Jordan's fight for online freedom of expression - Global Voices MENA (Global Voices, 2023)
Jordan's endorsement of the controversial "Cybercrime Law" fuels concerns about online freedom and data privacy. It also echoes a larger conflict between security and rights.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Belarus detains national archivists - Green, Lincoln (Daily Kos, 2023)
RFE/RL’s Belarus service reports that today Belarus’s secret police, called the KGB, detained at least seven employees of the National Archives of Belarus, including the deputy director of science and multiple department heads. No reason have been given.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Combat Anti-Black Racism on Social Media - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
The Chinese government should acknowledge and condemn anti-Black racism prevalent on the Chinese internet and adopt measures to promote tolerance and fight prejudice.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Colonisation by capital - Campbell, Rob (E-Tangata, 2023)
“Imprisonment and forced labour, here and for Indigenous people in the Pacific Islands, were a deliberate means of breaking property and traditional work practice into the mould of capital.” — Rob Campbell reviews 'Blood and Dirt'.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Aoteoroa; Prison Labour

‘There’s no such thing as a neutral algorithm’: the existential AI exhibition confronting Sydney - Gorman, Alyx (The Guardian, 2023)
Artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Atmospheric Memory allows visitors to interact with generative tech – and become part of the show in unexpected ways
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Art; Art and design; Artificial intelligence (AI); Australia news; Computing; Culture; Sydney; Technology

‘Macabre curiosities’: top US medical museum confronts skeletons of its past - Helmore, Edward (The Observer, 2023)
Mütter Museum in Philadelphia at centre of ethics dispute over provenance of its collection of skulls, fetuses and body parts
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Culture; Museums; Philadelphia; US news; World news

The Censors Down Under: The ACMA Gambit on Misinformation and Disinformation - Kampmark, Binoy (International Policy Digest, 2023)
Can or should countries legislate disinformation? Australia just might try.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

A tsunami of AI misinformation will shape next year’s knife-edge elections - Naughton, John (The Observer, 2023)
If you thought social media had a hand in getting Trump elected, watch what happens when you throw AI into the mix
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Artificial intelligence (AI); ChatGPT; Computing; OpenAI; Politics; Social media; Technology; US elections 2024; US news; US politics

Cultural appropriation and the erasure of cultural diversity - Pita Vaca, Irene Mairemí; Collazos Gottret, Isabel (Global Voices, 2023)
Cultural appropriation is a sensitive topic, prone to endless misinterpretations, because it touches the heart of who we are: a mixture of cultures difficult to unravel. Questioning “the cultural” in Bolivia provokes resistance, due to its strong intimate and identity component and, above all, because we do not know the histories of the cultures that surround us.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Genocide; Holocaust

California dreamin’: scenes of Black joy and leisure in the Jim Crow era – in pictures - The Guardian (The Guardian, 2023)
Historian Dr Alison Rose Jefferson has collected archival photos from the Jim Crow era that bring to life the stories of African Americans who settled by the beach, creating popular gathering places that challenged white supremacy.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; California; Race; US news

Neurotech: should our brains have rights? - Geneva Solutions - Langrand, Michelle (Geneva Solutions, 2023)
As technology unlocks the doors to our minds, scientists urge for human rights protection. Imagine being able to watch your long-lost childhood memories on a screen or suppress a traumatic experience.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

‘Our history is rotting away’: the newspaper archivists preserving Nigeria’s past - Adetayo, Ope (The Guardian, 2023)
Coups, civil wars, dictators, democracy … all the headlines that tell the country’s story since independence in 1960 are to be saved for posterity by an ambitious archive project
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Africa; Global development; Media; Newspapers; Newspapers & magazines; Nigeria; World news

Dissident republicans claim to have data from PSNI breach, says chief constable - Carroll, Rory (The Guardian, 2023)
Dissident republicans claim to possess some of the information from the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s “industrial-scale” data breach, the chief constable says.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Northern Ireland; Police; UK news

Even in a democracy like Canada, journalists often face efforts to keep information from the public - Fenlon, Brodie (CBC News, 2023)
Media spend time and money fighting lack of access, publication bans, secret trials.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Democracy

Disinformation fuels church protest against gender equality in North Macedonia - Metamorphosis Foundation (Global Voices, 2023)
The iconography of June 29 protest, organized by Macedonian Orthodox Church and right-wing political parties, included religious and nationalist symbols, Russian flags and participation by pro-Kremlin politicians and associations.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

UN experts demand information on nine imprisoned human rights defenders - UN News (UN News, 2023)
UN-appointed independent rights experts have called on the Chinese Government to provide information about nine Tibetan human rights defenders serving prisoner sentences of up to 11 years.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Paradigm Initiative joins the National Coalition on Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation in Kenya - Zawya (Zamya, 2023)
The national coalition aims to address critical issues surrounding freedom of expression, content moderation and dis/misinformation in the digital age
Keywords: 2023-08 August

India passes data protection law amid surveillance concerns - Blassy Boben (Zamya, 2023)
The law will allow companies to transfer some users' data abroad while giving the government power to seek information from firms
Keywords: 2023-08 August

PQ to table legislation seeking expenses of No campaign during 1995 referendum - Denoncourt, Jean-Philippe; Canadian Press (Montreal Gazette, 2023)
The result of the referendum was so close that supporters have often accused the No side of having bent the rules on campaign financing.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Fraud; Quebec; Referendum

DIFC issues first-of-its-kind adequacy decision regarding the California Consumer Privacy Act - Fahaam, Tariq Al (Zamya, 2023)
The decision facilitates personal data transfers between DIFC and California-based entities in accordance with the DP Law 2020
Keywords: 2023-08 August

