(2020-03-03). Trump ordered Assange's seizure by British police and wanted him dead. wsws.org Assange is part-way through a show trial that began last week to decide on his extradition to the US, where he faces 175 years in prison on espionage charges.
(2020-03-03). Kabul asks Taliban to break ties with Pakistan. yenisafak.com Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday linked the release of Taliban prisoners with the group first breaking ties with neighboring Pakistan.Addressing a public gathering in the eastern Nangarhar province, Ghani said Afghan Taliban could not justify their insurgency after inking a peace deal with the U.S. "You [Taliban leaders] have made peace with the foreigners so what does your jihad mean now … killing of fellow Afghans is a crime," the Afghan president said, who has expressed reservations over the peace agreement."If Taliban have set release of their prisoners as a condition for intra-Afghan talks, we also…
(2020-03-02). Los Angeles D.A.'s Husband Pulls Gun on Black Lives Matter Protesters. truthdig.com 
"You were supposed to meet with us six months ago," an activist
(2020-03-02). Julian Assange Lawyer: What's at Stake in Extradition Case Is Freedom of the Press. democracynow.org 
British Judge Vanessa Baraitser has suspended the extradition hearing for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange until mid-May. This comes after four days of intense deliberations last week between Assange's legal team and attorneys representing the United States government. Assange faces 18 charges of attempted hacking and breaches of the Espionage Act for his role in publishing classified documents exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. He could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. Assange has been held in London's Belmarsh prison since last April, when he was removed from the embassy by British poli…
(2020-03-02). Jeremy Corbyn's Silence During Julian Assange's Extradition Hearing. globalresearch.ca Last week, Julian Assange was subjected to an extradition hearing brought by the Trump administration to bring the WikiLeaks founder to the United States to face Espionage Act charges carrying a 175-year prison sentence. | Throughout the four-day proceedings in London, …
(2020-03-02). Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent. zcomm.org The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison…
(2020-03-02). Contra-supporting CNN pundit Ana Navarro lobbied for corrupt right-wing Latin American governments. thegrayzone.com Bernie-bashing "Never Trump conservative" CNN pundit Ana Navarro lobbied for El Salvador's right-wing government, whose president was imprisoned for corruption,…
(2020-03-02). US Court Blocks Lawsuit Over Mexican Child Killed at Border. telesurenglish.net The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday prevented the family of a murdered 16-year-old Mexican from filing a civil rights lawsuit against the border patrol agent who shot him dead. | RELATED: | Agent Lonnie Swartz killed Mexican citizen Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in 2012, after shooting the teenager from across the border in Arizona. | Swartz, standing on an embankment on U.S. soil, shot through a border fence and struck…
(2020-03-02). Can We Trust the Government to Respond to the Coronavirus in a Fair and Effective Manner? aclu.org A group of over 450 public health experts signed a It is essential that all govern…
(2020-03-02). Klobuchar rally canceled, rally to free Myon Burrell takes center stage. fightbacknews.org St. Louis Park, MN – Amy Klobuchar supporters couldn't fill the gymnasium, March 1, at Saint Louis Park High School, even with the help of some 250 protesters demanding freedom for Myon Burrell, an innocent Black teen she sent to prison for life when she was the county district attorney. Myon Burrell's family, the Racial Justice Network, Minneapolis NAACP, Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, Communities United Against Police Brutality, and Black Lives Matter Minnesota called for community members to mobilize to protest at the Klobuchar rally, two days before the primary vo…
(2020-03-02). Afghanistan Rejects Releasing Taliban Prisoners Under US Deal. telesurenglish.net Just hours after the United States announced that it would end the war in Afghanistan within 14 months, they requested, as part of the ongoing negotiations that the Afghan government, to release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners. | RELATED: | "It is up to Afghanistan, not the United States, to decide when the Taliban prisoners will be released," Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said recently in Kabul, the country's capital. | "Afgh…
(2020-03-02). In Case of Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak, New York Plans To Use Prison Labor to Dig Mass Graves. mintpressnews.com "The city has plans to send corpses to Hart Island in the Long Island Sound where, in the late 19th century, yellow-fever patients were quarantined. Prisoners from Rikers Island would be ferried over to do the digging."
(2020-03-02). Afghanistan peace deal begins to unravel as Kabul rejects prisoner swap. wsws.org The signing of the accord is an unmistakable admission by Washington that the nearly 19-year-long war it has waged in Afghanistan has produced a debacle.
