(2021-04-08). Myanmar: 53 Journalists Detained, Prosecuted Since Military Coup. eurasiareview.com 
A total of 53 reporters have been detained or prosecuted since the military coup on February 1, said journalist U Myint Kyaw, citing data from fellow members of the media. | Twenty-six of them are under detention, 15 of them have been charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, and the rest have been released, said U Myint Kyaw. | "Prosecution is not a good sign for all the journalists. It is no longer safe for them to do reporting. In some cases, family members are urging journalists to quit. In some cases, journalists themselves have concerns for their safety. All these factors contribute to a decline in…
(2021-04-08). PDF of April 8 issue. workers.org 
Download the PDF. NO STALLNG: U.S. out of Afghanistan! Alabama mine workers strike What Bessemer union drive means Philly: Protect Squirrel Hill George Floyd's killer on trial Cesar Chavez Day Georgia anti-vote law strikes out Editorial: Wanna pay no taxes? TEAR DOWN THE WALLS: Detention centers exploit trans people Evaluating . . . |
(2021-04-08). Biden and Latin America. orinocotribune.com By Alexander Main — Apr 5, 2021 | Late in the morning of November 8, 2020 cheering and honking erupted throughout Washington, DC as news outlets announced that Joe Biden was the projected winner of the US presidential election. Thousands of mostly young Washingtonians gathered in Black Lives Matter Plaza, across from the White House, to celebrate the defeat of a blatantly racist, sexist, and xenophobic president. | Relief and joy were also palpable in the city's well-heeled neighborhoods, where senior civil servants and government contractors could at last envision a return to the more normal and predictable…
(2021-04-08). Plight of Imprisoned African-Americans Worsens in the U.S. Historical Perspective. globalresearch.ca Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald was a member of the Black Panther Party …
(2021-04-08). From His Solitary Confinement, Marwan Barghouti Holds the Key to Fatah's Future. zcomm.org As it stands, the key to the future of Fatah is now held by a Palestinian prisoner, Marwan Barghouti, who has been kept by Israel, largely in solitary confinement, since 2002…
(2021-04-08). "Vaccine Passports": ACLU Warns of Privacy Nightmare That Could Create "Two-Tiered Society" democracynow.org 
As people try to find a safe way to gather and travel during the pandemic, there is growing interest in documenting who has been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19. The World Health Organization has warned so-called vaccine passports may not be an effective way to reopen, and healthcare professionals argue vaccine certificates may further exacerbate vaccine inequality. New York is already testing a digital vaccine passport app made by IBM called the Excelsior Pass, while countries including the U.K. and Israel have issued their own versions of electronic vaccine certificates. The U.S. government has ruled…
(2021-04-08). "Vaccine Passports": ACLU Warns of Privacy Nightmare That Could Create "Two-Tiered Society" democracynow.org As people try to find a safe way to gather and travel during the pandemic, there is growing interest in documenting who has been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19. The World Health Organization has warned so-called vaccine passports may not be an effective way to reopen, and healthcare professionals argue vaccine certificates may further exacerbate vaccine inequality. New York is already testing a digital vaccine passport app made by IBM called the Excelsior Pass, while countries including the U.K. and Israel have issued their own versions of electronic vaccine certificates. The U.S. government has ruled…
(2021-04-08). Israel 'flagrantly violated' obligations to vaccinate Palestinians, Amnesty says. middleeasteye.net 
Israel 'flagrantly violated' obligations to vaccinate Palestinians, Amnesty says | Rights group says failure to vaccinate Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza is a sign of 'institutionalised discrimination' | Thu, 04/08/2021 – 16: 52 | For Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Israeli-blockaded Gaza, the vaccination rollout has lagged far behind (AFP) | Amnesty International has accused…
(2021-04-08). Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood's former acting leader sentenced to life in prison. middleeasteye.net 
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood's former acting leader sentenced to life in prison | Mahmoud Ezzat, 76, was arrested during a raid on a Cairo apartment last August | Thu, 04/08/2021 – 14: 07 | Former acting leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Mahmoud Ezzat has been sentenced to life in prison (AFP) | An Egyptian court sentenced Mahmoud Ezzat, the former acting leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, to l…
(2021-04-07). Activists protest phosphate mining and treatment of jail inmates near Piney Point disaster in Manatee. liberationnews.org 
On Tuesday, activists in Manatee County gathered at the intersection of Moccasin Wallow Road and US 41 to demand the evacuation of Manatee County Jail during the Piney Point environmental disaster.
