(By Sarah Leah Whitson) President Barack Obama The White House Dear President Obama, As you prepare for your upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia, we write to urge you to include critical human rights issues in all your discussions with Saudi officials. While the purpose of your visit may be to discuss “ongoing cooperation to […]
- Africa (255)
- Asia (1,269)
- Australasia (36)
- Authoritarianism (402)
- Canada (9)
- Culture (577)
- Economy (1,080)
- Agriculture (3)
- Banking (67)
- Boycotts (1)
- Carbon Footprint (6)
- Corporations (56)
- Cryptocurrency (2)
- Debt (21)
- Degrowth (1)
- Democratic Socialism (20)
- Demographic Decline (1)
- Development (26)
- Downward Mobility (1)
- Employment (118)
- Food Insecurity (21)
- Homelessness (16)
- Industry (5)
- Inequality (428)
- Inflation (5)
- infrastructure (11)
- Insurance (1)
- Investment (93)
- Market Crash (12)
- Middle Class (61)
- Monopolies (8)
- Neoliberalism (205)
- Plutocracy (636)
- Poverty (209)
- Poverty (17)
- Regulation (3)
- Retirement (1)
- Sanctions (5)
- Tariffs (4)
- Taxes (38)
- Technology (4)
- Trade (120)
- Weapons sales (8)
- Education (197)
- Energy (1,777)
- Agrovoltaics (3)
- Batteries (53)
- Coal (140)
- Electricity Cost (2)
- Fossil Fuels (330)
- Fracking (50)
- Geothermal (7)
- Green ammonia (5)
- Green Energy (428)
- Green Hydrogen (8)
- Heat Pumps (6)
- Hydroelectric (2)
- Hydroelectric (16)
- Mining (1)
- Natural Gas (107)
- Nuclear Energy (161)
- Petroleum (303)
- Power Grid (12)
- Pumped Hydro (6)
- Solar Energy (433)
- Tar Sands (13)
- Wave Energy (10)
- wind energy (356)
- Environment (2,758)
- Climate Change (1,684)
- Acidification of Oceans (54)
- Agriculture (26)
- Biodiversity (15)
- Climate Refugees (5)
- CO2 (132)
- Dehydration (5)
- Denialism (154)
- Desalinization (5)
- Desertification (163)
- Divestment (2)
- Dust Storms (7)
- Environmental Investment (1)
- Extreme Heat (402)
- Extreme Weather (300)
- Flooding (138)
- Food Supply (3)
- Forests (18)
- Green New Deal (42)
- Green Recycling (2)
- Greenwashing (3)
- Mass Extinction (63)
- Methane (20)
- Net Carbon Zerio (8)
- Nitrous Oxide (2)
- Rainforests (19)
- Rivers (12)
- Sea Level (341)
- Soil Carbon Release (14)
- Super Storms (266)
- wildfires (244)
- Wood Buildings (1)
- Climate Crisis (1,384)
- Drought (299)
- Ecology (2)
- Ecology (12)
- Environmentalism (393)
- Green Transportation (259)
- Ice Melt (140)
- Invasive Species (2)
- Islands (3)
- Oceans (106)
- Oil Spills (8)
- Pollution (234)
- Water (100)
- wildlife (23)
- Climate Change (1,684)
- Europe (1,400)
- Featured (4,369)
- Haiti (1)
- Health (716)
- History (374)
- Human Rights (1,665)
- Apartheid (263)
- censorship (332)
- Death Penalty (31)
- Disappeared (4)
- Displaced and Refugees (583)
- Food Insecurity (31)
- Gay rights (29)
- Genocide (78)
- Human Rights Watch (93)
- Indigenous Rights (1)
- Migrants (4)
- privacy (21)
- Rights (92)
- Slavery and Trafficking (16)
- Starvation (5)
- Torture (103)
- Trans Rights (5)
- Transgender Rights (5)
- Unlawful Imprisonment (111)
- Unlwful Killing (83)
- War Crimes (431)
- War Rape (9)
- International Politics and Economy (2,144)
- Arms Sales (75)
- BRICS (3)
- Corruption (269)
- Crime (133)
- Democracy (337)
- Dissent (456)
- Domestic Terrorism (15)
- Drones (113)
- Espionage (1)
- G20 (1)
- Guns (9)
- Hacking (8)
- Immigration (5)
- Immigration (22)
- Islamophobia (383)
- Migrants (2)
- military (125)
- nationalism (118)
- NATO (38)
- Neocolonialism (1)
- Peace (146)
- Policing (2)
- Politics (309)
- Politics&Culture (21)
- Propaganda (13)
- Race (2)
- Smuggling (1)
- Juan Cole (271)
- Latin America (104)
- media (488)
- Middle East (10,247)
- Arab World (5,342)
- Iran (1,405)
- Israel (989)
- Israel/ Palestine (3,800)
- Israel/Palestine (9)
- Kurds (296)
- Red Sea (1)
- Turkey (607)
- Turkiye (134)
- Patriarchy (11)
- racism (479)
- religion (1,537)
- robots (3)
- Romance (1)
- science (177)
- Secular (West) (9)
- Secularism (30)
- Spirituality (22)
- Statelessness (15)
- Stranded Assets (1)
- Surveillance (283)
- Terrorism (1,096)
- Tolerance (6)
- Uncategorized (8,088)
- United Nations (181)
- Urbanization (4)
- US Foreign Policy (1,410)
- US politics (5,573)
- Anti-War Movement (13)
- Campaign Finance (31)
- Censors (22)
- Central Intelligence Agency (63)
- Charity (1)
- Civil Rights (96)
- Congress (82)
- Conspiracy Theories (24)
- Constitution (417)
- Courts (15)
