Human Rights

San Francisco ( Tomdispatch.com) | – The long national nightmare that was the 2016 presidential election is finally over. Now, we’re facing a worse terror: the reality of a Trump presidency. Donald Trump has already promised to nominate a segregationist attorney general, a national security adviser who is a raging Islamophobe, a secretary of education […]

Children

2016 ‘One of worst Years in History for Children’: UNICEF

contributors

By Matthew Tempest | ( EurActiv.com ) | – – Syria: Abdulaziz (in red), 10, whose father was killed in the continuing conflict, spends time with his friends at the ‘Land of Childhood’ – two basements linked with a tunnel to create an underground playground that gives children a relatively safe place to have fun […]

Bashar al-Assad

Russia/Syria: War Crimes in Month of Bombing Aleppo

contributors

Human Rights Watch (New York) – The Russian-Syrian coalition committed war crimes during a month-long aerial bombing campaign of opposition-controlled territory in Aleppo in September and October 2016. The Violations Documentation Center, a Syrian civil monitoring organization, documented that the bombing campaign killed more than 440 civilians, including more than 90 children. Airstrikes often appeared […]

Bill of Rights

Will Trump Bring in a New Era of Surveillance and Torture?

contributors

TeleSur | – – Trump’s picks for important security positions look intent on rolling back civil liberties. While there are many questions about what U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will change once he officially takes office on Jan. 20, one of the biggest questions, and indeed concerns, is what a Trump administration will bring in terms […]

Displaced and Refugees

In Trump’s Shadow, is East Aleppo on Verge of falling to Regime, Russia?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | – – In the wake of the election of Donald Trump, the regime of Bashar al-Assad and its Russian backer have thrown caution to the wind. No less than the Republican Congress, Damascus and Moscow know that Barack Obama is a lame duck. Understanding that Trump campaigned on giving Syria to […]

Displaced and Refugees

WikiLeaks Yemen Files Unmask Washington’s Bloody Role

contributors

TeleSur | – – More than 10,000 – mostly civilians – have been killed and more than 3 million have been displaced in the conflict. Whistleblowing organization Wikileaks on Friday dropped yet another batch of files, this time detailing evidence of the United States arming, training and financing Yemeni forces in the build up to […]

Displaced and Refugees

Raining Bombs: Mosul Fight hits Trapped Civilians

contributors

By a Special Correspondent | Mosul | (Niqash.org) | – – Inside their homes, a lack of food and water; outside, bombs, snipers and crossfire. Yet many Mosul locals are choosing to stay in the city, even though it’s a war zone. Despite the fact that extremists have been driven out of their Mosul neighbourhood, […]

Human Rights Watch

Iraq: Hundreds of Police bodies found in ISIS Mass Grave

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – Witnesses Describe Executions (Erbil) – A mass grave discovered near Mosul by Iraqi Security Forces on November 7, 2016, most likely contains the bodies of at least 300 former local police officers executed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Witnesses said that they believe that at the […]

Displaced and Refugees

Dear Mayor Giuliani: We can’t turn our backs on Syrian Refugees

contributors

Akil Awan | (Informed Comment) | – – I recently visited Jordan as part of my work on political violence and youth radicalisation for the United Nations on Security Council Resolution 2250. Jordan borders Syria to its north, and although Jordanians display a remarkable sense of normalcy in their everyday lives, visitors cannot really escape […]