Looking Up an NYPD Officer’s Discipline Record? Many Are There One Day, Gone the Next. - Hernandez, Sergio (ProPublica, 2024)
The police department’s public site for tracking officers’ discipline is shockingly unreliable. Cases against officers frequently vanish for days — sometimes weeks — at a time.

Ethnic Cleansing in West Darfur - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias in El Geneina, the capital city of Sudan’s West Darfur state, from April to November 2023, killed at least thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands as refugees.

Call for Applications | EHRI Seminar "Holocaust and Exile: Approaches, Sources, Methodologies" - EHRI (EHRI Project, 2024)
Call for Applications | EHRI Seminar | Holocaust and Exile: Approaches, Sources, Methodologies November 4-7 2024 | Location: German Exile Archive 1933-1945, Frankfurt am Main, Germany | Deadline for Submissions: 30 June 2024

Birth certificate in Braille now available - The Gleaner (The Gleaner, 2024)
For many years, members of the visually impaired community have faced significant challenges in accessing printed information, often having to rely on others for assistance.

Addressing the Impact of Mis-/Disinformation and Hate Speech on Civilians: Evolving Policies and Practices from Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Actors - ReliefWeb (ReliefWeb, 2024)
Misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation (MDM), also categorized as “harmful information”, and hate speech pose a direct threat to civilians in situations of armed conflict and other humanitarian crises. MDM and hate speech affect conflict dynamics and exploit societal divisions by increasing mistrust, exacerbating polarization, and contributing to physical, political, economic, and gendered harms.

Revealed: key files shredded as UK government panic grew over infected blood deaths lawsuit - Ungoed-Thomas, Jon (The Observer, 2024)
Lost documents prevented victims from finding out the truth.
Keywords: Aids and HIV; Contaminated blood scandal; Health; Hepatitis C; NHS; Pharmaceuticals industry; UK news

What Biden’s expansion of health privacy rules means for people seeking abortions - John Yang (2024)
The Biden administration issued new rules designed to keep prosecutors from obtaining medical records of patients who seek legal abortions. The expansion of HIPAA prohibits the disclosure of health information to state officials as part of a criminal investigation.

Ngāhuia Murphy: The mana and mātauranga of wāhine Māori - Rakuraku, Maraea (E-Tangata, 2024)
Ngāhuia’s work — most notably on menstruation practices in the precolonial Māori world — has done much to uncover the previously invisible histories and identities of Māori women that were “stolen from us through colonial processes”. She is reclaiming the stories and mātauranga of wāhine Māori, she says, because she’s “not prepared to leave wāhine stranded in the margins of history as second-class citizens”.

China erases memory of ‘white paper’ protests in further threat to journalism - Lau, Jessie (The Guardian, 2024)
Silencing of a film-maker documenting the widespread 2022 demonstrations against Covid controls is part of rising suppression of press freedom.
Keywords: Asia Pacific; China; Coronavirus; Global development; Newspapers & magazines; Press freedom; Protest; World news

Freedom of information: To what extent are public archives accessible? - Jung, Anne-Catherine (Phys.org, 2024)
In 2000, the Council of Europe issued a Recommendation aimed at improving access to archives in the member states. Together with the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives (OSA Archivum) in Budapest, Fraunhofer ISI evaluated how these recommendations have been implemented and how accessible the archives are more than 20 years on. The researchers also investigated the technological, legal and political challenges facing freedom of information.

Meet The Sámi Land Defenders of Scandinavia - Gualinga, Nina (Atmos, 2014)
Four Sami leaders and advocates speak with Nina Gualinga about their relationship to the land, and why the green transition is amounting to a new wave of colonization.

Gaza war: Israel accuses South Africa of false claims at ICJ - Berg, Raffi
Israel's lawyers push back against South Africa, which is trying to get its Rafah offensive stopped.
Keywords: Isr

Mozambique: Child Soldiers Used in Raid on Northern Town | Human Rights Watch - Human Rights Watch
An armed group linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) in northern Mozambique used boys as young as 13 to raid and loot the town of Macomia, in Cabo Delgado province, on May 10, 2024.

Statement by the Presidency of the Assembly of States Parties in support of the independence and impartiality of the International Criminal Court | International Criminal Court - International Criminal Court (ICC)
The Presidency of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute expresses concern over the recent public statements related to an ongoing International Criminal Court investigation in the situation in the State of Palestine.

Nigeria mass wedding for 100 orphans sparks outcry - Jolaoso, Simi (BBC)
Nigeria's women's minister says she has filed a court order to stop the ceremony planned for next week.
Keywords: Children's Rights

Statement of ICC Prosecutor, Karim A. A. Khan KC, to the United Nations Security Council - Khan KC, Karim A.A
Statement of ICC Prosecutor, Karim A. A. Khan KC, to the United Nations Security Council on the Situation in Libya, pursuant to Resolution 1970 (2011)

S. Africa: The Information Regulator & Independent Electoral Commission form partnership to curb the spread of misinformation & disinformation in the run-up to the election - Ndlovu, Nkosinathi (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre)

Accountability for Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka - OHCHR report - OHCHR (OHCHR)

Big oil privately acknowledged efforts to downplay climate crisis, joint committee investigation finds - Noor, Dharna (The Guardian, 2024)
Internal documents revealed by committee show companies lobbied against climate laws they publicly claimed to support.
Keywords: Climate crisis; Energy; Environment; Fossil fuels; US news; US politics; World news

How a digital archive is preserving Canada’s history of LGBTQ+ activism - Dangoisse, Pascale; Crompton, Constance; Schwartz, Michelle (The Conversation, 2024)
The Lesbian and Gay Liberation in Canada (LGLC) project aims to learn from the activism of the past and how the movement evolved over time by making archives of LGBTQ+ and feminist organising accessible digitally.

MEP Krah accessed ‘sensitive’ documents, EU Parliament trade committee chair says - Camille Gijs, Eddy Wax and Lennart Pfahler (POLITICO, 2024)
Charges of spying and corruption spark call for internal parliamentary probe.

Revealed: UK government was warned of infected blood risks in 1970s - Ungoed-Thomas, Jon; McKie, Robin (The Observer, 2024)
Documents show officials were told blood plasma harvested from US convicts was contaminated with viruses
Keywords: Aids and HIV; Bayer; Business; Contaminated blood scandal; Health; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis C; Microbiology; NHS; Pharmaceuticals industry; Pharmacy and pharmacology; Society; UK news

Bolt lobbying revelations: Estonia official says human error behind missing correspondence - Bourgery-Gonse, Théo (www.euractiv.com, 2024)
The omission of emails from the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs to Bolt and other mobility tech firms, demanded in a freedom of information (FOI) request, was due to human error.

How gendered disinformation on social media harms Kenyan women seeking political office - Linda Ngari (Global Voices, 2024)
"Women often don’t sue because they don’t actually know that the law can protect them ... because of the stigma around it, and the fact that people have normalised cyberbullying ..."

50 years ago, the Carnation Revolution ended Portugal's dictatorship in one night - Rérolle, Raphaëlle (Le Monde.fr, 2024)
On April 25, 1974, the Portuguese military overthrew Antonio de Oliveira Salazar's authoritarian regime. Fifty years later, participants and witnesses tell Le Monde about those few hours during which the old world gave way to the new.

Police serve search warrant on New Orleans archdiocese in child sex abuse case - Vargas, Ramon Antonio (The Guardian, 2024)
A judge approved the warrant in investigation to determine if church hierarchy illegally covered up systemic child molestation
Keywords: Catholicism; Louisiana; New Orleans; Rape and sexual assault; US crime; US news

European Health Data Space clears the last hurdle in Parliament - Feore, Catherine (www.euractiv.com, 2024)
The European Parliament adopted on Wednesday (24 April) the European Health Data Space Regulation, a key step for Europe's digital healthcare that should facilitate access to cross-border medical data.

