(2019-01-24). 'We will not be bullied into silence'. zcomm.org Over 350 scholars and Civil Rights movement veterans speak out in support of Palestinian rights and Angela Davis…
(2019-01-24). US: Iranian TV Anchor Released from Detention Without Charge. telesurenglish.net Iranian Press TV anchor Marzieh Hashemi, who was detained for being a "material witness" in an investigation but was not charged with any crime, was released Wednesday after 10 days of detention in the United States. | RELATED: | Iranians Call For Protest Against Arrest of TV Anchor by FBI | The journalist Hashemi, who was born Melanie Franklin in the United States and changed her name after converting to Islam, is already reunited with her family in Washington DC. | "Marzieh and h…
(2019-01-24). Arizona Provides Me Unequal Healthcare Because I'm Transgender. aclu.org I'm part of a class-action lawsuit to ensure that the state of Arizona includes transition-related health care in its insurance coverage. | I'm a professor of family studies and human development at the University of Arizona, and I have dedicated my career to studying how discrimination impacts LGBTQ adolescents. I'm also transgender, and I know from experience that growing up is different — and still much more difficult — for LGBTQ youth. So it came as a disappointment when I learned that the state university where I work does not cover transition-related healthcare for its employees or their depende…
(2019-01-24). NAACP Law Fellowship Blog Posts. naacp.org I applied for the NAACP's law fellows program because of the organization's legacy in protecting the rights of people of color and in doing so the rights of all people. Law school has allowed me to more fully contextualize the history of race in the United States, and I recognized the crucial role the NAACP […]
(2019-01-24). Kagame's Sponsors Avert Their Eyes While Repression Continues in Rwanda. globalresearch.ca The world has heard that Victoire Ingabire has been released after 8 years in Kagame's prisons. But the world is not being reminded that leading members of her party are still in prison without trial — and that one of …
(2019-01-24). A Disturbing Number of Missouri Towns Evict Residents for Calling the Police. aclu.org The ACLU is urging towns across Missouri to repeal unjust 'nuisance ordinances.' | Over the last few decades in towns and cities across America, local authorities have passed laws that punish people for calling 911 with steep fines and eviction, even when they are seeking police protection. Known as nuisance ordinances, these laws present victims of crime with an impossible choice. As a domestic violence survivor in St. Louis put it: "If I…
(2019-01-24). American-Iranian TV Anchor Marzieh Hashemi Released From FBI Custody Without Charge. mintpressnews.com 
U.S. citizen Marzieh Hashemi, an anchor on Iran's English-language service Press TV, has been released without charge after being illegally detained for ten days by the FBI. | Hashemi was arrested earlier this month while boarding an internal U.S. flight from St. Louis to Denver where she had been filming a documentary on the Black Lives Matter movement. The 59-year-old African American is a convert to Islam and has been living in Iran for the past several years. | Her arrest prompted protests across the worl…
(2019-01-24). National Civil Rights Group Commends NYS Legislation Expanding Voting Rights. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-01-24). Lawyer Wolfgang Kaleck: Bush, Rumsfeld & Cheney Are a Troika of Tyranny & Should Be in Prison. democracynow.org 
As Venezuela faces an attempted coup supported by the U.S., Brazil and the European Union, we speak with human rights attorney Wolfgang Kaleck. In November, John Bolton accused Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua of being part of a "troika of tyranny." Kaleck says the real "troika of tyranny" is George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, who should be in prison for war crimes. Kaleck is a human rights attorney who for decades has been at the forefront of the legal fight to hold powerful actors and governments around the world accountable for human rights abuses. His new book, titled "Law Versus Power: Our Global…
(2019-01-24). Ukraine's Viktor Yanukovich gets 13-year jail term for 'treason'. aljazeera.com The 68-year-old former president has never attended the trial and is believed to be living in Russia.
(2019-01-24). Robert Reich: The Real Source of Authoritarianism Can Be Found at Davos. truthdig.com If Davos' attendees blame the rise of right-wing populism around the globe on racism fueled by immigration, they're deluding themselves.
