2021-03-26: News Headlines

Peoples Dispatch (2021-03-26). Algerian Supreme Court overturns conviction of journalist Khaled Drareni, orders retrial. peoplesdispatch.org Drareni was arrested last year in March and was detained without charge or trial while he was covering the Hirak protests in the country. He was charged with "inciting an unarmed gathering" and "endangering national unity"

_____ (2021-03-26). Nicaragua Rebuffs Attacks At Human Rights Hearing. popularresistance.org Nicaragua was one of the first countries in Latin America to give constitutional rights to its | Indigenous peoples and its laws to protect their territories are justly famous (especially the | Autonomy Law of 1986 and the Demarcation Law of 2003). Some 40,000 Indigenous families live in | areas that are legally owned and administered by over 300 Indigenous communities, covering almost | a third of the country. Governmental recognition of land rights was the first step in tackling | incursions by non-Indigenous settlers from western Nicaragua and the violent conflicts they | sometimes produce.

Jessica Buxbaum (2021-03-26). An Old Green Colonial Trick: Israel Masking Land Grabs as Environmental Conservation. mintpressnews.com "More and more open areas in East Jerusalem are being designated as preservation or national parks, and this is clearly in order to prevent Palestinian urban development." — Sari Kronish, Israeli planning rights organization Bimkom…

_____ (2021-03-26). China Issues Annual US Human Rights Report. popularresistance.org China published its annual US human rights situation report on Wednesday at a time when the US-led ideological battle against China has intensified, mainly over Xinjiang and other domestic issues. | By highlighting the COVID-19 turning into a human tragedy, disorder in American democracy vividly reflected in the Capitol riots, and recent growing discrimination against ethnic minorities including Asian-Americans, China slammed the US' terrible human rights record, which makes its remarks on other countries' human rights situation pure "hypocrisy and double standards."

Robin Carver (2021-03-26). I Want Civil Rights, They Want to Talk About Sports. counterpunch.org It was a warm afternoon on Fort Myer, just south of Arlington Cemetery, when my Dad said, "Living with you, it's like that movie The Fly." For the uninitiated, David Cronenberg's 1986 sci-fi classic tells the graphic story of Dr. Seth Brundel, an ambitious scientist whose carelessness warps his body, twisting him into an inhuman

Ed Lehman (2021-03-26). Rights of First Nations, Youth Unemployment, Imperialism: Peace Activist Ed Lehman Granted the "Lifetime Achievement Award" globalresearch.ca Ed Lehman began protesting for peace during the Vietnam War — …

Patrick Toomey (2021-03-26). The Government is Racing to Deploy AI, But at What Cost to Our Freedom? aclu.org The U.S. government is embarking on an all-out sprint to develop and deploy artificial intelligence in the name of national security, but its plans for protecting civil rights and civil liberties have barely taken shape. Based on a sweeping new report by a congressionally-mandated commission, it's clear that U.S. intelligence agencies and the military are seeking to integrate AI into some of the government's most profound decisions: who it surveils, who it adds to government watchlists, who it labels a "risk" to national security, and even who it targets using lethal weapons. | In many of these areas, the deploym…

WSWS repost (2021-03-26). Biden administration to use San Diego Convention Center to detain 1,400 migrant children. indybay.org The opening of a detention center in downtown San Diego is an attempt to give the US government's anti-immigrant policies a facelift as more than 14,000 children remain in federal custody.

Human Rights Lab, White Snake Projects (2021-03-26). Tuesday 3/30: Art as Transformation: Music and Drama for Incarcerated Youth. indybay.org Online event…

Human Rights Lab, White Snake Projects (2021-03-26). Tuesday 4/6: Art and Imagination Inside Prisons: Making, Learning, & Teaching Art Behind Bars. indybay.org Online event…

Human Rights Lab, White Snake Projects (2021-03-26). Tuesday 4/13: Freedom-Making in an Age of Mass Incarceration. indybay.org Online event…

Sapan Maini-Thompson (2021-03-26). MI5 undercover agent policy held lawful. ukhumanrightsblog.com In Privacy International & Ors v Secretary of State for Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs & Ors [2021] EWCA Civ 330, the Court of Appeal held that the policy which authorises officers of the Security Service (MI5) to run undercover agents who participate in the commission of criminal offences is lawful. Background and Legal Framework The …

Rafael Logroño (2021-03-26). Students in Turkey Are Standing Up for LGBT Rights. thenation.com Bogazici University's LGBTI+ club in January, students across the country launched a nationwide protest movement.

