Category Archives: human rights

El Salvador judge reopens case of 1981 massacre at El Mozote | World news | The Guardian

The reopening of the case follows formal complaints by local human rights groups and victims families seeking justice for those killed in El Mozote.Those pushing the case seek a truthful accounting of what happened and the facts surrounding who ordered the massacre, Gonzalez said. They are not seeking punishments such as jail terms, he added, but want those responsible to admit their roles and ask for forgiveness.Judge Guzman has ordered military records from the time of the massacre to be turned over, as well as additional records on 14 named ex-army and security officials.

Source: El Salvador judge reopens case of 1981 massacre at El Mozote | World news | The Guardian

Donald Trump Is Seen as Helping Push Asian-Americans Into Democratic Arms – The New York Times

“It’s like we’re going back in time,” said Marc Matsuo of Las Vegas, who grew up in Hawaii with parents of Japanese ancestry and recalled how his family used to feel uncomfortable expressing their heritage, to the point they would not speak Japanese. He now helps register Asian-Americans to vote. “I was always brought up that you don’t talk about religion, you don’t talk about politics. Not anymore.”Though Asian-Americans are still just 4 percent of the overall eligible voting population, their political power is concentrated in important swing states like Nevada and Virginia, where both parties have been building on their efforts to reach out.In and around Las Vegas, home to one of the country’s largest Asian populations, this means printing campaign leaflets in Korean, having a Vietnamese translator on standby at speeches, publishing op-ed articles in the local Filipino newspaper and hiring employees who know enough Mandarin to recruit voters at the Chinatown seafood market.

Source: Donald Trump Is Seen as Helping Push Asian-Americans Into Democratic Arms – The New York Times

Timber Company Tells California Town, Go Find Your Own Water – The New York Times – People to Company – “your time will come (end)!

Watching the water dispute warily are members of the Winnemem Wintu, a small Native American tribe that considers the slopes of Mount Shasta sacred.According to tribal beliefs, one of the springs on the mountain is the place where animals and mankind emerged into the world. Six years ago, for the first time in the oral history of the tribe, that spring dried up, according to Luisa Navejas, a tribe member.The water around Mount Shasta is not limitless, she said.“This mountain is calling us now, and we need to listen,” Ms. Navejas said of the inactive volcano.“This mountain will talk,” she said. “The time will come.”

Source: Timber Company Tells California Town, Go Find Your Own Water – The New York Times

www.german-foreign-policy.com – Blindfolded group of nations “see” a snake, a horse, a tree in the room filled by Syrian insurgent elephant!

Berlin’s ostensible “peace offensive” comes at a time when, various reports are exposing – independently from one another – that Washington is considering supplying the insurgents with man portable air defense systems (“MANPADS”) – or has already begun to do so. As was made known from US government circles as well as from insurgent militia contact persons, the “MANPADS” are supposed to be delivered to the militias via Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The Saudi government is convinced that the Russian military can be forced to retreat, as the Soviet troops had done in the 1980s in Afghanistan, say US government representatives. At the time, the “stinger” missiles had permitted the mujahidin the capability of shooting down Red Army helicopters, inflicting massive losses, which ultimately led to a Soviet troop withdrawal from the country. The fate of Afghanistan thereafter is well known. It was reported that Washington has enticed the insurgents with prospects of “MANPADS,” merely for shooting down Syrian helicopters, but not those of the Russians.[10] No one should believe that the insurgents will abide by this. Experts also warn that it is not only to be expected that if “MANPADS” are provided to Syrian insurgents, Iran, for example, could deliver “MANPADS” to the Houthi insurgents, its allies in Yemen, fighting Saudi troops. Above all, the Syrian insurgents could also use those “MANPADS,” they are due to be furnished, near airports, to shoot down civilian airliners.[11] It becomes that much more volatile, since from all experience, it can be expected that a large amount of the “MANPADS” will wind up in the hands of al Qaeda’s Fatah al Sham. Experts estimate that about half of the weapons that have been delivered to insurgent militias in Syria, have ended in the hands of jihadis. The same threatens to happen again.

Source: www.german-foreign-policy.com

Delhi economy hit hard by mosquito-borne diseases | Asia | DW.COM | 30.09.2016

The latter is what knocked out Golu Kumar Paswan a week ago. The 18-year-old, who works as a laborer in a manufacturing facility, developed a high fever and pain. The virus has sapped him of all energy, making it impossible for him to go to work.”My company doesn’t pay me when I don’t show up, so I’m losing out on my wages, which I need desperately to pay for my rent in Delhi and to send back to my family in the Uttar Pradesh state,” Paswan said. “Things are really difficult. How am I going to survive?”Worker crunch hits industrial outputIt’s a question that many of Paswan’s fellow migrant workers laid low by the viral illnesses have answered by packing up their bags and leaving for their villages.That has left the over 1,500 small-scale factories in Mayapuri, an industrial hub that relies on the steady supply of cheap labor from the neighboring slums. Everything from car parts, textiles to machinery is produced here. The area has witnessed a 20 percent dip in production and profits because workers have been calling in sick or leaving to go back home.

