Posts by Issue

Refugees, Police Accountability, Incarceration and Detention, Indigenous Rights

What the Law Saw: Repertoires of Violence and Regimes of Impunity
Posted by Joseph Pugliese on 12/30/2016 - 13:19

This essay, by Suvendrini Perera and Joseph Pugliese, is an immediate response to two recent events, the release of the findings into the death in custody of Ms Dhu in the week before Christmas 2016, and the death in custody of Manus Island refugee, Faysal Ishak Ahmed, on Christmas Eve. As in the case of other deaths in the custody of the state, these were not sudden and unforeseeable events, but the outcome of a range of violent practices—denial, delay, accusations of malingering, verbal and physical abuse, misdiagnosis, non-diagnosis, active neglect—by the state and its agents,... Read More

Posted by Sana R. Gondal on 09/19/2016 - 05:01

The moko kauae, a sacred female chin tattoo for the Maoris of Polynesia, is making a revival amongst the indigenous women of the region. This body and facial tattooing is known as Ta moko, and amongst the Maori women, "was a rite of passage, maeking the passage between girl and adulthood." This meant to signify family and social heritage, along with beliefs regarding the afterlife. The tattoos are of intricate design, none alike in their make, and used to be made through a chiseling tool and black ink. It was banned and discontinued due to colonization and the repression of all that is... Read More

Posted by Sana R. Gondal on 09/19/2016 - 02:05

A protest of incredible and historical scale is happening near Cannonball, North Dakota. Thousands of Native Americans have gathered at the Standing Rock preservation in camps to protest the building of the $4 billion Bakken Pipeline. Considered the largest gathering in over a 100 years, this one includes members from 280 indigenous tribes. They have travelled from all across America to protest the building of the oil pipeline which will run through Dakota, crossing hundreds of waterways down to the Midwest. The pipeline will also weave its way through many sacred sites, and any one... Read More

Posted by Hareem Salman on 08/28/2016 - 03:04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLZEp0vwBfw

Above is a YouTube link to a 4-minute trailer of the documentary, Words on Water by Sanjay Kak. This documentary is about the mass displacement of indigenous populations caused by the building of the Narmada Valley dams. Rob Nixon mentions this project when discussing the work of the writer-activist, Anudharti Roy, in his book that we read in Human Rights class.

This documentary is primarily about the conflict in views about the ongoing dam building project between the... Read More

GMO Mosquito - A violation of human rights?
Posted by ejbentley on 08/16/2016 - 08:13

For the last five years, the biotechnology company Oxitec has been developing a plan to experimentally release GMO mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, which scientists hope could eventually impede the spread of the Zika virus. However, there has been much community uproar in the Keys due to a perceived violation of human rights. 

As a community member states: “It’s about human rights – this can’t be pushed down our throats without consent,” said De Mier, who views her mission as helping mould policy on genetically modified animals for the country.

If this trial works – the... Read More

Peace Talks to Occur Between Colombian Government and Rebel Group
Posted by Emma Elizabeth Kelsey on 04/06/2016 - 16:53

The Colombian government announced last week plans to hold peace talks with the ELN, Colombia's second largest rebel group. A peace agreement would mark significant progress for Colombia, which has struggled for decades with political violence, displacement, and human rights abuses on both sides of the conflict. Human rights groups warn, however, that talks will need to address human rights protections, and end impunity for the perpetrators of abuses.

Western fascination with 'badass' Kurdish women
Posted by Violet Barton on 02/18/2016 - 22:36

The media frenzy over the women fighting ISIL is bizarre, myopic, orientalist and cheapens an import. A young Kurdish woman called "Rehana" has garnered a great deal of media attention over the past few days, after reports emerged claiming that she had killed more than a hundred ISIL fighters - single-handedly. A picture of the smiling beauty, wearing combat gear and toting a rifle, is still making the rounds of social media. Even as Rehana's circumstances remain uncorroborated, the overabundance of attention she has received raises several important questions. It adds to the plethora of... Read More

Mindanao: A Militarized and Plundered Land
Posted by Malcolm Lizzappi on 11/12/2015 - 11:26

This resource is available in Portable Document Format (PDF). To download and view these documents you need PDF viewer software.

This document is a great introduction to indigenous struggle with the government of the Philippines. General themes brought up in the primer are militarized attacks on communities, exploitation of land, destruction of educational facilities, displacement, and summary executions of indigenous leaders.

Community Pushes for Climate Justice
Posted by Malcolm Lizzappi on 11/09/2015 - 14:41

Photo credit: Alexis Bonogofsky

Photo description: Rancher Brad Sauer testifies at a hearing in Montana. Behind him, other supporters of a clean Montana are seated.In Southeast Montana, community members have successfully kept Arch Coal and Toungue River Railroad company from establishing mining facilities that would jeopardize the land that they live on.

... Read More

Second Edition of Captive Genders Released
Posted by Malcolm Lizzappi on 11/03/2015 - 13:47

Photo courtesy: http://captivegenders.net/
Photo description: The cover of the second edition of Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex features a burning car filtered purple.)

"Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex brings together trans, queer and gender nonconforming views on police and prisons. Its pages brim with anger, grief, hope, humor and daring, taking on everything from bathhouse raids to... Read More

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