(2020-03-02). Unions join Supreme Court battle against Louisiana reproductive rights restrictions. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON (PAI)—Declaring "a constitutional right that is not accessible because of state-imposed barriers is no right at all," a group of unions joined more than 60 other organizations in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Louisiana's tough restrictions on reproductive choice. In a friend-of-the-court brief authored by the National Women's Law Center, the unions …
(2020-03-02). Death Toll Rises in Iran, Middle East Epicenter of Coronavirus, Amid U.S. Sanctions & Gov't Negligence. democracynow.org 
The official coronavirus death toll in Iran, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, has risen to at least 54 — the highest number of fatalities outside of China, where the outbreak began. Experts say the real number of people who died from the disease may be as high as 200. This comes after Iran's deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, posted a video on social media last week acknowledging he contracted coronavirus. Just one day before, he seemed ill at a press conference, where he downplayed the spread of coronavirus in the city of Qom and said mass quarantines were unnecessary. Iran…
(2020-03-02). Indigenous Rights Are Human Rights! RCMP Out of Wet'suwet'en! counterpunch.org In the dark early morning on February 6, 2020, the RCMP violently raided Wet'suwet'en territory in Northern British Columbia, Canada. "They're invading our people again, starting in the wee hours of the morning, arresting people who have been providing food and medical supplies to our camps, who are camped out along the side of the
(2020-03-02). End Torture and Medical Neglect of Julian Assange. globalresearch.ca On Nov 22, 2019, we, a group of more than 60 medical doctors, wrote to the UK Home Secretary to express our serious concerns about the physical and mental health of Julian Assange.1 | In our letter,1 we documented a history …
(2020-03-02). Ex-Brazilian President Lula to Be Honored in Paris Ceremony. telesurenglish.net Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva, Brazilian ex-president, will receive the award "Paris's Citizen of Honor" this Monday, as the main event in his commitments agenda in the French capital. | RELATED: | This decoration is for those who advocate for human rights, equity, against poverty and on behalf of the oppressed. Lula's fight against social and economic inequities during his administration and as an activist were the…
(2020-03-02). Protest March Held in Jenin as Concerns Mount Over Detainees' Conditions. imemc.org In the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday, dozens of Palestinians gathered for a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian detainees inside Israeli jails. The demonstration was organized by the local Palestinian popular committee for lobbying the release Palestinian detainees, the Palestinian committee for detainees and freed detainees affairs and the …
(2020-03-02). US Court Blocks Lawsuit Over Mexican Child Killed at Border. telesurenglish.net The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday prevented the family of a murdered 16-year-old Mexican from filing a civil rights lawsuit against the border patrol agent who shot him dead. | RELATED: | Agent Lonnie Swartz killed Mexican citizen Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in 2012, after shooting the teenager from across the border in Arizona. | Swartz, standing on an embankment on U.S. soil, shot through a border fence and struck…
(2020-03-02). Ethiopia Detains 13 Canadians for Wrongly Practicing Medicine. telesurenglish.net Ethiopian authorities detained Friday a group of 13 Canadian health care workers on allegation they were practicing medicine without authorization in the African country and had distributed expired medication. | RELATED: | Ten Canadian volunteers, three Canadian staff members, and two Ethiopian staff members were taken into custody. | The group worked with Canadian Humanitarian, a non-profit organization ba…
(2020-03-02). New NAFTA Curtails Corporate Tribunals, But Loopholes Remain. truthout.org Improbably, the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that Congress passed in January guts the nefarious Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system, a development that has been largely left out of mainstream reporting on the deal. | ISDS empowers multinational corporations to sue governments before panels of three corporate lawyers to demand compensation for domestic policies they claim violate their investor rights. The lawyers can award the corporations unlimited sums to be paid by taxpayers,…
(2020-03-02). Invasion of Venezuela Would Be Trump's Worst Mistake: Cabello. telesurenglish.net Diosdado Cabello, President of the National Constituent Assembly of Venezuela, said that a military invasion of Venezuela could be qualified as the U.S.' "worst mistake". | RELATED: | In the context of the commemorative march on the occasion of the 31 years of El Caracazo, the severe popular repression in 1989, Cabello affirmed: "U.S. threats with more sanctions against Venezuela. I don ¥t know what else could do. The…
(2020-03-02). Duque Asks Trump For 'Stronger' Sanctions Against Venezuela. telesurenglish.net Colombian President Ivan Duque made a one-day visit to the United States Monday with a full agenda that included meeting with Donald Trump to request more attacks against Venezuela, announce the reinstatement of glyphosate fumigations, and to top it all off a keynote speech at the pro-Israeli lobby AIPAC conference. | RELATED: | During his meeting with Trump, Duque immediately began by attacking Venezuela…
(2020-03-02). Coronavirus Death Toll Rises in Iran Amid US Sanctions and Government Negligence. truthout.org The official coronavirus death toll in Iran, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, has risen to at least 54 — the highest number of fatalities outside of China, where the outbreak began. Experts say the real number of people who died from the disease may be as high as 200. This comes after Iran's deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, posted a video on social media last week acknowledging he contracted coronavirus. Just one day before, he seemed ill at a press c…
(2020-03-02). Use of religious beliefs to justify rights violations must be outlawed says UN expert. news.un.org Laws underpinned by religious conviction that discriminate against women and the LGBT+ community should be repealed, and gender-based violence carried out in the name of religion by non-State groups must be addressed, an independent UN expert said on Monday in a report presented to the Human Rights Council.
