Staff(2020-04-20). Headlines for April 20, 2020.democracynow.orgU.S. Fatalities Top 40,000; Nursing Homes Hit Hard as Death Tolls Soar | , Trump and Governors at Odds over Coronavirus Testing as Uneven Reopening of States Commences, Right-Wing Groups Organize Anti-Lockdown Protests Around the Country | , New Deal on Relief for Small Businesses Could Be Imminent But May Lack Key Democratic Provisions, Immigrant Prisoners at Otay Mesa Launch Hunger Strike, Denounce Inhumane Treatment | , Michael Cohen to Be Released from Federal Detention as Prisoners Nationwide Face Mounting Coronavirus Risk, Italy Records Lowest Daily Death Toll in a Week; Spain & France Also Show Signs of Pr…
teleSUR(2020-04-20). Guatemala: Discrimination Against Domestic Workers Rises.telesurenglish.netGuatemalan domestic personnel are more vulnerable to the COVID-19 economic and social impact than other workers due to their livelihood and labor conditions. | RELATED: | According to the Union of Domestic, Maquila and Related Workers' (Sitradom) president, Floridalma Contreras, domestic workforces are predominately women who are under no legal employment ways. From the 550 members of the union, the majority are illiterat…
Davide Mastracci(2020-04-20). Blame the Covid-19 failure on your governments, not on China.indybay.orgThe anti-Chinese narrative is based on false statements and serves to distract people from the failure of neoliberalism. Build hospitals and make health care universal! Cut military spending in half! Testing, not imprisonment, abuse and neglect!
Brian Terrell(2020-04-19). COVID-19 and the Wasting Disease of Normalcy.dissidentvoice.org "But what of the price of peace?" asked Jesuit priest and war resister Daniel Berrigan, writing from federal prison in 1969, doing time for his part in the destruction of draft records. "I think of the good, decent, peace-loving people I have known by the thousands, and I wonder. How many of them are so …
The Canary(2020-04-19). Decision on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's temporary release delayed again.thecanary.co Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe faces another "deeply unsettling" couple of days as the wait continues to find out if her temporary release from a prison in Iran has been extended.The British-Iranian mother was temporarily freed from Evin prison in Tehran in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.Zaghari-Ratcliffe's furlough was extended by two weeks in late March, and she was scheduled to return to prison on Saturday 18 April.When her family had not received a decision by Saturday on whether or not her furlough is to be extended, they were told to return to the prosecutors office in Iran on 19 April — but have now bee…
Fight Back(2020-04-19). Interview with Charlotte Kates on COVID-19 threat in Israeli jails, fight to free Palestinian political prisoners.fightbacknews.orgFight Back! interviewed Charlotte Kates, International Coordinator of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, on the fight to free Palestinian political prisoners in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We ask that all of our readers to support this important effort. | Fight Back!: How has the pandemic impacted Palestinian political prisoners? | Charlotte Kates: One of the major concerns has been the fact that Palestinian prisoners are essentially cut off from the outside world. Israel claims that its ban on family visits and legal visits are attempts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but they are…
Staff(2020-04-18). Attorney General Barr Refuses to Release 9/11 Documents to Victims' Families.truthout.orgMonths after President Donald Trump promised to open FBI files to help families of the 9/11 victims in a civil lawsuit against the Saudi government, the Justice Department has doubled down on its claim that the information is a state secret. | In a series of filings just before a midnight court deadline on Monday, the attorney general, William Barr; the acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell; and other senior officials insisted to a federal judge in the civil case that furth…
IMEMC & Agencies(2020-04-18). Hamas Offers Israel a Mediated Prisoner Swap Deal.imemc.orgPolitical Leader of the ruling Islamist Hamas party in Gaza, Ismail Haniyya, told the Alaraby Arabic TV channel, on Friday, that his party has four Israeli soldiers in captivity, and that the party is ready to indirectly negotiate over a possible prisoner swap deal with Israel. The leader of Hamas …
