Malta: Lives put at risk as parliament waters down bill seeking to partially decriminalize abortion - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
The Maltese authorities’ decision to water down a version of a bill aimed at partially decriminalizing abortion in cases of grave risk to the life or health of pregnant people will endanger lives, Amnesty International said following the bills’ adoption by parliament.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Migrants’ rights defender from Russia convicted solely for her human rights work - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
Tatyana Kotlyar is being punished simply for helping hundreds of people, including migrants and refugees, by generously registering them at her home.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Indigenous Voice to Parliament is a Matter of Human Rights - Gavshon, Daniela (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
The power of law to entrench or exacerbate disadvantage is the very reason why a Voice to Parliament for Australia’s First Nations people matters.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

23 million documents ‘potentially’ relating to residential school abuse identified: feds - Global News (Global News, 2023)
Speaking on the newly formed Residential School Documents Advisory Committee on Wednesday, Canada’s Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller revealed that 13 federal departments and agencies have identified approximately 23 million “potentially relevant” documents in relation to the abuse suffered by Indigenous children in residential schools between the early 1800s and late 1900s.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Reconciliation

Philippines: Marcos Failing on Rights - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will mark his first year in office on June 30, 2023, having done little to improve human rights protections in the Philippines.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Exhibition - The Fury by Shirin Neshat | Until 2023-08-20 - Neshat, Shirin (PHI Centre, 2023)
The Fury, created by Shirin Neshat, is a two-part narrative that takes the audience through the emotional turmoil experienced by the Iranian protagonist. The artwork is presented through a two-channel video and a virtual reality work. In a highly fictionalized and stylized approach, The Fury explores the sexual exploitation of female political prisoners, referencing the Islamic Republic of Iran's brutal treatment of political prisoners.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

How the author of 'California, a Slave State' revised our too-sunny history - Pfaelzer, Jean (Yale University Press, 2023)
By looking west to California, Jean Pfaelzer upends our understanding of slavery as a North-South struggle and reveals how the enslaved in California fought, fled, and resisted human bondage. In unyielding research and vivid interviews, Pfaelzer exposes how California gorged on slavery, an appetite that persists today in a global trade in human beings lured by promises of jobs but who instead are imprisoned in sweatshops and remote marijuana grows, or sold as nannies and sex workers.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Slavery

Fighting to the End of Life Without Parole in the US: “We Aren’t our Worst Mistake” - Sibbald, Kristen (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
Joseph Bell was 26 years old when a California judge sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for his role in a murder and robbery. He didn’t pull the trigger, but was sentenced to LWOP under the “felony murder rule.”
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Stealing Ukraine's Children: Inside Russia’s Camps - VICE News (2023)
Moscow has been accused of abducting and forcibly deporting more than 19,000 Ukrainian children. In what could amount to the most horrific war crimes committed to date, the Russian state is allegedly attempting to turn a generation of Ukrainian children into Russians.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene can save 1.4 million lives per year, says new WHO report - World Health Organisation (World Health Organisation, 2023)
Half of the world’s population still does not have adequate access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) which could have prevented at least 1.4 million deaths and 74 million disability-adjusted life years in 2019, according to the latest report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and an accompanying article published in The Lancet.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Argentina's junta used a plane to hurl dissident mothers and nuns to their deaths from the sky. Decades later, it returned home from Florida. - CBS News (CBS News, 2023)
Argentina's junta used a plane to hurl dissident mothers and nuns to their deaths from the sky. Decades later, it returned home from Florida.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

How Edie Windsor helped LGBTQ+ Americans gain civil rights – The Forward - Fox, Peter (Forward, 2023)
Remembering Edie Windsor, who paved the way for out and proud Americans like me.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

South Africa: Older People Lack Basic Care, Support - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
South Africa is failing to provide hundreds of thousands of older people access to basic care and support services, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Many face risks to their physical well-being and safety and experience profound distress and fear at the prospect of being forced to live, and die, in an institution.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Trump heard on tape discussing 'highly confidential, secret' documents - Matza, Max (BBC News, 2023)
It appears to be the same recording cited by prosecutors in their indictment of the former president.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

