(2021-01-26). Fred Hampton: The Fight for Truth. truthout.org 
The event will take place at 7 pm ET, January 26, 2021. | Long-time civil rights attorneys Flint Taylor and Jeffrey Haas will join Defending Rights & Dissent (DRAD) and Truthout as DRAD Policy Director and Still Spying Podcast host Chip Gibbons discusses the latest revelations about the FBI's role in Fred Hampton's death and why it matters. | Fifty-one years ago, the Chicago Police raided the office of the Illinois Black Panther Party, killing Fred Hampton and Mark Clark. The police initially claimed they acted in self-defense, but this w…
(2021-01-26). EU delays Turkey sanctions over positive talks with Greece. middleeasteye.net 
EU delays Turkey sanctions over positive talks with Greece | EU momentum with Ankara over eastern Mediterranean dispute could encourage an update to the customs union, officials say | Tue, 01/26/2021 – 11: 40 | Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, pictured in Brussels on 21 January 2021 (AFP)…
(2021-01-26). Law Pod UK New Episode: "Historical" Crimes: Ireland's unmarried mothers and their children. ukhumanrightsblog.com 
In episode 135 of Law Pod UK, Emma-Louise Fenelon speaks to Máiréad Enright about Ireland's recent Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation Report which prompted an official State apology from the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin. Máiréad Enright is a Leverhulme Research Fellow and Reader in Feminist Legal Studies at Birmingham Law School. Her current work is …
(2021-01-26). UN rights experts urge Israel to respect international obligations. news.un.org UN independent rights experts on Tuesday, described Israel's conviction of human rights defender Issa Amro earlier this month, as showing disdain for the country's international obligations.
(2021-01-26). People's Park Fenced Off by University of California Berkeley. indybay.org For 50 years, UC administrators have schemed to take People's Park back from those who turned a dirt lot into a lush, community-focused public sanctuary. Now, UCB is on the verge of permanently destroying the park. Fencing has gone up while soil is tested in anticipation of construction of a 16-story housing complex in 2022. Surveillance units have been installed to deter resistance. Unless large numbers of people unite to fight back, and soon, People's Park will become lost forever.
(2021-01-26). Paying Symbolic Tribute to César Chávez Isn't Enough. progressive.org If Biden really wants to honor the civil rights activist, he'd ensure farmworkers have the same protections as other workers.
(2021-01-26). Biden's First 48 Hours Affirm U.S. 'Greatest Purveyor of Violence'. globalresearch.ca Every year, we fight a battle on the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. | On one side is the U.S. state. Forced to offer a concession to the middle-class elements of the Black civil-rights movement in the …
(2021-01-26). Right Wing Laws to "protect religious freedom" Enable Fundamentalists to Discriminate. juancole.com Charleston, W.Va. (Informed Comment) — Across America, right-wing politicians pass "religious freedom" laws that have a single purpose: to let narrow-minded believers discriminate against gays — an intolerance that is illegal for other people under human rights laws. In other words, only born-again Christians are allowed to express prejudice and hostility, while other Americans live …
(2021-01-25). Human rights groups urge new US administration to reverse Houthi 'terrorist' tag. peoplesdispatch.org The groups warn that the decision could have serious negative consequences, such as affecting the import and supply of humanitarian goods, medicines, fuel, and other essential items to Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen…
(2021-01-25). Amnesty International condemns 'deplorable' conditions in Egypt's prisons. middleeasteye.net 
Amnesty International condemns 'deplorable' conditions in Egypt's prisons | On anniversary of Arab Spring uprising, rights group says detainees held for years in overcrowded prisons suffered torture and sexual abuse | Mon, 01/25/2021 – 20: 45 | "> | Amnesty International denounced inhumane conditions in Egypt's prisons on Monday, 10 years after the start of the Arab Spring in the c…
(2021-01-25). Covid-19: Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Israelis protest over lockdown rules. middleeasteye.net 
Covid-19: Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Israelis protest over lockdown rules | Anger has mounted as the government has moved to close illegal religious schools and seminaries | Mon, 01/25/2021 – 10: 16 | Policemen detain an ultra-Orthodox Jew during a protest over coronavirus restrictions in Ashdod, Israel on 24 January 2021 (Reuters) | Hundreds of members of Israel's ultra-Orthodox community…
(2021-01-25). Turkey and Greece resume talks over eastern Mediterranean after five-year hiatus. middleeasteye.net 
Turkey and Greece resume talks over eastern Mediterranean after five-year hiatus | Ankara and Athens have made little progress on the issue, despite 60 rounds of negotiations between 2002 and 2016 | Mon, 01/25/2021 – 13: 34 | The Turkish seismic survey vessel Oruc Reis. Ankara hoped to improve relations with the European Union after it had threatened to sanction Turkey (Reuters) | Turkey a…
(2021-01-25). The Weekly Round-Up: Human Rights vs Unfettered Trade: a Party divided? ukhumanrightsblog.com 
In the news: Last week's round-up detailed China's ongoing oppression of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province. This week, the government narrowly defeated a backbench rebellion in the form of an all-party amendment, strongly endorsed in the Lords, which would have given victims of genocide the ability to obtain a determination in the High Court confirming …
(2021-01-25). German District Court declares Corona Ordinance Unconstitutional. ukhumanrightsblog.com 
In a landmark judgement on January 11, a district court judge in Weimar declared the prohibition on social contact unlawful as contrary to the German Basic Law (Gràºndgesetz). Its order at the time had been unconstitutional because the Infection Protection Act was not a sufficient legal basis for such a far-reaching regulation as a contact …
(2021-01-25). Enforced wearing of masks declared unconstitutional. ukhumanrightsblog.com 
Following my post on the Weimar District Court judgment, here is news from Belgium. This summary of the ruling is from the journal LeVif. The police tribunal in Brussels issued a judgment on 12 January acquitting a man summoned for non-wearing of a mask, according to his lawyer, Hélène Alexandris. The judge concluded that the …
(2021-01-25). Activists demand justice for Giulio Regeni who was kidnapped and murdered in Egypt. peoplesdispatch.org 
Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old Ph.D. student at Cambridge University, was kidnapped on January 25, 2016 from Cairo. His body was found a few days later with torture marks. He had been working on Egyptian trade unions for his dissertation…
(2021-01-25). Sri Lanka: 'Forced' cremation of COVID victims' bodies must stop – UN rights experts. news.un.org The Sri Lankan Government should end its policy of compulsorily cremating victims of COVID-19, independent UN human rights experts said on Monday.
