2019-05-29: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

'Criminalizing Compassion': Trial Begins for Humanitarian Facing 20 Years in Prison for Giving Water to Migrants in Arizona Desert
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-05-29
Human rights advocates accused the U.S. Justice Department of "criminalizing compassion" as a federal trial began in Arizona Wednesday for activist Scott Warren, who faces up to 20 years in prison for providing humanitarian aid to migrants in the desert. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……
commondreams.org/news/2019/05/29/criminalizing-compassion-trial-begins-humanitarian-facing-20-years-prison-giving?cd-origin=rss

Egypt rejects charges of human rights violations in North Sinai
CGTN Africa | cgtn.com | 2019-05-29
The Egyptian army denounced on Tuesday a report by the Human Rights Watch accusing the army of alleged human rights violations during anti-terror operations in the North Sinai province. | FILE — Egyptian army troops — Reuters | Egyptian military spokesman Tamer al-Refae told the official news agency MENA that some politicized organizations seek to tarnish the image of Egypt and its army through "fabricating" such reports. | Refae said the Egyptian army takes into consideration the international human rights standards on protecting civilians during the operations, by carrying out airstrikes on target…
africa.cgtn.com/2019/05/29/egypt-rejects-charges-of-human-rights-violations-in-north-sinai/

Wikileaks Confirms Assange Moved to Prison Medical Area
telesurenglish.net | 2019-05-29
Wikileaks issued a statement about the "grave health concerns" they have over Julian Assange who is currently being held in Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom and confirmed that he has been moved to the health ward. | RELATED | US Announces 17 New Charges Against Julian Assange | According to the statement, Assange's health "had already significantly deteriorated after seven years in the Ecuadorean embassy" in London "under conditions that were incompatible with human rights." | The st…
telesurenglish.net/news/Wikileaks-Confirms-Assange-Moved-to-Prison-Medical-Area-20190529-0015.html

National Civil Rights Group Condemns Senator McConnell's Statement Regarding the Filling of a Supreme Court Vacancy in the 2020 Election Cycle
commondreams.org | 2019-05-29
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/29/national-civil-rights-group-condemns-senator-mcconnells-statement-regarding?cd-origin=rss

Interfaith Activists Push for Reproductive Justice
Erik Gunn | progressive.org | 2019-05-29
Less visible, but no less vocal than anti-abortion groups, are religiously-grounded defenders of strong and expansive reproductive rights…
progressive.org/dispatches/interfaith-activists-push-for-reproductive-justice-Gunn-190529/

Ban on Gay Dating App Grindr a Blow for Sexual Rights and Freedom in Lebanon
commondreams.org | 2019-05-29
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/29/ban-gay-dating-app-grindr-blow-sexual-rights-and-freedom-lebanon?cd-origin=rss

Prominent Dems introduce anti-forced arbitration bill
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2019-05-29
WASHINGTON–Prominent congressional Democrats, including the chair of the relevant House committee and eight presidential hopefuls, want to negate the Supreme Court's ruling that mandates company-friendly forced arbitration that overrides workers' rights. The Restoring Justice for Workers Act, unveiled by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott, D-Va., …
peoplesworld.org/article/prominent-dems-introduce-anti-forced-arbitration-bill/

The Government Needs to Get a Warrant if It Wants Access to Our Private Health Information
aclu.org | 2019-05-29
Choosing between obtaining health care and giving up one's privacy rights is no choice at all. | The Drug Enforcement Administration is once again trying to access private prescription records of patients — this time in New Hampshire — without a warrant, despite a state law to the contrary. Today the ACLU filed a brief in support of the state of New Hampshire's fight to defend the privacy of our sensitive medical information against unwarranted searches by law enforcement. | New Hampshire — like 48 other states, the…
aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/medical-and-genetic-privacy/government-needs-get-warrant-if-it-wants-access

ACLU Lawyer: "Abortion Today Is Still Legal in All 50 States" Despite Draconian Anti-Choice Bills
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2019-05-29
As states around the country ramp up their attacks on reproductive rights, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to rule on an Indiana law that would bar abortions based on the sex, race or disability of the fetus. The decision will keep in place a lower court's injunction on the measure. However, the Supreme Court decided to allow Indiana's so-called fetal burial law to go into effect, which stipulates that abortion clinics must dispose of fetal remains either through burial or cremation. The measure was signed into law by then-Governor Mike Pence in 2016. We speak with Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, senior staff attorney…
www.democracynow.org/2019/5/29/aclu_lawy…

Center for Constitutional Rights Launches Open Records Project
commondreams.org | 2019-05-29
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/29/center-constitutional-rights-launches-open-records-project?cd-origin=rss

Raising Some Issues at Oral Communications
Robert Norse & Alicia Kuhl | indybay.org | 2019-05-29
Continued delay and inaction on providing homeless shelter and services (to say nothing of civil rights) for homeless folks was the silent part of yesterday's Santa Cruz City Council agenda. Several of us raised issues at Oral Communications…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/05/29/18823656.php

Six Children Have Died While in ICE Custody — Why?
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-05-29
Undocumented immigrants seeking asylum are being separated from their children and detained in prison camps as more restrictive racist policies are being imposed by Trump. We discuss the policy with the Border Rights Center Director of ACLU Texas, Astrid Dominguez…
therealnews.com/stories/six-children-have-died-while-in-ice-custody-why

