Monthly Archives: December 2021

2021-12-23: News Headlines

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-23). Libya: National Committee for Human Rights Warns of the Political and Humanitarian Consequences of Aborting Elections. libya360.wordpress.com Demonstrations in Libya protest…

KWORINOCO (2021-12-23). Cuba Denounces US Allegations of Human Trafficking. orinocotribune.com Cuba firmly rejected the allegations fabricated by the US accusing the Caribbean island of involvement in human trafficking, and has assured that these claims are simply another way of justifying the aggressive measures which continue to be taken against Havana. | "The declarations made by the US government, regarding human trafficking, terrorism and human rights abuses, have no relation with the reality of out country," responded Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez through his Twitter account. "The US is trying to justify—with lies—the abusive and aggressive measures taken against the Cuban popul…

Tanya Wadhwa (2021-12-23). Panamanians demand justice for the victims of the 1989 US invasion. peoplesdispatch.org According to official data, 516 Panamanians soldiers and civilians were killed during the US invasion, but human rights groups say the real number is much higher, between 1,000 and 3,000…

Serge Halimi (2021-12-23). If only Assange had been Navalny. zcomm.org The different treatment of these two heroes is a fine example of the flexibility of the concepts of 'human rights' and 'freedom of the press' which the western media trumpet at every opportunity…

_____ (2021-12-23). New Anti-Protest Laws Cast A Long Shadow On First Amendment Rights. popularresistance.org Tiffany Crutcher was worried. | Oklahoma lawmakers had passed a new measure stiffening penalties for protesters who block roadways and granting immunity to drivers who unintentionally hit them. The state NAACP, saying the law was passed in response to racial justice demonstrations and could chill the exercising of First Amendment rights, filed a federal lawsuit challenging portions of it. But the new law was only weeks from taking effect. | Crutcher, an advocate for police reform and racial justice, was moderating a virtual town hall about it, featuring panelists who brought the lawsuit. At the end, she asked a q…

Newsroom (2021-12-23). Sudan protests: Security forces in spotlight over sexual violence allegations. moderndiplomacy.eu In Sudan, reports of serious sexual violence and the use of live ammunition against protesters at the weekend must be investigated immediately, the UN rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday. The allegations surfaced after demonstrations in Khartoum on Sunday, where tens of thousands had massed to mark the third anniversary of protests that led to the …

Staff (2021-12-23). No One Is Safe Until Everyone Is Safe: Oxfam on Vaccine Equity & Taking On Moderna. democracynow.org Oxfam America has accused Moderna of misleading its investors about an ongoing dispute over whether it needs to share vaccine patent rights with the U.S. government. Oxfam filed a shareholders complaint against Moderna with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the company's resistance to recognizing the role played by three scientists with the National Institutes of Health in developing the vaccine. We speak with Robbie Silverman, senior corporate advocacy manager at Oxfam America, who says the federal government owns a right to license the vaccine to manufacturers. "It is simply not sufficient just to vac…

Liam Kennedy (2021-12-23). Stuart Delivery strike highlights UK's bogus self-employment problem. zcomm.org By misclassifying workers as 'self-employed' companies can trample over labor rights…

Staff (2021-12-23). "It's a Win for Us": Striking Kellogg's Workers Get Raises, Improved Benefits & Avoid Two-Tier System. democracynow.org In a major victory for labor rights, 1,400 unionized Kellogg's workers have ended their nearly three-month strike across four states after approving a new contract that provides a wage increase and enhanced benefits for all. The prior agreement that Kellogg's tried to bargain only offered wage increases and improved benefits to longtime workers, whereas the new agreement ensures newer workers have a guaranteed option to receive the same improvements. We speak with Kellogg's worker Kevin Bradshaw, who will return to work on Monday alongside his co-workers. "We didn't have any takeaways and no concessions, so I wou…

Editor (2021-12-22). Chris Hedges on the Persecution of Julian Assange (Video). scheerpost.com In July 2010, Wikileaks published Cablegate, one of the biggest leaks in the history of the US military, including evidence for war crimes and torture. Julian Assange, the founder and spokesman of Wikileaks, immediately found himself a target, accused of hacking, and later sexual assault. He spent the next seven years in asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, fearful that he would be extradited to Sweden to face the accusations of assault and then sent to US. In 2019, Assange was handed over to the British police. On the same day, the US demanded his extradition. He faces up to 175 years in prison for…

