FROM this week’s news ON: human rights and humanitarian aid [Note: Content Warning - links to distressing reports on this topic. Reader discretion is advised]

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that linked articles may contains names and/or images of deceased people. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/. 

Note: in my “from the news” posts, quotes are shown italicised and blue, my comments are in a different shade of blue, and “good” items are shown in green. I have loosely grouped the posts where such seemed reasonable, but that is subjective (i.e., my opinion - others are free to disagree), and challenging, as some posts belong in multiple “groups”.

Fromm this week’s news on human rights (note: I may continue to add links for a few days, possibly up to a week, after these are published), noting that many issues have probably not made it into the news that I see: 

• “Dozens shot dead in escalating Papua New Guinea tribal dispute”   https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20240219-more-than-50-people-shot-dead-in-papua-new-guinea-tribal-dispute   “Dozens killed in outbreak of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea highlands”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/19/png-papua-new-guinea-highlands-death-toll-ambush   “At least 49 people have been killed in the largest PNG Highlands 'massacre' in recent history. Here's what we know”   https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-19/png-massacre-highlands-explainer-enga-heres-what-we-know/103484560   “A Fight Between Rivaling Tribes in Papua New Guinea Has Led to a Massacre”   https://time.com/6696387/papua-new-guinea-tribal-violence/   As several of these articles mention, inter-tribal violence is an ongoing problem of the highlands of PNG. The victims of these attacks appear to largely be mercenaries - men who who have abandoned their tribal allegiance and will fight for any tribe that pays them, using - as do others - advanced small weapons   

• “US ‘strongly condemns’ violence in DR Congo after alleged drone attack | Conflict News | Al Jazeera”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/18/us-strongly-condemns-violence-in-dr-congo-after-alleged-drone-attack    “DR Congo: Fighting threatens stability of entire region, envoy warns”   https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146782   “UN Security Council sanctions rebels in DR Congo as violence escalates | United Nations News | Al Jazeera”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/21/un-security-council-sanctions-rebels-in-dr-congo-as-violence-escalates   “A guide to the decades-long conflict in DR Congo | News | Al Jazeera”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/21/a-guide-to-the-decades-long-conflict-in-dr-congo   “Racked by conflict for more than 30 years, the DRC’s insecurity is caused by complex and deep-seated factors, as well as a multitude of actors. Apart from the M23, numerous other armed groups, Congolese and foreign forces are battling for control, mostly in the eastern part of the country. Some of Kinshasa’s neighbours are also implicated in the crisis.”   In effect, the current violence is a continuation of the series of genocides in Rwanda, the best known of which is the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and the Twa (see https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rwandan_genocide&oldid=1209187474#Revolution_and_Hutu%E2%80%93Tutsi_relations_after_independence, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rwandan_genocide&oldid=1209187474, but see also https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rwandan_Revolution&oldid=1207857949#Attack_on_Mbonyumutwa_and_Hutu_uprising and https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rwandan_genocide&oldid=1209187474#Hutu_Power_movement),   which were exported - and continued in other nations - after 1994 (see https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Massacres_of_Hutus_during_the_First_Congo_War&oldid=1208828987)   ...   and tapped in to an already troubled situation (see this book) ...   
  

 

• “UK special forces blocked resettlement applications from elite Afghan troops”   https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/19/uk-special-forces-blocked-resettlement-applications-from-elite-afghan-troops   “Documents leaked and shared with BBC Panorama show that Britain’s secretive special forces were given a veto power over resettlement, prompting claims that hundreds of Afghan veterans have been left in limbo or danger in their native country.   ...   “At a time when certain actions by UK special forces are under investigation by a public inquiry, their headquarters also had the power to prevent former Afghan special forces colleagues and potential witnesses to these actions from getting safely to the UK,” one former UK special forces officer told the BBC”         “Taliban’s conditions to attend UN meeting ‘unacceptable’, Guterres says | United Nations News | Al Jazeera”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/19/talibans-conditions-to-attend-un-meeting-unacceptable-guterres-says         “Italian town in turmoil after far-right mayor bans Muslim prayers”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/18/italian-town-monfalcone-rightwing-mayor-muslim-prayers-ban   “Bangladeshi residents and others in Monfalcone say decisions to prohibit worship at cultural centres and banning burkinis at the beach is part of anti-Islam agenda”   

• “‘Scared for our kids’: anger mounts after non-binary teen dies following school fight”   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/22/nex-benedict-death-oklahoma-owasso-lgbt-student   “Activists decry anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric as they mourn Nex Benedict, 16, who died after ‘altercation’ in Oklahoma high school bathroom”      “‘Why can’t I wear a dress?’ What schools can learn from preschools about supporting trans children”   https://theconversation.com/why-cant-i-wear-a-dress-what-schools-can-learn-from-preschools-about-supporting-trans-children-223859       “Take it from a neuroscientist: searching for a ‘male’ and ‘female’ brain is a waste of time | Gina Rippon | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/22/male-female-brains-different-centuries   the pointlessness of trying to find gendered brain differences  
  