ACLU(2020-04-17). What it's Like in ICE Detention During a Pandemic.aclu.orgAs millions of people in the U.S. shelter in their homes, and millions more who aren't able to stay indoors practice social distancing or other measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a crisis is brewing in the facilities where immigrants are detained. Cramped conditions and inadequate access to hygiene or medical care have created what one medical expert called a "tinderbox" for the disease in a letter to Congress., , Many of those in detention are asylum seekers, who came to the U.S. to ask for protection after fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries. Many others were long-time U.S. resi…
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Man Who Filmed Police Murder of Eric Garner Says Prison Guards Deliberately Gave Him COVID-19
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-20
WeCopwatch, an activist organization dedicated to the nonviolent observation of police, says that corrections officers threatened to deliberately infect Ramsey Orta for weeks before he tested positive. mintpressnews.com/ramsey-orta-says-prison-guards-deliberately-gave-him-covid-19/266782/
Guatemala: Discrimination Against Domestic Workers Rises telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-20
Guatemalan domestic personnel are more vulnerable to the COVID-19 economic and social impact than other workers due to their livelihood and labor conditions. | RELATED: | Guatemala: Social Organizations Dennounces Massive Layoffs | According to the Union of Domestic, Maquila and Related Workers' (Sitradom) president, Floridalma Contreras, domestic workforces are predominately women who are under no legal employment ways. From the 550 members of the union, the majority are illiterat… telesurenglish.net/news/Guatemala-Discrimination-Against-Domestic-Workers-Rises-20200420-0005.html
Blame the Covid-19 failure on your governments, not on China
Davide Mastracci | indybay.org | 2020-04-20
The anti-Chinese narrative is based on false statements and serves to distract people from the failure of neoliberalism. Build hospitals and make health care universal! Cut military spending in half! Testing, not imprisonment, abuse and neglect! indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/20/18832513.php
El Salvador: Bukele Imposes Total Closure of Municipality telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-20
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele implemented the closure of the Puerto de La Libertad municipality. The measure was imposed after several videos appeared on social media networks showing street crowding in La Libertad. | RELATED: Latam: COVID-19 Puts Imprisoned Environmental Defenders at Risk | "Everyone will have to be in their homes and 100% of businesses closed, until further notice," Bukele tweeted. The president also posted on his Facebook official profile: "no one shal… telesurenglish.net/news/el-salvador-bukele-imposes-total-closure-in-municipality-20200420-0008.html
Interview with Charlotte Kates on COVID-19 threat in Israeli jails, fight to free Palestinian political prisoners
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-19
Fight Back! interviewed Charlotte Kates, International Coordinator of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, on the fight to free Palestinian political prisoners in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We ask that all of our readers to support this important effort. | Fight Back!: How has the pandemic impacted Palestinian political prisoners? | Charlotte Kates: One of the major concerns has been the fact that Palestinian prisoners are essentially cut off from the outside world. Israel claims that its ban on family visits and legal visits are attempts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but they are… fightbacknews.org/2020/4/19/interview-charlotte-kates-covid-19-threat-israeli-jails-fight-free-palestinian-political-p
COVID-19 Lockdowns Harmfully Impacting Millions of Children: UN telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-19
Millions of children worldwide are being vulnerable to countless threats due to the lockdowns arising from the global coronavirus pandemic, a new United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report has revealed Thursday. | RELATED: | Children Political Prisoners Face Hell in Egypt | The document called "The Impact of COVID-19 on children" details the different areas in which children could possibly be harmed, including lack of access to healthcare, domestic life, education, and risks as a resu… telesurenglish.net/news/COVID-19-LockdownsHarmfully-ImpactingMillions-of-Children-UN-20200419-0009.html
Decision on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's temporary release delayed again
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-04-19
