Human Rights

Call to Action: Hunger Strikers Urge You To Come To Washington July 30

July 21, 2013 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights

US hunger strikers in solidarity with the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and Pelican Bay Prisons are calling on you to join them in Washington, DC on July 30th to demand that the Guantanamo Bay prisoners are released and that the Pelican Bay prisoners' 5 core demands are met. Congress will be preparing to break for more than a month, but to the hunger strikers, that is too much time to wait for a response to their needs. The torture must end now. Tarak Kauff, Elliott Adams and Cynthia Papermaster have been on hunger strike since late May - early June. Each day, their bodies are becoming weaker, but their resolve is solid. They are making tremendous sacrifices to bring attention to the abuse of the prisoners. Now, they are asking you to show that you hear them.

“Occupy Love” Draws Line Between Protest and Empathy

July 21, 2013 Rebecca Hiscott, www.occupy.com Educate! Human Rights

“There was a beautiful sign at May Day that said, ‘All our grievances are connected,'" Ripper said. “I think that’s an important part of Occupy Love. The core is about people coming together, trying to make their community and their world a better place. We don’t want to simplify and lump them together, but we still are united. Occupy Sandy is now a great model of that; what I saw was people coming together and supporting each other in this beautiful way.” - See more at: http://www.occupy.com/article/beginning-near-occupy-love-draws-line-between-protest-and-empathy#sthash.GqRc4K7n.dpuf

International Day To Protest Violent Treatment, Murder Of Sex Workers

July 21, 2013 Staff, www.occupywallst.org Educate! Human Rights, Poverty

Following the murders of Dora Özer and Petite Jasmine on the 9th and 11 of July 2013, sex workers, their friends, families, and allies are coming together to demand an end to stigma, criminalisation, violence and murders. In the week since the two tragedies occurred, the feelings of anger, grief, sadness and injustice – for the loss of Dora and Jasmine, but also for the senseless and systemic murders and violence against sex workers worldwide – have brought together people in more than 35 cities from four continents who agreed to organise demos, vigils, and protests in front of Turkish and Swedish embassies or other symbolic places.

Pelican Bay Prison Hunger-Strikers: George Ruiz

July 16, 2013 George Ruiz, http://www.truth-out.org/ Resist! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Human Rights

Prisoners in Pelican Bay State Prison's Security Housing Unit (SHU) are isolated for at least twenty-two and a half hours a day in cramped, concrete, windowless cells. They are denied telephone calls, contact visits, any kind of programming, adequate food and, often, medical care. Nearly 750 of these men have been held under these conditions for more than a decade, dozens for over 20 years. This treatment has inflicted profound psychological suffering and caused or exacerbated debilitating physical ailments. Ostensibly, these men are in the SHU because they associate with gang members and isolating them is necessary to prevent gang activity and racially motivated violence. But in the summer and fall of 2011, these men, joined by other SHU prisoners throughout California, showed this claim to be the lie that it is.

Festivals Of Resistance In The West Bank

July 16, 2013 Katie Harris, www.newint.org Organize! Human Rights

This June gathering was for a nonviolent resistance festival against the Israeli Occupation in the West Bank. An Amnesty International document released on 3 July explained that the Israeli army plans to expel the residents of eight villages in the South Hebron Hills, including Khallet Athaba, to make way for a military training zone known as Firing Zone 918. Some 1,000 Palestinian residents in these villages are in danger of becoming homeless and losing their livelihoods. Israel’s High Court of Justice has scheduled a hearing on the planned expulsion for 2 September 2013. Spearheaded by a popular Palestinian committee, the resistance event I attended was the sixth annual festival and marked the culmination of the annual children’s summer camp.

Video: A Final Warning From George Orwell

July 16, 2013 George Orwell, www.PopularResistance.org Educate! Human Rights, Privacy, Surveillance, Video

Here is George Orwell's final warning, as usual he resonates with the realities of the day. "George Orwell -- A Life in Pictures" uses a bold and original approach to put him on the screen. Chris Langham plays the writer and every word he speaks is as written by Orwell himself. But the pictures are all 'invented' -- a specially created 'archive' because there's not a single frame of archive footage of Orwell in existence. Not even one word or one of his trademark hacking coughs on recorded audio. All that is left is one oil painting and a couple of hundred photographs. By bringing to life his extraordinary treasure trove of writing - nine books and some eight thousand pages of journalism, essays, diaries and letters -- the film creates a unique dramatised biography of Orwell.

Who Are The Hunger Strikers At Pelican Bay?

July 15, 2013 Jeffrey Franklin, www.truth-out.org Resist! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Human Rights

I originally ended up in the SHU for violating a prison rule against having "material that can be made into or used as a weapon" in my possession. I was given a 15-month SHU term as punishment. However, after my SHU term expired, I was designated to be kept in the SHU indefinitely because prison guards found my name in another prisoner's possession - even though this is not a rule infraction. Thus, I have been unable to see, hold, touch, walk with, and interact with other prisoners, friends, or family for over 20 years for something I could not have been sent to the SHU for in the first place. In 2006, I was denied inactive status even though I was not placed in the SHU for having been active in a gang to begin with. Yet, seven years later, I am still in the SHU. I have had 24 years of good behavior, without any write-ups. I feel I deserve a less restrictive living situation.

ALEC Ratified the NRA-Conceived Law

July 14, 2013 Brendan Fischer, www.prwatch.org Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Human Rights, Racism, Trayvon Martin

The Castle Doctrine and its "stand your ground" provisions give license for people to engage in vigilantism without liability. As such, the ALEC bill can put the decision to take a life in the hands of a person whose fears are motivated by prejudice and racial bias. The law establishes a presumption that a person acted in self-defense if a killer claims they had a reasonable fear of bodily harm, but in situations like the killing of Trayvon Martin, where there were few eyewitnesses other than the alleged killer and the person who is killed, the presumption of immunity can be very difficult to rebut. In those circumstances, unfounded fear based on racial prejudice that leads to murder could end up being protected under the law.

