#humanrightsviolations — Public Fediverse posts

Mehdi Shafakhah, attivista che da anni sostiene i bambini lavoratori e promuove l’istruzione nelle comunità più svantaggiate, è stato condannato dal Tribunale Rivoluzionario di Teheran a 2 anni e 3 mesi di carcere. Le accuse includono «propaganda contro lo Stato» e «insulto alla Guida Suprema». Arrestato il 12 maggio 2026, era stato rilasciato su cauzione a giugno dopo gli interrogatori.
#MehdiShafakhah #Teheran #Iran #StopRepression #HumanRightsViolations
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2026/09/article-25-2

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@AmmarSpaces/116323351434977384

It's been a while I talked about Andri Yunus case, but... let's just say, we got more bullshit to handle.

The main intelectual of this case, never apprehended.

And the executor, they appealed, and of course, it was granted. They received a reduced sentence and were not dismissed from their military service. The military court is very efficient, isn't it?

You can just search up "Andrie Yunus" on your social media for source. I am too tired with world bs.

@indonesia

#indonesiaNews #Indonesia #activism #activistsindanger #humanrightsviolations #humanrights #AndriYunus
#Kontras

La Missione ONU sull’Iran chiede al governo iraniano di ritirare il disegno di legge sulla «lotta all’infiltrazione straniera», che potrebbe prevedere fino a 30 anni di carcere per giornalisti, accademici e attivisti che comunichino con persone o organizzazioni straniere. Il provvedimento potrebbe criminalizzare anche attività accademiche, culturali, artistiche e giornalistiche.
#Iran #HumanRightsViolations #UN #FreedomOfExpression #StopRepression
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/09/iran-un-fact-finding-mission-urges-withdrawal-bill-criminalizing-contact?sub-site=HRC

“Terrorizing Our City”: #ICE Targets Immigrants in #DanburyCT , Including at School #BusStops

#DemocracyNow
September 04, 2026

"We go to Danbury, #Connecticut, where residents held a mass #demonstration this week to protest recent immigration arrests and to support the city’s #immigrant community. Danbury, like many other communities across the United States, has been the target of a spike in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, including local reports of ICE arresting parents at school bus stops.

" 'We really have been describing it as the administration terrorizing our city, because that is what it felt like. The streets were empty. Kids stayed home from practice. Kids stayed home from school,' says Juliana Soares, the lead organizer for Danbury Unites for Immigrants. 'Masked agents often would shut down the street to just abduct people. … They just do a gross display of force and intimidation in a grocery store parking lot, where they’re just walking around, kind of hunting their next target.' "

Read / watch / listen:
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/9/4/danbury_ct_ice_crackdown_resistance

#ViewerSupportedNews #USPol #ICESucks #DefundICE #DefundDHS #ICETerrorists #ICEAreTheRealTerrorists #HumanRightsViolations #DanburyUnitesForImmigrants

“Terrorizing Our City”: #ICE Targets Immigrants in #DanburyCT , Including at School #BusStops

#DemocracyNow
September 04, 2026

"We go to Danbury, #Connecticut, where residents held a mass #demonstration this week to protest recent immigration arrests and to support the city’s #immigrant community. Danbury, like many other communities across the United States, has been the target of a spike in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, including local reports of ICE arresting parents at school bus stops.

" 'We really have been describing it as the administration terrorizing our city, because that is what it felt like. The streets were empty. Kids stayed home from practice. Kids stayed home from school,' says Juliana Soares, the lead organizer for Danbury Unites for Immigrants. 'Masked agents often would shut down the street to just abduct people. … They just do a gross display of force and intimidation in a grocery store parking lot, where they’re just walking around, kind of hunting their next target.' "

Read / watch / listen:
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/9/4/danbury_ct_ice_crackdown_resistance

#ViewerSupportedNews #USPol #ICESucks #DefundICE #DefundDHS #ICETerrorists #ICEAreTheRealTerrorists #HumanRightsViolations #DanburyUnitesForImmigrants

“Terrorizing Our City”: #ICE Targets Immigrants in #DanburyCT , Including at School #BusStops

#DemocracyNow
September 04, 2026

"We go to Danbury, #Connecticut, where residents held a mass #demonstration this week to protest recent immigration arrests and to support the city’s #immigrant community. Danbury, like many other communities across the United States, has been the target of a spike in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, including local reports of ICE arresting parents at school bus stops.

" 'We really have been describing it as the administration terrorizing our city, because that is what it felt like. The streets were empty. Kids stayed home from practice. Kids stayed home from school,' says Juliana Soares, the lead organizer for Danbury Unites for Immigrants. 'Masked agents often would shut down the street to just abduct people. … They just do a gross display of force and intimidation in a grocery store parking lot, where they’re just walking around, kind of hunting their next target.' "

Read / watch / listen:
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/9/4/danbury_ct_ice_crackdown_resistance

#ViewerSupportedNews #USPol #ICESucks #DefundICE #DefundDHS #ICETerrorists #ICEAreTheRealTerrorists #HumanRightsViolations #DanburyUnitesForImmigrants

“Terrorizing Our City”: #ICE Targets Immigrants in #DanburyCT , Including at School #BusStops

#DemocracyNow
September 04, 2026

"We go to Danbury, #Connecticut, where residents held a mass #demonstration this week to protest recent immigration arrests and to support the city’s #immigrant community. Danbury, like many other communities across the United States, has been the target of a spike in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, including local reports of ICE arresting parents at school bus stops.

" 'We really have been describing it as the administration terrorizing our city, because that is what it felt like. The streets were empty. Kids stayed home from practice. Kids stayed home from school,' says Juliana Soares, the lead organizer for Danbury Unites for Immigrants. 'Masked agents often would shut down the street to just abduct people. … They just do a gross display of force and intimidation in a grocery store parking lot, where they’re just walking around, kind of hunting their next target.' "

Read / watch / listen:
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/9/4/danbury_ct_ice_crackdown_resistance

#ViewerSupportedNews #USPol #ICESucks #DefundICE #DefundDHS #ICETerrorists #ICEAreTheRealTerrorists #HumanRightsViolations #DanburyUnitesForImmigrants

“Terrorizing Our City”: #ICE Targets Immigrants in #DanburyCT , Including at School #BusStops

#DemocracyNow
September 04, 2026

"We go to Danbury, #Connecticut, where residents held a mass #demonstration this week to protest recent immigration arrests and to support the city’s #immigrant community. Danbury, like many other communities across the United States, has been the target of a spike in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, including local reports of ICE arresting parents at school bus stops.

" 'We really have been describing it as the administration terrorizing our city, because that is what it felt like. The streets were empty. Kids stayed home from practice. Kids stayed home from school,' says Juliana Soares, the lead organizer for Danbury Unites for Immigrants. 'Masked agents often would shut down the street to just abduct people. … They just do a gross display of force and intimidation in a grocery store parking lot, where they’re just walking around, kind of hunting their next target.' "

Read / watch / listen:
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/9/4/danbury_ct_ice_crackdown_resistance

#ViewerSupportedNews #USPol #ICESucks #DefundICE #DefundDHS #ICETerrorists #ICEAreTheRealTerrorists #HumanRightsViolations #DanburyUnitesForImmigrants

[Alleged] #Christian Employers Can Now Discriminate Against #TransPeople

A settlement with the Christian Employers Alliance blocks the EEOC from ever investigating the group’s members for gender identity discrimination.

Bryce Covert
September 1 2026

Excerpt: "The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency tasked with protecting workers from illegal discrimination, inked an unprecedented settlement with a conservative Christian employer association that could have long-term, wide-ranging consequences.

"The lawsuit that led to the settlement was in reaction to #EEOC guidance issued under the Biden administration and after a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that Title VII protects against gender identity discrimination.
In the settlement, reached on August 18, the EEOC pledged to not pursue any claims of gender identity-based discrimination against the #ChristianEmployersAlliance — and made the pledge in perpetuity.

"The EEOC provides free investigation into complaints of discrimination and, in some cases, will bring lawsuits on behalf of employees at no cost to the plaintiffs.

"Now, however, anyone who works for a company with membership in the Christian Employers Alliance who believes they suffered gender identity-based discrimination won’t be able to avail themselves of the EEOC’s process.

"The settlement also contains an unusual provision: It applies not just to the more than 20,000 employers that are already members in the Christian Employers Alliance, but also to any future members, so long as they are members at the time that any claimed discrimination occurred.

"That means that any employer that decides to sign up for Christian Employers Alliance membership will get the benefit of blanket protection from the EEOC against all claims of #GenderIdentity discrimination, such as harassing someone for being #nonbinary or firing them for coming out as #trans .