African tech startups take aim at AI 'colonialism' - Harrisberg, Kim; News, Reuters (2023)
While fears of data colonialism - the appropriation of Global South data by Big Tech - are not unique to Africa, tech researchers say weak AI regulations across the continent heighten the risk
Keywords: 2023-08 August

LGBTQ+ veterans file civil rights suit against Pentagon over discriminatory discharges - Kegu, Jessica; Axelrod, Jim; Samu, Shewna (CBS News, 2023)
A group of LGBTQ+ veterans who were kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation filed a federal civil rights suit on Tuesday over the Defense Department's failure to grant them honorable discharges or remove biased language specifying their sexuality from their service records following the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" in 2010.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Class action; Veterans

Restitution of human remains: Repairing the mistakes of the past - Le Monde (Le Monde.fr, 2023)
French lawmakers are working on a bill that would facilitate the return of human remains, which would help repair the damage caused by colonization. But sorting through the thousands of remains in national collections will require far greater human resources.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Decolonization

Germany arrests military officer suspected of spying for Russia - Reuters (Reuters, 2023)
German prosecutors have arrested an officer of the military procurement agency on suspicion of passing secret information to Russian intelligence, the federal prosecutor's office said.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Public Data Getting Harder to Find in Mexico, Civil Rights Group Says - Reuters (US News & World Report, 2023)
Public information in Mexico is becoming more difficult to access under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) said on Wednesday as it showed that scores of government databases are no longer updated.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

How indigenous conservation protects Canada's environment - Walker, Kira (BBC News, 2023)
In Canada, centring conservation with the country's indigenous peoples is allowing its original stewards to reconnect to their land and culture – and proving remarkably effective.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Algonquin First Nation; Cultural; Environment; Environment and Land Defender; Human Rights Defenders; Indigenous Guardians; Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg

Files reveal Nixon role in plot to block Allende from Chilean presidency - Bartlett, John (The Guardian, 2023)
Days before Salvador Allende’s confirmation as Chile’s president in 1970, US President Richard Nixon met with a rightwing Chilean media mogul to discuss blocking the socialist leader’s path to the presidency, newly declassified documents have revealed.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Americas; Augusto Pinochet; CIA; Chile; Richard Nixon; US foreign policy; US news; World news

Ukraine creates database of art linked to sanctions-hit Russians - Boffey, Daniel (The Guardian, 2023)
Corruption agency hopes portal will ‘make it difficult for Russian oligarchs to sell such assets’
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Alberto Giacometti; Andy Warhol; Art; Europe; Francis Bacon; Ilya and Emilia Kabakov; Leonardo da Vinci; Roman Abramovich; Russia; The art market; The super-rich; Ukraine; World news

Secret Canada: We broke the printer twice - Carduso, Tom (The Globe and Mail, 2023)
Updates on the latest additions to the Secret Canada database, plus a behind-the-scenes look at the process of filing 400 FOI requests
Keywords: 2023-08 August; FOI; Freedom of Information; Health & Medical; Social Issues

Norway to fine Meta nearly $100,000 a day over data use - EURACTIV (www.euractiv.com, 2023)
Norway's data protection agency said on Tuesday (8 August) it would start fining Facebook and Instagram owner Meta nearly $100,000 per day for defying a ban on using users' personal information to target ads.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

‘Dependent on the forest’: The fight for indigenous peoples’ rights in the Congo Basin - Gabel, Barbara (France 24, 2023)
The tropical forests of the Congo Basin are home to nearly 1 million indigenous people. After thousands of years of survival, deforestation is perhaps their biggest challenge yet.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Internet shutdowns: here’s how governments do it - Garbe, Lisa (The Conversation, 2023)
Senegal’s government has shut down internet access in response to protests about the sentencing of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko. This is a tactic governments are increasingly used during times of political contention, such as elections or social upheaval.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Internet Shutdown

Descendants ask for restitution of Paris human zoo victims: 'People died, where are they?' - Guibert, Nathalie (Le Monde, 2023)
The bodies of eight Kalina people from French Guiana who died in 1892 are held in national collections. Their remains could be returned to their homeland, as the French government has pledged to facilitate restitutions to overseas territories.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Decolonization; French Guiana; Kalina; Reparation; Restitution

Medical exploitation of Black people in America goes far beyond the cells stolen from Henrietta Lacks that produced modern day miracles - Hawkins, Deion Scott (The Conversation, 2023)
Medical exploitation is an often overlooked part of Black history and partly explains the mistrust that members of the Black community have for the medical industry.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Black American; Henrietta Lacks

Belarus: How human rights defenders are being silenced - International Federation for Human Rights (International Federation for Human Rights, 2023)
Since 2020, human rights defenders have been one of the most actively persecuted social groups in Belarus. This massive crackdown has made it impossible for activists to engage in human rights work without risking their dignity, freedom and even their lives. All human rights organisations, independent media and trade unions have been closed down, and their activities were deemed extremist and constituting criminal offences.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Russia releases history schoolbook praising Ukraine invasion - Sauer, Pjotr (The Guardian, 2023)
Textbook apparently written in just five months is part of Kremlin’s tightening of control over historical narrative in schools
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Europe; Russia; Ukraine; World news

‘Increasingly brazen’ war crimes evident in Myanmar, reports Independent Mechanism - UN News (UN News, 2023)
The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) on Tuesday revealed compelling evidence of the country’s military and affiliate militias engaging in more frequent and audacious war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Re-imagining democracy for the 21st century, possibly without the trappings of the 18th century - Schneier, Bruce (The Conversation, 2023)
The modern representative democracy was the best form of government mid-18th-century technology could invent. The 21st century is a different place scientifically, technically and socially.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Democracy