IOM and CRAF'd Partner to Enhance Data-Driven Responses to Displacement - IOM (International Organization for Migration, 2024)
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Complex Risk Analytics Fund (CRAF'd) are proud to announce a new partnership to enhance the understanding of internal displacement and enable data-driven action to save lives and deliver solutions.   The partnership will deliver a first-of-its-kind global dataset offering comparable, sub-national mobility data drawing on DTM operations around the world.

Digital Security Increasingly Relies on AI. But That Tech Isn't as Secure as We Think - Yeung, Douglas (Rand, 2024)
In the digital age, trade-offs—like displaying our faces and fingerprints—are all but required to function in society. But the technology charged with securing our information and protecting against theft, fraud, and other potential harms doesn't always work.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Cybersecurity; Data Privacy; Digital Equity; Emerging Technologies

Israel has yet to provide evidence of Unrwa staff terrorist links, Colonna report says - Borger, Julian (The Guardian, 2024)
Review finds government yet to substantiate claims UN relief agency staff have ties to Hamas or Islamic Jihad
Keywords: Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; Refugees; United Nations; World news

A chance for Africa to counter the pitfalls of international criminal justice? - Hendrickse, Melissa (Amnesty International, 2024)
Since its inception, the project of international criminal justice has been marked by a striking indifference to the long historical record of atrocities perpetrated by the Western world against people of the Global South, and Africa in particular.

Can AI image generators be policed to prevent explicit deepfakes of children? - Hern, Alex (The Guardian, 2024)
As one of the largest ‘training’ datasets has been found to contain child sexual abuse material, can bans on creating such imagery be feasible?
Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI); ChatGPT; Computing; Deepfake; Online abuse; Open source; OpenAI; Pornography; Software; Technology; UK news; World news

Between privacy and border control: Tech in the Migration Pact - Gkritsi, Eliza (www.euractiv.com, 2024)
Last week, the EU Parliament voted to pass amendments to Eurodac, previously a fingerprints database, along with a new Migration Pact to boost border security.

Srebrenica Genocide Must Be Condemned, Denial Banned, 2 Members Of Bosnian Presidency Tell UN - RFE/RL's Balkan Service (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 2024)
The 1995 genocide in Srebrenica must be globally condemned, support for victims must be expressed, and denial of genocide and glorification of war criminals be banned to prevent future similar tragedies, two members of the tripartite presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina told a UN session on April 19.

The Scholar Who Rewrote Black Brazilian History - Amin, Lakshmi Rivera; Bittencourt, Ela (Hyperallergic, 2024)
Beatriz Nascimento’s groundbreaking research defied dominant White Brazilian academic narratives, instead emphasizing Black political agency.

World Press Photo 2024 – global winners - Fidler, Matt (The Guardian, 2024)
The global winners in the World Press Photo annual competition have been announced, with Mohammed Salem winning world press photo of the year. The winning photographs in the Word Press Photo 2024 competition are selected representations of the human adventure. Photographers have endeavoured to capture striking images, often linked to human rights issues such as women's rights, children's rights, migration, civil rights, decolonization, indigenous matters, wars and the impact of climate change.

Explosive Weapons’ Dire Impact on Cultural Heritage - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
The bombing and shelling of cities and towns during armed conflict has devastating consequences for cultural heritage and civilians.

UNESCO Regional Office Supports Sudan in Assessing Conflict's Impacts on Cultural Heritage - UNESCO (UNESCO News, 2024)
UNESCO's Regional Office for Egypt and Sudan, in collaboration with Sudan's National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), the French Archaeological Mission to Sudan (SFDAS), and the Polish Cultural Center, convened a crucial two-day workshop in Cairo from April 16-17, 2024. The workshop, titled "Update of Crisis Response, Risk Mitigation, and First Aid for Sudan's Heritage," aimed to devise strategies to protect Sudan's cultural heritage, imperiled by the prolonged conflict in the region.

South Africans tasted the fruits of freedom and then corruption snatched them away – podcast - Ware, Gemma; Leshilo, Thabo (The Conversation, 2024)
The second episode of What happened to Nelson Mandela’s South Africa?, a three-part podcast series on The Conversation Weekly. Featuring interviews with Mashupye Maserumule and Michael Sachs.

Mass death, torture and other violations against people detained in aftermath of Islamic State defeat – new report - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
People detained following the territorial defeat of the Islamic State (IS) armed group are facing systematic violations and dying in large numbers due to inhumane conditions in north-east Syria, Amnesty International said in a new report.

WWII: In the footsteps of the African Resistance fighters who fell in the Battle of Vercors - GORMEZANO, David (France 24, 2024)
Thousands of German soldiers moved in on southeastern France's Vercors Plateau in July 1944 in a bid to crush a regional uprising led by a rural French Resistance group. Over 100 Resistance fighters…

Cyber-attack targets UN server - Irwin Loy (The New Humanitarian, 2024)
Data extortion attack targets a UN server: A cyber-attack on a server used by the United Nations Development Programme has exposed personal information belonging to past and current personnel, the agency said. UNDP said it learned of the attack on 27 March: “This was a data-extortion threat actor that identified themselves on the dark web,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Your Brain Waves Are Up for Sale. A New Law Wants to Change That. - Moens, Jonathan (The New York Times, 2024)
In a first, a Colorado law extends privacy rights to the neural data increasingly coveted by technology companies.
Keywords: Brain; Colorado; Computers and the Internet; Consumer Protection; Data-Mining and Database Marketing; Law and Legislation; Privacy; your-feed-science

EU data protection body says Meta's 'pay or OK' model is not OK - Tar, Julia (www.euractiv.com, 2024)
The European Data Protection Board opposed Meta's controversial "pay or okay" business model in an opinion published on Wednesday (17 April), saying this binary approach was not compliant with the EU's data privacy rules.

Could the U.S. force treatment on mentally ill people (again)? - Rosalsky, Greg (NPR, 2024)
Sixty years ago, America began closing mental hospitals. A growing chorus is blaming that for the crisis of mentally ill folks living on our streets.

Liberia senate votes to establish war crimes court - Bondo, Dounard (The Guardian, 2024)
The court will investigate crimes against humanity committed during the African country’s two civil wars between 1989 and 2003
Keywords: Africa; Child soldiers; Conflict and arms; Global development; Law; Liberia; War crimes; World news

Abu Ghraib Torture Case Finally Goes to Trial - Sanbar, Sarah (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Twenty years have passed since the media broke the story that US forces and the CIA were torturing “war on terror” detainees at Abu Ghraib and other US-run prisons in Iraq. But for the men who were tortured, it feels like only yesterday.
Keywords: Middle East; United States of America

UK swapped to fatal US blood products to save money, minutes suggest - Boffey, Daniel (The Guardian, 2024)
Exclusive: contaminated blood campaigners say internal 1976 Immuno AG document proves British government negligence
Keywords: Aids and HIV; Business; Contaminated blood scandal; Health; Hepatitis C; NHS; Pharmaceuticals industry; Politics; Society; UK news

Riz Ahmed’s Defiance: how the visceral racism of 70s Britain gave way to a new era of identity politics - Malik, Kenan (The Observer, 2024)
A candid documentary tells how a generation of activists from Asian communities confronted prejudice
Keywords: Channel 4; Documentary; Immigration and asylum; Race; UK news

Amnesty International calls for human rights bodies to investigate killings of civilians by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) in Merawi town, on 29 January, as war crimes of murder and extrajudicial executions - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Claims by the Ethiopian government that accountability has already been achieved for crimes committed in the war in northern Ethiopia demonstrate lack of political commitment to genuine justice and accountability.