(2021-04-07). Take action: Support the #HungerStrike4Yemen — stop U.S. support for the Saudi blockade of Yemen #YemenCantWait. samidoun.net 
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is honored to join and endorse the hunger strikers and the Yemeni Liberation Movement on the 10th day of their strike to demand the US end ALL support to the Saudi-led blockade on Yemen. The blockade, now in its fourth month, has prevented all fuel and food from entering the country, leading to mass starvation, electricity shortages, and death. All this while the Yemeni people have endured six years of onslaught from the Saudi-led coalition: The people of Yemen are being starved due to a war tactics blockade that has been imposed by Saudi-led, US-supported forces.
(2021-04-07). Baseball's All-Star Game removed from Atlanta due to repressive voting law. workers.org 
Major League Baseball announced April 2 that its annual All-Star Game, scheduled for July 13, would be moved from Atlanta to an out-of-state site to protest a blatant new attack on the right to vote in Georgia. Related events would also be moved. Georgia protest in 2020. A similar stance . . . |
(2021-04-07). April 11: Global Day Of Action For Julian Assange. popularresistance.org Assange supporters Candles4Assange have put together an incredibly helpful list of actions planned for Julian Assange on April 11th around the world, to mark 2 years of his unjust imprisonment. The full Twitter thread is here but we've also listed each event by city below.
(2021-04-07). The Promise of Systemic Equality Starts at Home. aclu.org For more than a century, the ACLU has been on the frontlines advancing civil liberties and civil rights. This has meant not only defending rights for all but taking bold positions in order to help America live up to her own ideals — a reality that is better than where we are, and one that is never finished. For over 100 years, this aspiration of a more perfect union has been our story. | Today, we are focused on a new chapter of that story: one where we've turned our attention inward to our own culture and systems to evolve as an organization that is reflecting internally the ambitions we have set extern…
(2021-04-07). Voter Suppression Is An Attack On Democracy — And My Faith. ips-dc.org I believe in God and in the right to vote. Georgia's recent election bill doesn't just feel like an attack on democracy — it feels like an attack on my faith. | The bill, formally So is standing with the marginalized. People don't like to bring race into the conversation, but we have to be honest about how this bill harms people of color. | In Georg…
(2021-04-07). More Than 1,800 Inmates Break Out Of Prison After Militant Attack In Nigeria. southfront.org 
On April 5th, upwards of 1,800 inmates were broken out of prison in southeast Nigeria. | This happened when heavily armed gunmen attacked their prison using explosives and rocket-propelled grenades, the authorities said. | Nigerian police said it believed a banned separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was behind the attack in the city of Owerri, but a spokesman for the group denied involvement. | An IPOB spokesman told Reuters the group did not carry out the prison raid."IPOB and ESN were not involved in the attack in Owerri, Imo state. It is not our mandate to attack security personnel or pri…
(2021-04-07). Former Prisoner in Federal "Communications Management Unit" Seeks Justice for Unconstitutional Placement. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2021-04-07). Israeli President Mandates Netanyahu, Amidst Criminal Trial, To Form Government — OpEd. eurasiareview.com 
Israel has once again passed another milestone in corruption. For the first time, the president has tasked a party leader to form a government who is currently on trial facing criminal charges. Conviction would not only end his political career, but land him in prison. Yesterday, Pres. Rivlin faced the choice of awarding either Bibi Netanyahu or Yair Lapid with the task for forming a government. In prior consultation, the various parties offered 52 votes for Bibi to form the government and 45 for Lapid. A president usually offers the candidate with the most votes the mandate. But there is no rule saying he mus…
