(2019-01-22). Portugal: Anti-Riot Forces Repress Protest of Racist Policing. telesurenglish.net Hours after a protest against police violence ended in clashes in Portugal, unidentified attackers threw petrol bombs at a police station in the Portuguese city of Setubal and torched cars in the capital of Lisbon, authorities said. | Police said in a statement that three Molotov cocktails caused unspecified damage to the station in the early hours Tuesday but nobody was hurt. | Police said their investigation could not establish any links to a rally in central Lisbon Monday night, which followed a police raid on a slum in Seixal, on the outskirts of the capital south of the Tagus River. Setubal is about 50 ki…
(2019-01-22). Portugal protests: Police station attacked, cars torched. aljazeera.com The attacks came after police allegedly brutalised anti-racism protesters in Lisbon, which rarely sees such violence.
(2019-01-22). Indefinite Detention Uncharged and Untried a Crime Against Humanity. globalresearch.ca These are troubled times. Rule of law protections don't help. The US does whatever it pleases, operating by its own rules, inflicting harm on nations, groups and individuals, including its own citizens. | The UN, world community nations, and international courts …
(2019-01-22). Tales of torture from Israel's prisons. aljazeera.com As Israel prepares to worsen conditions for Palestinian prisoners, we asked six former inmates about their experiences.
(2019-01-22). San Jose Women's March draws 18,000 ready to fight racism and misogyny. peoplesworld.org 
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Chants of "This is what democracy looks like," and "Hey hey ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go," rang through downtown San Jose on Saturday as some 18,000 women and men took part in the Third Women's March as part of the fightback against the racist and misogynistic agenda of the Trump …
(2019-01-22). Mr. President, We Don't Need Your Stinking Wall. counterpunch.org As of January 20, 2019, the United States government remains partially shutdown for one month due to President Donald J. Trump's insistence of $5.7 billion from Congress to fund his racist and medieval border wall. When it comes to this ongoing debate, Trump, along with his Republican cronies, suffers from selective amnesia: he forgets what More
(2019-01-22). Supreme Court Gives Green Light to Trump's Ban on Transgender Service Members. truthdig.com In a decision LGBTQ rights advocates immediately denounced as an "awful attack" on the rights of transgender Americans, the Supreme Court's conservative majority on Tuesday gave a green light to President Donald Trump's widely condemned ban on transgender people serving in the military. | While one nationwide injunction against the ban remains in effect—meaning Trump's policy cannot yet be implemented—Slate's Mark Joseph Stern noted that the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling makes it likely that the remaining injunction will "soon be reversed." | "This is heartbreaking and temporary," declared ACLU staff att…
(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). Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo fined $21m in tax evasion case. aljazeera.com Star footballer to serve a two-year suspended jail term as part of a pre-agreed deal with Spanish tax authorities.
(2019-01-22). The Brazen Detention of Marzieh Hashemi, America's Newest Political Prisoner. counterpunch.org Any discussion of the detention of journalist Marzieh Hashemi must begin in the historical context that all presidents have used the Department of Justice for constitutionally prohibited personal ends. The calculated seizure and political intimidation of Mrs. Hashemi and her family in the United States is but the most recent flagrant instance. Whether it's the More
(2019-01-22). Iran: Labour rights activists at imminent risk of further torture. amnesty.org Two labour rights activists who were rearrested after speaking out about beatings and other abuse they suffered in detention last year are at grave risk of further torture, Amnesty International has warned. | Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian were violently arrested in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, on 20 January in apparent reprisal for talking publicly about the torture they have said they endured in detention during November and December 2018, provoking a public outcry. | "There are real fears that Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian could be facing a second round of torture after their rearrest. The timing of the…
(2019-01-22). State of Palestine: Further Information: Activist Risks Charges Over Forced 'Confession': Suha Jbara. amnesty.org On 9 January 2019, Suha Jbara was released after spending over two months in detention where she says she was tortured by interrogators. She spent over 26 days on hunger strike in protest against her treatment by security forces and prosecutors. Suha Jbara still has not been read her charges in court and her upcoming hearing is scheduled for 30 January. She is at risk of being charged based on information obtained under torture, although the prosecutor's office has not provided any credible evidence against her. On 13 December 2018, the Palestinian Attorney General's office concluded a brief investigation into he…
(2019-01-22). China: Human Rights Defender Tried in Secret: Huang Qi. amnesty.org Huang Qi, founder and director of Sichuan-based human rights website "64 Tianwang", was secretly tried at Mianyang City Intermediate People's Court on 14 January 2019 after being held in detention for more than two years. No verdict has yet been announced but, if convicted, the maximum punishment could be up to life imprisonment. Pu Wenqing, his 85-year-old mother, was taken away by Sichuan police in December 2018 and only released after more than a month in detention.