(2020-03-02). Israeli prof: Israel tests weapons on Palestinian kids, tests drugs on prisoners. imemc.org Israeli occupation authorities have permitted large pharmaceutical firms to experiment on Palestinian prisoners, and have been testing weapons on Palestinian children, a Hebrew University professor disclosed in a recent lecture series. by Kathryn Shihadah An Israeli professor disclosed in a recent lecture series at Columbia University that Israeli authorities have permitted …
(2020-03-02). Brazil's Lula Receives Honorary Citizenship of Paris. telesurenglish.net Brazil's former President Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva received Monday Paris' Honorary Citizenship for his commitment to the fight against economic and social inequalities in his country. | RELATED: | In a ceremony at the City Hall of Paris, Mayor Anne Hidalgo awarded the honorary status to the founder of the Worker's Party (PT), who served around 20 months in prison, after a judicial maneuver to neutralize the pos…
(2020-03-02). Protest March Held in Jenin as Concerns Mount Over Detainees' Conditions. imemc.org In the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday, dozens of Palestinians gathered for a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian detainees inside Israeli jails. The demonstration was organized by the local Palestinian popular committee for lobbying the release Palestinian detainees, the Palestinian committee for detainees and freed detainees affairs and the …
(2020-03-02). Refugee rights supporters rally for freedom outside detention hotel. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-03-02). Civil Rights Advocates Shut Down Klobuchar Rally, Demanding Justice for Teen She Helped Sentence to Life in Prison. commondreams.org Civil rights organizations shut down Sen. Amy Klobuchar's planned rally outside Minneapolis on Sunday night after occupying the stage for more than an hour, demanding the senator address their concerns over her record as a former prosecutor. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12045671211.jpg …
(2020-03-01). Why are 1000s of Americans Being Detained for Dissent? dissidentvoice.org Author and civil rights attorney John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute joins Rick Sanchez to discuss the enduring effects of the PATRIOT Act and erosion of civil liberties in the US. He also explains "Operation Vigilant Eagle," a surveillance program to keep tabs on US veterans and track what they say online.
(2020-02-29). Protest demands reversal of decision in Chicago police torture survivor case. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – In an attack on the human rights movement to stop police torture in Chicago, a Cook County judge ordered a torture survivor back to prison for life on February 14. In doing so, Judge Thomas Hennelly ignored irrefutable X-ray evidence of Gerald Reed's torture at the hands of the infamous Jon Burge "midnight crew," flouted the findings of the governor-appointed Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission — which affirmed Gerald's claim of torture — and overturned the ruling of the judge formerly assigned to the case, who vacated Reed's original conviction before retiring. | In response to Hennel…
(2020-02-29). Fighting discrimination against women is key to beating AIDS. news.un.org "The struggle to beat AIDS is inseparable from the struggle for women's rights and from the struggle against all forms of discrimination". This is the message from Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, on Zero Discrimination Day, which falls on Sunday March 1. The theme of this year's Day is the fight against discrimination faced by women and girls, and the organization aims to raise awareness, mobilize action, and promote equality.
(2020-02-28). Carol Anderson on Voter Suppression. fair.org 
Media…
(2020-02-28). US and OAS lobby for Nicaraguan 'political prisoners' who butcher their pregnant girlfriends. thegrayzone.com Ben Norton reports from Nicaragua, where the US embassy and OAS successfully lobbied for the release of violent criminals who…
(2020-02-28). Delhi Is On Fire, and My Kashmiri Parents Are in Prison. thenation.com Delhi Is On Fire, and My Kashmiri Parents Are in Prison…
(2020-02-28). Connecticut prison warning: Prolonged solitary confinement may 'amount to torture', UN expert warns. news.un.org The "excessive use" of solitary confinement by the prison service in the US state of Connecticut, prompted an independent UN human rights expert to voice alarm on Friday.
(2020-02-27). Defending Immigrants' Rights and Reproductive Freedom in the U.S. Supreme Court. aclu.org The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a number of cases this term that will have a crucial impact on civil rights and civil liberties — from LGBTQ equality to reproductive freedom and immigrants' rights. Earlier in the term, the ACLU had two cases asking whether workers can be fired for being LGBTQ. On March 2, we will be arguing a case on immigrants' rights, and we have filed or will file friend-of-the-court briefs in major cases involving reproductive freedom, contraceptive access, and religious freedom. | We sat down with David | Cole, the ACLU's national legal director, to discuss what's in store for the…
(2020-02-26). Family Separation, Two Years After Ms. L. aclu.org When the ACLU filed
(2020-02-26). Stopping the Anti-Abortion Ordinances of East Texas. aclu.org Waskom. | Naples. Joaquin. Tenaha. Rusk. Gary. Wells. These names might sound unfamiliar | now, but you'll be hearing more about them soon enough. | They | are seven cities in East Texas that, within the last several months, each | passed so-called "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinances — moves that are | blatantly unconstitutional. | Waskom, Texas was the
(2020-02-26). As Alabama primary nears, voter suppression is alive and well. splcenter.org All across this country, the right to vote is under attack. But with your support, we're fighting back in Southern courts and state legislatures with a newly formed team of legal, policy, and grassroots advocates.
