(2020-06-21). Global ban needed on bogus 'conversion therapy', argues UN rights expert. news.un.org "Conversion therapy" is built on the false premise that it can alter the sexual orientation of gender diverse people, and many more countries around the world need to recognize its "dehumanizing" and deeply corrosive impact, according to a UN report that's before the UN Human Rights Council this month.
(2020-06-21). Monday 6/22: Educators For Black Sanctuary. indybay.org 1000 Broadway, downtown Oakland…
(2020-06-20). Oakland: Restraining Order Restricts Teargas, Flashbangs And Projectiles. popularresistance.org On June 18, 2020, at 1 pm, an Oakland judge issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and Order to Show Cause against the Oakland Police Department. The order was filed by civil rights attorneys Dan Siegel and Walter Riley and National Lawyers Guild – San Francisco Bay Area attorney James Burch. | This initial victory is part of a larger lawsuit by the attorneys on behalf of two organizational plaintiffs, Anti Police-Terror Project and Community Ready Corps, and individual plaintiffs, Oakland Tech student Akil Riley and protestors Ian Mcdonnell, Nico Nada, Azize Ngo, and Jennifer Li on behalf of themselves and s…
(2020-06-20). How the Supreme Court undermined the Black vote. nationofchange.org Black Americans braved police violence at Selma and galvanized support for the Voting Rights Act. Fifty years later, the Supreme Court's Shelby decision ushered in a new era of racially targeted voter suppression.
(2020-06-20). At Least 5.6 Million Palestinians Live in Refugee Camps. telesurenglish.net On the World Refugee Day (June 20), human rights defenders recalled that 5.6 million Palestinians survive as refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank. | RELATED: | They represent more than a fifth of all people with this legal status worldwide, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). | The origin of the diaspora of this Arab people began in 1948 when the…
(2020-06-20). 'Shell must not get away with this': Niger Delta still waiting for big oil to clean up devastating pollution. nationofchange.org Titled "No Clean-Up, No Justice," the new report explains that for "more than five decades, the people of Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, have struggled against oil pollution, destruction of the environment and human rights violations."
(2020-06-20). Turkey rejects UN group's claims on activities in Libya. yenisafak.com Turkey has rejected "unfounded" allegations by the UN Human Rights Special Procedures."We reject the unfounded and unfortunate allegations in the press release of the UN Human Rights Special Procedures," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.Aksoy said Turkey, extending its support to the internationally recognized Libyan government upon its request and pursuant to UN resolutions, emphasized from the very beginning that there was no military solution to the conflict in Libya."In this context, Turkey spares no effort to ensure a lasting and sustainable ceasefire and to reinvigorate the politica…
(2020-06-20). Libya says 190 bodies found in mass graves by Haftar. yenisafak.com The Libyan army said Saturday 190 corpses have been found in mass graves south of Tripoli and the city of Tarhuna since June 5. | In a statement, the army said 106 bodies, including children and women, were found with signs of torture inside a hospital morgue in Tarhuna on June 5. | A further 37 bodies were found in another hospital in the city, of which 14 corpses were identified, the military said. | According to the statement, 15 additional bodies were found in Qasr bin Ghashir area, south of Tripoli. The military said those bodies belonged to persons kidnapped by militia of warlord Khalifa Haftar. | The remai…
(2020-06-20). Turkish sailors freed after 3-month captivity in Eritrea. yenisafak.com Three Turkish sailors on a world tour detained in the East African country of Eritrea were freed Saturday as a result of Ankara's intervention.Selim Ekmekcioglu, Ibrahim Ignak and Erman Lutfu Atamer regained their freedom under the instruction of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the intervention of Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, according to diplomatic sources.Seyda Ekmekcioglu told Anadolu Agency that her husband called her to say they had been freed."I spoke to my husband for the first time today since April 25. H sounded fine. He said their condition was very good and that they were treated very well in…
(2020-06-20). Friday 6/26: United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. indybay.org Advocacy for Humankind is Hosting an Event for United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
(2020-06-20). Finally, the EU and Trump See Eye-to-Eye on One International Policy: China. strategic-culture.org Both Trump and the EU are turning on China for very similar reasons but with different timescales ahead of them. The West still struggles with what it requires from China and whether it wants to get rich and become a big spender, or become poorer and flood western markets with cheaper and cheaper goods. Expect more devaluation of the Yuan. | EU is "rebalancing this relationship" with China. EU ambassador to the UK Joà£o Vale de Almeida tells Chatham House. It's not about "isolating" or "ganging up" on China, but it's about addressing issues. We have different systems of values on human rights and other area…
(2020-06-19). European Court of Human Rights Upholds Right to Boycott Israel. ahtribune.com 
"Criminal conviction of activists involved in the BDS campaign boycotting products imported from Israel had no relevant and sufficient grounds and violated their freedom of expression" | That is the heading on the 11 June 2020 press statement from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), announcing that it had overturned the conviction by a French court of eleven individuals for engaging in BDS activity. | The Court ruled that their conviction violated Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights — the right to freedom of expression — which states: | "Everyone has the right to freedom o…
(2020-06-19). UN Sets up Inquiry Into Racism After George Floyd's Death. telesurenglish.net The U.N. Human Rights Council Friday condemned discriminatory and violent policing after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month and ordered a report on "systemic racism" against Black people. | RELATED: | The 47-member-state forum unanimously adopted a resolution brought by African countries and which asks U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to examine government responses to peaceful protests,…
(2020-06-19). Mexico: Enforced Disappearances at Anti-Police Brutality Rally. telesurenglish.net Mexico's Jalisco State Human Rights Commission (CEDHJ) Thursday denounced police brutality during protests demanding justice for Giovanni Lopez in early June. | RELATED: | "At least eight minors and four women were arbitrarily and violently deprived of their liberty, besides the kidnappings that have not yet been fully determined," CEDHJ states. | On June 4, the citizens of Guadalajara marched towards the local government's hea…
(2020-06-19). Policing Protest: the Dangers of Media Bias During Urban Uprisings. counterpunch.org Peter Blackmer is a Research Fellow at the Detroit Equity Action Lab, an initiative of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State University Law School.