(2019-01-22). Algeria: Absurd conviction of journalist Adlène Mellah must be overturned. amnesty.org Algeria's Court of Appeal must end the ordeal of the journalist, Adlène Mellah, who was jailed simply for covering a peaceful public gathering last month, said Amnesty International today ahead of his appeal hearing on 23 January. | Adlène Mellah, director of news websites Algerie direct and Dzair Press has been held in solitary confinement since he was jailed in El Harrach prison on 11 December 2018. | "It is outrageous that a journalist has been imprisoned simply for carrying out his work and exercising his rights to freedom o…
(2019-01-22). Sudan: 'Not guilty' verdict welcome but torture in prison must be investigated. amnesty.org Responding to the 'not guilty' verdict issued today at the re-trial of Sudanese student activist, Asim Omar Hassan, who was originally sentenced to death for allegedly killing a police officer during protests in 2016, Joan Nyanyuki, Amnesty International's Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, said: |
(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). Stop Privatization & Slave Labor On MLK Day 2019 In SF Workers Speak Out! indybay.org On MLK Day in San Francisco on January 21, 2019 workers talked about the growing racism and discrimination as well as slave labor in the US. They also discussed the plight of laid off Federal contract workers and US Federal workers who have been ordered to work without pay.
(2019-01-22). Statement on Women's March from Radical Women and Freedom Socialist Party. indybay.org Pro-police and racist forces have denounced the Women's March for sending greetings to exiled Black revolutionary Assata Shakur. Undoubtedly, a mix of forces from the FBI to so-called men's rights advocates are busy trying to prevent a multi-racial, grassroots feminist movement from consolidating and truly taking off.
(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…
(2019-01-22). Trump's Mocking Drives Anti-Native Racism. truthout.org As we continue to look at the video that has gone viral showing a group of Catholic high school students apparently mocking an indigenous tribal elder near the Lincoln Memorial, we speak to Chase Iron Eyes, an activist and lead attorney for the Lakota People's Law Project. He is a spokesperson for the Indigenous Peoples March. | TRANSCRIPT: | AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman in Los Angeles, with Juan González in New York. | JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We continue to look at the video that has gone viral showing a group of Catholic high sc…
(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). All Hail the Revolutionary King: Martin Luther King and the Black Revolutionary Tradition. counterpunch.org 
The annual King Day celebrations provide a great opportunity to defend Dr. King's revolutionary legacy against The System's efforts to white wash and degrade his frontal challenge to its crimes. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the great revolutionaries in U.S. and world history. He was a leader of the Civil Rights and More
(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…
(2019-01-21). Missing in action: Supporters blast Trump for silence on Covington Catholic kids. rt.com 
False accusations of racism and abuse against boys from a Kentucky Catholic high school — only because they wore MAGA hats — have spurred many supporters of President Donald Trump to action, but the POTUS himself has been missing.
