Notices by Andrew Stroehlein (andrewstroehlein@mastodon.social)

Trump's gift to China's government...

"Dozens of non-government groups monitoring dissent, human and labour rights in China have laid off staff after being forced to suspend work following a freeze on foreign aid by US President Donald Trump."
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-rights-monitors-suspend-work-lay-off-staff-after-us-aid-freeze-2025-02-14/

“If these reports are true, this is an alarming overreach by the UK authorities seeking to access the private data of not only people in the UK, but anyone worldwide with an Apple account.”
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/02/14/uk-encryption-order-threatens-global-privacy-rights

While the pushback against the sanctions is an important endorsement of global justice, more needs to be done.

A number of ICC member countries, including Australia, Japan, and EU members Italy, Czechia, and Hungary, did not sign the joint statement. Hungary even signaled that it may reassess its ICC membership.

After Trump signed an executive order authorizing sanctions on International Criminal Court (ICC) officials & supporters, 79 ICC member countries issued a statement reaffirming their “unwavering support” for the ICC.

LESSON: Governments can stand up to Trump's madness.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/02/12/world-responds-trumps-targeting-international-criminal-court

Report what Trump tells you to report the way Trump tells you to report it - or else.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-ap-journalism-first-amendment-8a83d8b506053249598e807f8e91e1ae

"On President Trump’s 3rd day in office... Human Rights Watch seemed to gain an enthusiastic new supporter: The same person signed up for four of its newsletters, including daily, weekly and monthly updates on its work.

Its new fan subscribed under the name Zenith Flowers. The person’s email: deiatruth@opm.gov, the same email the Trump administration set up for federal employees to report on colleagues who defy new executive orders to end diversity programs."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/us/politics/nonprofits-dread-attempts-to-scrutinize-diversity-initiatives.html

"How does one defend democracy if the state’s very representatives are involved in systematically dismantling it?"

A question a lot of folks are asking in many countries these days.

This article looks at the steady creep to authoritarianism in #Slovakia.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/29/in-slovakia-a-frenzy-of-cultural-repression-is-underway-as-we-turn-back-to-soviet-times

On Musk: “The salute, the message to the AfD, the fact that he is willing to joke about the criticism he is getting, it all demonstrates that [those around Trump] are unwilling to recognize how dangerous their words and actions are.” - Halie Soifer, chief executive of the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA).

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/28/elon-musk-germany-afd-rally

“OK, if you feel that way, don’t read Human Rights Watch’s new report.” My take on our latest #Gaza research:

📰 English: https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2025/01/28?story=paragraph-10099

📰 Français: https://www.hrw.org/fr/news/2025/01/28/les-femmes-enceintes-gaza-punies

📰 Deutsch: https://www.hrw.org/de/news/2025/01/28/bestrafung-der-schwangeren-gaza

🔊 Listen: https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/audio/2025/01/28/punishing-pregnant-gaza-daily-brief-january-28-2025

Russian court sentences 3 lawyers to prison for providing legal services.

Yep, you read that right: lawyers jailed for doing lawyer things.

Their client was Alexei Navalny, once Russia's leading opposition politician, who died suddenly in a prison colony last year.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/01/22/prison-terms-navalnys-russian-defense-lawyers

Good news: Europe made more electricity from solar than coal in 2024, and wind now tops gas.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/22/rising-star-europe-made-more-electricity-from-solar-than-coal-in-2024

An image of Musk’s Hitler salute has been beamed onto Tesla's Gigafactory in Berlin.
https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-controversial-salute-image-beamed-tesla-factory-berlin-2019279

"Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation," she said.

"I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and accepting a pardon also would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvged988377o

Trump rapidly issued one executive order after another... As far as human rights are concerned, it was like turning on a firehose of terrible policies, soaking to the bone anyone who still had even the slightest hope that Trump’s second term might not be as awful as his first.

My Daily Brief:

📰 English: https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2025/01/22?story=paragraph-10063

📰 Français: https://www.hrw.org/fr/news/2025/01/22/les-nouveaux-decrets-de-trump

📰 Deutsch: https://www.hrw.org/de/news/2025/01/22/trumps-neue-dekrete

🔊 Listen: https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/audio/2025/01/22/trumps-new-executive-orders-daily-brief-january-22-2025

I was faked in a nasty video made with AI, and it’s sort of been bothering me ever since it happened late last year.

📰 English: https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2025/01/21?story=paragraph-10059

📰 Français: https://www.hrw.org/fr/news/2025/01/21/un-faux-brief-du-jour

📰 Deutsch: https://www.hrw.org/de/news/2025/01/21/ein-fake-daily-brief

🔊 Listen: https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/audio/2025/01/21/fake-daily-brief-daily-brief-january-21-2025

If you say those weren't Nazi-style salutes done to express solidarity with white supremacists and white supremacist ideology, then you are either completely illiterate in history or you are deliberately trying to gaslight people to make them think they saw something else.

A Nazi-style salute to demonstrate support for Trump's white supremacist ideas.

Performed twice, just in case you missed it the first time.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/20/trump-elon-musk-salute

#Iran court sentences pop star Tataloo to death for blasphemy https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/19/iranian-court-sentences-pop-star-tataloo-to-death-for-blasphemy

"Blasphemy" is not a real crime. There's no victim, no harm, no nothing. It’s a manufactured crime with zero foundation in objective reality.
https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2024/01/09?story=paragraph-7422

“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/15/joe-biden-farewell-address-trump-oligarchy-america

Trump’s second term will likely be as disastrous for human rights as his first. But Biden was a failure on human rights, too.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/how-biden-failed-human-rights