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe faces another "deeply unsettling" couple of days as the wait continues to find out if her temporary release from a prison in Iran has been extended.The British-Iranian mother was temporarily freed from Evin prison in Tehran in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.Zaghari-Ratcliffe's furlough was extended by two weeks in late March, and she was scheduled to return to prison on Saturday 18 April.When her family had not received a decision by Saturday on whether or not her furlough is to be extended, they were told to return to the prosecutors office in Iran on 19 April
COVID-19 and the Wasting Disease of Normalcy
Brian Terrell | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-19
"But what of the price of peace?" asked Jesuit priest and war resister Daniel Berrigan, writing from federal prison in 1969, doing time for his part in the destruction of draft records. "I think of the good, decent, peace-loving people I have known by the thousands, and I wonder. How many of them are so … dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/covid-19-and-the-wasting-disease-of-normalcy/
COVID-19 May Exacerbate Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-18
Concern about the deepening of Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis is enhancing due to the number of COVID-19 cases, lack of tests to detect the disease, and political instability. | RELATED: | Taliban Delegation in Kabul for Prisoner Exchange Process | On Saturday, Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz reported on 27 new confirmed patients and 933 people infected in the country so far. | According to local outlet Tolo News, fear is increasing because of the lack of tests and other health… telesurenglish.net/news/COVID-19-May-Exacerbate-Humanitarian-Crisis-in-Afghanistan-20200418-0003.html
Evo Morales: Police Put Cochabamba Population's Health at Risk telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-18
Bolivia's former President Evo Morales Saturday denounced that the police entered the Cochabamba Department without taking due sanitary precautions and challenging the local population, which expelled several officers from the Shinahota Municipality on Thursday. | RELATED: | Bolivia Indigenous Denounce Añez for Discrimination | "The Police have… telesurenglish.net/news/Evo-Morales-Police-Put-Cochabamba-Populations-Health-at-Risk-20200418-0005.html
Attorney General Barr Refuses to Release 9/11 Documents to Victims' Families
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-18
Months after President Donald Trump promised to open FBI files to help families of the 9/11 victims in a civil lawsuit against the Saudi government, the Justice Department has doubled down on its claim that the information is a state secret. | In a series of filings just before a midnight court deadline on Monday, the attorney general, William Barr; the acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell; and other senior officials insisted to a federal judge in the civil case that furth… truthout.org/articles/attorney-general-barr-refuses-to-release-9-11-documents-to-victims-families/
Colombia: Not Even the Pandemic Halts Killing of Social Leaders telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-18
Colombia's National Agrarian Coordinator (CNA) denounced that social leader Teodomiro Sotelo was assassinated on Friday while working on his farm in the El Tambo municipality. | RELATED: | Latam: COVID-19 Puts Imprisoned Environmental Defenders at Risk | "Armed individuals entered his property to murder him in front of his family and workers," local outlet El Colombiano reported and recalled that several farmers are migrating out of the area to avoid being new victims of violen… telesurenglish.net/news/Colombia-Not-Even-the-Pandemic-Halts-Killing-of-Social-Leaders-20200418-0006.html
What it's Like in ICE Detention During a Pandemic aclu.org | 2020-04-17
As millions of people in the U.S. shelter in their homes, and millions more who aren't able to stay indoors practice social distancing or other measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a crisis is brewing in the facilities where immigrants are detained. Cramped conditions and inadequate access to hygiene or medical care have created what one medical expert called a "tinderbox" for the disease in a letter to Congress., , Many of those in detention are asylum seekers, who came to the U.S. to ask for protection after fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries. Many others were long-time U.S. resi… aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/what-its-like-in-ice-detention-during-a-pandemic
A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform aclu.org | 2020-04-17
Women's sports a likely coronavirus casualty
Anne M. Peterson | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-17
(AP)–Linked to the rising call for gender equity worldwide, women's sports were enjoying unprecedented attention and support before the coronavirus pandemic. The World Cup in France put a spotlight on women's soccer, culminating with the United States lifting the trophy to chants of "Equal Pay!"
