(2020-03-01). There is no commitment on the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners — Afghan president after US deal. rt.com 
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that releasing up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners cannot be considered a pre-condition of peace talks. His statement comes a day after the Taliban signed a peace deal with the US. | Ghani made his comments at a press conference on Sunday. | There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners. This is the right and the self-will of the people of Afghanistan. It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks. | The Afghan leader confirmed that the US is facilitating the prisoners' release but it is ultimately up to Kabul to "decide…
(2020-03-01). OSCE condemns harassment of Russian agency journalists in Turkey amid reported detention over 'professional activity'. rt.com 
The OSCE's media freedom spokesman condemned the harassment of three employees of Sputnik Turkey in Ankara. Contact with the journalists was lost as they went to the police after being accosted by nationalists. | Three Sputnik employees were confronted in their apartments in Ankara on Saturday night by groups of angry people who accused them of being traitors to the country. Nobody was hurt in the altercations, but after they turned to the police to investigate the incident, they went missing and have not been heard from since. | Sources in Ankara's legal organizations as well as relatives of the journalists t…
(2020-03-01). OSCE Slams Attack on Sputnik Turkey Journalists, Concerned About Their Detention. sputniknews.com On Saturday night, an angry mob, chanting nationalist slogans tried to break into the apartments of three Sputnik employees in the Turkish capital. Sputnik Turkey has not been able to make contact with the journalists since they filed complaints against their attackers.
(2020-03-01). Detention of Sputnik Turkey Employees a Gross Violation of Rights of Journalists – Moscow. sputniknews.com On Saturday night, the homes of three Sputnik Turkey staffers in Ankara were attacked by angry mobs. Later, the agency lost contact with the journalists after they went to the police to report on the raid on their homes.
(2020-03-01). President Ghani Denies Commitment to Release 5,000 Taliban Prisoners Before Inter-Afghan Talks. sputniknews.com On Saturday, the US and the Taliban signed a peace deal in Doha that will see US and allied troops pull out from Afghanistan over the next 14 months. The US will reduce its military presence to 8,600 troops in the next 135 days.
(2020-02-29). Former correctional officers sentenced after assaulting handcuffed inmate. nationofchange.org "Through the Kentucky Public Corruption Civil Rights Task Force, FBI Louisville will continue to aggressively investigate any public official that abuses those they have been sworn to protect."
(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.
(2020-02-29). 'We Won't Stop and They Won't Stop Us' Catalonia's Leader Says. telesurenglish.net Tens of thousands of people Saturday gathered in Perpignan, France, to demonstrate their support for the independence of Catalonia and to demand the release of Catalan political prisoners. | RELATED: | One of the protagonists of this impressive rally was
(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…
(2020-02-28). Carol Anderson on Voter Suppression. fair.org 
Media…
(2020-02-28). Julian Bond Was a Radical Long Before MLK. truthdig.com 
A new book shows how the activist's positions on issues like the Vietnam War and environmental justice helped move civil rights leaders left.
(2020-02-28). 100s of DEAD voters still registered for 2020 election in Pennsylvania — lawsuit. rt.com 
An Indiana-based law firm is suing Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in federal court for having hundreds of dead people registered to vote in the upcoming 2020 election, among other bizarre irregularities. | The lawsuit alleges that some 1,600 dead people are registered to vote in the 2020 election, while almost 1,200 people are registered to vote without a date of birth listed, and some have even listed the 1800s as their birth years, all violations of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. | "One registrant is stated as being born in 'June 1800,' the same year Thomas Jefferson won eight of Pennsylvania's…
(2020-02-28). Civil Rights Advocates Reject Trump's Denaturalization Office. telesurenglish.net The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)and other NGOs defending the rights of migrants criticized the creation of a special office responsible for withdrawing citizenship because President Donald Trump administration could use it as a tool for his "xenophobic and racist" agenda. | RELATED: | "The Trump Administration creates an office to try to abuse, frighten, and intimidate Latinos and all immigrants or refugees…
(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). ACLU Comment on Federal Appeals Court Ruling Blocking Trump Forced Return to Mexico Policy. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-02-28). ACLU Challenges New Border Wall Funds Transfer. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-02-28). Endangered Species in America: "Moose, Western Bumblebee, Venus Flytrap, … Plants and Animals in Desperate Need of Help" globalresearch.ca The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today for failing to decide whether 241 plants and animals across the country — from the Midwest's golden-winged warbler to Venus flytraps in the Carolinas — should be protected under the …
(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). Malcolm X's Daughter Ilyasah Shabazz on Her Father's Legacy & the New Series "Who Killed Malcolm X?" democracynow.org 
Fifty-five years ago today, Malcolm X was assassinated. The civil rights leader was shot to death on February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. He was only 39 years old. Details of his assassination remain disputed to this day. Earlier this month, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said he was considering reopening the investigation, just days after a new documentary series about the assassination was released on Netflix called "Who Killed Malcolm X?" It makes the case that two of the three men who were convicted for Malcolm X's murder are actually innocent and that his uncaught killers wer…
(2020-02-21). Headlines for February 21, 2020. democracynow.org Roger Stone Sentenced to 40-Month Prison Term, Trump Lashed at Intel Chief over Warning of Russian Meddling in 2020 Election, Germany Mourns Victims of Right-Wing Terror Attacks, Suspect Arrested in Stabbing at London Mosque, U.K. to Close Borders to "Unskilled" and Non-English-Speaking Immigrants, Protests Erupt as Acting ICE Director Challenges New York Pro-Immigrant Laws, Mexican Radio Journalist Murdered in Ciudad Juárez, February Flowers Bloom in Moscow Amid Record-High Winter Temperatures, 28 Arrested in Seattle Protesting Chase Bank Fossil Fuel Ties, Rail Blockades Continue as Protests Grow Against Coastal…
(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-…
(2020-02-20). U.S. Resident Indefinitely Detained Without Charge Secures His Day In Court. aclu.org Adham Hassoun will | finally have his day in court. A federal judge has rejected the government's sweeping | claim that it can, on its own say-so, indefinitely imprison him without charge | and without a fair trial. | Adham is a long-time U.S. resident and a father of three. As we previously his criminal sentence and was set to be released from prison almost three years | ago. But the government — claiming unprecedented and unconstitutional…
(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.