Robin Savannah Carver (2021-03-26). I Want Civil Rights. They Want to Talk About Sports. zcomm.org Republicans are leveraging public ignorance about trans people to deny Queer Americans basic civil rights…

Staff (2021-03-26). Headlines for March 26, 2021. democracynow.org:443 Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Signs Sweeping Bill to Suppress African American Vote , Georgia Lawmaker Arrested on Felony Charges for Knocking on Governor's Office Door in Protest, President Biden Says U.S. Unlikely to Honor May 1 Afghanistan Withdrawal Deadline, U.S. COVID-19 Cases Rise as Biden Doubles Vaccine Goal to 200 Million Shots in 100 Days, Mexico's Official COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 200,000; True Toll Could Be 50% Higher , ISIS-Linked Prisoners in Syria Face Conditions That Amount to Torture, Says Human Rights Watch , Netanyahu Fails to Clinch Israeli Election as Extreme-Right Party Gains Seats, Suez Canal Bl…

Staff (2021-03-26). Jim Crow Redux: Georgia GOP Governor Signs "Egregious" Voter Suppression Law Targeting Black Voters. democracynow.org:443 Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp has signed a sweeping elections bill that civil rights groups are blasting as the worst voter suppression legislation since the Jim Crow era. The bill grants broad power to state officials to take control of election management from local and county election boards. It also adds new voter ID requirements, severely limits mail-in ballot drop boxes, rejects ballots cast in the wrong precinct and allows conservative activists to challenge the eligibility of an unlimited number of voters. Since the 2020 election, Republican state lawmakers have introduced over 250 bills in 43…

Aída Chávez (2021-03-26). Biden's New Foreign Policy Hire Considers Sanctions an Art Form. thenation.com Biden's New Foreign Policy Hire Considers Sanctions an Art Form…

_____ (2021-03-26). Blinken Threatens Germany With Sanctions. popularresistance.org While meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the US's opposition to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will connect Russia to Germany and warned Berlin about possible sanctions over the project. | "President Biden has been very clear in saying that he believes the pipeline is a bad idea; it's bad for Europe, bad for the United States," Blinken said. "Ultimately, it's in contradiction to the EU's own energy security goals. It has the potential to undermine the interests of Ukraine, Poland, a number of other close partners or allies."

2021-03-25: News Headlines

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (2021-03-25). For Sunday Shows, Border Is 'Political Crisis,' Not Humanitarian Emergency. fair.org Increasing numbers of migrants are attempting to cross the US/Mexico border, and unaccompanied children and teenagers are exceeding the capacities of government-run detention facilities. The right has declared a crisis, and national corporate media have largely followed suit. Department of Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas appeared on five of the six Sunday Beltway talk …

Ariel Dorfman (2021-03-25). The Ghosts of Tortures Past. counterpunch.org It was back in 1984, in Chile, a country then suffering under the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, that I first read the sordid story of the torturer Andrés Valenzuela. A barely tolerated opposition magazine had published an excruciating interview with him, and I forced myself — having recently returned to my native land after

Andy Kroll (2021-03-25). Moving on from the War on Terror? tomdispatch.com In the first two months of Joe Biden's presidency, you could feel the country holding its breath. Sheltered in place, hidden behind masks, unsure about whether to trust in a safe-from-pandemic future, we are nonetheless beginning to open our eyes collectively. As part of this reemergence, a wider array of issues — those beyond Covid-19 — are once again starting to enter public consciousness. Domestically, attempts to repress (or preserve) voting rights have been consuming activists and dominating headlines, along with this country's missing infrastructure and a need to raise the minimum wage. The fore…