London: Diaspora Ugandans Protest Deadly Lawless Land-grabs By Country's Dictator Gen. Museveni For "Investors"
Special To The Black Star News | blackstarnews.com | 2019-05-29
Ugandan Diaspora in U.K. protest the deadly lawless regime land-grabs for foreign investors in their homeland. | [Comment: Open Letter] | Statement by Ugandans in the United Kingdom Demanding End to Land Grabs and Evictions. | 28 May 2019, London | | Ugandans in Britain held a demonstration at the Uganda High Commission in central London on 28 May 2019 and called for rights to land and against seizures. | The protest followed high profile cases of evictions by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, including Uganda police and military, known as the UPDF (Uganda Peoples Defense Force) killings, shooting and arrests of…
www.blackstarnews.com/global-politics/gl…

In San Jose, Protesters Call for Preservation of Abortion Rights
Text: RR Photos: Aria Barajas | indybay.org | 2019-05-29
"If You're Against Abortions Have a Vasectomy" and other placards at protest in San Jose on May 21. | Photos by: Aria Barajas, ProBonoPhoto. Please credit the author. Non-commercial use only.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/05/26/18823619.php

More than 120,000 Missing People in Colombia
plenglish.com | 2019-05-29
Bogota, May 29 (Prensa Latina) In the framework of the world commemoration of the Week of Detained-Missing People, the need to make progress in Colombia to search for more than 120,000 missing people was brought forth.
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id…

Egypt receives most wanted terrorist from Libya
Yvonne Rarieya | cgtn.com | 2019-05-29
Egypt has secured the transfer of Hisham al-Ashmawi, one of Egypt's most wanted terrorists, from Libya where he was detained by the Libyan National Army (LNA), to Egyptian intelligence agency, local media reported Wednesday. | The Egyptian state TV showed footage of masked Egyptian army personnel leading al-Ashmawi, who was captured in eastern Libyan city of Derna last year, to an Egyptian plane. | Another wanted terrorist was also handed over by the LNA to the Egyptian authorities, the TV reported. | Al-Ashmawi, who is also known as Abu Omar El-Mohager, is considered among the most dangerous terrorists linked…
africa.cgtn.com/2019/05/29/egypt-receives-most-wanted-terrorist-from-libya/

The Ever Dependable Bully on Embassy Row
Barbara Nimri Aziz | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-29
Embassy raided; citizens starved by sanctions; coveted oil resources targeted–again. The United States is still punishing Iran for the 1979 takeover of its 'sacred' premises, its embassy in Tehran. By contrast, when American authorities occupy another nation's embassy there's nothing but approval from its citizens and silent acquiescence by others. I don't know about you,…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/29/the-ever-dependable-bully-on-embassy-row/

US Sanctions Hinder Sowing Plan in Venezuela
plenglish.com | 2019-05-29
Caracas, May 29 (Prensa Latina) The blockade imposed by the United States and the economic war hinder the 2019 sowing plan in Venezuela, causing a decrease in the number of hectares planned for cultivation, denounced Wednesday the constituent congressman Braulio Alvarez.
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id…

Sabotage to Ten Cargo Ships Preventing Them from Arriving in Venezuela
Maritime Herald | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-29
The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, on Monday announced that ten boats with gasoline heading to the South American country were the object of sabotage, as part of the "persecution" resulting from the sanctions imposed by the US, against …
globalresearch.ca/sabotage-10-cargo-ships-preventing-them-arriving-venezuela/5678911

US Hints at Sanctions Against Venezuela CLAP Food Programme as Maduro Incorporates Militia
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-05-29
The Venezuelan President looks to combat corruption and improve the programme which benefits 6 million Venezuelan families.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14514

The Crimes of US Blockade Against Venezuela
telesurenglish.net | 2019-05-29
teleSUR provides comprehensive coverage of the brutal impacts of half a decade of U.S. sanctions.
telesurenglish.net/pages/Especiales/Crimes_of_the_Blockade/index.jsp

North Koreans trapped in 'vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption, repression' and endemic bribery: UN human rights office
United Nations | un.org | 2019-05-28
Bribery is the main way people in North Korea get food, healthcare, shelter and work, a new UN human rights office report said on Tuesday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/05/1039251

Lawmakers From 11 States Have a Plan to Tackle Suicide and Other Issues Veterans Face
Akela Lacy | theintercept.com | 2019-05-28
"When you look at the interest for this in red, blue, and purple states, that is a great mandate for the federal government to do something."
theintercept.com/2019/05/28/veterans-bill-of-rights/

Tuesday's Daily Brief: violence surges in Nigeria, anti-Semitism on the march, taxing pollution to tackle climate crisis, and more
United Nations | un.org | 2019-05-28
Tuesday's main stories include: thousands fleeing into Niger as violence surges in Nigeria; UN rights office condemns rise in anti-Semitic incidents; UN chief says tax pollution, not people for climate's sake; North Koreans trapped in vicious cycle of corruption and bribery; Ebola latest from DR Congo.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/05/1039271

In a Painful Setback, Kenya's High Court Upholds Antigay Laws
Robbie Corey-Boulet | thenation.com | 2019-05-28
In a Painful Setback, Kenya's High Court Upholds Antigay Laws…
thenation.com/article/kenya-same-sex-marriage-lgbt-rights/