(2019-01-21). Ecuador: Authorities must seriously address situations of violence, without encouraging xenophobia. amnesty.org In response to recent statements by the government of President Lenin Moreno on the imposition of entry restrictions for Venezuelan people, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director of Amnesty International, said: | "President Lenín's government has the responsibility to protect people's rights to seek asylum and international protection, as well as to prevent, investigate and punish acts of violence committed against people within its territory, without discrimination based on their nationality or other factors." | "In the face of serious cases of gender violence and recent femicides, the Ecuadorian authorities hav…
(2019-01-21). Russia: First criminal case under "undesirable organizations" law marks a new level of repression. amnesty.org The Russian authorities have for the first time used the repressive "undesirable organizations" law to open a criminal case against human rights defender Anastasia Shevchenko, exposing her to the risk of a six-year prison term, Amnesty International said today. | This morning Anastasia Shevchenko, a Coordinator with the Otkrytaya Rossiya (Open Russia) movement, was charged with "repeated participation in the activities of an undesirable organization." Until now, violations of this law were punished under administrative law. | "In recent years, the Russian authorities have progressively suffocated and criminalized…
(2019-01-21). Israel/OPT: Prominent Bedouin Leader Imprisoned by Israel: Sheikh Sayyah Abu Mdeighim al-Turi. amnesty.org On 25 December 2018, 69-year-old human rights defender Sheikh Sayyah Abu Mdeighim al-Turi, started serving a 10-month prison sentence for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly. Sheikh Sayyah is the head of al-'Araqib, a Bedouin village in the Negev/Naqab that is unrecognized by the Israeli authorities. He is currently held at Maasiyahu Prison, in the city of Ramle in central Israel. He is a prisoner of conscience and must be released immediately and unconditionally.
(2019-01-21). Shocking Admission by FBI Veteran Shows Why the FBI Shouldn't Exist. theantimedia.com 
(CJ Opinion) — On the 18th of November, 1964, the FBI's appallingly corrupt boss J. Edgar Hoover denounced Martin Luther King Jr. as "the most notorious liar in the country." A few days later, a Hoover deputy named William Sullivan wrote King a letter posing as a disillusioned follower and using powerful, manipulative language to urge the civil rights leader to commit suicide …
(2019-01-21). Libya: Nightmarish Detention for Migrants, Asylum Seekers. hrw.org 
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(2019-01-21). To Fulfill MLK's 'Revolutionary' Vision, Sanders Says Corrupt, Divisive, and 'Racist' Trump Must Be Defeated. commondreams.org "What he reminded us is courage of conscience, that we stand up, no matter what the odds, and take on the power, to fight for economic justice, to fight for social justice, to fight for racial justice, and to fight for environmental justice." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-10858876681.png…
(2019-01-21). Egypt: Journalist Gets Year in Prison For Interviewing Gay Man. telesurenglish.net A journalist in Egypt has been sentenced to a year in prison for "promoting homosexuality" after interviewing a gay man on TV, state media reports. | RELATED: | Austria: First Same-Sex Couple Weds Following Court Deadline | A misdemeanors court in Giza found journalist Mohamed al-Gheiti guilty of incitement to debauchery and immorality, contempt of reli…
(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). We have had enough of Trump and the war on women. fightbacknews.org Enough is enough. Trump, his administration, and his backers are waging war on women, and millions of women are making it clear that we are not going to be pushed backwards. From the massive Women's Marches, to the midterm elections, to the constant, everyday resistance, women are standing up against Trump's reactionary agenda. | Trump and his supporters in the Senate want to pack the Supreme Court and roll back reproductive rights, and they have gotten a start by appointing the drunken misogynist Brett Kavanaugh. Accompanying the administrations outrageous policy of placing immigrants in detention, Trump's Justi…
(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). Activists face jail time & $500 fine for dropping supplies to migrants in wildlife refuge. rt.com 
A US federal judge has found four volunteers with a local aid group guilty of petty offenses after they entered a wildlife refuge without a permit to leave food and water for illegal migrants seeking to cross the US-Mexico border.
(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."
