(2021-04-13). This isn't a Border Crisis, It's a Poverty, Violence and Climate Crisis. counterpunch.org 
Thousands of desperate migrants, mostly from Central America, are stuck at the U.S.-Mexico border. Most are families and unaccompanied children. Despite their legal rights to apply for asylum, U.S. officials are turning away huge numbers, claiming pandemic restrictions. But thousands of children remain, held in crowded border detention facilities while awaiting transfer to Department of
(2021-04-13). Derek Chauvin Trial Breaks Down "Blue Wall of Silence" as Police Officials Testify Against Ex-Cop. democracynow.org 
We get the latest on the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd, with Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong. She says prosecutors in the case have successfully chipped away at the "blue wall of silence" by getting current police officials to testify against Chauvin. However, she says it's likely that "the only reason that these officers have testified is because the world is watching."
(2021-04-13). GOP Smears DOJ Civil Rights Pick Kristen Clarke in Latest Attack on Voting Rights & Racial Justice. democracynow.org 
We look at President Biden's nomination of Kristen Clarke to become the first Black woman to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the conservative smear campaign against the veteran civil rights lawyer. The far-right Fox News host Tucker Carlson has devoted at least five segments to attacking Clarke's nomination, including baseless accusations of anti-Semitism. Ben Jealous, president of People for the American Way and former president of the NAACP, says "the right-wing attack machine" springs into action whenever Black nominees are up for confirmation. "They make sport, quite frankly, of trying…
(2021-04-13). UK bill shielding soldiers from war crimes charges challenged in House of Lords. middleeasteye.net 
UK bill shielding soldiers from war crimes charges challenged in House of Lords | Lords vote to amend Overseas Opposition Bill to ensure serious offences by military personnel, including genocide and torture, can be prosecuted | Tue, 04/13/2021 – 16: 51 | British soldiers during a training operation in Basra, southern Iraq, in November 2007 (AFP) | The British government's attempts to shield its armed force…
(2021-04-13). Palestinian boy, 14, loses eye after being hit by Israeli rubber bullet. middleeasteye.net 
Palestinian boy, 14, loses eye after being hit by Israeli rubber bullet | Rights groups have long condemned Israel's use of steel-coated rubber bullets, which have repeatedly killed and wounded Palestinians | Tue, 04/13/2021 – 13: 19 | Fourteen-year-old Izz al-Din al-Batsh has been recovering in bed since the incident, surrounded by his family (MEE/Akram al-Waara) | It was a typical Friday after…
(2021-04-13). Egypt: Prominent journalist Khaled Dawoud released from prison. middleeasteye.net 
Egypt: Prominent journalist Khaled Dawoud released from prison | While in detention, the activist and journalist was held in very poor conditions for 18 months | Tue, 04/13/2021 – 13: 24 | Khaled Dawoud was an outspoken critic of the government and was known for his journalism (AFP) | Egyptian journalist and activist Khaled Dawoud was released from prison on Monday, pending investigation o…
(2021-04-13). Ramsey Clark, Human Rights Fighter — 1927-2021. globalresearch.ca Ramsey Clark was a founder of the International Action Center and …
(2021-04-13). Reclaiming Asylum, Rethinking the Border. progressive.org A much different mindset is needed about border issues—one that doesn't treat asylum seekers as criminals and instead keeps them out of detention and in communities.