Texas hospital halts liver and kidney transplants amid claims doctor denied patients organs - Chao-Fong, Léonie (The Guardian, 2024)
Doctor who helmed abdominal transplant program reportedly manipulated records to make patients ineligible to receive livers
Keywords: Texas; US healthcare; US news

Russia's Disinformation Campaign About the Moscow Terror Attack May Be Working - Bauer, Ryan (Rand, 2024)
As far-fetched as it may seem to those in the West, the Kremlin's claim that the recent terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall was orchestrated by Ukraine and Western powers may be convincing to many Russians. For the U.S. to address and combat these claims, it is important to understand how they are framed amid broadly propagated themes, and how these could influence their potential appeal to large swaths of the Russian public.
Keywords: Information Operations; Russia; Terrorist Organizations; Ukraine; United States

Journalist says a 'land grab' in Tanzania is forcing the Maasai off their land - Davies, Dave (NPR, 2024)
Journalist Stephanie McCrummen says foreign interests are acquiring territory in Northern Tanzania, effectively displacing indigenous cattle-herders from their traditional grazing lands. Transcription available

IDF colonel discusses ‘data science magic powder’ for locating terrorists - Davies, Harry; McKernan, Bethan (The Guardian, 2024)
Video of official from Unit 8200 in February 2023 raises questions about Israel’s denials of use of AI in Gaza
Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI); Gaza; Israel; Middle East and north Africa; Technology; World news

Archives agreement between Israel and Ukraine may shed light on Holocaust in country - Eichner, Itamar (Ynetnews, 2024)
Both countries will open their state archives to experts and nationals in a process that may facilitate Ukrainian Jews' efforts to make Aliyah
Keywords: Holocaust; Israel; Ukraine

Archives agreement between Israel and Ukraine may shed light on Holocaust in country - Eichner, Itamar (Ynetnews, 2024)
Both countries will open their state archives to experts and nationals in a process that may facilitate Ukrainian Jews' efforts to make Aliyah
Keywords: Holocaust; Israel; Ukraine

10 Years After Chibok, Schoolchildren Still at Risk - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Ten years after the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigerian authorities have failed to put in place and sustain crucial measures to provide a secure learning environment for every child.

Tribal Nations Receive $411,000 to Document Impact of Federal Indian Boarding School Era - Kunze, Jenna (Native News Online, 2024)
Fourteen tribal nations, tribal schools and colleges, and state organizations will initiate community projects to capture, preserve, and educate about the impact of the Federal Indian Boarding School era, thanks to $411,000 in funding announced by the National Endowment for the Humanities

Friday essay: ‘too many Aboriginal babies’ – Australia’s secret history of Aboriginal population control in the 1960s - Rademaker, Julia; Troy, Jakelin; Hurst, Julia (The Conversation, 2024)
Aboriginal women faced covert government family-planning programs, designed ostensibly to promote “choice”, but ultimately to curb their fertility. For decades, Indigenous communities have spoken of the coercive practices of officials and medical experts around birth control and sterilisation, and how they experienced them. Now historians are finding evidence of these practices in the government’s own records from as recently as the 1960s and ‘70s.

How ‘white’ fragility perpetuates anti-Black racism in Arab societies - Al-Azraki, Amir (The Conversation, 2024)
In recent years, controversies have erupted in the Arab world over negative portrayals of Black people. Arabic television shows have frequently ridiculed Black people with lighter skinned actors regularly appearing in blackface.

Slavery Was Crucial for the Development of Capitalism - Blackburn, Robin; Dowling, Owen (Jacobin, 2024)
Historian Robin Blackburn has completed a trilogy of books that provide a comprehensive Marxist account of slavery in the New World. He spoke to Jacobin about the intimate links between the slave systems in the Americas and the origins of capitalism.

How the dung queen of Dublin was swept from history - Carroll, Rory (The Guardian, 2024)
AI to be used by researchers to scour documents for information on women omitted from chronicles written by men about men
Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI); Europe; Ireland; Society; Technology; Universities; Women; World news

Biden Says U.S. Is Considering Dropping Its Case Against Assange - Green, Erica L. (The New York Times, 2024)
The WikiLeaks founder has been held in London as he has battled extradition to the United States on charges related to his publication of classified documents.
Keywords: Albanese, Anthony (1963- ); Assange, Julian P; Australia; Biden, Joseph R Jr; Classified Information and State Secrets; First Amendment (US Constitution); Freedom of Speech and Expression; Great Britain; United States International Relations; United States Politics and Government; WikiLeaks

The Respectful Terminology Platform Project Receives Prestigious Grant from the Mellon Foundation - Price, Gary (Library Journal infoDOCKET, 2024)
The Respectful Terminology Platform Project (RTPP), an Indigenous-led initiative under the NIKLA-ANCLA umbrella, is honoured to announce that the project has been awarded a two-year grant for a total of $1.4M USD from the Mellon Foundation.
Keywords: Multiple Nations

How the Maduro government pays to promote propaganda and disinformation in Venezuela - ProBox (Global Voices, 2024)
The official propaganda of the government of Nicolás Maduro spreads thanks to the work of citizens who receive payments from the government to promote trends on social media

Defend Rights - Memria x Norwegian Human Rights Fund Archive - Sienkiewicz, Emily (Permanent.org, 2024)
All people have a legacy that deserves to be preserved. In other words, we believe it is an essential human right to be able to preserve your legacy. A single story from someone who cares can inspire others to leave the world a better place.

‘Historic’ European Court of Human Rights ruling backs Swiss women in climate change case - Frost, Rosie (Euronews, 2024)
In a landmark decision, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that climate change violates the right to respect for one’s private and family life.

Dawn Landes's new album reimagines feminist folk songs from 1800 to 1970 (CBC Art, 2024)
The singer-songwriter Dawn Landes album, The Liberated Woman's Songbook, inspired by a 1971 book of the same name that chronicles the women's liberation movement through a collection of songs from the 1800s to early 1970. Landes talks about the power of music as a tool for activism, finding solace and inspiration through the voices of women throughout American history, and why these songs still serve as a map for survival today.

Valuable documents about Dien Bien Phu Campaign unveiled - VietnamPlus (VietnamPlus, 2024)
A number of original documents and records about the Dien Bien Phu Campaign and the 1954 Geneva Conference were made public for the first time and recently introduced to the public.
Keywords: Dien Bien Phu

Bangladesh Film Archive, Getty Images sign MoU to preserve footage on Liberation War, Bangabandhu - Dhaka UNB (The Daily Star, 2024)
The Bangladesh Film Archive, under the information ministry, and Getty Images, a visual media company of the US, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collect and preserve footage on the Liberation War and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Keywords: Bangladesh; Getty; Liberation war; audiovisual

NGO seeks a probe into the deaths of two French officers slain in Rwanda genocide - France 24 (France 24, 2024)
A non-governmental organisation on Monday sought answers over the deaths of two French officers killed in the early days of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, a legal complaint seen by AFP showed.

Memorializing the Romani past: “We exist, respect our humanity" - OHCHR (OHCHR, 2024)
Coordinated by UN Human Rights, the Romani Memory Map for the Americas is a crowd-sourced initiative to recognize and honour sites of memory of the Romani community in the Americas, from the United States to Argentina. The project builds on efforts to strengthen Roma rights and inclusion, advance public memory of Roma people and history, and combat anti-gypsyism, the specific form of racism facing Roma.

The Queer Museum | Radical Inclusion and Western Museology - Robenalt, Erica (Routledge, 2024)
The Queer Museum examines how relationships between institutions and LGBTQ+communities function and how they help to define queer museum practice.

Beyond profit: Enforcing human rights in business - Sanchez Amor, Nacho; Wolters, Lara (ET Observer, 2024)
In an increasingly globalised world, where multinational corporations wield unprecedented influence, the need for robust mechanisms to hold businesses accountable for human rights abuses has never been more pressing. The ethical responsibilities of businesses extend far beyond profit margins and shareholder interests

Rwanda marks 30 years since genocide that horrified the world - Cheman, Melissa (RFI, 2024)
Rwanda has begun 100 days of commemorations to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1994 genocide, in which 800,000 people, most of them from the Tutsi ethnic group, were massacred by Hutu militias.

Rwanda remembers genocide 30 years on in ceremony - Euronews (Euronews, 2024)
World leaders around the world have marked the anniversary of the genocide of the Tutsi ethnic minority. Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, admitted responsibility, a kind of complicity on the part of the international community - which remained motionless, closed its eyes - in this dark moment in human history.

Breakthrough for transparency: Court ruling exposes misconduct - IOL Reporter (IOL, 2024)
In a landmark legal battle, Independent Media's successful appeal against the State Security Minister's interim interdict reveals a victory not only for press freedom but also for transparency and accountability in governance.

