(2021-10-01). Dozens of masked Israeli Black Shirts attack homes in small Palestinian Town, Injure Residents, including a Toddler. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — The Palestinian newspaper Quds gives the details of an attack this week by Israeli squatter-settlers on native Palestinians of the small town of Mafriqa in the vicinity of al-Khalil (which the Israelis call Hebron). Palestinian rights organizations said that on Tuesday, 60 armed squatters with clubs and handguns and stones …
(2021-10-01). Cape Verde Continues Violating Ambassador Alex Saab's Human Rights. orinocotribune.com At the request of the United States, Alex Saab, the Venezuelan diplomat, has been illegally detained in Cape Verde since June last year. The Venezuelan official's legal team denounced that he "is still being held under an oppressive regime of house arrest, without the medical attention he urgently needs." | According to a press release from Alex Saab's defense team, Cape Verde continues to violate the court order to transfer the diplomat, kidnapped on the island of Sal since June 2020, for health reasons. | The Barlovento Court, on the northern island of San Vicente, granted permission on August 31. In a statemen…
(2021-10-01). Syrian Authorities Warn Gunmen In Northern Daraa Town Against Refusing Reconciliation Agreement. southfront.org 
Illustrative image. | Syrian authorities are in talks with local leaders in the town of Jasim in the northern countryside of Daraa to reach a new reconciliation agreement, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on October 1. | During a meeting that was held on September 30, Syrian officials demanded that gunmen in the town hand over more than 200 weapons in their possession and join the reconciliation process. | The official warned Jasim's local leaders that the Syrian Arab Army will launch a full-on operati…
(2021-10-01). Turkey Prepares To Withdraw 2,000 Syrian Mercenaries From Libya, Monitoring Group Warns Of Fake Pullout. southfront.org 
Illustrative image. | The Turkish intelligence has ordered some 2,000 Syrian militants deployed in Libya to prepare to return to their country, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on September 30. | The decision to withdraw the militants, who fought as mercenaries for Turkey's allies in Libya, came ahead of the December 24 Libyan general election which is expected to give the war-torn country its first president and parliament in years. | According to the SOHR, around 7,000 Turk…
(2021-10-01). Saturday 10/2: UUSF Human Rights Working Group Contigent to the Women's March. indybay.org In front of the S.F. Opera House near the corner of Grove and Van Ness…
(2021-10-01). Don't Pursue War, Pursue War Crimes: Michael Ratner's Decades-Long Battle to Close Guantánamo. democracynow.org 
We look at the life and legacy of the late Michael Ratner, the trailblazing human rights lawyer and former president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, with three people who knew him well: Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights; Vince Warren, the organization's executive director; and Lizzy Ratner, Ratner's niece and a senior editor at The Nation magazine. Michael Ratner spent decades opposing government abuse and fought to close the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay, first in the 1990s when it was used to hold thousands of Haitian asylum seeke…
(2021-10-01). Empire's Sometime Handmaidens: Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. counterpunch.org Chevron's malfeasance in Lago Agrio, Ecuador upended people's lives. Pristine wilderness polluted with hundreds of oil pits. A plague of cancer on Indigenous children. Rivers filled with toxic chemicals. An international uproar and court case, in which Chevron set new records for playing dirty. And where, you may ask is Human Rights Watch on this
(2021-10-01). ICC's Chief Prosecutor Proposes to Exclude US Troops from Afghan War Crimes Probe. orinocotribune.com By Peoples Dispatch — Sep 28, 2021 | The decision by ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan to exclude US forces from the investigation has invited widespread criticism, with some calling it an attempt at selective justice | In a surprise move, the International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan in a statement on Monday, September 27, said that he is seeking permission to open an investigation into alleged human rights violations and war crimes in Afghanistan minus the involvement of US troops. The decision to exclude US forces from the investigation has invited widespread criticism, with some callin…
(2021-10-01). Was the G.I. Bill of Rights a Safety Net Bill? Talking About the Democrats' Big Bill. cepr.net It is unlikely that many reporters at the time described the GI Bill of Rights as a "safety net" plan. They shouldn't describe the Democrats' package this way either.
(2021-10-01). El Aissami: Venezuela Won't Allow Robbery of CITGO & Monómeros. orinocotribune.com Venezuela's Minister for Oil, Tareck El Aissami, announced that Venezuela will not allow the planned theft of CITGO and Monómeros. The country will appeal to all the necessary authorities to recover and restore its rights to the assets of the Venezuelan people. | "We are advancing with the truth, and with vigor, to rescue our assets," he said. "Very soon we will see results, in favor of justice. We are invoking international law to halt this arbitrariness." | He criticized the intention of the Justice First [Primero Justicia] political party which, he explained, intends to "wash its hands and distance itself from…
(2021-10-01). The defense of abortion rights requires a struggle against capitalism. wsws.org The working class cannot rely on the capitalist Democratic Party to defend its democratic rights.