Empire on the cheap — prison labour in the Pacific - Davidson, Jared (E-Tangata, 2023)
“Imprisoned workers were essential to creating the basic infrastructure of New Zealand’s Pacific empire. Government agents needed government buildings, so offenders who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) pay their fines built residencies, courthouses and other imperial premises.” — Jared Davidson.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Aotearoa; Prison Labour

Norway faces the difficult past (and present) of its treatment of indigenous peoples - Malinowski, Henryk (TVP World (Telewizja Polska), 2023)
A report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission may be an opportunity to repair the relations with the Indigenous peoples.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Forest Finns; Kven; Norwegian Finns; Sámi; Truth and Reconcilation Commission - Norway

Where did 20,000 Jews hide from the Holocaust? In Shanghai - Schuerman, Matthew (NPR, 2023)
In the late 1930s, as the Nazis stepped up their persecution of German and Austrian Jews, many countries in the West severely limited the number of visas they granted to refugees. But there was one place refugees could go without even obtaining a visa: Shanghai. An exhibit in New York explores a little-known chapter of World War II.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Holocaust; Shangai

Jordan's free speech boundaries tested with satire - Knell, Yolande (BBC News, 2023)
An Arabic magazine banned by Jordan for poking fun at a royal wedding hits back with ridicule.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Freedom of the Press; Satire

The Herculean task of digitizing Mexico’s vast Indigenous history - Thelmadatter, Leigh (Mexico News Daily, 2023)
The National Institute of Indigenous Peoples faces a monumental challenge: preserving over a century of documentation before it deteriorates.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Digitization; Preservation

No stone without a name - Warne, Kennedy (E-Tangata, 2023)
“Aboriginal people, if they appear at all in the landscape, are presented as ornamental figures, framing devices, exotic touches. Only rarely is their humanity expressed . . . Mostly they are simply absent.” — Kennedy Warne on the erasure of Aboriginal people in colonial art.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Aoteoroa; Land-based knowledge; Terra nullius

National archives to digitize, transfer 6 million pages of Indian day school records, official says | CBC News - Forester, Brett (CBC News, 2023)
Canada's national archives is working to identify, digitize and transfer six million pages of federal Indian day school records to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), the department head says.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Digitization; Library and Archives Canada; National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR); Reconciliation; Truth and Reconciliation Commission - Canada

New Project Will Recover the Names of Up to 10 Million People Enslaved in America Before Emancipation and Locate their Living Descendants - American Ancestors (Cision PR Newswire, 2023)
American Ancestors and Collaborators Announce the Launch of "10 Million Names," a Project to Honor the Family Histories of African Americans Whose Ancestors Lived Under Slavery, with a Permanent, Free, Publicly Accessible Database at 10MillionNames.org
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Ancient DNA reveals the living descendants of enslaved people through 23andMe - Callaway, Ewen (Nature, 2023)
A landmark genomic study raises the possibility that many more people could find links to distant ancestors through genetic analysis.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Databases; Genetics; History

“Death came to our home”. War crimes and civilian suffering in Sudan - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
Sudan: War crimes rampant as civilians killed in both deliberate and indiscriminate attacks. Read the Report
Keywords: 2023-08 August

USAID Releases Historic LGBTQ-Inclusive Development Policy - Cooper, Alex (Advocate, 2023)
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced its first-ever LGBTQI+ inclusive development policy, which will guide the agency’s inclusion of LGBTQ+ rights support in its programming.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Diversity; Inclusion; United States Agency for International Development (USAID); United States of America

International group working to identify Russian forces that carried out grisly war crimes on Kherson prisoners - Macias, Amanda (CNBC, 2023)
According to new evidence gathered by the investigation, at least 36 victims described the use of electrocution during interrogations of Kherson prisoners.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Kherson; Russian Army; Russian Federation; War Crimes

Distortion of the Roma genocide and anti-Roma discrimination today - Míšková, Anna (IHRA, 2023)
To mark Roma Genocide Remembrance Day on 2 August, the IHRA shares this article by Anna Míšková, Chair of the IHRA Committee on the Genocide of the Roma.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Pakistan: Training journalists on fact-checking in a humanitarian crisis - International Committee of the Red Cross (International Committee of the Red Cross, 2023)
Factual and responsible reporting by the media can help affected communities cope better by enhancing their knowledge, connecting them with first responders, highlighting their needs and providing access to authorities.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Civil Society Space in Southern Africa Shrinking as Repression Rises - Bagana, Bufani (Inter Press Service, 2023)
Freedom of expression is under threat as governments in Southern Africa have enacted laws restricting civil society organizations.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Civil Rights; Freedom of Expression; Repression

‘Denying our humanity’: how Santa Monica decimated a thriving Black community - Levin, Sam (The Guardian, 2023)
African Americans helped build the iconic beach town, historian Alison Rose Jefferson details as California weighs reparations.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; California; California reparations; Race; US news

Declassified protocols indicate Golda Meir considered Palestinian statehood - Staff, Toi (The Times of Israel, 2023)
Documents show that former prime minister gave serious thought to possibility of formation of a Palestinian entity, despite public comments.
Keywords: 2023-08 August; Golda Meir; Palestine; Palestinian Statehood

Liberty, equality … embroidery: the political power of textile art - Fisher, Alice (The Observer, 2023)
A series of exhibitions this summer and autumn highlight the protest woven into stitchwork
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Art; Art and design; Craft; Culture; Sewing; UK news

