2020-11-05: News Headlines

Yasmina Allouche (2020-11-05). Even in death, Algerian war veteran and Hirak activist defies authorities. middleeasteye.net Even in death, Algerian war veteran and Hirak activist defies authorities | Lakhdar Bouregaa's record as a freedom fighter was smeared by the state, after he was imprisoned for six months following anti-corruption protests in 2019 | Thu, 11/05/2020 – 12: 21 | Bouregaa was a senior military official in the National Liberation Army and founded the Socialist Forces Front (Ryad Kramdi/AFP) | C…

MEE staff (2020-11-05). Palestinian prisoner Maher al-Akhras passes 100 days on hunger strike. middleeasteye.net Palestinian prisoner Maher al-Akhras passes 100 days on hunger strike | Taghreed, Akhras's wife, says her husband has been in and out of a coma as his health deteriorates | Thu, 11/05/2020 – 12: 01 | Palestinians carry placards demanding the release of administrative detainee in Israeli custody Maher al-Akhras during a demonstration Hebron, 3 November (AFP) | Palestinian prisoner Maher al-Akhras is on the "ver…

Nadda Osman (2020-11-05). UN raises alarm over Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul's health following hunger strike. middleeasteye.net UN raises alarm over Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul's health following hunger strike | The Saudi activist launched a hunger strike last month to protest against restrictions on contacting her family | Thu, 11/05/2020 – 12: 56 | UN experts have raised concerns about Loujain's health after launching her second hunger strike(AFP) | UN experts have raised concerns over the deteriorating health of jailed…

Susie Day (2020-11-05). That's Not Gangster, That's Love: Eddie Conway and Jose Saldaña Talking. counterpunch.org Why do prison abolitionists argue that people who spend years behind bars are exactly the ones we need out in the world to help mend our broken communities? The answer starts to emerge when you listen to Eddie Conway and Jose Saldaña. Eddie was Lieutenant of Security for Baltimore's Black Panther Party when he was

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-05). Mass detention of health workers in India; union to continue fight. peoplesdispatch.org As many as 2,000 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) were forcefully detained in the State of Andhra Pradesh on November 2. They were staging protests to demand the implementation of the National Health Mission guidelines…

ACLU (2020-11-05). Friday 11/6: Post-Election Town Hall w/ ACLU Leaders in Battle Ground States. indybay.org Online/virtual town hall…

Zafar Syed Zaffsyed (2020-11-05). "I Found Out that My Father Was Imprisoned in Guantánamo on Google" globalresearch.ca The article below was written by Zafar Syed Zaffsyed for the Pakistan Independent and published on November 2, 2020. The original is available Our thanks to Reprieve for bringing this …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-05). Egyptian court orders release of over 600 political prisoners and detainees. peoplesdispatch.org A criminal court in Cairo ordered the release of detainees being held in remand under 19 different cases. As per claims by family members and lawyers, over 300 detainees were released on Tuesday, with more expected to be released in the coming days…

news.un (2020-11-05). UN rights experts call for release of Saudi activist championing women's right to drive. news.un.org The deteriorating health‚ÄØof Saudi women's rights activist Loujain Al-Hathloul is‚ÄØ"deeply alarming", UN-appointed rights experts said on Wednesday, calling for her release along with "all other women human rights defenders in detention".

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-05). Chilean protesters demand release of those arrested during October 2019 uprising. peoplesdispatch.org Chilean protesters have been demanding the release of political prisoners who were detained during the October 2019 uprising. The protests last year triggered a movement that led to last month's historic constitutional referendum…

Fight Back (2020-11-04). Green Bay, WI: Vigil and caravan for Donna Christensen and missing, murdered indigenous women. fightbacknews.org Green Bay, WI – On November 1, the Wisconsin Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a car caravan and vigil for Donna Christensen, an Ojibwe woman and member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, who was found dead in a jail cell in Vilas County, Wisconsiin. | The car caravanners displayed signs and chanted slogans calling for justice for Donna Christensen and for all Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), as well as justice for all victims of police crimes. They flew a banner with the words "Native lives matter" and "Justice for Jonathan," an indigenous man murdered by Gree…