(2021-10-01). State of exception declared following massacre inside prison. peoplesdispatch.org At least 100 have been killed and 80 left injured in a massive riot that broke out between the inmates of the Litoral penitentiary in Ecuador. The violence prompted President Guillermo Lasso, on September 29, to decree a "state of exception" in the country's prison system. The state of exception gives the government the power to suspend public rights and use public security forces to restore normalcy. Following the declaration of emergency, there has been a heavy deployment of soldiers inside the prisons.
(2021-10-01). Colleagues of Michael Ratner Blast Samuel Moyn's Claim That He Helped Sanitize the "War on Terror" democracynow.org 
Friends and relatives of the late radical attorney Michael Ratner respond to the recent controversy over Yale University professor Samuel Moyn's claim that Ratner "prioritized making the war on terror humane" by using the courts to challenge the military's holding of prisoners at Guantánamo. Ratner's longtime colleagues blast Moyn for failing to recognize how the late attorney had dedicated his life to fighting war and U.S. imperialism. "Michael opposed war with every fiber of his being in every medium he had access to: the courtroom, the classroom, in the media," says Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for…
(2021-10-01). Saturday 10/2: Vallejo: Solidarity March for Reproductive Rights. indybay.org Meet at Vallejo City Hall, 555 Santa Clara St., Vallejo, CA 94590 | Wear a Mask. Please follow current COVID guidelines: covid19.ca.gov/safely-reopening/…
(2021-10-01). For Afghan Women, the Frightening Return of 'Vice and Virtue'. zcomm.org The Taliban are going back on their promise to respect women's rights. What can the international community do?>
(2021-10-01). GIGS UP! UC AFT Lecturers FIGHT GIG Slave Labor. indybay.org UC-AFT lecturers are fighting for labor rights and against Gig conditions. They rallied at UC Berkeley on 9/29/21 and AFT-UC Council bargain team member David Walter talked about their Gig conditions.
(2021-10-01). The Supreme Court and the Coming End of Abortion Rights. counterpunch.org October 4, is the first Monday in October. It is the start of the new US Supreme Court term. It may also be the last term where Roe v. Wade is the law of the land and abortion rights are constitutionally protected. This coming term the Supreme Court will review a Mississippi law that effectively bans all abortions after
(2021-10-01). Tuesday 10/12: Community Living Options & Choices for the Mental Health Disabled w/ Disability Rights CA. indybay.org Online webinar…
(2021-10-01). Wealthy Countries Must Share Pandemic Relief Aid, Organizations Say. indybay.org In a letter to finance ministers, 250 organizations call on wealthy countries to donate IMF emergency currency they don't need to poor countries. In August, the IMF created $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to support global coronavirus response. More than $400 billion went to wealthy countries and $230 billion went to developing countries.
(2021-10-01). Tuesday 10/19: How Indigenous-led Rights of Nature is Transforming Climate Action Now. indybay.org Online event…
(2021-10-01). Venezuela's Efforts to Overcome the Pandemic, Political Crisis, and Sanctions. orinocotribune.com On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Peoples Dispatch spoke with Carlos Ron, Venezuela's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for North America. | From positive advances in the dialogue process between the constitutional government and the opposition forces, to strengthening regional unity in the CELAC summit, to bringing together 18 countries to stand in defense of the Charter of the United Nations, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has seen significant internal and external developments in the last couple of weeks. | On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New…
(2021-10-01). There Are Positive Developments on the Ground in Syria, but for America It's Sanctions and Suffering as Usual. globalresearch.ca
(2021-10-01). U.S. Sanctions Blamed as Venezuela Laments Frozen Order for Medicine. zcomm.org One of Portugal's largest banks is holding up a $12.7 million order to fund shipment of medical supplies and vaccines to Venezuela…
(2021-10-01). Satellite Images Show Secret Iranian Missile Base Was Seriously Damaged In Explosion. southfront.org 
ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE | A secret missile base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) located near the Iranian capital, Tehran, was seriously damaged as a result of a mysterious explosion, Israel's ImageSat International revealed on September 30. | The company shared satellite images of the facility taken on September 27, shortly after the explosion. The images show serious damage at the facility, which allegedly belongs to the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group. | The Iranian industrial group, which was sanctioned by the US…
(2021-10-01). Greater Idlib Paradise: Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham Arrested, Tortured Three Children For Smuggling Cigarettes. southfront.org 
File image. | On September 30, security forces of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, arrested three children for smuggling cigarettes from the Turkish-occupied area of Afrin to the region of Greater Idlib. | The three children who attempted to smuggle a few packs of cigarettes to Greater Idlib, where HTS bans smoking, were reportedly tortured by the terrorist group's militants. | HTS militants went one to share a photo of the three children without blurring their faces, likely to humiliate them and intimi…
(2021-09-30). New Evidence In Ayotzinapa Disappearance Case. popularresistance.org On September 21, five days before the seventh anniversary of the forced disappearance of 43 students of the Rural Teachers' College in the town of Ayotzinapa, Mexico, the federal authorities revealed new evidence in the case, which contradicted the official version of the truth presented by the previous government. | At a press conference, the special prosecutor for the case, Omar Gómez Trejo, and the Undersecretary for Human Rights, Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez, reported that the search for evidence in the La Carnicería ravine located in Cocula town, in the state of Guerrero, had concluded. They reported that in…