Video: US Sanctions Leave Millions of Venezuelans Without Water
The Real News Network | theantimedia.com | 2019-05-28
"You can't blame the Maduro government, but as for the United States, this Donald Trump is mean. He's mean and he's blocked a lot of things. We have to support each other and this U.S. blockade has to end." — Yolimar Contreras Transcript: Yolimar Contreras lives in a poor barrio, on the hillsides of Caracas, with …

Video: US Sanctions Leave Millions of Venezuelans Without Water

Philippines: Left prepares for 'long fight' against Duterte following stolen election
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-27
The election of 12 new senators was proclaimed on May 22 by the Philippines electoral commission (COMELEC) following mid-term elections on May 13. All were from the grouping endorsed by authoritarian President Rodrigo Duterte. | Duterte is best known internationally for his "war on drugs". In reality this is a war on the country's poor majority, a turf war by drug traffickers (who are Duterte's cronies) and a human rights catastrophe that has killed thousands — some estimate more than 20,000. | The unlikely clean sweep by his candidates for the Senate is just part of the evidence for electoral fra…
greenleft.org.au/content/philippines-left-prepares-long-fight-against-duterte

Disaster capitalism, national liberation and the Philippines election
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-27
Left-wing parties ran a separate Senate campaign in the May 13 Philippines elections to the mainstream opposition parties, which ran as part of the Otso Diretso electoral alliance. | Centred round the Liberal Party of former President Ninoy Aquino, these opposition parties have a better record on human rights and respect for the rule of law than psychotic incumbent, President Rodrigo Duterte, but are still dominated by corrupt trapos — traditional politicians from the political dynasties of the ruling oligarchy. | However, one Otso Diretso candidate endorsed by the left-wing Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) was…
greenleft.org.au/content/disaster-capitalism-national-liberation-and-philippines-election

NYC: 1,000 rally to defend abortion rights
Sophia Roberts | liberationnews.org | 2019-05-26
"Without this basic right women can't be free, abortion on demand and without apology," chanted the multi-generational crowd.
liberationnews.org/nyc-1000-rally-to-defend-abortion-rights/

Thousands in Chicago rally for abortion rights
Candice Choo-Kang | liberationnews.org | 2019-05-26
"We won't go back!"
liberationnews.org/thousands-in-chicago-rally-for-abortion-rights/

'Time for some statue removals?' Twitter reacts to MLK sex life claims, rape comments
rt.com | 2019-05-26
US civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. allegedly "looked on and laughed" as a Baptist minister friend raped a woman, according to FBI records accessed by an American historian. | …
rt.com/usa/460321-martin-luther-king-fbi-sex/

UN Mission in Afghanistan gravely concerned about ill-treatment of prisoners by Taliban, following first-hand testimony
United Nations | un.org | 2019-05-26
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed "grave concern" on Sunday over "credible accounts" it has been given that Taliban militants have been mistreating prisoners, which in some cases "may amount to torture".
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/05/1039191

The Indian Government Has Systematically Used Torture to Crush Opposition in Kashmir, New Report Finds
Murtaza Hussain | theintercept.com | 2019-05-26
A landmark report has accused the Indian government of "systematically and indiscriminately" using torture as a tool to crush an independence movement in the northern state of Kashmir. | The roughly 550-page report, issued last week, documents hundreds of individual cases of torture perpetrated by the Indian military over the last four decades — and not a single prosecution to hold the perpetrators accountable. The conflict in Kashmir dates back to the 1…
theintercept.com/2019/05/26/india-kashmir-torture/

US Sanctions Leave Millions of Venezuelans Without Water
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-05-26
"You can't blame the Maduro government, but as for the United States, this Donald Trump is mean. He's mean and he's blocked a lot of things. We have to support each other and this U.S. blockade has to end." — Yolimar Contreras…
therealnews.com/stories/us-sanctions-leave-millions-of-venezuelans-without-water

Iran Economic Sanctions Cost Lives
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-05-26
The Trump administration's illegal economic sanctions against Iran reduce access to essential medicines, according to UN experts and interview with CEPR's Mark Weisbrot…
therealnews.com/stories/iran-economic-sanctions-kill-as-effectively-as-bombs

Virginia Prisons Putting Up Obstacles to Ramadan Observance
Maryam Saleh | theintercept.com | 2019-05-25
For the last three weeks, Muslims around the world have been observing the month of Ramadan by fasting from food and drink from dawn to sunset — a period of about 16 to 18 hours in the United States. The six to eight non-fasting hours, then, are an important time to recharge and rehydrate. Yet in at least two Virginia state prisons, according to civil rights groups, Muslims are being denied basic rights, despite constitutional protections and federal laws around religious freedom. | In one Virginia prison, Muslims known to be fasting are not being served breakfast before sunrise, while at another prison, Mu…
theintercept.com/2019/05/25/ramadan-observance-virginia-prisons/

