Human Rights

Correction: Trump’s Pick to Head CIA Did Oversee torture at Thai black site but Not of Abu Zubaydah On Feb. 22, 2017, ProPublica published a story that inaccurately described Gina Haspel’s role in the treatment of Abu Zubaydah, a suspected al-Qaida leader who was imprisoned by the CIA at a secret “black site” in Thailand […]

Human Rights

Western Man jailed for “insulting” UAE online

contributors

Middle East Monitor | – – A 39-year-old teacher* has been jailed and forced “to sign a fake confession” in the UAE following “an electronic insult” on social media. The teacher was arrested in October 2017 while working as a teacher in Abu Dhabi. His mother says he is being held in filthy conditions and […]

BDS Occupied Territories

ACLU: US Congress ban on Boycotting Israel is Unconstitutional

contributors

TeleSur | – – The bipartisan bill was rewritten after criticism by civil rights advocates but it remains challenged by the ACLU. The legal advocacy group American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced Tuesday their opposition to a revised draft of a legislation targeting the growing pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The ACLU criticized […]

Authoritarianism

The New Censorship: Beware Authoritarian leaders claiming to Fight “Fake News”

contributors

By Courtney C. Radsch | (Project Syndicate) | – – Laws meant to curb “fake news” may be well intentioned, but their implementation has been sloppy, with few mechanisms to ensure accountability, transparency, or reversibility. Governments are outsourcing censorship to the private sector, where maximizing shareholder value, not upholding journalistic freedom, drives decision-making. WASHINGTON, DC […]

Displaced and Refugees

Anger as Israel begins deportation of African Refugees

contributors

By Tanja R. Müller | (The Conversation) | – – Around 20,000 Israelis and African migrants took to the streets in Tel Aviv on February 24, protesting against a government policy of detaining and deporting African asylum seekers who refuse to leave the country. A few days earlier, a group of Eritrean asylum seekers held […]

censorship

Saudi Arabia, UN Human Rights Council Member, Continues Rights Crackdown

contributors

By Khalid Ibrahim, executive director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) an independent, non-profit organisation that promotes freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in the Gulf region and its neighbouring countries. Saudia Arabia, a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), continues its crackdown on human rights. The HRC, consisting […]

Bashar al-Assad

The Age of Total War in Syria

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – One of the most distressing take-aways of the Syria War since 2011 is that the United Nations does not work and all the hopes of the framers of its charter in 1945 have been dashed. World War II was a total war that polished off some […]

Displaced and Refugees

Saudi Arabia’s Filthy Lucre & its War on Yemen’s Civilians

contributors

By Daniel Martin Varisco | (MENA Tidningen) | – – “Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.” (Titus 1:11) Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have pledged to provide over $1 billion to address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen that they have […]

censorship

Israel to Deny Benefits for Pro-Boycott Citizens, Local Groups

contributors

TeleSur | – – The government will create a blacklist for local individuals and groups known to support the pro-Palestinian boycott movement against Israel. Israel is ramping up its crackdown on the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as the government plans a blacklist for citizens and companies in Israel that support the movement to […]