Category Archives: human rights

Marie Colvin: ‘She illuminated the cost of war through individuals’ pain’ | Media | The Guardian

I went to see it with another veteran journalist, who knew Colvin and had worked in several of the places she reported from. He went in braced for cliches, but emerged shaking.While Colvin might have been bemused to see herself celebrated on such an incredible scale, she would almost certainly have been glad to see the terrible suffering in Syria brought to wider attention again. She was killed there because she cared and wanted others to as well. “Part of me thinks Marie is looking down saying, ‘Hey, what’s all the fuss, this is what we do,’” said Hilsum. “But I also think she would be glad that people were talking about Homs again, and hope that maybe some of the attention would be focused on Yemen and other under-reported conflicts and the people suffering in them.”

Source: Marie Colvin: ‘She illuminated the cost of war through individuals’ pain’ | Media | The Guardian

The Gravest Crisis – Groundviews – Sri Lanka Crisis for Democracy

President Sirisena’s unrepentant violation of the constitution raises very serious questions about the political choices he is making now. He can only plunge the country from one crisis to another and take the country down the path of Myanmar, or turning it into a banana republic where the law and the constitution do not matter. People of the country should unite and fight together to save democracy from the gravest threat it is facing since independence. Yet, public option would be sharply divided on this issue and not everyone would be interested in saving democracy. A broad democratic front of political parties, civil society and citizens need to be formed to defend Sri Lanka’s democracy.

Source: The Gravest Crisis – Groundviews

SPLC lawsuit: Family detained, searched in Mississippi because they ‘looked’ Latino | Southern Poverty Law Center

This Latino family was detained by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office for approximately four hours, without any reason to believe that they had committed a crime. During the detention, the deputy – who announced that he was looking for “illegals” – confiscated the family’s passports and valid immigration documents, and repeatedly threatened the father, Marcos Martinez, with losing his lawful permanent residency if he did not admit to possessing drugs. Despite two invasive searches and extensive questioning during last year’s stop, no drugs or any other evidence of criminal activity was found. The family’s only “crime” was that they looked Latino.

Source: SPLC lawsuit: Family detained, searched in Mississippi because they ‘looked’ Latino | Southern Poverty Law Center

British journalist Victor Mallet denied entry to Hong Kong as tourist | South China Morning Post – See what China and Trump share – hate free press!

Post learns that former Financial Times editor was turned away after nearly four hours of questioning, with ‘no explanation given’ by authorities

Source: British journalist Victor Mallet denied entry to Hong Kong as tourist | South China Morning Post

Trump administration blocks asylum claims by those crossing border illegally | World news | The Guardian  – Put a black armband on the Statue of Liberty while these racists are in power!

Homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker issue new restrictive regulation

Source: Trump administration blocks asylum claims by those crossing border illegally | World news | The Guardian

U.S. Law Enforcement Failed to See the Threat of White Nationalism. Now They Don’t Know How to Stop It. – The New York Times

In March 2018, a 20-year-old white evangelical Christian named Mark Anthony Conditt laid a series of homemade I.E.D.s around Austin, Tex., in largely minority communities. The bombs killed two African-Americans and injured at least four others over the course of several weeks, terrorizing the city, yet the local authorities preferred to describe Conditt, who committed suicide, as a “very challenged young man.” Also last spring, another white man, 28-year-old Benjamin Morrow, blew himself up in his apartment in Beaver Dam, Wis., while apparently constructing a bomb. Federal investigators said Morrow’s apartment doubled as a “homemade explosives laboratory.” There was a trove of white-supremacist literature in Morrow’s home, according to the F.B.I. But local cops, citing Morrow’s clean-cut demeanor and standout record as a quality-control manager at a local food-processing plant, made sure to note that just because he had this material didn’t mean he was a white supremacist. “He could have been an individual that was doing research,” the local police chief said.

How Vilification of George Soros Moved From the Fringes to the Mainstream – The New York Times

“He’s a banker, he’s Jewish, he gives to Democrats — he’s sort of a perfect storm for vilification by the right, here and in Europe,” said Michael H. Posner, a human rights lawyer and former State Department official in the Obama administration. Mr. Soros has given his main group, the Open Society Foundations, $32 billion for what it calls democracy-building efforts in the United States and around the world. In addition, in the United States, Mr. Soros has personally contributed more than $75 million over the years to federal candidates and committees, according to Federal Election Commission and Internal Revenue Service records.

Hearing of woman rights defender Israa Al-Ghomgham, who faces execution, postponed – IFEX

During the first session of her trial, the Public Prosecution presented a list of eight main charges against Al-Ghomgham, including allegedly: “joining a terrorist entity aimed at creating chaos and unrest within the Kingdom,” “participating in marches and gatherings in the province of Al-Qatif and encouraging young people to go to those marches and gatherings in addition to photographing, documenting and publishing these gatherings through social networks sites,” “participating in the funeral of victims of security clashes with protesters,” “preparing, sending and storing material that would harm the public order and punishable under Article 6 of the Cybercrime Act of 2008,” “creating an account on social networking sites and using it to encourage rallies to riot and incite young people against the state and security forces in addition to publishing pictures and video clips of these rallies and marches about a number of victims of security clashes,” and “creating a channel on YouTube for the publication of video clips of victims of security clashes.” The prosecution asked the court to sentence her to death by beheading and the SCC postponed the hearing to 28 October 2018.

Source: Hearing of woman rights defender Israa Al-Ghomgham, who faces execution, postponed – IFEX