NYC death rates from COVID-19 reveal class division and national oppression
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-17
New York, NY – As of April 6, the rates of death from COVID-19 are twice as high for Latinos and Black residents of New York City as they are for white residents. According to the Bureau of Communicable Disease Surveillance System, the rate of death from COVID-19 is 22.8 people per 100,000 among the Latino community, 19.8 per 100,000 people among the Black community, and only 10.2 per 100,000 white people. These numbers are based on 63% of confirmed cases in New York City. | This stark divide in death rates is outrageous yet unsurprising. Many factors underlie these numbers, including differences in access to hea… fightbacknews.org/2020/4/16/nyc-death-rates-covid-19-reveal-class-division-and-national-oppression
Myanmar Releases 25,000 Prisoners Amid COVID-19 Fears telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-17
Myanmar will free almost 25,000 prisoners in an amnesty to mark the traditional New Year
Chile Registers 9,252 COVID-19 Cases, With 116 Deaths telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-17
The Chilean Ministry of Health reported on Friday that the country has registered 9,252 cases of COVID-19, with 116 deaths. | Chilean Vice Minister of Health Paula Daza said that 3,621 people have recovered from the virus. | RELATED: Latam: COVID-19 Puts Imprisoned Environmental Defenders at Risk | The ministry's undersecretary of assistance networks, Arturo Zuniga, told a press conference that 385 patients are currently in intensive care units, 316 of whom are on ventilators, w… telesurenglish.net/news/Chile-Registers-9252-COVID-19-Cases-With-116-Deaths-20200417-0011.html
COVID-19: Rights experts highlight LGBTI discrimination, antisemitism news.un.org | 2020-04-17
New guidance from the UN human rights office, issued on Friday, sets out key actions to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people against discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic. news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1062042
Apple and Google Announced a Coronavirus Tracking System. How Worried Should We Be?
Jennifer Stisa Granick | aclu.org | 2020-04-16
Apple and Google last week announced a joint contact tracing effort that would use Bluetooth technology to help alert people who have been in close proximity to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Similar proposals have been put forward by an MIT-associated effort called PACT as well as by multiple European groups., , These proposals differ from… aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/apple-and-google-announced-a-coronavirus-tracking-system-how-worried-should-we-be
'Lock your doors': Manhunt underway in Wisconsin for two violent escaped inmates who fled MAX-SECURITY prison rt.com | 2020-04-16
A major manhunt is underway in Portage, Wisconsin after two inmates
Let's Stop the Scapegoating During a Global Pandemic
Cecillia Wang | aclu.org | 2020-04-14
Just like tens of millions of people sheltering in place in the U.S., I'm adjusting to the new realities and worries of day-to-day life during the COVID-19 pandemic. But on top of worrying about my elderly family members, U.S. hospitals' shortage of basic medical equipment, or where I can find toilet paper and eggs, I have another fear. Like other Americans of East Asian descent (including citizens and non-citizens), I worry that I might be attacked on the street or in a store because of my race., , There are so many news reports that spur my concerns. For example, on March 14, a man in Midland, Texas, attacke… aclu.org/news/racial-justice/lets-stop-the-scapegoating-during-a-global-pandemic
Isolation, Before and During a Pandemic aclu.org | 2020-04-14
As many Americans round out the end of their first month of social distancing, it's clear that the toll of "stay at home" orders during the COVID-19 pandemic is much more than economic. The anxiety and fear that wash over us each day that we spend alone, away from friends, coworkers, and family, inflict their own kind of emotional damage. , , The cost of social isolation is a worthy cost in this case
Federal Wardens Must Immediately Flatten the Curve in our Nation's Prisons
Kanya Bennett | aclu.org | 2020-04-13
With 10 deaths and more than 500 positive COVID-19 cases in the nation's federal prisons, wardens must " move with dispatch" to " move vulnerable inmates out of these institutions." These are the words that Attorney General William Barr used on April 3rd when he directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to reduce the federal prison population in the wake of COVID-19… aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/federal-wardens-must-immediately-flatten-the-curve-in-our-nations-prisons
Civil Liberties Never Sleep: The ACLU in the Pandemic
David Cole | aclu.org | 2020-04-10