(2021-09-30). CIA Plot to Murder Assange Is Open Season on Independent Journalism. strategic-culture.org If Assange is not freed then the war on truth is going to explode. All independent journalism and basic human rights are under threat. | A report that the CIA was plotting to murder or kidnap Julian Assange is credible and it should not be in the least bit surprising that the agency sometimes known as Murder Inc would stoop to such criminality. | The CIA has for decades since its formation in 1947 involved itself in assassinating foreign political leaders and is implicated in the 1963 killing of its own President John F Kennedy in what amounted to be a coup d'état in the United States. The agency has operated as…
(2021-09-30). Drone Strike Hit Iranian-Backed Forces In Syria's Deir Ezzor: Monitoring Group. southfront.org 
Illustrative image. | Late on September 30, a drone strike hit a position of Iranian-backed forces in the southern countryside of Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). | "According to information obtained by the activists of the Syrian Observatory, the drone flew over the area at sunset today and targeted, with at least two missiles, the al-Kutf area near the town of al-Bukamal," the London-based monitoring group said in a report. | The SOHR added that Iranian-backed forces…
(2021-09-30). My School is Shaming Girls' Bodies. aclu.org Last May, I was counting down the final days of my freshman year at Bartram Trail High School and anxiously waiting to pick up my first high school yearbook. When the yearbooks finally came, I rushed down the hallways to the cafeteria to grab my copy and immediately did what every kid does: I flipped through the pages until I found my photo. But when I found it, my stomach dropped. The school had inserted a black rectangular bar across my chest — censoring my body in my high school yearbook without my knowledge or consent. | The fact that an adult teacher had looked at my photo and decided to censor my c…
(2021-09-30). 300,000 petition signatures delivered to Senate for the protection of abortion rights under federal law. nationofchange.org "Over the past several weeks, right-wing extremists have inched us closer and closer toward a society without the precedent of Roe v. Wade."
(2021-09-30). Democratic Congresswomen Testify About Their Personal Abortion Stories. truthout.org 
Reproductive rights advocates on Thursday expressed gratitude to three Democratic congresswomen ahead of their testimonies at a House Oversight Committee hearing on protecting abortion access, as Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) planned to share their own personal stories of obtaining abortion care. | "Thank you for your vulnerability to advance justice,"
(2021-09-30). Formula 1: Qatar set to host its first Grand Prix in November. middleeasteye.net 
Formula 1: Qatar set to host its first Grand Prix in November | Organisers says race will take place on 21 November as rights groups criticise 'sportswashing' by the Gulf state | Thu, 09/30/2021 – 11: 32 | Drivers take the start of the Formula One Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom circuit in Sochi on 26 September 2021 (AFP) | Qatar is set to host a Formula One Grand Prix for the fir…
(2021-09-30). House Oversight Won't Hurt, But the Fight for Abortion Is Waged at Grassroots. truthout.org 
Today the House Oversight Committee holds a hearing to examine states' efforts to restrict abortion access, and how this has affected patients medically and economically. This hearing comes on the heels of the passage in Texas of S.B. 8 — but the Texas law is only the most recent development within a decades-long trend of states slowly dismantling abortion rights. As a result, the hearing is discussing federal legislation to "protect and expand abortion rights and access" more broadly.
(2021-09-30). Formula 1: Qatar set to host first ever Grand Prix in November 2021. middleeasteye.net Formula 1: Qatar set to host first ever Grand Prix in November 2021 | Organisers says race will take place on 21 November as rights groups criticise 'sportswashing' by the Gulf state | Thu, 09/30/2021 – 11: 32 | Drivers take the start of the Formula One Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom circuit in Sochi on September 26, 2021 (AFP) | Qatar is set to host a Formula One Grand Prix for…
(2021-09-30). France Threatens Sanctions And Electricity Cuts Against UK As Post-Brexit Tensions Increase. southfront.org 
Illustrative ImageBoris Johnson ran on the platform of Brexit but now needs the EU to solve the fuel crisis. | Written by Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst | The French want to continue fishing near the British islands of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, but their licenses expired this week and British authorities refused to renew the majority of them. This fishing saga, and the French threats to cut electricity cables supplying the two British islands, has been ongoing since the economic agreement governing relations between the EU and the UK after Brexit were signed in January. | A…
(2021-09-30). Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo was Reportedly Obsessed with Killing Assange. orinocotribune.com By Kevin Gosztola — Sep 27, 2021 | There were no criminal prosecutions for anyone in the Central Intelligence Agency when they operated a torture program. The White House under President Barack Obama fully embraced a drone program that involved targeted assassinations. | Now, we learn that the CIA redefined WikiLeaks as a "hostile entity" and sought to label WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as an "information broker" to justify aggressive actions intended to disrupt journalism. They even had plans to kill him. | The latest revelations around Assange are exactly why so many advocates did not think it was acce…