Zimbabwe’s ‘Patriotic Act’ erodes freedoms and may be a tool for repression - Sithole, Tinashe (The Conversation, 2023)
Opposition activists have previously been accused of treason and unpatriotic behaviour for expressing concerns about human rights abuses.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Racism in Finland: Government minister embroiled in shocking new row - Dougall, David Mac (euronews, 2023)
Minister for Economic Affairs Wille Rydman only took up his role recently, after his predecessor quit for his own racist views and links to neo-Nazi groups.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Tina Ngata: Waiting for the fox to give the henhouse back - Ngata, Tina (E-Tangata, 2023)
“Those in power are so accustomed to extreme privilege that anything less than maintaining that feels like oppression.” — Tina Ngata.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Aotearoa; Government; Racism; Work Place

EU sanctions Russians over Ukraine war disinformation - Staff Writer (2023)
"We are targeting those carrying out information manipulation and interference as part of a broader hybrid campaign by Russia against the EU and the member states," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Ada Nield Chew: The factory girl who fought for women’s rights - Watterson, Kaleigh (BBC News, 2023)
Campaigners hope to remember forgotten tailor Ada Nield Chew by building a statue of her in Crewe.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Labor Rights

Whipped Peter: The Photograph That Exposed the Brutality of American Slavery - Africana, Talk (TalkAfricana, 2023)
Gordon, also known as "Whipped Peter," was a former enslaved man who became famous for being the subject of photographs that revealed the extensive scarring on his back from the brutal whippings he endured during slavery.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Slavery; Whipped Peter; Whipping

Survivors Speak Out on Sexual Violence in West Darfur - Bader, Laetitia (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
Nusra and Khadija share the bond of being cousins and of living in the same small town in West Darfur. Now they share a darker bond: both survivors of sexual violence in the conflict in Sudan.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Human Rights; Women's Rights

Brazil: descendants of Africans who escaped slavery gain census recognition - Malleret, Constance (The Guardian, 2023)
Groundbreaking data counts 1.3m quilombola, historically excluded population whose communities were founded by fugitive enslaved people
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Americas; Brazil; World news

Iran: International community must stand with women and girls suffering intensifying oppression - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
The Iranian authorities are doubling down on their oppressive methods of policing and severely oppressing Iranian women and girls for defying degrading compulsory veiling laws, Amnesty International said today. In a detailed analysis published today, the organization exposes the authorities’ intensified nationwide crackdown on women and girls who choose not to wear headscarves in public.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Human rights tribunal approves $23B revised First Nations child-welfare compensation deal | CBC News - Major, Darren (CBC News, 2023)
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal approved a $23.4-billion revised agreement to compensate victims of the underfunded First Nations child-welfare system on Wednesday.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Children Health; First Nations; Reconciliation; Reparation; Sixty Scoop

‘We hid our stock in case we were raided’: Scotland’s pioneering LGBTQ+ bookshop - Goh, Katie (The Guardian, 2023)
Opened two years after the country legalised ‘homosexual acts’, Lavender Menace made a huge impact. Now it has opened a public queer books archive.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Books; Booksellers; Culture; Edinburgh; LGBTQ+ rights

Scholars uncover censored Hebrew texts in Vatican collection - The Jerusalem Post - Klein, Zvika (The Jerusalem Post, 2023)
A group of over 20 Christian and Jewish clergy and scholars from around the world had come together for a once-in-a-lifetime experience – a captivating journey through time, delving into the treasures of the Vatican's Hebrew manuscript collection.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Mexican security forces were complicit in kidnapping of 43 student teachers, report reveals - Reuters (The Guardian, 2023)
Report finds army, navy, police and intelligence agencies knew, minute by minute, where the student teachers were
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Americas; Mexico; World news

Some advocates want residential school abuse records re-examined, archived as debate on their future continues - Canadian Press (Radio-Canada.ca, 2023)
Under Supreme Court ruling, transcripts will be destroyed by 2027 unless survivors want them archived
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Destruction of documents; Reconciliation; Residential Schools

DR Congo: Deadly Militia Raid on Ituri’s Displaced - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
Militia fighters killed at least 46 civilians, half of them children, and pillaged and burned a displaced people’s camp on June 12, 2023, in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern Ituri province.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

The EU and WFP provide cash assistance to internally displaced and crisis affected Iraqis missing civil documentation - Iraq | ReliefWeb - World Food Programme (World Food Programme, 2023)
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Iraq welcomed a generous €5 million contribution from the European Union (EU) to provide cash assistance to internally displaced and crisis-affected Iraqis missing one or more essential civil documents until they are integrated within the national social safety net.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Tunisia: Human rights at risk two years after President Saied’s power grab - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
In the second year since Tunisian President Kais Saied’s power grab, Tunisian authorities have taken further steps towards repression by jailing dozens of political opponents and state critics, violated the independence of the judiciary, dismantled institutional human rights safeguards, and incited discrimination against migrants, Amnesty International said today. “Decree by decree, blow by blow, President Saied and his government have dramatically undermined respect for human rights in Tunisia since his power grab in July 2021. In doing so, he has stripped away basic freedoms that Tunisians fought hard to earn and fostered a climate of repression and impunity. The Tunisian authorities must immediately reverse this treacherous trajectory and uphold their international human rights obligations,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Kaïs Saïed

Opinion: Israel's Government Has Declared a War on Women - Gouri, Hamutal (Haaretz, 2023)
As it is poised to pass another bill that will roll back women's rights, Israel's far-right government should not underestimate the power of the rage and courage of women who refuse to see their rights usurped in the name of a conservative, religious and messianic agenda.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Benjamin Netanyahou; Democracy; Judicial Coup; Judicial Reform

