Some human rights and other news links and thoughts

Black Lives Matter! Be Anti-Racist, Anti-Sexist, and Actively Inclusive in ALL Areas.
The Climate Crisis is real, urgent and existential!

The Pandemic is Real, and Vaccinations save lives. Stay safe - wash your hands, practice social distancing and wear a face mask in public, and follow informed medical advice - and be considerate towards those at risk or in situations of vulnerability (including economic) while the COVID-19 pandemic is a problem.

Some mostly human rights (including significant, relevant links in other fields - such as geopolitics, democracy, or authoritarianism) links (note: the source is obvious once you click on links, but for those who want to know where they are going and cannot hover over the link [e.g., on so-called “smart” phones], I'll start putting the source of news items [but not reference links] in brackets after each item [abbreviations listed at end of post]; also, comments by me in purple). 

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. Content shown in green (which may be only part of a news story) is about what is generally considered “good news”, but personal history may still make such events triggering. Reader caution is recommended.

• on the CLIMATE CRISIS (noting the UNFCCC) and ENVIRONMENT (noting multiple  international agreements): 
• an opinion that “at the G7 summit, rich countries should finally take responsibility, quit coal by 2030 and honour their promises to compensate poorer countries least responsible for the climate crisis” (DW);   “Australia ‘ill-prepared’ for food insecurity driven by war and climate crisis, former defence leaders say” (TG);   consideration (again!) on making Tasmania Australia’s renewables battery (ABC);   Australia’s floods in February has an insurance bill of nearly $5 billion (ABC);   the forestry industry is being given favoured treatment by Tasmania’s Parliament over climate activists (ABC);   climate activists are willing to risk jail and fines in NSW (ABC);   the effect of the climate crisis on this year’s extreme weather (TRF);   “can degrowth stop climate change and end poverty?” (DW);   the EU will phase out fossil fuel cars (TND) - which  will create mining problems in Africa for critical minerals (FP) (given the reduced costs [fewer premature deaths and reduced illness] for Europe’s ).8 billion people, and the boost that will have to Europe’s economy and tax revenues, can that be used to ensure minerals mining in Africa is ethical and equitous? Or at least minimise the harm to Africa’s 1.4 billion people?!);   concerns about the carbon credits system in Australia will lead to a review (TG);   food consumerism (DW);   “Australia’s bushfire season has grown by almost a month in 40 years” (TG);   the USA’s next moment of madness is to limit what the US EPA can do ... (WP);   another article on what must be done for Australia to reach net zero by 2050 (TND) - and also here (TG);   “why criminalising climate protesters in Australia doesn’t actually work” - including a critique of the stupid comments and actions used to exacerbate and perpetuate  (that is what the anti-protest actions are doing) the climate crisis (TC);   a rebuttal of another wrong claim about forests and storing carbon (ABC);   a Council in Vic is acting to protect organic farms from roadside weed spraying (ABC);   a critique of recent claims about nuclear power (TG);  
  
  
• climate / environmental issues have occurred in:   NSW (bee mites) (TND),   Ecuador (good news) (TRF);   Europe (TRF),   Brazil (TRF),   PNG (TC), Nigeria (The [Nigerian] Guardian),   Kenya (good news) (UN); 
  
  
• on the COVID-19 PANDEMIC (noting WHO advice, Article 12 of the ICESCR, and public emergency provisions of the ICCPR and the ICESCR) and other health matters: 
• while our COVID rules are wound back, infections are surging (TND) - see also here (TG) and here (F24);   a consideration of long COVID (TC);   pockets of COVID in the digestive system may be causing problems (TG);   large scale resignations of paramedics may occur (TG);   at least some those who questioned Iran’s COVID policies have been jailed (HRW);  
   
  
• on Rashist  Putin and his cronies’ ILLEGAL (it is contrary to Chapters VI and VII of the UN Charter  and international law [and the 1928 Pact of Paris which was successfully used in post-WW2 trials], and possibly includes conduct contrary to the "laws" of war and international humanitarian law (IHL)) INVASION of UKRAINE: 
• on military matters:   there is a risk (F24) Belarus - which may be given nuclear weapons (BBC) by Russia (BBC) - may enter the war, which also puts the Baltic states at increased risk;   the war (TND) is continuing (TG);   depletion of ammunition stocks - more so Ukraine than Russia - is becoming a major problem (TG);   an assessment of the situation (ABC);  
  