(2019-01-24). Iran: Prominent Labor Activist Rearrested. hrw.org 
(Beirut) — Iranian authorities on January 20, 2019 arrested two activists who had alleged that authorities tortured them in detention, Human Rights Watch said today. The arrests of Ismael Bakhshi, a prominent labor rights activist, and Sepideh Gholian, a journalist and labor rights activist, came the day after Iranian state television broadcast confessions that they said they were forced to make in detention. | | | Screen shot from Islamic Republic of Iran Broad…
(2019-01-24). US Releases American Journalist After 10-Day Detention Without Charges. theantimedia.com 
(ANTIWAR.COM) — 10 days ago, US citizen Marzieh Hashemi was arrested at the St. Louis Lambert Airport, and transferred into FBI custody. On Wednesday, she was finally released, having never been charged with a crime. Hashemi is a journalist and an anchor for Iran's PressTV, and her arrest was the subject of mounting international scrutiny, though the US …
(2019-01-24). WikiLeaks Sues to Unseal Secret US Charges Against Julian Assange. theantimedia.com 
(ZH) — WikiLeaks announced in a Wednesday statement that it's seeking to force the Trump administration to unseal any charges against founder Julian Assange, according to AP. According to the statement, they have filed a legal challenge with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights in Washington, while also asking Ecuador to prevent Assange's extradition to the United States. …
(2019-01-24). Five Years After Ferguson, St. Louis County's New Prosecutor Confronts a Racist Criminal Justice System. theintercept.com 
The 2014 police killing of Michael Brown inspired a nationwide movement to elect progressive prosecutors. Now, Wesley Bell will try to reform St. Louis.
(2019-01-24). Police-Led Martin Luther King Day March, Lots of Smiles, Little Substance. indybay.org I joined the MLK parade, annoyed at the annual pomp and ceremony, sterilizing, sanitizing, and snoozifying his real message-to act locally against war, racism, and poverty. The flyers I distributed lay out some of the specifics that I often echo on this website. At least one speaker at the civic Auditorium noted it was, for the second year, police-led–the final bitter icing on the fluffy cake of expropriating, transforming, and degrading King's original message and work.
(2019-01-24). Lawsuits against Australian government reveal horror in refugee camp. wsws.org Former Manus Island detention centre security staff members have filed cases alleging physical and psychological harm.
(2019-01-24). Queer and trans domestic workers are organizing against discrimination. zcomm.org The future is inclusive labour rights for trans and lesbian women, our right to health access and housing guaranteed, and to be seen by our skill, not by our gender or sexual identity…
(2019-01-24). Decades of Financial Deregulation & Racist Housing Policy Brought Us 2007 Meltdown, with More to Come (Pt 2/3). therealnews.com 
Carter, Reagan, Clinton, the Bushes, Obama, and now Trump deregulated Wall Street and did nothing to help Black and Brown homeowners in America. White collar criminologist Bill Black discusses the social structure of mortgage discrimination. Part 2: The Effects
(2019-01-24). Decades of Financial Deregulation & Racist Housing Policy Brought Us 2007 Meltdown, with More to Come (Pt 1/3). therealnews.com 
Carter, Reagan, Clinton, the Bushes, Obama, and now Trump deregulated Wall Street and did nothing to help Black and Brown homeowners in America. White collar criminologist Bill Black discusses the social structure of mortgage discrimination. Part 1: The History
(2019-01-24). Mozambique: Further Information: Journalist's request for provisional release rejected: Amade Abubacar. amnesty.org On 18 January, Macomia's District Judicial Court ruled that the pre-trial detention of journalist Amade Abubacar was lawful and ordered that he remain in detention awaiting trial. Mr. Abubacar was arrested by police on 5 January and transferred from the Macomia District Police Command to military detention in Mueda district. He was held incommunicado by military forces for 12 days before being transferred back into police custody. He is currently being held at the Macomia District Police Command.