WSWS (2021-12-22). Two Olympic boycotts: Human rights in the service of imperialist gangsterism. wsws.org The 1980 boycott of the Moscow games was bound up with the US agenda of weakening and fracturing the former Soviet Union, which is precisely the Biden administration's strategy toward China in its boycott of the Beijing Olympics.

teleSUR (2021-12-22). UN Confirms 73 Killings of Human Rights Defenders in Colombia. telesurenglish.net On Tuesday, the United Nations Office for Human Rights (OHCHR) confirmed that at least 73 human rights defenders were murdered in Colombia in the first eleven months of 2021. | RELATED: | "The OHCHR analized 191 homicide complaints. Of these, it verified 73 cases, 35 cases are in the verification process, and 83 cases are inconclusive," the UN agency said. | The highest number of murders by department (31) was re…

teleSUR (2021-12-22). The Chilean State Violated the Rights of 846 Municipal Teachers. telesurenglish.net On Tuesday, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) condemned the Chilean State for not complying with due diligence in the payment of a special assignment of 846 teachers from the Chañaral, Chanco, Pelluhue, Parral, Vallenar, and Cauquenes municipalities. | RELATED: | "The processes of execution of the sentences handed down in favor of the 846 teachers who condemned the Municipalities to pay a special allowance, w…

Staff (2021-12-22). Salvador Allende's Grandson Responds to Boric: The Human Rights Double Standard and 'Chic' Leftism. orinocotribune.com Editorial note: Orinoco Tribune does not publish articles that are over two weeks old, but sometimes we make exceptions. The following note was originally published almost three years ago; however, with the victory of Gabriel Boric in the Chilean presidential race on Sunday, we consider it important to take another look at it. In the midst of the joyous celebrations in Chile for Boric's win against pinochetista Kast, and perhaps as a response of memory to some who are exaggerating too much about the president-elect to compare him with Salvador Allende, with Pablo Neruda or with other icons of the international…

A Guest Author (2021-12-22). 'Suppose they had welcomed the Pilgrims like they did the Haitians in Del Rio, Texas'. workers.org The following remarks were made by Ustadi Kadiri, a member of the Haiti Action Committee, Dec. 10, at a rally at the San Francisco Federal Building. Dec. 10, 2021 is International Human Rights Day around the world. But somehow the United States did not get the memo. Why would I . . . |

teleSUR, SH (2021-12-22). Al menos 73 defensores de DD.HH. han sido asesinados en Colombia. telesurtv.net Según la Oficina de la ONU para los Derechos Humanos en Colombia, la mayor cifra de asesinatos se registró en el departamento del Valle del Cauca.

Staff (2021-12-22). Ryanair flight Russian asks for pardon. rt.com Sofia Sapega, the Russian partner of the detained political activist Roman Protasevich, has applied for clemency from the Belarusian president, after being charged with inciting social hatred, her stepfather has revealed. | Speaking to radio station Echo of Moscow, Sergey Dudich said that Sapega had asked Alexander Lukashenko to let her off with the charges, which could see her spend many years behind bars. | "Such a decision may be taken only after the trial. But we still hope for a presidential pardon. I know that Sofia has written a petition for clemency to the president of Belarus," said Dudich. | Read mor…

teleSUR (2021-12-22). Dominican Republic Dismantles Local Human Trafficking Network. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, the Dominican Republic's attorney general announced the dismantling of the human trafficking network that organized the trip in which 3 out of 6 Dominicans died during a truck accident in Mexico. | RELATED: | Five people detained for this case face 18 months in prison. Their arrests took place in San Pedro de Macoris province and in Bani municipality, where the Dominicans injured in Mexico were from. | Th…

Nancy Rosenbloom (2021-12-22). As Omicron Surges, People in Jail and Detention are More Vulnerable Than Ever. aclu.org Twenty-one months into the pandemic, many people outside of jails, prisons, and civil detention centers in the U.S. are rushing to get their booster vaccines and are spending time with friends and family in ways that felt impossible less than a year ago. The pandemic is far from over, as the omicron variant has made clear. Still, heralding vaccines and rapid tests, public officials are urging vaccinated Americans to celebrate the holidays together, carefully. "We'll get through this," President Biden said in his address this week. | Yet for people who are incarcerated, the risks of COVID-19 infection remain ex…

Liberation Staff (2021-12-22). Sign a petition to legalize abortion once and for all. liberationnews.org Progressive legislation is won through struggle. We need to demand that the Democrats stop treating women's rights as a debate or bargaining chip for re-elections and defend abortion now!

