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:

• “Sudan war threatens ‘world’s largest hunger crisis’: WFP | Humanitarian Crises News | Al Jazeera”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/6/sudan-war-could-trigger-worst-famine-in-world-wfp   I remember when similar warnings were being about Yemen, more than a decade ago: those warnings were right, and think these ones are as well   also   “Over six million people face hunger, malnutrition and water scarcity in Zambia, Oxfam warns”   https://theaimn.com/over-six-million-people-face-hunger-malnutrition-and-water-scarcity-in-zambia-oxfam-warns/          “UN rights chief: blocking aid to Sudan could be a war crime”   https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/un-rights-chief-blocking-aid-sudan-could-be-war-crime-2024-03-01/    “UN chief appeals for Sudan ceasefire, now: ‘Values of Ramadan must prevail’”   https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147352           “UN experts: Sudanese paramilitary RSF opened supply lines through South Sudan to take Darfur”   https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/un-experts-sudanese-paramilitary-rsf-opened-supply-lines-through-south-sudan-to-take-darfur   Shades of the Ho Chi Minh trail and the expansion of the Việt Nam/American (depending on your side) war into Cambodia and Laos ...  
  

• “Gunmen abduct 287 students in the latest school attack in Nigeria’s northwest, headteacher says”   https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-kaduna-chikun-school-abduction-395e86da2a07155f473e73b00006f466  
  

 

• “Walker inquest delayed to late May as racist award claims emerge”   https://nit.com.au/04-03-2024/10065/walker-inquest-delayed-to-late-may-as-racist-award-claims-emerge   “NT Police minister defends racist Facebook posts”   https://nit.com.au/06-03-2024/10123/police-minister-defends-racist-facebook-posts      “Kumanjayi Walker’s family’s complaint about The Australian’s coverage not investigated by media watchdog | Northern Territory | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/03/kumanjayi-walkers-familys-complaint-about-the-australians-coverage-not-investigated-by-media-watchdog-ntwnfb   “The family of Kumanjayi Walker complained to the media standards watchdog in 2022 about The Australian’s coverage of the Warlpiri man’s death, questioning why the journalist responsible had not disclosed her personal relationship with Zachary Rolfe in her articles.   But the Australian Press Council decided not to investigate the 2022 complaint, saying it considered it was “unlikely that a breach of [its] standards of practice has occurred”.”   I have held concerns about the Australian Press Council for decades, and this reinforces my concerns - especially in light of the Drumgold decision, which is   “ACT government considers response after court rules Sofronoff’s calls with journalist gave rise to impression of bias”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/04/bruce-lehrmann-prosecution-walter-sofronoff-shane-drumgold-impression-bias-court-ntwnfb   “Shane Drumgold, the former ACT director of public prosecutions, is “looking forward to moving on with his life” after a supreme court ruled Walter Sofronoff’s extensive communications with a columnist at The Australian newspaper gave rise to an impression of bias against him during an inquiry into the Bruce Lehrmann trial.”   This is being reported as a partial victory    

• “Broome Police charge man with aggravated assault over detained children”   https://nit.com.au/06-03-2024/10118/broome-police-charge-man-with-aggravated-assault-over-detained-children  “Relative of children detained in Broome says restraints drew blood”   https://nit.com.au/07-03-2024/10142/relative-of-indigenous-children-detained-says-restraints-on-the-children-drew-blood   “Man charged after Indigenous kids bound with zip ties”   https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/crime-news/2024/03/06/broome-indigenous-kids-cable-tie   “A 45-year-old tradie has been charged with aggravated assault after horrific footage emerged of Indigenous children apparently being tied up with cable ties in a front yard.   ...   She said anyone judging the actions of the children should be cautious, because they were so young.   “These children are only six and seven. They don’t have the neurodevelopment to understand cause and effect and consequences and actions. And that is legally known,” she said.”    

• “Indigenous prisoner used pencil sharpener and tweezers on ingrown toenail after healthcare delay”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/06/indigenous-prisoner-pencil-sharpener-tweezers-ingrown-toenail-healthcare-delay-ntwnfb   The incompetence and inadequate resources of the prison system shown by this report are staggering   

• “Accusing people like Sam Kerr of ‘anti-white racism’ reveals a lack of understanding of a world still divided by race”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/08/accusing-people-like-sam-kerr-of-anti-white-racism-belies-a-lack-of-understanding-of-a-world-still-divided-by-colour   “Black, Indigenous and other people of colour have become used to being racially gaslit by the idea of ‘reverse’ racism”    

• “Google Used a Black, Deaf Worker to Tout Its Diversity. Now She’s Suing for Discrimination”   https://www.wired.com/story/google-black-deaf-worker-diversity-suing-discrimination/  
  

• “The ‘No’ Voice result showed us we need to prioritise truth-telling in Australia”   https://theconversation.com/the-no-voice-result-showed-us-we-need-to-prioritise-truth-telling-in-australia-218518   This was called for by a number of people even at that time   “Councillors give green light to City of Melbourne First Nations Advisory Committee”   https://nit.com.au/06-03-2024/10125/councillors-give-green-light-to-city-of-melbourne-first-nations-advisory-commitee  
  

• “There Is No Incorrect Way To Say “NO.” - YouTube”   https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bDtNy1Kn8Zs   

• “Argentinian women's rights under threat”   https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/the-51/20240301-argentinian-women-s-rights-under-threat  but   “France enshrines abortion as a constitutional right in historic vote”   https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240304-france-to-enshrine-abortion-rights-in-country-s-constitution   “Why France enshrined abortion rights in its constitution”   https://www.dw.com/en/why-france-enshrined-abortion-rights-in-its-constitution/a-68436705   “Compared to many other Western countries, France has always been more supportive of abortion rights. French lawmakers are determined to ensure there won't be setbacks.”   as   “As France makes abortion a constitutional right, UK women see sharp rise in abortion convictions”   https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240304-france-abortion-constitution-right-uk-woman-sharp-rise-abortion-convictions-england   

• “Over 230 million women and girls subjected to female genital mutilation: UNICEF”   https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147402  
  

 

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/