A documentary investigates deaths of indigenous children at Canadian boarding schools - Folkenflik, Davif (NPR, 2024)
In Canada, Indigenous children from Native tribes were routinely sent to boarding schools well into the 20th century. Many of those children were physically or sexually abused and others did not return home. Now, a number of investigations are underway at several schools to determine if some children may have been buried there.

A coffee plantation in Brazil enslaved Africans. Centuries later, their descendants have taken over - Rogiero, Tiago (The Guardian, 2024)
And what was once the headquarters of a slaveholding empire has been claimed by descendants of those who were once forced to work there. They recently secured funding from the Brazilian government to transform Ruins Park into a museum and school of jongo, an Afro-Brazilian tradition that mixes music, dance, spirituality and storytelling.

Parliament Poised to Legalize Child Marriage - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Iraq’s parliament is moving forward an amendment to the country’s Personal Status Law that would allow Iraqi religious authorities, rather than state law, to govern marriage and inheritance matters at the expense of fundamental rights.

New political era in Bangladesh provides ‘historic opportunity’ for reform - UN News (UN News, 2024)
The political transition underway in Bangladesh represents an historic opportunity to ensure governance is anchored in human rights, inclusivity and the rule of law, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday.

What's Next for Morocco's Indigenous Sahrawi People? - Hill, Thomas (Inkstick, 2024)
A decades-long war has shifted toward a conclusion as more countries recognize Morocco’s claim of sovereignty over the Western Sahara.

Doctor’s Rape, Murder in India Sparks Protests - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Thousands of Indians have taken to the streets to protest the rape and murder of a doctor in a government hospital in Kolkata city last week. They are demanding justice and better security and facilities at medical campuses and hospitals.

Parallel lives: Indigenous women united by murder, driven by desperation for change - Lyons, Kate (The Guardian, 2024)
Kirby Bentley’s aunt and Courtney Ugle’s mother were both killed by their partners. As the inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women reports, they demand to be heard

Michel Band society looks for scattered descendants as it pushes to re-establish First Nation - Schwientek, Samantha (CBC News, 2024)
''When we lost the band, we lost everything,' says Michel descendant Brandy Callihoo

Five Years of Silence and Struggle in Kashmir - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
New media laws have stifled reporting, creating a climate of fear among journalists. Local newspaper editors have been replaced by state-supported staff, and entire archives have been erased.

Archive to preserve multitude of Indigenous languages - Barton, Fraser (The North West Star, 2024)
Indigenous languages will be gathered from across Australia for an archive project aimed at preserving them and their hundreds of dialects. The University of Queensland and Australian Research Data Commons will develop the archive, also intended to help people better understand the myriad of native tongues and explore their heritage, culture and history.

Archive to preserve multitude of Indigenous languages - Barton, Fraser (The North West Star, 2024)
Languages from across Australia will be collected in an archive to protect the hundreds of Indigenous tongues while...

Preserving Peace and Memory: The Launch of TSGM Archives Preservation and Digitization Project Phase II | UNESCO - UNESCO (UNESCO, 2024)
UNESCO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), is proud to announce the signing of the Project – “Peace Education, Archives Preservation and Digitalization, and Site Conservation for Youth Empowerment (PEACE)” also known as “Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Archives Preservation and Digitization Project Phase II”, with the generous support of $3 million from KOICA.

Immigrant advocates begin documenting civil-rights abuses under Texas' Operation Lone Star - Nowlin, Sanford (San Antonio Current, 2024)
Activists say they now have a 'documentation tool' to record complaints from asylum seekers who say they suffered abuse by Texas Guard troops.

Statement of ICC Prosecutor, Karim A. A. Khan KC, to the United Nations Security Council on the Situation in Darfur, pursuant to Resolution 1593 (2005). - International Criminal Court (International Criminal Court, 2024)
ICC Prosecutor's briefing to the Security Council on the issue of Dafur, Sudan.

Former England players accuse RFU of ‘suppressing data’ in brain injuries case - Hughes, Matt (The Guardian, 2024)
‘Crucial’ medical documents have not been disclosed, according to a complaint signed by former players.
Keywords: Concussion in sport; England rugby union team; Rugby league; Rugby union; Sport; Wales rugby union team

Landmark Verdict in Stadium Mass Killings Trial - Human Rights Watch (2024)
A Guinean court on July 31 convicted Guinea’s former president Moussa Dadis Camara and seven others in a landmark trial for rapes and killings of protesters in 2009. This is the first time crimes against humanity have been prosecuted in Guinea.

Meta agrees to $1.4B settlement with Texas in privacy lawsuit over facial recognition - Associated Press (The Gleaner, 2024)
Meta has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas in a privacy lawsuit over allegations that the tech giant used biometric data of users without their permission, officials said Tuesday. Texas Attorney General Ken...

Investigation finds at least 973 Native American children died in abusive U.S. boarding schools - Brown, Matthew (The Globe and Mail, 2024)
Marked and unmarked graves were found at 65 of the more than 400 U.S. boarding schools that were established to forcibly assimilate Native American children into white society.
Keywords: Education & Learning; Politics; Social Issues

Call for Artists, Writers, and Academics: “Creative Responses to Holocaust Materialities” – A special issue of Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and History - Cheryl Oestreicher (Publishing in the Archives Profession, 2024)
In this special issue, we aim to further examine the ‘material turn’ of Holocaust studies through the lens of creative practices, which remains an understudied area of this movement. Our scope includes contemporaneous and non-contemporaneous artistic, cultural, and literary works, established by those with and without a direct connection to this history.

Ukraine’s death-defying art rescuers - Higgins, Charlotte (The Guardian, 2024)
When Putin invaded, a historian in Kyiv saw that Ukraine’s cultural heritage was in danger. So he set out to save as much of it as he could.
Keywords: Art; Culture; Museums; Russia; Sculpture; Ukraine

CFP: THE MOVING IMAGE – “Accessibility in moving image archives” - Cheryl Oestreicher (Publishing in the Archives Profession, 2024)
This special issue of The Moving Image is situated around the theme of archival accessibility to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the signing of the ADA. Even 35 years later, representation of people with disabilities in moving image archives is low both in the literature and in employment. The goal of this special issue is to reflect on the relationship between disability and moving image archives.

Sri Lanka: Authorities Target Religious Minorities - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Sri Lankan authorities are conducting a campaign to deny Hindus and other religious minorities access to places of worship and other property and redesignate locations as Buddhist sites.

Further video and photographic analysis confirm police unlawfully used lethal and less-lethal weapons against protesters - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Amnesty International urges the Government of Bangladesh and its agencies to respect the right to protest and end this violent crackdown.