" 'I am not aware of any settlement that just creates in perpetuity a freedom from investigation, 'said Karla Gilbride, a former EEOC general counsel under President Joe Biden who is now at the American Civil Liberties Union. 'I’ve never seen an organization get a settlement that allows protection to future members in this way.'

"The settlement will stay in place even if #AndreaLucas, the current Republican chair of the EEOC, is replaced with a Democratic chair under a future Democratic president. (The Christian Employers Alliance declined to comment, and the EEOC did not respond to an inquiry.)"

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/09/01/christian-employers-settlement-gender-discrimination-eeoc/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/FnMei

#WWJD #LoveOneAnother #USPol #GBLTQRights #HumanRights #TransRightsAreHumanRights #HumanRightsViolations #ChristoFascism #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism

#DemocracyNow

#HumanRightsWatch

#Ecuador + #TrumpAdmin = #HumanRightsViolations

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/2XEow_bSL60

I detenuti della Sezione 2 del carcere di Ghezel Hesar hanno sospeso lo sciopero iniziato il 13 luglio dopo la promessa delle autorità di fermare temporaneamente le esecuzioni per reati di droga in attesa del riesame dei casi. I prigionieri avvertono però che la protesta potrà riprendere se gli impegni, già disattesi nel 2025, non saranno rispettati.
#GhezelHesarPrison #Iran #HungerStrike #StopExecutionsInIran #HumanRightsViolations
https://www.en-hrana.org/ghezel-hesar-prisoners-end-strike-following-officials-promise-to-halt-executions/

⚠️ Dal 13 luglio i detenuti del Reparto 2 del carcere di Ghezel Hesar sono in sciopero della fame contro le condanne a morte. Il 26 luglio circa 140 detenuti sono stati trasferiti, lasciando nel reparto quasi solo i condannati a morte. I prigionieri chiedono di fermare le esecuzioni fino alla riforma della legge antidroga. Alcuni si sono cuciti le labbra in segno di protesta. #GhezelHesarPrison #Iran #HungerStrike #StopExecutionsInIran #HumanRightsViolations
https://iranwire.com/en/news/155554-ghezel-hesar-prison-hunger-strike-enters-15th-day-over-death-sentences/

È entrato nel quinto giorno lo sciopero della fame dei detenuti dell’Unità 2 del carcere di Ghezel Hesar, iniziato dopo il trasferimento di sei prigionieri in isolamento in vista dell’esecuzione. Le condizioni di diversi detenuti stanno peggiorando, ma hanno annunciato che continueranno la protesta, chiedendo ai media e alle organizzazioni per i diritti umani di dare voce al loro appello.
#GhezelHesarPrison #Iran #HungerStrike #StopExecutionsInIran #HumanRightsViolations
https://en.iranhrs.org/ghezel-hesar-hunger-strike-enters-fifth-day-of-protests/

Le autorità iraniane hanno prorogato di un mese la detenzione di #KajalRahmani, #IsaFeyzi e #DanyalRahmani, arrestati il 6 giugno 2026 a Kamyaran. Senza accesso a un avvocato, denunciano torture e pressioni per ottenere confessioni forzate. Kajal ha inoltre condotto 18 giorni di sciopero della fame per protestare contro la detenzione arbitraria, i maltrattamenti e le pressioni subite durante gli interrogatori.
#Iran #Kurdistan #StopRepression #HumanRightsViolations
https://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en/news/2026/07/10/detention-extended-for-three-members-from-same-family-in-kurdistan

⚠️ Craig e Lindsay Foreman, la coppia britannica detenuta a Evin, continuano lo sciopero della fame per protestare contro il diniego di cure mediche, farmaci essenziali e contatti telefonici con i familiari. Secondo HRANA, Lindsay ha perso oltre 14 kg e Craig circa 16 kg. Arrestati nel gennaio 2025 a Kerman, sono stati condannati a 10 anni di carcere per “spionaggio”.
#CraigForeman #LindsayForeman #hungerStrike #EvinPrison #Iran #HumanRightsViolations
https://www.en-hrana.org/ongoing-hunger-strike-latest-update-on-british-couple-lindsay-and-craig-foreman-in-prison/

L’avvocata iraniana Elham Zeraatpisheh è stata condannata a 6 anni di carcere dal Tribunale rivoluzionario di Shiraz. In base alla legge iraniana sconterà 5 anni, oltre alla revoca del passaporto e a un divieto di viaggio di 2 anni. Arrestata il 4 maggio 2026 mentre svolgeva il proprio lavoro, è da tempo nel mirino delle autorità per la difesa di casi politici e per il suo impegno nei diritti umani.
#ElhamZeraatpisheh #Shiraz #Iran #LawyersAtRisk #HumanRightsViolations
https://defendlawyers.wordpress.com/2026/07/04/iran-fars-rights-lawyer-elham-zeratpisheh-sentenced-to-6-years-in-jail/

In Iran, le sopravvissute alla repressione di Shiraz del 2009 raccontano l’esistenza di centri di detenzione segreti dove donne e ragazze sarebbero state sottoposte a violenze sessuali sistematiche, sparizioni forzate e minacce. Il rapporto identifica presunti responsabili e funzionari che avrebbero garantito anni di impunità.
#Shiraz #Iran #HumanRightsViolations #StopRepression #StopViolenceAgainstWomen
https://iran-hrm.com/2026/07/01/sexual-violence-32278/

La poetessa iraniana Farnaz Jafarzadegan è stata condannata a una pena detentiva con braccialetto elettronico e a due anni di divieto di espatrio. Tra le prove contro di lei figurano anche poesie e scritti letterari. Arrestata il 15 gennaio 2026 a Shiraz, continua a essere perseguitata per il suo impegno civile e culturale.
#FarnazJafarzadegan #Shiraz #Iran #HumanRightsViolations #StopRepression
https://iranwire.com/en/news/153597-iranian-poet-farnaz-jafarzadegan-sentenced-to-prison-electronic-monitoring-and-travel-ban/

In Iran l’avvocata Bahar Sahraeian, membro dell’Ordine degli Avvocati di Fars a Shiraz, è stata arrestata mentre svolgeva il proprio lavoro presso il tribunale rivoluzionario della città e trasferita nel carcere di Adelabad. Il suo arresto rappresenta una grave violazione del diritto alla difesa indipendente ed è parte della repressione contro avvocati e difensori dei diritti umani in Iran.
#BaharSahraeian #Shiraz #Iran #LawyersAtRisk #HumanRightsViolations
https://defendlawyers.wordpress.com/2026/05/17/iran-human-rights-lawyer-bahar-sahraian-arrested-in-shiraz/

Iran: arrestata a Shiraz l’avvocata e attivista Elham Zeraatpisheh. Fermata il 4 maggio, è stata trasferita in un luogo sconosciuto. Nessuna informazione su accuse o detenzione. Era già stata arrestata durante le proteste “Donna, Vita, Libertà” nel 2022.
#Elham Zeraatpisheh #Shiraz #Iran #HumanRightsViolations #HumanRightsDefender
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2026/05/article-26

L’avvocata e difensora dei diritti umani Astareh Ansari è stata arrestata a Shiraz dopo un’irruzione delle forze di sicurezza nella sua abitazione. Gli agenti hanno fatto irruzione nella casa di famiglia la sera del 3 maggio 2026, portandola via senza presentare alcun mandato. Il silenzio forzato degli avvocati è un attacco diretto ai diritti fondamentali.
#AstarehAnsari #Shiraz #Iran #HumanRightsViolations #HumanRightsDefender
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2026/05/article-22

Ali Soveidi, prigioniero sunnita detenuto nel carcere di Sheiban (Ahvaz), è stato trasferito in ospedale dopo aver perso conoscenza per un calo di pressione. Soffre di gravi patologie, ma le autorità negano informazioni alla famiglia e impediscono le visite. Da giorni i familiari non hanno notizie sulle sue condizioni.
#AliSoveidi #SheibanPrison #Ahvaz #Iran #HumanRightsViolations
https://www.en-hrana.org/sunni-prisoner-ali-soveidi-transferred-to-hospital-following-deteriorating-health/