RIM month to focus on records management, climate change - Jamaica Gleaner (Jamaica Gleaner, 2024)
The Jamaica Archives and Records Department (JARD) is observing Records and Information Management (RIM) month in April, with a focus on increasing awareness about the importance of accurate records management in providing holistic solutions to the impact of climate-change.

Guatemala ex-general on trial accused of genocide - Rocha, Leonardo; Vock, Ido (BBC News, 2024)
A former general accused of ordering the murder of more than 1,200 indigenous Ixil Maya people during Guatemala's civil war has gone on trial.

Amnesty International launches book ‘Images of Rebellion’, a testament to civil resistance - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Amnesty International has published the book Images of Rebellion, an extraordinary visual compilation that chronicles and celebrates the defiant spirit of civil resistance in Cuba. The book contains a poignant selection of the more than 21,000 letters and drawings sent to Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Cuban artist and prisoner of conscience, in a global outpouring of support.

Resettlement as a Human Rights Issue: Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Amnesty International welcomes the call for inputs by the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing as a Component of the Right to an Adequate Standard of Living, and on the Right to Non-discrimination in this Context, to inform his report to the General Assembly in October 2024, and for developing international guiding principles for resettlement.

Reconciliation made in Rwanda - Sehene Ruvugiro, Emmanuel (JustiveInfo.net, 2024)
At least 800,000 people were massacred in 100 days, between April and July 1994. Since then, the national justice system has tried over a million people. The time for retribution has passed. And Rwandans have had to relearn how to “live together”. Our correspondent asked some of them what this “reconciliation” means for them.

UN body calls for Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes - Wintour, Patrick (The Guardian, 2024)
Human rights council adopts resolution as Israel opens new routes into Gaza after Biden-Netanyahu phone call
Keywords: Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Joe Biden; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; US foreign policy; US news; United Nations; World news

Tories planned to make millions from members’ data with ‘True Blue’ app - Burgis, Tom; Dyer, Henry (The Guardian, 2024)
Exclusive: senior party officials worked on commercial venture that would allow brands to sell products to supporters
Keywords: Apps; Conservatives; Data protection; Politics; Technology; UK news

Documentary captures journalist’s gender transition while embedded with Taliban (PBS News Hour, 2024)
A new documentary now available on Amazon Prime and AppleTV offers an in-depth look at the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. "Transition" follows Australian filmmaker Jordan Bryon as he undergoes a gender transition while embedded with a Taliban unit. Bryon and co-director Monica Villamizar spoke with Amna Nawaz about this turning point in Afghanistan.

New short film highlights devastating impact less-lethal weapons are having on protesters globally - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Amnesty International is launching a powerful film showing the devastating impact less-lethal weapons are having on protesters globally, with many suffering life-long injuries and permanent disabilities. The new film, which features Leidy Cadena who was blinded by police in 2021 during a protest which was part of the National Strikes in Colombia, shows the devastating impact such weapons can have.

Surge of interest in Ethiopian culture boosts case for return of treasures - Bakare, Lanre (The Guardian, 2024)
Poet who is curating country’s first Venice Biennale pavilion says ‘part of the heart’ of the country was looted and is being held in museums.
Keywords: Africa; Art and design; Books; British Museum; Colonialism; Culture; Ethiopia; Lemn Sissay; Music; Poetry; The Weeknd; UK news; Venice Biennale; World news

Exhibition | Lost Liberties: The War Measures Act - Diefenbaker Canada Centre | University of Saskatchewan (Diefenbaker Canada Centre | University of Saskatchewan, 2024)
"Lost Liberties: The War Measures Act" is exploring the suspension of civil liberties in Canada during the First World War, the Second World War, and the 1970 October Crisis, Lost Liberties — The War Measures Act sheds new light on the enduring impact of the Act on Canada and its people. | On display until June 22, 2024 | Diefenbaker Canada Center in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets - McKernan, Bethan; Davies, Harry (The Guardian, 2024)
Israeli intelligence sources reveal use of ‘Lavender’ system in Gaza war and claim permission given to kill civilians in pursuit of low-ranking militants
Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI); Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; Technology; World news

A ProPublica Lawsuit Over Military Court Access Moves Forward - Megan Rose (ProPublica, 2024)
A federal judge ruled in March that ProPublica’s lawsuit against the secretary of defense should move forward, as the news organization seeks to increase public access to the military’s court proceedings and records. ProPublica sued in 2022, claiming the Pentagon has failed to issue rules ensuring that the services comply with a law that was supposed to make the military justice system more transparent.

Racism, harassment and discrimination takes a terrible toll on ethnic minority NHS staff - Rhead, Rebecca (The Conversation, 2024)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a time filled with uncertainty and fear, ethnically minoritised NHS staff have not only had to contend with the virus but also a workplace fraught with inequalities.

‘I wanted to end my life’: ‘Bookseller of Kabul’ rebuilds destroyed business - Taylor, Diane (The Guardian, 2024)
Shah Muhammad Rais was devastated when Taliban destroyed his shop, but now he is sending books to Afghanistan via the internet.
Keywords: Afghanistan; Books; Culture; South and central Asia; World news

Piloting Reparative Description and Metadata in SNAC via the Indigenous Description Group (Descriptive Notes, 2024)
Archivists have recognized the need to rethink how indigenous knowledge can be better represented, not only to heal previous harms but also to make information more accessible and usable for communities. The Indigenous Description Group, founded in Spring 2023 within the Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) cooperative, represents one effort to do this work in a pan-institutional and collaborative way.

Explore the focus on community archives: Discover Brasil's strategy to preserve historical memory while addressing inequalities - G20 Brazil 2024 (G20 Brazil 2024, 2024)
A cooperation agreement between the National Archives of Brasil and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will enhance the country's archival policy and support the efforts of community archives serving socioeconomically vulnerable groups. This policy aims to guarantee access to memory rights and the tools necessary for documenting the diverse experiences of black, indigenous, rural, favela-dwelling, and LGBTQIAP+ communities.
Keywords: community archives

Genocide Archives Released - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Human Rights Watch announced that it is releasing a series of archives highlighting the extraordinary efforts of human rights defenders in Rwanda and abroad, to warn about the planned 1994 genocide and attempt to stop the killings.

‘Fake news’ legislation risks doing more harm than good amid a record number of elections in 2024 - Jens, Samuel (The Conversation, 2024)
Vague definitions and heavy penalties mean that legislation could be used to stifle a free press.

2,200 “génocidaires” being released in 2024, who are they? - Sehene Ruvugiro, Emmanuel (JustiveInfo.net, 2024)
Thirty years after the 1994 genocide, thousands of convicted men and women have already been released from prison. Others, like Emmanuel Ruzigana, are on the point of being released after serving their sentences. The government estimates that, putting completed sentences and pardons together, 2,200 “génocidaires” - as they are known in Rwanda - could be released in 2024. Who are they and how are they preparing?

Protests Over Gaza Intensify at American Art Museums - Small, Zachary; Tracy, Marc (The New York Times, 2024)
A protest at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco led to the resignation of its leader and to a monthlong closure of its galleries. The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts event was among the most dramatic in a series of demonstrations about the Israel-Hamas war that have rocked the cultural sector in recent months with protests, withdrawals and other calls for boycotts.
Keywords: Appointments and Executive Changes; Art; Boycotts; Demonstrations, Protests and Riots; Israel-Gaza War (2023- ); Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museums; Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel; San Francisco (Calif); Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Google to destroy browsing data to settle consumer privacy lawsuit - Stempel, Jonathan (Zawya.com, 2024)
Users alleged that Google's analytics, cookies and apps let the Alphabet unit improperly track people who set Google's Chrome browser to "Incognito" mode and other browsers to "private" browsing mode. They said this turned Google into an "unaccountable trove of information" by letting it learn about their friends, favorite foods, hobbies, shopping habits, and the "most intimate and potentially embarrassing things" they hunt for online.