Martha Grevatt (2020-11-04). Sign the petition! Hands off Jalil Muntaqim! workers.org Finally, after 49 years in prison, Black revolutionary Jalil Muntaqim was released on parole Oct. 7. On Oct 18, he turned 69. On Oct. 30, however, a new warrant was issued for his arrest! His crime? Attempting to register to vote. Under New York State law, parolees cannot vote until . . . |

Mohammad al-Deirawi and Ramzy Baroud (2020-11-04). "They Tried to Freeze Me to Death": Torture and Resistance in Israeli Prisons. dissidentvoice.org Mohammad Ibrahim Ali al-Deirawi was born on January 30, 1978 in Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. His family is originally from Bir Al-Saba', an ethnically cleansed Palestinian town located in the southern Naqab desert. Mohammad was arrested by the Israeli army at a military checkpoint in central Gaza on March 1, 2001. He …

Mohammed al-Deirawi, Ramzy Baroud (2020-11-04). "They Tried to Freeze Me to Death:" Torture and Resistance in Israeli Prisons. counterpunch.org Mohammad Ibrahim Ali al-Deirawi was born on January 30, 1978 in Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. His family is originally from Bir Al-Saba', an ethnically cleansed Palestinian town located in the southern Naqab desert. Mohammad was arrested by the Israeli army at a military checkpoint in central Gaza on March 1, 2001. He

Ted Kelly (2020-11-04). International calls for release of Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike. workers.org Hunger striker Maher al-Akhras The International Association of Democratic Lawyers, in a resolution released late last month, called for the immediate release of Maher al-Akhras, a Palestinian man imprisoned by Israeli occupation. Detained without charges under the notorious "administrative detention" policy, al-Akhras has been staging a hunger strike for almost . . . |

RT (2020-11-04). France bans Turkish right-wing 'Grey Wolves' group for inciting 'discrimination and hatred'. rt.com The French interior minister has announced that the Turkish nationalist group 'Grey Wolves' has been dissolved, adding that the organization was responsible for violent acts and incited discrimination and hatred. | On Wednesday, the Council of Ministers approved the dissolution of the Turkish nationalist group Grey Wolves in France. | The outcome of the meeting was announced by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. He shared a photo of the decree on Twitter, adding that the group "was dissolved… in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic." | It [the Grey Wolves group] incites discrimin…

Kenneth Surin (2020-11-04). The UK's Report on Labour Party Antisemitism. counterpunch.org The UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report on antisemitism in the Labour party has just been published. It found Labour to have breached the Equality Act of 2010, by virtue of harassment committed by its "agents" and "indirect discrimination", occurring in the form of political interference in investigative procedures, muddled official responses to

Judy Greenspan (2020-11-04). Prison, COVID, and Disabilities. workers.org From a talk given at the Oct. 22 Workers World Webinar on "Voter Suppression & COVID & their Impact on Disabled People." Betsey [Piette] and I are both members of the Prisoners Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party. Every week, we publish 1-2 pages of articles about the struggles . . . |

MEE staff (2020-11-04). Bahrain convicts dozens on allegations of membership of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. middleeasteye.net Bahrain convicts dozens on allegations of membership of Iran's Revolutionary Guard | Conviction of 51 people, mostly in absentia, decried by activists as proof of 'systemic corruption of Bahrain's judiciary' | Wed, 11/04/2020 – 11: 05 | Bahraini women demonstrate in solidarity with political prisoners, in the village of Shakhora, west of Manama, on 1 June 2012 (AFP) | The Bahraini government announced on Tuesd…

Megan Sherman (2020-11-04). 5G's Assault on Civil Rights: Let's Not Forfeit Local Power being Trapped into Surveillance. globalresearch.ca Having conquered, colonised and regimented cyberspace and its flow of data, driven away from us and in to orbit in secret stores, telecommunications companies are now looking to occupy public infrastructure with their next generation data network 5G. | Because 5G …

sputniknews (2020-11-04). Rudy Giuliani Hints Trump Camp May Bring 'National Lawsuit' Amid Unsubstantiated Voter Fraud Claims. sputniknews.com Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who became US President Donald Trump's lawyer and adviser, told members of the press in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday the campaign would be filing several lawsuits, possibly even at the national level, to shut down the vote counting in the Keystone State.

