(2022-01-15). [Correspondence] The UK People's Covid Inquiry. thelancet.com The People's Covid Inquiry anticipated that any official public investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic would be much delayed. It was a citizens' tribunal —ie, part legal proceedings, part theatre, part publicly speaking truth to power—aimed at raising issues to more visible levels than government or the media were prepared to do on their own. The renowned human rights barrister, Michael Mansfield, acted as chair. A final report in December, 2021, set out conclusions and recommendations on the basis of the evidence collected.
(2022-01-15). Enduring Stain: The Guantánamo Military Prison Turns Twenty. dissidentvoice.org Anniversaries for detention centres, concentration camps and torture facilities are not the relishable calendar events in the canon of human worth. But not remembering them, when they were used, and how they continue being used, would be unpardonable amnesia. On January 11, 2002, the first prisoners of the absurdly named "War on Terror", declared with …
(2022-01-15). COVID-19 cases surge 340 percent among ICE detainees in one week. wsws.org According to the most recent federal data, an estimated 1,254 people currently held in US immigrant detention centers have tested positive for COVID-19.
(2022-01-14). "Smoking Gun" Analysis Finds US Sanctions Produce "War Time" Economy in Venezuela. thegrayzone.com Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with Francisco R. Rodríguez, the Executive of Oil for Venezuela, about a study he recently published which analyzed the impact of US sanctions on Venezuela's economy. Rodríguez shares data which prove sanctions have directly contributed to a major economic contraction in Venezuela, driven mainly by a significant drop in the country's oil production as a result of the measures. Rodríguez also addresses common arguments made by individuals who seek to obscure the impact …
(2022-01-14). Colombia: "In Arauca We Have Suffered Every Form of War" libya360.wordpress.com Colombia Informa Colombia's Arauca department is one of the most heavily militarized in the country, in addition to being home to several transnational oil extraction projects. Photo: Colombia Informa Amid an escalation in the armed conflict in the border region of Arauca, social leader and human rights defender Sonia López discusses the broader context of…
(2022-01-14). ALBA-TCP Rejects New Illegal Sanctions Imposed on Nicaragua by US & EU. orinocotribune.com The member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America-Peoples Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) strongly condemned the new aggression of the United States government and its European allies against the people and institutions of Nicaragua. | Through an official statement, the nations of the ALBA-TCP regional bloc responded to the recent announcement of fresh unilateral coercive measures by the US and the EU council. Like other acts of economic warfare waged against Nicaragua by the US, EU, and other allies, including Canada, these aggressive measures are not corroborated by United Nations decisions,…
(2022-01-14). Ugandans Escalate Movement Of 'Radical Rudeness' Following Violent Arrest Over Mean Tweet. popularresistance.org "Men with guns are breaking my door. They say they're policemen but are not in uniform. I've locked myself inside." | This was the final Facebook post by Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, 2021 winner of the PEN Pinter International Writer of Courage Award, on Dec. 28. Within minutes of his post, Rukirabashaija was abducted by Uganda's Special Forces Command, a military outfit notorious for torturing nonviolent activists. | Rukirabashaija — author of a political allegory novel and an autobiographical book detailing his previous torture — has only surfaced once since his brutal kidnapping. When his lawyer Eron K…
(2022-01-14). Family of Wichita, Kansas teenager Cedric Lofton demands justice after his death in juvenile detention. wsws.org An autopsy report released in December found 17-year-old Cedric Lofton sustained life-threatening injuries after being arrested by Wichita police. The autopsy firmly ruled his death as a homicide, contradicting previous reports.
(2022-01-14). Call in Support of Indigenous Prisoner Rights at USP Victorville. itsgoingdown.org Call-in campaign to support Indigenous prisoners at USP Victoriville. Originally posted to Free Oso Blanco. Artwork: Scalp Warrior, by OB with Bear & White Eyes, 2016 Stand with Indigenous prisoners at USP Victorville! Tell BOP prison officials and staff to respect Native religious rights and practices! On behalf of all Native and Indigenous prisoners held…
(2022-01-14). Try Harder: Biden Makes His Case For Voting Rights. moguldom.com I remember sitting in a meeting many years ago when I was serving in a counselor role for a school. I and a few other staff members were called into a meeting by the principal to discuss how to support students who were "at-risk" for failing for the year. When working for another school as …
(2022-01-14). Congressional Democrats maintain pretense as Biden concedes defeat on voting rights bill. wsws.org In response to the right-wing onslaught against democratic rights, President Biden has combined inflated rhetoric with empty gestures.