A New Chapter for Irish Historians’ ‘Saddest Book’ - O’Loughlin, Ed (The New York Times, 2024)
A globe-spanning research project has turned the catalog of a public archive destroyed in Ireland’s civil war into a model for reconstruction.
Keywords: Archives and Records; Ireland; Libraries and Librarians; National Archives (Great Britain); Politics and Government; Restoration and Renovation; Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland); Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland; Yale University

Postmemory and the Partition of India: Learning to Remember | SpringerLink - Kapila, Shichi (Springer, 2024)
The book, examines the memories of the Partition of India in 1947; uses ethnographic and oral history methods to make meaning of the impact of partition events; argues for particular consideration of women, who were especially vulnerable to suffering during and after partition

Memory and Identity of Afro-Brazilian Archives - Modern Endangered Archives Program (UCLA Library, 2024)
A project to preserve Afro-Brazilian memory through archives containing documents of Afro-Brazilian activism (1964 - 1990s)

Projet Archives des Femmes, Mali - Modern Endangered Archives Program (UCLA Library, 2024)
Amongst the recent and historical socio-political turmoil in Mali, women have worked to create a more just and equitable society. The personal collections of movement leaders document the work of women across Mali from the 1950’s onward.

Why Indigenous people are fighting for data sovereignty - Beaulne-Stuebing, Laura (CBC News, 2024)
Indigenous data sovereignty means that communities have control over their own information, researcher says.That's why it's important that Indigenous communities gather their own data, in their own way, says Echo-Hawk, who is a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. This is Indigenous data sovereignty. "As individual nations … we have the ability to govern our own data. That means how it is gathered, how it is analyzed and how it is shared," Echo-Hawk told Unreserved host Rosanna Deerchild.
Keywords: Indigenous Data Sovereignty

“Access under review”: Freedom of Information, Data Protection, and the Disappearing Archive - McLean, Alioson (History and Policy, 2024)
While many historians will be familiar with the limitations of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) when trying to obtain access to closed records at the National Archives (TNA), few will be aware that since 2012 thousands of previously open documents have been removed from public access under TNA’s Reclosure Policy.

Polish war graves in Germany documented - S.A, Telewizja Polska (TVP World, 2024)
The Foundation for Polish-German Reconciliation has information on 1,200 cemeteries or memorial sites where the remains of Polish citizens rest.
Keywords: Germany; Poland; World War II

Meta and Google accused of restricting reproductive health information - Strzyżyńska, Weronika (The Guardian, 2024)
Report claims posts on abortion and contraception have been deleted while misinformation on the feeds of social media users in Africa, Latin America and Asia has not been tackled
Keywords: Global development; Global health; Google; Meta; Reproductive rights; Society; Technology

Al-Yamamah arms deal report comes to light ending anti-corruption campaigners’ battle - Pegg, David; Evans, Rob (The Guardian, 2024)
Inquiry by National Audit Office into British-Saudi arms contract reveals evidence of MoD deception over bribery allegations. A suppressed official report on alleged corruption in a giant British-Saudi arms contract has been discovered in a public archive.
Keywords: Arms trade; BAE Systems; Defence policy; Foreign policy; Military; Ministry of Defence; Saudi Arabia; UK news; World news

English Nazi collaborators may have aided recapture of ‘great escape’ PoWs - Addley, Esther (The Guardian, 2024)
Document discovered by National Archives shows claim made after the war by recaptured RAF officer, but historians are sceptical
Keywords: National Archives; Nazism; Second world war; UK news; World news

U.N. AI Resolution Passes Vote - Rishi Iyengar (Foreign Policy, 2024)
The resolution, which followed more than three months of negotiations among dozens of countries, calls on U.N. member states to ensure "safe, secure, and trustworthy AI systems" that are developed responsibly and respect human rights and international law.

Palestinians’ Right of Return Is a Basic Question of Justice - Burgis, Ben (Jacobin, 2024)
Denying Palestinian refugees the right to come back to the areas from which they were ethnically cleansed during the Nakba is deeply unjust.
Keywords: Nakba

Belgium still struggling with its colonial ghosts - Jochecová, Ketrin (POLITICO, 2024)
By failing to publish a report on the nation’s colonial history, Belgium signals it is not yet ready to shake off its past.

Gaza: Security Council passes resolution demanding ‘an immediate ceasefire’ during Ramadan - UN News (United Nations News, 2024)
The UN Security Council on Monday passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and "the urgent need to expand the flow" of aid into Gaza. There were 14 votes in favour with the United States abstaining.

Mass grave of at least 65 migrants found in Libya desert, UN agency says - France 24 (France 24, 2024)
At least 65 migrants' bodies have been discovered in a mass grave in southwest Libya, the International Organization for Migration said on social media platform X on Friday.

Dutch project tells wartime stories of intrepid ‘England voyagers’ - Boztas, Senay (The Guardian, 2024)
Hundreds of Engelandvaarders took various routes from occupied Netherlands to Britain to fight in second world war
Keywords: Europe; Netherlands; Second world war; World news

Public Prosecution finalises classification of crimes, digitisation of criminal legislation - Rola AlGhoul (Zawya.com, 2024)
Under the project, legal texts have been transformed into a digital format that is comprehensible and executable by information systems, employing advanced artificial intelligence techniques

‘Man-made famine’ charge against Israel is backed by mounting body of evidence - Beaumont, Peter (The Guardian, 2024)
Prospect of Israel facing war crimes charges has moved closer after UN condemnation of Gaza aid restrictions
Keywords: Famine; Gaza; Human rights; International court of justice; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Law; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; Society; War crimes; World news

"We hope to offer renewed hope of discovering ancestors and even new connections to families across the globe." - Campsie, Alison (The Scotsman, 2024)
Around 15,000 young, vulnerable Scots were shipped to Canada alone in a forced emigration scheme designed to improve their life chances, but some were never heard from again.

How Virginia Used Segregation Law to Erase Native Americans - Craig, Ashley R.; Smithers, Gregory (TIME, 2024)
Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act belongs to a settler colonial tradition extending back to the early 1600s. Some white Virginians, though, weren’t satisfied. They worried about a loophole in the law that would dilute the purity of white “blood.” Leading white supremacists had wanted the Racial Integrity Act to solidify Virginia’s black-white racial binary. To do so, they called for the Act to erase the presence of Native people. Some used the Act to do just this, engaging in a form of “bureaucratic genocide” to re-cast Native people as Black, rendering them less visible in the historical record.

New UN Exhibit Highlights Post-Genocide Reconciliation in Rwanda, on Display at Headquarters, 27 March-Late April - Paulina Greer (UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, 2024)
Coinciding with the thirtieth anniversary of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda (7 April), the United Nations Headquarters in New York opens a new exhibit about the power of post-genocide reconciliation, the potentially deadly impact of hate speech and what visitors can do to say #NoToHate.

Open sources and the future of spying - Sam Roggeveen (Lowy Institute, 2024)
Countries spy to overcome an information deficit. But we now live in a world of information super-abundance.

When fame and medical privacy clash: Kate and other crises of confidentiality - Stewart, Heather (The Guardian, 2024)
The Princess of Wales is the latest person in the public eye to find there are questions about the security of their health history
Keywords: Catherine; Gordon Brown; Health; Monarchy; Princess of Wales; Privacy; Society; Tony Blair; UK news; Winston Churchill

Missing migrants’ families say they were asked to pay hundreds for information on relatives - Ashifa Kassam; Leah Pattem (The Guardian, 2024)
Families say they were promised details of relatives’ whereabouts after contacting people they thought were linked to NGO in Spain
Keywords: Europe; Migration; Refugees; Spain; UK news; World news

Cryptic Conundrums: The Tug of War Between Privacy and Security - Brennan, Joseph (International Policy Digest, 2024)
U.S. tech companies pride themselves on protecting the data of their users. Increasingly, this commitment is being challenged by the government.