(2020-03-02). Civil Rights Advocates Shut Down Klobuchar Rally, Demanding Justice for Teen She Helped Sentence to Life in Prison. commondreams.org Civil rights organizations shut down Sen. Amy Klobuchar's planned rally outside Minneapolis on Sunday night after occupying the stage for more than an hour, demanding the senator address their concerns over her record as a former prosecutor. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-03-02). Refugee rights supporters rally for freedom outside detention hotel. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-03-01). Why are 1000s of Americans Being Detained for Dissent? dissidentvoice.org Author and civil rights attorney John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute joins Rick Sanchez to discuss the enduring effects of the PATRIOT Act and erosion of civil liberties in the US. He also explains "Operation Vigilant Eagle," a surveillance program to keep tabs on US veterans and track what they say online.
(2020-02-29). Protest demands reversal of decision in Chicago police torture survivor case. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – In an attack on the human rights movement to stop police torture in Chicago, a Cook County judge ordered a torture survivor back to prison for life on February 14. In doing so, Judge Thomas Hennelly ignored irrefutable X-ray evidence of Gerald Reed's torture at the hands of the infamous Jon Burge "midnight crew," flouted the findings of the governor-appointed Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission — which affirmed Gerald's claim of torture — and overturned the ruling of the judge formerly assigned to the case, who vacated Reed's original conviction before retiring. | In response to Hennel…
(2020-02-29). Fighting discrimination against women is key to beating AIDS. news.un.org "The struggle to beat AIDS is inseparable from the struggle for women's rights and from the struggle against all forms of discrimination". This is the message from Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, on Zero Discrimination Day, which falls on Sunday March 1. The theme of this year's Day is the fight against discrimination faced by women and girls, and the organization aims to raise awareness, mobilize action, and promote equality.
(2020-02-28). Weekend Read: 55 years after 'Bloody Sunday,' voting rights are still under attack. splcenter.org When they looked over the steel-arched crest of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, the voting rights activists knew there would be trouble.
(2020-02-28). Connecticut prison warning: Prolonged solitary confinement may 'amount to torture', UN expert warns. news.un.org The "excessive use" of solitary confinement by the prison service in the US state of Connecticut, prompted an independent UN human rights expert to voice alarm on Friday.
(2020-02-28). Prominent Iranian physician clears up misconceptions about outbreak & impact of sanctions. iranian.com Prominent Iranian physician & member of the Health Ministry Minoo Mohraz has for her part defended the health ministry's data but has also said the number of people infected has been underreported because sanctions had blocked access to diagnostic kits: twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409214… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409467… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409591… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409679… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233409919… twitter.com/SinaToossi/status/1233410030… twitter.co…
(2020-02-27). Headlines for February 27, 2020. democracynow.org Fears of Coronavirus Pandemic Grow as U.S. Cites First "Community Spread" of Pathogen, Trump Blames "Caronavirus" Fears on Democrats and Fake News Reporting, Trump Taps VP Mike Pence, Who's Blamed for Indiana HIV Outbreak, to Lead Coronavirus Response, Gunman Kills 5 at Molson Coors Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Physicians Group Calls U.S. Migrant Family Separations "Torture", U.S. Drops Charge Against Scott Warren, Who Aided Migrants Crossing Desert, House Approves Emmett Till Act to Make Lynching a Federal Hate Crime, Feds Arrest Five Neo-Nazis for Threatening Journalists and Activists, ABC Suspends David Wr…
(2020-02-27). Julian Assange, Political Offences and Legal Restraints: Day Three of Extradition Hearings. dissidentvoice.org Wednesday, February 26, Woolwich Crown Court. Today, the focus shifted to the protagonist himself and the nature of the US-UK Extradition Treaty of 2003, a contentious document that shines all too favourably for US citizens. Julian Assange, whose deteriorating condition has been noted for months by psychologists, doctors and UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Nils …
(2020-02-27). Myanmar: 'Multidimensional and long-standing' root causes behind rights minority abuses, says Bachelet. news.un.org The Human Rights Council on Thursday held an interactive dialogue with UN rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, on the root causes of violations and abuses suffered by the Rohingya mainly-Muslim minority and other minorities in Myanmar. She said the Government now has a historic opportunity to counteract systematic violations, "by bringing its people together, as one".