California, a Slave State - Pfaelzer, Jean (Yale University Press, 2023)
California owes its origins and sunny prosperity to slavery. Spanish invaders captured Indigenous people to build the chain of Catholic missions. Russian otter hunters shipped Alaska Natives—the first slaves transported into California—and launched a Pacific slave triangle to China. Plantation slaves were marched across the plains for the Gold Rush. San Quentin Prison incubated California’s carceral state. Kidnapped Chinese girls were sold in caged brothels in early San Francisco. Indian boarding schools supplied new farms and hotels with unfree child workers. By looking west to California, Jean Pfaelzer upends our understanding of slavery as a North-South struggle and reveals how the enslaved in California fought, fled, and resisted human bondage. In unyielding research and vivid interviews, Pfaelzer exposes how California gorged on slavery, an appetite that persists today in a global trade in human beings lured by promises of jobs but who instead are imprisoned in sweatshops and remote marijuana grows, or sold as nannies and sex workers. Slavery shreds California’s utopian brand, rewrites our understanding of the West, and redefines America’s uneasy paths to freedom.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Anger in Paris after police kill teen in traffic stop - Radford, Antoinette (BBC News, 2023)
Unrest follows the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old who apparently failed to obey traffic police.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Legal protection essential for people displaced by climate change: UN expert | UN News - United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) (UN News, 2023)
An independent UN-appointed climate expert on Tuesday called for full legal protection to be given to those displaced by the impacts of climate change, to guarantee their human rights.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

UN experts say treatment of Guantanamo detainees is 'inhuman and degrading' - News Wire (France 24, 2023)
With nearly constant surveillance, gruelling isolation and limited family access, the treatment of the last 30 Guantanamo detainees is "cruel, inhuman and degrading," UN rights experts said Monday as they reported on their first visit to the US military prison.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Q&A: The civil servant documenting sexual violence in Sudan’s conflict - The New Humanitarian (The New Humanitarian, 2023)
Support for survivors is limited and the majority of cases aren’t reported.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Art and heritage groups must ‘take action now’ to protect culture against climate change, report says - Voon, Claire (The Art Newspaper - International art news and events, 2023)
Authors of a new report from the the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation and the National Endowment for the Humanities say climate change is the most significant threat in conservation.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Can the tech industry hit the human rights refresh button? - Geneva Solutions - Arseni, Maurizio (Geneva Solutions, 2023)
On 4 July, the Human Rights Council will hear a report providing recommendations for protocol and standard settings in new technologies. We speak to the head of the team engaging with business and pushing for greater awareness of human rights implications from the fast-evolving sector.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Investigative Outlet Sets Key Test For Media Freedom In S.Africa | Barron's - Rambourd, Gerdense (Barron's, 2023)
The amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism draws its name from the Zulu word for dung beetle -- a diligent species that fulfils a crucial role. The tiny South African non-profit specialises in delving into political corruption -- "digging dung and fertilizing democracy," its editor-in-chief, Sam Sole, said with a chuckle in a recent interview with AFP.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Māori most at risk of declining civil and political human rights - Finlay Dunseath, Stuff (Māori Television, 2023)
The Human Rights Commission's Claire Charters (pictured in 2021) said the data painted a dire picture of the upholding of Māori civil rights.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

A hundred years of striving for equality at global bodies - Dubraz-Dobias, Paule (Geneva Solutions, 2023)
Since the establishment of international organisations, women have struggled to get the deserved recognition, pay and respect for their work as civil servants amid historical, cultural and political constraints. A Genevan historian tells us more.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Indigenous Justice and a New Path for Canada’s Prisons - Rolston, Simon (The Tyee, 2023)
A report offers a blueprint for fixing Indigenous overrepresentation in jails.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

NRM in York to record history of LGBTQ+ railway workers - BBC News (BBC News, 2023)
The National Railway Museum is interviewing LGBTQ+ railway workers for an oral history project.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Supreme Court rejects Navajo Nation’s water rights trust claim - KickingWoman, Kolby (ICT News (Indian Country Today), 2023)
Arizona v. Navajo Nation is the final federal Indian law case to be ruled on by the high court this term
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Amid Guatemala’s faltering democracy, a battle to remember its painful past - Geneva Solutions - Langrand, Michelle (Geneva Solutions, 2023)
As Guatemalans head to the polls on Sunday, decades of struggle for justice for atrocities committed during the civil war hang in the balance. Paulo Estrada Velásquez was one year and 20 days old when his father went missing on 19 May 1984 in Guatemala. No more than a month later, his uncle would also vanish. They were both members of Guatemala’s communist party, Partido Guatemalteco del Trabajo, and two of around 40,000 people who were forcibly disappeared during Guatemala’s civil war.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Sierra Leone has been at peace for 20 years after a brutal civil war - what went right - Mammone, Christina (The Conversation, 2023)
Transitional justice contributed greatly to the peace which Sierra Leone has experienced in the last two decades.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Anger in Japan as report reveals children were forcibly sterilised - McCurry, Justin (The Guardian, 2023)
Between 1948 and 1996, about 16,500 people were operated on without their consent under a eugenics law, triggering long campaign for redress.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Asia Pacific; Japan; World news