• “Bookshop Owner Apologises After Calling For ‘White Kids’ On Book Covers And No Rainbow”   https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/bookshop-owner-apologises-after-calling-for-white-kids-on-book-covers-and-no-rainbow/228595   “The controversy surrounding the now-deleted tweets has also led to allegations from a number of _’ ex-staff members, including one Redditor who claimed that staff who were “uncomfortable selling the Matt Walsh Johnny the Walrus anti-trans book” were advised to ‘find another job because at _ “we don’t cancel books’”.”   I stopped using that bookstore a couple of decades ago over its obvious, growing intolerance. The alleged apology is not, in my opinion, genuine  

• “ “Failing Aboriginal Children” : Experts blast WA Minister for comments on judiciary”   https://nit.com.au/16-02-2024/9827/failing-aboriginal-children-experts-blast-wa-minister-for-comments-on-judiciary   I agree with the experts   and   ““There need to be consequences for actions” : Legal groups condemn NSW police after guilty officer keeps job”   https://nit.com.au/22-02-2024/9920/there-need-to-be-consequences-for-actions-legal-groups-condemn-nsw-police-after-guilty-officer-keeps-job      See also   “Program for young First Nations offenders expanded”   https://nit.com.au/21-02-2024/9902/program-for-young-first-nations-offenders-expanded   “A program that tries to break the cycle for Indigenous juvenile offenders by sending them to regional areas rather than detention centres will be expanded”   and   “Indigenous fathers help build stronger communities. Here’s how we can better support them”   https://theconversation.com/indigenous-fathers-help-build-stronger-communities-heres-how-we-can-better-support-them-222389   

• A Crikey exclusive reports   “ABC ends fact-check partnership with RMIT”   https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/02/21/abc-rmit-fact-check-partnership-abc-news-verify/   “Crikey understands RMIT management felt blindsided by the decision from the ABC, with sources saying it appeared that the ABC had concerns over pressure from fact-checking politicians”   Two days later,   “Facing facts: ABC pulls the plug on RMIT factchecking collaboration”   https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/23/facing-facts-abc-pulls-the-plug-on-rmit-factchecking-collaboration   So, in my opinion, the ABC caved in to political pressure from right wing extremist politicians who didn’t like their lack of touch with reality being called out (and the claims of “scandal-ridden” from right wing media is a similar misrepresentation of being called out). This is another confirmation of the ABCs degeneration and now lack of credibility as a media platform, in my opinion  
  

• from the UK,   “My reporting showed the sheer horror of stalking. The police are failing victims – why won’t they take this crime seriously?”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/21/horror-stalking-police-failing-victims-netflix   See also   “UK urged to end ‘national threat’ of violence against women and girls”   https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146812  

• “It’s true, Kelly Wilkinson was cop shopping. She was looking for a Queensland cop who cared”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/19/kelly-wilkinson-murder-cop-shopping-queensland-qld-police   The inaction by police goes beyond professional incompetence to systemic misogyny   
  

• “Katarina Carroll stands down as Queensland police commissioner amid state’s heated youth crime debate”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/20/katarina-carroll-queensland-police-commissioner-steps-down-resigns-youth-crime   “... and the service’s response to domestic violence”   But racism and lack of integrity were not mentioned ... Whether this is good or not depends of whether the next person is better or not  
  

• a The Guardian exclusive reports:   “Australia needs a national approach to dealing with mental health incidents, ACT police chief says”   https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/20/australia-police-mental-health-policy-approach-act-police-chief-neil-gaughan   “Exclusive: Neil Gaughan argues clinicians, not cops, should attend most call outs and suggests ‘it’s pointless’ having a few jurisdictions go it alone”   I hope he is listened to   

 

• in South Africa, the city of   “Cape Town hit by ‘unimaginable’ stench from 19,000 cattle on live export ship”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/20/cape-town-hit-by-unimaginable-stench-from-19000-cattle-on-live-export-ship   “Animal welfare groups say smell from the build-up of faeces and ammonia on the ship are indicative of the conditions animals endure”   Live animal export has always been obviously fraught with risks of animal cruelty - it should never have started, and all those who enabled it to start are morally culpable for every bit of suffering - including inhumane killing techniques in other nations: saying we are not responsible for how other nations choose to slaughter is both wrong and missing the point: we could prevent animals being subjected to that barbarity AND the barbarity they are exposed to on the ships, which is compelled by nothing but callousness (to the point of sadism) and greed  
  

 

My links for activism post may aid any activism you may decide to do on any/all of these. If you do, don’t get too fixated on specific instances of problems - important though they may well be: take a moment to also consider the broader issues these incidents and groups of incidents may suggest/reveal.

 

Assumptions / basis 

In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following: 

• this blog states quite clearly that it is about political and human rights matters, including lived experience of problems, and thus I will assume readers are reasonable people who have noted the content warning in the post header;

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:

• there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”; 
  
• I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
  

 

If they are of any use of interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post. 

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below.

Remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing, and all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering”.

Copyright © Kayleen White 2016-2024     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. Typo’s may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike basis   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/