Quattro cittadine — Negin Azad, Kamelia Nazari, Saghar Ghodrat e Ghazal Ghodrat — arrestate durante le proteste di gennaio a Shiraz, sono state rilasciate a fine marzo 2026 dal carcere di Adelabad, ma restano sotto sorveglianza con braccialetto elettronico. La pena, inizialmente di cinque anni, è stata ridotta in appello a due anni da scontare fuori dal carcere.
#NeginAzad #KameliaNazari #SagharGhodrat #GhazalGhodrat #Shiraz #Iran #HumanRightsViolations
https://www.en-hrana.org/report-on-the-arrest-of-four-female-protesters-during-the-january-protests/

Il 9 aprile Sara Sepehri, cittadina baha’i, è stata arrestata e portata in un luogo sconosciuto. Perquisite la sua casa e quella della madre, con confisca di effetti personali e dispositivi elettronici. Nessuna informazione su accuse o detenzione. Cresce la pressione sulla comunità baha’i in Iran.
#SaraSepehri #Bahai #Shiraz #Iran #HumanRightsViolations
https://www.en-hrana.org/bahai-citizen-sara-sepehri-arrested-in-shiraz/

L’UNICEF ha ricevuto segnalazioni di campagne di mobilitazione in Iran che coinvolgono anche bambini, nonché di bambini impiegati ai posti di blocco.
Chiediamo alla Repubblica Islamica dell’Iran di porre fine a qualsiasi forma di reclutamento di minori.
Il reclutamento e l’impiego di bambini da parte di forze armate o gruppi costituiscono una grave violazione dei diritti dei minori.
#UNICEF #ChildRights #Iran #IranWar #ProtectChildren #StopChildRecruitment #HumanRightsViolations

In Iran, Hossein Ghavi (Silavi), 28 anni, arabo di Ahvaz con una disabilità a una gamba, è morto sotto tortura dopo essere stato arrestato dai Pasdaran nel suo luogo di lavoro. Accusato di aver filmato aree bombardate e di contatti con l’estero, era l’unico sostegno della sua famiglia.
#HosseinGhavi #Ahvaz #Iran #IranWar #HumanRightsViolations
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2026/04/article-13

Due sorelle, Saghar e Ghazal Ghodat, arrestate a Shiraz dalle forze di sicurezza, sono detenute nel carcere di Adelabad. Cresce la preoccupazione per il peggioramento delle loro condizioni fisiche e psicologiche.
#SagharGhodat #GhazalGhodat #AdelabadPrison #Shiraz #Iran #HumanRightsViolations

#EsmailBavi, giovane arabo di 20 anni di #Ahvaz, è detenuto in isolamento da tre settimane dopo essere stato fermato dalle forze di sicurezza iraniane all’inizio di marzo 2026, durante un’irruzione nella casa della sua famiglia nel villaggio di Vahib (Eslamabad-e Do). Finora non ci sono informazioni sul suo destino o sul luogo di detenzione, e le richieste della famiglia di ottenere chiarimenti sono rimaste senza risposta
#Iran #HumanRightsViolations
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2026/03/article-67

(CZ, DE🇩🇪 , KM🇰🇭 below) Mocking me that "I feel extremely strong contempt towards everything", when it's a lie and I feel extremely strong contempt mostly towards perpetrators of genocides, murders, abductions, robberies, and abuses of human rights. That's what a person wrote and added that I am also author of Links (or Ronja? I don't remember). I already blocked them.

Někdo se mi posmíval, že „cítím extrémně silné opovržení vůči všemu“, když je to lež a já cítím extrémně silné opovržení většinou proti pachatelům genocidy, vražd, únosů, loupeží a porušování lidských práv. To napsal jeden člověk a dodal, že jsem také autorem Linksu (nebo Ronji? si nepamatuju). Už jsem toho člověka zablokoval.

Jemand hat mich verspotten mich, dass ich angeblicht "extrem starke Verachtung gegen allem fühle", was eine Lüge ist. Ich fühle extrem starke Verachtung genen den Tätern von Völkermorden, Morden, Entführungen, Rauben und Menschenrechtsverletzungen. Das schrieb jemand und fügte hinzu, ich sei auch der Autor von Links (oder Ronja? Ich erinnere mich nicht.) Ich habe die Person schon blockiert.

ចំអកខ្ញុំថា "ខ្ញុំមានអារម្មណ៍មើលងាយយ៉ាងខ្លាំងចំពោះអ្វីៗទាំងអស់" ខណៈពេលវាការកុហក ហើយខ្ញុំមានអារម្មណ៍មើលងាយយ៉ាងខ្លាំងភាគច្រើនចំពោះ ជនល្មើសនៃការប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍ ឃាតកម្ម ការចាប់ពង្រត់ ប្លន់ និងការរំលោភសិទ្ធិមនុស្ស។ គេក៏បានសរសេរ ថាខ្ញុំក៏ជាអ្នកនិពន្ធនៃ Links (ឫ​​ Ronja? ខ្ញុំមិនចាំទេ។) ខ្ញុំបានប្លុកចោលមនុស្សនោះរួចហើយ។

#links #ronja #genocide #genocida #contempt #opovržení #murder #vražda #vraždy #abduction #únos #únosy #humanrights #lidskápráva #humanrightsviolation #porušovánílidskýchpráv #pošlapávánílidskýchpráv #humanrightsviolations #links2gang #twibright #twibrightlinks #twibrightronja #links2 #genozid #Völkermord #Verachtung #Mord #Entführung #Menschenrechtverletzung #Menschenrechtverletzungen #raub #អំពើប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍ #ការមើលងាយ #ឃាតកម្ម #ការចាប់ពង្រត់ #សិទ្ធិមនុស្ស #ការរំលោភសិទ្ធិមនុស្ស

The Israeli occupation is gradually expanding the yellow zone area in Khan Younis city. Today, occupation vehicles reached the Bani Suheila roundabout and placed yellow concrete blocks.
In recent days, the same actions were carried out east of the Zeitoun neighborhood.
Unfortunately, there is very little media coverage of this.🍉
#FreePalestine
#StandWithPalestine
#GazaGenocide
#PalestineUnderSiege
#ZionistCrimes
#GazaNews
#StopEthnicCleansing
#HumanRightsViolations

How communities in #SacrificeZones suffer environmental injustices in #Mexico, #Chile, #Nigeria and #Indonesia (analysis)

Daniela Sepulveda and Angélica Arellano, 9 Apr 2025

"Across continents, 'sacrifice zones' resemble wounds carved deep into the fabric of our planet. These are regions where ecosystems and livelihoods have been ravaged by fossil fuel and other industries that promise progress but leave devastation in their wake. These are places where big business and transnational corporations are contaminating the rivers, darkening the skies, and making the soil barren; where the toll of development is paid in human suffering and ecological destruction.

"What unites these 'sacrifice zones' is the shared story of areas where prosperity for the few is built on the suffering of many, and where communities fight to mend the fractures inflicted upon their land, health and dignity.

"Here are four case studies highlighting the experiences of communities and civil society organizations collaborating with us in the Coalition for Human Rights in Development’s Community Resource Exchange.

#Tula, #Mexico

"In the #TulaTepejiApaxco region, where the #Toltec plains once supported rich #biodiversity and #CulturalHeritage, the water and air are now saturated with pollution. This devastated landscape was declared both in 1975 and again in 2005 by the U.N. as one of the most polluted places on Earth, marking it as an #EnvironmentalDisaster zone. Since the early 20th century, the arrival of #CementPlants, #refineries, #ChemicalFactories, a #coal-fired power plant and #LimeKilns has transformed the region. Backed by all levels of government, these industries have destroyed the area’s ecological balance and ruined the health of its people, poisoning the water, air and soil with #ToxicWaste.

"Prominent among these polluters are cement giants like #Holcim, #CEMEX, #CementosFortaleza and #Clarimex, whose operations release harmful gases that exacerbate the region’s environmental and public health crises. One of the epicenters of this environmental catastrophe is the #TulaRiver, which receives 150,000 liters (nearly 40,000 gallons) of untreated wastewater every second from Mexico City and the Valley of Mexico. These 'black waters' are teeming with industrial and hospital waste plus sewage, overwhelming the river and its tributaries.

"The #EndhóDam, originally built to support local #agriculture, has become a toxic dumping ground, poisoning thousands of people who rely on wells for drinking water. Despite decades of warnings, local and national governments have allowed this contamination to persist. The poisoned waters have killed fish, flooded the land with toxic sludge, and led to a surge in cancer, leukemia, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases among the 15,000 inhabitants living along its banks. In 2021, a devastating flood related to the overflowing Tula River left 17 dead and displaced thousands, a stark reminder of the ongoing risks of government inaction.