Staff (2021-12-22). Haitian Asylum Seekers Sue U.S. Government for "Anti-Black Racism Within the Immigration System" democracynow.org A group of 11 Haitian asylum seekers is suing the Biden administration, accusing the U.S. government of physical abuse, racial discrimination and other rights violations when they were forced to shelter under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas. The class-action lawsuit comes after images of Border Patrol agents whipping Haitian asylum seekers from horseback went viral in September, drawing outrage from rights groups. The plaintiffs in the case are also demanding the U.S. government allow the return of the thousands of Haitian asylum seekers deported from the Del Rio encampment. Guerline Jozef, co-founder and executive di…

Amy Goodman (2021-12-22). Haitian Asylum Seekers Sue US Government for Racial Discrimination. truthout.org Image Credit: USA Today Network/Reuters | A group of 11 Haitian asylum seekers is suing the Biden administration, accusing the U.S. government of physical abuse, racial discrimination and other rights violations when they were forced to shelter under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas. The class-action lawsuit comes after images of Border Patrol agents whipping Haitian asylum seekers from horseback went viral in September, drawing outrage from rights groups. The plaintiffs in the case are also demanding the U.S.

Ediz Tiyansan (2021-12-22). California to be an abortion sanctuary state. america.cgtn.com The U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule on a landmark 1973 decision that has guaranteed a woman's right to an abortion for nearly 50 years. Many rights groups have called on California to prepare for the influx of millions of women from other states who may need assistance. …

John Catalinotto (2021-12-22). U.S./NATO threats heighten tension with Russia. workers.org Demonstration April 2019 in Washington, D.C., says 'No to NATO.' Washington has threatened economic and diplomatic sanctions against Russia over the conflict with Ukraine and has raised the possibility of military action. In an interview with Fox News Dec. 7, Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker even discussed U.S. troop intervention . . . |

Julie Hollar (2021-12-22). Media forget Afghan plight as US sanctions drive mass famine risk. nationofchange.org Afghan citizens have been plunged into a humanitarian crisis due in no small part to U.S. sanctions, but where is the outrage?>

Andrei Isaev (2021-12-22). Turkey on the lookout for allies. moderndiplomacy.eu The scaling down of the US presence in the Middle East and the possible strengthening of Iran's positions following the lifting of the American sanctions are forcing the leading regional powers to reset their relations with their neighbors. Above all, with Israel, the existential enemy of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), and with Syria, …

ecns.cn (2021-12-22). No 'forced labor' in Xinjiang: A revealing trip to U.S.-sanctioned silicon factory. ecns.cn The vast expanses of Gobi deserts in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are normally devoid of life, yet this is where numerous tall futuristic iron structures glow in the dark throughout the night.

2021-12-24 03:15 | 23:15 EST | jz | 29 | 0 | 19 | 9 | 0 

2021-12-22: News Headlines

Editor (2021-12-22). Chris Hedges on the Persecution of Julian Assange (Video). scheerpost.com In July 2010, Wikileaks published Cablegate, one of the biggest leaks in the history of the US military, including evidence for war crimes and torture. Julian Assange, the founder and spokesman of Wikileaks, immediately found himself a target, accused of hacking, and later sexual assault. He spent the next seven years in asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, fearful that he would be extradited to Sweden to face the accusations of assault and then sent to US. In 2019, Assange was handed over to the British police. On the same day, the US demanded his extradition. He faces up to 175 years in prison for…

WSWS (2021-12-22). Two Olympic boycotts: Human rights in the service of imperialist gangsterism. wsws.org The 1980 boycott of the Moscow games was bound up with the US agenda of weakening and fracturing the former Soviet Union, which is precisely the Biden administration's strategy toward China in its boycott of the Beijing Olympics.