(2020-06-19). Twin Histories: Segregation and Police Violence in Minneapolis. counterpunch.org 
George Floyd's murder tape gives sight, if you look closely, of a world little-named in pieces on his killing. Sustained police savagery marks this world, one city bureaucrats worked, long ago, to segregate, and more recently to keep that way. It is Minneapolis. And knowing its linked police and housing histories is crucial to making sense of today's protests. These histories show a city saturated in violence—state-sanctioned violence.
(2020-06-19). The UAW's Juneteenth stunt. wsws.org If the UAW has suddenly "discovered" its opposition to discrimination, it is only in order to use race in order to divert workers' anger along harmless, officially sanctioned forms of protests.
(2020-06-19). Trump retweets his critic Max Blumenthal, who changes handle to slogans like 'US sanctions kill kids' for Trump audience to read. rt.com 
On Thursday, followers of Donald Trump's Twitter feed were able to read scathing criticisms of the US president, thanks to a careless retweet of a post by journalist Max Blumenthal, who seized the chance to weaponize his name. | The trolling session of the US troll-in-chief started with Blumenthal attacking former US National Security Advisor John Bolton and the left-wing figures lionizing him for writing a book that makes his former boss look bad. | John Bolton, a notoriously mendacious enemy of all living beings on the planet, is discovering what every other great Republican hope of the Resistance has: liber…
(2020-06-19). Latino groups, AFL-CIO hail Supreme Court's pro-DACA decision. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON—Immigrant rights groups, the AFL-CIO and other human rights organizations hailed the U.S. Supreme Court's June 18 decision which effectively leaves in place the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and blocks President Donald Trump's long campaign to end DACA and toss its 700,000 recipients — the Dreamers — out of the country. …
(2020-06-19). High Court says California can stay a sanctuary state. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON—By a 7-2 vote, but without a written decision being issued, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled California can stay a sanctuary state for undocumented people — a position the state's union movement strongly pushed to passage several years ago. Technically, the justices rejected the anti-Hispanic anti-migrant GOP Trump regime's demand the justices hear the …
(2020-06-19). Trump Signed a Bill Calling for Sanctions Against China's So-called "Treatment of Uighurs" globalresearch.ca Leaked excerpts from the upcoming memoir The Room Where It Happened has made stunning allegations against U.S. President Donald Trump. Former U.S. National Security Advisor, John Bolton, claims in his book that Trump attempted to interfere in a …
(2020-06-19). United Nations calls for reparations to confront legacy of slavery and colonialism. peoplesworld.org 
GENEVA—Reparations should be paid and countries must confront the legacy of slavery and colonialism to better understand continuing "systematic discrimination," according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. She was speaking at the UN session in Geneva on Wednesday in an urgent debate in response to the killing of George Floyd at the …
(2020-06-19). Human Rights Council calls on top UN rights official to take action on racist violence. news.un.org The UN's top rights official, Michelle Bachelet, is to spearhead efforts to address systemic racism against people of African descent by law enforcement agencies, the Human Rights Council decided on Friday. The resolution — decided unanimously without a vote – follows a rare Urgent Debate in the Council earlier in the week, requested by the African group of nations, following the death of George Floyd in the US state of Minnesota.
