US House Passes Bill that Threatens Civil Society Organizations

https://www.hrw.org/breaking-news/2024/11/21/us-house-passes-bill-threatens-civil-society-organizations

On November 21, 2024, the US House of Representatives passed H.R. 9495, which would grant the secretary of the US Department of the Treasury unilateral authority to remove the tax-exempt status of any US nonprofit group that it designates a “terrorist supporting organization,” which the legislation does not clearly define. The bill does not require the government to provide evidence to support such a decision.

[gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/democracynow/2024/Nov/22/2](gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/feeds/democracynow/2024/Nov/22/2)

The House of Representatives on Thursday approved H.R. 9495, dubbed the
"nonprofit killer" by civil society groups. The measure would give the
incoming Trump administration broad authority to go after its critics by
revoking the tax-exempt status of any group it labels a "terrorist
supporting organization," with no evidence needed. The bill passed on a
219-184 vote, with 15 Democrats joining Republicans. H.R. 9495 has the
support of the Anti-Defamation League and other Israel lobby groups.
Critics warn the law would immediately target organizations fighting for
Palestinian rights. The bill's fate in the Senate remains uncertain.

#human-rights #human-rights-watch #hrw #civil-rights #trump #republicans #republican-party #civil-society #israel #palestine #palestinians #gaza

A Thousand Days of War in Ukraine

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/19/thousand-days-war-ukraine

November 19 marks 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This grim milestone highlights the immense suffering the war has brought to Ukrainian civilians in particular as a result of the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Russian forces.

#war #invasion #ukraine #russia #war-crimes #crimes-against-humanity #human-rights #human-rights-watch #hrw

A Thousand Days of War in Ukraine

November 19 marks 1,000 days since Russia’'s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This grim milestone highlights the immense suffering the war has brought to Ukrainian civilians in particular as a result of the war crimes and crimes...

US Immigration Agency Contract with Spyware Company Poses Risk to Rights

Systems Needed to Hold Industry, Governments to International Standards

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/17/us-immigration-agency-contract-spyware-company-poses-risk-rights

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a US government agency linked to human rights abuses, has contracted services from the Israeli spyware company Paragon, according to a government contracting website. Wired magazine first reported on the US$2 million contract, which the agency signed with Paragon in September.\
\
The contract summary doesn't name a specific product, but Paragon is best known for Graphite, a spyware tool that, like its competitor Pegasus, can bypass the encryption of many smartphones and give access to the data inside. In 2022, the New York Times reported that the US Drug Enforcement Agency was also using Paragon’s software. That same year, the Federal Bureau of Investigations sought to deploy Pegasus, developed and sold by NSO Group, but backed out in response to public pressure. One week after the Wired article was published, the contract summary was updated with a stop work order, but the current state of Paragon’s work for ICE is unclear.

#spyware #ice #immigration-and-customs-enforcement #us-government #usa #paragon-software #graphite #human-rights #human-rights-watch #hrw #fbi #pegasus #nso #israel #malware

US Immigration Agency Contract with Spyware Company Poses Risk to Rights

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a US government agency linked to human rights abuses, has contracted services from the Israeli spyware company Paragon, according to a government contracting website.

Facilitators of Imperialist Terror, Enemies of Socialism

https://dissidentvoice.org/2024/10/facilitators-of-imperialist-terror-enemies-of-socialism/

Tags: #West #NGO #imperalism #democracy #HRW

via dandelion* client (Source)

A Debate Tip for the Candidates — There’s a Correct Answer on Weapons to Israel

The correct answer is this: The United States will abide by its own laws and policies on any weapons sent to any ally.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/09/10/debate-tip-candidates-theres-correct-answer-weapons-israel

Several of those laws, and the policies that derive from them, curtail American weapons going to countries that have violated or are violating the rules governing war. The federal Foreign Assistance Act prohibits security assistance to any government that restricts the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid. The better-known Leahy laws, championed by now-retired Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, prohibits weapons from going to military units that have committed gross violations of human rights.