"The region now faces a massive public health crisis, and the recent declaration by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to designate the area as an ecological restoration zone is a necessary but overdue step. This declaration covers municipalities such as #Atitalaquia,TepejiDelRío, #Tepetitlán and Tlahuelilpan, where 498 businesses have been identified as generators of hazardous waste, including 14 that produce hydrocarbons. The study, based on a water, air and soil analysis, could mark the beginning of recovery if it is implemented with urgency and seriousness.

"Over the years, organizations like #RedDeConcienciaAmbiental '#QueremosVivir' have resisted, bringing visibility to the devastation and fighting to halt deforestation and continued pollution. In the words of one of the leaders of Queremos Vivir ('We want to live'), 'There needs to be a legal solution, because it’s that urgent. We believe there is still a way to reverse it, and we have time to show the newly elected president #ClaudiaSheinbaum the dire situation we’re in.'

"Their demands include a reduction in the water flow of the Tula River through holistic water management solutions, and government accountability for decades of environmental neglect, calling for reparations for both industrial pollution and the catastrophic 2021 floods.

"While they welcome Sheinbaum’s promises to clean the river and launch a circular economy project, they emphasize that meaningful environmental justice must not be delayed any longer. After stating the communities’ demands through tears, the Queremos Vivir leader said, 'Are we really just going to be destined to be a sacrifice zone? The damage is so severe, the degradation we are in, that if we don’t protect it, don’t defend it, then what are we going to do?' "

Read more:
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/how-communities-in-sacrifice-zones-suffer-environmental-injustices-in-mexico-chile-nigeria-and-indonesia-analysis/

#SEZs #Antofagasta #Nigeria #Indonesia #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #CorporateColonialism
#Exploitation #RaceToTheBottom
#HumanRightsViolations
#Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation
#EconomicSacrificZones
#ForcedRelocation #ForcedDisplacement #TraditionalLifestyles #AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #EnvironmentalRacism #Exploitation

#SEZs in #India: Balancing Economic Growth and #Environmental Concerns

July 27, 2024

"Picture this: vast stretches of industrial land buzzing with activity, modern factories producing goods for global markets, and thousands of job opportunities emerging overnight. This is the promise of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in India. But behind this gleaming facade lies a complex web of environmental challenges and social concerns that demand our attention. SEZs represent one of India’s most ambitious economic policies, designed to accelerate industrial growth and boost exports, yet they often come at a significant cost to the environment and local communities.

[...]

"[T]he rapid expansion of SEZs has raised significant environmental red flags. The most pressing concern is land acquisition, which often involves converting fertile agricultural land into industrial zones. This conversion not only reduces the country’s agricultural capacity but also disrupts local ecosystems and biodiversity.

"The establishment of SEZs typically requires large tracts of land – sometimes spanning thousands of acres. Much of this land is acquired from agricultural areas, leading to the displacement of farming communities who have depended on these lands for generations. For instance, the proposed #RaigadSEZ in #Maharashtra would have required over 14,000 hectares of #agricultural land, leading to massive #protests from local farmers.

"The conversion of agricultural land to #IndustrialUse has long-term implications for #FoodSecurity. As India’s population continues to grow, the loss of productive #farmland could exacerbate food shortage issues in the future. Moreover, agricultural land often has better soil quality and water retention capacity compared to industrial land, making this conversion environmentally costly.

"Industrial activities within SEZs generate various forms of #pollution. Air pollution from #manufacturing processes, water #contamination from industrial effluents, and #SoilDegradation from chemical usage are common problems. The concentration of industries in SEZs can create pollution hotspots that affect air and water quality in surrounding areas.

"#WaterScarcity is another critical issue. SEZs require substantial water resources for industrial processes, often competing with local communities for this precious resource. In water-stressed regions, this competition can lead to conflicts and further environmental degradation.
Human rights and social displacement

"The human cost of SEZ development cannot be overlooked. Land acquisition for SEZs often involves displacing local communities, particularly small farmers and agricultural workers. These communities frequently receive inadequate compensation and struggle to find alternative livelihoods.

"The displacement process can be traumatic for local communities who have strong cultural and emotional ties to their land. Traditional occupations like #farming, #fishing, and #SmallScaleTrading are disrupted, forcing people to adapt to entirely new economic realities. The promised employment opportunities in SEZs often don’t materialize for displaced communities, as they may lack the required skills for industrial jobs.

"Women in these communities face particular challenges, as they often have limited access to alternative employment opportunities and may lose traditional income sources like kitchen gardening or small-scale agricultural activities. The social fabric of rural communities can be severely disrupted, leading to increased poverty and social inequality."

https://csr.education/urban-planning-development/sezs-india-economic-growth-environment/#environmental-concerns-the-hidden-costs

#HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #CorporateColonialism
#IMFLoanSharks #Exploitation #WorldBank #RaceToTheBottom
#HumanRightsViolations
#Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation
#EconomicSacrificZones
#ForcedRelocation #ForcedDisplacement #TraditionalLifestyles #EnvironmentalRacism #Exploitation
#CorporateColonialism

Eight indigenous women were criminalized for defending their water and their river. #Indigenous #Oaxaca #Mexico #HumanRightsViolations #water #environmentaldefenders

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:3tqaqnbrjazexku6sageqizv/post/3lrgv4spy7s2h

Japan asks Denmark to extradite anti-whaling activist #PaulWatson

Denmark announced Thursday that it has received Japan's extradition request for anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, who was arrested in Greenland last month on an international arrest warrant. Watson, the 73-year-old founder of #SeaShepherd, is facing charges related to a 2010 confrontation with Japanese #whaling ships, raising concerns over his potential extradition and the motivations behind Japan's request.

Issued on: 01/08/2024

"#Denmark's justice ministry said Thursday that it had received Japan's extradition request for anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, who was detained in #Greenland last month on an international arrest warrant.

"Watson, the 73-year-old American-Canadian founder of the Sea Shepherd activist group, was arrested on July 21 in Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, over a 2010 altercation with Japanese whaling ships.

"Watson, who featured in the reality TV series '#WhaleWars', founded Sea Shepherd and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (#CPWF), and is known for #DirectAction tactics including confrontations with whaling ships at sea.

"'The Ministry of Justice received a formal extradition request regarding Paul Watson from the Japanese authorities yesterday,' the ministry told AFP in an email."

[...]

"'#Japan has a personal vendetta against #PaulWatson, and this so-called offence is the pretext for revenge against a man who defied and therefore humiliated them,' [Francois Zimeray] told AFP.

"He said an extradition to Japan would be a violation of the European Convention on #HumanRights, since 'the country does not respect international standards on fair trials and prisons.'"

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240801-japan-asks-denmark-to-extradite-anti-whaling-activist-paul-watson

#Greenpeace #Ecocide #FreeSpeech #RightToProtest
#CriminalizingDissent
#BiodiversityNecessityDefense
#EarthDefenders #Fascism
#CivilDisobedience #Activism #ClimateActivists #HumanRights #SilencingDissent #Corporatocracy #Article20 #HumanRightsViolations #DefendNature #Japon #SaveOurSeas #FreePaulWatson

📢 Heartbreaking Story Alert! 💔

Read about Sneha Nazir, a young Christian girl from Pakistan, who has faced unimaginable challenges. Forced conversion and marriage are serious human rights violations that need global attention. Let's stand together against such injustices and advocate for her safety and freedom.

➡️ Read the full story: https://ecspe.org/sneha-nazir-forced-conversion-and-marriage-of-christian-teen-in-pakistan/

#HumanRights #StandWithSneha #JusticeForSneha #HumanRightsViolations #esspe #savegirls #savechristianity

UN sounds alarm over atrocities as rebels renew fighting against Myanmar’s military junta | The Independent
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/southeast-asia/myanmar-rakhine-junta-violence-un-rights-b2547975.html

#Burma
#Myanmar
#UN
#Junta
#Rebels
#ArakanArmy
#Rohingya
#Buthidaung
#Violence
#UNHighCommissionerForHumanRights
#RakhineState
#Muslims
#UNEnvoy
#Turk
#HumanRights
#HumanRightsViolations
#FreeRohingyaCoalition
#NationalUnityGov

ICYMI from 2023: #Biden Moves Forward With #Mining Project That Will Obliterate a Sacred #Apache Religious Site

In court, the feds said #OakFlat would be in the hands of mining giants #RioTinto and #BHP by early summer.

“This is a people matter. This is about the people and their freedom: freedom to be Apache, to be Indigenous, to be Americans.”

by Ryan Devereaux
March 22 2023

"Biden administration attorneys were in court this week to defend a mining project that will obliterate one of the most sacred Apache religious sites in the American Southwest.