Barack Obama's Defense of Librarians Amid 'Profoundly Misguided' Book Bans and Attacks - Obama, Barack (FlaglerLive, 2023)
"You’re on the front lines – fighting every day to make the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and ideas available to everyone," Obama tells librarians in a letter. "Your dedication and professional expertise allow us to freely read and consider information and ideas, and decide for ourselves which ones we agree with."
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Our land died so others could live - Hele, Christopher-Ikimotu (E-Tangata, 2023)
“New Zealand’s history of colonialism with Banaba should be part of the current education curriculum. Students should understand how Banaba had to die for New Zealand’s grazing agriculture to live.”
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Aotearoa; Banaba; Pacific Island

Putting Pākehā in the shoes of a colonised people - Tihema, Baker (E-Tangata, 2023)
“I wanted to write something that puts Pākehā in the shoes of a colonised people. I want them to imagine a world in which their principles and values are routinely laughed at.”
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Aotearoa; Colonialism; Maori; Public Service; Racism

Cambodia: Election takes place under cloud of human rights crisis - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
The human rights situation in Cambodia has severely deteriorated since the last national election in 2018, Amnesty International’s interim Deputy Regional Director for Research Montse Ferrer said today, ahead of Sunday polls expected to be dominated by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party after the sole viable opposition group was blocked from participating. “Authorities in Cambodia have spent the past five years picking apart what’s left of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. There is a growing crackdown on human rights in Cambodia. Many people feel that they are being forced to participate in this election despite their party of choice not being on the ballot.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Government; Human Rights

Switzerland: the art of decolonizing a country without colonies - Pinoja, Letizia Gaja (JusticeInfo.net, 2023)
Why is Switzerland, a country that has never had colonies, starting to talk about colonialism and decolonization? Are the Swiss ready to hear it?
Keywords: 2023-07 July

US: Texas Officials Put Migrants in Danger - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
Reports that migrants and asylum seekers, including children, have been pushed back by Texas officials, stranded in sweltering heat, and wounded by razor wire installed under Operation Lone Star should be investigated and all federal support to the operation ended.
Keywords: 2023-08 August

Disinformation reimagined: how AI could erode democracy in the 2024 US elections - Robins-Early, Nick (The Guardian, 2023)
Advances in generative artificial intelligence could supercharge the propaganda playbook, experts warn.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Technology; US elections 2024; US news; US politics

Warsaw Ghetto's defiant Jewish doctors secretly documented the medical effects of Nazi starvation policies in a book rediscovered on a library shelf - Rosenberg, Irwin; Fitzpatrick, Merry (The Conversation, 2023)
The story behind the research can be as compelling as the results. Recording the effects of starvation, a group of Jewish doctors demonstrated their dedication to science – and their own humanity.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Medical Doctor; Nazi; Personal Diary; Starvation; War Crimes; Warshaw Ghetto

Opinion | Leave No One Behind: We Need a Rights-Based Approach to Climate Displacement - Baldi, Stefano; John, Anju Anna (Common Dreams, 2023)
Migration needs to be approached as a form of reparation by countries and businesses that have historically contributed most to the problem we face today.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Climate Displacement; Migration; Refugees

Margaret Thatcher praised Tony Blair for supporting US after 9/11, files reveal - Davies, Caroline (The Guardian, 2023)
‘I greatly admire the resolve you are showing,’ former PM said in handwritten note released to National Archives.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Foreign policy; Margaret Thatcher; National Archives; Politics; September 11 2001; Tony Blair; UK news; US news; World news

Colombia: unburying of a political smear against transitional justice - Liévano, Andrés Bermúdez (JusticeInfo.net, 2023)
The resounding confessions of soldiers before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) disproved a vast campaign of disinformation to discredit the transitional justice process in Colombia.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Disinformation; Transitional Justice

A Bibliometric Analysis of Research at the Nexus of Climate Change, Human Mobility, and Human Rights - Patrama, Yuda (Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI), 2023)
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) has developed this bibliometric analysis of existing literature at the nexus of work on climate change, human mobility, and human rights.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Human Rights; Migration; Refugees

Biden’s ‘Final’ Order on Kennedy Files Leaves Some Still Wanting More - Baker, Peter (The New York Times, 2023)
The president has finished a review first mandated by law in 1992, and while a vast majority of papers related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy have been released, some remain redacted.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Archives and Records; Assassinations and Attempted Assassinations; Biden, Joseph R Jr; Central Intelligence Agency; Conspiracy Theories; Espionage and Intelligence Services; Kennedy, John Fitzgerald; Oswald, Lee Harvey; United States Politics and Government; internal-open-access-from-nl

What does restorative justice look like? - Adams, Caralee (The Hechinger Report, 2023)
Maryland lawmakers prioritized the alternative disciplinary practice four years ago, but the rollout has been complicated.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Maryland; Restorative Justice

Stalin erased one generation of Ukraine’s artists. Now Putin is killing another – including my friend - Higgins, Charlotte (The Guardian, 2023)
An archive holding works by writers purged in the 1930s also hosted Victoria Amelina, lost to a Russian strike this summer.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Books; Culture; Europe; Literary festivals; Ukraine

City of Spies: DC Is the World Capital of Espionage - Beaujon, Andrew; Hruby, Patrick; Mullins, Luke; McNamara, Sylvie (Washingtonian, 2023)
From spy attractions around town to intelligence recruitment at local colleges, the city is a hot bed for spy activity.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Washington DC

Canada forcibly sterilized Indigenous women after other countries stopped - Cheng, Maria (ICT News, 2023)
A Senate report found that the genocidal practice is continuing today, including a case as recently as 2019.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Colonialism; Sterilization; Women's Rights

Egypt: Civilians Fleeing Sudan Conflict Turned Away - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
The Egyptian government’s decision in June 2023 to require all Sudanese to obtain visas to enter Egypt has reduced access to safety for women, children, and older people fleeing the ongoing conflict in Sudan.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Egypt