Executed Women Haunt, Inspire Iranian Baha'is 40 Years Later. - Agence France-Presse (VOA News, 2023)
One by one, the 10 women, mostly aged under 30, went defiantly to their deaths by hanging in a city square in Shiraz in southern Iran. The youngest was only 17 years old.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Officials crack down on fake Alaska Native art - Brooks, James (ICT News (Indian Country Today), 2023)
It’s a federal crime to sell art that is falsely marketed as created by an Alaska Native or tribal citizen
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Vancouver’s development destroyed Burrard Inlet. Tsleil-Waututh Nation is determined to save it - Cruickshank, Ainslie (The Narwhal, 2023)
The inlet has slowly suffocated under the weight of the cities and industries built up around it. But it is resilient, and the nation sees what this once bountiful waterway could be again.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

In Montana, 16 young Americans are fighting for their environmental rights - LeParmentier, Arnaud (Le Monde.fr, 2023)
In a landmark trial, the plaintiffs testified to the deterioration of their daily lives while advocating for their constitutional right to a 'clean and healthful environment.'
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Israeli settlers rampage through Palestinian village after Hamas shooting - Rubin, Shira; Taha, Sufian (The Washington Post, 2023)
Armed Israeli settlers rampaged through a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday afternoon, leaving at least one Palestinian dead and 12 injured a day after four Israelis were killed by Hamas gunmen near an Israeli settlement.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Ottawa releases action plan to implement UNDRIP, despite calls for more consultation | CBC News - Taylor, Stephanie (CBC News, 2023)
The federal government has released its action plan on implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Colombian Truth Commission: Switzerland retains archive copy - The Federal Council (Confédération Suisse - Conseil fédéral, 2023)
At its meeting on 21 June, the Federal Council approved an agreement to retain a digital backup copy of the archives of the Colombian Truth Commission. Dealing with the past is a key focus area of Switzerland's long-standing peace policy work in Colombia. In safeguarding such sensitive data, Switzerland is supporting the peace process in the long term.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Trinidad and Tobago's femicide crisis - Timerman, Jordana (Just Caribbean Updates, 2023)
Trinidad and Tobago’s femicide rates are at an all time high, reports the Guardian. “As of May, this year’s death toll was at 280, already overtaking the same period of 2022 – a year which saw 614 violent deaths.” The trend is part of a broader increase in homicides and crime — the Caribbean nation, with a population of about 1.5 million, now has the sixth-highest crime rate in the world.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

This time it’s different? The rush to mine Indigenous lands - Trahant, Mark (ICT News (Indian Country Today), 2023)
The Aspen Institute: The mining industry has a long history of failing to respect community interests, breaking agreements, destroying sacred sites, and forcing displacements. Indigenous communities have been ‘disproportionately impacted’.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Biden and Modi must address grave human rights concerns - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
The United States and Indian governments must address the grave human rights issues in both countries during Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with President Biden in Washington DC, said Amnesty International ahead of the state visit this week.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Stop harassing and arbitrarily arresting Afghans seeking refuge - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
The situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan is not receiving due international attention.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Archives and the fight against impunity - Boel, Jens (OpenGlobalRights, 2023)
Archives can be—and often are—instrumental in the fight against impunity.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Norway: Europe's largest onshore wind farm continues operations despite Supreme Court ruling that found permits violate indigenous Sámi rights; incl. company responses - Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 2023)
In October 11 2021, the Supreme Court of Norway ruled that Norway violated the rights of the Sámi people by permitting the construction of wind farms in Fovsen Njaarke, the Storheia wind farm and the Roan wind farm.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Myanmar: Junta Blocks Lifesaving Cyclone Aid - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
The Myanmar junta’s increasing obstruction of humanitarian aid in the month since Cyclone Mocha has put thousands of lives at immediate risk and endangered millions of people.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

France to shut down activist climate group after clashes with police - News Wires (France 24, 2023)
The French government said Tuesday that it would soon shut down an activist climate group over a series of recent demonstrations including one that led to fierce clashes with police over a controversial irrigation project.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Key figures: Number of refugees, displaced people hits record high worldwide - News Wires (France 24, 2023)
On World Refugee Day 2023, the numbers of refugees and displaced people worldwide are higher than ever before. FRANCE 24 takes a look at the key figures.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Displaced people

Andrew Tate charged with rape and human trafficking - Williamson, Lucy; Wright, George (BBC News, 2023)
Andrew Tate and his brother charged in Romania over human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Event | How Does the Inland Empire Strike Back Against Hate? - Zócalo Public Square (Zócalo Public Square, 2023)
In the 1920s, Southern California’s Inland Empire was a bucolic place, dotted with small towns set amid orange groves. It was also a growing outpost for the Ku Klux Klan, whose members subjected the region’s minority residents to exclusion, harassment, and violence in following decades. Today, antisemitic, anti-Muslim, anti-Black, anti-Latino, anti-Asian, and anti-LGBTQ movements persist, with hate crimes again on the rise, alongside a new generation of domestic extremist groups. Can the region’s battles against discrimination chart a path forward for the rest of the state, and nation? The event is held Tuesday, July 16, 2024 6:30 PM PDT Riverside In-Person | Streaming Online