"In oral arguments Tuesday, the U.S. Forest Service said it was nearing completion of an environmental impact study that will transfer land east of Phoenix to two of the world’s largest mining companies for the purpose of building one of the largest #copper mines on the planet. The massive project will hinge on the destruction of Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, a plateau otherwise known as Oak Flat, that is sacred to many Native American tribes, particularly the #SanCarlosApache, who consider the area among their most holy of sites.

"In a nearly two-hour hearing, an 11-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, peppered lawyers on both sides of the high-stakes legal fight with an array of complex case law questions raised by the project. Begun nearly two decades ago, the battle for Oak Flat sits at the intersection of Indigenous rights and dispossession, religious liberty, public lands and private sales, and a growing demand for so-called green energy solutions in an era of #ClimateCatastrophe.

"'As the court is aware, this case is not about an agency action. It’s about an act of Congress, in which Congress considered demands on a piece of property, balanced those interests, and made a decision,' said Joan Pepin, an attorney for the Forest Service, the agency that exchanged the land in a controversial deal nearly a decade ago. 'It decided that Oak Flat should be transferred to #ResolutionCopper so the third-largest copper ore deposit in the world can be mined.”

"The legislation in question — the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act — was the product of a proposal then-Arizona Sens. #JohnMcCain and #JeffFlake added to a must-pass defense authorization bill late one night in 2014. The addendum, known as a rider, incurred no congressional debate.

"Described by the San Carlos Apache as a 'midnight backroom deal,' the law transferred Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a British-Australian concern jointly owned by the extractive giants Rio Tinto and BHP, both of which had sought access to the wildly lucrative ore deposit for years.

"The project centers on a 2,200-acre area known as Oak Flat Campground, part of the #TontoNationalForest, that has served as a centerpiece of Apache #ReligiousCeremony and #cosmology since before settler expansion into the West. To access the ore underneath, Resolution Copper will use a technique known as block cave mining, which over several years will turn the sacred mountain into a two-mile-wide crater deep enough to hide a skyscraper.

"Initiation of construction hinges on the publication of an #EnvironmentalImpact study from the Forest Service, which, under the law passed in 2014, starts a 60-day countdown before the transfer of the land from the federal government to the mining company must happen.

"Luke Goodrich, the lead attorney for Apache Stronghold, an Arizona-based nonprofit that brought the lawsuit to stop the transfer, told the panel of judges that the destruction of Oak Flat was a direct and flagrant violation of the #ReligiousFreedomRestoratioAct. Violation of the statute requires the imposition of a “substantial burden” on a person or group’s ability to practice their faith.

"'A fine is a substantial burden, but here the government is doing something far worse,' Goodrich said, 'not just threatening fines, but authorizing the complete physical destruction of Oak Flat, barring the Apaches from ever accessing it again and ending their core religious exercises forever.'

"In January 2021, five days before leaving office, the administration of President Donald #Trump released a study supporting the creation of the #OakFlatMine. #ApacheStronghold had filed a federal lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the project.

"Unsuccessful in the attempt, the group filed an emergency appeal to the 9th Circuit the following month. Six hours before its deadline to respond passed, the Forest Service — by then, in March 2021, under the leadership of President Joe Biden — announced that it was withdrawing the environmental impact study and postponing the land transfer.

"A three-judge panel of 9th Circuit dismissed Apache Stronghold’s case in October 2021 but agreed to hear the case again before a full panel last winter. The unusual decision set the stage for Tuesday’s hearing.

"While the postponement of the project had given opponents of the mine a moment of respite in the long-running battle, the government’s testimony this week confirmed that the Biden administration is moving forward with a new environmental impact study and stands behind the controversial land swap."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2023/03/22/oak-flat-mine-arizona-biden/

#HumanRightsViolations #CulturalGenocide #CopperMining #Mining #CorporateColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousNews #SaveOakFlat
#NativeAmericanNews

Trial of #LandDefenders Fighting the #CoastalGasLink #Pipeline is Put on Hold as Canadian #Police Come Under Scrutiny for Excessive Force

The defense for three activists from #FirstNations argues abuse of process by security forces around the pipeline construction site, as the U.N. and Amnesty International allege excessive force, surveillance and #criminalization of land defenders.

By Keerti Gopal
January 24, 2024

"The trial of three Indigenous land defenders arrested at a pipeline construction site on #unceded #Wetsuweten First Nation land was adjourned until spring on Friday, as the court looks into potential abuses by Canadian police.

"In the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Smithers, B.C., the trial is the latest development in the nearly 12-year fight against the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in the Canadian province.

"Land defenders #Sleydo’ #MollyWickham, #ShayLynnSampson and #CoreyJocko were found guilty of criminal contempt earlier this month, with Justice Michael Tanmen ruling that they broke a court injunction forbidding them from blocking access to construction for the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

"But immediately following the verdict, Tanmen began a week-long hearing to listen to the three individuals’ abuse of process applications, which allege that their Charter rights were violated during their arrests and detentions. During the hearing, the defense argued to stay the charges based on these applications, citing excessive force, aggressive behavior, offensive language and mocking by police.

"In Canada, the abuse of process doctrine allows courts to stay, or postpone, a proceeding on the grounds that some element of the process was unfair, and might undermine the legal system. In this case, the abuse of process application focused on treatment during and after arrests.

"The trial began on Jan. 8 and consisted mainly of witness testimony and evidence gathered in November 2021, during one of four major police raids at the pipeline between 2019 and 2023. The evidence included videos from social media and other videos taken by officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada’s national police service.

"The videos, and testimony from witnesses, including #RCMP officers, detailed the police using dogs and firearms and wielding chainsaws to cut down the doors of a cabin where Sleydo’ and Sampson were arrested. Jocko was arrested in another small structure close by.

"The activists allege police used excessive force to break down the doors and used offensive language, showing videos in which officers described arrestees as 'orcs' and 'ogres.' The abuse of process hearing will likely restart in June.

"Chief Na’Moks, a Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief and prominent advocate against the pipeline, said that the trial may serve as a template for future legal battles across Canada, where several other pipeline projects are underway.

"'This is going to affect everything else that happens, not only in #BritishColumbia but in #Canada,' Chief Na’Moks said last week. “This is the template that they want to use...and the harassment and constant abuse of #HumanRights has to stop.”

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24012024/first-nations-activists-fighting-coastal-gaslink-pipeline/

#ACAB #HumanRightsViolations #IndigenousActivism #BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousLandDefenders
#UncededLand #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #EcoActivists

Inside the last-ditch effort to stop the #MountainValleyPipeline

The project is over budget and behind schedule, with a lot of hard work left to do. Its opponents hope that makes #FossilFuel companies think twice about building the next one.

By Katie Myers
Published Jan 16, 2024

"As day broke over the small mountain town of #EllistonVirginia, one Monday in October, masked figures in thick coats emerged from the woods surrounding a construction site. Three of them approached three excavators and, one by one, locked themselves to the machines, bringing the day’s work to a halt. As they did so, several dozen of their fellow protesters gathered around them, unfurling banners and chanting amid the groaning and beeping of construction equipment.

"They made their way across the field, over patches of bare earth, around sections of rusty pipe meant for burial beneath the mountain. Eventually the metal tubes will form yet another section of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which will soon carry 2 billion cubic feet of #fracked #methane from the #ShaleFields of #WestVirginia to #NorthCarolina each day. Their breath billowed in the crisp air. Beyond them stretched a bright blue sky, and mountains tinged with yellow. The past night’s rain pooled on the muddy and compacted soil beneath their feet.

"Workers in highlighter-yellow vests and hard hats milled around, some looking amused, others frustrated. One or two engaged with the #protesters, only to be told off by an irate site manager. A few miles away at the West Virginia state line, another three dozen or so activists did much the same atop #PetersMountain. One even managed to crawl under an excavator and lock herself in place, despite the cold. The others rallied around, enclosing her in a tight, protective circle.

Some might wonder why they bothered. After all, the project is, by the Mountain Valley Pipeline company’s estimate, 94 percent complete and will be wrapped up before summer. It stalled for several years amid legal fights over various permits, but Senator #JoeManchin, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia, almost single-handedly revived it in 2022 in exchange for his support of key Democratic priorities. Since then, the Biden administration and the Supreme Court have all but assured its completion. With the approximately 303-mile pipeline approaching the final stretch after almost a decade’s work, it might seem hardly worth fighting at this point.

