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 (when I remember) 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, noting that many issues have probably not made it into the news that I see (please note: this is a cut down and/or combined version of what I used to do): 

 

• “Revealed: how Church of England’s ties to chattel slavery went to top of hierarchy”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/25/revealed-how-church-of-englands-ties-to-chattel-slavery-went-to-top-of-hierarchy   “Lambeth Palace documents show purchase of enslaved people in 18th century approved by Anglican archbishop”      “Beatings, brandings, suicides: life on plantations owned by Church of England missionary arm”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/25/beatings-brandings-suicides-life-on-plantations-owned-by-church-of-england-missionary-arm      
  

 

Humanitarian, including refugees/asylum seekers/IDPs: 

 

•  “More PNG aid on standby as landslide death toll rises”   https://nit.com.au/27-05-2024/11625/time-not-on-side-for-people-trapped-in-png-landslide      See also   “A Deadly Landslide Struck Papua New Guinea; Geologist Analysis”   https://youtu.be/3kpyZmB6Cqw?si=Vs6TbUYKkggBmYWh      “Papua New Guinea orders thousands to evacuate amid second landslide fears”   https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20240528-papua-new-guinea-orders-thousands-to-evacuate-amid-second-landslide-fears      “Replanting trees can help prevent devastating landslides like the one in PNG – but it’s not a silver bullet”   https://theconversation.com/replanting-trees-can-help-prevent-devastating-landslides-like-the-one-in-png-but-its-not-a-silver-bullet-231055     
  

• “Funding is needed to support Sudanese refugees in Chad: UNHCR”   https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/05/1150351     
  

 

Global/multinational and multi-category human right issues: 

 

• “He was given 170 years for crimes he didn’t commit. His lawyers say it could happen again”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/25/brazil-man-freed-prison-accused-rape   “Carlos Edmilson da Silva served 12 years in Brazil before being freed, after a widely used police practice led to a false arrest”      “DNA testing exonerates black man who spent 12 years in a Brazilian prison for raping 10 women”   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13430515/dna-carlos-silva-exonerated-rape-brazil.html      

 

LGBTQIASB+: 

 

• “Labor’s New Hate Speech Laws Need To Tackle Rise Of Anti-LGBT Hate, Say Advocates”   https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/labors-new-hate-speech-laws/231154   “Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is drafting a new hate speech bill that would impose criminal, rather than civil, penalties for serious cases of vilification based on a person’s race, sexuality, gender, religion, or disability.   ...   Rodney Croome, spokesman for Just.Equal Australia, said, “We welcome the reports that hate crime penalties will be extended, but the devil will be in the detail.”   ...   “The longer the Albanese Government drags its feet on this issue the stronger message to those who hate us or would discriminate against us that we are legitimate targets.””      

 

Racism: 

 