One Night, Two Executions, and More Questions About Torture
Liliana Segura | theintercept.com | 2019-05-25
As the sun began to set over the prayer vigil outside Tennessee's Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, where 68-year-old Don Johnson was about to die, another execution was underway some 400 miles south of Nashville. "I would like to thank Jesus for everything he's done for me," Michael Brandon Samra said as he lay on the gurney in Atmore, Alabama. "I want to thank Jesus for shedding his blood for my sins. Thank you for your grace, Jesus. Amen." | Samra was strapped down and wrapped in a tight white blanket covering his feet. His execution had been scheduled for 6 p.m. on May 16, but for reasons no one explain…
theintercept.com/2019/05/25/executions-tennessee-alabama-midazolam/

Trump's charges against Assange are historic attack on press freedoms. Media and Obama helped set the stage
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2019-05-24
It is not just Trump, but the media, Obama, Bush, mainstream "human rights" organizations, Republicans and Democrats alike that put…
thegrayzone.com/2019/05/24/trump-charges-assange-press-freedoms-media-obama/

As the far right grows, its mask comes off
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-24
The brutal face of hard right and fascist reaction has been on vivid display on the issues of women's rights and the climate crisis in the past few weeks. | In Germany the AfD (Alliance for Germany) launched a vicious attack on inspirational teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, portraying her as an extremist and suggesting she needs treatment for her "psychosis" — a shabby reference to her autism. | Rejecting near-unanimous scientific opinion, the AfD said that the climate justice movement is scare mongering about levels of carbon dioxide emissions, asserting that the gas is a beneficial plant nutrient.
greenleft.org.au/content/far-right-grows-its-mask-comes

Friday's Daily Brief: Honouring fallen peacekeepers, action against gender-based violence; LGBT rights in Kenya, Rohingya water crisis
United Nations | un.org | 2019-05-24
Friday's main stories include: Honouring UN peacekeepers; landmark conference to combat sexual and gender-based violence in crises; Kenya upholds LGBT ban; UNICEF's plea for Afghani children; Brazil's bid to compensate tobacco smokers; Water shortages in Bangladesh…
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/05/1039141

US abortion rights attacks escalate
kathy_f | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-24
Legislative attacks on abortion rights in the US have escalated this year, as social conservatives have shifted tactics with an unprecedented wave of state abortion bans adopted. | The most restrictive legislation was signed into law by Alabama's governor on May 15. It bans abortion altogether, except for cases of medical emergency. Pregnancy resulting from sexual assault is no exception and doctors performing abortions are criminalised with penalties of up to 99 years in jail. | On May 7, Georgia became the fourth state this year (after Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio) to sign into law an abortion ban from t…
greenleft.org.au/content/us-abortion-rights-attacks-escalate

DHS Is Locking Immigrants in Solitary Confinement
aclu.org | 2019-05-24
As ICE detention numbers reach record high, new reports are extremely troubling. | In 2012, I visited the federal supermax prison ADX Florence in Colorado and spoke with men living in solitary confinement. I listened closely to their stories of anguish, but I could not understand how they survived it. They told me of the horror of being trapped in a small room, without access to fresh air or sunlight, for at least 22 hours a day — alone, afraid, and not knowing when it would end. I learned that people in solitary confinement talk to the walls, to themselves, to no one — sometimes they stop talking alt…
aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/immigrants-rights-and-detention/dhs-locking-immigrants-solitary-confinement

Alabama Is Trying to Ban Abortion. Today We Filed Suit to Stop Them
aclu.org | 2019-05-24
Abortion is a right and this attack on abortion rights won't succeed. | Last week, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation banning nearly all abortions. The law, which threatens doctors with up to 99 years in prison for performing abortions, is the anti-abortion opposition's true agenda on display: ban abortion, jail doctors, and push this essential health care out of reach. | These are undoubtedly dark times in the fight for reproductive freedom as Alabama and states across the South and Midwest aggressively push to place such onerous restrictions on abortion so that the procedure is all but rendered inaccessib…
aclu.org/blog/reproductive-freedom/abortion/alabama-trying-ban-abortion-today-we-filed-suit-stop-them

Palestinians overwhelmingly condemn German Parliament's anti-Palestinian resolution
patrick | bdsmovement.net | 2019-05-23
Palestinians overwhelmingly condemn German Parliament's anti-Palestinian resolution: Open LetterPalestinian civil society coalitions, human rights organizations, labor unions, and representatives of the Palestinian people, condemn in the strongest terms the German Parliament's resolution which is based on outright lies and equates the nonviolent BDS movement for Palestinian right…
bdsmovement.net/news/palestinians-overwhelmingly-condemn-german-parliament%E2%80%99s-anti-palestinian-resolution

"India Loses Again, and the World Loses with It": Siddhartha Deb on Modi's Landslide Re-election
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2019-05-23
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears set to enter a second term in a landslide victory. Election results show Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP party leading in 325 of the 543 seats in Parliament. At this rate, these numbers will give him an even greater majority than in 2014, when his party claimed the first outright majority in decades. Most analysts had predicted Modi's BJP party would lose seats in this election. Modi's government has been criticized for a crackdown on civil society, targeting political opponents, journalists, human rights activists, lawyers and writers. Human rights groups have also raised…
www.democracynow.org/2019/5/23/india_los…

For Afro-Colombians, the 2016 Peace Treaty Brought No Peace
Roosbelinda Cárdenas | thenation.com | 2019-05-23
For Afro-Colombians, the 2016 Peace Treaty Brought No Peace…
thenation.com/article/colombia-francia-marquez-human-rights-defender/