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-04). Leader pardons, commutes prison terms of 3,780 convicts. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 04 (MNA) — Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has pardoned or commuted the sentences of a large number of Iranian prisoners.

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-04). Iranian prisoners in Georgia repatriated to Islamic Republic. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 04 (MNA) — Georgia handed over 6 Iranian prisoners to the Islamic Republic on Wednesday due to the efforts made by the Iranian Embassy in Tbilisi.

_____ (2020-11-03). 'The Coming War On China' — Watch John Pilger's Powerfully Relevant Documentary. strategic-culture.org Caitlin JOHNSTONE | "The aim of this film is to break a silence: the United States and China may well be on the road to war, and nuclear war is no longer unthinkable," Pilger says in his 2016 documentary The Coming War on China, which "In a few years China has become the world's second-biggest economic power," Pilger's introduction continues. "The United States is the world's biggest military power, with bases and missiles and ships covering ever…

MEE staff (2020-11-03). Covid-19: Scores of Palestinian prisoners infected. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Scores of Palestinian prisoners infected | The Palestinian Committee of Prisoners' Affairs blames 'bad measures' inside Gilboa prison for the spread of the coronavirus | Tue, 11/03/2020 – 15: 05 | Palestinian prisoners and visitors at Gilboa prison in central Israel in 2006 (AFP) | Around 73 Palestinian prisoners have tested positive for Covid-19 inside the Israeli prison of Gilboa, according to the…

Ragip Soylu (2020-11-03). 'We can only pray': Four Turkish citizens held by Haftar in eastern Libya. middleeasteye.net 'We can only pray': Four Turkish citizens held by Haftar in eastern Libya | Nothing has been heard from the dessert shop workers since they were seized by the LNA in Sirte in February | Tue, 11/03/2020 – 07: 27 | A member of Libyan National Army (LNA) commanded by Khalifa Haftar, points his gun to the image of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan hanged on a Turkish military armored vehicle (Reuters) | Yakup…

Nadda Osman (2020-11-03). Egypt court orders release of more than 600 detainees swept up in crackdown. middleeasteye.net Egypt court orders release of more than 600 detainees swept up in crackdown | The prisoners include journalists, politicians and students who had been in pre-trial detention for over a year | Tue, 11/03/2020 – 14: 50 | A picture taken during a guided tour organised by Egypt's State Information Service on 11 February, 2020, shows the entrance of the Tora prison clinic in the Egyptian capital Cairo (AFP/fi…

NAACP (2020-11-03). Wednesday 11/4: NAACP Election 2020 Special Coverage Town Hall (Day 2). indybay.org Virtual Town Hall…

NAACP (2020-11-03). Tuesday 11/3: NAACP Election 2020 Special Coverage (Day 1). indybay.org Onlive via livestream…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-03). Chileans demand release of political prisoners detained in the uprising. peoplesdispatch.org On November 2, relatives and friends and members of various social organizations protested outside the San Miguel prison in Chile's capital Santiago. The demonstration was held to demand the release of hundreds of young protesters, who have spent about a year in preventive detention, after being detained by the national police force in different parts of the country during The protesters also demanded an immediate resumption of visits for inmates in prisons throughout the country. The visits hav…

Annerieke Daniel (2020-11-03). Pandemic's Toll on Young Black Women. progressive.org Structural racism, discrimination, and poverty—which have historically left Black people out of the healthcare system — are leaving leave us more vulnerable to a serious and deadly virus.