Source: Delhi economy hit hard by mosquito-borne diseases | Asia | DW.COM | 30.09.2016

400-Pound Hacker? Trump Comments Fuel Dialogue on Fat-Shaming – The New York Times

Until the debate, Ms. Kinzel said she had not focused on much of what Mr. Trump has said. But during the debate, it became personal. She said she realized overweight people like her were now “just one in a line of people he wants to dismiss as losers.”

Source: 400-Pound Hacker? Trump Comments Fuel Dialogue on Fat-Shaming – The New York Times

By ‘saying nothing’ on his birther lie, Donald Trump re-embraces the deplorables: Brent Larkin | cleveland.com

And by saying nothing, Donald Trump said everything.By saying nothing, he confirmed what any thoughtful person has known for months — that his campaign for president is really about racism.Unfair trade deals, tax cuts, job creation, phony chants of change? They’re all accessories.The real message of Trump’s campaign — the one that appeals to all the extremists and haters who help fill his gigantic basket of deplorables — is raw racism.There’s nothing the least bit complicated about Trump’s message, an unmentioned promise so powerful it’s capable of moving his supporters to violence. It goes like this: I’ll keep the blacks in their place and kick the Mexicans and Muslims out. Together, we’ll make America white again.But he won’t.Because he can’t.Top elected officials in Ohio, from Sen. Rob Portman on down, should be ashamed of themselves for openly supporting such a repugnant human being.It is profoundly disappointing that Republican members of Congress and four holders of Ohio statewide offices silently condone Trump’s unique brand of hate and racism. History will treat only Gov. John Kasich kindly on this issue.

Source: By ‘saying nothing’ on his birther lie, Donald Trump re-embraces the deplorables: Brent Larkin | cleveland.com

Man Fatally Shot By El Cajon Police Was Holding A Vape Pen: LAist – Classic Excuses to Justify Killing Black People

Alfred Olango, the unarmed black man fatally shot by police in El Cajon Tuesday afternoon, was holding a vape pen, according to a statement issued by the El Cajon Police Department Wednesday evening. Olango was a Ugandan refugee who emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 12 in 1991, according to NBC San Diego. His death has sparked protests in the San Diego suburb.Two police officers had responded to 9-1-1 calls about a man walking in traffic and acting erratically around 2 p.m. on Tuesday. According to NPR, one of the calls was made by Olango’s sister, who said that she told police her brother was mentally ill and unarmed. NBC San Diego reports that police arrived about an hour after Olango’s sister had made the call, and that the shooting happened within two minutes of their arrival.In a YouTube video shot in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Olango’s sister is seen screaming and weeping as she tells police that her brother was mentally ill, and that she had called for police to help him. “I called for help. I didn’t call you guys to kill him,” she is heard telling the officers.

Source: Man Fatally Shot By El Cajon Police Was Holding A Vape Pen: LAist

Video of police shooting that killed 6-year-old autistic La. boy released – CBS News

Parish investigators initially said marshals were chasing Few because of an outstanding warrant, WAFB reported.. However, WAFB checked with the Clerk of Court, the District Attorney’s Office, Marksville Police Department and City Court and did not find any outstanding warrants. Col. Mike Edmonson said so far, their investigation shows the same.   WAFB has posted the first minute and 35 seconds from the shooting. They are currently reviewing the rest of the body cam footage. Part of the video can be found below. Video may be disturbing and graphic for viewers.

Source: Video of police shooting that killed 6-year-old autistic La. boy released – CBS News

1,000 scholars condemn pro-Israel blacklist site | The Electronic Intifada

More than 1,000 members of faculty have condemned a website that blacklists students and educators who criticize Israel.“We reject the McCarthyist tactics used by Canary Mission,” the scholars say in a statement initiated by students.“We urge our fellow admissions faculty, as well as university administrators, prospective employers and all others, to join us in … standing against such bullying and attempts to shut down civic engagement and freedom of speech,” the scholars add.The aim of the shadowy website, Canary Mission, is to punish students for their activism by harming their future academic and professional careers.Its anonymous administrators contact potential employers and graduate student admissions committees, claiming that the students are engaged in anti-Semitic bigotry and sympathy towards terrorism.The site is part of an increasing wave of tactics by right-wing groups on US campuses intending to silence criticism of Israel.

Source: 1,000 scholars condemn pro-Israel blacklist site | The Electronic Intifada