‘One goal is to destroy Ukrainian identity’: the haunting images of Russia’s prisoners of war - Harding, Luke (The Guardian, 2024)
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, its forces have detained and tortured thousands of fighters and civilians. Here, the photojournalist Zoya Shu recounts five years of documenting their stories
Keywords: Europe; Global development; Prisons; Russia; Torture; Ukraine; War crimes

‘One goal is to destroy Ukrainian identity’: the haunting images of Russia’s prisoners of war - Harding, Luke (The Guardian, 2024)
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, its forces have detained and tortured thousands of fighters and civilians. Here, the photojournalist Zoya Shu recounts five years of documenting their stories
Keywords: Europe; Global development; Prisons; Russia; Torture; Ukraine; War crimes

HC asks PSC not to destroy documents while application under RTI is pending - The Hindu Bureau (The Hindu, 2024)
In response to an order by the State Information Commission (SIC) directing the Public Service Commission (PSC) to disclose information on a competitive examination, the PSC revealed that it had destroyed the document in question. The Kerala High Court observed that the destruction of the document was improper.

Sri Lanka apologises to Muslims for forced Covid cremations against WHO advice - Agence France-Presse (South China Morning Post, 2024)
Sri Lanka’s government formally apologised to the island’s Muslim minority for forcing cremations on Covid victims, disregarding World Health Organization assurances that burials in line with Islamic rites were safe. Sri Lanka’s entire Muslim community – around 10 per cent of the 22 million population – was still traumatised, representatives said.

New Zealand landmark report finds 200,000 suffered abuse in care - Armstrong, Katheryn; Ginto (BBC News, 2024)
Some 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults suffered abuse while in state and faith-based care in New Zealand over the last 70 years, a landmark investigation has found. It means almost one in three children in care from 1950 to 2019 suffered some form of abuse, including being subject to rape, electric shocks and forced labour, according to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry. The publication of the commission's final report follows a six-year investigation into the experiences of nearly 3,000 people.

Media literacy, fact-checking investment needed to counter disinfo pollution - Zajmi, Xhoi (www.euractiv.com, 2024)
Information pollution is poisoning democracy. The proliferation of disinformation has become one of the greatest concerns of the digital age. To build defences, Europe needs to understand the scale of the problem.

Ireland’s datacentres overtake electricity use of all urban homes combined - Ambrose, Jillian (The Guardian, 2024)
Statistics raise concerns that rise in demand for data processing driven by AI could derail climate targets.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI); Business; Energy; Energy industry; Europe; Google; Ireland; Technology sector; World news

Detainees Face Inhumane Treatment - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Israeli forces have been publishing degrading photographs and videos of detained Palestinians, including children, a form of inhumane treatment and an outrage on their personal dignity that amount to war crimes.

British Library wanted to buy archive of double agent Kim Philby from his widow - Grierson, Jamie (The Guardian, 2024)
National Archives files show officials were troubled by idea of institution enriching widow of Cambridge Five agent
Keywords: British Library; Espionage; Kim Philby; National Archives; Russia; UK news; World news

Maryland Is on Track to Process a Nearly 50-Year-Old Backlog of Rape Kits - Rentz, Catherine (ProPublica, 2024)
A new law extends the state’s sexual assault evidence protections to cover DNA samples. But getting justice in hundreds of cold cases will require more than just testing, survivors say.

Chinese artefacts in repatriation row were ‘given willingly’ to British Museum - Alberge, Dalya (The Observer, 2024)
Amid calls to return antiquities, historian finds documents that reveal many were not result of imperial plunder.
Keywords: Archaeology; Asia Pacific; British Museum; China; Culture; Heritage; Parthenon marbles

Chinese artefacts in repatriation row were ‘given willingly’ to British Museum - Alberge, Dalya (The Observer, 2024)
Amid calls to return antiquities, historian finds documents that reveal many were not result of imperial plunder.
Keywords: Archaeology; Asia Pacific; British Museum; China; Culture; Heritage; Parthenon marbles

Sandra Hemme freed after 43 years in prison for murder she didn’t commit - McArthur, Tom (BBC News, 2024)
Sandra Hemme was 20 years old when she was found guilty of stabbing to death library worker Patricia Jeschke from St Joseph, Missouri, in November 1980. She was given a life sentence. There was no evidence that linked her to the crime other than a confession she gave under heavy sedation in a psychiatric hospital, a review into her case found. Now 64, she is believed to have served the longest known wrongful conviction of a woman in US history according to her representatives.

Stories from the UN Archive: Meet the first Black President of South Africa - UN News (UN News, 2024)
On the heels of this year’s Nelson Mandela International Day, marked annually on 18 July, we are taking you back in time to an epic moment at the United Nations in the 1990s when the anti-apartheid hero and icon made a historic debut in the UN General Assembly Hall as the first democratically elected President of South Africa. |

World Court Finds Israel Responsible for Apartheid - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion on July 19, 2024, with significant consequences for human rights protections in Palestine under Israel’s 57-year occupation. The opinion stems from a December 2022 request by the United Nations General Assembly to the court to consider the legal consequences of Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Archives & Heritage for Palestine - Archives & Heritage for Palestine (Archives & Heritage for Palestine, 2024)
“I think archiving memory, archiving our stories, archiving our current collective history in the making is immensely important to resist both erasure and theft of narrative as well as perversion of narrative all of which are happening at the same time” - susan abulhawa

‘MAGA BLACK’ hats, clear swag bags, the first Trump/Vance signs: Highlights of what the Smithsonian is archiving from the Republican convention - Jerry, Claire; Grinspan, Jon (The Conversation, 2024)
Tight security may be the reason that the GOP Convention isn’t filled with the homemade, and often wacky, stuff that’s usually found by Smithsonian political ephemera curators at the event.

CFP: “With Attention: Archives, Archivists, and Societies” - Cheryl Oestreicher (Publishing in the Archives Profession, 2024)
What place for archives in an attention economy? How to encourage attention to archives, what curiosities to encourage and from whom? How does attention renegotiate the missions of archivists? Which archivists for which attentions?

“Your Child Does Not Exist Here” - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
The 107-page report, “‘Your Child Does Not Exist Here’: Human Rights Abuses Against Children Under El Salvador’s ‘State of Emergency,’” documents arbitrary detention, torture, and other forms of ill-treatment against children under President Nayib Bukele’s “war on gangs.” Detained children have often faced overcrowding, lack of adequate food and health care, and have been denied access to their lawyers and family members. In some cases, children have been held, in the first days after arrest, alongside adults. Many have been convicted on overly broad charges and in unfair trials that deny due process.

Gender apartheid: oppression of women should be made a crime against humanity – feminist academic explains why - Andrews, Penelope (The Conversation, 2024)
A group of women activists is lobbying the committee to consider including in the treaty a new definition aimed at protecting women against all forms of oppression. They are advocating for a definition of this discrimination as “gender apartheid”. The idea is that it would track the definition of racial apartheid by replacing the word “race” with “gender”.