(2021-04-07). Conflicts Compounded By COVID-19 Devastating Socio-Economic Development In Sub-Saharan Africa. eurasiareview.com 
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the terrible legacy of deliberately divisive and destructive policies that have perpetuated inequality, discrimination, and oppression across Sub-Saharan Africa, Amnesty International said in its annual report published early April 2021. | Across the Sub-Saharan region, the devastating impact of armed conflict in countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Nigeria, was compounded by the pandemic as a number of states weaponized it to crack down on human rights. The crackdowns included killings of civilians and arrests of opposition politicians and supporters and huma…
(2021-04-07). Do Prisons Keep Us Safe? Author Victoria Law Busts Myths About Mass Incarceration in New Book. democracynow.org 
As the first anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd approaches, we speak with author and journalist Victoria Law, who says despite the mass movement to fight systemic racism sparked by Floyd's death, persistent myths about policing, incarceration and the criminal justice system still hinder reform. "Why do we think prisons keep us safe? Obviously, Derek Chauvin wasn't afraid of being arrested or imprisoned when he killed George Floyd," says Law, who examines these issues in her new book, "'Prisons Make Us Safer': And 20 Other Myths About Mass Incarceration."
(2021-04-07). Do Prisons Keep Us Safe? Author Victoria Law Busts Myths About Mass Incarceration in New Book. democracynow.org As the first anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd approaches, we speak with author and journalist Victoria Law, who says despite the mass movement to fight systemic racism sparked by Floyd's death, persistent myths about policing, incarceration and the criminal justice system still hinder reform. "Why do we think prisons keep us safe? Obviously, Derek Chauvin wasn't afraid of being arrested or imprisoned when he killed George Floyd," says Law, who examines these issues in her new book, "'Prisons Make Us Safer': And 20 Other Myths About Mass Incarceration."
(2021-04-07). Death toll rises following violent clashes in West Darfur and other stories. peoplesdispatch.org In today's episode we take a look at the recent reports of violence in the West Darfur state of Sudan, an uprising against inhumane conditions by people incarcerated in a prison facility in the United States, the ongoing violent crackdown on social activists and former FARC combatants in Colombia, and this year's World Health Day campaign and the demand for vaccine access for all…
(2021-04-07). Republican Apoplexy — Play Ball and Pass the Popcorn. juancole.com Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) — This Republican apoplexy over Major League Baseball (MLB) taking the All-Star game out of Atlanta is hilarious on one level; but scary on another. And they're punishing themselves to amplify their position that Georgia has a right to engage in brazen voter suppression, in service to the Donald …
(2021-04-07). Iraq: Arrests among LGBTQ+ community in Kurdish city sparks fierce debate. middleeasteye.net 
Iraq: Arrests among LGBTQ+ community in Kurdish city sparks fierce debate | The recent detentions have been met with differing reactions from Kurdish social media users as well as from politicians | Wed, 04/07/2021 – 13: 53 | While some applauded the security forces for making the arrests, saying such operations would protect the Kurdish community from a 'moral collapse,' others reacted angri…
(2021-04-07). 50 yrs ago: Confessed bomber names Raleigh House as provocateur at Ed Poindexter's trial. indybay.org Reprinted below with permission from the author is the second in a series of articles marking the 50th anniversary of Black Panther political prisoner Ed Poindexter's trial. Ed is currently in very poor health. We will continue to feature Michael Richardson's important series of articles this month. The Jamal Journal's April 1 interview with author Michael Richardson marked the first article in Richardson's critical series. The second article in the series is reprinted here in full.