• internationally:   sanctions will be extended to include Russia’s gold (AJ);   NATO will “put 300,000 troops on high alert in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” (TG), but Spain also wants NATO to watch Africa over refugees (AP);   Türkiye has dropped its opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO (TG) but wants extradition of several people (allegedly terrorists, possibly Kurdish) (DW), all at the expense of Syria (Lowy);   Putin claims he is open to talks on non-proliferation (R);   Somalia is now at risk of famine (WP);  
   
• on INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (noting the UN Charter [particularly Chapters VI and VII] and numerous  international  treaties): 
•  Brexit-regret? (TG);   “G7 leaders pledge $600 billion for developing countries, urge unity on Ukraine” (F24) - but crippling debt remains a problem (DW);   China is trying to muscle in on the Pacific Island forum (ABC);   a possible “NATO” for West Asia (DW);   “in claiming sovereignty over Chagos, London privileges Western interests. And breaks international law” (Lowy);  
  
  
• noting particularly Chapters VI and VII of the UN Charter, the 1928 Pact of Paris used in post-WW2 trials, the "laws" of war and IHL and Article 20 of the ICCPR on WAR / CONFLICT:   a decade of war in Syria killed more than 300,000 civilians (UN);   “a “staggering” average of 71 verified grave violations a day, are committed against children by parties to conflict in more than 30 settings across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America” (UN);   the “war on drugs” PROLONGED Colombia's decades long civil war . . .  (TG);   Sudan-Ethiopia border (Africa News) clashes have led to a call from the AU for restraint (ST);   landmines in Ethiopia (VoA);   the risk of war between Rwanda and the DRC is growing (ACSS);   as Mali refuses to allow human rights abuses to be investigated (AJ), the UN decides to continue peace keeping (AN);  
   
•  on CORRUPTION (noting international  agreements and monitoring) and MISGOVERNANCE: 
• “searching for the cause of unhappy privatisation and demutualisation stories throws up a broader sickness at the heart of corporate excess: Executive greed and an unhealthy concentration on the “shareholder value” metric” (TND);   the USA’s supreme court “just threw the idea of settled law out the window” (CNN);   the “military coup has cost Sudan $4.4 bn in suspended aid” (Dabanga TV);   tighter rules around lobbying in Qld ahead of the release of a report on investigation of corruption (TG);   the Hong Kongers who were ignored by the UK when Hong Kong was handed back to China (and have now been shown to be right) (TG);   concerns over a new Minister’s family lobbyist have led to a “robust management plan” (TG);
   
• on DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE (noting Article 25 of the ICCPR and monitoring  projects): 
• globally:   what Putin and Xi “don’t get” about democracy (CNN);   “disinformation should really be seen as a symptom of diseases such as systemic inequality, which has seen “deep-seated discrimination” flourish, along with fragile institutions, a loss of trust in effective governance, and “limited rule of law”” (UN);   the crisis in Ecuador is continuing (TG), but the state of emergency has been lifted and talks are underway (AJ);   “online disinformation stokes tensions as Kenya elections near” (TRF);   protestors (rfi) continue (Sudan Tribune) to call for democracy in Sudan;  a convention has agreed on Chile’s new proposed constitution (TG);  
  
• thoughts on POTUS45’s “proto-Fascism” ;   #45 “knew members of the crowd at his rally near the White House on 6 January 2021 were armed, but demanded security apparatus be removed to allow them closer, then instructed the crowd to march on the US Capitol ... the president later [allegedly - this specific claim {but not the others} is disputed (TG)] attempted to assault an aide who refused his demand that he go to the Capitol too” (TG) - see also here (Robert Reich), here (assaulted a Secret Service agent and grabbed the steering wheel of a vehicle to try to get to the insurrection (TND);   this week’s testimony has changed independent legal experts’ minds about indicting POTUS45 (LFB);  
  
  
• in Australia:   cut backs to cross bencher’s access to additional advisors may put them into line with other backbenchers (SBS), but they're not in the same circumstances as backbenchers as they are taking on greater responsibility in their representation (TC) - see also this (TND);   a survey shows most Australians want democracy and action against autocracies, but fear ties to the USA increases our risk of being dragged into war with China (TG);   “government decision to limit telehealth services will cause vulnerable Australians to suffer, GPs say” (TG);   “Federal ICAC should have power to sack parliamentarians, independent MP says” (TG);   Australia will allow Territories to make their own decisions about voluntary assisted dying (TG);  
  
  
• suppression of dissent / media in   France (F24),   India (CNN),   Türkiye (DW),   eSwatini (DW),   Mexico (SBS);
  democracy is also at risk in   UK (TG),   Senegal (F24),   the Philippines (DW),   Tunisia (F24);
  