Documents reveal alleged pattern of Israeli harassment of Unrwa workers on West Bank - Burke, Jason (The Guardian, 2024)
Exclusive: UN documents seen by the Guardian list hundreds of incidents, including claims workers were blindfolded and beaten.
Keywords: Gaza; Israel; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; United Nations; World news

ICC Reporting Key to Catalyze National Justice - Vignoli, Maria Elena (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a court of last resort, stepping in only when national authorities are unwilling or unable to do so. This is a key legal pillar known as the principle of complementarity. But because the ICC can only take on a few cases in a particular situation, comprehensive justice will invariably mean that the ICC and national authorities will need to work closely together.

Operation Legacy: How Britain covered up its colonial crimes - Diptée, Audra (The Conversation, 2024)
The World learned in 2011 of the secret British policy called Operation Legacy that was implemented in the 1950s. Its goal was to remove or destroy incriminating documents from former colonies in the months before each one became politically independent. This policy had an impact far and wide, and was implemented in British colonies throughout the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.

Togoland: Germany's first and smallest African colony - Nebe, Cai (DW, 2024)
Germany's 30-year rule in Togoland (actual Ghana and Togo) seemed relatively peaceful compared to other German colonies, and Togoland was promoted as "a model colony." But it was a self-serving myth for German colonial administrators.

Togoland: Germany's first and smallest African colony - Nebe, Cai (DW, 2024)
Germany's 30-year rule in Togoland (actual Ghana and Togo) seemed relatively peaceful compared to other German colonies, and Togoland was promoted as "a model colony." But it was a self-serving myth for German colonial administrators.

New NAGPRA rules: A sea change in federal regulations - Pember, Mary Annette (ICT News, 2024)
Museums, universities begin shuttering exhibits as federal requirements change for handling human remains, cultural items.
Keywords: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act; United States; repatriation

Joe Biden has just dealt a big defeat to big tech - Stiglitz, Joseph (The Guardian, 2024)
US president’s new executive order is an important step towards protecting sensitive personal data
Keywords: Business; Data protection; Digital media; Joe Biden; Privacy; Social media; Technology sector; US news; World news

Rights advocates denounce 'systemic abuse' in Israeli prisons - AFP (France24, 2024)
In the shadow of the war raging in Gaza, record numbers of Palestinian detainees are filling Israeli prisons, where they face "systemic abuse" and torture, rights advocates warn, calling for international action.

Don’t forget Leonard Peltier - Nicholls, Will (Nation, 2024)
Leonard Peltier is the longest imprisoned Indigenous person in the United States. Even after almost 47 years behind bars he is considered a political prisoner by Amnesty International, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, National Congress of American Indians, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Rev. Jesse Jackson, among many others who believe he should be immediately released.

DRC: Reinstating executions shows a callous disregard for human rights - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Congo’s government wants to resume executions, after a hiatus of two decades, in a bid to combat armed groups and gang violence, Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said:

Germany's Bundesbank confronts dark Nazi origins - Connor, Richard (DW, 2024)
Germany's central financial institution, the Bundesbank, commissioned a study to examine its roots. Research showed that the bank, set up after World War II, was founded on a past tightly interwoven with the Nazi Party.

Data protection in the EU: Children, migrants, and EU Commission - Julia Tar (The Tech Brief, 2024)
We look at data protection issues, including the regulation concerning the detection and removal of online child sexual abuse material, as well as Frontex’s handling of migrants’ data, and the recent news regarding the European Commission's violation of data protection rules in its use of Microsoft.

Digital health data compromise hailed as 'most important health legislation' in this mandate - Mersh, Amalie Holmgaard (Euractiv, 2024)
EU institutions struck a deal on the European Health Data Space, having finally landed an agreement on the thorny issue of opt-out for secondary use of health data.

Law, Migration, and the Construction of Whiteness: Mobility Within the - Myslinska, Dagmar Rita (Routledge, 2024)
Brexit supporters’ frequent targeting of European Union (EU) movers, especially those from Central and Eastern Europe, has been popularly assumed as at odds with the EU project’s foundations based on equality and inclusion. This book dispels that notion. By interrogating the history, wording, omissions, assumptions and applications of laws, policies and discourses pertinent to mobility and equality

How a wave of disinformation is endangering Rohingya refugees in Indonesia - Observers team (The Observers - France 24, 2024)
Dozens of photos and videos that have been either "doctored" or taken out of context so as to negatively portray Rohingya refugees have been circulating on Indonesian social media. This wave of disinformation…

UN Commission concerned by continuing patterns of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law - OHCHR (OHCHR, 2024)
Two years after the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, civilian suffering is mounting as a result of Russia’s disregard for basic principles of humanitarian law and its human rights obligations.

The devastating persecution of trans people by the Nazis still echoes down the ages - Baska, Maggie (PinkNews, 2024)
Before WWII, Germany saw movements supporting transgender and gender non-conforming folks. It all changed when the Nazis took power.
Keywords: LGBTQ+ rights

Secret Iraq War cabinet documents released publicly - Brown, Andrew (The Canberra Times, 2024)
The National Archives of Australia released 14 declassified cabinet records relating to Australia’s involvement in the US-led invasion of Iraq.

India blocks access to documentary about death of Sikh activist in Canada - Cecco, Leyland (The Guardian, 2024)
CBC aired an investigation into the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whose killing the Canadian government suspects India was behind.
Keywords: Americas; Canada; India; South and central Asia; World news

Strength Basing, Empowering and Regenerating Indigenous Knowledge Education: Riteway Flows - Davis, John (Routledge & CRC Press, 2024)
Strength Basing, Empowering and Regenerating Indigenous Knowledge Education demonstrates how to bring Indigenous Knowledges to the forefront of education practice and provides educators with the tools to enact culturally responsive curricula and pedagogies, ensuring positive educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and students

Rare, Wrongfully Obtained Manuscript Returned to Peruvian Government - Pennsylvania, U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of (United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2024)
A rare sixteenth-century manuscript was repatriated to the Peruvian government at a ceremony today presided over by U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.
Keywords: Peru; Press release; Repatriation; United States of America

Exhibition | Entangled Pasts, 1768–now - Royal Academy of Arts (Royal Academy of Arts, 2024)
The Royal Academy of Arts brings together over 100 major contemporary and historical works as part of a conversation about art and its role in shaping narratives of empire, enslavement, resistance, abolition and colonialism – and how it may help set a course for the future. Exhibition running until 28 April 2024 at the London Royal Academy of Arts

Germany's colonial era: Battling oblivion with art - Harjes, Christine (dw.com, 2024)
Street names, monuments and graves of colonial rulers: The colonial era has left its mark on Germany and relates to Burundi, Cameroon, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo and parts of present day Ghana. In the German city of Bonn, artist Cheryl McIntosh explores colonial history and its impact on the present. Includes links to three video recordings.

Transitional and Restorative Justice in Post Conflict Countries, Liberia - Let’s Talk Human Rights (Let’s Talk Human Rights, 2024)
This episode discusses the Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process, and ransitional justice and peacebuilding in Liberia, a nation marked by a tumultuous history of civil wars from 1989-1997 and 1999-2003. Discussion includes the critical role of memorialisation and the involvement of regional bodies in supporting Liberia's reconciliation journey. We confront the pressing issue of disconnect between youth and historical memory, emphasising the urgency of preserving Liberia's past to safeguard its future.

Elihu Yale: The cruel and greedy Yale benefactor who traded in Indian slaves - Pandy, Geeta (BBC News India, 2024)
The truth of how Elihu Yale made his fortune had been largely forgotten - until now.

Elihu Yale: The cruel and greedy Yale benefactor who traded in Indian slaves - Pandy, Geeta (BBC News India, 2024)
The truth of how Elihu Yale made his fortune had been largely forgotten - until now.

EU Parliament passes European Media Freedom Act, concerns over spyware remain - Taylor, Alice (Euractiv, 2024)
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favour of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), a landmark legislation to protect journalists and media freedom, though concerns remain over the use of spyware to monitor media.

What’s Missing From Railroad Safety Data? Dead Workers and Severed Limbs. - Topher Sanders,Dan Schwartz,Danelle Morton,Gabriel Sandoval (ProPublica, 2024)
Thanks to government loopholes, rail companies haven’t been scrutinized by the Federal Railroad Administration for scores of alleged worker injuries and at least two deaths.