(2022-01-14). Headlines for January 14, 2022. democracynow.org Voting Rights Bills Appear Doomed in Senate as Sinema & Manchin Oppose Filibuster Change, Supreme Court Strikes Down Vaccination-or-Test Mandate for 84 Million U.S. Workers, White House Orders Another Half-Billion Coronavirus Tests for U.S. Residents, New York Mayor Considering Virtual Learning Option as COVID-19 Cases Surge in Classrooms, Head of Oath Keepers Among 11 Charged with Seditious Conspiracy over Jan. 6 Insurrection, RNC May Try to Block Future Candidates from Presidential Debates, U.N. Calls for Urgent Funding to Avert Millions of Deaths in Afghanistan, Specter of War Remains After Talks Fail to Resol…
(2022-01-14). "Who We Are": New Film Chronicles History of Racism in America Amid Growing Attack on Voting Rights. democracynow.org 
As the United States heads into the Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend, attempts by Democrats to pass major new voting rights legislation appear to have stalled. We examine the new award-winning documentary "Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America," which follows civil rights attorney Jeffery Robinson as he confronts the enduring legacy of anti-Black racism in the United States, weaving together examples from the U.S. Constitution, education system and policing. "The entire purpose of this film is to ask people to take a long hard look at our actual history of white supremacy and anti-Black racism," says…
(2022-01-14). Monday 1/17: Civil Rights Through Art and Music w/ MoAD. indybay.org Online event (FREE)…
(2022-01-14). "Bastille 2022": Building a Worldwide Movement Against "Corona Tyranny" globalresearch.ca Bastille 2022 pertains to the restoration of fundamental rights. It seeks to reverse the criminal COVID-19 agenda which in the course of the last two years has triggered economic, social and political chaos Worldwide, coupled with bankruptcies, unemployment, mass poverty and despair.
(2022-01-14). Nicaragua In The Multipolar World. popularresistance.org The United States and the European Union announced new sanctions on the day that Daniel Ortega was inaugurated as president of Nicaragua. The move was not surprising, given that the United States congress passed the RENACER Act one week before elections which were held on November 7. | The people of Nicaragua have acted in defiance of the United States ever since the 1979 revolution. First, Ronald Reagan used reactionary forces, the Contras, as proxies in an attempt to destroy the new government. The Reagan administration mined Nicaragua's harbors and fomented a war which cost an estimated 30,000 lives. The Unite…
(2022-01-14). Iran no longer has concerns over oil sales: Raeisi. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 14 (MNA) — President Ebrahim Raeisi says that while his administration wants to make sure the sanctions are lifted, it has no worries over the sale of oil anymore.
(2022-01-14). Afghanistan in Freefall: Deadly U.S. Sanctions Blamed for Shocking Humanitarian Crisis. democracynow.org 
As Afghanistan faces a dire humanitarian crisis, we look at how more Afghans may die from U.S. sanctions than at the hands of the Taliban. The U.S.'s attempts to block support for the new de facto government have prevented vital funding from flowing to the nation's civil servants, particularly in education and the health sector. Dr. Paul Spiegel says conditions in the hospitals he visited in Kabul as part of a World Health Organization emergency team are rapidly deteriorating, and he describes the lack of heat and basic amenities as winter descended. "There's been a drought. There's food insecurity. And all of th…
(2022-01-14). Enemy needs agreement more than Iran does in talks: cleric. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 14 (MNA) — Tehran's Provisional Friday Prayers Leader Hojjatoleslam Haj Ali Akbari called on the negotiators to courageously neutralize the enemy's plots in the Vienna talks on the removal of the US sanctions.
(2022-01-14). More Afghans May Die From US Sanctions Than at the Hands of the Taliban. truthout.org 
As Afghanistan faces a dire humanitarian crisis, we look at how more Afghans may die from U.S. sanctions than at the hands of the Taliban. The U.S.'s attempts to block support for the new de facto government have prevented vital funding from flowing to the nation's civil servants, particularly in education and the health sector. Dr. Paul Spiegel says conditions in the hospitals he visited in Kabul as part of a World Health Organization emergency team are rapidly deteriorating, and he describes the la…