Andrei Isaev (2021-12-22). Turkey on the lookout for allies. moderndiplomacy.eu The scaling down of the US presence in the Middle East and the possible strengthening of Iran's positions following the lifting of the American sanctions are forcing the leading regional powers to reset their relations with their neighbors. Above all, with Israel, the existential enemy of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), and with Syria, …

_____ (2021-12-21). New Program Is Secretly Privatizing Medicare. popularresistance.org A new program is placing Medicare recipients into private health insurance plans without their knowledge or consent in a final effort to fully privatize our national Medicare system. Known as "Direct Contract Entities (DCEs)," this program is putting more of our healthcare system into the hands of private equity to generate enormous profits at the expense of our health. Clearing the FOG speaks about this with Kay Tillow, a long time health care, civil rights and union activist. Tillow explains what these entities are, why they threaten the future of our entire healthcare system and how they block our ability to a…

Dr. Andrey KORTUNOV (2021-12-21). 8 Years Have Passed, Western Leaders' Lack of Vision Continues from Sochi to Beijing. moderndiplomacy.eu The US recently confirmed that it would not send any official or diplomatic representatives to the Winter Olympic Games and Paralympics in February 2022 due to China's alleged "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses." Make no mistake—this tough language does not imply a total boycott of the Games—US …

A Guest Author (2021-12-21). Have you been lied to about Xinjiang, human rights ‚àí and China? workers.org This statement was issued by the International Action Center (iacenter.org), posted at wp.me/p4Yme1-4Rf and available in PDF at wp.me/P4Yme1-4SF. Claiming that it is acting in defense of human rights, the U.S. tries to cover its own criminal record on internal human rights violations and its record of endless wars, assassinations, . . . |

Uzay Bulut (2021-12-21). Cyprus: Turkish Occupation and Unpunished Crimes Against Women and Children. moderndiplomacy.eu On December 16 and 17, Democracy Today, an NGO that focuses on human rights issues, organized its annual international conference in Armenia's capital of Yerevan. This was part of a cooperation with the Working Group (WG) on women and gender realities in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) region. This year's agenda …

Staff (2021-12-21). 5 Years for a Retweet: Egyptian Rights Activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah Sentenced by Emergency Court. democracynow.org An emergency court in Egypt has sentenced leading human rights activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah to an additional five years in prison on the charge of "spreading false news undermining national security" for sharing a post on Twitter. El-Fattah has been imprisoned since his arrest in September 2019, just six months after he was released following a five-year prison term for his role in the peaceful demonstrations of 2011 that led to the fall of Egypt's longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak. "Alaa wasn't even in the courtroom," says El-Fattah's aunt, the acclaimed Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif, who was in the courtroom at t…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-21). Hospitality workers on strike in Cambodia's biggest casino. peoplesdispatch.org Despite pressure from authorities, more than 1,300 workers in Phnom Penh's NagaWorld have been on strike against mass lay-offs and wage cuts. The entire leadership of the Labour Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld is among those laid off…

Patricia Ferrer (2021-12-21). President Maduro Congratulates Chile's Next President Gabriel Boric. orinocotribune.com Gabriel Boric was elected as president of Chile by the Apruebo Dignidad coalition. The 35-year old former student leader is the youngest president in the history of the country. In his term as a deputy, and during his campaign, Boric raised the issues of inclusion, decentralization and equal rights as cornerstones of his electoral campaign but questioned Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, repeating a familiar US and European imperialist narrative. | When the results were announced, Boric was immediately congratulated by his counterparts through the region. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro celebrated the election…

Staff (2021-12-21). "Shut Down Those Tanks": Anger Grows in Hawaii After U.S. Navy Fuel Site Contaminates Water. democracynow.org The United States Navy is facing growing calls to permanently shut down one of their fuel storage facilities in Hawaii after a petroleum leak contaminated the water supply that serves over 90,000 families around the naval base of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu. The storage site, called the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, has long been protested by environmental activists in part because of its location just 100 feet above the primary groundwater aquifer for Honolulu and the rest of Oahu. We speak with two Native Hawaiian guests: civil rights lawyer Camille Kalama and Kamanamaikalani Beamer, a former comm…

2021-12-22 10:28 | 06:28 EST | jz | 13 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0