Mali: Mounting Islamist Armed Group Killings, Rape - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
Islamist armed groups have carried out widespread killings, rapes, and lootings of villages in northeast Mali since January 2023.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Sexual Violence

The 10 second rule: Why are Italians groping themselves in protest? - Mouriquand, David (euronews, 2023)
Italian social media users are expressing outrage after judges said groping had to last 10 seconds to be considered sexual assault.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Native American leaders visit site of archeological dig to find remains of boarding school students - Ahmed, Trisha; Neibergall, Chsrtlie (Two Row Times, 2023)
Archeologists resumed digging Tuesday at the remote site of a former Native American boarding school in central Nebraska, searching for the remains of children who died there decades ago. The search for a hidden cemetery near the former Genoa Indian Industrial School in Nebraska gained renewed interest after the discovery of hundreds of children’s remains at other Native American boarding school sites across the U.S. and Canada since 2021, said Dave Williams, the state’s archeologist whose team is digging at the site.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Bording School; Industrial School; Native Americans; Nebraska

Viet Nam: Drop charges and immediately release activist sentenced to six years in prison - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
“The unfair charges and inhumane prison conditions shows the Vietnamese authorities’ willingness to systematically silence dissent in direct violation of international human rights law."
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Kenneth Myrie and the ‘missing file’ - Edmond Campbell (Jamaica Gleaner, 2023)
IT WAS a matter that felt like life or death. Kenneth Myrie’s health was declining rapidly and he wanted a copy of his medical records dating back to 2004 to determine what type of medical procedure was carried out on him at the Kingston Public.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Giuliani and election fraud promoters didn't vet claims, new court documents show | CNN Politics - Polantz, Katelyn; Sneed, Tirney; Holmes, Lybrand; CNN (CNN, 2023)
New court filings in a defamation lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani show the promoters of the election fraud narrative after Donald Trump lost the presidency failed to do basic vetting of the claims they were touting – and didn’t see such vetting as necessary.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Disinformation; Donald Trump; Electoral Fraud; Rudy Giuliani

Scourge of racism haunts Black women and girls seeking healthcare | UN News - UNFPA (UN News, 2023)
Women and girls of African descent face a “systemic and historical pattern” of racial abuse in the health sector in countries across the world, leaving them at increased risk of death during childbirth, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency said on Wednesday. |
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Black Women; Women's Rights

122 million more people pushed into hunger since 2019 due to multiple crises, reveals UN report - World Health Organization (World Health Organization, 2023)
Over 122 million more people are facing hunger in the world since 2019 due to the pandemic and repeated weather shocks and conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published today jointly by five United Nations specialized agencies.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Food Security and Nutrition

In West and Central Africa, authorities must fight corruption and uphold the human rights of those who expose it - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
West and Central African states must stop persecuting human rights defenders who expose corruption, bribery and abuse of office, and instead take concrete and effective measures to protect and support them, Amnesty International said today, in observing African Anti-Corruption Day. Today marks the 20th anniversary of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Human Rights Defenders; Middle Africa; Western Africa

A fire destroyed millions of veterans' records. 50 years later, families are still seeking answers - Breed, Allen G.; Herschaft, Randy (Yahoo!, 2023)
he July 12, 1973, fire in Overland, Missouri, consumed an estimated 16 to 18 million personnel files, the vast majority covering the period just before World War I through 1963. It’s believed to be the largest loss of records in one catastrophe in U.S. history.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Access; Veterans Affairs

Sudan: Darfur Town Destroyed - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied Arab militias summarily executed at least 28 ethnic Massalit and killed and injured dozens of civilians on May 28, 2023, in Sudan’s West Darfur state.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Mothers of Srebrenica: ‘Sadly, the killing continues in the world’ | UN News - UN News (UN News, 2023)
The pointe shoes were a testament to unfulfilled hopes. They belonged to a young ballet dancer from Bosnia and Herzegovina whose life was forever changed by the brutal conflict that broke out in the heart of Europe at the end of the 20th century and were on display at UN Headquarters in New York to educate visitors about the horrors of war and genocide.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Genocide; Justice; Mothers of Srebrenica

Uni blocked questions over controversial royal archive - Williams, Martin (openDemocracy, 2023)
Press officers were told to “ignore” enquiries about the Mountbatten diaries, saying: “Let the answerphone get it”.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Mountbatten Diaries

Parliament to vote on groundbreaking EU 'compensation right' against pollution - Elissaiou, Annita (www.euractiv.com, 2023)
Environment and health groups are pushing for more robust measures to protect EU citizens’ fundamental right to health and clean air, in a joint letter sent to MEPs on Thursday.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Sri Lanka: The fate of a protest that toppled a president - Ethirajan, Anbarasan (BBC News, 2023)
One year after Sri Lanka's extraordinary people's protest, what has changed in the country?
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn: A radar for injustice - Husband, Dale (E-Tangata, 2023)
“When I see environmental destruction, ecological destruction, I’m compelled to do something. When I see human rights violations, I just feel aroha for people because, what's that saying? ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’”
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Twitter Blue accounts fuel Ukraine War misinformation - Sardarizadeh, Shayan (BBC News, 2023)
False and misleading posts about the Ukraine conflict continue to go viral on major social media platforms, as Russia's invasion of the country extends beyond 500 days. Some of the most widely shared examples can be found on Twitter, posted by subscribers with a blue tick, who pay for their content to be promoted to other users.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Propaganda; Technology; Twitter

