Some human rights and other news links and thoughts

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Some mostly human rights (including significant, relevant links in other fields - such as geopolitics, democracy, or authoritarianism) links (note: the source of news items [but not reference links] is in brackets after each item - normal rules around abbreviations will apply, and abbreviations are listed at the end of this post; also, comments by me are 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): 
• Europe is considering (DW) heat pumps;   concerns (TG) over a lack of clarity over the killing of native animals on Tasmanian properties;   “recognising Indigenous knowledges is not just culturally sound, it’s good science” (TC);   lessons on transitioning regional towns / economies to a zero carbon future (TC);   the oil tanker moored off Yemen is still a disaster waiting to happen (ICG);   “to stop risky developments in floodplains, we have to tackle the profit motive – and our false sense of security” (TC);   an article on a proposal first made years (decades?) ago: managed retreat from coastlines (DW);   the floods in eastern Australia - which have been exacerbated by past state governments (TC) -  will increase (TG) living costs;   the problem of chemical spray drift (TG);   the EU has - stupidly, IMO - listed nuclear power and hydrocarbon gas as “green” ... (DW);   farmers in the Netherlands are protesting against climate crisis measures (this raises the issue of a just transition, as there are costs to this) (DW);   Australia’s new government has recognised (TND) the consequences of the climate crisis and need for action (TC);   the modelling of the economic impact of the climate crisis that neolib nitwits stopped nine years ago has resumed (ABC);   a call to protect both biological AND cultural diversity (Aeon);   plant based meat is the BEST investment for addressing the climate crisis (TG);   “Brazil’s Supreme Court has become the first in the world to recognise the Paris Agreement as a human rights treaty – a move with significant implications for national and international law” (Climate Change News);  
  
• climate / environmental issues have occurred in:   USA (offshore oil drilling) (TG),   South Africa (abandoned mines) (HRW),   G7 (re Africa) (News24),   Bangladesh (TRF),   the Pacific (TG); 
  
  
• 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: 
• Australia’s imminent third wave (TC) may bring back public safety measures such as masks (TC) - see also this (ABC);   widening eligibility for booster shorts (TND);  
   
  
• 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:   Putin has claimed victory in one part of eastern Ukraine - but no signs of stopping (TND) in what may become a generational conflict (ABC);   more lies by Russia (BB);   Western aid is having an effect in Ukraine (TG);  
  
• on human rights in the region and globally:  lectures are being given on respecting human rights law to international fighters for Ukraine (Yahoo);   another article on the environmental impact of the invasion of Ukraine (WAMU 88.5);   more rapes by Russian soldiers (ABC);   71 million people have been pushed into poverty by the war (AP);   the problem of food insecurity inside Ukraine (PVG);  
  
• inside Russia:   hundreds of anti-invasion Russians have fled (DW) to or through Türkiye;   Russia’s apparent stock up of international prisoners (F24);  
  
• internationally:   a call for nuance when considering conflict - including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (TG) (while I respect and often agree with that national leader, and agree there can be a need for nuance, in the case of Russia’s invasion, I consider this more akin to Germany’s actions in the late 1930s - it IS serious, IMO);   an overview of Finland’s long history of preparing to defend itself against Russia (CNN) - see also this (TG);   Latvia is resuming compulsory military service (TG);   Türkiye has seized a Russian ship with stolen Ukrainian grain (TG);  
   
• on INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (noting the UN Charter [particularly Chapters VI and VII] and numerous  international  treaties): 
• Sri Lanka is seeking aid - while Australia only wants to stop refugees on boats (TC);   the DRC and Rwanda are holding talks (VoA) . . . and have agreed to cease violence and normalise relations (TEA) ... but violence is continuing (F24);   an “unprecedented” joint FBI (USA) - MI5 (UK) warning on China’s espionage (TG);   “intersecting global crises are threatening the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and impacting food supplies, health, education, and security across countries worldwide” (UN);  
  
  
• 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:   Iran is heading further down a hardline nuclear path (R);  
  
  
• incidents / action of concern in/regarding:   Ethiopia (AJ);
   
•  on CORRUPTION (noting international  agreements and monitoring) and MISGOVERNANCE: 
• the gravely concerning and damaging (TG) prosecution of a whistleblower’s lawyer has (TG) been (TC) dropped (TND);   lessons from Qld for the rest of Australia (TND);   politician’s use of blind trusts has now been banned in Australia (TG);  
   
