Category Archives: human rights

New Pew study reveals shocking truth about “immigrant criminals” & why deportations are so high | Latina Lista

These individuals guilty of unlawful reentry were fathers, mothers, sons and daughters trying to get back to their families. Or they were trying to get to those pockets of the country where hard labor is the only passport needed to earn enough money to have a basic quality of life back in their home countries.

There’s no way to legally justify entering the country without the proper paperwork and going through the legal channels but there’s also no way to morally justify labeling masses of people as criminals when their only crime is to reunite with loved ones or earn a living that enables their families back home to have a basic quality of life.

via New Pew study reveals shocking truth about “immigrant criminals” & why deportations are so high | Latina Lista.

Judge overturns Arkansas’s obviously unconstitutional 12-week abortion ban

However, this wasn’t a total win: The judge upheld the law’s requirement that the patient receive an ultrasound and be told if a heartbeat is detected–for no medically necessary reason whatsoever.

via Judge overturns Arkansas’s obviously unconstitutional 12-week abortion ban.

Arrest of Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen | Groundviews

Last night’s arrest of Ruki Fernando and Fr. Praveen in Kilinochchi on terrorism charges, soon after the arrest of Jeyakumari Balendran and her young daughter on suspicion of harbouring a criminal, is extremely disturbing and an urgent call to action. In stark contrast to what the Government says in Geneva is what it does in Sri Lanka. Human rights activists are being arrested under draconian laws which permit the authorities to interrogate them in isolation for extended periods of time. It is clear the government wants to go after those who flag human rights abuses. This is happening when deliberations at the Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka are taking place, demonstrating the regime’s scant regard for international opinion and scrutiny. It is an urgent call to hold the government accountable and use all means necessary, in Geneva and elsewhere, to secure the safety of Ruki, Fr. Praveen, Jeyakumari, her daughter and others similarly under arrest and detained. Failure to do suggests that words aside, the international community accepts the democratic deficit in Sri Lanka.

via Arrest of Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen | Groundviews.

www.german-foreign-policy.com – Ultra-Nationalists – Bane of Peace and Freedom

The Annihilation of Jewish Latvians

Many members of the Waffen-SS being again honored on Sunday, had participated in the annihilation of Jewish Latvians. Right after Kārlis Ulmanis’ putsch May 15, 1934, Jewish Latvians employed by the government were fired. Jewish businesses were obliged to close. Immediately following their invasion in June 1941, the Germans carried out their first massacres, with Latvians’ practical assistance. Soon Latvian auxiliary police units were created, for imprisoning and guarding Jews, as well as to carry out assassinations.[3] Only 15,000 of the 90,000 Jewish Latvians were able to flee with Soviet troops in the summer of 1941 ahead of the Nazis’ invasion. Less than a thousand of the remaining 75,000 Jews survived German barbarism. Many of the Latvians, who had participated in the murders, joined the Latvian Waffen-SS, which in 1944 were engaged in the effort to defend the German killing fields from the Red Army. Around 140,000 Latvians had collaborated with the German occupiers.

via www.german-foreign-policy.com.

Gaza’s only power plant ‘shuts down for lack of fuel’ | Maan News Agency

Collective punishment is supposed to be illegal according to international law based in part on its use by Nazi’s during WWII but Israel uses it often… The Gaza Strip’s only power plant shut down Saturday due to a lack of fuel from Israel, which closed a goods crossing after militant rocket attacks, the energy authority said.

“The plant has completely ceased to function due to a lack of fuel caused by (Israel’s) closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing,” said Fathi al-Sheikh Khalil, deputy director of the energy authority in the Palestinian territory ruled by the Islamist movement Hamas.

On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon ordered the closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza and the Erez pedestrian crossing “until further security assessments.”

via Gaza’s only power plant ‘shuts down for lack of fuel’ | Maan News Agency.

Israeli forces escort worshipers to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus | Maan News Agency

Muslims cannot worship in Jerusalem but… Hundreds of Jewish worshipers escorted by Israeli troops arrived overnight Thursday at Joseph’s Tomb near Balata refugee camp east of Nablus, locals said.

Local sources told Ma’an that over a dozen buses guarded by Israeli forces arrived at the tomb, who were deployed onto the rooftops of nearby homes during the visit.

Worshipers performed religious rites from midnight until the early morning hours, during which time Israeli soldiers remained stationed on the rooftops of private Palestinian homes.

via Israeli forces escort worshipers to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus | Maan News Agency.

Thousands pray in Jerusalem streets amid new Aqsa restrictions | Maan News Agency

Restricting access to exercise religious beliefs is democracy?

Thousands of worshipers prayed in the streets of Jerusalem on Friday after Israeli authorities imposed new restrictions on Palestinians’ right to pray inside the holy Al-Aqsa compound.

The compound — which is the third holiest site in Islam — was mostly empty on Friday after Israeli authorities prohibited all Palestinians under the age of 40 from praying there and set up barricades at the compound’s entrances to limit their access.

Many worshipers prayed at the gates of the compound while others prayed at the entrances to the Old City, although a limited number were able to pray inside the Al-Aqsa compound.

via Thousands pray in Jerusalem streets amid new Aqsa restrictions | Maan News Agency.

Manufactured ignorance » Butterflies and Wheels

This is a subject that has always interested me – agnotology, the study of the cultural production of ignorance.

It’s a rich field, especially today when whole industries devote themselves to sowing public misinformation and doubt about their products and activities.

The tobacco industry was a pioneer at this. Its goal was to erode public acceptance of the scientifically proven links between smoking and disease: In the words of an internal 1969 memo legal opponents extracted from Brown & Williamson’s files, “Doubt is our product.” Big Tobacco’s method should not be to debunk the evidence, the memo’s author wrote, but to establish a “controversy.”

via Manufactured ignorance » Butterflies and Wheels.

Big Mac and the Redsk*ns | Native News Online

He was with three other Navajo code talkers, and yet, in all the mainstream press coverage of the event no one mentioned he was the former Navajo Nation Chairman, serving an unprecedented four terms from 1971 to 1989 before being convicted on federal racketeering and fraud charges. “Big Mac” as he was known on the Navajo Nation, spent eight years in federal prison before finally receiving a pardon by President Clinton in 2001.

via Big Mac and the Redsk*ns | Native News Online.

An online Magna Carta: Berners-Lee calls for bill of rights for web | Technology | The Guardian

Tim Berners-Lee has been an outspoken critic of spy agencies’ surveillance of citizens. Photograph: Andrew Brusso/Corbis

The inventor of the world wide web believes an online “Magna Carta” is needed to protect and enshrine the independence of the medium he created and the rights of its users worldwide.

via An online Magna Carta: Berners-Lee calls for bill of rights for web | Technology | The Guardian.