"A large contingent of steadfast opposition begs to differ — and will enthusiastically explain why. The pipeline is six years behind schedule, about half a billion dollars over budget, and, despite promises that it would be done by the end of last year, delayed once again. The remaining construction is over rugged terrain, with hundreds of water crossings left to bridge. The company recently postponed, shortened, and rerouted its planned extension into North Carolina, a proposal long stymied by permitting problems with the main line. And, just last month, #Equitrans, which owns the #pipeline and many others across the country, was said to be considering selling itself. The road to the pipeline’s completion remains rocky, its opponents argue, with many opportunities to make finishing it as difficult as possible.

"'We cannot let them destroy our land and water,' said a young woman named Ericka. Like many interviewed for this story, she gave only her first name out of fear of reprisal from #MountainValleyPipelineLLC, which has begun suing #protesters in a bid to silence them. She had brought her three children to occupy the land that day. 'What are we going to drink? Where are we going to live? People have to come here and stop this.'"

https://grist.org/protest/inside-the-last-ditch-effort-to-stop-the-mountain-valley-pipeline/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

#SilencingDissent #DirectAction #ClimateCatastrophe #NoFracking #WaterIsLife #SLAPPs #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship
#HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #BigOilAndGas

ICYMI, from 2016: #StandingRock Medics Attacked by Police and Arrested

by Brenda Norrell, #CensoredNews
October 27, 2016

CANNON BALL, North Dakota -- "One of the Standing Rock medics described how police targeted medics, and violently arrested medics, while they were treating people during the violent police attack on Standing Rock water protectors on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016 at Treaty Camp, directly on the path of Dakota Access Pipeline.

"The medic could see silencers on police weapons.

"'If they are here for peace, then why do their weapons have silencers on them?'

"As the medics struggled to treat those who were victims of the police attack, they became victims and were violently arrested.

"'The vehicle we were in had red crosses on it. They knew we were medics.They sprayed me head to toe. They pointed shotguns at my back while I was treating patients."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/10/standing-rock-medics-shot-by-police-and.html

#StandWithStandingRock #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #BigOilAndGas #ACAB

Demonstrators Decry #SLAPP Lawsuits Targeting Movement Against #MountainValleyPipeline

via @igd December 21, 2023

"Report on recent protest in Abingdon, Virginia against SLAPP lawsuits targeting the movement fighting the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).

"Mountain Valley Pipeline is suing dozens of pipeline opponents in multiple jurisdictions for millions of dollars as part of a campaign of ongoing repression. Penn Stuart, the law firm behind the injunctions currently being levied against pipeline fighters in Virginia, and their Lawyer Wade Massie are hired by EQT Midstream, the largest partner in the MVP. Today, people had an office party at the Penn Stuart offices in Abingdon, VA, causing a ruckus."

Read more:
https://itsgoingdown.org/demonstrators-decry-slapp-lawsuits-mvp/

#SLAPPs #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #BigOilAndGas

Don’t Stop: Continuing the Fight against #CopCity

Six More Months in the Movement to Defend the Forest
2023-12-12 via #CrimeThinc

"Escalating Repression: #RICO and the Furtherance of the Conspiracy

"With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the 'tactics of organized criminals' language Governor Kemp used on July 2 was not just boilerplate copy drafted by an intern, nor was the August 2 press conference simply propaganda to assure backers that the state could still protect their investments. These phrases and statements were shaping operations, carefully crafted interventions designed to position the government for their next operation: the blanket criminalization of the entire movement.

"On August 29, the Attorney General of #Georgia, Christopher M. Carr, filed an indictment with the Fulton County Superior Court, bringing charges against 61 people under Georgia’s version of the Rackeeter-Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act O.C.G.A. § 16-14-4. The indictment became public on September 5. The document, which is over 100 pages long and very poorly written, claims that the 'conspiracy' (which it names 'Defend the Atlanta Forest') was 'founded' on May 25, 2020—the day that #MinneapolisPolice officers murdered #GeorgeFloyd, precipitating a nationwide #uprising.

"This was a serious escalation. It did not catch everyone by surprise: the #AtlantaSolidarityFund has been braced for such charges since February. The authorities and their extreme-right proxies had been demanding a full-scale crackdown on the movement for over a year, spreading a conspiracy theory that the movement was a mafia controlled by a shadowy and well-connected group (a narrative some activists also reproduced, apparently with no sense of irony). According to one version of this conspiracy theory, circulated by far-right trolls, the Network for Stronger Communities (a Georgia-based nonprofit organization) operates a number of financial enterprises, including the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, that coordinate acts of terrorism in order to accumulate wealth and influence. Of the 61 accused, three were members of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund. The 42 people already facing #DomesticTerrorism charges were also indicted, as well as a number of other people whose connection to the movement was unclear. The indictment alleged that some people had committed acts in 'overt furtherance of the conspiracy' such as buying #GlueSticks for #SignMaking. [UK is using similar tactics, arresting people for just having #Superglue or #BikeLocks in their possession.]

"The RICO indictment was not a legal procedure but a political act. It was not a judicial intervention to suppress criminal activity but a government measure to crush what the text describes as '#anarchism,' '#collectivism,' '#SocialSolidarity,' '#MutualAid.”

"It is not simply 61 people who are on trial. By dating the case to the murder of George Floyd, the prosecution showed that their real target was the entire population of millions that participated in the consequent revolt. This is not an unusual court case, but a new chapter in the fight between those who seek to preserve the hierarchies of a structurally white supremacist society and those fighting to destroy it root and branch. The indictment does not present a list of crimes. It describes the contours and values of a rival society emerging within the movement to stop Cop City, aspiring to reinvent the world according to a different logic.

"The Fulton County Judge assigned to the RICO case immediately recused himself. Until then, judges had not recused themselves from cases related to the movement even when they possessed obvious ties to the Atlanta Police Foundation."

Full article:
https://crimethinc.com/2023/12/12/dont-stop-continuing-the-fight-against-cop-city-six-more-months-in-the-movement-to-defend-the-forest

#JusticeForTort #StopCopCity #ACAB #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SLAPPs

#Lawsuits Have Become the Weapon of Choice Against #Activists

Legal intimidation suits known as “#SLAPPs” are becoming the norm for private #corporations and #governments trying to silence those who speak out on matters of public interest.

by Katie Redford
July 17, 2023

“On May 31, #Atlanta #SWAT teams with riot gear and battering rams broke down #MarlonKautz’s door. Police dragged Kautz and two colleagues to jail in their pajamas, charging them with #MoneyLaundering and charity fraud.

“Kautz, Adele MacLean, and Savannah Patterson, are volunteer board members of the #NetworkForStrongCommunities Inc., which was incorporated in 2020. Through it, they are able to raise funds for the #AtlantaSolidarityFund (#ASF). Since 2016, the fund has bailed out people arrested in #Georgia while exercising their First Amendment right to protest and helped them find legal help.

“Recently, the ASF has supported Atlanta activists who have been protesting a new $90 million police training center known as '#CopCity,' arguing that it will rob Atlanta of a #VitalGreenLung and increase inequality in surrounding neighborhoods. The state of Georgia, on the other hand, has charged dozens with 'domestic terrorism' for participating in largely peaceful protests.

“Georgia authorities claim that the money laundering charge is based on evidence of a fund transfer to another organization, but they haven’t shared any other details about their allegations. Magistrate Judge Altman, who presided over the bail hearing, described the state’s evidence as 'unimpressive,' reinforcing the defendants’ claims that the arrests are politically, not legally, motivated.

“Shortly after the arrest, Governor Brian Kemp announced that the state would go after everyone involved, and Attorney General Chris Carr tweeted that the funders of the bail and legal defense fund were next. As an executive director at a climate philanthropy who made charitable donations to the ASF for legal defense, I had to wonder: Was my door going to be battered down next?

“Some of the accused may have trespassed or destroyed property, but to charge protesters with 'domestic terrorism' and a legal defense fund with money laundering is a cynical political act that bears no relation to the misdemeanors alleged. Any American committed to democracy should be interested in making sure these charges lose in both the court of law and the court of public opinion.

“These charges seek to silence and stop opposition to an unpopular development project. They also telegraph a message to others in the state and nationwide: We will not tolerate lawful protest in Georgia. This strategy is known as strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP), which is an intimidation lawsuit, typically used by private corporations against those who speak out on matters of public interest. Various state governments are increasingly deploying this tactic, too.

“SLAPPs don’t usually win in court, but that’s not what they’re intended to do. Instead, they set out to threaten activists and drain the financial resources of social movements. They often unfold as years-long wars of attrition, where corporations and governments with disproportionately large resources grind down the financial, emotional, and legal capacities of activists. The threat of such a suit—typically brought against individuals or groups that confront powerful people or institutions—discourages free speech and association, chilling democracy itself.