• on DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE (noting Article 25 of the ICCPR and monitoring  projects):
• From my main blog: a former politician has been killed (TND) in Japan - it appears likely that they were murdered or assassinated. It is still early in the investigation, but police have said the alleged (there will likely be a trial, and thus it is important to remember to protect the principle of “innocent until proven guilty in a fair trial”) murderer/assassin had a view that the former politician was a member of an organisation that may not even exist.
  This raises something I have been concerned about for years (decades, actually), something which I emphasise may have NOTHING to do with events in Japan: the misbegotten conception that eccentricities are all harmless.
  If we’re talking about someone who collects teapots or wears old fashioned (possibly centuries old) clothes, yes, that is a harmless eccentricity.
  If we’re talking about those IPOCs who want to claim the moon landings did not occur, or their compatriots the flat earthers and hollow earthers, we’re starting to get into dangerous territory.
  By the time we get into the conspiracy fantasy land of the utterly unacceptable, infantile and DANGEROUS rumours such as the nonsense spread about Hilary Clinton and others, we’re in the territory that, in my opinion, is HIGHLY LIKELY to DIRECTLY cause violence of the sort we have just witnessed in the last 24 hours - it’s NOT (DW) all attributable to mental illness!
  There’s also the life-threatening actions of COVID denialists.
  Stop pretending all eccentricities are harmless: some are violent, often misogynistic/transphobic/white supremacist obsessive EVIL;
  
  
• globally:   the (political) West “is white” (i.e., racist) (PnI);   the crisis in Lebanon (UN);   the crisis in Sri Lanka is causing people to flee (DW);   anger over poor living conditions in Libya (F24);   progressives are fighting back against the backward right in the USA (TG);   civilians in Sudan are sceptical of the army’s “promises” (F24);   fears that #45’s right wing extremists are preparing to use massive voter intimidation (TG);   India’s ruling party has lost its last Muslim member (CNN);   a backgrounder on the protests in Cuba (FH);   a call for term limits to be respected in Africa (VoA);  “greater democratic rule [is] vital to boost security in West Africa and the Sahel” (UN);  
  
• some of the lessons coming out of the US Congress investigation into the 2021 attempted insurrection - including reliance on individuals and the vestiges of monarchical thinking yet to be purged;   in an eerie echo of what the evil John Howard probably enjoyed about the rise of Pauline Hanson's lot, “it’s not just the far right that should worry us. It’s their ideas seeping into the mainstream” (TG);  
  
  
• in Australia:   “becoming a republic will improve Australia’s image in Asia” (Lowy);   “how Australians can avoid aiding China’s propaganda machine - challenging Chinese government rhetoric is key” (HRW);   a pause on stopping changes to welfare has been extended - but not stopped (TG);  
  
  
• suppression of dissent / media in   Sudan (UN),   India (TRF),   Cambodia (Lowy);
  democracy is also at risk in   West Africa (F24),   Sudan (Dabanga TV) - and here (ST),   Guinea (AN), Tunisia (AN); 
  
  
• on HUMAN RIGHTS (noting the various rights and treaties summarised here, IHL, Article 5 of the Rome Statute founding the ICC): 
• an opinion that the ending of legal attacks on a whistleblower’s lawyer must lead to better protection in Australia for whistleblowers (TG);   as some US states (TG) and President Biden (TND) act to protect human rights, an historically informed reflection on the US supreme court’s recent “Handmaid’s Tale” decision;   an opinion that abortion bans are “a tool of political repression” (PVG) and an opinion on what - from a legal view - could come next (YT);   the need for better legal protections in Australia (ABC);   another mass shooting in the USA (TG);   Australia’s acting Prime Minister has committed (TG) to defence reform after the Afghan War Crimes Enquiry, saying “history will judge us”;   a Guardian exclusive reports that “a Queensland police whistleblower has claimed she was directed to withhold evidence of police failures in domestic violence cases from the state coroner’s office, and that detectives did not properly investigate the deaths of at least four First Nations women who had previously been subject to repeated violence by their partners” - see also here (TG);   a criticism of a major media platform for creating a façade of balanced coverage - something I consider other platforms may be guilty of as well (if they're not being overtly bigotted) (infinite8horizon blog);   everyday stress - including discrimination - exacerbates the effects of ageing (TND);   an apparent backflip by US President Biden over Saudi Arabia’s Prince MBS (TG);   an appallingly bigoted suggestion to address ageing population problems in the UK (TG);   the fat-phobic abuses of television (TG);   a warning that the “Brazil jobs program puts migrants at risk of abuse” (TRF);   violent extremists have attacked a jail and freed other violent extremists in Nigeria (DW);   concerns about undercover tactics of New York police (F24);   concerns about Indonesia’s proposed new criminal code (HRW);   a step towards accountability in Cameroon (HRW);   “human rights victories in 2022” (AI);  
   
• human rights are at risk or abuses have occurred in:   Libya (UN),   France (HRW),   Burundi (HRW),   Lebanon (HRW),   Egypt (HRW),   Türkiye (TRF),   Afghanistan (HRW),   Brazil (UN),   Canada (TG);
  
  
• violence in:   Mali (F24) - see also this (TG),   Denmark (TG),   Uzbekistan (DW) - see also this (UN),   Burkina Faso (F24),   Mali (UN),   the Amazon (TRF);
  
  
• noting the conventions and the Global Compact on REFUGEES:   the deaths of at least 20 migrants in the Libyan desert has led to a renewed call (UN) for stronger protection on the Chad-Libya border;   an opinion that India needs a refugee law (TRF);   people in the UK are resisting immigration raids (TG);   “refugees struggle to access fresh water as COVID cripples Nauru” (TA);   a small step towards decency in the USA (HRW), but also this (Human Rights First);  
  
  
• noting ICERD and DRIP on RACISM:  “we must not teach our children a ‘thanks for the land’ version of Australian history . . . addressing racism begins with facts, not fables that make non-Indigenous people feel good” (TG);   staggeringly, unconscious racist bias affects how patients responded to medical treatment . . . (DW);   “Victoria’s truth-telling commission requests extension to avoid replicating ‘colonial injustices’” (TG);    the Aboriginal flag will now fly permanently over a major bridge in my home state(TND);   a German state has appointed its first black Minister (DW);   testimony of historical racist violence as well as stolen wages in WA (ABC);   the nuances of Indigenous identification and the impact of that on numbers in the census (TC);    the “death in custody of member of stolen generations [was a] ‘great shame on white Australia’” (TG);   accountability in the USA (TND), and a very belated - 150 years late - acknowledgement of heroic aid from an Indigenous person in Australia during a disaster (NIT);   as remains of more than 100 Moriori ancestors are repatriated (TG), a white coloniser in NSW is revealed to have stolen Indigenous remains in the 1800s (TG);   farming “with ancestors watching” (TG);  
  
  
• noting CEDAW on SEXISM:   women in Afghanistan are committing suicide out of desperation (UN);   evidence has revealed details of Qld police's misogynistic culture (TG);   socially disapproved of and therefore underground abortions have been killing people in the Philippines (TG);   the problem of image-based abuse (ABC);   Qld has been charging victims of sexual assault who don't have Medicare for the costs of forensic tests! (TG);   the enquiry into Parliamentary culture is being “rebooted” (TG);  
  
  
• noting the CRC on CHILDREN:  “‘young people are invisible’: family violence survivors falling through cracks at crisis services” (TG), and are being retraumatised and silenced by courts (TC);   “long overdue laws that will end the routine strip searching of children in Tasmanian jails have passed the Tasmanian Parliament” (203 strip searches found contraband) (HRLC);  
  
  
• 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:   two large Australian retailers are continuing (TND) their use of facial recognition, despite objections and a referral to the Privacy Commissioner;   a social media platform is feeding data to the CCP (TC);  
  
  
• noting the GENOCIDE  Convention:   a genocide against Christians in Nigeria appears to be underway (GW);   the genocide in Burma is continuing (HRW);  
  
  
• noting the Yogyakarta Principles on LGBTIQ+ PEOPLE:   the story of a transman who gave birth (SMH);   the sister of a transphobic swimmer has called for consultations with the marginalised TGD community (TG);   Intersex discrimination led to abuse in SA’s prison system (ABC);   as LGBTIQA+ rights start (DW) to bloom in Bhutan, soccer’s culpability (HRW) in giving its world championship to Qatar is becoming even more apparent;  
  
  
• noting the CRPD on PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES:   “incarcerated people with disability don’t get the support they need – that makes them more likely to reoffend” (TC);   the problem of shaming of people with dynamic disabilities (ABC);   a passenger was left stranded at an airport (TG);  
  
  
• noting Article 6 (1) of the ICCPR,   Article 11 of the ICESCR,   Article 5 (e) (iii) (see here and here) of the ICERD,   Article 14 (2) (h) of the CEDAW,   Article 27 (3) of the CRC,   Article 28 of the CRPD,   and   Article 20 of the DRIP on FOOD, CLOTHING, and HOUSING:   the housing (TC) affordability (TND) crisis (TG);   problems with social housing in my home state are not being attended to (TG);   
   
• on NATURAL and OTHER DISASTERS (noting Article 1(3) of the UN Charter): 
• floods in NSW;   the latest Ebola outbreak in the DRC has ended (UN);   drought in the USA (F24);   food insecurity in the CAR (UN);   sandstorms in West Asia (TRF);   one tenth of the world is now chronically undernourished (TG);   monsoon rains have killed scores of people in South Asia (TG);   foot and mouth disease is spreading in Indonesia (ABC);   the devastating drought is continuing in Somalia (AJ); 

(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;   Bloomberg - BB;   British Broadcasting Commission - BBC;   Cable News network - CNN;   Deutsche Welle - DW;   European Union - EU;   Foreign Policy - FP;   France 24 - F24;   Freedom House - FH;   Genocide Watch - GW;   Human Rights Law Centre - HRLC;   Human Rights Watch - HRW;   International Crisis Group - ICG;   Lawfare Blog - LFB;   Lowy Institute - The Interpreter - Lowy;   Mirage News - MN;   National Indigenous Times - NIT;   Pearls and Irritations - PnI;   Political Violence at a Glance - PVG;   Radio France International - rfi;   Reuters - R;   Special Broadcasting Service - SBS;   Sudan Tribune - ST;   Sydney Morning Herald - SMH;   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;