Eswatini: Authorities must stop using the courts to intimidate and harass union leaders - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
Ahead of the court appearance of Sticks Nkambule, Secretary General of Swaziland Transport Communication and Allied Workers Union, on trumped-up charges of contempt of court stemming from his involvement in organizing a stay away action in December 2022, Vongai Chikwanda, Amnesty International’s Interim Deputy Director for Southern Africa, said: The harassment and intimidation of Sticks Nkambule shows that Eswatini authorities are effectively criminalizing peaceful dissent.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

The future of conservation in Canada depends on Indigenous protected areas. So what are they? - Cyca, Michell (The Narwhal, 2023)
Canada’s climate commitments rest in Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas — often called IPCAs. While the concept isn’t new, it’s gaining better recognition and funding from, at least, some governments
Keywords: 2023-06 June

The Observers - In Sudan, a citizen initiative monitors ceasefire violations - Observers Team (The Observers - France 24, 2023)
Several ceasefires have been announced between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since the start of the conflict in Sudan. However, numerous breaches of these agreements have been reported by a network of activists who monitor the violations perpetrated by both sides in the conflict, endangering the lives of civilians.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

French-Armenian Resistance hero Missak Manouchian to enter France’s Panthéon - News Wires (France 24, 2023)
Missak Manouchian, an Armenian genocide survivor who went on to become a French Resistance hero, will enter France’s Panthéon mausoleum of revered historical figures next year, President Emmanuel Macron announced in a statement Sunday.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Activists say the human rights movement is failing - Toosi, Nahal (POLITICO, 2023)
At the Oslo Freedom Forum, dissidents and rights defenders seek solidarity as their movements struggle.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

African delegation tells Putin 'war must' end, Russia says 'open to dialogue' - News Wires (France 24, 2023)
A delegation of African leaders including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg on Saturday as part of its mission to try to broker peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv. The meeting comes a day after the delegation met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and as Putin confirmed that he has deployed tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Germany will pay Holocaust survivors across the world over $1 billion in 2024 - Perez, Kate (USA TODAY, 2023)
Germany will pay Holocaust survivors $1.4 billion in 2024, with the payment coming in the forms of direct compensation and welfare programs.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Juneteenth, Jim Crow and how the fight of one Black Texas family to make freedom real offers lessons for Texas lawmakers trying to erase history from the classroom - Littlejohn, Jeffrey L.; Montz, Zachary (The Conversation, 2023)
For the formerly enslaved Black people in Texas, Juneteenth meant more than freedom. It meant reuniting families and building schools and developing political power.

How a Grad Student Uncovered the Largest Known Slave Auction in the U.S. - McIntyre, Jennifer Berry Hawes,Gavin (ProPublica, 2023)
Lauren Davila made a stunning discovery as a graduate student at the College of Charleston: an ad for a slave auction larger than any historian had yet identified. The find yields a new understanding of the enormous harm of such a transaction.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Slavery

Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower who exposed Vietnam War secrets, dies at 92 - News Wires (France 24, 2023)
Daniel Ellsberg, the U.S. military analyst whose change of heart on the Vietnam War led him to leak the classified "Pentagon Papers," revealing U.S. government deception about the war and setting off a major freedom-of-the-press battle, died on Friday at the age of 92, his family said in a statement.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Indigenous searchers turned to sacred ritual - The Associated Press (ICT News (Indian Country Today), 2023)
Indigenous men who were among search teams hoping to find four children aboard a plane that crashed in the Amazon jungle in Colombia say one of their most sacred rituals played a role in rescue efforts.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Venezuela accused of crimes against humanity in Argentine court - Timerman, Jordana (Latin America Daily Briefing, 2023)
A legal complaint filed in Argentina accuses Venezuelan security forces of crimes against humanity against government opponents since 2014.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Nine out of 10 people are biased against women, UN report finds - Woodyatt, Amy (CNN, 2023)
Almost nine out of 10 people hold “fundamental biases” against women, a new UN report has found, decrying a “decade of stagnation” that has led to a dismantling of women’s rights in many parts of the world.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Saudi Arabia: Imminent execution of seven young men would violate kingdom’s promise to abolish death penalty for juveniles - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
Despite the Saudi authorities’ commitment to end their use of the death penalty against children under 18 at the time of the crime, seven young men are at risk of imminent execution after an appeals court confirmed their punishment, Amnesty International said today. Their execution would mark a chilling escalation of the already record-breaking use of the death penalty with the number of executions in the country having increased seven-fold in the past three years alone. “Saudi authorities have promised to limit the use of the death penalty and adopted legal reforms that prohibit the execution of people who were children at the time of the crime. If the authorities wish any of those promises to be taken seriously, they should order an immediate halt to the planned execution of the seven, who were all children at the time of their arrest,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Ukraine: ‘Callous disregard for human life’ of Russian forces’ response to Kakhovka dam destruction compounded by its disastrous effects upstream - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
As the consequences of the Kakhovka dam destruction continue to unfold, the occupying Russian forces have been endangering lives in flood-afflicted areas following the destruction of the dam, while upstream water shortages and an upheaval  of livelihoods point to an impending ecological and economic disaster, Amnesty International said today.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