“As a lawyer on the front lines of climate justice activism, I witnessed firsthand how a SLAPP was used to weaponize the law against free speech and association. During the mass protests by Indigenous water protectors and environmentalists campaigning against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, SLAPPs were used widely.

“As #StandingRock became a global cause célèbre, the pipeline’s owners brought a $900 million #racketeering case against individuals and #NGOs like #BankTrack and #Greenpeace, alleging a vast global conspiracy to damage the company’s reputation and bottom line through fraud and #defamation.

“A federal court ultimately dismissed the lawsuit. But despite its eventual failure in court, the SLAPP tactic served its intended purpose: intimidation. #KrystalTwoBulls, one of the Standing Rock organizers that my organization represented, said that being sued tangled her up, practically and emotionally, in a legal battle that diverted her attention, taking her away from her work on the climate crisis and #Indigenous #LandRights.

“She began to #censor herself; she withdrew from her community and the movement, fearing that conspiracy allegations might extend to anyone she touched. And that, of course, is the point of these suits: to send out the message to either shut up or suffer the consequences.

“The case against #Kautz in #Atlanta similarly seeks to spark fear in activists and donors against supporting #FirstAmendment rights and legal defense. There is reason to believe that prosecutors may also be preparing #RICO charges against anti–Cop City activists, another dangerous use of the legal system to quell #grassroots movements.

“Since Standing Rock, over 20 states have passed '#CriticalInfrastructure' laws, which dramatically increase civil and criminal penalties related to protests at or near #FossilFuel projects. #DomesticTerrorism laws like that in Georgia have a similar intention: to weaponize the legal system against critics and stifle #DissentingVoices.

“I have no doubt that the majority of the domestic terrorism charges around Cop City will fail. But in the process, a political point will have been made, at the expense of the constitutional right to free speech. People protesting to protect the #environment and #climate will have been publicly accused of being harmful to America’s security, and they will have been forced to defend themselves—likely at exorbitant cost—against a 30-year jail sentence. Other potential activists will surely remember these charges when they consider whether it’s worth it to attend a concert, sit-in, or protest.

"The best strategy for stopping SLAPP suits in their tracks, whether they emanate from the private sector or are used by the state, is to keep speaking out, to support defamed activists, and to make the litigants pay a price. About 30 states have introduced legislation that protects against SLAPPs. And last year, #Jami Raskin introduced the #SLAPPProtectionAct of 2022 to #Congress. It must be reintroduced.

“My organization, #EquationCampaign, created a fund to provide lawyers and legal support for people who face this kind of legal retaliation for their environmental and climate work. I’m astonished at the wide range of people who need our help: from #farmers and ranchers to #journalists and #IndigenousActivists. All of them are on the receiving end of David vs. Goliath legal tactics that have long served powerful interests with near-endless resources.

“Absent federal protections, we all must be vigilant in the face of the egregious proliferation of #antiprotest laws and lawsuits.

“#Democracy and the future of this #planet require people to speak up. The law should serve—not silence—those of us who do."

https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/slapp-legal-intimidation-activists/

#ForestDefenders #DefendTheForest #StopCopCity #DirectAction #Fascism #RICO #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #NoDAPL #DakotaAccess #StandingWithStandingRock

Just Stop Oil activist jailed for six months for taking part in slow march

Stephen Gingell, 57, thought to be first to receive prison sentence under new Public Order Act

by Damien Gayle
Fri 15 Dec 2023

"A #ClimateActivist has been jailed for six months after pleading guilty to taking part in a peaceful #SlowMarch protest on a London road.

"The sentence handed to Stephen Gingell, 57, is thought to be the first jailing under a new law that critics say makes anyone walking in a road liable for prosecution for 'interference with key national infrastructure'.

"#Section7 of the #PublicOrderAct2023 bans any act that prevents newspaper printing presses, power plants, #oil and #gas extraction or distribution sites, #harbours, #airports, #railways or #roads 'from being used or operated to any extent', with a potential penalty of 12 months in jail.

"Gingell, a father of three from #Manchester, was one of about 40 supporters of #JustStopOil who spent about 30 minutes marching on #HollowayRoad in north #London at about 4pm on 12 November, the climate campaign group said.

"He pleaded guilty to breach of section 7 at a hearing that same month at Wimbledon magistrates court. On Thursday, his case was transferred to Manchester magistrates court, where he was sentenced to six months.

"Just Stop Oil has been campaigning since 2022 for the UK government to stop all new fossil fuel production. The campaign’s 'guerrilla tactics' were cited by the Home Office when it introduced the Public Order Act’s tough new #AntiProtest measures to parliament.

"Police began using section 7 to tackle Just Stop Oil’s protests at the end of October, arresting 60 people taking part in a march in Parliament Square. In a campaign of slow march protests carried out by the group between then and 4 December, 470 of the group’s supporters were arrested 630 times, with about half of those arrests under the new law.

"A spokesperson for the campaign said: 'Section 7 of the Public Order Act 2023, a law drafted by the #FossilFuel lobby, was introduced in April by Priti Patel, and covers ‘interference with the use or operation of key national infrastructure’. It seems this government has now made walking down the road, walking on the public highway an illegal act that is worthy of imprisonment.

"'How many fathers will be imprisoned before those planning to kill us are stopped? New oil and gas will see millions upon millions lose their homes, livelihoods and lives. Protected by the government, by failed politicians, by the police, those committing genocide continue to walk free, those protesting the killings are banged up. Whose side are you on?'

"The human rights organisation Liberty criticised Gingell’s sentencing. Katy Watts, a lawyer at Liberty, said: “It is shocking to see such harsh sentences handed down to protesters. This is yet another unnecessary and draconian law introduced by a government that is hell-bent on discouraging people from standing up for what they believe in. It is a clear attempt to silence people and for the government to hide from all accountability.

"Protest is a fundamental right, not a gift from the state. Government should be protecting our right to protest, not criminalising it.'"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/15/just-stop-oil-activist-is-first-to-be-jailed-under-new-uk-protest-law?share=jetpack-whatsapp

#BigOilAndGas #WaterProtectors #DirectAction #CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #ACAB #Fascism #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #AbolishTheMonarchy #RightToProtest

Crackdowns on peaceful #environmental protests should stop and give way to more social dialogue

02/06/2023

"By way of an example, in recent months peaceful environmental protesters were pepper sprayed by police in #Austria, manhandled and injured by riot police in #France, dispersed in #Georgia, and subjected to arrests and detention in #Finland, the #Netherlands, and #Serbia. Activists who blocked a street in the centre of #Munich were placed in preventive police detention for 30 days, made possible by legislation amended in 2021, and the homes of many climate protesters were searched across #Germany. In several European countries, courts have imposed prison sentences, with and without probation, as well as penalties of community service, on environmental campaigners. Environmental activists were also targeted by vexatious lawsuits – so-called #SLAPPS (strategic lawsuits against public participation), for instance recently in #Bosnia and #Herzegovina. In France, #Spain and the #UnitedKingdom, journalists and media workers were arrested, investigated and, in some cases, criminally charged in the context of environmental protests they were covering."

Read more:
https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/crackdowns-on-peaceful-environmental-protests-should-stop-and-give-way-to-more-social-dialogue

#Europe #WaterProtectors #DirectAction #CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest
#EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #Fascism #SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations
#Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch

Prevent: Rise in #climate activists [in the #UK] referred to anti-terror scheme

Joshua Nevett - BBC News
Fri, December 22, 2023

"In its Prevent report, #AmnestyInternational found some training materials listed environmental causes 'as potential forms of an ill-defined extremism that can lead to a referral'."

Full article:
https://news.yahoo.com/prevent-rise-climate-activists-referred-014912801.html

#WaterProtectors #DirectAction #CriminalizingDissent
#DefendTheForest #EnvironmentalActivists
#ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #ACAB #Fascism #SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism
#EcoActivists #Censorship
#HumanRightsViolations
#Article20 #AbolishTheMonarchy
#RightToProtest #SlowMarch

LIBERTY'S PRACTICAL PROTEST GUIDE

"In the last few weeks, unprecedented numbers of people have taken to the streets all around the #UK to stand up for what they believe in. You might be one of them.

"Download #Liberty’s Practical #Protest Guide for useful protest tips like what to wear, how to stay safe and who to call if you find yourself in trouble.

"Liberty challenges injustice, defends freedom and campaigns to make sure everyone in the UK is treated fairly."