(2019-01-24). China: Secret detention places writer at risk of torture. amnesty.org Responding to the Chinese authorities' confirmation that Australian-Chinese writer Yang Hengjun has been detained on suspicion of "endangering national security", Joshua Rosenzweig, East Asia Research Director at Amnesty International commented: | "The Chinese authorities have serious questions to answer over the detention of Yang Hengjun, but it could be months before we find out anything more about his condition or what they're accusing him of doing. | "If it's true that Yang is being held under 'residential surveillance in a designated location', then there is cause for serious concern over his wellbeing. Faci…
(2019-01-24). Russian Federation: Human rights defender under house arrest: Anastasia Shevchenko. amnesty.org On 23 January, Anastasia Shevchenko, an Open Russia human rights defender from Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia, was put under house arrest and may face up to six years in prison if convicted. This is the first time the Russian authorities have opened a criminal case under the repressive "undesirable organizations" law. It is a worrying precedent and could open the floodgates to the prosecution of hundreds of Open Russia members across the country. Anastasia Shevchenko is a prisoner of conscience. She must be immediately and unconditionally released.
(2019-01-23). US: White Man Pleads Guilty to Terrorism, Black Man's Murder. telesurenglish.net A white U.S. Army specialist, James Jackson, has plead guilty to terrorism with the intention of sparking a race war through the 2017 murder of a Black man with a sword, prosecutors said Wednesday, | RELATED: | Released Emails Show NYPD Spied on Black Lives Matter | On March 21, 2017, Jackson, 30, walked into the New York City police department and surrende…
(2019-01-23). In Montana, the Practice of Suspending People's Licenses for Outstanding Court Debt Could Soon Be Over. aclu.org Lawmakers are considering a bill that would repeal a Montana policy that permits driver's licenses to be suspended for failure to pay court debt. | In more than 40 states across the country, state governments suspend people's driver's licenses for outstanding court debts, a practice that disproportionately harms low-income people. But if a Republican legislator has his way, this destructive and counterproductive policy may soon be null and void in Montana. | On Jan. 9, Rep. Casey Knudsen (R-Malta) introduced a bill
(2019-01-23). ACLU: Trump's Anti-Trans Ban Has No Military Justification, Is Driven by Animus & Discrimination. democracynow.org 
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court revived President Donald Trump's plan to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court lifted two lower court rulings that had blocked the ban from going into effect on constitutional grounds. Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented. A third injunction remains in place for now. We speak to Chase Strangio, staff attorney at the ACLU, which is challenging the Trump administration's ban on servicemembers who are transgender.
(2019-01-23). The Brazen Detention of Marzieh Hashemi, America's Newest Political Prisoner. mintpressnews.com Today Marzieh Hashemi sits alone. Isolated and entombed deep in a government catacomb, she stands charged with no offense but in the eyes of this administration guilty as charged . . . a Muslim, a journalist, and a US ex-pat who has found shelter from its storm in Iran.
(2019-01-23). Mexico to Release Tlanixco's Indigenous Political Prisoners. telesurenglish.net A state court in Mexico revoked 50-year-long prison sentences against three Indigenous Nahuatl people involved in the defense of water in their territory after documented irregularities in their processes. | RELATED: | Mumia Abu-Jamal's Words for Mexican Nahuatl Political Prisoners | "The affected filed an appeal against the irregularities in the process that led to such sentence," said Jorge Olvera, president of the Human Rights Commission of the State of Mexico (Codhem), adding that…
(2019-01-23). US Detention of American-Iranian Journalist Draws Local, International Protests. mintpressnews.com Iran's Foreign Ministry lodged a protest on Tuesday with the Swiss ambassador to Tehran, who has represented the U.S. in diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980, when diplomatic ties were severed between the countries.
(2019-01-23). Angola Decriminalizes Same-Sex Conduct. hrw.org 
| | LGBT Rainbow Flag | © 2008 Ludovic Berton (Wikimedia Commons) | Angola has finally shed the divisive "vices against nature" provision in its law, widely interpreted to be a ban on homosexual conduct. | Taking things one step further, the government has also prohibited discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation. And so anyone refusing to employ or provide services to individuals based on their sexual o…
(2019-01-23). Indonesia: Ex-Governor's Blasphemy Sentence Ends. hrw.org 
| | Former Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama is released from prison but Indonesia keeps its notorious blasphemy law. | ©2019 Toni Malakian/Human Rights Watch | (Jakarta) — The expected release of the former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama from a Jakarta prison on January 24, 2019 underscores Indonesia's dangerous and discriminatory blasp…
(2019-01-23). Guantánamo Prisoner Says Judge Used Pro-Government Rulings to Curry Favor With the Justice Department. theintercept.com 
Lawyers for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri asked the D.C. Court of Appeals to take the extraordinary step of vacating decisions made under Col. Vance Spath.