(2021-01-25). US Torpedoes WTO Panel on 'Made in China' Labels for Hong Kong Products. sputniknews.com Influential foreign policy think tanks in Washington are putting heavy pressure on newly-minted US President Joe Biden not to shred his predecessor's "get tough" approach on China, which has included sanctions, tariffs, and the blacklisting of Chinese companies.
(2021-01-25). Amnesty Calls on Biden to Close Guant√°namo and End Military Commissions 'Once and For All'. commondreams.org The group says the prison symbolizes U.S. "use of torture, rendition, and indefinite detention without charge or trial—in complete violation of internationally agreed-upon standards of justice and human rights." | www.flickr.com/photos/susanmelkisethian/……
(2021-01-25). Biden and Congress Must Close Guant√°namo Bay Detention Center, Not Bring New Charges in Unlawful Military Commissions. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2021-01-24). Moving the Bar: My Life as a Radical Lawyer — Michael Ratner. theanalysis.news Michael Ratner (1943—2016) was one of America's leading human rights lawyers. Michael won the seminal case in the Supreme Court guaranteeing the right of habeas corpus to Guantanamo detainees. From the torture of prisoners after 911 to the massive racial profiling by the New York Police Department, Michael's voice and vision continue to resonate. His last case, which he worked on until he died, was representing Julian Assange, the editor of WikiLeaks. In a series of interviews with attorneys who knew Michael's work, Law and Disorder hosts Heidi Boghosian and Michael Smith interviewed some of Michael Ratner'
(2021-01-24). Joe Biden, End Illegal US Sanctions Now. popularresistance.org As President, Joseph Biden must take urgent action to restore the right of all countries to have sovereign relations with the world, untrammelled by US interference through their sanctions policy. | U.S.-backed economic sanctions impact nearly one-third of humanity in some thirty countries, causing untold death and devastation by denying them access to global markets restricting the ability to generate wealth, stabilise currency, and provide basic human essentials for their people. | For the past several decades, the United States of America has used its considerable institutional power (over finance and diplomac…
(2021-01-24). Why Calling Israel An Apartheid State Is Not Enough. popularresistance.org B'Tselem, a leading human rights group in Israel, recently released a report concluding that Israel is an apartheid state, with a regime of Jewish supremacy stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. | The report found that Israel meets the definition of apartheid under international law, which defines apartheid as "inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them". | The report received widespread international media attention and was described as a "watershed"
(2021-01-24). The Illusion of Democracy: Power and Secrecy. globalresearch.ca In 2003, millions of people protested against the invasion of Iraq. If Britain and the US had genuine democracies, where the views of ordinary people matter, the invasion, slaughter and torture in Iraq would not have happened. Our governments ignored …
(2021-01-23). Turkish appeals court overturns acquittals in Gezi trial. middleeasteye.net 
Turkish appeals court overturns acquittals in Gezi trial | Court documents say some evidence not included in reasoning for surprise original verdicts over 2013 protests | Sat, 01/23/2021 – 13: 14 | Osman Kavala has remained in jail over charges related to a failed 2016 coup attempt despite the European Court of Human Rights calling for his release (AFP) | A Turkish appeals court has overtu…
(2021-01-23). Palestinian Journalist Released After Seven Months in Prison Without Charges. imemc.org 
Israeli military authorities, which govern the Palestinians in the West Bank under martial law, released Palestinian journalist Mujahed al-Saadi Friday after he was imprisoned for seven months without charges. Al-Saadi was held in so-called 'administrative detention', a euphemism used by Israeli authorities used when they hold Palestinians for extended periods with no charges against them. He …
(2021-01-23). So President Biden — I Call on You to End this Murderous Madness in Syria. globalresearch.ca If President Joe Biden intends to restore America's credibility in the world, he needs to take these steps regarding Syria. Much of this applies to other countries as well: | 1) End all sanctions and blockades. US sanctions are not …
(2021-01-23). Wednesday 1/27: The Equal Rights Amendment & the Disability Community Town Hall. indybay.org Online panel discussion…