ITHACA Report to the UN on US Human Rights

Anthony Freda Art

ITHACA submitted a report in 2010 to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) concerning the human rights record of the United States and focused on two issues. The first issue concerned the revocation of rights taking place in state superior courts under the mantle of adult guardianships, impacting the elderly and disabled.

The second issue we covered concerned attacks by the US government on human rights defenders.

This report for the 2015 UPR of the human rights record of the United States will focus on the progress of these two issues.

How to End the War Crimes in Gaza

Bernie Suarez

Some people may read this and say, no way, this is not a solution but I challenge your belief and I offer that this is indeed an effective and powerful way to move forward as a humanity with regard to the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.

Is there actually a way to end the war crimes in Gaza? There is, but the answer lies in our humanity not in politics, politicians, or a rigid ideology. Ideologies that result in human deaths are ideologies of hatred no matter how anyone spins it. We, as a humanity, must find a way of ending ideologies of hatred that serve political purposes. With acknowledgement of this first step we can then move forward to real solutions.

Investigating Gaza War Crimes

Dees Illustration

Stephen Lendman

On August 11, Human Rights Council (HRC) President Baudelaire Ndong Ella announced the formation of an "independent, international commission of inquiry" into war crimes committed during Israel's Operation Protective Edge. 

International human rights law expert Professor William Schabas was appointed to chair a three-person panel. His special focus is genocide. 

Other members include international law, criminal law, human rights and extradition law expert, Amal Alamuddin, and former UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Doudou Diene. 

A Jewish American Woman Who Lived In Palestine Speaks Out Against The Israeli Occupation

A Jewish American woman (Anna Baltzer) who spent time in Palestine to observe and document human rights violations and to help with the overall situation there explains and shares photographs of her experiences while living in Palestine.  


"Anna Baltzer is such an amazing person and the perspective she brings to the cause is beyond words. Check out her page and give her a like to show some support!" ~ Tone S.

Listen to more David Rovics music below (featured in Anna Baltzer's video):


Listen to more David Rovics music here.  SPECIAL FEATURE: Palestine Set on Soundcloud All David's songs about Palestine in one place for free download or streaming, starting with "Gaza," just written in July, 2014.

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City Evicts Elderly Man from His Tent in the Woods – by Ruthlessly Demolishing it in Front of His Eyes

Lily Dane

Sam is a 70-year-old man who lived in Tent City, an encampment site in the forest in Lakewood Township, NJ.

He lived in a home he constructed out of a wood frame and tarps. Last month, the camp, which housed 80-120 people over the last ten years or so, was closed by local authorities. Housing structures in the camp were demolished.

Police State USA reported that Sam was one of the unfortunate souls who lost his home when the government decided to come in and destroy the camp:

Palestine vs. Israel: An Immoral Conflict Devoid of Balance

Steven MacMillan
Activist Post

The recent Israeli bombardment of Gaza is the latest example of the lack of equilibrium in a conflict that has been intermittently fought since the establishment of Israel in 1948. Following the killing of 3 Israeli teenagers last month, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the 4^th largest military on the planet to conduct air, land and sea attacks on the densely populated Gaza Strip, which has left over 340 Palestinians dead – 75% of which are civilians, compared to 5 Israelis killed.

Netanyahu was quick to blame Hamas for the killings of the Israeli citizens that provided the sole justification for the military campaign. Yet Hamas has never taken responsibility for the attack – an anomaly for the group as most operations conducted are for political objectives – leading many to believe it was an Israeli false flag attack to justify further military occupation. The recent agreement reached between Hamas and Fatah is a deal that terrifies the Israeli establishment and is a major factor in the onslaught that has been seen on Gaza. Israel has been attempting to split and fragment the Palestinian population for decades, with the prospect of a unified people in the West Bank and Gaza unacceptable to the Israeli elite.

Huge Global Coalition Stands Against Unchecked Surveillance

100+ Organizations Sign Thirteen Principles to Protect Human Rights

AnthonyFreda.com

Activist Post

More than 100 organizations from across the globe – including Privacy International, Access, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) – are taking a stand against unchecked communications surveillance, calling for the governments around the world to follow international human rights law and curtail pervasive spying.

The coalition of groups have all signed the International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communication Surveillance – 13 basic principles that spell out how existing human rights law applies to modern digital surveillance. Written in response to the increasing number of government surveillance standards that focus on law enforcement and "national security" priorities instead of citizens' rights, the principles include advice on how surveillance laws should respect the law, due process, and include public oversight and transparency. Current debates over government surveillance are often limited by outmoded definitions of content versus metadata, or stored data versus data in transit. The principles released today concentrate on the core issue: how human rights protect all information that reveals private information about an individual's communications.

