(2019-09-08). Guaido on the verge of imprisonment: Why does the US have its eye on Essequibo? uwidata.com 
Self-proclaimed Venezuelan president Juan Guaido and his team have been convicted of holding talks with Guyana on the territorial issue of Essequibo. According to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Bolivarian Republic, the opposition has offered to surrender Venezuelan's historical claims to the territory of Essequibo. El presidente venezolano @NicolasMaduro anunció que el gobierno se …
(2019-09-07). Trump lauds prisoner exchange between Russia & Ukraine as 'giant step to peace'. rt.com 
US President Donald Trump has praised the prisoner swap between Moscow and Ukraine, congratulating the two countries for making such a move and naming it a "giant step to peace." | Earlier in the day, Russia surrendered 35 individuals to Ukraine that had been held in its prisons and detainment centers, receiving an equal amount of people in return. | Weighing in, Trump wrote that it was indeed a step forward. | Very good news, perhaps a first giant step to peace. Congratulations to both countries!
(2019-09-07). Russia and Ukraine Trade Prisoners, Each Flies 35 to Freedom. truthdig.com 
Among those released by Ukraine was separatist Volodymyr Tsemakh, linked to the 2014 shoot-down of a Malaysian airliner that killed 298.
(2019-09-07). Texas protest says "No kids in cages" fightbacknews.org Arlington, TX – 60 people showed up at a protest organized by the Progressive Student Union (PSU) at the University of Texas at Arlington, September 4, against the Trump administration's change to of policy on the detention of undocumented children. | Mark Napieralski, an organizer from the Progressive Student Union, spoke about how the Flores Agreement banned holding children indefinitely – and how the Trump administration is moving to keep children in indefinite detention in concentration camps along the southern border. | Speakers at the rally included Minister Katie Hays from the Galileo Church and Harold Ch…
(2019-09-07). Russia, Ukraine Swap Prisoners In First Step To Settle Conflict. telesurenglish.net Russia and Ukraine swapped 35 prisoners on each side Saturday in a lengthy and carefully-negotiated rapprochement that is considered a "first step" to mend the relations between Kiev and Moscow, although full normalization is still a long way ahead. | RELATED: | Ukraine's President Zelenskiy Leads Exit Poll on Snap Elections | Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova hailed the prisoner exchange as "a historical mass-scale humanitarian action," confirming the sw…
(2019-09-07). US Beekeepers File Suit Against EPA Charging "Illegal" Approval of Insecticide. truthout.org | | A group of beekeepers joined forces on Friday against Trump's EPA by filing a lawsuit over the agency's move to put a powerful insecticide—one that scientists warn is part of the massive pollinator die-off across the U.S.—back on the market. | The lawsuit charges that the EPA's approval of sulfoxaflor—touted by its manufacturer, agro-chemical giant…
(2019-09-07). Big Pharma is the most widely hated industry in the US. nationofchange.org With drug prices continuing to sore and the ongoing opioid epidemic and lawsuits associated with it, the industry's rating likely will not recover any time soon.
(2019-09-07). Iran Seizes Tugboat Carrying Suspected Smuggled Oil. telesurenglish.net The Iranian coast guard detained a foreign tugboat that was carrying smuggled oil through the Persian Gulf waters on Saturday. | RELATED: | 'US Treasury Is A Jail Warden' Iranian Foreign Minister Says | According to Iranian state television, their coast guard seized the tugboat after it was suspected to be carrying smuggled fuel. The Iranian authorities said the ship was seized and all 12 of its Filipino crew members were arrested. | It said the tugboat was carrying nearly 284,000…
(2019-09-06). Disgruntled Miami airport mechanic arrested for sabotaging plane with 150 passengers. rt.com 
An American Airlines mechanic has been arrested and charged with sabotaging a plane in Miami in order to get the 150-passenger flight canceled so he could get paid overtime. His alleged plan worked — but was it worth prison time? | Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani glued a hard foam substance inside a tube connecting the plane's air data module, which computes crucial data about the aircraft's speed, angle, and other metrics, with an outside sensor in order to get the flight grounded and secure overtime pay for himself, according to charges filed against him after his arrest for "willfully damaging, destro…
(2019-09-06). Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Condemns Trump Administration's Proposal to Reform Housing Policy. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-09-06). Robert Mugabe, Ousted Zimbabwean President & Liberation Leader, Dies at 95. democracynow.org 
Zimbabwe's first post-independence leader, Robert Mugabe, has died at the age of 95. In 1963, he helped found the Zimbabwe African National Union in an effort to liberate the country from decades of white-minority rule. He was jailed from 1963 to 1974. Once freed, Mugabe became a leader of the liberation movement which successfully led to the formation of an independent Zimbabwe in 1979. He became Zimbabwe's first prime minister in 1980, but he would continue ruling the country for the next 37 years. While Mugabe has been hailed as one of the most significant anti-colonial leaders of the 20th century, he was wide…
(2019-09-06). End religious discrimination. greenleft.org.au 
civil rightsIssue 1236 Australia religious discrimination bill LGBTI MelbourneSeptember 6, 2019A rally against the proposed religious exemptions bill was held in Melbourne on August 31. | The bill wo…
(2019-09-05). Israeli Security Tech on US-Mexican Border Threatens Nation's Civil Liberties. therealnews.com 
The ACLU's Jay Stanley says that the Border Patrol's repurposing of surveillance technology and drones could open doors that put our liberty and privacy at risk…
(2019-09-05). Was the imprisonment of Iranian-American journalist Marzieh Hashemi spun into expanded US sanctions? thegrayzone.com The relationship between former Air Force analyst-turned-Iranian spy Monica Witt and Hashemi — who was jailed by US authorities this…
(2019-09-05). Judge blocks ICE from denying parole to asylum-seekers. splcenter.org A federal judge ordered the Trump administration today to change its blanket policy of locking up people lawfully seeking asylum in the United States as a lawsuit filed by the SPLC and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana makes its way through the federal courts.
