Torture

By Haroro J. Ingram with L. T. Anthony | (The Conversation) | – Syrian civilians are trapped in the middle of a holocaust: prizes in a ruthless contest for popular support and cannon fodder mercilessly slaughtered by forces with little regard for human life. Despite many groups being implicated in actions targeting civilian populations, the […]

Bahrain

Should Formula 1 be held in Major Human Rights Violator Bahrain?

contributors

VICE News | – “Formula 1’s annual Bahrain Grand Prix opened April 17 to global fanfare, but demonstrators in the small Gulf kingdom off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia have been protesting the motorsports event for weeks, accusing Formula 1’s management of ignoring longstanding human rights abuses in the country. This year’s race comes […]

Displaced and Refugees

Iraq: Shiite Militia atrocities During Fight Against ISIL & Iraq’s Response

contributors

Human Rights Watch | (New York) – Militias, volunteer fighters, and Iraqi security forces engaged in deliberate destruction of civilian property after these forces, following US and Iraqi air strikes, forced the retreat of Islamic State fighters (also known as ISIS) from the town of Amerli and surrounding areas in early September 2014, Human Rights […]

al-Qaeda

Syria: Signs of Popular Backlash Against al-Qaeda

contributors

By Robert S. Ford and Tony Ghazal Mouawad | (Informed Comment) As the Syrian civil war drags into its fifth year, the al-Qai’da linked Nusra Front [Support Front] has a reputation as being among the toughest fighters and has consolidated its position on the Syrian scene. At the same time, there are hints that many […]

Government surveillance

Battling Terrorism Shouldn’t Justify Torture, Spying: U.N. Rights Chief

contributors

By Thalif Deen | (IPS) UNITED NATIONS, Feb 5 2015 (IPS) – The United Nations, which is the legal guardian of scores of human rights treaties banning torture, unlawful imprisonment, degrading treatment of prisoners of war and enforced disappearances, is troubled that an increasing number of countries are justifying violations of U.N. conventions on grounds […]

Dissent

Saudis torture jailed Liberal Blogger w/ 1000 lashes for… Blogging

contributors

Human Rights Watch | (Beirut) — More Lashes Pending for Creating Liberal Website, Insulting Religious Authorities King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia should overturn the lashing and prison term for a blogger imprisoned for his views and immediately grant him a pardon. Saudi authorities lashed Raif Badawi 50 times on January 9, 2015, in front of […]

Apartheid

What would Happen if the Int’l Criminal Court Indicted Israel’s Netanyahu?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — If the International Criminal Court takes up Israeli government actions in the occupied Palestinian territories, it could well find specific officials guilty of breaches of the Rome Statute of 2002. Article 7 forbids “Crimes against Humanity,” which are systematically repeated war crimes. Among these offenses is murder, forcible […]

Apartheid

Europe Must follow Through on votes in Favor of Palestine Recognition

contributors

By John V Whitbeck European parliamentary resolutions urging their governments to recognise the State of Palestine must be followed by actual recognitions of the State of Palestine The European Parliament, after a late compromise in pursuit of consensus, has now passed, by a vote of 498 to 88 with 111 abstentions, a resolution stating that […]