Tuskegee Syphilis Study: The US Government's Infamous 40-Year Experiment on African Americans - Talk Africana (TalkAfricana, 2023)
For 40 years, from 1932 to 1972, the United States government conducted a controversial and unethical experiment known as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. This study targeted a vulnerable population - African American men - and exploited their trust, resulting in tragic consequences.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; African American; Medical Experimentation; Syphilis; Tuskegee Syphilis Study

Missing Mexican Journalist Found Dead With Messages Attached to His Chest - The Messenger - Chiaramonte, Perry (The Messenger News, 2023)
Data from Reporters Without Borders shows that at least 80 journalists have been murdered in Mexico in the last decade.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Journalism; Murder

Guatemala: Respect Election Results - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
Guatemalan authorities should respect the results of elections held on June 25, 2023, Human Rights Watch and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) said today. Concerned governments, including from Latin America, should urge the government and other authorities to ensure democratic values and respect the will of Guatemalans expressed at the polls.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Death of a radio host: the web of corruption, lies and revenge behind the killing of Martinez Zogo - ZAM magazine (The Guardian, 2023)
A dossier of bank slips detailing suspect payments of millions of dollars handed to the journalist brought the downfall of a political upstart in Cameroon. But it also led to Zogo’s murder. His colleagues went to investigate why.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Africa; Cameroon; Corruption; Global development; Governance; Journalist safety; Media; World news

Victoria Amelina: Ukraine and the meaning of home - Amelina, Victoria (The Guardian, 2023)
Before she was killed by a Russian missile strike, the acclaimed novelist and war crimes researcher wrote about growing up in Moscow’s shadow, and how she came to understand what being Ukrainian really meant
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Russia; Social Media; Vladimir Putin

Sudan: Sexual violence against women spikes - Hairsine, Kate (dw.com, 2023)
Dozens of women and girls have been raped and sexually assaulted by fighters in Sudan as the conflict approaches its third month.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; War Crimes

Tunisia: Crisis as Black Africans Expelled to Libya Border - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
Tunisian security forces have collectively expelled several hundred Black African migrants and asylum seekers, including children and pregnant women, to a remote, militarized buffer zone at the Tunisia-Libya border. The group includes people with both regular and irregular legal status in Tunisia, expelled without due process. Many reported violence by authorities during arrest or expulsion.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Libya

IACHR Welcomes Full Compliance with the Friendly Settlement Agreement in Case 12,756—El Aracatazzo Bar Massacre, Colombia - Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 2023)
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has decided to declare full compliance with Friendly Settlement Report 10/15, concerning Case 12,756—El Aracatazzo Bar Massacre, Colombia—and will stop monitoring it. This case concerns the international responsibility of the Colombian State for the deaths of 18 people on August 12, 1995, at the bar El Aracatazzo, in the municipality of Chigorodó, in Antioquia. The killings were allegedly perpetrated by members of paramilitary groups, in connivance with law enforcement officers at a checkpoint operated by the National Army's Infantry Battalion 46. These law enforcement officers allegedly failed to take protection measures to support civilians, despite having heard shots. They also allegedly failed to conduct a diligent criminal investigation and a disciplinary review of the people involved. The case went unpunished for more than 10 years.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Ile-a-la Crosse school settlement stalled by Saskatchewan says Ottawa - Needham, Fraser (APTN News, 2023)
A settlement for students who went the to Ile-a-la Crosse residential school is stalled because Saskatchewan refuses to negotiate says Ottawa.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Inside Barbados' Historic Push for Slavery Reparations - Ross, Janell (Time, 2023)
How a tiny island became a global leader in the effort to demand meaningful recompense.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Reconciliation; Reparation; Slavery

Fighting to free the women and children enslaved by IS - Whright, Rachel (BBC News, 2023)
Yazidi groups are still looking for thousands of women and children who were enslaved.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; IS; Irak; Sexual Violence; Syrian Arab Republic; Women Rights

S’inspirer des savoirs autochtones pour préserver la planète - Ziker, John (The Conversation, 2023)
Les savoirs écologiques traditionnels (SET) n’ont plus à prouver leur efficacité concernant par exemple la gestion des ressources naturelles ou la diplomatie climatique.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Climate Change; Environment

Sudan: Neighbouring countries must provide safe passage to those fleeing conflict - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
Between 9 May and 16 June, Amnesty International interviewed 29 civilians faced with the difficult choice of whether to return to the conflict they fled, or remain stranded at the border, where they may wait for an indefinite period without basic supplies to maintain their health, privacy, and dignity.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Burundi Government Walks Out on UN Review - De Montjoye, Clementine (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
This week, Burundian authorities once again displayed their contempt for human rights by walking out of the country’s review before the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Geneva

Modi Supporters' Hate Speech Belies Claims of Indian Democracy During US Visit - Ganguly, Meenakshi (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the United States included yoga at the United Nations, an address to the U.S. Congress that promised strides in the bilateral partnership, and a lavish state dinner at the White House with 400 guests. President Joe Biden spoke of the “unlimited potential” of ties between India and the United States.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Recognising Human Rights Defenders as Remarkable Agents of Positive Change - Moore, Olive (Inter Press Service, 2023)
In recent years, the global landscape for human rights defenders (HRDs) has become more difficult and complex, with both new and heightened challenges. With hundreds of defenders killed every year, the scale and magnitude of threats faced by HRDs is unprecedented.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Netherlands: 'Historic victory' as law amended to recognize that sex without consent is rape - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
Responding to the news that the Netherlands’ House of Representatives has voted to amend the Sexual Offences Act by introducing a consent-based definition of rape.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Russia: Investigate vicious attack on Elena Milashina and Aleksandr Nemov in Chechnya - Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2023)
The vicious beating of Elena Milashina and Aleksandr Nemov by masked assailants in Chechnya this morning was an abhorrent act of violence that must not go unpunished
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Chechnya; Tchétchénie