The COVID-19 pandemic has closed down many businesses, but the work of preserving civil liberties and civil rights continues, as essential as ever. Reports of courts closing down can be misleading. While public trials that require jurors and in-person testimony have been suspended, most courts and lawyers can do their work remotely. The filing of legal briefs continues, and oral arguments and hearings are being held remotely. The work of securing justice continues., , At the ACLU, our most immediate focus has been on civil liberties and civil rights issues arising from the government's response (or lack thereo… aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/civil-liberties-never-sleep-the-aclu-in-the-pandemic
ACLU Lawsuit Over Baltimore Spy Planes Sets Up Historic Surveillance Battle
Jay Stanley | aclu.org | 2020-04-09
Imagine a day in the future when everyone, from the moment they step outside their home, has to live with the knowledge that their every movement is being recorded by powerful cameras circling in the skies above. Not just where they work, shop, eat and drink, and whose homes they visit, but details about their political, religious, sexual, and medical lives
I'm Queer and I've Been in Solitary. Ellen Isn't Experiencing What I Did
Dominique Morgan | aclu.org | 2020-04-09
On Monday, I ended a 12-hour day returning emails to incarcerated queer folks, providing direct aid for housing to folks living with HIV & AIDS who have been incarcerated and challenging the state of Nebraska to provide humane conditions for incarcerated individuals and decided to mindlessly scroll on Twitter. , , I found the quote from the show Ellen DeGeneres filmed from her multimillion-dollar, multi-room mansion: "One thing that I've learned from being in quarantine is that people
Nativist Hate Groups Want to Keep People in ICE Detention Despite COVID-19 Threat splcenter.org | 2020-04-08
Anti-immigrant think tanks are pushing for the U.S. to detain immigrants and asylum seekers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, even as prisoners stage hunger strikes and other protests in response to what they describe as deteriorating health conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/04/09/nativist-hate-groups-want-keep-people-ice-detention-despite-covid-19-threat
If COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate, Then Why Are Black People Dying at Higher Rates?
ReNika Moore | aclu.org | 2020-04-08
COVID-19 is ravaging many parts of the United States, but nowhere more than in Black communities. Early data from the Midwest and the South reveal that Black people are contracting and dying from the virus at far higher rates than whites. Louisiana just released data which shows that African Americans account for 70 percent of all deaths in the state. In Milwaukee… aclu.org/news/racial-justice/if-covid-19-doesnt-discriminate-then-why-are-black-people-dying-at-higher-rates
Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic
Katrina Huber | splcenter.org | 2020-04-02
As people across the country are confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to a group of people whose health is in danger because they are locked away from the outside world
Alabama prisons hold more than 1,100 older people at greater COVID-19 risk
Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2020-04-02
More than 1,100 people age 65 or older are locked away in Alabama prisons, putting a group already highly susceptible to the deadly COVID-19 virus at an even greater risk, according to an SPLC analysis of the state's prison system. splcenter.org/news/2020/04/02/alabama-prisons-hold-more-1100-older-people-greater-covid-19-risk
Evaluation of Association Between Gastric Acid Suppression and Risk of Intestinal Colonization With MDROs
Willems RJ, van Dijk K, Ket JF, et al. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-04-01
This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the association of use of gastric acid suppressants with the risk of colonization with multidrug-resistant microorganisms (MDROs). jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2761273
"But what of the price of peace?" asked Jesuit priest and war resister Daniel Berrigan, writing from federal prison in 1969, doing time for his part in the destruction of draft records. "I think of the good, decent, peace-loving people I have known by the thousands, and I wonder. How many of them are so …
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe faces another "deeply unsettling" couple of days as the wait continues to find out if her temporary release from a prison in Iran has been extended.The British-Iranian mother was temporarily freed from Evin prison in Tehran in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.Zaghari-Ratcliffe's furlough was extended by two weeks in late March, and she was scheduled to return to prison on Saturday 18 April.When her family had not received a decision by Saturday on whether or not her furlough is to be extended, they were told to return to the prosecutors office in Iran on 19 April — but have now bee…