Secret DARPA Mind Control Project Revealed: Leaked Document

Whistleblower Reveals Military Mind Control Project At Major University

image source

Activist Post

What if the government could change people's moral beliefs or stop political dissent through remote control of people's brains?

Sounds like science fiction, right? Well, a leaked document reveals that the US government, through DARPA research, is very close to accomplishing this.

Activist Post was recently contacted by an anonymous whistleblower who worked on a secret ongoing mind-control project for DARPA. The aim of the program is to remotely disrupt political dissent and extremism by employing "Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation" (TMS) in tandem with sophisticated propaganda based on this technology. TMS stimulates the temporal lobe of the brain with electromagnetic fields.

The program, conducted by The Center for Strategic Communication, is based at Arizona State University. The DARPA funding for this project can be confirmed on the ASU website here. The head of the project, Steve Corman, has worked extensively in the area of strategic communication as it applies to terrorism and "extremism" - or what could be called "the war of ideas."

Snowden Wins Whistleblower Award

Stephen Lendman

In America, he's a wanted man. He's a fugitive. He's a world hero. He connected the dots for millions. He told people what they need to know.

Doing the right thing is its own reward. Transparency International Germany gave him its Whistleblower Award. He's "(t)his year's winner," it said.

In 1999, it was established. It's sponsored by the Association of German Scientists (VDW) and the German branch of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA).

He'll receive 3,300 euros (about $4,400). He's seeking Russian asylum. Since June 23, he's been in Moscow limbo. He's living in Sheremetyevo Airport's transit zone.

He awaits provisional documents to enter Russia. They're expected soon. Perhaps today. He'll be allowed to travel freely. (It's being reported that he has obtained them - Ed.)

Israeli/Palestinian Peace Talks: Dead on Arrival

Dees Illustration

Stephen Lendman

So-called peace talks are fake. They're a sham. They've always been this way. Decades of talks were stillborn from inception. This time's no different. 

Chances for a just peace are ZERO. Palestinians have no say. Believing otherwise defies reality.

Israel deplores peace. So does Washington. They're jointly running things. Both nations are longstanding imperial partners. They prioritize violence and instability. Peace defeats their agenda.

They don't negotiate. They demand. It bears repeating. Palestinians have no say whatever. They never did. They don't now.

US Courts Approve Indefinite Detention and Torture

Stephen Lendman

America's a police state. It's ruthless. Iron fist authority rules. International law's quaint and out-of-date. US statute protections aren't worth the paper they're written on.

Constitutional rights don't matter. They never did for most people. It's truer now than ever. They're null and void. Executive diktat power rules. Congress and federal courts go along. They're complicit.

They support sweeping lawlessness. It's unprecedented. It affects domestic and geopolitical issues. No one's safe anywhere.

Obama has life and death powers. He can order anyone murdered. He can do so on his say alone. US citizens are as vulnerable as foreign nationals.

He can order anyone indefinitely detained. He can throw them in military dungeons. He can deny them due process and judicial fairness.

They can remain there uncharged and untried. They can stay there forever. They can be brutally tortured. It's OK. Federal courts said so. More on that below.

The disposition matrix: more details about Obama’s secret drone kill list, major mysteries remain

image source

Madison Ruppert

With new details about the Obama administration’s secret drone kill list known as the “disposition matrix” revealed, even more mystery and concern remains.

We have never known all that much about how the secret kill list works, as I pointed out in my first article on the subject in 2011. Since that time, attempts to learn more were repeatedly thwarted in court until a federal judge finally ruled that the Obama administration never has to explain the legal basis for the program.

However, Attorney General Eric Holder has assured the world that the secret reviews of classified evidence based on secret criteria conducted in secret by unidentified individuals count as due process.

The “disposition matrix” term was first made public in an October 2012 article in The Washington Post which identified the matrix as “a new blueprint for pursuing terrorists, a next-generation targeting list.”

Snowden's Asylum Quest

Stephen Lendman

Snowden reflects the best of heroic activism. He acted responsibly. He did the right thing. He committed no crimes. He knew the risks and took them.

Few would do as much. Legions more are needed. Maybe he'll inspire others to come forward. Today they're more than ever needed.

He sacrificed financial security, personal freedom and well-being. He did so to expose serious US high crimes. Potentially everyone's harmed everywhere. Millions worldwide support him. Everyone should.

On Friday, he met with representatives from 13 human rights organizations. He did so in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport transit area. It was closed to the press.