(2021-04-13). Inter-Parliamentary Union Confirms Preparations for a Mission to Venezuela. orinocotribune.com The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) confirmed today, Monday, April 12, that it is preparing to send a mission to Venezuela to learn firsthand about the situation of the Legislative Power and inquire about complaints of human rights violations against former opposition parliamentarians. | "This is a mission that we have requested for a long time and it seems that it can finally be carried out, because we have received an invitation from [the new] 2020 Parliament," IPU spokesperson Thomas Fitzsimons told news agency EFE. | Last Friday the highest officials of the organization, which brings together parliaments from…
(2021-04-13). President Biden Needs a Middle East-Wide Human Rights Policy. juancole.com Published in: Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) By Iran Researcher Tara Sepehri Far | @sepehrifar @sepehrifar On the campaign trail and during his first three months in office, President Biden promised a US return to a multilateral foreign policy that supports human rights. That is an important vision for the Middle East, a …
(2021-04-12). Lift Canada's Economic Sanctions against the World's Poorest Countries. Trudeau Government "Must Respect the Rule of International Law" globalresearch.ca One year ago, following the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic, UN …
(2021-04-12). Housing activists in UK protest resumption of evictions. peoplesdispatch.org On April 10, the group Momentum, and housing rights activists took part in protests against the resumption of evictions in the United Kingdom. They condemned the rising number of evictions after the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions…
(2021-04-12). Patents and the Pandemic: Can We Learn Anything? cepr.net (This post originally appeared on my Patreon site.) I realize that I may seem obsessed with the topic of patents (and copyrights), but it really is a big deal, and few people seem to appreciate the issue in its larger economic context. I have written about the inefficiency and corruption associated with these monopolies for …
(2021-04-12). The Weekly Round-Up: Amnesty unimpressed and government care home guidance "grossly discriminatory" ukhumanrightsblog.com 
In the news: On Wednesday, Amnesty International released its 2020/21 report on the state of the world's human rights. Amnesty's UK director, Kate Allen, also called for an inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic and said "the government is now shamefully trying to strip away our right to lawfully challenge its decisions, no …
(2021-04-12). Rights Advocates Concerned Over Biden Push to Increase Militarization of Borders in Central America. commondreams.org "The Biden administration should place human rights at the center of its migration discussions and agreements with regional governments." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2021-04-12). Why I Cut Ties With Insurance Giant Liberty Mutual. truthout.org 
This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. | After decades as a loyal customer, I recently dropped my insurance policies with Liberty Mutual. I had not realized that the company I had thought was protecting me was, in fact, one of the world's biggest fossil fuel insurers and is supporting violations of Indigenous rights worldwide. | Liberty, in other words, is one of the world's worst climate criminals. | On Liberty Mutual's website, I rea…
(2021-04-12). Ramsey Clark, Former U.S. Attorney General Turned Fierce Critic of U.S. Militarism, Dies at Age 93. democracynow.org 
Former U.S. attorney general and longtime human rights lawyer Ramsey Clark has died at the age of 93, and we look back on his life. Clark was credited as being a key architect of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. He served as attorney general from 1967 to 1969, during which time he ordered a moratorium on federal executions and opposed J. Edgar Hoover's wiretapping of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., though he was also involved in the prosecution of antiwar activists. After leaving office, Clark became a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy. "The world is the most dangerous place it's ev…
(2021-04-12). Police Must Not Create Digital Dossiers of Data from our Phones and Computers. aclu.org Think about all the information stored on your cell phone or computers — photos, texts, location data, and even more information generated by a multitude of apps. These tools are convenient and integral to our everyday lives. But what does that mean for our privacy rights in the digital age? Today, the Wisconsin Supreme Court hears oral arguments addressing this question, including arguments that the ACLU has presented in a series of amicus briefs. | The Wisconsin case concerns cell phone data seized by the police. During a hit-and-run investigation in 2016, a suspect, George Burch, consented to a police…
(2021-04-12). Ramsey Clark, human rights fighter — 1927-2021. workers.org 
Ramsey Clark was a founder of the International Action Center and inspired the political activists who used its structure to defend liberation struggles, oppose U.S. wars of aggression, defend political prisoners whether in U.S. prison-industrial complex or in the U.S.-backed dictatorships worldwide. IAC militants joined international delegations that defied the . . . |
(2021-04-12). Palestine election: Israel's wave of arrests sweeps up Palestinians before polls. middleeasteye.net 
Palestine election: Israel's wave of arrests sweeps up Palestinians before polls | Hamas and Fatah members caught up in series of Israeli arrests since March say they have been warned not to compete in coming elections | Mon, 04/12/2021 – 13: 56 | A Palestinian demonstrator is detained by Israeli soldiers during a protest near the West Bank village of Tubas, near the Jordan Valley, on 29 January 2020 (AFP) | I…
(2021-04-12). Law Pod New Episode: Harriet Wistrich on Criminal Justice for Women. ukhumanrightsblog.com 