(2019-09-05). Military deal makes Australia complicit in Palestine's oppression. greenleft.org.au 
weapons and military equipment Mark GovierIssue 1236 Australia Iron Dome Weapon SystemSeptember 5, 2019An Israeli government-owned military company has joined forces with an Australian firm to produce precision-guided missiles and other equipm…
(2019-09-04). Civil rights conference featuring renowned activist Angela Davis to gather in Chicago this November. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – Founded in 1973 as an organization that grew out of the movement to free the wrongfully imprisoned Angela Davis and other political prisoners, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is set to relaunch this November. This refounding, led by the Chicago Alliance against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and other organizations, will be taking place in Chicago, Illinois on November 22-24 at the Chicago Teachers' Union Hall. | The organizers' main objectives for this conference are to continue to build the struggle for police accountability as well as stand in solidari…
(2019-09-04). Nigerian Journalist & Activist Omoyele Sowore Remains Jailed for Calling for Peaceful Protests. democracynow.org 
Journalist and pro-democracy activist Omoyele Sowore is entering his second month in jail for calling for peaceful nationwide protests against the government. Sowore called his movement "Revolution Now" and mobilized activists to take to the streets August 5. But just two days before the protests were set to begin, Sowore was arrested by the state and accused of attempting to take over the government. He's been imprisoned for more than a month now as human rights groups continue to call for his immediate release. We speak with his wife Opeyemi Sowore and Nani Jansen Reventlow, one of the attorneys representing Om…
(2019-09-03). Nowhere is safe to hide in war-torn Yemen, say UN-appointed rights experts. un.org The people of Yemen have been subject to "numerous" possible war crimes in recent years including forced recruitment of children and sexual abuse in detention, UN-appointed senior rights experts said on Tuesday, in an appeal to the international community to do more to end the conflict.
(2019-09-03). Headlines for September 3, 2019. democracynow.org Gunman Kills 7 People, Injures 22 in West Texas as State Enacts New Pro-Gun Legislation, Federal Court Rules Victims of 2015 Charleston Mass Shooting Can Sue U.S. Gov't, Hurricane Dorian Pummels Bahamas, Killing 5 People, Kabul Bomb Attack Kills At Least 16 as U.S. Announces Draft Peace Plan with Taliban, 2 Million People in Assam Face Statelessness, Imprisonment After India Publishes Citizens Register, Hong Kong Protesters Take to Streets as Chinese Media Ramps Up Threatening Rhetoric, U.K. PM Boris Johnson Threatens Snap Election as Labour Hopes to Force Brexit Extension, Far-Right Party Makes Gains But Fails t…
(2019-09-03). A New York Jail Forced a Trans Woman Into a Men's Facility. aclu.org Trans women routinely face harassment and discrimination in jails and prisons. | Jena Faith's experience in the Steuben County Jail was a living nightmare. | The military veteran spent four weeks in the jail awaiting trial last spring. She was initially housed in the jail's women's facility without incident, but things changed when officials suddenly transferred her to the men's facility, despite the fact that she is a woman. | During the weeks that Jena spent as a woman in a men's jail, she was routinely targeted with physical and verbal harassment from other incarcerated people and guards. On her first day in t…
(2019-09-02). How Elites Crush Black Dissent. therealnews.com 
What does it mean for the people living under systemic oppression when society frames their rebellion as a riot?
(2019-09-02). Death and Resistance on the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Democracy Now! Special. democracynow.org 
Democracy Now! travels to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona to follow the humanitarian activist Scott Warren into the Sonoran Desert as he accompanies other No More Deaths volunteers as they leave water and food for migrants making the treacherous journey north. Warren is currently facing up to 10 years in prison for his humanitarian work in the Sonoran Desert, where the bodies and bones of more than 3,000 people — nearly all migrants — have been found since 2001. We also speak to the Tucson-based artist Alvaro Enciso, creator of the project Where Dreams Die. He has built and installed over 900 crosse…
(2019-08-30). "All-Out Attack": Trump's Anti-Immigrant Policies Target Children, Cancer Patients & Servicemembers. democracynow.org 
On Tuesday, the Trump administration reportedly ended its "medical deferred action" program, which allows immigrants with serious health problems to stay in the U.S. for up to two years beyond the terms of their visas to receive critical treatment. Just one day later, it announced that some children born to U.S. servicemembers and government employees stationed overseas will no longer automatically receive citizenship. The policy changes come days after the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to allow the Trump administration to implement its rule banning almost all migrants from seeking asylum in the Unit…
(2019-08-30). Family of Mexican Teenager Slain by Border Agent Awaits SCOTUS Ruling to Determine If They Can Sue. democracynow.org 
This fall, the Supreme Court will decide whether the parents of Sergio Hernández Gàºereca, a 15-year-old Mexican teen killed by a Border Patrol agent in 2010, can sue the American agent in a U.S. federal court. It's been nearly 10 years since Border Patrol agent Jesus Mesa Jr. shot across the El Paso-Juárez border and struck Hernández Gàºereca in the head. The central question in the case is whether a Mexican citizen killed on Mexican soil by a U.S. border agent is protected by the U.S. Constitution — allowing for the family members of victims to file civil lawsuits. If the Supreme Court rules in…
(2019-08-30). Headlines for August 30, 2019. democracynow.org Florida Declares State of Emergency Ahead of Hurricane Dorian, Justice Department: Comey Violated FBI Rules But Will Not Face Charges, Former FARC Rebels to Take Up Arms Again in Colombia, Report: Indian Forces Are Beating and Torturing Kashmiris in Detention, UAE Accused of Bombing Saudi-Backed Forces in Yemen, Prominent Pro-Democracy Activists Arrested Ahead of Saturday's Protest, Scottish Judge Refused to Block Boris Johnson's Plan to Suspend Parliament, Ebola Death Toll Tops 2,000 in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Environmental Groups Threaten to Sue Trump over Methane Rules, NAACP Calls for Alabama Gov. t…
(2019-08-30). In Secretive Court Hearing, NYPD Cops Who Raped Brooklyn Teen in Custody Get No Jail Time. theintercept.com 
Two NYPD cops coerced Anna Chambers into sex in exchange for her freedom. A judge just gave them no jail time.
(2019-08-29). How Solitary Confinement Kills: Torture and Stunning Neglect End in Suicide at Privately Run ICE Prison. theintercept.com 
Guards at an ICE jail put Efraín Romero de la Rosa in solitary confinement despite a diagnosis of schizophrenia. He killed himself after 21 days.
(2019-08-29). The Growing Push for Politicians to #VisitAPrison. progressive.org "It's our job. We represent them too. So whether or not they're enfranchised or disenfranchised, we are still their representative."
(2019-08-29). Taxpayers Have Been Ordered to Pay Over $2 Million For Discriminating Against LGBTQ People. aclu.org Government officials should know that discrimination comes with a cost to taxpayers. | Last week, a federal appeals court ruled that the Commonwealth of Kentucky was liable for $224,000 for the actions of Kim Davis, who refused to do her job and issue marriage licenses (to same-sex or different-sex couples) as county clerk. | While Davis' story made national headlines, her case isn't the only one in the past year where a court case filed by the ACLU has led to a bill for discriminatio…
(2019-08-27). Stripped of Their Rights. aclu.org In 2011, guards at an Illinois prison violated the constitution when they carried out a mass strip-search of incarcerated women. | In March 2011, a tactical team of guards at a state prison in Lincoln, Illinois gathered 200 women and ushered them into a gymnasium, where they were brought in small groups into a separate room nearby. Inside that room, they were told to strip naked in plain view of other guards, cadets, and civilians, without any explanation. Women on their periods were ordered to remove their tampons and sanitary pads. One-by-one, each woman was ordered to lift her breasts, cough and squat, and dis…
(2019-08-27). New Resource Tool Sheds Light on Government's Prepublication Review System. aclu.org Millions of current and former government employees are subjected to this far-reaching censorship system. | This piece was originally published in Just Security. | For more than three years, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University have been litigating a series of Freedom of Information Act requests relating to "prepublication review." Under this far-reaching censorship system, millions of current and former government employees, con…
(2019-08-26). Breaking The Media Blackout on the Imprisonment of Julian Assange. mintpressnews.com The same media that has spent years dragging Assange's name through the mud is now engaging in a blackout on his treatment. If you are waiting for corporate media pundits to defend freedom of the press, you're going to be disappointed.
(2019-08-23). Will North Carolina's Supreme Court Allow Racism to Remain a Persistent Factor in its Death Penalty? aclu.org North Carolina's Supreme Court will determine whether evidence of racism in capital punishment can be swept under the rug. | In 2009, North Carolina passed the Racial Justice Act (RJA), which allowed defendants to strike the death penalty from their cases if they could show that racial discrimination was a factor in their prosecution. The law came as a response to a series of exonerations of Black people who were falsely convicted of crimes they did not commit by all-white or nearly all-white juries. The legislature took a bold step to address was what suspected to be deeply troubling evidence of racism infe…
(2019-08-23). Israel's Online Occupation of Palestine. progressive.org How a Facebook post can land you in prison.
(2019-08-22). A Louisiana Parish Jailed a U.S. Citizen for Being Latinx. We're Suing. aclu.org Officers in a Louisiana jail held a U.S. citizen for four days on an immigration hold simply because of his skin color and name. | Ramon Torres had been a U.S. citizen for nearly ten years when he was detained for four days on an immigration hold — despite having a U.S. passport, a Louisiana driver's license, and a Social Security card, and despite that fact that a court ordered his release. | Torres' ordeal began in August 2018, when he was pulled over and arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Torres, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2009, was carrying multiple forms of identification, inclu…
(2019-08-21). An Arizona Law Requires Surveillance of People Who Are Presumed Innocent. aclu.org The government cannot take shortcuts around constitutional rights. | A pillar of our democracy is the presumption of innocence: before a person has been convicted of a crime, they are considered completely innocent under the law. Yet across the country, people who have not been convicted are punished—both explicitly and implicitly—based on the mistaken assumption that they are dangerous, purely on the basis of an accusation. We do not live in a society where you can be incarcerated or monitored simply because you have been accused of a crime. Doing so violates constitutional rights, fuels mass incarce…
(2019-08-19). Trump is Taking More Money for Raids and Detention. Congress Should Stop Him. aclu.org Without congressional checks, ICE and CBP will continue to overspend and overstep. | 08/27/19 Update: Congress made public today a document outlining the Department of Homeland Security's plan to take nearly $280 million in funds meant for FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the TSA, among other critical priorities. Over $115 million of these funds will go towards President Trump's growing detention and deportations of immigrants, with the rest being used for sham border courts to…
(2019-08-15). The Challenges of Breastfeeding as a Black Person. aclu.org How our workplaces and healthcare system create barriers to breastfeeding. | The fight to protect individual choices about reproductive care, including breastfeeding, is an ongoing battle. The central lesson of the reproductive justice movement is that choice means little without access. That lesson applies equally to breastfeeding. | Though laws, in the workplace and other contexts, are in place to protect the right to breastfeed, many low-income women and w…
(2019-08-15). SPLC publishes Opportunity Costs: Unequal Justice in Alabama's Community Corrections Programs. splcenter.org A new investigative report published today by the Southern Poverty Law Center reveals serious flaws in Alabama's community corrections programs, an otherwise promising system for diverting people from the state's prisons.
(2019-08-15). The BDS movement calls to boycott three anti-Palestinian German clubs. bdsmovement.net 
The BDS movement calls to boycott three anti-Palestinian German clubs: PACBI StatementConne Island, Golden Pudel and : //about blank are complicit in Israel's oppression of Palestinians | Cultural Boycott Right To BoycottAugust 15, 2019…
(2019-08-14). BDS condemns antisemitic, fascist forces in Germany and worldwide. bdsmovement.net 
BDS condemns antisemitic, fascist forces in Germany and worldwide: BNC StatementOur nonviolent movement opposes all forms of racism and racial discrimination. | Right To BoycottAugust 14, 2019 | By: | | Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)
(2019-08-10). Weekend Read: Neo-Nazi leader must pay more than $14 million in damages. splcenter.org A federal judge has ruled in an SPLC lawsuit that neo-Nazi leader Andrew Anglin must pay more than $14 million in damages for using his website to launch an antisemitic campaign of terror against a Jewish woman and her family.