The meeting lasted 45 minutes. It began with Snowden saying:

Gitmo Force-Feeding Continues Through Ramadan

Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def)
image source

Stephen Lendman

Doing so constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. It inflicts excruciating pain and suffering. It's aggravated assault writ large. It's torture under international law provisions.

It violates human dignity. It reflects disdain for human suffering. It's Josef Mengele-style treatment. Nazi prisoners were coerced. They had no choice. Experiments constituted torture. Obama reflects the worst of cruel despots.

As president and commander-in-chief, he's empowered to stop what's unconscionable to allow. Dismissively he lets it continue. Doing so's a crime against humanity. It persists viciously. It does so extrajudicially.

On July 5, Guantanamo's hunger strike reached day 150. At least 106 of the facility's 166 prisoners refuse food. They do so for justice. They prefer death to indefinite detention uncharged. Around four dozen are force-fed.

They committed no crimes. They're lawlessly incarcerated. They're denied due process and judicial fairness. Rogue states operate that way. America's by far the worst.

Obama Blocks Snowden's Asylum

image source

Stephen Lendman

On July 12, Russia Today (RT) headlined "US 'blocks my asylum:' Snowden human rights activists to airport meeting," saying:

Snowden remains stuck. He's in limbo. He's at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. He's in its transit area. A source told Interfax he'll meet with human rights organizations late Friday.

Airport spokeswoman Anna Zakharenkova said she "can confirm that such a meeting will take place."

Snowden invited a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Transparency International and Poland's Krido Legal. Moscow officials weren't asked to come.

Irish Politician Slams US Spying on Europeans, Calls Snowden an International Hero

Youtube

"If this was Iran or North Korea engaging in this activity (illegal surveillance), there would be an absolute clamor for something to be done."

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Study: Afghan drone strikes resulted in 10 times more civilian casualties than manned air strikes

photo credit:
Steve Rhodes/Flickr

Madison Ruppert

A new study conducted by a U.S. military adviser examining a year of drone strikes in Afghanistan has determined that drone strikes resulted in 10 times more civilian casualties than strikes carried out by manned aircraft.

This is especially interesting given the radically understated claims about the number of civilians killed by drone strikes made in the past and claims made by Obama himself.

The study also contradicts the claims made by Obama in a May speech in which he said that “conventional airpower or missiles are far less precise than drones, and likely to cause more civilian casualties and local outrage.”

The unclassified executive summary of the study states that drone strikes in Afghanistan were “an order of magnitude more likely to result in civilian casualties per engagement.”

That quite clearly and directly contradicts the government’s claims.

Washington Is Driving The World To The Final War

Anthony Freda Art

Paul Craig Roberts

V For Vendetta, a film that portrays evil in a futuristic England as a proxy for the evil that exists today in America, ends with the defeat of evil. But this is a movie in which the hero has super powers. If you have not seen this film, you should watch it. It might wake you up and give you courage. The excerpts below show that, at least among some filmmakers, the desire for liberty still exists.

Whether the desire for liberty exists in America remains to be seen. If Americans can overcome their gullibility, their lifelong brainwashing, their propensity to believe every lie that “their” government tells them, and if Americans can escape the Matrix in which they live, they can reestablish the morality, justice, peace, freedom, and liberty that “their” government has taken from them. It is not impossible for Americans to again stand with uplifted heads. They only have to recognize that “their” government is the enemy of truth, justice, human rights and life itself.

Can mere ordinary Americans triumph over the evil that is “their” government without the aid of a superhero? If ideas are strong enough and Americans can comprehend them, good can prevail over the evil that is concentrated in Washington. What stands between the American people and their comprehension of evil is their gullibility.

WikiLeaks and Whistleblowers

YouTube - Ali Shah

This video sheds light on the effects of Cablegate, and focuses on the role of WikiLeaks in the journalistic spectrum. 

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Another Israeli War Criminal of the Year Award

Anthony Freda Art

Stephen Lendman

America represents the worst of rogue governance. So does Israel. They menace humanity. They persecute their best. They honor their worst.

Peacemakers are scorned. Waging war on humanity's rewarded. On March 21, Obama received Israel's Medal of Distinction. It's also called the President's Medal.

It's Israel's highest civil award. It's for individuals "who have made an outstanding contribution to the State of Israel or to humanity, through their talents, services, or in any other form."

In 2012, Henry Kissinger won. His rap sheet includes decades of crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. Israel rewarded his New World Order ruthlessness. It didn't surprise.

Obama replicates his viciousness writ large. Bill Clinton has his own cross to bear. He's Israel's newest honoree. Shimon Peres established the award.