#human-rights-watch #human-rights #hrw #debate #israel #palestine #gaza #west-bank #war #conflict #weapons

A Debate Tip for the Candidates — There’s a Correct Answer on Weapons to Israel

Surely Harris and Trump will be asked about Israel and weapons again at the debate on Tuesday, especially given the reports of Hamas’ horrific killing of six hostages last month. So here is a quick primer on why the answer is simpler than they...

Human Rights Watch said surveillance technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and other digital tools help determine who or what to attack in Gaza and when, but rely on data collected through systematic Israeli surveillance of Gaza residents “in a manner that is incompatible with international human rights law”.

“The Israeli military’s use of these tools, instead of helping to provide more accurate targeting and minimise civilian loss of life and property, may be exacerbating the risk to civilians and raises grave ethical, legal, and humanitarian concerns.”

Human Rights Watch

#HRW
#surveillance
#AI
#Gaza #SaveGaza #StopIsrael #SaveTheChildren
#palestine #Israel #Politics #PeaceNow #StopTheWar #CeasefireNow @palestine @israel

For Afghan Women, Singing is Resistance

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/28/afghan-women-singing-resistance

Here we are, the women, the world,
Singing freedom like a bird
Rise up, my people,
Rise up, my friend.
Their boots might be on my neck.
Or their fists to my face.
But with our deep light inside
I will fight through this night.\
\
This is what I woke up to this morning. It has remained in my mind, repeating all day. The Taliban have recently issued a new law banning women from singing in public or letting their voices be heard outside the house. In response, Afghan women have been singing this song and other songs and posting videos of it on social media.

#human-rights #human-rights-watch #hrw #afghanistan #women #taliban #womens-rights #freedom #liberty #song #singing #resistance

For Afghan Women, Singing is Resistance

The Taliban have recently issued a new law banning women from singing in public or letting their voices be heard outside the house. In response, Afghan women have been singing this song and other songs and posting videos of it on social media.

Israel: Palestinian Healthcare Workers Tortured

ICC Prosecutor Should Investigate Attacks on Health Care, Detainee Abuses

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/26/israel-palestinian-healthcare-workers-tortured

Released doctors, nurses and paramedics described to Human Rights Watch their mistreatment in Israeli custody, including humiliation, beatings, forced stress positions, prolonged cuffing and blindfolding, and denial of medical care. They also reported torture, including rape and sexual abuse by Israeli forces, denial of medical care, and poor detention conditions for the general detainee population.

#human-rights-watch #hrw #israel #palestine #torture #rape #war-crime #war-crimes #health-care #prisoner-abuse #sexual-abuse #icc #idf

See also https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/26/palestinian-paramedics-ordeal-israeli-detention

Israel: Palestinian Healthcare Workers Tortured

Israeli forces have arbitrarily detained Palestinian healthcare workers in Gaza since hostilities began in October 2023, deported them to detention facilities in Israel, and allegedly tortured and ill-treated them.

Thailand: Constitutional Court Dissolves Opposition Party

Disbanding Move Forward Party, Banning Leaders a Blow to Democracy

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/07/thailand-constitutional-court-dissolves-opposition-party

The nine-judge Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that the Move Forward Party committed treason by advocating reform of Penal Code section 112 on lèse-majesté (insulting the monarchy) and imposed 10-year political bans on all of its executive members, who were in office from April 2021 to January 2024. The case had been brought by the national Election Commission.

#hrw #human-rights-watch #human-rights #thailand #freedom #liberty #civil-rights #move-forward-party #free-elections #anti-democratic #constitutional-court #treason

Thailand: Constitutional Court Dissolves Opposition Party

Thailand’s Constitutional Court dissolved the opposition Move Forward Party on August 7, 2024, based on politically motivated allegations, seriously damaging the country’s return to genuine democratic rule.

Gaza: Israeli Forces Open Fire While Storming Home

Investigate Unlawful Killings of Eight Civilians

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/08/gaza-israeli-forces-open-fire-while-storming-home

The attack killed seven people, including a pregnant woman, and severely injured two, including a 5-year-old. Witnesses also allege that Israeli forces shot a blind 73-year-old man after securing the building and forcing all other family members out. The incident should be investigated as a possible war crime, and forces involved should be held accountable.

#hrw #human-rights-watch #human-rights #israel #gaza #war-crime #war-crimes

Gaza: Israeli Forces Open Fire While Storming Home

Israeli forces stormed a Gaza City home on December 21, 2023, throwing grenades inside and opening fire on a room where a civilian family was sheltering. The attack killed seven people, including a pregnant woman, and severely injured two,...

Upcoming Cybercrime Treaty Will Be Nothing But Trouble

Backed By Russia, the New Treaty Aims to Stifle Dissent

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/07/upcoming-cybercrime-treaty-will-be-nothing-trouble

Cybercrime—the malicious hacking of computer networks, systems, and data—threatens people’s rights and livelihoods, and governments need to work together to do more to address it. But the cybercrime treaty sitting before the United Nations for adoption, presumably by August 9, could instead facilitate government repression. By expanding government surveillance to investigate crimes, the treaty could create an unprecedented tool for cross-border cooperation in connection with a wide range of offenses, without adequate safeguards to protect people from abuses of power.

#hrw #human-rights-watch #human-rights #cybercrime-treaty #united-nations #un #treaty #civil-rights #dissent

Upcoming Cybercrime Treaty Will Be Nothing But Trouble

Cybercrime—the malicious hacking of computer networks, systems, and data—threatens people’s rights and livelihoods, and governments need to work together to do more to address it. But the cybercrime treaty sitting before the United Nations for...

Israeli Lawmakers Try to Block Torture Prosecutions

End Grave Abuses Against Palestinian Detainees, Impunity for Abuses

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/31/israeli-lawmakers-try-block-torture-prosecutions

On July 29, Israeli military police arrested nine Israeli soldiers at the base on suspicion of “severe abuse” of a Palestinian detainee. News reports said the man was admitted to the hospital with broken ribs and life-threatening injuries to the anus and lungs.\
\
Soldiers barricaded themselves inside the base to prevent the arrests. Protesters against the arrests, including members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, pushed their way through the perimeter fence. When security forces removed the nine soldiers, protesters went to the Beit Lid military base, where the soldiers were eventually taken for questioning, and breached its perimeter as well.

#hrw #human-rights-watch #human-rights #israel #palestine #israelis #palestinians #torture #prisoners #detainees #abuse #prisoner-abuse

Israeli Lawmakers Try to Block Torture Prosecutions

A standoff at Israel’s Sde Teiman military base this week has thrown longstanding abuses against Palestinian detainees and the Israeli military’s history of impunity for torture into stark relief.

US Should End Solitary Confinement of Immigrants

Practice Harms Physical and Mental Health, Can Be Fatal

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/29/us-should-end-solitary-confinement-immigrants

Earlier this month, people being detained at California Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities began a labor and hunger strike to protest their conditions, including against the use of solitary confinement. Recent research documented the deep physical and psychological toll wrought by the use of solitary confinement in United States immigration detention centers.

#human-rights #human-rights-watch #hrw #solitary-confinement #immigration #immigrants #ice #california #immigration-detention #torture

US Should End Solitary Confinement of Immigrants

Earlier this month, people being detained at California Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities began a labor and hunger strike to protest their conditions, including against the use of solitary confinement.

Human Right Watch one side Questions and Answers: The #Hamas - Led Armed Groups' October 7, 2023 Assault on #Israel.
Internationalist 360° other side Devil in the Details: How #HRW Laundered Israel’s 7 October Falsehoods.
Nine months later: The Uncounted #Gaza Victims: Why Hundreds of Thousands Are Being Allowed to Die.

Questions and Answers: The Hamas-Led Armed Groups' October 7, 2023 Assault on Israel

Human Rights Watch research found that Palestinian armed groups involved in the assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law – also known as the laws of war – that amount to war crimes.