- crime (12)
- Democratic Party (977)
- Democratic Socialists of America (22)
- Domestic Terrorism (20)
- Drone Warfare (27)
- Espionage (124)
- Ethnicities (397)
- Far Right (403)
- FBI (48)
- Federal Government (1)
- Foreign Policy (204)
- Gay Rights (17)
- Guns (97)
- Immigration (256)
- Israel Lobbies (130)
- Marijuana (4)
- Militarization (274)
- National Security State (477)
- Native Americans (41)
- Nuclear arsenal (8)
- penitentiaries (6)
- Pentagon (580)
- Police (43)
- prison reform (10)
- Private Prisons (3)
- Progressive Politics (15)
- Puerto Rico (30)
- Religious Right (16)
- Reproductive Choice (69)
- Republican Party (3,151)
- Supreme Court (133)
- Voter suppression (36)
- Whistleblowers (7)
- Xenophobia (9)
- Veterans (35)
- Voting Rights (16)
- War (629)
- White Supremacists (241)
- wikileaks (8)
- women (572)
- workers (235)
- Writing (5)
- Youth (219)
Human Rights Watch
Three Years Later: Can the Libyan Revolution Succeed?
Libyans on Monday celebrated the third anniversary of the beginning of their popular revolution against the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi. The commemoration was bittersweet, since although personal freedoms have much expanded, 3,000 non-governmental organizations have been founded, and political activity is relatively unconstrained on paper, the persistence of militias and low-intensity violence have cast a […]
Despite Reform Pledges, Rouhani’s Iran remains Human Rights Nightmare
(By Sarah Leah Whitson) (Beirut) – Iranians are facing serious rights abuses, despite President Hassan Rouhani’s numerous promises to respect people’s rights following his June 14, 2013, electoral victory, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2014. Authorities have released some prominent political prisoners but executions continued at high rates. Officials continued to […]
Human Rights Abuses grow in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
(By Sarah Leah Whitson) (Jerusalem) – Human rights abuses by Israel and by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank grew during 2013, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2014. Israeli forces killed more Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and demolished more Palestinian homes than in 2012. Israel continued to build […]
3 Years after Democratic Revolution, Egypt Decides it Prefers North Korean Model
(By Juan Cole) The title of this piece is provocative and a little tongue in cheek. Were I in Egypt as I publish it, I’m not sure, though, that the authorities would get the joke. The 2011 revolution, which was in part about dignity and personal autonomy and censorship and police torture, apparently went too […]
Ariel Sharon should have been Tried for War Crimes: Human Rights Watch
(By Human Rights Watch) (Jerusalem) – Ariel Sharon died without facing justice for his role in the massacres of hundreds and perhaps thousands of civilians by Lebanese militias in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982. The killings constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity. Sharon also escaped accountability for other alleged […]
“Terrorism” tag is tool of Political Repression in Egypt
(By Human Rights Watch) (New York) – The Egyptian government’s designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization appears to be aimed at expanding the crackdown on peaceful Brotherhood activities and imposing harsh sanctions on its supporters. The government should promptly reverse the decision and stop interfering with the Brotherhood’s health, education, and other […]
Saudi Internet Activists face Crackdown
(By Human Rights Watch) (Beirut) – Activists in Saudi Arabia face a repressive and intolerant government as they advocate popular political participation, judicial reform, and an end to discrimination against women and minorities, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Authorities have responded by arresting, prosecuting, and attempting to silence rights defenders and […]
Indian Gays Shocked by Supreme Court Ruling upholding Colonial Sodomy Laws
(By Boris Dittrich) The day after International Human Rights Day, India’s Supreme Court published its ruling on whether the country’s sodomy law, which had been overturned by the Delhi High Court and then appealed, was unconstitutional. I’ve been a lawyer, a judge and a member of parliament in the Netherlands and each of those roles […]