'We're Still Going to Be Making Sure People Have Access to Abortions They Want and Need' – CounterSpin interview with Jill Heaviside and Oriaku Njoku on reproductive rights assaults
Janine Jackson | fair.org | 2019-05-21
Janine Jackson interviewed Jill Heaviside and Oriaku Njoku about resisting assaults on reproductive rights for the May 17, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…
fair.org/home/were-still-going-to-be-making-sure-people-have-access-to-abortions-they-want-and-need/

Taking Action to #StopTheBans
Ruth Conniff | progressive.org | 2019-05-21
Across the country this week, advocates for reproductive justice and women's rights are rallying to put a stop to the onslaught of restrictive abortion laws.
progressive.org/dispatches/stop-the-bans-conniff-190521/

Border Patrol Museum Demonstrators Targeted In Crackdown On Immigrant Rights Protests
Will Parrish | shadowproof.com | 2019-05-20
Four activists turned themselves in to El Paso police on May 13 after the police issued warrants for their arrest related to a nonviolent demonstration inside a United States Border Patrol museum.
shadowproof.com/2019/05/20/border-patrol-museum-demonstrators-targeted-in-crackdown-on-immigrant-rights-protests/

Venezuela: Widespread Gasoline Shortages as Sanctions Take Toll on Oil Sector
Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-05-20
Long queues have been seen at gas pumps around the country in recent days.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14500

Last Process: 50 Postees: 2019-05-30 03:55 GMT (23:55 EST)

2019-05-28: News Headlines

plenglish (2019-05-28). UN Recognizes Venezuela As a Leading Country in Housing Rights. plenglish.com 28 de mayo de 2019, 16: 21Caracas, May 28 (Prensa Latina) The United Nations Organization recognized Venezuela as the leading country in guaranteeing the population the right to housing, assured the minister of the sector, Ildemaro Villarroel.

Akela Lacy (2019-05-28). Lawmakers From 11 States Have a Plan to Tackle Suicide and Other Issues Veterans Face. theintercept.com "When you look at the interest for this in red, blue, and purple states, that is a great mandate for the federal government to do something."

Stacy Bannerman (2019-05-28). End this hidden risk to military families. nationofchange.org When our loved ones join the military, we know that wearing the uniform could cost them their lives. | Military family members do all kinds of calculations about the potential price of serving this nation. We run the numbers and wargame the risks; we bargain with God and make deals with the devil hoping our service member never becomes a casualty. | But what most of us don't know is that when our family members sign up, they sign away some of their rights — and ours. | Under what's called the Feres Doctrine, | members of the Armed Forc…

Staff (2019-05-28). Supreme Court Signals More Openness to State Abortion Rules. truthdig.com WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court signaled Tuesday it is more open to state restrictions on abortion, upholding an Indiana law supported by abortion opponents that regulates the disposal of fetal remains. | At the same time, the justices declined to take on an issue closer to the core of abortion rights, rejecting the state's appeal of a lower court ruling that blocked a ban on abortion based on gender, race or disability. | Both provisions were contained in a law signed by Vice President Mike Pence in 2016 when he was Indiana's governor. | Related Articles: …

United Nations (2019-05-28). Tuesday's Daily Brief: violence surges in Nigeria, anti-Semitism on the march, taxing pollution to tackle climate crisis, and more. un.org Tuesday's main stories include: thousands fleeing into Niger as violence surges in Nigeria; UN rights office condemns rise in anti-Semitic incidents; UN chief says tax pollution, not people for climate's sake; North Koreans trapped in vicious cycle of corruption and bribery; Ebola latest from DR Congo.

United Nations (2019-05-28). North Koreans trapped in 'vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption, repression' and endemic bribery: UN human rights office. un.org Bribery is the main way people in North Korea get food, healthcare, shelter and work, a new UN human rights office report said on Tuesday.

Robbie Corey-Boulet (2019-05-28). In a Painful Setback, Kenya's High Court Upholds Antigay Laws. thenation.com In a Painful Setback, Kenya's High Court Upholds Antigay Laws…

Text: RR Photos: Aria Barajas (2019-05-28). In San Jose, Protesters Call for Preservation of Abortion Rights. indybay.org "If You're Against Abortions Have a Vasectomy" and other placards at protest in San Jose on May 21. | Photos by: Aria Barajas, ProBonoPhoto. Please credit the author. Non-commercial use only.

Vijay Prashad (2019-05-28). Does Iran's economic fate depend on a lifeline from China? mronline.org It's hard to predict what will happen in the oil market as the U.S. sanctions on Iran tighten. For now, it looks like India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey will hold off from buying Iranian oil. These countries—with China—had been the main sources of Iran's foreign exchange. It is unlikely—at the present time—that India, Japan, […] | Source

The Real News Network (2019-05-28). Video: US Sanctions Leave Millions of Venezuelans Without Water. theantimedia.com "You can't blame the Maduro government, but as for the United States, this Donald Trump is mean. He's mean and he's blocked a lot of things. We have to support each other and this U.S. blockade has to end." — Yolimar Contreras Transcript: Yolimar Contreras lives in a poor barrio, on the hillsides of Caracas, with …

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2019-05-28). 'Enormous Victory for Transgender Students' as SCOTUS Declines to Hear Challenge to Inclusive Bathroom Policy. commondreams.org LGBTQ individuals and rights groups celebrated Tuesday as the U.S. Supreme Court left in place a lower court ruling in favor of a Pennsylvania school district's policy to allow trans students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……

susan_p (2019-05-27). Philippines: Left prepares for 'long fight' against Duterte following stolen election. greenleft.org.au The election of 12 new senators was proclaimed on May 22 by the Philippines electoral commission (COMELEC) following mid-term elections on May 13. All were from the grouping endorsed by authoritarian President Rodrigo Duterte. | Duterte is best known internationally for his "war on drugs". In reality this is a war on the country's poor majority, a turf war by drug traffickers (who are Duterte's cronies) and a human rights catastrophe that has killed thousands — some estimate more than 20,000. | The unlikely clean sweep by his candidates for the Senate is just part of the evidence for electoral fra…

susan_p (2019-05-27). Disaster capitalism, national liberation and the Philippines election. greenleft.org.au Left-wing parties ran a separate Senate campaign in the May 13 Philippines elections to the mainstream opposition parties, which ran as part of the Otso Diretso electoral alliance. | Centred round the Liberal Party of former President Ninoy Aquino, these opposition parties have a better record on human rights and respect for the rule of law than psychotic incumbent, President Rodrigo Duterte, but are still dominated by corrupt trapos — traditional politicians from the political dynasties of the ruling oligarchy. | However, one Otso Diretso candidate endorsed by the left-wing Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) was…

Sophia Roberts (2019-05-26). NYC: 1,000 rally to defend abortion rights. liberationnews.org "Without this basic right women can't be free, abortion on demand and without apology," chanted the multi-generational crowd.

RT (2019-05-26). 'Time for some statue removals?' Twitter reacts to MLK sex life claims, rape comments. rt.com US civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. allegedly "looked on and laughed" as a Baptist minister friend raped a woman, according to FBI records accessed by an American historian.

Candice Choo-Kang (2019-05-26). Thousands in Chicago rally for abortion rights. liberationnews.org "We won't go back!"

United Nations (2019-05-26). UN Mission in Afghanistan gravely concerned about ill-treatment of prisoners by Taliban, following first-hand testimony. un.org The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed "grave concern" on Sunday over "credible accounts" it has been given that Taliban militants have been mistreating prisoners, which in some cases "may amount to torture".

Murtaza Hussain (2019-05-26). The Indian Government Has Systematically Used Torture to Crush Opposition in Kashmir, New Report Finds. theintercept.com A landmark report has accused the Indian government of "systematically and indiscriminately" using torture as a tool to crush an independence movement in the northern state of Kashmir. | The roughly 550-page report, issued last week, documents hundreds of individual cases of torture perpetrated by the Indian military over the last four decades — and not a single prosecution to hold the perpetrators accountable. The conflict in Kashmir dates back to the 1…

Staff (2019-05-26). Iran Economic Sanctions Cost Lives. therealnews.com The Trump administration's illegal economic sanctions against Iran reduce access to essential medicines, according to UN experts and interview with CEPR's Mark Weisbrot…

Staff (2019-05-26). US Sanctions Leave Millions of Venezuelans Without Water. therealnews.com "You can't blame the Maduro government, but as for the United States, this Donald Trump is mean. He's mean and he's blocked a lot of things. We have to support each other and this U.S. blockade has to end." — Yolimar Contreras…

Maryam Saleh (2019-05-25). Virginia Prisons Putting Up Obstacles to Ramadan Observance. theintercept.com For the last three weeks, Muslims around the world have been observing the month of Ramadan by fasting from food and drink from dawn to sunset — a period of about 16 to 18 hours in the United States. The six to eight non-fasting hours, then, are an important time to recharge and rehydrate. Yet in at least two Virginia state prisons, according to civil rights groups, Muslims are being denied basic rights, despite constitutional protections and federal laws around religious freedom. | In one Virginia prison, Muslims known to be fasting are not being served breakfast before sunrise, while at another prison, Mu…

Liliana Segura (2019-05-25). One Night, Two Executions, and More Questions About Torture. theintercept.com As the sun began to set over the prayer vigil outside Tennessee's Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, where 68-year-old Don Johnson was about to die, another execution was underway some 400 miles south of Nashville. "I would like to thank Jesus for everything he's done for me," Michael Brandon Samra said as he lay on the gurney in Atmore, Alabama. "I want to thank Jesus for shedding his blood for my sins. Thank you for your grace, Jesus. Amen." | Samra was strapped down and wrapped in a tight white blanket covering his feet. His execution had been scheduled for 6 p.m. on May 16, but for reasons no one explain…

RT (2019-05-25). 70+ US Army & Navy veterans urge Trump to stop Iran war-mongering, stick to diplomacy. rt.com An open letter signed by 76 retired generals, admirals, and ambassadors calls on US President Donald Trump to stop stoking fears of war with Iran and ditch "ineffective" sanctions and threats in favor of "aggressive diplomacy."