  
• on HUMAN RIGHTS (noting the various rights and treaties summarised here, IHL, Article 5 of the Rome Statute founding the ICC): 
• the exclusion of TGD people from sport has been opposed (ABC) by a central Australian local council, but a cisgender swimmer has wrongly claimed (The Mercury) the exclusion is an end to the matter - see also this (ABC), this call for GENUINE fairness (TG) and this (TG);   
• following the official confirmation last week of the US supreme court’s leaked “Handmaid’s Tale” decision (and this shows the majority were utterly out-of-touch & clueless, and, in fact, grossly incompetent and - from one of the dissents - acting in bad faith):   fears of violence for weeks (TND) seems to be happening - both from police as well as anti-abortionists (TG);   increasing divisions (DW);   a large number of companies will pay for their employees to travel to safe states for abortions if they need them (CNN);   a warning other rights are at risk (AJ);  “congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for supreme court justices to be impeached for misleading statements about their views on Roe v Wade” (TG);   fears over the privacy of period tracking apps (DW) - see also this (TC);   some temporary court blocks (TG);   “white supremacists are using the debate around women’s reproductive rights to promote racist and extremist agendas” (MN);   one Texas sheriff has said he will not persecute people over abortions, considering his duty limited to law breakers rather than those pursuing their rights (TG);   an excellent sung response from one of my favourite singers (YT);  
  
• abuses of mental health patients (TG);    a rebuttal of a nonsensical claim (that I have never heard of) that men being single increases the risk of war of violence (the final statement is wrong: "Make Love, Not War" IS a valid slogan - the problem with that final sentence and the premise of the claim is that (a) it assumes sex is limited to formal marriage, and (b) love is limited to physical sex) (PVG);   “why soldiers commit war crimes – and what we can do about it” (TC);   Russia’s notorious mercenaries are in Darfur, Sudan (rfi);   the USA’s supreme court has chosen not to make holding hate groups to account any easier (TRF), and is weakening the separation of church and state (TG);    “Taiwan’s government has opened a new department dedicated to defending human rights and pushing forward transitional justice” (Radio Taiwan International);   prisoners in Thailand will no longer be used for forced labour (TRF);   Israel has postponed repressive measures for the West Bank until after US President Biden has been and gone ... (TG);   an examination of why Africa needs to import grains (partly because so much food is grown for export) (DW);   as a call is made to designate (LFB) Russia’s notorious mercenaries a terrorist organisation, “New Zealand designates Proud Boys a terrorist organisation” (AP);   a city in Qld has decided to retain naming honours of a convicted child abuser (ABC);   “we need to address society’s unrealistic view of caregivers” (Aeon);   after 14 years (is there a reasonable to shorten investigation periods? More resources? Ensuring better access to witnesses?), the ICC has issued its first arrest warrants over the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia (remember: innocent until proven guilty) (HRW);   “Palestinian authorities are systematically mistreating and torturing Palestinians in detention, including critics and opponents” (HRW);   a warning over facial recognition / mass surveillance (TA);  
   
• human rights are at risk or abuses have occurred in:   West Asia (CNN),   Cuba (AI),   Türkiye (AI),   Cameroon (HRW);   Lebanon (HRW),   Russia (EU),   Denmark (TG),   India (HRW),   Pakistan (Dawn),   South Australia (TG),   Afghanistan (FH),   USA (HRW),   Honduras (HRW),   Sudan (ST),   Australia’s military (ABC);
  
  
• violence in:   Norway (TND),   Iraq (AJ),   DRC (TEA) - see also this (ICG) and this (News24),   Burkina Faso (AJ),   Nigeria (AP),   Kashmir (ICG),   India (ABC) - see also this (TG),   Togo (AN);
  
  
• noting the Yogyakarta Principles on LGBTIQ+ PEOPLE:   the anti-LGBTIQA+ sentiments of a religious school have been rejected by 80% of the students’ parents (TG);   transphobic aspects (TA) of a party seeking to be progressive;    “homosexuality is not a crime in [Türkiye], but police crackdown on LGBTQ+ parades has increased in recent years, reflecting the government's toughened stance on LGBTQ+ rights” (TRF);   “a number of Amazon employees are protesting the retail giant’s sale of anti-transgender books ... that violate Amazon’s policies against hate speech” (Channel News);   a Polish court has ruled that four “LGBT-free” zones must be abolished (TRF);   the Australian Press Council has confirmed a media's reporting included transphobic elements;  
  
  
• noting ICERD and DRIP on RACISM:   social media is being used to stir race hate in Kenya (TG);   a memorial to two Indigenous men who saved scores of settlers in a flood in the 1850s - despite racism and the effects of colonisation (ABC);   a management plan has been agreed for a culturally significant area near a proposed highway (ABC);   “Peru’s indigenous communities fear rising violence from drug traffickers” (TRF);   more racism in sport (TND);   the covert influence of racism (unconscious bias) in three deaths children in health care (TG);   Germany will return over 1,000 artifacts looted from Africa (DW);   an outline of a way to achieve treaty with Indigenous people in the Northern Territory has been released (ABC);   hopes of expanding an identity documentation programme for Indigenous people (NIT);   a staggering piece of bureaucratic obduracy (ABC);   call for a warrant not served in 1955 over the murder of a black American child to be served now, and used to open a new case (TG);   part of my home city will be renamed to cut ties with a (now long deceased) slaveholder (NIT);   a call for Native Title to be extended to freehold title (ABC);  
  
  
• noting Article 17 of the ICCPR,   Article 16 of the CRC,   Article 22 of the CRPD,   and   Article 12 (1) of the DRIP on PRIVACY:   an “Australian firm [has halted a] facial recognition trial ... after a consumer group referred the company to the privacy regulator for ‘unreasonably intrusive’ tech” (AJ);  
  
  
• noting CEDAW on SEXISM:  France’s National Assembly has its first female President (F24);   Australia’s abortion precedent preceded the USA’s Roe v Wade (ABC);   recommendations for specialist domestic violence stations in Qld (ABC) following what the Coroner has described as an “‘inadequate response’ of Queensland police to domestic violence” (TG);   specific recommendations to improve Qld’s consent laws have been made by the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce (ABC);  
  
  
• noting the conventions and the Global Compact on REFUGEES:  a rush of refugees into a small Spanish territory in Africa has cost lives (F24) - which, together with the political point scoring (TG) after more than 50 migrants have been found dead inside a truck on the USA’s southern border, has led to a call for safer pathways for migration (UN);   a court in Poland has ruled pushbacks of refugees are illegal (HRW);   the EU’s Court of Justice has found that “Lithuanian national law, which orders the automatic detention of people who cross irregularly into the country and effectively denies them the right to asylum, is incompatible with EU laws” (AI);  
  
  
• noting the CRPD on PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES:  the ableism of CBT (Medium);   a streaming series “uses disability trauma for entertainment. Dark tourism and asylum tours do too” (TC);  
  
  
• noting Articles 6 (1), 7, and 8 (see here) of the ICESCR,   Article 5 (e) (i) (ii) (see here and here) of the ICERD,   Article 11 (1) (a - c) of the CEDAW,   and   Article 27 (1) of the CRPD on WORK and FAVOURABLE WORK CONDITIONS:   an agreement on gig economy employment standards (TG) - but many are still struggling elsewhere (TRF);  
   
• on NATURAL and OTHER DISASTERS (noting Article 1(3) of the UN Charter): 
• industrial accident in Jordan (TG);   bushfires in Cyprus - with a rare and welcome unity of response (TG);   train derailment in the USA (TG);   drought in Zimbabwe is causing crop failure (TRF);   a bushfire in Peru is threatening Machu Picchu (CNN);   a landslide in India (ABC);  
   
• how a 10-year-old became a Cold War icon of peace (DW);

(Should you elect to write to your elected representatives or others on these matters, it may be useful to familiarise yourself with the links shown in blue - or to at least refer to them. Don't forget to CHECK whether your nation has RATIFIED the treaty concerned.)

Abbreviations:   Aeon Magazine - Aeon;   Africa Centre for Strategic Studies - ACSS;   Africa News - AN;   Al Jazeera - AJ;   Amnesty International - AI;   Associated Press - AP;   Australian Broadcasting Corporation - ABC;   Australian Independent Media Network - AIM;   British Broadcasting Commission - BBC;   Cable News network - CNN;   Deutsche Welle - DW;   European Union - EU;   Foreign Policy - FP;   France 24 - F24;   Freedom House - FH;   Human Rights Watch - HRW;   International Crisis Group - ICG;   Lawfare Blog - LFB;   Mirage News - MN;   National Indigenous Times - NIT;   Political Violence at a Glance - PVG;   Radio France International - rfi;   Reuters - R;   Special Broadcasting Service - SBS;   Sudan Tribune - ST;   The Age - TA;   The East African - TEA;   The Guardian - TG;   The New Daily - TND;   Thomson Reuters Foundation - TRF;   United Nations - UN;   Voice of America (VoA);   Washington Pot - WP;   YouTube - YT;