(2019-01-23). Baltimore Rejects Plan to Arm School Police During School Day. therealnews.com 
The Baltimore school board rejected the proposal amid heated debate. Meanwhile, we get a response to an ACLU and NAACP-LDF letter demanding Maryland adequately fund Baltimore schools
(2019-01-23). Mauritanie: Des militants antiesclavagistes ont été libérés. amnesty.org Deux militants antiesclavagistes, Biram Dah Abeid et Abdellahi el Housein Mesoud, ont été libérés de la prison civile de Nouakchott le 31 décembre 2018. Le tribunal d'Arafat, à Nouakchott, les a condamnés à six mois d'emprisonnement, dont deux mois avec sursis. Biram Dah Abeid et Abdellahi el Housein Mesoud avaient déjà passé plus de quatre mois en prison et ont donc été libérés le jour même.
(2019-01-23). China: Canadian sentenced to death in a one-day retrial: Robert Schellenberg. amnesty.org Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian national, was sentenced to death after he was convicted of drug trafficking at his re-trial. First arrested in 2014, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment by the Dalian Municipal Intermediate People's Court on 20 November 2018. Schellenberg subsequently appealed the verdict and on 14 January 2019 at his retrial, he was found guilty of a more serious drug-related offence and sentenced to death. Announcing a death sentence at the same time of the conviction was unprecedented, according to Mo Shaoping, a partner of the law firm representing Schellenberg.
(2019-01-23). Mauritania: Further Information: Mauritanian anti-slavery activists released: Biram Dah Abeid and Abdellahi el Housein Mesoud. amnesty.org Two anti-slavery activists Biram Dah Abeid and Abdellahi el Housein Mesoud were released from Nouakchott civil Prison on 31 December 2018. The Tribunal of Arafat in Nouakchott sentenced them to six months, two months of which would be a suspended sentence. Having already spent more than four months in prison, Biram and Abdellahi were released the same day.
(2019-01-22). Amid a Deteriorating Landscape for Abortion Rights, a Critical Victory in New York. aclu.org On Tuesday, New York passed the Reproductive Health Act, finally bringing state law in line with Roe v. Wade. | On the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that secured the right to abortion, the nationwide picture could not look grimmer. That's what makes Tuesday's victory in New York, which protected and expanded abortion rights in the state through the Reproductive Health Act, so important. | Across the country, anti-abortion politicians have been eroding abortion rights in state after state. Since 2011, they have…
(2019-01-22). Marchers condemn lenient sentence in Laquan murder. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – A crowd of 250 people marched in the bitter cold through Washington Park on Chicago's South Side today, January 21, to continue the fight for Justice for Laquan McDonald. The march was held in protest of the lenient sentence of only 81 months handed down by Judge Vincent Gaughan on Friday. In October 2014, the racist police officer, Jason Van Dyke, shot Laquan 16 times. | The main demand of the march was the immediate implementation of an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC). The march went past the place where Ronald "Ronnieman" Johnson was shot in the back by a cop only days b…
(2019-01-22). It's Perfectly Constitutional to Talk About Jury Nullification. aclu.org Jurors have the power to vote against convicting criminal defendants under laws that the jurors believe are unjust. | Eric Patrick Brandt and Mark Iannicelli were handing out pamphlets outside a Denver courthouse in July 2015. They wanted to inform the public about jury nullification — that is, the power of jurors to vote against convicting criminal defendants under laws that the jurors believe are unjust. | Brandt and Iannicelli were trying to participate in a centuries-old and still-thriving discussion. The pamphlets they were handing out included statements such as: | "Juror nullification is your right t…
(2019-01-22). Children in the Philippines as Crime Scapegoats. hrw.org 
| | Detainees sit next to an anti-drug mural of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte inside the Manila City Jail, October 16, 2017. | © 2017 Reuters | The Philippine government is one step closer to prosecuting young children as adults, a key plank in President Rodrigo Duterte's abuse-ridden anti-crime campaign. | On Monday, a congressional committee approved a bill that would lowe…
(2019-01-22). Uniting against racism. greenleft.org.au 
A collective of alt-right and neo-Nazi groups organised what they called a "political meeting" at St Kilda beach on January 5. It was done a week after the neo-Nazi Neil Erikson led a group of acolytes down to the same beach to harass and film African Australians in an attempt to incite violence. | Various hate-filled Facebook pages promoted the "meeting", including one described as "Rise Up Australia — Romper Stomper 2.0", a reference to a film about white supremacists in Footscray who attacked and violently assaulted Vietnamese Australians. | The event was not a "political meeting" nor was it ever intende…
(2019-01-21). MLK Day Special: Rediscovered 1964 King Speech on Civil Rights, Segregation & Apartheid South Africa. democracynow.org 
As the nation marks 90 years since the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we air a rediscovered speech he delivered on December 7, 1964, days before he received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. In a major address in London, King spoke about segregation, the fight for civil rights and his support for Nelson Mandela and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. The speech was recorded by Saul Bernstein, who was working as the European correspondent for Pacifica Radio. Bernstein's recording was rediscovered by Brian DeShazor, director of the Pacifica Radio Archives.