(2019-01-18). Alaska Governor's Mass-Firing of State Workers Violated the First Amendment. aclu.org Gov. Dunleavy's actions are a throwback to a corrupt spoils system that our system strived to eradicate for generations. | Days after being elected governor of Alaska, Michael Dunleavy requested resignations from more than 1,200 at-will state employees. Those who didn't resign were later fired. This kind of political retaliation against non-political state workers is an attack on the very foundations of free speech and good government. | It is not unusual for newly elected chief executives at the federal, state, and local levels to replace political appointees. But such political tests can only reach so far down…
(2019-01-18). The Case Against Galveston County's Pretrial Detention System Survives the Government's Challenge. aclu.org A win could set a precedent for prosecutor accountability and right to counsel in bail hearings that could help reform pretrial detention nationally. | If you are accused of a crime and arrested in Galveston County, Texas, you better hope you can afford to pay the preset bail amount to get out of jail. If not, then you will join hundreds of other people who are incarcerated simply because they cannot afford to buy their freedom. In Galveston and communities across the country, there is one pretrial detention system for the poor and an entirely different one for everyone else. | Thirty-six-year-old Aaron Booth fou…
(2019-01-18). Oppose William Barr Nomination. naacp.org The United States Senate is considering the nomination of William P. Barr to be the next Attorney General of our United States in extraordinary times. The next Attorney General of our United States has the opportunity to reverse course and place the Justice Department back on track to fulfill its historic role in safeguarding our civil […]
(2019-01-18). NAACP to Participate in Women's March to Empower and Uplift Black Women Voices. naacp.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BALTIMORE (January 18, 2019) —NAACP is proud to support the Women's March and uplift the voices of all black women, and as such, Spelman NAACP Chapter President, Amari Fennoy, will speak at the Women's March in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 19. Fennoy will be speaking to ensure that the voice of […]
(2019-01-18). The Justice Department Shouldn't Be Snooping on Journalists. aclu.org Rolling back Justice Department rules that protect journalists' privacy would undermine freedom of the press. | At a time when President Trump regularly attacks the news media, the Department of Justice may be preparing to make it easier for the government to obtain journalists' private communications data. | The public relies on both journalists and whistleblowers for vital information about our government's most controversial activities. Weakening the current rules that protect reporters — as wel…
(2019-01-18). Spectre Unmasked: Racist 'Alt-Right' Podcaster Used To Be Local Reporter. splcenter.org A notorious white nationalist podcaster with a history of instigating harassment campaigns and threats of violence against reporters is in fact a journalist himself, Hatewatch has learned.
(2019-01-18). Will "Tough on Crime" Policies Fuel Mass Incarceration? therealnews.com 
As three of the most powerful men in Maryland vow to crack down on repeat violent offenders, community advocates question their plans to address the root causes of inequality and violence
(2019-01-17). Rochester Could Break Through the Thin Blue Line Protecting Abusive Police. aclu.org How the city could create New York's first independent review board with the power to discipline officers. | We know what happens when we allow police to police themselves. Too often, they escape punishment when they abuse the people they are supposed to protect. A lack of meaningful police accountability not only skirts justice, but people's lives are in danger when officers who repeatedly harm civilians keep their jobs. | The Rochester City Council in New York introduced a draft bill this week that addresses this fundamental problem. The bill would create a civilian-controlled Police Accountability Board with t…
(2019-01-17). Mauritania: Repressive Laws Restrict Peaceful Speech. hrw.org 
| | People wait to cast their vote on September 1, 2018 outside a polling station in Nouakchott for the country's legislative, regional and local elections. | © 2018 Ahmed Ould Mohamed Ould Elhadj/AFP/Getty Images | (Geneva) — Mauritanian authorities used a litany of harsh and overbroad laws on terrorism, cybercrime, apostasy, and criminal defamation to prosecute and jail human rights defenders, activists, bloggers, and politica…
(2019-01-17). UAE: Injustice, Intolerance, Repression. hrw.org 
| | A convoy of UAE military vehicles and personnel travels from Al Hamra Military Base to Zayed Military City, marking the return of the first batch of UAE Armed Forces military personnel from Yemen, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. | © 2015 AP Images | (Beirut) — The United Arab Emirates in 2018 handed down draconian prison sentences to an Emirati activist and a British academic following deeply flawed trials, Human Rig…
(2019-01-17). Campaign to free Aboriginal women jailed for unpaid fines. greenleft.org.au 
An online crowdfunding campaign set up to help Aboriginal women in Western Australia avoid jail for unpaid fines has raised $230,000 in its first four days and already settled the debts of 30 imprisoned women, with another 50 expected to be free in coming weeks. | The campaign is being organised by the Queensland-based Sisters Inside advocacy group. | In a statement calling for donations, Sisters Inside explained: "Western Australia refuses to change the laws where people who have no criminal convictions are imprisoned if they do not have the capacity to pay a fine. | "Single Aboriginal mothers make up the majori…