National Cyber Directorate warns State Archive: Israel's digital history could be erased - Aderet, Ofer (Haaretz, 2024)
The search function on the website of the Israel State Archives has been disabled since the site was attacked by pro-Palestinian hackers in November. The National Cyber Directorate has warned that critical material in the archives is highly vulnerable to irreversible damage
Keywords: 2023 Israel-Gaza War; Cyber Warfare; Israel

Growing secrecy limits government accountability - Cuillier, David (The Conversation, 2024)
After years of anecdotes, data provides a fuller picture of government agencies hiding their work from the public they ostensibly serve.

Morocco-Algeria Tensions: Royal Archivist Recalls Morocco’s Historical Claims to Eastern Sahara - Faouzi, Adil (Morocco World News, 2024)
Bahija Simou, the director of Morocco’s Royal Archives, has brought the long-running border dispute between Morocco and Algeria back to the forefront after asserting on that Morocco has documents proving its sovereignty over the so-called mineral-rich “Eastern Sahara” region. By raising this issue now, Morocco may be attempting to pressure France, whose relations with Algeria have deteriorated, into explicitly recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Keywords: Algeria; Morocco; Western Sahara

Holocaust History, Holocaust Memory: Jewish Poland and Polish Jews, During and After the Holocaust - Ganor, Lea; Baumel-Schwartz, Judith Tydor (Routledge & CRC Press, 2024)
This volume is both a study of the history of Polish Jews and Jewish Poland before, during, and immediately after the Holocaust and a collection of personal explorations focusing on the historians who write about these subjects.

Leaked Document Details How The Kremlin Manages Russia's Elections - Grigoryev, Andrei (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 2024)
A purported Kremlin election-strategy document leaked last month seems to show in detail how the authorities in Russia intend to produce 85 percent support for President Vladimir Putin in the March 15-17 vote.
Keywords: Features; Russia

How Sudanese rights monitors are risking their lives to document the war - Yokes, Ela (The New Humanitarian, 2024)
How Sudanese rights defenders are risking their lives to document the war - The New Humanitarian puts quality, independent journalism at the service of the millions of people affected by humanitarian crises around the world

Thousands could be owed Windrush compensation - Zeldin-O'Neill, Sophie; Jessett, Elliot (BBC, 2024)
The Windrush Compensation Scheme (WCS) was established to provide compensation to people who suffered loss as a result of government policy and failings, which included the revelation that the UK's Home Office had kept no historic records of those granted permission to stay in Britain.

'Chilling effect' on culture: Class action puts spotlight on prosecution of Aboriginal fishers - Milton, Vanessa (ABC News, 2024)
More than 10,000 people could be eligible for a compensation payout from the NSW government for the criminalisation of traditional fishing practices that are protected under Commonwealth native title law.
Keywords: NSW government; Racial Discrimination Act; abalone; class action; cultural fishing; fisheries; native title; prosecution

#Keepiton Sudan's internet shutdown threatens delivery of humanitarian and emergency services. - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
A near total communication blackout in Sudan following all network and internet shutdowns in early February poses serious risks to the coordination of emergency assistance and humanitarian services to millions of people caught up in the conflict.

UN rights expert David Boyd: ‘Businesses are treating the environment like a free dumping ground’ - Langrand, Michelle (Geneva Solutions, 2024)
Over half of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions from 1988 to 2015 can be traced back to some 25 fossil fuel companies, while the richest one per cent spew as much emissions as the poorest 66 per cent. These are some of the findings from the UN’s top expert on human rights and the environment’s latest report to the Human Rights Council.

Your personal data all over the web - is there a better way? - Mcmanus, Sean (BBC News, 2024)
Would it be better to keep your personal data in one place, rather than entering it into hundreds of websites?

Totem pole in Ottawa needs to be returned says First Nations chief - Slack, Kerry (APTN News, 2024)
A totem pole gifted to Scouts Canada in the 1960s needs to be returned says the carver's family from Kwakiutl First Nation.
Keywords: Kwakiutl First Nation; Repatriation

Empowering women and promoting gender equality in Asia and Africa through Memory of the World - UNESCO (UNESCO, 2024)
Throughout history, women have played pivotal roles in shaping the political, economic, scientific and cultural landscapes of societies worldwide despite tremendous obstacles. However, they remain largely underrepresented in the archives. This month of International Women's Day, UNESCO highlights their achievements in the documentary heritage inscriptions of Asia and Africa.
Keywords: women

Training | DPLA Metadata Working Group launches new reparative description workshop series - Digital Public Library of America (Digital Public Library of America, 2024)
DPLA’s Metadata Working Group is proud to announce Practical Approaches for Reparative Description, a workshop series designed for people working with cultural heritage data looking to deepen their understanding and practice of reparative description. Reparative description focuses on remediating or contextualizing potentially outdated or harmful language used in descriptive practices, ensuring accuracy and inclusivity (definition derived from Yale’s Reparative Archival Description). Register to the workshops held from 13 April to 10 May
Keywords: Event

Your Body, but Not Your Data - Fischer, Shira H. (Rand, 2024)
The public needs rigorous and thorough health research, but individual patients should have rights over their medical information. Today they have very little.
Keywords: Data Analysis; Health Information Privacy; Health Information Technology; Medical Ethics

For years, I suspected MI5 interfered in the miners’ strike. The truth was even more shocking than I thought - Hollingsworth, Mark (The Guardian, 2024)
A document buried in the National Archives reveals how the security service abused its power to help the government win.
Keywords: MI5; Politics; Politics past; The miners' strike 1984-85; UK news

Deepfakes and the possible risks for the EU elections - Julia Tar (Euractive, 2024)
Artificial intelligence, deepfakes, social media, and misinformation have become integral parts of our daily lives, and their influence on political elections, possibly including the upcoming EU elections in June, is significant.

Exhibition | Becoming Visible, Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum Launches First Digital Exhibition - Smithsonian Institution (Smithsonian Institution, 2024)
Women's stories have been in a constant state of becoming visible, never quite coming into focus in American history. Even though historians have long documented the lives and work of women, their contributions have vanished from most popular narratives of U.S. history. Explore how five women’s stories have been recorded and remembered, and join our effort to expand the story of America.

From Africa to Alabama: Stories of survivors of the last slave ship - Spinel, Barbara (Christian Science Monitor, 2024)
The horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade are often expressed in numerical terms whose enormity can be difficult to grasp. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, 12.5 million people in Africa were forced onto slave ships bound for the Americas; 10.7 million survived the crossing and entered a life of bondage. The story of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to arrive on U.S. shores, gives human dimension to those staggering statistics.

Russian jailed for seven years for articles about Ukraine war - Papachristou, Lucy (Reuters, 2024)
A reporter for an independent Russian news outlet was sentenced to seven years in prison for articles he wrote about alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants against Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash and Viktor Nikolayevich Sokolov - International Criminal Court (ICC) (International Criminal Court (ICC), 2024)
Today, 5 March 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court judges issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash and Mr Viktor Nikolayevich Sokolov, in the context of the situation in Ukraine for alleged crimes committed from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023.

Australia urges Israel to provide evidence for allegations UNRWA staff were involved in 7 October attacks - Josh Butler (The Guardian, 2024)
UN ambassador says Australia also wants details of UNRWA reform before humanitarian funding is restored
Keywords: Australia news; Australian foreign policy; Australian politics; Israel-Gaza war; United Nations

Church of England told to invest billion pounds over slavery - DW (DW.com, 2024)
An advisory group has urged the Church of England to raise its fund for redressing slavery to ten times of its current worth. The church set up the fund after it admitted it had invested in the African slave trade.

France enshrines abortion rights in Constitution with historic vote - euronews (euronews, 2024)
France will change its Constitution after lawmakers voted in a joint session of parliament.