(2019-01-21). Libya: Nightmarish Detention for Migrants, Asylum Seekers. hrw.org 
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(2019-01-21). Trump's Border Wall Would Destroy Historic Gravesites in South Texas. theintercept.com 
Ramiro R. Ramírez remembers his grandmother, when he was a young child, planting a red rose bush to mark the gravesite of Nathaniel Jackson, his great-great grandfather. With time, the rose bush vanished, like the wooden cross marking Jackson's death in 1865. But Jackson's legacy was not forgotten, nor that of his wife Matilda Hicks, an emancipated slave who forged a life with Nathaniel, a white man and son of a plantation owner. | The interracial couple, along with their eldest son Eli Jackson and six other children, fled a racist South and persecution under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, searching for acceptan…
(2019-01-20). Remembering Martin Luther King Jr., the Organizer. aclu.org What a new generation of activists can learn from America's most celebrated civil rights leader. | Martin Luther King Jr. is rightly celebrated as a transformative political and moral leader who championed racial equality, but he is less often credited as a brilliant strategic and tactical organizer who led cutting edge campaigns to deliver the rights for which he is known. As an organizer, I am struck by the mastery of the organizing craft that infuses King's writing, so on this holiday remembering his legacy, I'll share several of King's lessons that all activists can benefit from today. | King chose campai…
(2019-01-20). How to Spend MLK Day. naacp.org 
Tomorrow, our nation will honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man whose dream of an America that was truly equal for all its people has inspired generations of people to fight to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice. From the Montgomery Bus Boycott to marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, […]
(2019-01-20). A Problem for Kamala Harris: Can a Prosecutor Become President in the Age of Black Lives Matter? theintercept.com 
The regressive reality of what prosecutors do is proving difficult for the senator and likely presidential candidate to rationalize.
(2019-01-20). West Michigan Women's March builds resistance to Trump. fightbacknews.org Grand Rapids, MI – About 500 people rallied and marched thru Grand Rapids, January 19, to build resistance to Trump during the 2019 Women's March. The women's movement in West Michigan hosted leaders from the immigrant rights, African American freedom, student and labor movements. | Many of the speeches were personal and heartfelt, detailing women's struggles against sexual assault, workplace discrimination, and mistreatment at the hands of ICE, law enforcement and the courts. | "This month we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, a man who unselfishly shared his dream of equality with us," said Cindy R…
(2019-01-19). For the People Act. naacp.org The first legislation to be introduced in the 116th Congress is H.R. 1, the For the People Act. H.R. 1 is a comprehensive bill with provisions to protect and support eligible American citizens to cast a free and unfettered vote and for the American people to be sure their vote was counted. The For the […]
(2019-01-19). Since Decriminalization, 96% of People Arrested for Weed in Baltimore Are Black. therealnews.com 
Journalist Brandon Soderberg and 34-year police veteran Neill Franklin discuss "Structural Racism and Cannabis: Black Baltimoreans still disproportionately arrested for weed after decriminalization."