society,…
(2021-01-06). The Onus Is Now on the SC to Protect Constitutional Rights to Privacy and Free Choice. zcomm.org While the apex court on January 6 will take up pleas for anti-conversion laws, two views of citizen's rights will be in direct contention — one propagated by the right-wing and the other enshrined in the constitution…
(2021-01-05). The Irrelevance of Human Rights in US and British Foreign Policy. zcomm.org Historical human rights abuses are not explained well in most school textbooks or by the mainstream media…
(2021-01-05). "Medical Apartheid": Israeli Vaccine Drive Excludes Millions of Palestinians in Occupied Territories. democracynow.org 
Israel has administered COVID-19 vaccines faster than any country in the world, with more than 14% of Israelis receiving vaccines so far. Despite the fast rollout, human rights groups are expressing alarm over Israel's decision not to vaccinate Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, where about 1,500 people have died during the pandemic. Israel has defended its actions citing the Oslo Peace Accords, which put Palestinian authorities in charge of healthcare in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian officials are facing a number of hurdles in launching their own vaccine campaign, including a shortage of mone…
(2021-01-05). Brutal Human Rights Abuses: Torture, Sanctions and Failure to Address "Economic Rights" globalresearch.ca "Wrong things are done in the name of Islam, worse things are being done in the name of democracy and human rights" (Dr. Mohamed Mahathir, former Malaysian Prime Minister(1)) | Torture — Legal Black Holes | Some philosophers have suggested that …
(2021-01-05). Argentina: Felisa Sotelo, A 'Mother of Plaza de Mayo', Died. telesurenglish.net Argentina's Mothers of Plaza de Mayo movement informed on the death of one of its founders Felisa Sotelo, 82, in City Bell town, in Buenos Aires province. | RELATED: | "We bid her farewell with pain and deep respect. Her perseverance will always remain in our hearts," Health, Ethics, and Human Rights Defense Committee (CODESEDH) stated. | Sotelo, better known as 'Lila,' suffered the kidnappings and disappearances of her husband and…
(2021-01-05). Julian Assange verdict: Good day for human rights, bad day for journalism. peoplesdispatch.org Renata Avila talks about the verdict in the Julian Assange extradition trial. She says that while it was historic in being the first positive verdict from UK courts in 10 years, the implications for journalism are dangerous due to the statements the judge made…
(2021-01-05). "This Is Voter Suppression": 198,000 Georgia Residents Were Illegally Purged from Voter Rolls. democracynow.org 
As voters in Georgia cast their ballots in two key runoff races that will determine control of the U.S. Senate, voting rights activists fear many eligible voters will be turned away at the polls. Georgia has been called "ground zero" for Republican voter suppression efforts in the U.S., and in September the ACLU of Georgia revealed 198,000 voters had been wrongly purged from the voting rolls. We air a report into voting in Georgia by investigative journalist Greg Palast, narrated by the actress Debra Messing, and speak with voting rights activist LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund. "I think…
(2021-01-05). Draconian NY Police State Assembly Bill: Indefinite Detainment of "Disease Carriers" globalresearch.ca Draconian NY State Assembly Bill A416 calls for indefinitely detainment of residents considered to be "disease carriers (sic)." | It's aimed at seasonal flu/influenza, diabolically disguised as covid. | It's all-about wanting to eliminate fundamental freedoms on the phony pretext of …
(2021-01-05). New Year's resolutions: Here's why I'll be joining a Trade Union in 2021. thecanary.co I think it's fair to say that the UK is glad to see the back of 2020. While exercising more, eating healthier, or quitting smoking might seem like more typical resolutions to put on the list for lockdown in 2021, this year I plan to join a Trade Union. | Exit stage right: | In the unlikely event that, like me, you have spent the past week pouring over the 1,200-page trade deal that the UK has agreed with the EU, then you may share my concern that it contains scant protection for workers' rights. | If there's one thing that's clear from the mammoth document, its that the trade and cooperation agreement wil…
(2021-01-05). Minnesota Is Changing The Way It Teaches Social Studies. popularresistance.org Minnesota's K-12 social studies standards are undergoing extensive revisions in search of a more inclusive approach that teaches about people previously left out of the discussion. | A diverse committee's first draft, now open for public comment, gives greater consideration to the Dakota and Anishinaabe tribes and covers for the first time the civil rights struggles of LGBTQ people. | The draft standards, according to Doug Paulson, the state education department's academic standards director, are "more inclusive" and "culturally affirming." | Still, some committee members think the first draft doesn't go far enou…
(2021-01-05). "We have fewer rights than animals": The unbearable life in the Greek refugee camp Kara Tepe. wsws.org Anyone wanting to gauge the criminal character of European governments and the European Union (EU) must look to Kara Tepe, the temporary camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.