Andreína Chávez Alava (2021-03-25). Venezuela Welcomes UN Resolution Calling to Eliminate Sanctions. venezuelanalysis.com Calls for sanctions relief are also gaining steam in Washington DC.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-03-25). Outrage and alarm after Australia's fourth aboriginal custodial death this month. peoplesdispatch.org Aboriginal rights advocates have condemned the recent spate of custodial deaths as an indication that "something is seriously wrong" with law enforcement in the country…

Bobby Hoffman (2021-03-25). Amidst a Wave of Voter Suppression Bills, Some States Expand Access to the Ballot. aclu.org The struggle for the right to vote is underway at state legislatures throughout the country. Following record

_____ (2021-03-25). Venezuelan Women Endure The 'Sanctions' With Their Bodies. popularresistance.org On February 20, the New York Times published an article titled "Venezuelan Women Lose Access to Contraception, and Control of Their Lives." This article attempts to distort reality, as it completely ignores the siege and aggressions the Venezuelan people currently subjected to. | For greater context, we should note that in 2012, Venezuela granted completely free access to safe and quality contraceptives, reaching a coverage of 22.16% in the national public health system. Access was nearly universal both due to the purchasing power of Venezuelans at the time and because both private and public health networks were…

_____ (2021-03-25). End Vaccine Apartheid. popularresistance.org The latest in a series of proposals brought by India and South Africa to the World Trade Organization (WTO), backed by over 100 countries, to temporarily suspend COVID-19 vaccine patents was blocked by western powers, namely the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union. The patents that give monopoly rights over the manufacture and sale of drugs like the COVID-19 vaccines are protected globally by The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), signed in 1994 by the WTO.

MEE staff (2021-03-25). Saudi official denies threat to harm UN Khashoggi investigator. middleeasteye.net Saudi official denies threat to harm UN Khashoggi investigator | President of Saudi human rights commission says allegations of threats to Agnes Callamard relate to him – but that he did not make them | Thu, 03/25/2021 – 10: 56 | Awwad Alawwad, pictured here in April 2018, strongly rejects Callamard's claims (AFP) | A senior Saudi official has denied claims that he threatened the expert leading the UN investig…

MEE staff (2021-03-25). 'A killer walks free': Anger erupts over new images of sanctioned Saudi official. middleeasteye.net 'A killer walks free': Anger erupts over new images of sanctioned Saudi official | Ahmed al-Asiri, former deputy chief of Saudi intelligence, seen for first time since being sanctioned by the US over Jamal Khashoggi's murder | Thu, 03/25/2021 – 17: 10 | The images of Ahmed al-Asiri shared online have raised a number of questions (Screengrab/Twitter) | New images of Ahmed al-Asiri, Saudi Arabia's deputy head of…

Dave DeCamp (2021-03-25). Biden Vows 'Response' If North Korea Chooses to 'Escalate'. news.antiwar.com When asked about North Korea's latest missile tests at his first press conference, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga UN Resolution 1718 sanctioned North Kore…

Jake Richards (2021-03-25). Jehovah's Witnesses congregation vicariously liable. ukhumanrightsblog.com In The Trustees of the Barry Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses v BXB [2021] EWCA Civ 356, the Court of Appeal has offered further guidance on vicarious liability following Supreme Court decisions last year in VM Morrison Supermarkets PLC v Various Claimants [2020] UKSC 12 and Barclays Bank v Various Claimants [2020] UKSC 13. As set …

WSWS repost (2021-03-25). Biden administration to use San Diego Convention Center to detain 1,400 migrant children. indybay.org The opening of a detention center in downtown San Diego is an attempt to give the US government's anti-immigrant policies a facelift as more than 14,000 children remain in federal custody.

Human Rights Lab, White Snake Projects (2021-03-25). Tuesday 4/6: Art and Imagination Inside Prisons: Making, Learning, & Teaching Art Behind Bars. indybay.org Online event…

Human Rights Lab, White Snake Projects (2021-03-25). Tuesday 4/13: Freedom-Making in an Age of Mass Incarceration. indybay.org Online event…

Human Rights Lab, White Snake Projects (2021-03-25). Tuesday 3/30: Art as Transformation: Music and Drama for Incarcerated Youth. indybay.org Online event…