kathy_f (2019-05-24). US abortion rights attacks escalate. greenleft.org.au Legislative attacks on abortion rights in the US have escalated this year, as social conservatives have shifted tactics with an unprecedented wave of state abortion bans adopted. | The most restrictive legislation was signed into law by Alabama's governor on May 15. It bans abortion altogether, except for cases of medical emergency. Pregnancy resulting from sexual assault is no exception and doctors performing abortions are criminalised with penalties of up to 99 years in jail. | On May 7, Georgia became the fourth state this year (after Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio) to sign into law an abortion ban from t…

ACLU (2019-05-24). DHS Is Locking Immigrants in Solitary Confinement. aclu.org As ICE detention numbers reach record high, new reports are extremely troubling. | In 2012, I visited the federal supermax prison ADX Florence in Colorado and spoke with men living in solitary confinement. I listened closely to their stories of anguish, but I could not understand how they survived it. They told me of the horror of being trapped in a small room, without access to fresh air or sunlight, for at least 22 hours a day—alone, afraid, and not knowing when it would end. I learned that people in solitary confinement talk to the walls, to themselves, to no one — sometimes they stop talking altog…

Special To The Black Star News (2019-05-24). Wikileaks Calls Trump Administration's Espionage Indictment On Julian Assange Unprecedented Attack On Free Press. blackstarnews.com Trump said "I love Wikileaks" but his administration has just indicted Julian Assange… | Today, the Trump administration launched an unprecedented attack on the global free press, unsealing 17 Espionage Act charges carrying 175 years in prison against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. The charges relate to disclosures of war crimes and human rights abuses by the US government, including the groundbreaking Collateral murder video, Iraq War Logs, Afghan War Diaries, Cablegate, and the Guantanamo Bay Detainee Manuals, published in 2010 and 2011. | The US Department of Justice indictment states that "Assange, Man…

susan_p (2019-05-24). As the far right grows, its mask comes off. greenleft.org.au The brutal face of hard right and fascist reaction has been on vivid display on the issues of women's rights and the climate crisis in the past few weeks. | In Germany the AfD (Alliance for Germany) launched a vicious attack on inspirational teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, portraying her as an extremist and suggesting she needs treatment for her "psychosis" — a shabby reference to her autism. | Rejecting near-unanimous scientific opinion, the AfD said that the climate justice movement is scare mongering about levels of carbon dioxide emissions, asserting that the gas is a beneficial plant nutrient.

United Nations (2019-05-24). Friday's Daily Brief: Honouring fallen peacekeepers, action against gender-based violence; LGBT rights in Kenya, Rohingya water crisis. un.org Friday's main stories include: Honouring UN peacekeepers; landmark conference to combat sexual and gender-based violence in crises; Kenya upholds LGBT ban; UNICEF's plea for Afghani children; Brazil's bid to compensate tobacco smokers; Water shortages in Bangladesh…

ACLU (2019-05-24). Alabama Is Trying to Ban Abortion. Today We Filed Suit to Stop Them. aclu.org Abortion is a right and this attack on abortion rights won't succeed. | Last week, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation banning nearly all abortions. The law, which threatens doctors with up to 99 years in prison for performing abortions, is the anti-abortion opposition's true agenda on display: ban abortion, jail doctors, and push this essential health care out of reach. | These are undoubtedly dark times in the fight for reproductive freedom as Alabama and states across the South and Midwest aggressively push to place such onerous restrictions on abortion so that the procedure is all but rendered inaccessib…

Ben Norton (2019-05-24). Trump's charges against Assange are historic attack on press freedoms. Media and Obama helped set the stage. thegrayzone.com It is not just Trump, but the media, Obama, Bush, mainstream "human rights" organizations, Republicans and Democrats alike that put…

Democracy Now! (2019-05-23). "India Loses Again, and the World Loses with It": Siddhartha Deb on Modi's Landslide Re-election. democracynow.org Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears set to enter a second term in a landslide victory. Election results show Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP party leading in 325 of the 543 seats in Parliament. At this rate, these numbers will give him an even greater majority than in 2014, when his party claimed the first outright majority in decades. Most analysts had predicted Modi's BJP party would lose seats in this election. Modi's government has been criticized for a crackdown on civil society, targeting political opponents, journalists, human rights activists, lawyers and writers. Human rights groups have also raised…

Roosbelinda Cárdenas (2019-05-23). For Afro-Colombians, the 2016 Peace Treaty Brought No Peace. thenation.com For Afro-Colombians, the 2016 Peace Treaty Brought No Peace…

Jeff Faux (2019-05-23). Why Are Leading Democrats Supporting Trump on Venezuela? thenation.com Why Are Leading Democrats Supporting Trump on Venezuela?

patrick (2019-05-23). Palestinians overwhelmingly condemn German Parliament's anti-Palestinian resolution. bdsmovement.net Palestinians overwhelmingly condemn German Parliament's anti-Palestinian resolution: Open LetterPalestinian civil society coalitions, human rights organizations, labor unions, and representatives of the Palestinian people, condemn in the strongest terms the German Parliament's resolution which is based on outright lies and equates the nonviolent BDS movement for Palestinian right…

Fight Back (2019-05-22). Abortion rights rally in St. Paul, MN. fightbacknews.org Up to 500 people gathered at the state capitol building here, May 21, joining a national day of action in response to the new round of abortion restrictions and bans in Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri and Georgia. Chants of "Our bodies, our choice," and "No more" echoed across the capitol complex. | Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota helped organized the rally. There were a range of speakers and supportive politicians urging all to fight back on the attacks on women and choice. A woman spoke about a very hard personal decision she and her husband made in the second trimester. Doctors stated their…