Following International Women's Day and Women's History Month, Emma-Louise Fenelon spoke to Harriet Wistrich, founder of the Centre for Women's Justice about the many ways in which the UK criminal justice system is failing women. In Episode 140 they discuss the report by the Centre for Women's Justice, 'Women Who Kill: How The State Criminalises …
(2021-04-12). Two Years After Assange's Arrest, Biden Can End Trump's Assault on Press Freedom. globalresearch.ca WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been detained at the high-security Belmarsh …
(2021-04-12). A History Of The Espionage Act And How it Ensnared Julian Assange. popularresistance.org From its earliest years the United States has found ways to deny the rights of a free press when it was politically expedient to do so. | One of the latest ways was to arrest WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange two years ago today and to indict him — the first time a publisher and journalist has ever been charged under the 1917 Espionage Act for possessing and publishing state secrets. | Though several U.S. administrations had come close to punishing journalists for revealing defense information, they all pulled back, until Assange. They were restrained because of a conflict with the First Amendment, which p…
(2021-04-12). Right-wing banker Guillermo Lasso wins Ecuador's presidency and other stories. peoplesdispatch.org Today we look at Ecuador's presidential election results, protests following the fatal police shooting of a Black man in the US, reports of Israel's role in the blackout at an Iranian nuclear site, hunger strike by detained Hirak protesters in Algeria, and the ties between Israeli businessman Dan Gertler and the DRC…
(2021-04-12). Farmers Block Expressway In Indian State Of Haryana To Protest Against Farm Laws. popularresistance.org Hundreds of farmers from across India have been camping out Delhi's borders for the past four months to protest against newly introduced agricultural laws by the federal government. While the farmers are demanding the laws, passed last September be repealed, the government has agreed to only making amendments and refused to repeal them. | Intensifying their protests against newly introduced agriculture laws, farmers blocked the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway at several places in state of Haryana on Saturday. | Several farm leaders were detained by the Haryana Police even as farmers sitting on the expressway wer…
(2021-04-12). The Judicial Persecution Of Steven Donziger. popularresistance.org For some, call them criminal justice ingenues, it may be hard to believe this is happening in the United States, that our famed judiciary has sunk this low. But in the U.S., a judge acts as prosecutor and jury on behalf of a giant oil company, Chevron, as it destroys the life and career of human rights lawyer Steven Donziger. His crime? Daring to win a judgment against Chevron in an Ecuadorian court. For those less enchanted with the U.S. justice system, this is no surprise. But there it is. This judicial travesty is occurring in New York state. And the Chevron friendly judges — first Lewis A. Kaplan and hi…
(2021-04-12). China Blasts US Military Interventions in Human Rights Report. globalresearch.ca In the face of constant attacks by US officials over alleged …
(2021-04-12). EU Sanctions Iranian Officials Amid Vienna Talks. news.antiwar.com While the European Union is trying to play the honest broker between the US and Iran to revive the nuclear deal, the bloc The EU sanctioned eight Iranian military and police officials. The measures mark the first time since 2013 that the EU slapped sanctions on Iran over alleged human rights abuses. The timing could damage the delicate indirect talks that are ongoing between the US and Ir…
(2021-04-12). Ramsey Clark, Human Rights Lawyer and Critic of US Empire, Dies at Age 93. commondreams.org "The world is the most dangerous place it's ever been now because of what our country has done, and is doing, and we have to take it back." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2021-04-12). Cuban and Venezuelan Authorities Mourn Ramsey Clark's Death. globalresearch.ca As an Attorney General, Clark stood up for civil rights and …
(2021-04-12). Voting Rights Groups Across the Country Condemn State-Level Voter Suppression, Urge Senate Passage of For the People Act. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2021-04-12). Does Canada's Unilateral Sanctions Regime Violate International Law? popularresistance.org Is Canada breaking international law when it applies to unilateral coercive economic measures, commonly referred to as sanctions? | Most countries and international law experts believe sanctions are only legitimate when approved by the United Nations Security Council or the World Trade Organization. Economic sanctions outside the framework of the UN Charter are generally considered "unilateral" and unlawful. | According to a report by the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization, "the imposition of unilateral and secondary sanctions on countries through application of national legislation is not-permissible…
(2021-04-12). Iran-EU Talks on Hold, After EU Slaps Fresh Sanctions on Iran. telesurenglish.net The spokesman for the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced that Iran is considering counter-sanctions to the European Union in response to new bans imposed on several Iranian individuals and entities while suspending all talks with the bloc in various fields. | RELATED: | Saeed Khatibzadeh made the remarks on Monday after the European Union announced it had imposed sanctions ranging from trav…
(2021-04-12). Mexico Accuses 1,571 Companies & Ex-Officials For Corruption. telesurenglish.net Mexico's Superior Audit Office (ASF) submitted to the Lower Chamber a list accusing 1,571 ex-public officials, companies, and social organizations of corruption acts committed from 2001 until 2014. | RELATED: | The list includes sanctions to airlines, subcontracting companies, and political figures such as Mario Moreno, who runs subnational elections for Guerrero State governorship post. | The Institutional Revolutionary Party (P…