Millions of research papers at risk of disappearing from the Internet - Wild, Sarah (Nature, 2024)
An analysis of DOIs suggests that digital preservation is not keeping up with burgeoning scholarly knowledge.
Keywords: Information technology; Publishing; Scientific community

UK and US accused of obstructing inquiry into 1961 death of UN chief - Julian Borger (The Guardian, 2024)
Governments said to be ‘dragging their feet’ in handing over evidence relating to death of Dag Hammarskjöld
Keywords: Dag Hammarskjöld; UK news; US news; United Nations; World news

Spyware ruling a welcome step towards accountability for those targeted with NSO spyware - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
A US district court has ordered Israeli spyware firm NSO Group to disclose documents and code related to its notorious Pegasus spyware, to WhatsApp.

Spyware ruling a welcome step towards accountability for those targeted with NSO spyware - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
The Amnesty International Security Lab has documented the massive scale and breadth of the use of Pegasus against human rights defenders and journalists across the world. It is vital that targets of Pegasus find out who has purchased and deployed the spyware against them so that they can seek meaningful redress.

Leaked Communist Party document warns of 'hostile forces' - Head, Jonanthan (BBC, 2024)
A leaked internal document, known as Directive 24, issued by the Politburo of the Central Committee, flags a threat to national security brought on by Vietnam's growing international ties.

Using Open Source Internet Routing Tools to Monitor a Sanctioned Russian Bank - Logan Williams (bellingcat, 2024)
An open internet is a cornerstone of civil society, underpinning access to information in peacetime but even more so in times of conflict and under repressive regimes.

China’s New State Security Rules Spark Fears Among Foreign Businesses - Tom Nagorski (The Cipher Brief, 2024)
China’s top legislative body adopted amendments to the country’s Law on Guarding State Secrets to include a new category of “work secrets,” broadening the scope of data and information sharing that will be considered a national security risk.

Training | UPCOMING WORKSHOPS - Digital Preservation Outreach & Education Network - Digital Preservation Outreach & Education Network (Digital Preservation Outreach & Education Network, 2024)
Friday, April 26th, 11am-2:30pm EST. This workshop on Disaster Planning for Digital Repositories delves deeply into the essentials of risk assessment and disaster planning for digital collections. Registration Deadline April 22nd
Keywords: Event

Manchester University Press - The seven veils of privacy - O'Hara, Kieron (Manchester University Press, 2024)
With the rise of big data and surveillance capitalism, our privacy is increasingly under threat. But discussions of how to protect privacy are often derailed by disagreements over what exactly it is. In this book, Kieron O'Hara sets out to demystify privacy. He reveals that much of the conflict around it results from taking different perspectives that veil key assumptions and disguise points of agreement.

Training | Black Canadians: History, Presence, and Anti-Racist Futures - University of Alberta (Cousera, 2024)
This online micro-course explores some of the major histories, migrations, artists and activists that have contributed to the presence and survival of Black people in Canada. The course tracks Canada’s evolving relationship to Blackness and Black people, while inviting learners to reflect upon the ways Canadian views of race and multiculturalism have influenced Black communities throughout the country. Four modules for a total of eight hours. Free registration available.

Rome: Jesuit archives on the Holocaust to be digitalized - Rytel-Andrianik, Pawet (Vatican News, 2024)
The Archive of the House of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus signs an agreement with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to digitize archival material related to the Holocaust.
Keywords: Holocaust; Transparency

Ten Years of Occupation by the Russian Federation: Human Rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, Ukraine - The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (UN News, 2024)
The report cites human rights and humanitarian law violations since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Two-year update. Protection of civilians: impact of hostilities on civilians since 24 February 2022 - Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights; The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, 2024)
On 24 February 2022, Russian armed forces launched a full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. In the two years since, the civilian population in Ukraine has endured immense suffering and harm.

Against Erasure - El-Kurd, Mohammed (Haymarket Books, 2024)
A unique, stunning collection of images of Palestine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and a testament to the vibrancy of Palestinian society prior to occupation. This book tells the story, in both English and Arabic, of a land full of people—people with families, hopes, dreams, and a deep connection to their home—before Israel’s establishment in 1948, known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or “catastrophe.”

Irreparable Evil: An Essay in Moral and Reparatory History - Scott, David (Columbia University Press, 2024)
Irreparable Evil explores the legacy of slavery and its moral and political implications, offering a nuanced intervention into debates over reparations
Keywords: Reparation

Nordic Histories of Human Rights - Hagtvedt Vik, Hanne; Jensen, Steven L.B.; Lindkvist, Linde; Strang, Johan (Routledge & CRC Press, 2024)
This book explores the history of Nordic human rights politics and practices from the 1930s to present day. The authors use previously unexplored archival materials to bring to light how a broad range of Nordic actors have engaged with international human rights globally and at a European level and how these norms have been taken up and interpreted in the region

Human Rights Monitoring and Implementation: How To Make Rights ‘Real - Gadda, Andressa; Harris, Juliet; Tisdall, E. Kay M. (Routledge & CRC Press, 2024)
The collection aims to inspire readers with new approaches to implementing and monitoring the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to make rights ‘real’ in children’s lives.

Archiving “sensitive” social media data: ‘In Her Shoes’, a case study - Grimes, Lorraine; Cassidy, Kathryn; Dias, Murilo; Lanigan, Clare; O'Carroll, Aileen; Singhvi, Preetam (Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies, 2023)
Social media play an increasingly significant role in activist and social movements around the globe. Archiving social media is a relatively new phenomenon and an area which needs greater clarity, understanding and uniformity. When it comes to archiving and cataloguing sensitive social media collections, such as personal abortion stories, the process is even more ambiguous.

Stolen Pieces of Palestine: Archival Responsibility in the Case of Displaced Archives - White, Connor (The IJournal: Student Journal of the Faculty of Information, 2023)
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has led to the displacement of thousands of Palestinians from their homes, leaving behind furniture, books, documents, and other items relating to their cultural heritage. These items were captured by the invading Israeli forces and sealed away in their archives and libraries, where they remain to this day. Since this first phase of pillaging in 1948, Israel has continued to sequester away pieces of Palestinian cultural heritage which they collected during the Six-Day War and its repeated invasions into the Gaza Strip. This article examines the ways in which these items, particularly records and books, were seized by Israel and integrated into its archival infrastructure. Through acquisition, arrangement, description, and access, Israel and its archivists hold the power to create, transform, or destroy what remains of Palestine’s documentary heritage.
Keywords: Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Palestinian cultural heritage; appraisal and description; displaced archives

Improving Access and Discovery of LGBTQIA Materials Across Collection Services Workflows - Alexandra deGraffenreid; Gideon Goodrich (Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies, 2023)
Archival descriptive practices have traditionally obfuscated the existence of or excluded entirely the experiences of LGBTQIA+ people. The development of reparative archival description practices compels archivists to reassess how best to elevate the voices of queer creators and subjects within their collections.

Rethinking Institutional Repositories: Innovations in Management, Collections, and Inclusion - Josh C. Cromwel (ACRL, 2023)
Librarians have grown accustomed to making the case for why their institution needs an IR, and based on the data, it appears that they have largely been successful in making these arguments to administrators. But if the question of “why” has been answered, the more fundamental question of “how” remains: How should libraries use their IRs most effectively to benefit their universities and their community?

Global Voices from the Women’s Library at the World’s Columbian Exposition: Feminisms, Transnationalism and the Archive - Dalbello, Marija; Wadsworth, Sarah (Springer International Publishing, 2023)
The book examines women's movements of the nineteenth century through women’s writing from around the world, analyzes the international women’s library at the Columbian Exposition of 1893, and illuminates women's organizing and activism through interdisciplinary feminist and decolonial lenses
Keywords: 1893 Chicago World's Fair; Woman’s Building Library; international women’s writing; modernism; women's movements

Narrating Heritage - Veysel Apaydin (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023)
This book brings important original ethnographic research and unique case studies together in a coherent and cohesive way to examine patterns and differences of approaches to heritage. It exposes discourses of the uses and abuses of heritage, and provides narratives of persistence, demonstrating the importance of heritage in securing human rights and social justice.

Privacy Preservation of Genomic and Medical Data - Amit Kumar Tyagi (Wiley, 2023)
Privacy Preservation of Genomic and Medical Data focuses on genomic data sources, analytical tools, and the importance of privacy preservation.