Belgium's AfricaMuseum has a dark colonial past – it's making slow progress in confronting this history - Bobineau, Julien (The Conversation, 2023)
The restitution of looted objects from former colonies in Africa is an essential component of post-colonial reparation.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Colonialism; Decolonization

Hong Kong: Warrants Aim at Activists Abroad - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
Hong Kong authorities have issued baseless arrest warrants and HK$1 million (US$128,000) bounties on eight exiled democracy activists and former legislators that expand China’s political intimidation campaign beyond its borders.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Hongkong

Indigenous and local communities are getting land back - Aquino, Lyric (ICT News, 2023)
Between 2015 and 2020, Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, along with small, local communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, gained legal recognition to more than 247 million acres of land — an 85 percent increase. That’s according to a new report from Rights and Resources Initiative, a global nonprofit focused on land and resource rights.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Centre to prosecute alleged war crimes in Ukraine opens in The Hague - Euro News (euronews, 2023)
After months of lobbying from Kyiv, the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) has opened in The Hague, Netherlands. #EuropeNews
Keywords: 2023-07 July; The Natherlands

How to have informed and respectful conversations about Indigenous issues like the Voice - Hill, Braden; Gringart, Eyal; Macdonald, Maryanne; Somerville, Robert Stanly; Booth, Sarah (The Conversation, 2023)
As the Voice referendum approaches, it is becoming more important to facilitate constructive and sensitive discussions. New research shows how to approach this.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Referendum; The Voice

Meet the ‘headstrong historian’ bringing Africa’s past to life – for Africans - Kimeu, Caroline (The Guardian, 2023)
A visit to Nairobi’s archives led to a ‘eureka moment’ for Kenyan Chao Tayiana. She set out to retell colonial narratives – using digital technology to bring lost and suppressed stories to light.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Africa; Colonialism; Global development; History; Kenya; Rail transport; Uganda

Senegal: behind the protests is a fight for democratic freedoms - Ndiaye, Bamba; Riedl, Rachel Beatty (The Conversation, 2023)
President Macky Sall’s previous ambiguity on a third-term bid, perception of a weaponised justice system and arbitrary detention of opposition are the drivers of political violence in Senegal.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

'Why didn't we know?' is no excuse. Non-Indigenous Australians must listen to the difficult historical truths told by First Nations people - Payne, Anne Maree; Norman, Heidi (The Conversation, 2023)
Non-Indigenous Australians need to actively seek the truth about past violence and injustice against Indigenous Australians.
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Colonialism; Reconciliation; Referendum; The Voice

Femicide in Brazil: Inter-American Condemnation - Reale, Nicolette (Harvard International Review, 2023)
"Due to the governments’ lack of urgency and failure to implement change, international legal institutions have been brought in to help condemn and combat femicide in Latin America."
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Feminicide

‘Resistance is possible’: Ravish Kumar, the broadcaster risking his life to tell the truth about India​ today​ - Adams, Tim (The Observer, 2023)
The journalist’s fearless reporting on India under Narendra Modi cost him his job and freedom. Now broadcasting to millions on YouTube, he is the subject of a new documentary
Keywords: 2023-07 July; Culture; Documentary films; Freedom of speech; Human rights; India; Journalist safety; Media; Narendra Modi; South and central Asia; Television; World news

Corporate human rights abuses can be curbed across Africa with buy-in from governments to honour the UN treaty - Dera, Boaventura Monjane and Anesu (Daily Maverick, 2023)
On 28 and 29 June, community members, popular formations and civil society organisations from across the African continent gathered in Johannesburg to participate in the African Regional Indaba on the UN Binding Treaty on Transnational Corporations and Human Rights.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Countries toughen up borders against migration, ducking UN advice on human rights - Galindo, Gabriela (Geneva Solutions, 2023)
The UN’s top expert on the human rights of migrants warned that countries are increasingly adopting anti-immigration practices that heighten deadly risks for migrants, just days after catastrophic sinkings in the Mediterranean.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Mystery of Holocaust escape girls solved after 84 years - Lonsdale, Jo; Downs, Jane (BBC News, 2023)
For more than 80 years the identities of three girls captured in an iconic photograph were unknown.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

Ukraine Promises Inquiry into Banned Landmine Use - Human Right Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
The Ukrainian government should act on its expressed commitment not to use banned antipersonnel landmines, investigate its military’s use of these weapons, and hold those responsible to account. The government has said it would examine reports by Human Rights Watch and other groups that its forces used these weapons in operations to retake territory occupied by Russian forces.
Keywords: 2023-06 June; Russia-Ukraine War

Bolsonaro barred from political office for eight years - Timerman, Jordana (Latin America Daily Briefing, 2023)
Four judges of Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal have voted to bar former President Jair Bolsonaro from holding political office for eight years. A majority of the court’s seven magistrates ruled that Bolsonaro had violated Brazil’s election laws when, less than three months before last year’s vote, he summoned diplomats to the presidential palace and made baseless claims that the nation’s voting systems were likely to be rigged.
Keywords: 2023-07 July

UN rights office calls on France to address ‘deep issues’ of racism in policing - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (UN News, 2023)
Following a third night of riots and protests across France over the police shooting of a teenager of Algerian and Moroccan descent, the UN rights office (OHCHR) said it was time for the country to reckon with its history of racism in policing.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

Burkina Faso: Unlawful Killings, ‘Disappearances’ by the Army - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2023)
The Burkina Faso armed forces summarily executed at least 9 men, and forcibly disappeared and apparently killed 18 others in three incidents since February 2023 in Séno province.
Keywords: 2023-06 June

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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+

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