Human Rights

Jailed Pussy Riot Member Missing Following Prison Transfer

Jailed Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonnikova has disappeared after being moved from a prison in Mordovia 10 days ago, her family said on Friday. Tolokonnikova’s father and husband said they last knew her precise whereabouts on Oct. 21, when she was suddenly taken from her prison colony in the Russian republic of Mordovia and moved without explanation from Russian officials. “No one knows anything,” her father, Andrei Tolokonnikov, said by telephone from Moscow. “There’s no proof she’s alive, we don’t know the state of her health. Is she sick? Has she been beaten?” Tolokonnikova, 23, was moved after launching a hunger strike to protest horrific prison conditions.

Program For Global Uprisings Conference Now Online

November 7, 2013 Staff. www.globaluprisings.org Educate! Corporatism, Finance and the Economy, Housing, Human Rights, Media, Worker Rights and Jobs

The program for the historic Global Uprisings conference in Amsterdam (November 15-17) is now online. Topics include: The causes of the current global uprisings and how these movements might lead to major social change, Origins of the Uprisings and Why They Haven’t Stopped, Direct Action in the Housing Crisis, What do the Uprisings Mean for Feminist and LGBTQ Organizing?, The Eurocrisis: Reports on Crisis and Revolt, Experiments in Self-Organization: Squares, Neighborhoods, Factories, Networking Resistance in the Mediterranean, Scenes from the Front Lines: A Collection of Short Films, The Visibility and Invisibility of Social/Class Struggle in Times of Crisis, Urbanization and Revolt, International Student Struggles, Migration: creating divisions and exclusions through discourses of racism and nationalism disguised as ‘policy’, Media and Communication Outreach, Reinventing the Strike, and The Permanent Crisis.

Dutch to Int’l Court: Russia ‘Violating Human Rights’ of Arctic 30

November 7, 2013 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org/ Resist! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Energy, Environment, Human Rights

Accusing Russia of "violating human rights," Dutch representatives appeared before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) Wednesday to ask that the court demand the release of the Greenpeace Arctic 30. Russia, whose coastguard detained the 30 activists following their September protest on a Russian Arctic drilling platform, declined to attend the hearing. "The argument of the Netherlands is that in international waters, ships have the right to freedom of navigation and so this means they may not be boarded, inspected, detained or arrested except with the permission of the flag state," Greenpeace international general counsel Jasper Teulings told Reuters. Russia is currently holding the protesters on the charge of hooliganism, which carries up to seven years in jail. This sentence was reduced from the initial charge of piracy, though supporters of the Arctic 30 deem both charges excessive for what was deemed a peaceful protest. According to reports of the hearing, Dutch government representative Liesbeth Lijnzaad said Russia had "violated the human rights" detaining them for seven weeks "without grounds."

6 Things You Buy That Help Support Israeli Brutality

November 5, 2013 Alex Kane, www.alternet.org Resist! Human Rights, Israel, Wars and Militarism

When tax time rolls around each year, every American citizen gives $21.59 in military aid to Israel, according to the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation. But that’s not the only way American citizens contribute to the Israeli military, which has occupied Palestinian land for 46 years, and the West Bank settlement project that accompanies the occupation. Consumers may not know it, but buying products like Sabra hummus and Sodastream helps fuel Israel’s military control over Palestinians. Some companies have factories located in one of the 125 officially recognized settlements in occupied Palestine, which are illegal under international law. Other companies contribute to the maintenance of an occupation through cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), whose main goal is to protect illegal settlements and exercise dominion over the lives of millions of Palestinians. Buying these products gives profits to companies who exploit Palestinian land and resources.

Call To Action: Demand Democracy, Global Actions Against Toxic Trade Deals

November 5, 2013 Staff, www.flushthetpp.org Resist! Corporatism, Democracy, Finance and the Economy, Human Rights, TPP

All of these trade agreements share the same fundamental principle that profits are more important than the health and needs of people and the planet. They are destroying local economies and public infrastructure in order to establish a global neo-liberal economic system that privatizes all goods and services. These agreements grant transnational corporations the power to change laws even down to the local level and challenge court decisions in their own tribunal that operates outside of sovereign judicial systems and cannot be challenged by domestic courts. On December 3, we call on all allies for fair trade, peace and justice to gather in a public space at noon and declare global resistance to these toxic trade agreements.We will not obey secret deals made by transnational corporations that defy public interests and desires and destroy hard-won protections of people, workers and the environment.

