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May 23, 2013

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Tag: Human Rights


The Three Heroines of Guatemala: The Judge, the Attorney General and the Nobel Peace Laureate

Former Guatemalan President Efrain Rios Montt was hauled off to prison last Friday. It was a historic moment, the first time in history that a former leader of a country was tried for genocide in a national court.

Posted on May 15, 2013 READ MORE



Abode of Chaos (CC BY 2.0)

Truthdigger of the Week: Stéphane Hessel

Stéphane Hessel, the French-German author of “Indignez-vous” who died in February at age 95, is a towering figure of 20th-century resistance and an example to those who hope to create the future.

Posted on Apr 14, 2013 READ MORE



Flickr/Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The Hijacking of Human Rights

The ideology espoused by “humanitarian interventionists” such as Suzanne Nossel, recently appointed the executive director of PEN American Center, is used by the security and surveillance state to perpetuate war crimes, curtail civil liberties and justify pre-emptive war.

Posted on Apr 7, 2013 READ MORE



The Nation Institute and the State Department

Chris Hedges Resigns From Human Rights Organization PEN

The Truthdig columnist was scheduled to speak at events sponsored by PEN American Center next month, but he has resigned his membership in the writers’ organization over its executive director, Suzanne Nossel, a former aide to Hillary Clinton who may have coined the term “soft power.”

Posted on Apr 1, 2013 READ MORE



AP/Patrick Semansky, File

We Are Bradley Manning

His trial is not simply the persecution of a courageous whistle-blower, but a state mechanism to destroy the independence of the press and its ability to expose the power elite’s criminal activity.

Posted on Mar 3, 2013 READ MORE


Beacon

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Posted on Jan 8, 2013 READ MORE



AP/Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham

Truthdigger of the Week: Malala Yousafzai

The Taliban tried to kill 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai because people listened when she said they didn’t have to bow to the intimidation of violent, ideological extremists.

Posted on Jan 5, 2013 READ MORE


Human Rights

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Posted on Nov 24, 2012 READ MORE



pbyrne (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Tens of Thousands of Syrians Believed Abducted by Assad (Video)

Up to 28,000 Syrian wives, husbands, mothers and fathers have been abducted from the streets or their homes by government forces since the country’s uprising began 19 months ago. A new film by the human rights organization Avaaz has the evidence.

Posted on Oct 18, 2012 READ MORE



Apple

2,000 Workers Involved in Foxconn Brawl

With class tensions in China running high, labor conditions under an international microscope and a new iPhone just landing in well-stitched pockets, we’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions about the significance of what’s being reported as a “brawl” at a Foxconn plant in northern China.

Posted on Sep 23, 2012 READ MORE



U.S. Embassy Pakistan (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Russia Gives USAID the Boot

According to the Russian government, the U.S. is using its foreign aid organization in Moscow to secretly influence the country’s politics and elections. The U.S. Agency for International Development, known as USAID, will be expelled as part of a broad attempt to stifle the opposition movement.

Posted on Sep 19, 2012 READ MORE



Andrew Rusk (CC BY 2.0)

Canada Cuts Iran Loose

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird (right) cited Iran’s support for the Assad regime in Syria, its disputed nuclear energy program and persistent human rights violations as reasons for Canada’s ejection of Iranian diplomats from Ottawa and the closing of the Canadian Embassy in Tehran.

Posted on Sep 7, 2012 READ MORE


Justice Dept. Closes Probe of CIA Prison Deaths

The U.S. Justice Department ordered a “complete whitewash” of accountability in the torture and killing of prisoners in CIA custody at the end of a three-year investigation on Thursday, announcing it will not prosecute anyone involved in those cases, says Glenn Greenwald, columnist for The Guardian.

Posted on Aug 31, 2012 READ MORE


Oh Henry

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Posted on Aug 19, 2012 READ MORE        



Palinopsia_Films (CC BY 2.0)

NYPD vs. Occupy: Cops Out of Control

After eight months of study, legal researchers at NYU and Fordham University this week turned out a damning review of the NYPD’s behavior in policing the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Posted on Jul 26, 2012 READ MORE



maveric2003 (CC BY 2.0)

How the Magna Carta Became a Minor Carta

Down the road only a few generations, the millennium of Magna Carta, one of the great events in the establishment of civil and human rights, will arrive. Whether it will be celebrated, mourned, or ignored is not at all clear.

Posted on Jul 24, 2012 READ MORE



Sapphireblue (CC BY 2.0)

Mexico Is Dangerous Ground for Journalists

A special prosecutor testifying in Mexico said that 67 journalists have been killed and 14 have vanished in the country in the last six years.

Posted on Jul 18, 2012 READ MORE



AP Photo

Sectarian Violence Undermines Syrian Regime

The Syrian government’s resort to Alawite death squads in recent weeks has pushed former supporters into the opposition.