DR Congo: Armed group attacks displace nearly 1 million since January - United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) (UN News, 2023)
Escalating violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has displaced nearly one million people since January, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Thursday.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Did Slavery in the U.S. End on Juneteenth? - Waxman, Olivia B. (Time, 2023)
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when enslaved men and women in Texas found out they were free. But liberation didn't arrive in one day.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Inuit pride becomes an annual tradition - Wright, Trevor (APTN News, 2023)
Inuit pride parades became a new tradition since 2021 and LGBTQ+ people say it's made a huge improvement in feeling accepted.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; LGBTQ+

Argentina must investigate crimes against humanity committed by Venezuelan authorities - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
The Clooney Foundation for Justice has filed a lawsuit in Argentina's federal courts.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

EU: European Parliament adopts ban on facial recognition but leaves migrants, refugees and asylum seekers at risk - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
EU: European Parliament adopts ban on facial recognition but leaves migrants, refugees and asylum seekers at risk. Responding to the European Parliament’s decision to ban invasive mass surveillance technologies in its Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), Mher Hakobyan, Advocacy Advisor on AI Regulation said: “We welcome the European Parliament’s decision to adopt a ban on abusive mass surveillance technology in today’s landmark vote. However, it is essential the Parliament and EU Member States ensure that development, sale, use and export of facial recognition and other mass surveillance technologies are banned in the final AI Act during upcoming negotiations.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Anahera Morehu appointed as permanent Chief Archivist - Perry, James (Te Ao Māori News, 2023)
Anahera Morehu has been appointed chief archivist at Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Archives New Zealand. Morehu is the country’s first Māori and wāhine Māori to hold this statutory role in a permanent capacity. She is currently the acting chief archivist, seconded into the role in November 2022. Her substantive position was kaihautū for Archives NZ.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Cambodia Fails to Meet “Minimum Standards” for Combating Human Trafficking, US Gov’t Reports - Brook, Jack (CambojaNews, 2023)
For the second year in a row, Cambodia failed to meet the “minimum standards” for combating human trafficking and was “not making significant efforts to do so,” the US government reported on Thursday.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Māori ancestral remains and mummified heads returned to New Zealand from Germany - McClure, Tess (The Guardian, 2023)
Remains of 95 ancestors, including six toi moko or tattooed heads, brought home in a move Māori leaders described as ‘healing’.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; New Zealand

France says uncovers major disinformation campaign waged by Russia - News Wires (France 24, 2023)
France on Tuesday said it had uncovered a major Russian disinformation campaign, with false news items hostile to Ukraine made to look like they were published by prominent French news media.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

The 272 - Swarns, Rachel L. (PenguinRandomHouse, 2023)
In 1838, a group of America’s most prominent Catholic priests sold 272 enslaved people to save their largest mission project, what is now Georgetown University. Through the saga of the Mahoney family, professor Rachel L. Swarns illustrates how the Church relied on slave labor and slave sales to sustain its operations and to help finance its expansion.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

The overlooked story of the incarceration of Japanese Americans from Hawaii during World War II - Tasevski, Olivia (The Conversation, 2023)
When US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, he paved the way for the incarceration of Japanese Americans on the mainland and Hawaii
Keywords: 2023-06 June

UNHCR calls for concerted action as forced displacement hits new high of 110 million | UN News - United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) (UN News, 2023)
The full-scale war in Ukraine, alongside other conflict and climate-driven upheaval, meant more people than ever remained uprooted from their homes last year, heightening the urgency for immediate, collective action to alleviate the global crisis, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Wednesday.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Old criminal records in New York would be automatically sealed under bill passed by lawmakers - Jamaica Gleaner (Jamaica Gleaner, 2023)
New Yorkers who commit crimes could have their records automatically sealed if they stay out of trouble for a certain number of years after they have finished serving their sentences under a bill passed by state lawmakers Friday.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

No progress on biases against women during past decade, UN reports - News Wires (France 24, 2023)
Data tracking biases against women has shown no progress over the past decade, with prejudices remaining "deeply embedded" in society despite rights campaigns such as MeToo, a UN report said Monday.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

UN chief calls for new era of social media integrity in bid to stem misinformation - UN News (UN News, 2023)
Countries must address the “grave global harm” caused by the proliferation of hate and lies online, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, launching a key report designed to shore up information integrity on digital platforms.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Senegal: Invaluable archives destroyed during unrest at Dakar's main university - AfricaNews (Africanews, 2023)
Students from Dakar's Cheikh Anta Diop University are attempting to rescue some 200,000 university documents that were burnt during the deadly protests following the two-year prison sentence handed down to opponent Ousmane Sonko.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Trump stored and refused to return documents, felony indictment says - Euronews; Associated Press (euronews, 2023)
Donald Trump improperly stored in his Florida estate sensitive documents on nuclear capabilities, repeatedly enlisted aides and lawyers to help him hide records demanded by investigators and cavalierly showed off a Pentagon “plan of attack” and classified map, according to a felony indictment.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

After yet another murder, Italy moves to boost laws protecting women - Carbonaro, Guilia (euronews, 2023)
After the latest murder of a woman by her partner, Italy is revisiting its laws protecting women from gender-based violence. But experts say new legislative measures are not what the country needs.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Aid group provides drinking water after Kakhovska dam blast - Churm, Philip Andrew (euronews, 2023)
Volunteers from a humanitarian group in Ukraine provide thousands of litres of clean drinking water to people affected by the Kakhovska dam blast.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Donald Trump 37-count felony indictment unsealed in documents case - Churm, Philip Andrew (euronews, 2023)
Former US president Donald Trump has become the first US ex-president to face federal indictment following the seizure of classified documents from his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

How The Globe created the first national database of FOI requests - Cordoso, Tom; Doolittle, Robyn (The Globe and Mail, 2023)
For the Secret Canada project, The Globe sent hundreds of FOI requests across the country, in order to create a database that can be used by everyone.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Social Issues

Millions of women are working during menopause, but US law isn't clear on employees' rights or employers' obligations - Crawford, Bridget J.; Waldman, Emily Gold; Cahn, Naomi (The Conversation, 2023)
Three scholars who are writing a book about menopause and the law suggest ways to protect women experiencing it.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

The US has a child labor problem – recalling an embarrassing past that Americans may think they've left behind - Saunders, Beth (The Conversation, 2023)
While Lewis Hine’s early-20th century photographs of working children compelled Congress to limit or ban child labor, the US Department of Labor is now under fire for failing to enforce these laws.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

The Herald has a proud history of telling Australia’s story. But on Myall Creek, we failed dismally - The Herald's View (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2023)
We agree truth is an essential force for reconciliation, and on the 185th anniversary of the massacre offer an apology for our unacceptable historical coverage.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

RAF veteran wrongly believed to be gay loses employment tribunal over 1975 discharge - Morris, Steven (The Guardian, 2023)
Cpl Sean Walsh claimed he was discriminated against at time when gay people were barred from armed forces
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Discrimination at work; Employment law; Employment tribunals; LGBTQ+ rights; Military; Ministry of Defence; UK news

South Sudan Ratifies Crucial African Women’s Rights Treaty - Tut Pur, Nyagoah (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
This week, South Sudan finalized ratification of the Maputo Protocol, ending years of delay. While this ratification signals a commitment to gender equality, South Sudanese authorities need to adopt effective policies and strategies to ensure the protocol makes a difference in people’s lives.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

MMIWG Inquiry Report - Carreiro, Donna (CBC News, 2023)
Read CBC’s analysis of the progress to date on the 231 calls for justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Pandemic treaty talks: Is there room for Indigenous knowledge? - Geneva Solutions - Dupraz-Dobias, Paula (Geneva Solutions, 2023)
Even as global temperatures rose at increasingly alarming rates, it took years before anyone began to listen to their message. Yet year after year, representatives of Indigenous communities attended global climate and biodiversity summits, striving to share their experience with climate change and their traditional knowledge as guardians of vast natural areas. Three years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, it could seem like a case of déjà-vu. In spite of being the most affected by the hea
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Pandemic

Where it's a crime to be gay: A visual guide to where LGBTQ+ rights are repressed - Hjelmgaard, Kim; Zarracina, Javier (USA TODAY, 2023)
Uganda enacted one of the harshest anti-gay laws in the world. See where sexual and gender minority rights are criminalized.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Saudi Arabia warns Snapchat users that ‘insulting’ regime is a criminal offense - Kirchgaessner, Stephanie (The Guardian, 2023)
Users of the social media app have faced legal consequences for posts – some private – that are critical of Saudi authorities.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Human rights; Middle East and north Africa; Privacy; Saudi Arabia; Snapchat; Social media; US news