Canada to formally apologize to 9 Dakota, Lakota Nations for historic designation as refugees - CBC News (CBC News, 2024)
The federal government is set to formally apologize to Dakota and Lakota Nations in Manitoba and Saskatchewan on Monday for historically recognizing them as refugees, a label that one chief says turned them into "second-class First Nation citizens."

Police, APPCB form teams to probe into destruction of government files - Srinivas, Rajulapudi (The Hindu, 2024)
Special teams, comprising the Krishna district police and the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB), are investigating the destruction of records belonging to the APPCB. Officials suspect that the records were burnt to "destroy the evidence on the irregularities”.

Belgium museum wrestles with colonial past, with 40,000 objects tainted with violence - Rankin, Jennifer (The Observer, 2024)
Brussels’ AfricaMuseum, founded to glorify a brutal project, faces demands for restitution of exquisite treasures stolen from Belgian Congo
Keywords: Africa; Belgium; Colonialism; Culture; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Europe; Museums; World news

Srebrenica genocide: Mothers send warning to future generations, urging ‘never again’ - UN News (UN News, 2024)
The UN on Thursday observed the first International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, honouring the memory of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims brutally killed by the Bosnian Serb army. |

The Tulsa race massacre affected the ‘economic freedom’ of generations - Evans, Marissa (The Guardian, 2024)
The reality of the court’s decision is that there isn’t a number to quantify Black pain for survivors and their lineage
Keywords: Money; Oklahoma; Race; Tulsa race massacre; US news

Linguistic Colonialism: Moroccan Education and its Dark Past - Vikram, Kolli (Harvard Internsational Review, 2024)
In February 2024, the Minister of Education in Morocco unveiled plans to gradually introduce the teaching of the Berber (Amazigh) language in primary schools, marking a significant shift in educational policy. The decision responds to longstanding demands from linguistic activists, underscoring the growing momentum behind efforts to preserve the language and culture of Morocco's indigenous communities.

How Do You Safeguard Endangered Human Rights History in Peru? - Nikos, Karen Michele (UC Davis, 2024)
Charles Walker, a professor of history in the UC Davis College of Letters and Science, was recently awarded a $100,000 grant to digitize archives from three major human rights organizations in Peru. With this funding from the UCLA Library’s Modern Endangered Archives Program, Walker will partner with co-investigator Ruth Borja Santa Cruz, a professor of history at the University of San Marcos in Peru, to preserve documents that chart a history of human rights in the country.

Sweeping pattern of systematic attacks and restrictions undermine peaceful protest - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Across Europe, the right of peaceful assembly is coming under severe attack as states increasingly stigmatize, criminalise and crack down on peaceful protesters, imposing unjustified and punitive restrictions and resorting to ever more repressive means to stifle dissent, said Amnesty International in a new report.

Reimagining lost visual archives of Black and Indigenous resistance - Ananda Cohen-Aponte (MR Online, 2024)
How can we trace the wounds of colonialism in the art historical record?

'Growing tension' inside the public service over Indigenous self-identification - Forester, Brett (CBC News, 2024)
The top official at Indigenous Services Canada addressed the issue of Indigenous identity in the public service by urging greater honesty in self-identification, signalling what one elder calls “a growing tension” around the issue inside government.

As climate change threatens island nations, some turn to digitizing their history - Ali Rogin (PBS News, 2024)
As hurricanes grow stronger and more common due to climate change, they raise new threats for island nations — not just to infrastructure, but also to artifacts and documents that help define cultures. Now, two island nations in the Atlantic and the Pacific are taking steps to preserve their threatened histories for future generations.

Meet Mercy and Anita – the African workers driving the AI revolution, for just over a dollar an hour - James Muldoon; Mark Graham Callum Cant (The Observer, 2024)
Social media content and AI training data are processed in outsource centres in the global south, where long hours, low pay and exposure to disturbing material are the norm
Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI); ChatGPT; Chatbots; Computing; Facebook; Meta; Self-driving cars; Technology

Call for Book Proposals: Palgrave Studies in Queer Literary, Visual and Material Cultures - Cheryl Oestreicher (Publishing in the Archives Profession, 2024)
Palgrave Studies in Queer Literary, Visual and Material Cultures tests, contests and expands the boundaries of queer studies in global and transnational contexts and across historical periods. We welcome titles that bring “queer” cultures and sexualities into conversation with related areas of enquiry, especially critical race theory, trans studies, disability studies, feminist theory, eco-criticism, post-colonial theory, and Marxist theory.

Residential school denialism is an attack on the truth - Fraser, Crystal Gail (The Conversation, 2024)
Although there is now a wide body of public information about residential schools, many people continue to have limited knowledge about them. That provides fertile ground for misinformation.

NYPD Restores Thousands of Missing Records but Removes Case Numbers From Its Discipline Database - Hernandez, Sergio (ProPublica, 2024)
The department restored more than 2,000 missing discipline records to its public database of uniformed officers, weeks after ProPublica revealed data reliability issues. But it also removed case numbers, making future oversight more difficult.

Brazil Prevents Meta from Using People to Power Its AI - Hye Jung Han (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority issued a preliminary ban on Meta's use of personal data of users based in Brazil to train its artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

From Yosemite to Bears Ears, Erasing Native Americans From U.S. National Parks - Oatman-Stanford, Hunter (Pocket, 2024)
The foundational myth of America’s National Parks is one of heroic preservation of “pristine wilderness” — but places like Yosemite were already home to thriving communities that cherished the environment around them.

Germany admits to genocide for the first time in 120 years - Petersen, Shelleygan (The Namibian, 2024)
The German government has for the first time in 120 years admitted that the 1904-1908 massacre that killed more than 60 000 Nama and Herero people should be classified as a genocide.
Keywords: Germany

Deepening the data on refugees’ health needs: WHO in Poland pioneers a methodology with far-reaching potential - World Health Organization (World Health Organization News, 2024)
Statistics Poland and WHO have teamed up to explore ways to tackle data limitations in the context of the Ukrainian refugee crisis. In 2022 they conducted the first study to cover a representative sample of Ukrainian refugees in Poland, using mixed methods to unveil not just the numbers but also the human narratives behind the refugee crisis.

How Sudan's diaspora use WhatsApp voice notes as a collective war archive - AlHadidi, Janine (The New Arab, 2024)
Sudanese families are using WhatsApp voice notes to record their experiences of conflict, coordinate evacuation efforts and keep in touch with family around the world. The collective archive represented by the voice notes offers an opportunity to share Sudanese narratives about conflict, personal histories and culture with the rest of the world.