Video: Investigate Michael Hastings’ Death

July 13, 2013 AbMartin, www.rt.com Educate! Human Rights, Michael Hastings, Video

Abby Martin, of RT’s Breaking the Set, keeps the focus on the strange death of award winning journalist Michael Hastings. There are lots of unanswered questions about his strange automobile crash. There needs to be an investigation into the crash of his automobile; materials related to the crash -- including the black box from the automobile -- need to be made available for an independent investigation. Abby Martin takes a closer look at the death with interviews with Michael's close friend, Joe Biggs, who suspects his death was not an accident, and Kimberly Dvorak, an investigative journalist who has been conducting an investigation into the anomalies despite stonewalling from the LAPD.

Rally and Walk to Free Victim of FBI “Terror Sting”

July 13, 2013 Staff, www.nepajac.org Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Human Rights, Surveillance

assin Aref, a Kurdish imam, was entrapped by a criminal con artist hired by the FBI. Despite no evidence that Yassin supported any terrorist activity, the post-9/11 climate made the jury afraid to acquit him or his co-defendant, Mohammed Hossain. (For more information on Yassin and his case, see this article in New York Magazine, 'Little Gitmo.' ) Through a recent FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) request, Yassin's defense attorneys learned about secret evidence that misidentified Yassin as an Al-Qaeda agent. This evidence, which led to his conviction, was apparently shown to the trial judge and appeal court, but not to the defense. The government convicted the wrong man. Yassin is not a terrorist.

Greek Political Prisoner on Hunger Strike is Finally Freed

July 13, 2013 Leonidas Oikonomakis, roarmag.org Resist! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Human Rights, Solidarity

In Greece, in the city of Athens, anarchist political prisoner Kostas Sakkas has been on hunger strike since the 4th of June 2013, after having been held in prison for more than 30 months without trial. And yesterday, 38 days later, thanks to a huge national and international solidarity campaign, the Greek legal system finally decided to examine his objection and release him on a 30.000 euro bail (which of course Sakkas does not have and which will be generated through the movements). Sakkas remains in critical condition, with imminent dangers for his health that could lead even to death any minute that passes, making one wonder what would have happened if this solidarity campaign had not pushed Greek “Justice” to finally do its job.

Misery of the Neoliberal Order Fuels Global Unrest

July 13, 2013 Mandeep Tiwana, http://www.aljazeera.com/ Educate! Corporatism, Finance and the Economy, Human Rights

Neo-liberalism, using a dictionary definition, as a "modern politico-economic theory favouring free trade, privatisation, minimal government intervention, reduced public expenditure on social services etc.," reduces the responsibility of the state while promoting privatisation to favour those with access to resources and influence. It is playing havoc with the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people. Despite mainstream perceptions, the sad reality is that free markets don't automatically regulate themselves nor do they naturally respect individual or community rights. With greater numbers of people taking to the streets to voice their dissatisfaction against corruption, environmental degradation and top down austerity policies, decision makers have a reality check staring them in the face. But will they right the ship on neo-liberal economic policies when they are privately profiting from it?

Hunger Strikes an Important Tool for Mistreated Prisoners

July 12, 2013 Jaisal Noor, www.therealnews.com Organize! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Human Rights, Solidarity

Hunger strikes are a last resort. I remember when I was back teaching and working on the Guantanamo one, which was the Haitian cases, the HIV people left at Guantanamo Bay, kept there by the United States. And after we'd lost all the lawsuits, the Haitians said, what can we do but go on a hunger strike? You hate to see your clients do it. It's painful. Any of us who have fasted for one day or two days or three days--I know what it's like. So it's really a last resort. It's when all else has failed, when the powers that be failed, when the litigation we do fails, when even a mass movement to some extent has failed, and prisoners and detainees and others say, we're going to take our fate into our own hands, we're going to decide our fate, and we're going to do what's necessary to change what's going on; we're going to become the actors in this drama that is unfolding.

US Threatens Right to Asylum in Snowden Case

July 12, 2013 Jamil Dakwar & Chandra Bhatnagar, www.aclu.org Educate! Edward Snowden, Human Rights

Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that "[e]veryone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations." The American Convention on Human Rights explicitly provides for a right of an individual "to seek and be granted asylum in a foreign territory, in accordance with the legislation of the state and international conventions, in the event he is being pursued for political offenses or related common crimes." . . . In addition to infringing on Mr. Snowden's right to asylum, U.S. actions also create the risk of providing cover for other countries to crack down on whistleblowers and deny asylum to individuals who have exposed illegal activity or human rights violations.

Veteran on Hunger Strike to Inspire More to Take Action

July 12, 2013 Tarak Kauff, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Human Rights, Wars and Militarism

The hunger strike and my purpose in doing it will continue, at least until (for me) I see general activism around Guantanamo growing considerably, especially among Veterans For Peace. My purpose is not with the expectation to pressure Obama into stopping the force feeding or to close Guantanamo. Although he has the power to do both of those things, it will only happen when he is absolutely politically forced to do it by more activism than just a few people's hunger strike. It will take the so-called "choir," and that's all of us, to be more intensely willing to risk comfort and security, to involve ourselves en masse in a stand-up, nonviolent direct action, to make the sacrifices necessary to bring about a change. I am hoping, as Brian Willson, Elliott Adams and Diane Wilson have inspired me, my addition to the roll call of hunger strikers will be an inspiration to motivate and energize others.

«1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 »

assetto corsa mods

Daily movement news and resources