(2020-06-19). Free Muntaqim, Mutulu and all U.S. political prisoners! workers.org 
Two prisoner liberation movements in the U.S. have finally awakened people to the fact that there are political prisoners in the U.S. The first is the international outcry during COVID-19 letting the world know that people are being held in prisons, jails and detention centers without personal protective equipment, adequate . . . |
(2020-06-19). Yemen: Saudi Airstrike Kills Four Children as UN Removes Kingdom From List of Child Killers. mintpressnews.com 
Adrianne Lapar, director of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict said the decision "sends the message that powerful actors can get away with killing children."
(2020-06-19). The Caesar Act: The Latest Western Attack on Syria Didn't Drop From a Plane. mintpressnews.com 
As Syria struggles to recover from over a decade of US-imposed conflict, it faces a new deadly threat in the form of sweeping sanctions under the Caesar Act.
(2020-06-19). 'Adverse consequences': UK, France & Germany warn against further US sanctions on Iran, but want weapons embargo to remain. rt.com 
Britain, France and Germany have jointly warned against the US imposing further sanctions on Iran, saying it would have "adverse consequences" at UN level, though they agree an embargo on arms sales should remain in place. | "We firmly believe that any unilateral attempt to trigger UN sanctions snapback would have serious adverse consequences in the UN Security Council," their joint statement read; it was released following a meeting between the nations in Berlin. | They also said sanctions against Iran would be "incompatible" with the Iran nuclear deal, which the nations are looking to "preserve." They say th…
(2020-06-19). 'Proud': Episodes of the long march for LGBTQ rights in France. peoplesworld.org 
Timed for release during LGBTQ Pride Month, the 2018 French "episodic cinema" Proud (Fiertés in French) is now available for a wider viewing in the United States opening on June 19 in virtual cinema in select cities though Kino Marquee. Proud consists of three episodes, each about 50 minutes in duration, focusing on the evolution …
(2020-06-19). Barbaric U.S. Sanctions on Syria Are Futile Extension of Failed Regime-Change War. strategic-culture.org A total blockade of war-torn Syria is the desired effect of sweeping new sanctions imposed this week by the United States. The purpose is to prevent the Arab nation from achieving reconstruction and international normalization after suffering nearly a decade of war. | Washington's objective is to make regime change in Damascus inevitable by making social conditions in the country as unbearable for the population as it possibly can. | With cruel Orwellian irony, the American sanctions implemented this week bear the words "Syria Civilian Protection Act". | The U.S. legislation was passed by both parties in the Cong…
(2020-06-19). Hong Kong: Draft law on national security must comply with rights obligations. news.un.org The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday that her office was closely following developments as China's top legislative body, the National People's Congress, holds talks on a proposed national security law for Hong Kong.
(2020-06-19). 22 Children Get COVID-19 at El Salvador's Public Centers. telesurenglish.net The El Salvador University's Institute of Human Rights (DHUES) Thursday denounced that 22 minors became ill with COVID-19 while they were in the custody of public institutions. | RELATED: | "Twenty-two children and adolescents from the Social Integration Complex for Children and Adolescents (CISNA) had tested positive for COVID-19," the DHUES reported. | "We call on the President, the Health Health, and the National…
(2020-06-19). ICE Detention Centers Are Covid-19 Hotbeds. thenation.com ICE Detention Centers Are Covid-19 Hotbeds…
(2020-06-19). Detention of HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas is violation of rights, says top Turkish court. peoplesdispatch.org The Turkish constitutional court said the detention of Selahattin Demirtas is in violation of his rights to liberty and security provided by the country's constitution. He has been in jail since November 2016…
(2020-06-19). America's Intifada Must Dig Deeper. counterpunch.org Palestinians' sustained struggle for freedom and independence offers many lessons The murder of George Floyd and the White House's mishandling (to put it politely) of the COVID-19 pandemic may be providing the perfect toxic storm to fix America. The road to creating an equitable American society will be long and hard, but the U.S. civil rights
(2020-06-19). Amazon Unveils Augmented Reality to Enforce Social Distancing in New Norm for Corporate America. mintpressnews.com Amazon has started testing on several social distancing technologies following demands for public safety amid COVID-19 and the intrusive changes will likely have a permanent effect on workers' rights to privacy.
(2020-06-19). Johnson government reneges on waiving health surcharges on NHS workers from overseas. wsws.org What is being demanded by migrant NHS workers is not preferential treatment, but rights that should be extended to all overseas workers.
(2020-06-19). Reverse Logic: Trump Sanctions the International Criminal Court. globalresearch.ca The decision by the Trump administration to sanction members of the International Criminal Court defies logic, in so far as there is any logic to sanctions. As a policy tool, such tools are supposedly designed to target specific members of …
(2020-06-19). Iran to Reinforce Economic Ties With Syria Despite US Sanctions. telesurenglish.net Iran's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Abas Musavi Thursday condemned the new sanctions imposed by the United States against Syria and indicated that his nation will strengthen its economic relations with the Arab country. | RELATED: | "Iran does not validate unilateral sanctions and considers them expressions of the U.S. government's economic terrorism, which affects the people of Syria and seeks to destabil…
(2020-06-19). The US "Caesar's Law" Sanctions Regime against Syria. How It Will Affect Lebanon: Israel Will be Targeted. globalresearch.ca The enactment of "
(2020-06-19). UK, France, And Germany Refuse To Endorse US Sanctions on Iran. telesurenglish.net The UK, France, and Germany Friday stated that they would not support the U.S to unilaterally push for reimposing United Nations' sanctions against Iran. | RELATED: | As part of the Comprehensive Joint Action Plan (CJAP), Iran is subject to a UN weapons embargo, which will expire in October. Even when the U.S withdrew from CJAP in 2018, they seek to extend it. | In case the UN Security Council does not agree to the extension, the U.S threate…
(2020-06-19). Why Is the US Still Sanctioning Syria? Beijing Pressures Washington. globalresearch.ca Chinese media highlighted a recent plea by Beijing to the US to lift sanctions against Syria. | China's CGTN in an article titled, " A Chinese envoy on …
(2020-06-19). Turkey neutralizes three terrorists in N. Iraq operation. yenisafak.com Turkish army on Friday neutralized three terrorists as part of Operation Claw-Tiger in northern Iraq, security sources said.Operation Claw-Tiger is being carried out in line with Turkey's legitimate defense rights arising from the international law, and is oriented against the PKK and other terrorist elements that have recently escalated harassment and attacks on Turkish security posts and base areas, threatening the security of border and civilians.The operation is continuing successfully.Operation Claw-Tiger, launched right after Operation Claw-Eagle, has been destroying terrorist targets in Haftanin, northern…
(2020-06-19). EU extends sanctions on Russia: Merkel. yenisafak.com EU leaders have agreed to extend diplomatic and economic sanctions against Russia for another six months, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday. | Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, after a videoconference meeting of EU leaders, Merkel criticized Russia for not taking sufficient steps to implement the 2015 Minsk agreement, aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine. | "In today's European Council meeting we decided to extend these sanctions for another six months," Merkel said. | The sanctions were first imposed in 2014 in response to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and were later expand…
(2020-06-19). Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif Urges E3 to 'State Publicly What They Admit Privately'. sputniknews.com The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a treaty covering Iran's nuclear program, included seven countries and was signed in 2015, envisaging Tehran curbing its nuclear research programs in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. However, the decision by the Trump administration to leave the agreement in 2018 put the plan at risk.
(2020-06-19). Arara People of Brazilian Amazon 'Very Worried' as Vulnerable Tribe Faces Highest Known Covid-19 Infection Rate in Region. commondreams.org As criticism of far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's response to the coronavirus pandemic continues to stack up, global Indigenous rights advocates and the Arara people are raising new concerns that the crisis could devastate the recently-contacted tribe in the Xingu basin of the Amazon rainforest. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-06-18). "Tear Gas Is a Weapon": Amnesty Report Reveals Police Use of Tear Gas Fuels Rights Abuses Worldwide. democracynow.org 
As police officers in nearly 100 U.S. cities and towns have fired tear gas on protesters in recent weeks and left many with severe injuries, a new Amnesty International report finds the use of tear gas continues to grow each year, and fuels police human rights violations against peaceful protesters on a global scale. "Everywhere we look, police are just very quick to use tear gas, which is not a safe product and can cause real injuries," says Brian Castner, senior crisis adviser on arms and military operations for Amnesty International.
(2020-06-18). Chile: Human Rights Defenders Claim Justice for Blind Student. telesurenglish.net In Chile, human rights defenders asked the Prosecutors' Office to carry out investigations into police brutality in the case of Gustavo Gatica, who lost his sight in the 2019 protests.. | RELATED: | "Initially the Police's investigation concluded that those responsible cannot be identified but, according to the Prosecutor's Office's investigation, bullets extracted from Gustavo coincide with the ammunition used by the Police," Amnesty Int…
(2020-06-18). Civil Rights Class Action Filed in Reponse to Oakland Police Abuses of George Floyd Protesters. indybay.org "It was so heartening to see so many young Black people expressing their outrage and wanting to be part of the change, and they were attacked by our police department, that tells them 'don't come out here, because we will make your life hard, we will hurt you if you organize, we will hurt you if you say that there is anything wrong with society.'" | — Walter Riley…
(2020-06-18). Crippling new sanctions punish Syrian civilians for US defeat in proxy war. thegrayzone.com As Syria tries to recover from a nearly decade-long war, the US has imposed crippling new sanctions under the Caesar…
(2020-06-18). United States Supreme Court Upholds Immigrant Rights by Ruling Rescinded DACA Program As Unlawful. commondreams.org ______________________________…