First Person: ‘Born fighting’ for rights of Black Brazilians | UN News - UN News (UN News, 2023)
For Valdecir Nascimento, 63, the Black movement in Brazil was a “turning point” for her as a young woman, leading her from the revolutionary stilt houses in Alagados, to joining more than 1,000 participants last week at UN Headquarters for the second session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Oxford University appoints UK’s first professor of LGBTQ+ history - Weale, Sally (The Guardian, 2023)
Matt Cook, who has written on queer urban life and the Aids crisis, takes up the new post at Mansfield College.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Education; Higher education; LGBTQ+ rights; UK news; Universities; University of Oxford

Matilda Joslyn Gage: The suffragist who defied the US government - Paquet, Laura Byrne (BBC News, 2023)
She propelled women's rights, admired Indigenous societies and sought to impeach the US government. So why has history all but forgotten her name?
Keywords: 2023-07 July

The authorities of Senegal must immediately halt the police violence and restore social media - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
Reacting to the violence that broke out yesterday in Dakar and other towns following the verdict in the trial of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Vietnam: outcry after leading climate activist arrested, accused of tax evasion - Humphrey, Chris (The Guardian, 2023)
Critics say allegations against Hoang Thi Minh Hong are politically motivated, coming amid similar prosecutions against other environmental activists.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Asia Pacific; Environment; Vietnam

Regulation essential to curb AI for surveillance, disinformation: rights experts - UN News (UN News, 2023)
Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered spyware and disinformation is on the rise, and regulation of the space has become urgent, according to UN-appointed independent rights experts.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Repatriation of Indigenous Cultural Heritage: Experiences of Return in Central Australia - Gibson, Jason (Routledge, 2023)
Repatriation of Indigenous Cultural Heritage examines how returned materials - objects, photographs, audio and manuscripts - are being received and reintegrated into the ongoing social and cultural lives of Aboriginal Australians. Combining a critical examination of the making of these collections with an assessment of their contemporary significance, the book exposes the opportunities and challenges involved in returning cultural heritage for the purposes of maintaining, preserving or reviving
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Central Australia; Repatriation

Secret Canada - A freedom of information project from The Globe and Mail - Secret Canada (Secret Canada, 2023)
Secret Canada helps Canadians understand and use the access system through a database of completed FOI request summaries, guides on how to navigate the filing process and the latest news.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Does the U.S. Need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission?: A Philosophical Investigation - Táíwò, Olúfẹ́mi (Routledge, 2023)
Written from the perspective of a philosopher and African immigrant, this book makes a forceful moral argument for the need for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in the United States to address the long history of injustice to African-Americans. It shows that a TRC—similar to those established in South Africa and Chile—would rescue the ideals embodied in the U.S. Constitution while expanding their promise. Rejecting more recent views of the country’s founding as an embodiment of incorrigible racial oppression, Olúfẹmi Táíwò sees in the U.S. Constitution, and the original utopia that was at its foundation, the best available means for achieving liberty and justice. But he simultaneously shows how only a TRC can successfully open the path to moving the U.S. past its long legacy of anti-black racism in particular and racial oppression, generally, towards a more perfect union. Written with an immigrant’s love of his new homeland but a clear-eyed view of its major shortcomings, the book rejects the idea of American exceptionalism in prescribing a solution that has worked elsewhere.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Information Integrity on Digital Platforms - United Nations (United Nations, 2023)
Digital platforms are crucial tools that have trans- formed social, cultural and political interactions everywhere. Across the world, they connect concerned global citizens on issues that matter. Platforms help the United Nations to inform and engage people directly as we strive for peace, dig- nity and equality on a healthy planet. They have given people hope in times of crisis and struggle, amplified voices that were previously unheard and breathed life into global movements.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Artificial Intelligence; Information integrity

A Decade of Stagnation: New UNDP data shows gender biases remain entrenched - United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (UN News, 2023)
The latest Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) report has revealed no improvement in biases against women in a decade, with almost 9 out of 10 men and women worldwide still holding such biases today. Half of people worldwide still believe men make better political leaders than women, and more than 40 percent believe men make better business executives than women. A staggering 25 percent of people believe it is justified for a man to beat his wife, according to the new GSNI report launched by UNDP.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC announces launch of advanced evidence submission platform: OTPLink - ICC Office of the Prosecutor (International Criminal Court, 2023)
I am pleased to announce the launch of OTPLink, a new application for online and email-based evidence submissions by all external stakeholders and witnesses to my Office. OTPLink will provide a clear, single-access point, replacing various systems and processes that were previously in use for the receipt of information, including submissions pursuant to Article 15 of the Rome Statute.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Prisoners Expelled from Nicaragua Land in US Limbo - Sanz, José Luis (Elfaro 25, 2023)
The 222 political prisoners banished by the regime of Daniel Ortega last Thursday are celebrating their freedom after years or months of lockdown and torture, but many doubt their future and stifle their opinions out of fear for their family in Nicaragua. Half of them have no family in the U.S. and are wondering how to rebuild a life far from their country and loved ones.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Mechanism Information Programme launches Guide for History Teachers - UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals; EuroClio (UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, 2023)
Today, the Mechanism Information Programme for Affected Communities (MIP) was pleased to launch its latest informational product, entitled: Guide for History Teachers: How to Use Archival Material of the ICTY and Mechanism in Teaching the History of the 1990s conflicts (Guide).
Keywords: 2023-06 June

1,200 Jamaicans received expungement of criminal records last year - Jamaica Gleaner (Jamaica Gleaner, 2023)
The Ministry of Justice received 2,322 applications for the expungement of criminal records last year. Making his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday Portfolio Minister, Delroy Chuck, said of that amount, the Criminal Records (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Board approved 1,200 applications.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Human Rights Film Festival: Winners hone in on Russia and Gaza - Euronews (Euronews, 2023)
For the past 22 years, Geneva has hosted the Human Rights Film Festival (FIFDH) in March, in collaboration with the UN Human Rights Council

Inter-American Court Orders Opening of Military Archives - National Security Archive (National Security Archive, 2023)
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights set a new legal precedent for access to human rights information when it ordered the government of Bolivia to open historical military archives concerning a case of assassination and forced disappearance.

Democracy in Darkness Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions - Carter, Katlyn Marie (The Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century Culture and History, 2023)
Does democracy die in darkness, as the saying suggests? This book reveals that modern democracy was born in secrecy, despite the widespread conviction that transparency was its very essence. But as revolutionaries sought to fashion representative government, they faced a dilemma. In a context where gaining public trust seemed to demand transparency, was secrecy ever legitimate?
Keywords: 2023-10 November

Data Privacy and Crowdsourcing - Hornuf, Lars; Mangold, Sonja; Yang, Yayun (Springer, 2023)
This is an open access book which describes the most important legal principles of data privacy and data protection in China, Germany and the US.
Keywords: 2023-09 September

Decolonial Archival Futures - McCracken, Krista; Hogan-Stacey, Skylee-Storm (ALA Neal-Schuman, 2023)
Providing examples of successful approaches to unsettling Western archival paradigms from Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia, this book showcases vital community archival work that will illuminate decolonial archival practices for archivists, curators, heritage practitioners, and others responsible for the stewardship of materials by and about Indigenous communities.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Australia; Canada; Colonisation; Community Based Archival Description; New Zealand; Protocols; Provenance; UNDRIP; United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People; United States of America

Shaping Archaeological Archives: Dialogues between Fieldwork, Museum Collections, and Private Archives - Raja, Rubina (Brepols, 2023)
Most of the book's case studies explore archaeological sites in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Some contributions showcase the depth of research on archaeological archives as a representation of past excavations and surveys and the colonial context.
Keywords: 2023-10 November

Disney says in lawsuit that DeSantis-appointed government is failing to release public records - Schneider, Mike (AP News, 2023)
Disney has filed a lawsuit claiming that the oversight government for Walt Disney World, which was taken over by appointees of Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year, has failed to release documents and properly preserve records in violation of Florida public records law.
Keywords: 2023-12 December

Guidelines for Identifying Relevant Documentation for Holocaust Research, Education and Remembrance - International Holocaust Rememberance Alliance (IHRA) (IHRA, 2022)
For decades, a significant amount of the documentation bearing on the Holocaust and its historical context has been scattered, endangered and in many cases made inaccessible.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

We must ‘rehumanise ourselves’: Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour - Hilden, Nick (Al Jazeera, 2022)
The prominent painter says that peace is possible when everyone is considered a human being and ‘has the same rights’.

Germany rejects new negotiations over Namibia genocide - Pelz, Daniel (DW, 2022)
Berlin insists on implementing a controversial deal that recognizes the colonial-era genocide in Namibia. The plan draws strong criticism from politicians and some descendants of the victims, who demanded fresh talks.

Germany rejects new negotiations over Namibia genocide - Pelz, Daniel (DW, 2022)
Berlin insists on implementing a controversial deal that recognizes the colonial-era genocide in Namibia. The plan draws strong criticism from politicians and some descendants of the victims, who demanded fresh talks.

The Congo Free State: What Could Archives Tell Us? - Van Schuylenbergh, Patricia; Leduc-Grimaldi, Mathilde (Peter Lang Editions, 2022)
Through the remains of court cases, company archives and private archives, renowned historians and archivists have revisited in this book lesser-known or long-lost archives that are crucial for a deeper understanding of the 30 years of the Congo Free State that marked Belgium’s entry into the colonial era.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Congo Free State

Cultural Survival and Partners Submit Report on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights for Mexico’s Universal Periodic Review - Cultural Survival (Cultural Survival, 2021)
Under the public eye, Mexico has shown itself to be a fervent advocate of Indigenous rights at both the international and domestic levels. Nevertheless, violence against Indigenous Peoples is prevalent in the country.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)