Web:
https://action.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/page/140640/petition/1?locale=en-GB

PDF link:
https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Libertys-Practical-Protest-Guide.pdf

#WaterProtectors #DirectAction #CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #ACAB #Fascism #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #AbolishTheMonarchy #RightToProtest #SlowMarch

Another court challenge to #AntiProtest laws -- this one in the #UK

High court challenge to ‘constitutionally unprecedented’ UK anti-protest law

#NationalCouncilForCivilLiberties brings civil case to quash ‘back-door’ regulations making it easier for police to stop protests

By Daniel Boffey, November 29, 2023

"A new law making it easier for the police to put conditions on peaceful protests is 'constitutionally unprecedented' and unlawful, according to a claim filed at the high court in #London.

"The legal challenge from the National Council for Civil Liberties, also known as #Liberty, is seeking to have the controversial regulations quashed, given what the advocacy group describes as the #draconian consequences for fundamental rights.

"The former home secretary Suella Braverman used the government’s so-called #HenryVIII powers to lower the threshold for the police to impose restrictions on protests, allowing it where there is merely a 'more than minor' hindrance on people’s daily lives.

"The change, through a statutory instrument in the Lords, came after the chamber rejected the same change, proposed months earlier in a heavily debated and scrutinised new public order act. Peers do not by convention normally vote down statutory instruments.

"The manner in which the regulations are said to have been forced through parliament is said by lawyers acting for Liberty to 'represent a constitutionally unprecedented attempt on the part of the executive to achieve by the back door through delegated legislation what it was unable to achieve by the front'.

"There had been 'no reasonable justification' provided for using a statutory instrument to change the law, it is claimed, and there was inadequate consultation of those who would be affected.

"Katy Watts, a lawyer at Liberty, said: 'We all want to live in a society where our government respect the rules, but time and again this government has done the opposite. The previous home secretary’s actions to sneak in rejected laws through the back door are a particularly egregious example of this.

“The wording of the government’s new law is so vague that anything deemed by police to cause ‘more than a minor’ disturbance could have restrictions imposed upon it. This has serious implications for everyone’s right to stand up for the things they believe in.

“These laws had been thrown out by parliament just months before the then home secretary introduced them. It’s shocking to see the government so flagrantly disregard our vital democratic checks and balances, and we’re determined not to let this stand.

“Our legal action is intended to stop this government’s flouting of the law in its tracks, and make sure that nobody – including our politicians – is above the law. It’s vital that they are not allowed to get away with it.'

"In the protest regulations brought into force on 14 June, 'more than minor' hindrances or delays are included in the definition of 'serious disruption' that is the threshold at which the police may impose conditions on a protest under the public order act 1986.

"The police are also allowed to take into account the cumulative effect of repeated protests when deciding whether the threshold had been met.

"The government has said the regulations are an attempt to deal with the activities of #JustStopOil and #ExtinctionRebellion, and that the language around 'more than minor' hindrances mirrors that in other new offences of ‘locking-on’ and ‘tunnelling’.

"The changes were nevertheless rejected by the House of Lords in February by 254 votes to 240 when they were put forward as amendments during the passage of the public order bill 2023, only for them to re-emerge in a statutory instrument.

"Regulations brought in by such means, known a Henry VIII powers in reference to the monarch’s preference for legislating directly by proclamation, are subject to minimal parliamentary scrutiny and decided on an 'all or nothing' basis without amendments.

"Between 1950 and 2017, only 0.01% of the total number of such instruments laid before parliament were rejected.

"Liberty’s legal challenge refers to supporting comments by the Lords’ secondary legislation scrutiny committee, which had been sufficiently alarmed to warn peers of 'constitutional issues' and told them it was 'not aware of any examples of this approach being taken in the past'.

"The legal challenge said it could not be right that parliament was 'treated as having provided [the] executive with a blank cheque to lower the applicable threshold by the back door and thereby sanction greater police interference with public assemblies and protests'.

"The government’s consultation is also said to have been limited to a roundtable chaired by the prime minister with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Metropolitan police service and the police and crime commissioners of the police forces whose areas include the M25 and national highways.

"A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The right to protest is a fundamental part of our democracy but we must also protect the law-abiding majority’s right to go about their daily lives.

"'That is why legislation is in place to clarify the definition of serious disruption and give police the confidence they need to clear roads quickly.

"'This legislation was voted on by both the House of Commons and House of Lords, following proper parliamentary procedure.'"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/29/high-court-challenge-to-constitutionally-unprecedented-uk-anti-protest-law?share=twitter

#WaterProtectors #DirectAction #CriminalizingDissent
#DefendTheForest #EnvironmentalActivists
#ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #ACAB #Fascism #SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism
#EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #AbolishTheMonarchy #RightToProtest #SlowMarch

#NSW police arrest more than 100 #Australian #ClimateChange protesters

by Oscar Grenfell
27 November 2023

"In one of the largest mass arrests of recent years, police in #NewSouthWales (NSW) detained some 109 protesters on Sunday evening. They had participated in a 30-hour maritime demonstration of 34 kayaks, surfboards and pontoons at the port of Newcastle, aimed at blocking coal shipments and the broader promotion of fossil fuels. The protest had been given police permission until 4 p.m., at which point the arrests suddenly started.

"The arrests point to a deepening crackdown on the #RightToProtest. Significantly, this is being spearheaded by Labor governments, now in office federally and at the state and territory levels across mainland #Australia. The detentions indicate official fears over growing social opposition, related not only to climate change, but to Israel’s genocidal assault on #Gaza, a broader eruption of #militarism and the soaring cost-of-living.

"The action, organised by the #RisingTide organisation, saw dozens and at times more than a hundred people take to the water in small vessels to prevent #coal loads from exiting the port. The activists said they succeeded in delaying multiple shipments, but noted that this is only a fraction of the coal that passes through the port each year.

"In comments at the protest and since, representatives of Rising Tide pointed to the increasingly catastrophic consequences of climate change. In Australia, this included one of the worst #bushfire seasons in 2019-20, and massive #floods in northern NSW and parts of #Queensland last year that displaced thousands.

"Along with their abandonment of the flood victims and others impacted by climate change, the Labor governments are doing nothing to address the underlying crisis.

"The federal Labor administration cynically appealed to discontent over the issue in the May 2022 election. Its policy is a 43 percent emissions reduction by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. Scientists have warned that both are woefully inadequate, compared with the scale of the crisis. But even these targets are entirely meaningless, with Labor approving dozens of new coal and #gas projects across the country.

"The protest was not a snap action or an unauthorised event. It had received prior approval from police. Demonstrators were addressed by prominent political figures, including federal Greens leader Adam Bandt and one of his predecessors, #Bob Brown. The Greens, their references to the environmental crisis notwithstanding, seek to collaborate with Labor, as it greenlights #FossilFuel projects and defends the whole profit system that is responsible for climate change.

"Given the establishment character of the speakers and the police authorisation, the subsequent crackdown was particularly striking.

"Police have claimed that approval was only until 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and that participants then refused to leave the port’s waters. By 5:30 p.m., the port was cleared, and its operations were resumed.

"The speed of the police crackdown indicates extensive prior planning. Footage on social media shows at least one police vessel approaching the activists and moving to detain them.

"The police arrests were indiscriminate. Among the 109 arrested was #AlanStuart, a 97-year-old clergyman. Five children were detained.

"In a statement on X/Twitter, Legal Observers NSW said five of its representatives were arrested. 'Observers were present to document the actions of police and connect any protesters arrested with legal representation,' it stated.

"Despite being marked out with coloured vests and having repeatedly spoken to police during the event, the observers were nevertheless hauled in. They noted that this was an attack on 'the right to document and monitor protest as media and independent observers,' which 'is an internationally protected right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.'

"Three of the legal observers were charged, joining more than 100 others. Even the children who participated have reportedly been referred to relevant authorities under the Young Offenders Act.

"The blanket charge applied to the adult protesters of unreasonable interference by use of a vessel under section 13 of the state’s Marine Safety Act carries a maximum penalty of a $5,500 fine. While most protesters were released on bail after being booked, two organisers, including one with impaired vision, were detained overnight in a police watchhouse. They received hundreds of dollars in fines, with a judge declining to impose the maximum fine because of their lack of a criminal history. The remaining protesters face court next year.

"The arrests and charges were clearly intended to send a message that further disruptions will not be tolerated. If that were not the case, the protesters could simply have been moved on without the mass detention or subsequent charges."

Read more:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/11/28/hlps-n28.html

#WaterProtectors #DirectAction #CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #ACAB #Fascism #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations