Tag Archives: Law & Politics

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Israel News | Yemeni Jews

Israeli agency ends decades-long operation airlifting Yemeni Jews to Israel
  • 19 refugees and a 500-year-old Torah scroll were the last to be flown to Israel from Yemen as anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence has increased following the seizure of the Yemeni capital by Houthi rebels in 2014.
  • Through the covert mission, Israel’s Jewish Agency sought to provide refuge for Yemen’s small but millenia-old Jewish community, transporting tens of thousands to the country beginning in 1949.
  • The immigration mission took place over decades, leaving only 50 Jews in Yemen, 40 of whom are under the embattled government’s protection.

Read more:
“17 Yemenite Jews secretly airlifted to Israel in end to ‘historic mission’” (The Times of Israel)
“Israel flies in 19 Yemeni Jews, ending immigration mission” (Reuters)
“19 Yemeni Jews Arrive in Israel, Ending Secret Rescue Operation” (The New York Times)

(Image Credit: Baz Ratner/Reuters)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Hispanic/Latino

Latino immigrants flock to naturalization campaigns across the U.S. ahead of November elections
  • Naturalization applications increased by 14.5% between June and December 2015 over the same period in 2014, with some analysts attributing part of the influx to the anti-immigrant rhetoric of Republican presidential candidates.
  • Of the 8.8 million authorized residents eligible for naturalization, an estimated 3.9 to 4.5 million are Latino, but hefty costs deter many from gaining citizenship.
  • Mexican immigrants in particular are under-naturalized, with only 36% of eligible immigrants having become citizens, leading to drives in states like Colorado, Florida, Arizona, Texas, and Nevada to promote naturalization among the remaining 2.7 million.

Read more:
“Latinos line up to get naturalized and stop Trump” (CNN)
“More Latinos Seek Citizenship to Vote Against Trump” (The New York Times)
“In Citizenship Drives, Latinos Sign Up to Vote Against Trump” (Vibe)

(Image Credit: Theo Stroomer/The New York Times)

Ideology + Affiliation

Cuba News | Dissidents

Protesters arrested as Cuban government “cleans house” ahead of Obama’s historic visit
  • Dozens of members of the dissident group Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) were arrested in the hours before President Barack Obama’s historic visit to the Caribbean nation, protesting the lack of democratic reform as Castro’s Cuba reconnects with the U.S.
  • Although the group holds weekly protests, this week’s drew a large pro-government counter-demonstration as foreign media descended on Havana ahead of Obama’s visit.
  • Obama is expected to meet with dissident leaders during his visit and raise human rights issues, including free expression, during his meeting with President Raúl Castro.

“Everyone wants to know how we Cubans feel about Obama coming. … I’m frankly just happy that giant pothole finally got filled in, so if I have him to thank for it, thanks Obama!”

Read more:
“‘The oppression is high’: Cuban police break up protest ahead of Obama’s visit” (The Guardian)
“Cuba’s Message to Its People: Be on Your Best Behavior for Obama” (The New York Times)
“Cuba breaks up weekly dissident march hours before Obama visit” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA, via the Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

China News | LGBT

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Gay couple sues for right to marry in China
  • Sun Wenlin and Hu Mingliang have sued a civil affairs bureau for rejecting their attempt to register for marriage.
  • The case, the first challenge to China’s ban on same-sex marriage, was set to take place last month, although postponements and China’s notoriously opaque media climate have impeded word of the case’s outcome.
  • Following the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1997 and its official depathologization in 2001, a small but increasingly visible LGBT community has begun to emerge in China’s urban areas, despite attempts to crackdown on media visibility.

Read more:
“Couple’s Lawsuit Is First Test for Same-Sex Marriage in China” (The New York Times)
“In China, gays say life has changed much for the better” (The Christian Science Monitor)
“In a first, Chinese gay man sues for right to marry” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Gilles Sabrie/The New York Times)

Religion + Belief

Russia News | Atheists

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Russian man faces possible year in jail after denying the existence of God online
  • Viktor Krasnov was charged in response to an online exchange in which he described the Bible as a “collection of Jewish fairy tales” and said “there is no God.”
  • Following the jailing of punk rock group Pussy Riots in 2012, lawmakers passed legislation that criminalized “insult[ing] the religious convictions or feelings of citizens.”
  • Despite Russia’s constitutional status as a secular state, President Vladimir Putin has led a campaign to promote traditional religious values to consolidate Russian national identity, long tied to the Russian Orthodox Church prior to the rise of the Soviet Union.