Snowden: Reforms Prove Leaks Were Justified

November 4, 2013 Staff, www.rt.com Resist! Edward Snowden, Human Rights, NSA

Snowden writes that his revelations have in fact been useful and society will benefit from it. "Instead of causing damage, the usefulness of the new public knowledge for society is now clear because reforms to politics, supervision and laws are being suggested," the ex-CIA employee and NSA contractor wrote, as cited by Reuters. Spying as a global problem requires global solutions, he said, stressing that "criminal surveillance programs" by secret services threaten open societies, individual privacy and freedom of opinion. "Citizens have to fight against the suppression of information about affairs of essential importance for the public,” Snowden said in his five-paragraph manifesto. Hence, “those who speak the truth are not committing a crime." Even with the existence of mass surveillance, spying should not define politics, Snowden said. "We have a moral duty to ensure that our laws and values limit surveillance programs and protect human rights."

Bahraini Protesters Stage Rally South Of Manama

November 3, 2013 Staff, www.presstv.ir Resist! Bahrain, Democracy, Government, Human Rights

On Friday, the protesters shouted anti-regime slogans and called for democracy in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom. They also demanded the freedom of protesters detained by the regime. Meanwhile, Bahrain’s main opposition party, al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, censured the regime for raiding its headquarters on Wednesday. Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on peaceful protesters.

Drone Victims Tell Empty US House Their Story; Is America Listening?

November 1, 2013 Rania Khalek, www.truth-out.org Educate! Drones, Human Rights, Wars and Militarism

"Pakistani school teacher Rafiq ur Rehman traveled over 7,000 miles with his children - 13-year-old Zubair and 9-year-old Nabila - from a small, remote village in North Waziristan to tell lawmakers about the US drone strike that killed his 67-year-old mother, Mamana Bibi. It was a harrowing tale that brought many in the room to tears, including Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), who was responsible for inviting the family to Capitol Hill for the briefing. In the end, only five members of the US House of Representatives bothered to attend. Grayson was joined by Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D- Ill.), Rush Holt (D-NJ), John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Rick Nolan (D-Minn.). Meanwhile, President Obama, according to his October 29 schedule, was meeting with the CEOs of Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman, both of which manufacture drones. More importantly, Lockheed Martin manufactures hellfire missiles, the very weapon fired from the drone that killed Mamana Bibi."

Is Professional Activism Getting in the Way of Real Change?

November 1, 2013 Henia Belalia, www.alternet.org Strategize! Environment, Human Rights

To tackle the root (read: radical) causes of the climate crisis, we must first acknowledge that environmental degradation exacerbates existing economic, racial and social injustices—an interconnectedness that should define our analysis and actions. To truly win, land and justice defenders must recognize overlapping systems of oppression within this capitalist structure, and take strategic cues from the communities most impacted by colonization, militarism and poverty. That means building movements across issues and beyond divides based on race, class and gender, while elevating the voices that have been historically marginalized: indigenous peoples, communities of color, women, LGBTQ people, and the low-income population. To do so will take a profound decolonization of minds and professional institutions. For many in this country, resistance isn’t a choice—it's not fashionable—it’s plain survival.

Democrats Protest $5 Billion Food Stamp Cut They Voted For

November 1, 2013 Arthur Delaney, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Finance and the Economy, Food and Agriculture, Government, Human Rights

A group of nine Democratic members of the House of Representatives held a press conference outside the Capitol on Tuesday to demand Congress avert an automatic food stamp cut scheduled to take effect on Friday. "The average family of four will see a $36 cut in their monthly benefits, bringing the average per-person benefit from $1.50 a meal to $1.40 a meal," Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said. "Shame on this Congress for allowing this to happen." But the cut, which will reduce monthly benefits for all 47 million Americans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by roughly 7 percent, is happening thanks mainly to Democratic votes that hastened the demise of a benefit increase from the 2009 stimulus bill. Each of the representatives at Tuesday's presser voted with their party for a pair of 2010 spending bills that set the cuts in motion.

U.N. Urges End Of U.S. Embargo On Cuba For 22nd Time

November 1, 2013 Louis Charbonneau, www.reuters.com Educate! Government, Human Rights, Wars and Militarism

The U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly for the 22nd time to condemn the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba, whose foreign minister said the American policy in place since 1959 was barbaric and amounted to genocide. There were 188 votes for the non-binding resolution, entitled "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba," in the 193-nation General Assembly. The only country that joined the United States in voting against the resolution was Israel. Last year, there were the same number of votes for the resolution, though the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau voted with Israel and the United States against the resolution.

Obamacare: The Biggest Insurance Scam in History

October 31, 2013 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.truthout.org Educate! Corporatism, Finance and the Economy, Government, Health Care, Human Rights

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also called "Obamacare," may be the biggest insurance scam in history. The industries that profit from our current health care system wrote the legislation, heavily influenced the regulations and have received waivers exempting them from provisions in the law. This has all been done to protect and enhance their profits. In the meantime, the health care crisis continues. Fewer people, even those with health insurance, can afford the health care they need because of out-of-pocket costs. The ACA continues that trend by pushing skimpy health plans with low coverage and restricted networks. This is what happens in a market-based system of health care. People get only the amount of health care they can afford, rather than what they need.

Hundreds In Maryland Call For Universal Health Care

October 30, 2013 Jaisal Noor, www.therealnews.com Resist! Health Care, Human Rights, Poverty

Protesters organized by Health Care is a Human Right - Maryland took to the streets in Baltimore demanding healthcare as a basic human right. “We didn't start a movement to be anti-Obamacare or to be anti-CareFirst or anti-Kaiser,” says Sergio Espana of Health Care Is a Human Right - Maryland. “We started a movement for something. And it was to remind ourselves that there are fundamental public goods. And we understand that we need to fight to make sure that they're actually protected. And chief among them, in terms of our organization, our campaign, is that health care itself is a public good.” The march route included the headquarters of CareFirst, one of Maryland’s largest health insurance providers. CareFirst says they plan to increase rates on January 1 because President Obama's healthcare reforms will increase their costs.

Hedges: “Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart Have Destroyed Satire”

October 29, 2013 Dennis Trainor, Jr., www.acronymtv.wordpress.com Educate! Corporatism, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Government, Human Rights, Media, Occupy, Video

In this wide ranging interview, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Christopher Hedges talks with Acronym TV's Dennis Trainor Jr about Class War, Non violence, The Great Gatsby, and about the lost art of Satire. "Satire becomes destroyed in essence in the hands of figures like Colbert, John Stewart and others," Hedges asserts. "They will attack the excesses or the foibles of the system, but they are never going to expose the system itself because they are all millionaires, they are commercially supported. You have very few people (George Carlin was one) who will stand up and do it. If you do that, it is tough to make a living. Carlin maybe being the exception. But if you really use Satire the way Swift used Satire, to expose the English barbarity in Ireland because culture, like everything else in the society has been completely corporatized."

Our Invisible Revolution

October 28, 2013 Chris Hedges, www.truthdig.com Strategize! Corporatism, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Finance and the Economy, Human Rights, NSA, Occupy, Revolution

When these ideas are shattered, the institutions that buttress the ruling class deflate and collapse. The battle of ideas is percolating below the surface. It is a battle the corporate state is steadily losing. An increasing number of Americans are getting it. They know that we have been stripped of political power. They recognize that we have been shorn of our most basic and cherished civil liberties, and live under the gaze of the most intrusive security and surveillance apparatus in human history. Half the country lives in poverty. Many of the rest of us, if the corporate state is not overthrown, will join them. These truths are no longer hidden. It appears that political ferment is dormant in the United States. This is incorrect. The ideas that sustain the corporate state are swiftly losing their efficacy across the political spectrum. The ideas that are rising to take their place, however, are inchoate.

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