Some (mostly) human rights links [Note: Content Warning - reader discretion is advised!] and thoughts - Saturday 12th February, 2022

Some human rights (including significant, relevant links in other fields - such as geopolitics, democracy, or authoritarianism) links: 

• an opinion that "a carbon tax would encourage companies to reallocate the capital they spend on consumption towards developing green technologies"; 
• "Colombia's Amazon indigenous groups train youth to defend rainforest"; 
• koalas in NSW are endangered;
  
• France will go off fossil fuels . . . by building nuclear reactors;
  
• wind and solar companies NEED to address human rights; 
  
• one US network included commentary on politics, human rights, and Ukraine in their coverage of the major international sporting event currently being held in human  rights-abusing, genocidal  China - where athletes have reported being traumatised by their abuse;
  
• from one of my favourite journalists: "as Putin draws closer to Xi, who among the leaders of the West will rise to their feet like Winston Churchill?" (I can't think of any potential candidates . . . ); 
• "it appears that coupists are learning to circumvent the international community’s typical demand in post-coup situations—that elections be held—to entrench themselves in power";
  
• Russia's government "is seizing ever-more control over biometric data of everyone resident in Russia. This carries serious risks for their rights"; 
• "Cameroonian authorities subjected dozens of asylum seekers deported by the United States to serious human rights violations between 2019 and 2021" (which would be the USA committing refoulement); 
• "the company behind Australia’s offshore processing regime on Nauru made a $101m profit last financial year – more than $500,000 for each of the fewer than 200 people held on the island";
  
• Libya is back to having two parallel governments;
  
• "Ethiopia has committed a wide range of human rights violations in its war against Tigrayan rebel forces ... according to a landmark legal complaint submitted to ... The African Commission [on Human and Peoples’ Rights]" - see also here, on concerns about Ethiopia, the DRC, and child soldiers; 
• a rift is developing between Europe and the Sahel; 
• a review of the violence in the eastern DRC;
  
• an attack has been made in an attempt to disrupt Somali's election process;
  
• from the USA: there is a "clear error in the Defense Department’s Law of War Manual on presumptions of civilian status";
  
• a call for South Sudan to advance human rights; 
• "thousands of Sudanese [have] marched against military rule"; 
  
• "although Nicaragua is not a signatory of the Rome Statute, ... international law still offers options for an eventual criminal trial against those officials of the Ortega-Murillo regime accused of committing crimes against humanity"; 
• after recovering records he wrongly took with him, "National Archives [has asked the] Justice Department to investigate POTUS45's handling of White House records";
• "calls for [the] federal government to strengthen modern slavery laws after [a] scathing report"; 
• "Arab states in the Gulf region have downplayed the legacy of repression and racism faced by minorities. But some countries are taking the first steps to address the past" of slavery;
  
• beginning with Ehud Barak's warning in 2010, a measured assessment of Israel's discrimination against Palestinians;
• Tunisia continues its backsliding towards authoritarianism - including secret detection centres; 
• China has praised the "positive steps" by the EU and the USA on restoring the Iran nuclear deal - see also this;
  
• the USA has restricted "visa issuance for Somali officials accused of 'undermining democratic process'";
  
• journalists are being silenced in Russia, Afghanistan, and Kashmir, and "the fight for democracy and media freedom in Hong Kong feels like it has “entered its endgame”, after a year of crackdowns, arrests and forced closures of outlets, the International Federation for Journalists has said";
  
• a criticism of the mainstream media response to growing corruption in my nation, and an apology to whistleblowers in Qld who weren't listed to;
  
• support for students wanting to wear hijabs at schools in India after government bans, as a warning is made hate speech is at dangerous levels; 
• another "school" - this time in NSW - is trying the LGBT-phobic hate line; 
• "religious discrimination laws could see people with disability 'insulted and humiliated'" - and won't protect trans students - there have been powerful  actions against this notorious bill, and calls for "a ‘Christchurch amendment’ to be included ... to protect people of faith from vilification and endangerment", but it actively causing serious harm right now . . . but has passed the lower house with the most egregious transphobic elements  curtailed (my preliminary thoughts from during the week are here); . . . until it was  suspended (NOT WITHDRAWN -  it is still on the books, and capable of being resurrected at some stage) in the Senate . . . after harm had been caused (as intended). Meanwhile, from the ultra-conservative and religious USA, "the US House of Representatives [has] approved a bill cracking down on human rights abuses against LGBTQ+ people in other countries, pledging to impose sanctions on foreign individuals involved in anti-LGBTQ+ harassment or attacks that have taken place abroad" (maybe they should have a look at out PM?), positive responses to LGBTIQ-phobia in Colombia, but a notorious NSW MP is opposing training police to be decent people and Iran has murdered two gay men;
• powerful speeches by two women who have highlighted the need to act against sexual assault, including of children, and discrimination - see here, here, here, here, and, on the threatening phone call to attempt to silence on of these women, here, here, and here;
  
• "Australia is suffering a democratic recession – and we can’t blame COVID ... The looming federal election provides the opportunity to start the process of repairing and restoring our democratic health";  
• businesses are leaving Hong Kong;
• hypocrisy in the soft response to extremist- led COVID deniers in Canada as opposed to responses to genuine human rights protests (Canada's PM has ordered the underplayed but extremely serious disruption ended); 
• "nearly one in five applicants to white supremacist group tied to US military"; 
• "Victoria’s parliament will formally investigate the rise of far-right extremism in the state and the risk it poses to multicultural communities";
  
• a far right wing conspiracy fantasist MP has been using taxpayer funds to spread his evil lies - and another has been taking people threatening violence into Parliament; 
• "UN experts: ‘UAE-funded mercenaries in Libya bankroll Darfur armed movements’";
  
• "the US Air Force has been ordered to pay more than $US230 million (a$323 million) in damages to survivors and families of victims killed in a 2017 Texas church massacre ... the Air Force failed to flag a conviction that might have kept the gunman from legally buying the weapon used in the shooting"; 
• Sri Lanka's tokenistic "reforms" aren't fooling the EU;
  
• a call for Mexico to legislate to enable people with disabilities make decisions for themselves; 
• PNG's hospitals are on "the brink of collapse";
  
• "hundreds of 'burnt out' aged care and disability care workers are quitting, union warns"; 
• in a further sign of giving up trying to save lives, "requirements to check-in to venues using QR codes are being questioned now the data collected is no longer used for COVID-19 contact tracing" - although police have been trying to access that information . . . ;
• "despite broad support in the United States for reshaping policing, movements to “defund” or “abolish” police departments generate strong public opposition. The resistance is largely due to discomfort with the movements’ policy goals, not their slogans or negative beliefs about the activists associated with them, according to a new study" - but, on the other hand, US police have killed a record number of people, and these recommendations have been made to address that;
  
• after decades of problems and decades of objections & protests from people such as myself, "delivery failure: the private sector is no place for essential services";
  
• in Germany "three out of five [people are] happy working from home" - which I suspect reflects the experiences of others in the world;
• comments by the treasurer appear to show a disturbing lack of understanding of the realities of the job market; 
• the "WHO [ has highlighted] benefits and dangers of artificial intelligence for older people" (discrimination including wrong assumptions remains a major problem); 
  
• Iraq has made its final reparation payment for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.