(2020-02-25). Headlines for February 25, 2020. democracynow.org Harvey Weinstein Found Guilty of Rape, 2020 Democratic Candidates Gear Up for Debate as More Damning Comments by Bloomberg Surface, Bernie Sanders Defends Praise for Fidel Castro's Literacy Program, Protests in India Kill At Least 7 as Trump Continues Visit, Former Egyptian Dictator Hosni Mubarak Dies, U.K. Court Opens Deliberations on Julian Assange's Extradition Case, As Coronavirus Spreads Around the Globe, White House Requests Emergency Funding, China Sentences Bookseller Critical of Chinese Government to 10 Years in Prison, Clashes Between Haitian Police and Soldiers Leave One Dead as Anti-Gov't Protests Rag…
(2020-02-25). "It's a Beginning": Rosanna Arquette on Weinstein Rape Conviction & How He Assaulted, Spied on Her. democracynow.org 
A jury has found Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault, following a seven-week trial in Manhattan. The jurors convicted the disgraced Hollywood producer Monday of raping then-aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a hotel room in 2013 and of sexually assaulting production assistant Miriam Haley at his apartment in 2006 by forcibly performing oral sex on her. Weinstein was convicted of first-degree commission of a criminal sexual act and third-degree rape. But he was acquitted of two more serious charges of predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape. He faces a total sentence of up to 29 years in prison…
(2020-02-24). From Being Tortured in Sri Lanka to the U.S. Supreme Court. aclu.org 
On a frigid day in early February, Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam | stands under an awning on a street corner in lower Manhattan along with one of | his attorneys, Celso Perez of the ACLU. Both are bundled in heavy winter | jackets. Perez is holding his phone up and squinting as he concentrates on the | tinny voice of a translator emanating from its speaker. | "I want them to be aware that you're traveling," Perez says | into the phone. | The voice on the other line translates what Perez said into | Tamil, the native language of Sri Lanka's largest ethnic minority. Thuraissigiam, | heavyset in his late 40s with a…
(2020-02-24). Honoring Black History Month Means Respecting the Foundation That it Stands On. aclu.org Black History Month is meant to be a | celebration of the achievements of Black Americans, in spite of our country's | history of blatant, intentional racism. Despite that intention, the American | narrative surrounding the enslaving of Black Americans has always attempted to | rewrite our past, generating a kinder, gentler image of slavery. | President Trump and his appointees are | the embodiment of that attempt to rewrite Black history. Recently, President | Trump and his appointee, Philadelphia U. S. Attorney William McSwain, mocked | the history that serves as the foundation for Black History Month. Whil…
(2020-02-21). Weekend Read: SPLC files civil rights complaints as asylum seekers wage hunger strikes. splcenter.org …
(2020-02-21). Racist Drug Laws Lead to Racist Enforcement in Cities Across the Country. aclu.org The way which America enforces its drug laws has been Across racial and ethnic groups, Americans use and sell drugs at rates, but law enforcement has targeted Black and brown people for stops, arrests, prosecution, and | imprisonment at wildly disproportionate rates. | This race-…
(2020-02-14). Weekend Read: Department of Justice may force Mississippi to fix deadly prison system. splcenter.org …
(2020-02-11). Desperate asylum seekers 'starving for justice' in immigrant prison hunger strikes across Louisiana. splcenter.org Guards shackled Sai Mahad to a chair, placed a mask over his mouth and snaked a long tube through one of his nostrils.
(2020-02-04). Biden Threatens Lawsuit to Halt Release of Real Iowa Caucus Results. theantimedia.com American democracy—ain't it grand?>
(2020-02-02). SPLC and the SPLC Action Fund Hire Internationally Renowned Human and Civil Rights Leader as New President and CEO. splcenter.org Margaret Huang brings 25 years of experience advocating against discrimination and oppression around the world.