• ““Posing no harm”: NSW Police launch internal review after Aboriginal man's conviction for resisting arrest overturned”   https://nit.com.au/26-05-2024/11612/posing-no-harm-nsw-police-launch-internal-review-after-aboriginal-mans-conviction-for-resisting-arrest-overturned   “...   reporting a NSW District Court Judge believed the actions by the officers were “inconsistent with any intention to secure his welfare”.   Not suspected of any crime, footage shows officers repeatedly using “defensive strikes””      “Sergeant grilled on police culture at Walker inquest”   https://nit.com.au/27-05-2024/11643/sergeant-grilled-on-police-culture-at-walker-inquest      “Thirty-one years after the murder of my son Stephen Lawrence, I can forgive his killers – but not the Met”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/27/stephen-lawrence-murder-forgive-killers-but-not-metropolitan-police   “I cannot forget how badly my family was treated. I live each day with the toll this has taken   ...   From the outset, it was evident that the police were less interested in identifying my son’s killers and securing a conviction than they were in positioning Stephen and his friend as potential criminals.”      “Police Commissioner knew about racist awards despite denying knowledge of racism in NT Force”   https://nit.com.au/29-05-2024/11694/police-commissioner-knew-about-racist-awards-despite-denying-knowledge-of-racism-in-the-nt-force      “Kumanjayi Walker inquest: NT police commissioner knew about racist awards last year, court told”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/29/kumanjayi-walker-death-inquest-zachary-rolfe-nt-police-racist-awards-commissioner-michael-murphy-ntwnfb   “The Northern Territory’s top police officer has agreed he was “gaslighting” Aboriginal people when he said he had not seen racism in the force, and admitted he knew about racist award certificates months before their existence was made public.”            “Spectator racism is still rife in Australia’s major football codes – new research shows it may even be getting worse”   https://theconversation.com/spectator-racism-is-still-rife-in-australias-major-football-codes-new-research-shows-it-may-even-be-getting-worse-230198            “The coverage of Laura Tingle’s comments on racism is a textbook beat-up, but she’s not in the wrong”   https://theconversation.com/the-coverage-of-laura-tingles-comments-on-racism-is-a-textbook-beat-up-but-shes-not-in-the-wrong-231051      “ABC counsels Laura Tingle over ‘racist country’ comments but journalist stands by remarks”   https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/may/29/abc-reporter-laura-tingle-racist-country-comments-sydney-writers-festival-ntwnfb   “... But in a lengthy statement, Tingle, the chief political correspondent of 7.30, stood by her comments, while acknowledging they lacked context and nuance in a “free-flowing” panel discussion.”   The ... “sensitivity” shown by some (especially conservative newspapers) is, in my opinion, an attempt to censor the reality that Australia is, as a nation, racist - it is a war by flat earth style denialists. The ABC has not, in my opinion, chosen neutrality: it has chosen a position which actively upholds the racist status quo, and I thus continue to regard it as second rate, with a few first rate exceptions      Such denialist attitudes contrast poorly with other, exemplary behaviour, such as the submissions, testimony and commitments made to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, and this (although it is focused on the past)   “‘Denying history is simply lying’: how the University of Melbourne honoured racists, thieves and body snatchers”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/28/denying-history-is-simply-lying-how-the-university-of-melbourne-honoured-racists-thieves-and-body-snatchers   “The university has published a shocking account of the dark side of these erstwhile heroes of Australian academia in a book it hopes will tell a greater truth about the institution and its dealings with Aboriginal people.”      “Biographers, resharpen your pencils! The University of Melbourne’s shameful history of racism awaits”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/29/biographers-resharpen-your-pencils-the-university-of-melbournes-shameful-history-of-racism-awaits   “Good history is not static. It is intrinsically up for challenge. And this long-overdue truth-telling opens up ripe ground for a reckoning”     and on that, a The Guardian (Australia) exclusive reports:    “‘Race suicide’: Sir William Walkley’s unearthed report on apartheid South Africa reveals birthrate fears”   https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/may/26/william-walkley-report-south-africa-apartheid-birthrate   “Exclusive: The founder of Australia’s most prominent media awards visited the apartheid state in 1958 and judged it ‘a grand country with a great future’   ...   The Ampol founder, Sir William Walkley, derided apartheid South Africa’s failure to attract white migrants as “race suicide” in 1958 and warned the country faced a potential bloodbath if a communist leader emerged who was “perhaps a half-breed with the white man’s intelligence”.”      Also see   “Is Australia a racist country? We asked 5 experts”   https://theconversation.com/is-australia-a-racist-country-we-asked-5-experts-231053   All five said yes      

• “First Nations Foundation urges Tax Office changes to open path to economic reconciliation”   https://nit.com.au/30-05-2024/11705/ato-tweaks-would-open-path-to-economic-reconciliation     
  

 

Sexism: 

 

• “Couldn’t ‘help myself’: Queensland police officer shares sexist post weeks after ‘formal guidance’ over social media use”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/26/queensland-police-officer-brad-rix-alleged-sexist-post-disciplinary-action-ntwnfb   “Queensland police service says the incident is being assessed by the ethical standards command”      

• My home state has created a “Parliamentary Secretary for Men’s Behaviour Change”, which could be groundbreaking. See   https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/statement-premier-126      “Victorian watchdog to investigate allegations of bullying, sexual assault and harassment in parliament”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/28/victorian-watchdog-to-investigate-allegations-of-bullying-sexual-assault-and-harassment-in-parliament   “Premier Jacinta Allan also announces changes to outer ministry, including introduction of parliamentary secretary for ‘men’s behaviour change’”     
  

 

Disability, workers, privacy, and other: 

 

• “Worried your address, birth date or health data is being sold? You should be – and the law isn’t protecting you”   https://theconversation.com/worried-your-address-birth-date-or-health-data-is-being-sold-you-should-be-and-the-law-isnt-protecting-you-230540      “Consumers lack visibility and choice over data collection practices”   https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/consumers-lack-visibility-and-choice-over-data-collection-practices      “How Western Australia could lead the nation on privacy”   https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/2024/05/28/how-western-australia-could-lead-the-nation-on-privacy/       

 

• “Google and Apple keeping Reddit and X in app stores despite p_rn due to revenue, eSafety boss says”   https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/31/google-and-apple-keeping-reddit-and-x-in-app-stores-despite-pornography-due-to-revenue-esafety-boss-says   “Commissioner says companies have ‘huge disincentive’ to abide by their own policies on adult content amid discussions of age assurance technology”     
  

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. Also, consider this poem of mine.

 

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. 

Note that, as with my main blog [see here], I am cutting back on aspects of my posts.

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/