Posted on Jun 17, 2012 READ MORE



AP/Vahed Salemi

Iran Rights Lawyer Is Locked Away

Abdolfattah Soltani, a well-known Iranian lawyer who co-founded an organization that defends the rights of women, minorities and political prisoners, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for his work and for what Iran’s hard-line judiciary called spreading anti-government propaganda and endangering national security.

Posted on Jun 13, 2012 READ MORE


Better Red Than Dead

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Posted on Jun 13, 2012 READ MORE        



Syria Accused of Using Children as Human Shields

U.N. investigators say Syrian troops are armoring their vehicles with children in order to deter enemy fire. A report on children and armed conflict also says Syrian authorities are torturing children and the opposition may be recruiting minors.

Posted on Jun 12, 2012 READ MORE



(CC-BY-SA)

Hello China My Old Friend, I’ve Come to Lecture You Again (Editorial)

The State Department is once again giving China a hard time about its human rights record, a worthy cause to be sure, though the United States makes for an odd champion. What’s the saying? Those who torture should not throw stones, maybe.

Posted on Jun 3, 2012 READ MORE


Chen Guangcheng

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Posted on May 6, 2012 READ MORE



Felipe Neves (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

A Disappearing Brazilian Tribe Cries Out

Terrorized by gunmen, loggers, drug traffickers and encroaching farmers, the 355 surviving members of the Amazonian Awá tribe face extinction if the Brazilian government and the international community fail to protect them from what a Brazilian judge termed “a real genocide.”

Posted on Apr 23, 2012 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS


‘This American Life’: A Retraction

“This American Life” host Ira Glass gave monologist Mike Daisey every opportunity to explain the lies in his “The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” performance, which became the basis for one of the radio show’s most popular and talked about episodes. Daisey’s rationalization for lying turns out to be, like much of his show, bullshit.

Posted on Mar 18, 2012 READ MORE  |  38 COMMENTS


The Autocracy Awards

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Posted on Feb 28, 2012 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS



mayu** (CC-BY)

China Jails Dissident for Poem Sent Over Internet

Chinese authorities demonstrated their continued disregard for free speech and human rights as they sentenced a democratic dissident to seven years in jail for sending a poem he had written and other messages over the Internet, the man’s son told reporters. The verdict cited Zhu Yufu’s online calls for a democratic political movement, the son said.

Posted on Feb 10, 2012 READ MORE  |  25 COMMENTS



AP / Muzaffar Salman

Why Russia Just Can’t Quit Syria’s Dictator

The Kremlin risks international isolation with its uncompromising stance on Syria, but Russia has powerful incentives to protect Bashar al-Assad.

Posted on Feb 6, 2012 READ MORE  |  98 COMMENTS



totaloutnow (CC-BY)

White House Restores Diplomatic Relations With Burma

Washington is pleased with Burma. The military-backed government instituted a series of human rights reforms, including a cease-fire with ethnic rebels and the release of allegedly hundreds of political prisoners, that allows the U.S. to do business with the strategically situated Asian country with reduced criticism.

Posted on Jan 14, 2012 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS



AP / Ahmed Ali

Dispatches From Cairo: Egypt’s War on NGOs

National law gives the executive authorities overly broad discretion to forbid groups to do anything that authorities might see as “threatening national unity” or “violating public order or morals,” vague terminology that lays the law open to abuse and has served as a basis for the denial of registration to some NGOs.

Posted on Dec 30, 2011 READ MORE  |  10 COMMENTS


Go Away

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Posted on Nov 22, 2011 READ MORE



Flickr / gademocrats (CC-BY)

Jimmy Carter Still Has Hope

One day before this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner is to be announced, President and Nobel laureate Jimmy Carter said that he still hopes President Obama will make good on the promises he made that ultimately won him the prize two years ago.

Posted on Oct 6, 2011 READ MORE  |  4 COMMENTS



AP / Hassan Ammar

Saudi Arabia’s Radical King Gives Women the Right to Vote

Only 118 years after New Zealand kicked off this dangerous trend, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has decided to allow women to vote and run in municipal elections as soon as 2015. (more)

Posted on Sep 25, 2011 READ MORE  |  8 COMMENTS



AP / Hussein Malla

Prosecuting War Crimes? Be Sure to Read the Fine Print

It all depends, I think, on whether criminals are our friends (Stalin at the time) or our enemies (Hitler and his fellow Nazis), whether they have their future uses (the Japanese emperor) or whether we’ll get their wealth more easily if they are out of the way (Saddam and Gadhafi).