_____ (2020-11-03). Innocent Mother Beaten By Philly Cops Filing Lawsuit. popularresistance.org Recorded on cellphone video pulling a mother out of her vehicle and smashing the windows with her toddler inside the backseat, several Philadelphia police officers are under investigation for appearing to assault an innocent woman and her family attempting to drive home during a recent protest. Attorneys representing the victim have confirmed she is filing a civil rights case against the police department. | Shortly before 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Rickia Young was driving home with her 16-year-old nephew and two-year-old son when she became stuck in traffic at a police barricade during a protest against police brutal…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-03). Widespread condemnation of Israeli raids and arrests of Palestinian leaders, activists. peoplesdispatch.org Organizations have called for the swift and unconditional release of all the Palestinian leaders and activists arrested in the late night raids on Monday, while also demanding freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners and administrative detainees…

commondreams (2020-11-03). Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to Provide Live Updates About Barriers Faced by Voters on Election Day. commondreams.org ______________________________…

teleSUR (2020-11-03). Palestinian Prisoner Hits 100 Days of Hunger Strike in Israel. telesurenglish.net The 49-year-old Palestinian Maher Al Akhras reached 100 days on a hunger strike in protest against Israeli administrative detentions, which have hundreds of Palestinians arrested without charge, trial, or release date. | RELATED: | At the end of July, Maher Al Akhras, a father of six, was working as a farmer in a village near Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Today, his name is pronounced by people like Josep Borrell, Europea…

_____ (2020-11-03). Arrest Police Officers Who Brutally Attacked Reuben Pegues. popularresistance.org Bethesda MD — The brutal arrest of high school student Reuben Pegues, a member of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC), Saturday night during Washington DC demonstrations exposes the continuing disregard for Black Lives at all levels of our society, and the importance of the struggle to preserve the memory of African Americans in the face of obliteration by development at the Moses African Cemetery on River Road in Bethesda. | Reuben is an ardent supporter of the BACC's multi-year battle to stop the plans by Bethesda Storage to excavate what Coalition members call "ancient Moses"…

Ronda Shelton (2020-11-02). More than 20 percent of Black Tennesseans barred from voting. liberationnews.org As millions of Americans cast their vote in the upcoming Presidential election, more than 20 percent of Black Tennesseans will be unable to participate due to past felony convictions. That's 1 out of 5 Black adult Tennesseans. The state's racial makeup is 78 percent white, 17 percent Black, 1.7 percent Asian, 0.3 percent Native American, …

_____ (2020-11-02). How Maher al-Akhras Is Resisting Israel's Administrative Detention. popularresistance.org Facing imminent death, 49-year-old Maher al-Akhras has been refusing to eat in prison for more than three months. The Palestinian father of six has been protesting his repeated arbitrary arrests; he is currently in administrative detention, without charge or trial. | Like many hunger strikers before him, Akhras does not seek death, although he is evidently prepared to die. The hunger strike is his way of refusing to become a modern-day Sisyphus, completing one administrative detention only to begin another. Reclaiming his body from the hands of Israeli authorities, he now wields his own life as a card to make a s…

Taylor Pendergrass (2020-11-02). What State Question 805 Has Already Won. aclu.org Oklahoma is a study in the contradictions of criminal justice reform. While the state is the world's leading incarcerator, it is also a criminal justice reform success story. That paradox is mirrored in State Question 805 — on the ballot this November — which is both a modest criminal sentencing reform, and is precipitating transformative political and cultural change in Oklahoma's reform movement., , Four years ago, as the state's incarceration crisis reached new peaks, voters passed a ballot initiative that shortened prison sentences for property and drug-related crimes. Since that time, Oklahoma…

ACLU (2020-11-02). At the Polls, Episode 8: Know Your Rights on Election Day. aclu.org It's time for the main event: Election Day. Are you ready to vote? , , Election Day is finally here, and we at the ACLU are here to ensure you As we enter the final s…

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-11-02). 'Huge Victory for Texas Voters': Federal Judge Rules in Favor of 127,000 Drive-Thru Ballots. commondreams.org "This is what democracy looks like," said one ACLU lawyer. "Our justice system did its duty today to ensure voting rights are protected and our democracy remains intact." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1228942091_1_0_0.jpg