(2020-02-27). Defending Immigrants' Rights and Reproductive Freedom in the U.S. Supreme Court. aclu.org The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a number of cases this term that will have a crucial impact on civil rights and civil liberties — from LGBTQ equality to reproductive freedom and immigrants' rights. Earlier in the term, the ACLU had two cases asking whether workers can be fired for being LGBTQ. On March 2, we will be arguing a case on immigrants' rights, and we have filed or will file friend-of-the-court briefs in major cases involving reproductive freedom, contraceptive access, and religious freedom. | We sat down with David | Cole, the ACLU's national legal director, to discuss what's in store for the…
(2020-02-27). America's Iran Policy Backed Into a Corner By MEK in Albania. iranian.com Since well before President Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, the U.S. and Iran have been in a de facto state of non-military warfare with sanctions, economic sabotage, cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns and social media attacks the weapons of choice. Both countries have exploited conflict in the region, especially after the rise …
(2020-02-26). Family Separation, Two Years After Ms. L. aclu.org When the ACLU filed
(2020-02-26). Impunity persists for alleged violations in Occupied Palestinian Territories, UN Human Rights Council hears. news.un.org Justice is still absent for Palestinian demonstrators shot by Israeli soldiers during weekly protests in Gaza, the UN Human Rights Council heard on Wednesday.
(2020-02-26). Stopping the Anti-Abortion Ordinances of East Texas. aclu.org Waskom. | Naples. Joaquin. Tenaha. Rusk. Gary. Wells. These names might sound unfamiliar | now, but you'll be hearing more about them soon enough. | They | are seven cities in East Texas that, within the last several months, each | passed so-called "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinances — moves that are | blatantly unconstitutional. | Waskom, Texas was the
(2020-02-24). From Being Tortured in Sri Lanka to the U.S. Supreme Court. aclu.org 
On a frigid day in early February, Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam | stands under an awning on a street corner in lower Manhattan along with one of | his attorneys, Celso Perez of the ACLU. Both are bundled in heavy winter | jackets. Perez is holding his phone up and squinting as he concentrates on the | tinny voice of a translator emanating from its speaker. | "I want them to be aware that you're traveling," Perez says | into the phone. | The voice on the other line translates what Perez said into | Tamil, the native language of Sri Lanka's largest ethnic minority. Thuraissigiam, | heavyset in his late 40s with a…
(2020-02-21). Weekend Read: SPLC files civil rights complaints as asylum seekers wage hunger strikes. splcenter.org …
(2020-02-20). We won a major victory for voting rights. splcenter.org …
(2020-02-08). Iraq and Russia Prepare to Boost Military Ties as US Threatens Sanctions. theantimedia.com Iraq and Russia are preparing for deepening military coordination.
(2020-02-02). SPLC and the SPLC Action Fund Hire Internationally Renowned Human and Civil Rights Leader as New President and CEO. splcenter.org Margaret Huang brings 25 years of experience advocating against discrimination and oppression around the world.
(2019-06-25). Peace Action Endorses Ilhan Omar for Congress. peaceaction.org Washington, DC — June 25, 2019 — Peace Action has announced its endorsement of Ilhan Omar for Congress in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District. Peace Action is a national grassroots organization working to advance nuclear disarmament, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights, and support nonmilitary …
(2019-06-24). Peace Action Endorses Kara Eastman for Congress. peaceaction.org Washington, DC — June 24, 2019 — Peace Action has announced its endorsement of Kara Eastman for Congress in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District. Peace Action is a national grassroots organization working to advance nuclear disarmament, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights, and support nonmilitary …