Democracy Now! (2019-05-22). How ICE Is Using Solitary Confinement to Punish Asylum Seekers, Including LGBT & Disabled Immigrants. democracynow.org Since 2012, ICE has used solitary confinement as a routine punishment for thousands of immigrants and asylum seekers locked up in immigration jails across the country. We look at a new, damning investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that has revealed this widespread abusive use of solitary confinement in immigration jails overseen by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The United Nations special rapporteur on torture says solitary confinement should only be used in exceptional circumstances, and defines extended use of solitary as "inhuman and degrading treatment." Despit…

Ruth Conniff (2019-05-21). Taking Action to #StopTheBans. progressive.org Across the country this week, advocates for reproductive justice and women's rights are rallying to put a stop to the onslaught of restrictive abortion laws.

Janine Jackson (2019-05-21). 'We're Still Going to Be Making Sure People Have Access to Abortions They Want and Need' – CounterSpin interview with Jill Heaviside and Oriaku Njoku on reproductive rights assaults. fair.org Janine Jackson interviewed Jill Heaviside and Oriaku Njoku about resisting assaults on reproductive rights for the May 17, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…

Will Parrish (2019-05-20). Border Patrol Museum Demonstrators Targeted In Crackdown On Immigrant Rights Protests. shadowproof.com Four activists turned themselves in to El Paso police on May 13 after the police issued warrants for their arrest related to a nonviolent demonstration inside a United States Border Patrol museum.

Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz (2019-05-20). Venezuela: Widespread Gasoline Shortages as Sanctions Take Toll on Oil Sector. venezuelanalysis.com Long queues have been seen at gas pumps around the country in recent days.

CounterSpin (2019-05-17). Oriaku Njoku & Jill Heaviside on Abortion Rights in Georgia and Beyond. fair.org Abortions will happen, as they always have. The question is what they'll be like, for whom? If that's your question about the future, it makes sense to talk with the people who are doing the work now — of support, advocacy and funding to allow women to access safe and affordable abortion care.

Austyn Ross (2019-05-17). NAACP and Civil Rights Groups Hold Rally on the 65th Anniversary of Brown v. Board. naacp.org On May 16, NAACP along with civil rights organizations and members of Congress held a rally on Capitol Hill to make the promise of Brown v. Board of Education a reality for all. In honor of the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, speakers addressed the still urgent struggle for education equity as well …

Vanessa Mbonu@naacpnet (2019-05-13). What's Trending: Black News Recap. naacp.org Blavity: Civil Rights Organizations Are Fighting For Crystal Mason, Who Was Imprisoned For Voting, To Be Released From Prison Crystal Mason, a Texas woman who was sent to prison for voting, is fighting for her freedom with the help of new additions to her legal team.The Texas Civil Rights Project, American …

splcenter (2019-05-13). SPLC launches voting rights legal team, testifies before U.S. House panel in Alabama. splcenter.org Ever since state and local law enforcement officers attacked peaceful civil rights marchers with billy clubs and tear gas on "Bloody Sunday" in 1965, Alabama has been at the epicenter of the fight for voting rights.

Austyn Ross (2019-05-10). NAACP to Hold People's Hearing for Voting Rights in Birmingham. naacp.org On May 13, the NAACP, a member of the W.K. Kellogg Racial Equity Anchor Collaborative, will hold a People's Hearing on voting rights in Birmingham, Alabama. At the hearing, Birmingham-area residents will publicly share their personal experiences facing voting rights interference and barriers at the polls — which disproportionately impact historically disenfranchised voters and communities …

splcenter (2019-05-09). After Judge's Ruling, Charlottesville May Be Stuck With Statues of Confederate Generals Lee, Jackson. splcenter.org A judge has ruled that a civil rights-era law forbidding the removal of "war memorials" applies to Confederate statues that became flashpoints during a deadly Virginia gathering of white nationalists and neo-Nazis.

Paul Dobson (2019-05-09). National Assembly VP Detained and 55 Armed Forces Officers Expelled in Attempted Putsch Fallout in Venezuela. venezuelanalysis.com Three more lawmakers also had their immunity from prosecution revoked on Wednesday.

TeleSUR English (2019-05-08). US Venezuela Sanctions Violate Human Rights, International Law: UN Expert. venezuelanalysis.com UN expert Idriss Jazairy stated that unilateral measures are against the U.N.'s Declaration on the Principles of International Law concerning friendly relations and cooperation among States.

Aba Blankson (2019-05-08). NAACP Statement on House Hearings Regarding Domestic Terrorism. naacp.org The NAACP, the nation's foremost civil rights organization, released the following statement in response to the House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on domestic terrorism today: "We welcome this vital and necessary hearing. The hatred and venom that has already harmed our nation needs to be addressed at the highest levels of government. Nothing is …

TeleSUR English (2019-05-07). Foreign Minister Arreaza: 'The People of Venezuela Are Prepared to Defend Their Sovereignty'. venezuelanalysis.com Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza denounced US sanctions and asset freezes during a recent trip to Moscow.

Last Process: 50 Citations: 2019-05-28 23:33 GMT (17:33 EST)