Read more:
“Russian Man Could Be Jailed For Saying God Doesn’t Exist” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
“Russian Faces Up to Year in Prison for Denying Existence of God” (NBC News)
“Russian man in court for ‘no God’ Internet exchange” (AFP, via GlobalPost)

(Image Credit: via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Ideology + Affiliation

Turkey News | Journalists

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Independent TV channel pulled from Turkish airwaves over alleged terrorism propaganda
  • IMC TV was pulled from the air in the middle of an interview with Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, two Turkish journalists recently freed after intense public outcry over their arrest.
  • State-owned Turksat, Turkey’s satellite provider, shuttered the channel at the request of an Ankara prosecutor leading an investigation over sympathy towards the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK).
  • The blackout occurs as the Turkish government continues to crack down on critical media, including IMC’s extensive coverage of the Kurdish conflict, opposition politicians, and environmental protests.

Read more:
“İMC TV goes off air after prosecutor sends Türksat suspension order” (Today’s Zaman)
“Turkey turns off independent TV channel on ‘terrorist’ charge” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: via Today’s Zaman)

Ideology + Affiliation

Uganda News | Journalists

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Journalists in Uganda experience harassment as elections near
  • Foreign and domestic journalists alike have reported harassment by Ugandan law enforcement and government officials while reporting on government-related stories.
  • Last Saturday, a BBC journalist was allegedly detained and ordered to delete footage of a decaying government hospital, though she and her team were eventually released.
  • Domestic journalists, particularly those in less urban areas, have been given official warning and had their licenses revoked over the last year, with the country set for elections on February 18 as President Yoweri Musaveni looks to extend his 30-year rule.

Read more:
“Pressure mounts on Ugandan journalists as election nears: campaigner” (Reuters)
“Journalists without degrees barred from covering Parliament” (The Daily Monitor)
“Parliament Withdraws Office Space from Journalists” (Uganda Radio Network)

(Image Credit: The Daily Monitor)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Sweden News | Indigenous Peoples

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Judge rules in favor of exclusive land rights for indigenous group in northern Sweden
  • A district court ruled that the Sami, an ethnic group indigenous to northern Scandanavia and northwest Russia, should have exclusive rights to control hunting and fishing in the Arctic village of Girjas.
  • The legal battle began in the early 1990s, when the Swedish government stripped land rights to the village from the Sami, Sweden’s only officially recognized indigenous group who trace their lineage in the region back thousands of years.
  • The victory comes as the Church of Sweden has released a two-volume report detailing the history of its treatment of the Sami, including the segregated schools it ran for from the 1910s to the 1960s.

Read more:
“Sweden’s indigenous Sami people win rights battle against state” (The Guardian)
“Sami minority wins symbolic court victory over Sweden” (The Local)
“Swedish church admits it ran ‘racist’ Sami schools” (The Local)

(Image Credit: Alamy/The Guardian)

Ideology + Affiliation

Turkey News | Journalists

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Turkish journalists face espionage and pro-terrorism charges after publishing investigative report
  • Can Dundar and Erdem Gul face the possibility of life imprisonment without parole for publishing a report alleging Turkish officials sent weapons to aid opposition fighters in Syria.
  • Cumhuriyet, a secular opposition newspaper led by Dundar, published the report including photos and video of the alleged weapons delivery in May 2015.
  • PM Tayyep Erdogan confirmed that the photos showed trucks belonging to Turkey’s intelligence agency but insisted they were delivering aid to the embattled Turkmen minority in Syria.

Read more:
“Turkish court to seek life without parole for prominent journalists” (Reuters)
“Detained Turkish reporters defiant over espionage claim” (BBC)

(Image Credit: Murad Sezer/Reuters)

Gender

Uganda News | Women

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Ugandan women’s rights groups set up anti-violence center ahead of elections
  • Uganda’s Women’s Situation Room (WSR) has been established as a national monitoring and control center focused on protecting women against physical and psychological violence in tension-laden elections.
  • With elections scheduled for February 18, the center will run from February 15 to 20 and is the latest in a line of WSRs mobilized in African countries since 2011.
  • A central call center and in-field monitors and reporters (some 450 trained women and youth observers) form the main infrastructure of the system, which provides real-time support through coordination with law enforcement officials.

Read more:
“Uganda rights groups set to monitor violence against women during elections” (Reuters)
“Women’s Situation Room: Africa’s unique approach to reducing electoral violence” (UN Africa Renewal)
“Kiggundu urges women to expose poll cheats” (The Daily Monitor)

(Image Credit: Joseph Mathenge/UN Africa Renewal)

Health + Ability

U.K. News | People with Disabilities

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More than 13,000 in the U.K. see mobility cars taken away under new disability assessment protocol
  • Some in the U.K. disability community have begun to worry and push back as the government transfers from the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), a program for people aged 16 to 64 with disabilities due for nationwide implementation in 2018.
  • The new scheme requires new applicants as well as historical DLA recipients to apply for the new allowance, which requires a face-to-face assessment by a program official to determine whether they qualify for the highest rate and the opportunity to appeal should they not.
  • Those without sufficient points to earn the highest rate (to date, 13,900 of the 31,200 former DLA recipients reassessed for PIP) lose access to the allowance rate that enabled them to lease a car through the Motability Scheme.

Read more:
“Nearly 14,000 disabled people have mobility cars taken away” (BBC)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Motability (Motability)
“Girl who had leg amputated told she’s not ‘disabled enough’ for Motability car” (The Daily Mirror)

(Image Credit: BBC)

Religion + Belief

U.S. News | Muslims

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President Obama delivers fervent speech supporting American Muslims at Baltimore mosque
  • Obama spoke at the Islamic Society of Baltimore in his first visit to a mosque during his presidency.
  • His 45-minute speech condemned ongoing anti-Muslim rhetoric and highlighted the long history and important future of American Muslims.
  • The visit included a pre-speech roundtable that included an Olympics-bound athlete, artists, doctors, community organizers, and other prominent leaders in the American Muslim community.

“You fit in here, right here. You’re right where you belong. You’re part of America, too. You aren’t Muslim or American. You are Muslim and American.”

Read more:
“Obama, in Mosque Visit, Denounces Anti-Muslim Bias” (The New York Times)
“President Obama at Maryland mosque: ‘You fit in here’” (The Baltimore Sun)
“At Baltimore mosque, President Obama encourages U.S. Muslims: ‘You fit in here’” (The Washington Post)

(Image Credit: Drew Angerer/The New York Times)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Latinos

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Latinos turn out in record numbers for Iowa caucuses
  • An estimated 10,500 Latinos turned out to Monday’s caucuses, more than 10 times the number in 2012 and quadruple that of 2008, and comprised 4% of Democratic caucus attendees and 2% of Republican attendees.
  • The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) undertook a $300,000 nonpartisan effort to get at least 10,000 of the 50,000 registered Latino voters to attend caucuses throughout the state.
  • On the Republican side, two candidates with Cuban heritage (Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio) won first and third place, respectively, in a first for Latino presidential candidates.

Read more:
“The Effort To Turn Out Latino Voters In Iowa Worked” (BuzzFeed News)
“Latino Turnout in Iowa Demands Attention From Campaigns, Experts Say” (NBC News)
“GOP: Iowa Caucus Is a Big Win for Latino Candidates” (Latin Post)

(Image Credit: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images, via Latin Post)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

India News | Gay & Lesbian

India’s top court to reconsider law criminalizing homosexual sex
  • The court announced it will review the constitutionality of the law following a five-judge panel to review the 1860 law, reinstated in 2013 after a four-year reprieve.
  • Homosexual acts carry a 10-year prison sentence, and though rarely enforced, the law can be used to coerce and intimidate individuals in a country where 75% of the population continues to express disapproval of homosexuality.
  • Should the court uphold the law, advocates would have to depend on future reform to come from the country’s largely conservative parliament.

Read more:
“India’s Supreme Court will review law criminalizing gay sex” (Reuters)
“Supreme Court agrees to revisit law criminalising homosexuality” (The Indian Express)
“SC to hear petitions on criminalisation of homosexuality tomorrow” (The Hindustan Times)

(Image Credit: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

Age, Nationality + Migration

Australia News | Refugee Children

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Australian court ruling clears way for deportation of refugee infants born in the country
  • Australia’s High Court upheld the legality of the deportation of newborns born to asylum-seekers in the country, which currently include dozens of infants, as well as more than 50 children brought to Australia for medical treatment and their families.
  • The case was brought by the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) on behalf of a Bangladeshi woman who was transported from offshore detention to Australia in 2014 for prenatal medical treatment and has remained there since.
  • Australian citizenship laws withhold citizenship from children born in Australia to foreign nationals until their 10th birthday, at which time they must have lived in Australia for a significant period.

Read more:
“Australian asylum ruling paves way for deportation of infants” (Reuters)
“High court upholds Australia’s right to detain asylum seekers offshore” (The Guardian)
“Asylum seeker mother voices fears about being returned Nauru immigration detention centre” (ABC)

(Image Credit: Human Rights Law Centre Handout, via Reuters)