Posted on Aug 28, 2011 READ MORE  |  18 COMMENTS


Assad the Monster

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Posted on Aug 23, 2011 READ MORE



Flickr / Defence Images

Pakistani Lawyer Blocked From U.S. After Suing CIA on Drone Strikes

Pakistani lawyer and human rights champion Mirza Shahzad Akbar, who has aided the U.S. government in legal counterterrorism efforts, was banned from traveling to the States to speak at Columbia Law School after suing the CIA about drone strikes that have killed civilians in his country. (more)

Posted on Jul 3, 2011 READ MORE  |  9 COMMENTS


Obama Nearly Triples Bagram Detainee Population

The number of detainees held at a Guantanamo-like military detention center in Afghanistan has almost tripled in the three years since President Obama took office. (more)

Posted on Jun 5, 2011 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS



Flickr / Al-Jazeera English

U.K. Cheers On Arab Spring While Training Its Opponents

Just days after the British government pledged $181 million in grants and loans to foster economically viable democratic transitions in Egypt and Tunisia, a Freedom of Information Act report confirmed that British military personnel are training the same Saudi security forces that were used to crush recent popular uprisings in Bahrain. (more)

Posted on May 29, 2011 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS



Syria Turns Facebook on Protesters

Syrian authorities are busy proving Julian Assange right as they use what he called “the most appalling spying machine that has ever been invented” to keep tabs on their country’s digital dissidents. (more)

Posted on May 23, 2011 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS



Photo illustration from an image by Colin Grey

Truthdig Radio: How the U.S. Co-Opted Human Rights

On this week’s show we hear from Reagan Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb on our imperial military budget, and James Peck tells us how the U.S. co-opted human rights. And we send Reese Erlich to Cuba to find out how Raul Castro’s economic reforms are affecting the island’s world-famous music scene.

Posted on May 11, 2011 READ MORE


Truthdig Radio: How the U.S. Co-Opted Human Rights

On this week’s show we hear from Reagan Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb on our imperial military budget, and James Peck tells us how the U.S. co-opted human rights. And we send Reese Erlich to Cuba to find out how Raul Castro’s economic reforms are affecting the island’s world-famous music scene. Update: Full transcript.

Posted on May 11, 2011 READ MORE



State Department

Dear Hillary Clinton, Our Human Rights Record Is ‘Deplorable’ Too

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tells The Atlantic that China’s “deplorable human rights record” is “a fool’s errand” to “stop history.” That’s some tough talk from the global representative of a country that throws its enemies in an island gulag when it isn’t remotely executing them.

Posted on May 10, 2011 READ MORE  |  10 COMMENTS



Wikimedia Commons

China on U.S. Human Rights Scolding: Look Who’s Talking

The U.S. and China are bickering again over human rights after the U.S. condemned the arrest of Chinese dissidents. Beijing dismissed Washington’s latest criticism and said the U.S. is beset by violence, racism and torture and thus has no authority to condemn the actions of other governments. Above, Ai Weiwei, a jailed activist.

Posted on Apr 10, 2011 READ MORE  |  9 COMMENTS


‘Democracy Now!’: Psychologist Accused of Torture in Guantanamo Interrogations

Amy Goodman reports on Dr. John Leso, a psychologist who allegedly participated in the torture (or “harsh interrogation,” his defenders might say) of Guantanamo detainees and now faces trial in New York.

Posted on Apr 6, 2011 READ MORE


Syria Father and Son

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Posted on Mar 27, 2011 READ MORE


Vejjajiva
Wikimedia Commons / World Economic Forum

Thai PM Survives No-Confidence Vote

Although his political future looked dim only weeks ago, Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has survived a no-confidence vote brought against his administration by opposition party members.

Posted on Mar 19, 2011 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS



AP / Tim Freccia

South Sudan Battles Rebels

New fighting erupted in Sudan’s recently declared autonomous southern half when rebel forces staged an attack on the city of Malakal. The battle comes as South Sudan counts down to its official secession on July 9.

Posted on Mar 12, 2011 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT


Vejjajiva
Wikimedia Commons / World Economic Forum

Thai PM Is a British Citizen

Thailand’s prime minister may be in some hot water. Abhisit Vejjajiva acknowledged that he holds British citizenship, an admission that may make him vulnerable to prosecution for the deaths of around 90 people in anti-government demonstrations back in 2008.

Posted on Feb 25, 2011 READ MORE  |  4 COMMENTS



AP via Los Angeles Times

Obama and Hu Play Up the Positive

This week’s challenge for President Obama: diplomacy in the face of possible adversity, on both the domestic and international fronts. As the House of Representatives was considering a repeal of his hard-won health care reform law on Wednesday ...

Posted on Jan 19, 2011 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS



National Archives / White House

Henry Kissinger’s Appalling Human Rights Record

In light of Henry Kissinger’s comment, captured in the Nixon White House and released this month, that “if they put Jews into gas chambers in the Soviet Union, it is not an American concern,” Think Progress has compiled a brief history of the former secretary of state’s complicity in human rights abuses.

Posted on Dec 29, 2010 READ MORE  |  18 COMMENTS


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A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
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