Indian Temples Are Scanning Visitors’ Faces - Bhandari, Bibek (Foreign Policy, 2024)
Data privacy advocates fear a testing ground for mass religious surveillance.

The Israeli army’s use of Palestinian civilians as human shields has been documented on a large scale - Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, 2024)
Video footage released by Al Jazeera TV shows the Israeli army using detained Palestinian civilians as human shields and compelling them to enter dangerous combat zones—evidence of a systematic tactic of the army. There are numerous documented instances of civilians being used as human shields by Israeli forces, which is considered a war crime.

Call for proposals | CFP: Treinta y tres (Latinx Oral Histories) - Oestreicher, Cheryl (Publishing in the Archives Profession, 2024)
The Center for Latino and Latin American Studies at Northern Illinois University invites you to submit proposals for its sixth annual interdisciplinary conference, Treinta y tres, to be held on November 21-22, 2024.

Pictures and the Past. Media, Memory, and the Specter of Fascism in Postmodern Art - Bigman, Alexander (The University of Chicago Press, 2024)
A fresh take on the group of artists known as the Pictures Generation, reinterpreting their work as haunted by the history of fascism, the threat of its return, and the effects of its recurring representation in postwar American culture.

China tightens law on handling disasters including information flows - Ethan Wang; Liz Lee (Reuters, 2024)
Legal revisions aim to "improve the ability for emergency prevention and response" and refine how information is disseminated about natural disasters, accidents and public health emergencies.

Uncovered: 428-year-old secret dossier reveals Elizabeth I’s network of spies - Ferguson, Donna (The Observer, 2024)
A list compiled by spymaster Robert Cecil gives an insight into the beginnings of the secret service.
Keywords: England; Espionage; UK news

Great science, uncomfortable history: Sir Gustav Nossal and the long tail of eugenics - Shepherd, Tory (The Guardian, 2024)
Book says one of Australia’s most eminent scientists promoted discussion of eugenics in the 1960s and 70s, but not that he supported racist ideas – and researchers praise his thorough commitment to reconciliation and racial justice.
Keywords: Australia news; Australian universities; Biology; Genetics; Indigenous Australians; Indigenous peoples; Melbourne; Race; Science

Witnesses Describe Police Killing Protesters - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Kenyan security forces shot directly into crowds of protesters on June 25, 2024, including protesters who were fleeing.

Sierra Leone Acts to Ban Child Marriage - Kabari, Betty (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Last week, Sierra Leone’s parliament enacted landmark legislation to ban child marriage. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Bill 2024, which makes marriage for anyone under 18 a criminal offense, seeks to protect girls from a harmful practice that has long violated their rights and hindered their development.

US charges Russian with conspiring to destroy Kyiv computer systems - Karen Middleton (The Guardian, 2024)
A Russian has been charged with conspiring to hack and destroy computer systems and data in Ukraine and allied countries including the US.
Keywords: Russia; Ukraine

Stella Assange urges journalists to FOI the US government to get case details - Middleton, Karen (The Guardian, 2024)
Stella Assange says it’s now up to others to dig out information after ban imposed on WikiLeaks founder
Keywords: Australia news; Julian Assange; Media; US news; WikiLeaks

President Biden pardons veterans convicted under regulation used to keep LGBTQ members from serving - Wang, Selina; Martinez, Luis; Haslett (ABC News, 2024)
President Biden has pardoned veterans who were convicted by the military under a regulation that allowed people to be kicked out for being gay.

Analysis Reveals Damage and Destruction of Cultural Heritage Sites in Gaza - Bellingcat Investigation Team (bellingcat, 2024)
The conflict in Gaza has taken an immense human toll – but it has also come at a significant cultural cost.

Privacy Technologies and Policy - Rainnenberg, Kai; Drogkaris, Prokopios; Lauradoux, Cédric (Springer, 2024)
The conference proceedings APF 2023 focuses on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Security and Privacy and much more.

Algorithms should not control what people see, UN chief says, launching Global Principles for Information Integrity - UN News (UN News, 2024)
The United Nations launched new Global Principles for Information Integrity on Monday, emphasizing the need for immediate action to address the harms caused by misinformation, disinformation and hate speech.

New Mass Media Law Threatens Freedom of Speech, Information in Kazakhstan - Hugh Williamson (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Although Kazakhstan’s new mass media law has some amendments that should improve the status quo, its ambiguity and the restrictive nature of other provisions threaten to create obstacles to the work of local and foreign journalists.

UK government weighs action against Russian hackers over NHS records theft - Campbell, Denis; Milmo, Dan (The Guardian, 2024)
National Crime Agency may take retaliatory measures after Qilin gang steals data covering 300m patient interactions.
Keywords: Cybercrime; England; Hacking; Health; NHS; Russia; Society; Technology; UK news; World news

ICC unseals arrest warrant against Iyad Ag Ghaly - International Criminal Court (ICC) (International Criminal Court News, 2024)
Today, 21 June 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “the Court”), at the request of the Prosecutor, made public an arrest warrant against Iyad Ag Ghaly for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in northern Mali between January 2012 and January 2013. The arrest warrant was initially issued under seal on 18 July 2017. Mr Ghaly is not detained by the ICC.

All the places where it's illegal to be LGBTQ+ – and why it's colonialism's fault - Kelleher, Patrick (PinkNews, 2024)
We take a look at all the countries and territories where it is still illegal to be gay or LGBTQ+ – and examine the role colonialism played.

Increased Attacks on Education During War | Human Rights Watch - Neff, Zama (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Attacks on education and military use of schools during armed conflict rose by an alarming 20 percent in 2022 and 2023 compared with the previous two years, according to a new report by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA).

Concern over Indigenous identity fraud heightened by government definitions: minister - Passafiume, Alessia (CTVNews, 2024)
The Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations says a lot of talk about the issue of so-called Indigenous identity fraud is based around apprehensions people have about the government defining who is -- and who isn't -- a rights-holder.

Barrick Gold calls United Nations human rights abuses 'unsubstantiated' - Surran, Carl (Seeking Alpha, 2024)
Barrick Gold disputes UN allegations of human rights violations at its North Mara mine in Tanzania, calling them misconceptions and inaccuracies.

Smithsonian Museum Debuts Online Portal of Slavery Artifacts - Article, Adam Schrader ShareShare This (Artnet News, 2024)
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture has launched an online portal featuring 146 slave badges from Charleston, South Carolina, that it acquired in 2022.

Deluge of ‘pink slime’ websites threaten to drown out truth with fake news in US election - Berger, Eric (The Guardian, 2024)
US sites pushing misinformation are proliferating, aiming to look like reliable sources as local newspapers close down.
Keywords: Democrats; Media; Newspapers; Newspapers & magazines; Republicans; US elections 2024; US news; US politics

Forced Russified Education Under Occupation - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Russian authorities are suppressing the Ukrainian language and curriculum, imposing the Russian curriculum, anti-Ukrainian propaganda, and Russian as the language of instruction in schools in areas of Ukraine that Russia is occupying,

Forced Russified Education Under Occupation - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Russian authorities are suppressing the Ukrainian language and curriculum, imposing the Russian curriculum, anti-Ukrainian propaganda, and Russian as the language of instruction in schools in areas of Ukraine that Russia is occupying,

How Taiwan fights the disinformation war - Huynh Tam Sang; Tong Thai Thien; Le Thi Yen Nhi (The Interpreter, 2024)
Newly inaugurated president Lai Ching-te will need to collaborate inside and outside the state to counter China’s cognitive warfare.

Burkina Faso Junta Again Suspends TV News Broadcasts - Ilaria Allegrozzi (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
The decision by Burkina Faso's media regulatory body to suspend broadcasts of the French news network TV5 is the latest attempt to crack down on independent media and access to information in the West African country.

How data shapes political narratives amid the 2024 super-elections - Rafaela Landikusic (Global Voices, 2024)
The age of data might seem like a modern concept, but the notion of using information for political advantage has a long history.

UN chief warns of ‘cyber mercenaries’ amid spike in weaponising digital tools - UN News (UN News, 2024)
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday highlighted the dual-edged nature of cyberspace, stressing its potential for both immense benefits and significant risks when misused. |

U.S. and Colombia Should Purge False Information on NGOs from Intelligence Archives - Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA, 2024)
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) calls upon the Colombian president and the U.S. president to review and purge intelligence archives containing false information that could cause security problems and other consequences. The statement refers to the impact false information has had on the lives of Colombians.

Almost forgotten: the fate of lesbian women in Austria - Arolsen Archives - Arolsen Archives (Arolsen Archives, 2024)
Until 1971, homosexuality was strictly forbidden in Austria. For almost 120 years, not only men but also women were charged and convicted of “unnatural same-sex fornication”. During the Nazi era and shortly afterwards, their numbers were particularly high, as research in recent years has shown.

Paying reparations for slavery is possible – based on a study of federal compensation to farmers, fishermen, coal miners, radiation victims and 70 other groups - Brooks, Cornell William; Bilmes, Linda J. (The Conversation, 2024)
Since the 1930s, the US federal government has made payments to victims of financial hardships and social injustices. But for those suffering from the harms of slavery, the US remains silent.

Russia denial of access to archives on Soviet political repression violates freedom of expression - Emma Burns (JURISTnews, 2024)
The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Russia had violated the right to freedom of expression by refusing access to archival documents about the history of Soviet political repression.

Freedom of association is a human right. Why are garment workers still denied it? - Webb, Bella (Vogue Business, 2024)
A new report from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre reveals a concerning trend of suppliers undermining trade unions and blocking meaningful dialogue with workers. Experts say it’s time for brands to step up.

European Court of Human Rights: Win for the right to truth about human rights atrocities - ARTICLE 19 (ARTICLE 19, 2024)
The Court found that the Russian government’s restrictions on accessing archival documents and information violated individuals’ and researchers’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information. This decision is important in cementing recognition that access to information encompasses the right of relatives of victims of gross human rights violations and researchers to access historical archives about past atrocities.

China has renamed hundreds of Uyghur villages and towns, say human rights groups - Davidson, Helen (The Guardian, 2024)
Report finds that religious, historical and cultural references have been removed by Beijing.
Keywords: Asia Pacific; China; Human rights; Islam; Law; Religion; Uyghurs; World news; Xinjiang

In Iraq, a New Tool Helps Forensic Doctors Document Sexual Violence and Torture - Haddad, Maram (Physicians for Human Rights, 2024)
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in partnership with medical-legal professionals in Iraq have developed a new forensic medical form. The new tool is expected to standardize survivor-centered documentation and improve access to justice.

International Criminal Court Members Speak Out - Vignoli, Maria Elena (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
Ninety-three member countries of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have declared their “unwavering support” for the court in the face of recent threats.

A Notorious Photograph From a US Massacre in the Philippines Reveals an Ugly Truth - Wagner, Kim A (New Lines Magazine, 2024)
A shocking image of the atrocity by the American military at Bud Dajo in 1906 survived but failed to become a humanitarian touchstone

A Notorious Photograph From a US Massacre in the Philippines Reveals an Ugly Truth - Wagner, Kim A (New Lines Magazine, 2024)
A shocking image of the atrocity by the American military at Bud Dajo in 1906 survived but failed to become a humanitarian touchstone

Gender apartheid must be recognized as a crime under international law - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Gender apartheid must be recognized as a crime under international law in order to strengthen efforts to combat institutionalized regimes of systematic oppression and domination imposed on the grounds of gender, said Amnesty International.

22 Ida B. Wells Quotes About Injustice, Truth and Virtue - Beck, Laura (Parade, 2024)
Ida B. Wells was a remarkable human: a groundbreaking African American journalist, civil rights leader and anti-lynching activist. Born into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi in 1862 (just before the Emancipation Proclamation), Wells went on to dedicate her life to passionately campaigning against lynching and fighting for racial justice. It's no wonder there are so many powerful Ida B. Wells quotes to share.

This story of '60s Catholic social justice still has power decades later - Arellno, Gustavo (National Catholic Reporter, 2024)
When I served as dramaturg for the Los Angeles-based Center Theatre Group's reading of "The Trial of the Catonsville Nine" by Fr. Daniel Berrigan, I didn't expect how profound the experience would be for my Catholicism.

Oklahoma court dismisses bid for Tulsa Race Massacre reparations - Cabral, Sam (BBC News, 2024)
Some 300 black people were killed in the 1921 massacre - but nobody has been held responsible. Survivors of one of the biggest race massacres in US history have consequently lost their historic legal bid for reparations over the attack.

A battle against disinformation was won - Gotev, Georgi (Euractiv, 2024)
We may like or dislike the results of the European elections, but we can safely say that no major incidents involving propaganda and disinformation took place in the days of 6-9 June, which amounts to a victory for those who are busy countering this threat.

The Power of the Image: Preserving UNRWA’s Past and Present for the Future - Jonathan Fowler (UNRWA Newsroom, 2024)
As the war in Gaza rages, causing unprecedented death and destruction, telling its story is a moral imperative. Preserving images from Gaza matters more than ever. Not just to document the spiraling humanitarian tragedy right now but also to preserve it for posterity.

Philadelphia’s 200-year-old disability records show welfare reform movement’s early shift toward rationing care and punishing poor people - Schroeder, Nicole Lee (The Conversation, 2024)
Amid rising unemployment, inflation and poverty in the 1830s, Philadelphia taxpayers believed welfare scammers were bleeding coffers dry. Poor lists from 1829 show they were wrong.

Unrecognized in California: Federal Acknowledgment and the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians - Chilcote, Olivia (University of Washington Press, 2024)
An inside account of one Luiseño tribe's history and their efforts to be recognized by the United States. In Unrecognized in California, Olivia M. Chilcote, member of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians of San Diego County, demonstrates how the state's colonial history is foundational to the ongoing crisis over tribal legal status.

Ancient farming system and campesino livelihoods at risk in Mexico City - Gabay, Aimee (Mongabay Environmental News, 2024)
XOCHIMILCO, Mexico — In the 70 years Miguel del Valle has worked on his family’s chinampa in Xochimilco, a neighborhood in the south of Mexico City, he has witnessed a huge change in the environment and the attitudes of his neighbors. “Xochimilco was always famous for its vegetables and flowers,” the 80-year-old farmer.

Reflecting on Ten Years of HDX - HDX Team (The Centre for Humanitarian Data, 2024)
HDX is an integral platform for the humanitarian data community: 206 organizations are sharing over 20,000 datasets, covering every active humanitarian crisis, with users in 230 countries and territories.

A conversation with Elyse Semerdjian, author of "Remnants: Embodied Archives of the Armenian Genocide" - Torosyan, Lilly (The Armenian Weekly, 2024)
“This photograph was never meant to be a precious artifact.” That is the first line in historian Elyse Semerdjian’s Remnants: Embodied Archives of the Armenian Genocide, a 300-page ground-breaking, corpse-gathering mission to re-member the dis-membered.

Social media companies’ removal of abortion-related content may hinder access to accurate health information - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Removal of abortion-related content on social media platforms with inadequate or unclear justification can contribute to the increasing challenges in accessing abortion care and threatens the right to health and bodily autonomy, according to a new briefing from Amnesty International. In Obstacles to Autonomy: Post-Roe Removal of Abortion Information Online, Amnesty International reveals that social […]

ICC Prosecutor appeals for evidence of Darfur atrocities - UN News (UN News, 2024)
The Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) launched a campaign on Tuesday to address the unfolding crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, amid the going war between rival military forces that erupted last April.

UN war crimes tribunals move closer to completion - UN News (UN News, 2024)
All of the 253 people indicted by UN tribunals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed decades ago in Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, have now been accounted for, the Security Council heard on Tuesday. |

Children’s Personal Photos Misused to Power AI Tools - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
The personal photos of Brazilian children are being used to create powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tools without the children’s knowledge or consent.

Girls failed by authorities after escaping Boko Haram captivity - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Girls and young women who escaped Boko Haram captivity in north-east Nigeria faced further suffering, including sometimes in unlawful military detention, and are now receiving inadequate support as they attempt to rebuild their lives, Amnesty International said in a new report. ‘Help us build our lives’: Girl survivors of Boko Haram and military abuses in […]

‘Comfort women’ or sex slaves? Why the debate over this WWII term remains so complicated - Gao, Ming (The Conversation, 2024)
Many victim-survivors and scholars say ‘sex slaves’ more accurately describes the abuses the women endured, but governments have been slow to change their view.

Nation’s First Online Boarding School Records Repository Launched by NABS - Kunze, Jenna (Native News Online, 2024)
The Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) has launched the nation’s first online records repository and research tool for Indian boarding school records. The database, called The National Indian Boarding School Digital Archive (NIBSDA), was nearly five years in the making, and contains records collected from National Archives in Seattle and Kansas City, Mo. Those records contain case files, administrative records, enrollment registers, and health information about Native American students who attended Indian boarding schools operated by the federal government for more than a century.

Turkey rejects claim Lord Elgin had permission to take Parthenon marbles - Smith, Helena (The Guardian, 2024)
Official says no sign of permit in Ottoman archives, in blow to British Museum, which defends legal right to statuary
Keywords: Art and design; British Museum; Culture; Europe; Greece; Heritage; Parthenon marbles; Sculpture; Turkey; UK news; World news

Chang orders review of rules on release of information on sex offenders - The Gleaner (The Gleaner, 2024)
The National Security Ministry's legal team is reviewing existing legislation to determine whether it allows for wider sharing of information on convicted sex offenders.

Coming clean? EU cleaning industry exploitation exposed - EUobserver (EUobserver, 2024)
The cleaning industry across Europe is increasingly under scrutiny for its treatment of employees and disregard for the European standard of fair labour laws. A six-month-long investigation into the European cleaning industry shed light on a complex network across Europe and exploitative business practices.

Google to start permanently deleting users’ location history - Hern, Alex (The Guardian, 2024)
Tech firm earlier committed to storing less data about individuals in response to privacy concerns
Keywords: Abortion; Alphabet; Data protection; Google; Privacy; Roe v Wade; Technology; US news; World news

Stunning map shows the extent of Native Title control in Australia - Southwell, David (Mail Online, 2024)
Native Title, a legal recognition of Aboriginal rights over an area, is set to cover 60 per cent of Australia's landmass in the next 15 years.

London NHS hospitals revert to paper records after cyber-attack - Campbell, Denis; Milmo, Dan (The Guardian, 2024)
Disruption has affected wider range of health providers than first thought, including GPs and community and mental health services
Keywords: Cybercrime; Hacking; Health; NHS; UK news

From beef noodles to bots: Taiwan’s factcheckers on fighting Chinese disinformation and ‘unstoppable’ AI - Chan, Elaine (The Guardian, 2024)
Taiwan is the target of more disinformation from abroad than any other democracy.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI); Asia Pacific; China; Taiwan; Technology; World news

Israel’s National Archives Releases 10,000 Files of City Census by Jerusalem’s Civil Guard - Julian, Hana Levi (Jewish Press, 2024)
The Israel State Archives – a unit within the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) – is for the first time revealing to the general public 10,189 population files of Jerusalem residents from 1948, which were collected by the “People’s Guard’ in Jerusalem during the War of Independence.

New UNICEF report reveals severe child food poverty amid world crises - UN News (UN News, 2024)
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a new report that highlights alarming levels of child food poverty due to inequity, conflict, and climate crises. |

Stories from the UN Archive: BBC legend and UN Earth Champion - UN News (UN News, 2024)
As communities across the planet celebrated World Environment Day on 5 June, we are taking you back to the 1950s when broadcaster extraordinaire Sir David Attenborough went from zoologist to climate activist, winning the UN’s highest environmental award. |

Explosive Weapons Pose Threats to Cultural Heritage: States Have a Tool to Protect It - Docherty, Bonnie (Human Rights Watch, 2024)
In early May 2022, Russian forces fired a munition that struck a museum complex including the final home of the 18th-century Ukrainian philosopher and poet Hryhorii Skovoroda. The attack sparked a fire that raged for nearly nine hours. By the time the blaze was extinguished, almost all that remained were scorched walls and a pockmarked statue of the national figure.

Saving Houston’s LGBTQ history through thousands of hours of radio archives - Ulaby, Neda (NPR, 2024)
Archivists at the University of Houston have saved decades-worth of episodes of local LGBT radio shows that started in the 1970s. Together they tell the story of a complex, diverse community.

Russians target Ukrainian publishing industry, libraries, books, archives - Vorozhko, Tatiana; Matviichuk, Iryna (Voice of America, 2024)
Largest printing house in Ukraine, hit by a missile strike on May 23, was the third publishing house attacked by Russia in Kharkiv, strengthening Ukrainian authorities and experts’ beliefs that Russia is intentionally trying to destroy Ukrainian cultural identity.

Queer Legends: An Oral History Podcast - Dearn, Shawn (Listen Notes, 2024)
Discover the true story of Canada's LGBT Purge in a landmark, eight part documentary series. This is the first documentary to examine the full extent of Canada's anti-homosexual campaigns using newly declassified documents released by the LGBT Purge Fund. From ridiculous to shocking, you'll hear amazing true stories from courageous survivors; academics; researchers; former MPs, cabinet ministers and a retired Chief of Defence Staff.

Donald Trump found guilty of hush-money plot to influence 2016 election - Lowell, Hugo; Bekiempis, Victoria (The Guardian, 2024)
Former president calls verdict ‘a disgrace’ after being convicted in New York on all 34 counts of falsifying business records
Keywords: Donald Trump; Donald Trump trials; Michael Cohen; New York; Republicans; Stormy Daniels; US crime; US elections 2016; US news; US politics; World news

Indian boarding home settlement approved by federal court - Needham, Fraser (APTN News, 2024)
The Indian boarding home class action settlement was officially approved by a Federal Court justice.

Hong Kong court finds 14 democracy campaigners guilty of subversion - News Wire (France 24, 2024)
A Hong Kong court found 14 people guilty of subversion on Thursday in the biggest case against pro-democracy campaigners since China imposed a national security law to crush dissent.

Executions soar to highest number in almost a decade - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
2023 saw a sharp rise in executions across the Middle East.

‘Silent witnesses to the past’ – Ireland helping to protect Ukraine from Russian ‘memory war’ on archives - Ralph Riegel (Irish Independent, 2024)
An Irish university is now playing a key role in helping Ukraine avoid irreparable losses in Russia's so-called 'memory war'.

Belarus: Crackdown on Human Rights Lawyers | Human Rights Watch - Human Rights Watch (2024)
Belarusian authorities have unrolled systematic and widespread repression targeting lawyers who represent clients in politically motivated cases or who shed light on rights abuses, Human Rights Watch, the Belarusian Association of Human Rights Lawyers, and the Right to Defence Project said in a report released today.

Grindr accused of treating gay man’s medical data like ‘piece of meat’ - Booth, Robert (The Guardian, 2024)
Civil lawsuit against dating company alleges misuse of users’ private information, including HIV status
Keywords: UK news

How Church of England’s ties to chattel slavery went to top of hierarchy - Baptiste, Desirée; Ungoed-Thomas, Jon (The Observer, 2024)
Lambeth Palace documents show purchase of enslaved people in 18th century approved by Anglican archbishop
Keywords: Americas; Anglicanism; Barbados; Christianity; Justin Welby; Religion; Slavery; UK news; World news

Israel must comply with ICJ order to immediately halt military operations in Rafah - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
The Israeli authorities must completely halt military operations in Rafah, as any ongoing military action could constitute an underlying act of genocide.

Libya: Arbitrarily Detained Political Analyst Dies | Human Rights Watch - Human Rights Watcg (2024)
A Libyan political analyst who had been arbitrarily detained in eastern Libya for nearly seven months died under dubious circumstances on April 19, 2024.

‘Black Twitter’ documentary explores its history and cultural impact - Amna Nawaz (PBS News Hour, 2024)
In its early days, "Black Twitter'' became a driving force in defining pop culture, creating trending hashtags, unforgettable memes and sparking social justice movements.

National Records of Scotland data published in NHS cyber attack - BBC (BBC, 2024)
National Records of Scotland (NRS) data was accessed and published by hackers who breached the systems of NHS Dumfries and Galloway in March of this year. The patient data, used for identification and service accuracy, has been published on the dark web.

'It's a privilege' - Brennan, Dechlan (National Indigenous Times, 2024)
Meet one of the commissioners responsible for helping document the "real" history of Victoria

Passports, criminal records leaked in EU Parliament data breach - Tar, Julia (Euractiv, 2024)
Identity cards, passports, excerpts of criminal records, and work experience documents were among the personal data of European Parliament employees compromised in a data breach.

Newsmax accused of deleting evidence that it was spreading 2020 election lies - Levine, Sam (The Guardian, 2024)
In lawsuit, voting machine firm Smartmatic alleges the outlet destroyed documents that were ‘direct evidence of actual malice’
Keywords: Defamation law; Law; Media; Newspapers & magazines; US elections 2020; US news; US politics

Holocaust Death Toll on English Channel Island Is Raised by Hundreds - Moses, Claire (The New York Times, 2024)
A panel of academics said it found more conclusive evidence of how many people were killed during the Nazi occupation of Alderney, one of the Channel Islands in British territory.
Keywords: Alderney Island; Channel Islands; Concentration Camps; Deaths (Fatalities); English Channel; Forced Labor; Great Britain; History (Academic Subject); Holocaust and the Nazi Era; World War II (1939-45)

New technology and AI used at borders increases inequalities and undermines human rights of migrants - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Global: New technology and AI used at borders increases inequalities and undermines human rights of migrants

Exhibit explores experiences of humans put on display at 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis - Gabrielle Hays (PBS NewsHour, 2024)
In 1904, nearly 1,200 Filipinos were brought to the U.S. to take part in the World’s Fair in St. Louis. Some worked as guides, but others were put on display. More than a century later, a new exhibit explores the impact in St. Louis and beyond. Communities correspondent Gabrielle Hays reports.

A new Texas landmark highlights a chapter in US history that’s often overlooked - Schoichet, Catherine (CNN, 2024)
Some of Sebastian Corral’s memories have faded. But the 91-year-old remembers his 1953 arrival in the US as if it were yesterday. He is one of the last surviving participants in a US program some described as ‘legalized slavery’

A century ago, anti-immigrant backlash almost closed America’s doors - Smith, Matthew (The Conversation, 2024)
May 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the Immigration Act of 1924, which sharply cut the number of people allowed into the US.

‘One hell of a storm is coming’: Canadian graphic novel about Indigenous identity sparks outrage - Cecco, Leyland (the Guardian, 2024)
A graphic novel investigating Indigenous identity in Canada has prompted outrage from Métis groups, who say the book undermines their history and represents an attack on their sovereignty.

Assassination attempt on Gotabaya: Confession by main accused missing, High Court told - Padmasiri, Ranjith (The Sunday Times, 2024)
The log book containing the confession of a suspect in the case filed over the assassination attempt on then Defence Ministry Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has gone missing at the police archives.

South African communities vs Shell: high court victories show that cultural beliefs and practices count in climate cases - Soyapi, Brewsters Caiphas; Kotzé, Louis; Toit, Louise Du (The Conversation, 2024)
Indigenous people’s concerns and considerations could provide a strong basis for climate litigation in South Africa.

New evidence shows atrocities committed by army in Burkina Faso - France 24 (France 24, 2024)
New documents verified by FRANCE 24 illustrate the scale of the atrocities committed by the Burkina Faso army on February 25, 2024. In April, the NGO Human Rights Watch reported the massacre of 223 civilians,…

Ukraine crisis reaches new terrifying level as civilians face daily drone and ‘glide bomb’ attacks | | UN News - UN News (2024)
Daily attacks by the Russian military in Ukraine have damaged dozens of towns and villages in the south and east of the country but also in central areas - including the city of Dnipro, which was shelled again early this Friday, UN humanitarians said.

Repressive crackdown on Tunisian CSOs following months of escalating violence against migrants and refugees - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
Tunisia’s authorities must immediately end this vicious campaign and halt all reprisals against NGO workers providing essential support, including shelter, to migrants and refugees.
Keywords: Freedom of Movement

Biden asserts executive privilege to block release of special counsel interviews - Pengelly, Martin (The Guardian, 2024)
House Republicans seek recordings of classified documents case interviews, in what Democrats call a ‘purely political’ move
Keywords: House of Representatives; Joe Biden; Republicans; US Congress; US news; US politics

Gambia: Landmark Swiss Conviction of Ex-Official | Human Rights Watch - Human Rights Watch (2024)
A Swiss court’s conviction of the former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko for crimes against humanity is monumental for Gambian victims of atrocity crimes during the rule of Yahya Jammeh. The verdict is a major achievement for Switzerland’s efforts to hold accountable those responsible for grave crimes committed abroad.

Three killed as New Caledonia rocked by riots over voting change - Mannevy, Charlotte; RFI; AFP (RFI, 2024)
Three people have been killed in New Caledonia during rioting that broke out after France's National Assembly approved changes to voting rules. Many injuries were reported in the worst unrest the Pacific island has seen since the 1980s.

Georgia: Dark day as parliament bulldozes adoption of repressive “foreign influence” bill - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2024)
This damaging bill contravenes Georgia’s international obligations on the rights to freedom of expression and association and strikes at the heart of the civil society’s ability to operate freely and effectively

‘Instead of a scream’: the Palestinian artist who does a Gaza drawing every day - Baroud, Maisara (The Guardian, 2024)
His studio was flattened, he has had to move his family 10 times, and they now share a house with 25 others. But still Maisara Baroud finds a way to document the fear and destruction he sees all around
Keywords: Art; Art and design; Culture; Drawing; Gaza; Israel-Gaza war; Middle East and north Africa; Palestinian territories; World news

Former army lawyer sentenced to five years for stealing and leaking Afghanistan war documents - Canales, Sarah Basford (The Guardian, 2024)
McBride, who pleaded guilty to stealing commonwealth information and passing it to the ABC, receives non-parole jail term of 27 months
Keywords: Australia news; Australian Broadcasting Corporation; Australian media; Australian military

Call for Proposals | Disability Heritage: Participatory and Transformative Engagement - Publishing in the Archives Profession (Publishing in the Archives Profession, 2024)
Call for Proposals | Disability is “everywhere and nowhere” in heritage. Even in settings where disability is obviously embedded, as in collections and sites associated with war, medicine, and industry, the experiences of disabled people often go unacknowledged or uncritically presented in the service of another story | Chapter proposals due 15 June 2024: 500 words (not including references)

Rilwan and Yameen’s murders: DDCom seeks to share redacted reports with families - Sun Online (Sun Online International, 2024)
The Deaths and Disappearances Commission (DDCom) announced on Tuesday that it is seeking to share redacted reports on two most high-profile murders it investigated. The commission also added it is prepared to hand over all its records of permanent value to the President’s Office, and that the material will be accompanied by guidelines and procedures “regarding how to ensure its security, confidentiality, but also accessibility for future use.”

Chinese Woman Jailed for Reporting on Covid Is Set to Be Freed - Wang, Vivian (The New York Times, 2024)
Silencing of a film-maker documenting the widespread 2022 demonstrations against Covid controls is part of rising suppression of press freedom
Keywords: China; Coronavirus (2019-nCoV); Freedom of the Press; Human Rights Watch; Human Rights and Human Rights Violations; Political Prisoners; Reporters Without Borders; Zhang Zhan

Historic Haida Nation agreement shows the world how to uphold Indigenous rights - Lightfoot, Sheryl (The Conversation, 2024)
The recent title lands agreement between British Columbia and the Haida Nation is historic and inspiring, but also long overdue in light of decades of rulings by international human rights bodies.

‘Why must I be a doctor, solicitor and detective?’: lost records block compensation for infected blood victims - Ungoed-Thomas, Jon (The Observer, 2024)
Claimants who can’t access medical information face battle for payments in biggest treatment disaster in NHS history.
Keywords: Contaminated blood scandal; Health; Hepatitis C; NHS; Society; UK news

Flawed immigration detention risk assessment tool can’t be upgraded as ABF data ‘riddled with errors’ - Bogle, Ariel (The Guardian, 2024)
The secretive risk assessment tool used in Australia's immigration detention centres could not be replaced by a better model due to insufficient data collection by Australian Border Force.
Keywords: Australia news; Australian immigration and asylum; Freedom of information; Human rights; Law (Australia); Serco

'The Cursed': Former migrants rejected by society on return to Ivory Coast - Reporters - Collanges, Guillaume; Ciyow, Yassin (France 24, 2024)
In Ivory Coast, would-be migrants who return home are known locally as "the cursed". With their dream of a better life abroad in tatters, they also face stigma and rejection from their families and communities.

Europol’s declaration against end-to-end encryption reignites debate, sparks privacy concerns - Julia Tar (Euractiv, 2024)
Europol’s recent joint declaration with European police chiefs urges action against end-to-end encryption, citing concerns of possible justice obstruction, amid an ongoing debate about balancing data privacy with combating crime.

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

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.

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.

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