(2021-10-02). UN Finds Steven Donziger's House Arrest Violates International Law. popularresistance.org The world's top human rights legal body just offered a crucial show of support for Steven Donziger, the attorney who won a landmark multibillion-dollar case against an oil giant over pollution in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. The ruling came on the eve of his sentencing in a criminal trial. | On Wednesday, the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights ruled that Donziger's home detention is illegal under international law and called on the U.S. to release him. Donziger will have spent an unprecedented 787 days on house arrest as of Friday in what is one of the most winding and wild court cases that spa…
(2021-10-02). End unilateral coercion, China calls. ecns.cn China's ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday called for the complete and immediate lifting of unilateral coercive measures, stressing that they severely violate human rights and exacerbate humanitarian disasters.
(2021-10-02). ONU insta a garantizar derechos humanos de migrantes haitianos. telesurtv.net Solicita a los Gobiernos que sopesen sus necesidades de protección y permitan su acceso a vías migratorias regulares.
(2021-10-02). New report shows deadly impact and global condemnation of U.S. sanctions. workers.org 
Sanctions Kill issued the following news release Sept. 24. A coalition of North American human rights organizations has released a report on the impact and consequences of U.S. sanctions. The report is based on wide-ranging research and interviews with residents of countries which are suffering under U.S. sanctions. The report . . . |
(2021-10-02). 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…
(2021-10-02). [Perspectives] The power and politics of fetal imagery. thelancet.com The ultrasound image of the fetus in utero is iconic and has transcended the medical domain into our everyday visual culture, where it has been deployed for commercial, social, and political purposes. The power of fetal imagery to inform contentious debates and influence policy and legislation that limit reproductive rights raises important questions about medicine's role in the production, interpretation, and dissemination of these images.
(2021-10-02). Creating a Powerful, Broad-Based Moral Movement. zcomm.org Today's voting rights and economic justice advocates must apply two key lessons from the courageous activists of a half-century ago…
(2021-10-02). 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.
(2021-10-02). Tuesday 10/19: How Indigenous-led Rights of Nature is Transforming Climate Action Now. indybay.org Online event…
(2021-10-02). Tuesday 10/12: Community Living Options & Choices for the Mental Health Disabled w/ Disability Rights CA. indybay.org Online webinar…
(2021-10-02). 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/…
(2021-10-02). 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.
(2021-10-02). IEN On Bipartisan Infrastructure Package And Build Back Better Act. popularresistance.org Let us be frank. As communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis and fossil fuel extraction, our situation is dire. While we experience unparalleled disaster in the form of floods, fires, droughts, Missing & Murdered Indigenous Peoples and state-sanctioned violence against Indigenous and Black communities, the crisis at the so-called border, and other results of climate chaos, we know U.S. elected leadership is in the position to redirect course on behalf of Mother Earth and future generations. The truth is, Congress promised our communities they would work to solve the climate crisis and environmenta…
(2021-10-02). Sanctions deprive Iran of accessing to vaccine in due time. en.mehrnews.com In a statement to the UN, Iran criticized the unilateral and inhumane sanctions imposed on the country, saying that these measures deprived Iran of having access to the COVID-19 vaccine at an appropriate time.
(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). 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). British citizens file complaint in France against UAE's top Interpol candidate. middleeasteye.net 
British citizens file complaint in France against UAE's top Interpol candidate | If authorities proceed, Ahmed Naser al-Raisi, the Emirati official running to head Lyon-based force, could be arrested on French soil | Fri, 10/01/2021 – 14: 30 | Major General Ahmed Naser al-Raisi is the top law enforcement officer in the UAE (Wikimedia) | A lawyer for two British citizens who were detained and tortured in the Un…
(2021-10-01). Qatar: Calls for release of detainees as country prepares for elections. middleeasteye.net 
Qatar: Calls for release of detainees as country prepares for elections | Dozens of Qataris have been detained for protesting against what they deem 'discriminatory' election regulations | Fri, 10/01/2021 – 11: 22 | A woman holds a leaflet for the candidate for Qatar's Shura council elections in the 17th constituency, Leena Nasser al-Dafa, during a campaign event in Doha ahead of Qatar's inaugur…
(2021-10-01). Guantanamo Bay: US court grapples with detainees' constitutional rights. middleeasteye.net 
Guantanamo Bay: US court grapples with detainees' constitutional rights | DC Circuit Court of Appeals appears reluctant to rule over whether Guantanamo prisoners should have due process rights | Fri, 10/01/2021 – 16: 41 | Thirty-nine prisoners remain at the Guantanamo Bay prison (AFP/File photo) | A
(2021-10-01). Letter writing for refugee children in California. fightbacknews.org Los Angeles, CA – A group of people gathered at Belvedere Park in East Los Angeles, September 25, to write and draw letters. The artwork and letters are for the refugee children, mostly Central American, held at the Pomona Fairplex detention center. The event was hosted by the Immigration Committee of Centro Community Service Organization, or Centro CSO. | The event inspired many children, their parents, and even grandparents to sit under shade and draw. One grandmother told her granddaughter, "The drawing you are coloring is going to put a smile on another child like you, who is looking for their family." | In F…
(2021-10-01). Afghan Women's Frontline Resistance Against 20 Years of 'Humanitarian Intervention'. towardfreedom.org Securing women's rights was used to justify the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan. However, the Biden administration's irresponsible pull-out in tandem with the swift, untroubled Taliban return speaks volumes about Washington's lack of interest to secure respect for human rights and improve women's lives.
(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). Fight to Close Guantánamo Urgent as Biden Plans New Migrant Jail at Base. truthout.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…
(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). 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). 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). 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). 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). 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). 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). 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). Forget the Voting Rights bill: Here's how to destroy GOP voter suppression. nationofchange.org The lesson to be learned here? When you are faced with a massive obstacle, aka, the Republicans in U.S. Senate blocking your way, then you must either go around it, over it, under it, or right through it.
(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). 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). 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). 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). 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…