Israel’s war on Gaza live: Wave of attacks as Israel told to end occupation | #AlJazeera

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/7/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-calls-grow-on-israel-to-end-palestine-occupation

• Israeli military carries out raids, arrests across the occupied West Bank
• ICJ ruling on Israeli occupation should be ‘wake-up’ call for #US: #HRW
• Three ‘mass casualty’ attacks on civilian sites in Gaza kill more than 50: #UN
• WATCH: Marwan Bishara – ICJ ruling against Israel actions a ‘game changer’

#Palestine #Gaza #WestBank #Israel #ICJ
#Genocide #Impunity

Israel pounds Gaza after ICJ rules occupation of Palestinian land must end

Israeli military bombs Gaza refugee camp as international calls grow for Israel to end occupation of Palestinian land.

Chinese Government Expands Criminalization of Taiwanese Identity

Court Guidelines Aim to Further Intimidate Taiwan’s Population

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/04/chinese-government-expands-criminalization-taiwanese-identity

#hrw #human-rights-watch #human-rights #china #taiwan #中国 #台湾

Meaningful Follow-Up Needed as China’s UN Rights Review Concludes

UN Member States Should Press Beijing on Recommendations

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/04/meaningful-follow-needed-chinas-un-rights-review-concludes

Throughout its Universal Periodic Review – a state-to-state rights review process at the United Nations Human Rights Council that concluded today – the Chinese government issued blanket denials in the face of well-documented and egregious rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, and across mainland China and dismissed recommendations on ending such abuses.

#hrw #human-rights-watch #human-rights #human-rights-violations #china #tibet #xinjiang #hong-kong #中国 #香港 #西藏 #新疆 #un #united-nations #human-rights-council

Two Years of Outrage: US Abortion Restrictions since Dobbs

State Bans Violate Rights of Millions to Privacy, Health, Nondiscrimination

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/06/24/two-years-outrage-us-abortion-restrictions-dobbs

Meanwhile, state courts in the US have upheld laws that have nearly killed pregnant women and have required women to carry non-viable fetuses to term. In Mississippi, abortion bans forced a 13-year-old girl to carry out a pregnancy from rape. Texas and Oklahoma have passed laws that empower private citizens to sue clinics, healthcare workers, and individuals for helping someone obtain an abortion, and lawmakers in Texas and Missouri have sought to make it illegal to obtain out-of-state abortions.

#abortion #abortion-rights #pro-choice #dobbs-decision #roe-vs-wade #abortion-bans #human-rights #human-rights-watch #hrw

Two Years of Outrage: US Abortion Restrictions since Dobbs

Two years ago today, the United States Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization removed constitutional protection for access to abortion. The decision was an egregious regression of women’s rights and made the US one of only...

UN Expert Slams Taliban Crimes Against Afghan Women, Girls

Report Calls for Accountability, End to Serious Abuses

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/06/11/un-expert-slams-taliban-crimes-against-afghan-women-girls

The situation in Afghanistan is the most serious women’s rights crisis in world, and it is steadily worsening. The Taliban continue to issue abusive orders and have intensified enforcement of existing ones. In March, the Taliban issued an order that women be stoned to death for so-called “moral crimes,” such as sex outside of marriage and “running away” from their homes, often to escape domestic violence.

#afghanistan #freedom #liberty #womens-rights #women #girls #taliban #human-rights #human-rights-watch #hrw

UN Expert Slams Taliban Crimes Against Afghan Women, Girls

On June 18, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, will present to the UN Human Rights Council his latest report, which powerfully calls for the Taliban to be held accountable for their crimes...

Hong Kong: No Accountability 5 Years after Mass Protests

Beijing Arrested Over 10,000 Protesters, Throttled City’s Freedoms

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/06/10/hong-kong-no-accountability-5-years-after-mass-protests

Foreign governments should seek to hold Hong Kong and Chinese officials responsible for abuses to account, including by imposing targeted financial and travel sanctions.

#hong-kong #china #freedom #liberty #democracy #protests #香港 #中国 #自由 #hrw #human-rights-watch #human-rights

Hong Kong: No Accountability 5 Years after Mass Protests

The Chinese government has suppressed fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong in the five years since protesters began occupying city streets on June 12, 2019 and staged months’ long pro-democracy demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said today.