Notices by Catherine Morris (cmorris@mastodon.social)

Captive Humans for Trade: Where’s the #Law in "#HostageDiplomacy"? “The August 2024 prisoner exchange involving Russia, the US, & several other countries has been lauded as a triumph of international diplomacy... #Russia continues to hold over 1,300 prisoners on politically motivated charges. Worldwide, wrongfully detained people number at least a million.“ | Catherine Morris, for Slaw: Canada’s online legal magazine https://www.slaw.ca/2024/09/25/captive-humans-for-trade-wheres-the-law-in-hostage-diplomacy/
#China
#Iran
#ArbitraryDetention
#Canada
#Law

My latest:

The Erasure of Rights of Afghanistan’s #Women & #Girls: Taking the Taliban to Court.

Australia, #Canada, Germany & the Netherlands plan to take the #Taliban to the #ICJ over… violations of #Afghanistan’s #HumanRights obligations. “#UN experts & #HumanRights organizations are applauding this groundbreaking initiative... They are also calling on the internat’l community, including #Canada, to do more…” | Slaw: Canada’s online legal magazine https://www.slaw.ca/2024/11/22/the-erasure-of-rights-of-afghanistans-women-and-girls-taking-the-taliban-to-court/ #genderapartheid

Note: To prevent this account from being overwhelmed with US content, I follow #US sources & post selected US news at @USAJusticeWatch.

‘On #Bethlehem's Manger Square, Christmas decorations & pilgrims are…absent for a 2nd wartime festive season in the Israeli-occupied #WestBank city... "Normally…you would find 3,000 or 4,000 people inside the church,"... Violence across the…West Bank has surged since the war in #Gaza…last year, but Bethlehem has remained largely quiet... Foreign tourists…stopped coming due to the war… "Christians in Ramallah can't come because there are checkpoints…”’ | Al-Monitor https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2024/12/wartime-bethlehem-christmas-joy-hard-find

For those researching, here is a link to the text of the 2022 DOJ opinion on the ERA: https://www.justice.gov/olc/file/1466036/dl. Cc. @heidilifeldman @mytwobits01. Also see an explainer by the Columbia ERA project: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=gender_sexuality_law

@mytwobits01. Yes. Yet there’s nothing to prevent the President from setting the balls in motion by certifying and publishing. American girls and women need this overdue acknowledgment of their constitutional equality, and there’s plenty of legal opinion to support it. Cc @heidilifeldman

#Syria: Assad's police threatened to bury me & my reporting. Now I'm back, & free. “There's…joy…in Damascus, despite worries about Islamist rebels being in control & whether they'll ensure safety... …HTS fighters have protected public institutions from looting after mobs stormed the presidential palace, & prisoners have been freed. An HTS group met with Christian residents…in Damascus, to give assurances they were not seeking to limit their freedoms.” | Lina Sinjab, BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c791dye1z2lo

“We need to stem the flow of arms into #Haiti, #Sudan and #Myanmar; … #Israel and non-State armed actors in #Lebanon, #Syria, the Occupied #Palestinian Territory…” | #VolkerTürk #HumanRights 2024 https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/12/turk-calls-end-senseless-conflicts-and-suffering 2/2

#VolkerTürk #HumanRights 2024 highlights 3 issues...
“…proliferation of #ArmedConflict, the erosion of respect for int’l law…, & …indifference of powerful actors to immense...suffering.
…In this mega-#election year, we witnessed an increase in…the dangerous proliferation of #disinformation.
…war & disinformation as a distraction from some of the biggest challenges to our long-term security…#ClimateChange, #pollution, & #biodiversity loss,…[&] huge #inequalities...” https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/12/turk-calls-end-senseless-conflicts-and-suffering 1/2

#ICC Prosecutor re 6 States referral re #Afghanistan: "...considerable progress has already been made in the investigation of allegations of #GenderPersecution in the situation in #Afghanistan, & I am confident that I will soon be in a position to announce concrete results... I reiterate the call in the referral encouraging all States...to provide the cooperation & resources necessary for the investigation to ensure accountability for the crimes committed in Afghanistan." https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-situation-afghanistan-receipt-referral-six-states

The 15 Democratic Party HR members who supported #HR9495 are:

Colin Allred (TX)
Yadira Caraveo (CO)
Ed Case (HI)
Henry Cuellar (TX)
Don Davis (NC)
Jared Golden (ME)
Vicente Gonzalez (TX)
Susie Lee (NV)
Jared Moskowitz (FL)
Jimmy Panetta (CA)
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA)
Brad Schneider (IL)
Tom Suozzi (NY)
Norma Torres (CA)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL)

#USA: “The House…on Thursday passed the Stop Terror-Financing & Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act in a 219-184 vote…with 15 Democrats joining the Republican majority. The bill…would empower the Treasury secretary to unilaterally designate any nonprofit as a “terrorist supporting organization” & revoke its tax-exempt status…. Critics say the proposal would give presidential administrations a tool to crack down on organizations for political ends. | Intercept https://theintercept.com/2024/11/21/gop-house-trump-nonprofit-authoritarian/ #HR9495

Malala: I never imagined women's rights would be lost so easily. “A bullet failed to silence her, now #Malala Yousafzai is lending her voice to the #women of #Afghanistan….Malala has a personal history with the #Taliban across the border in Pakistan, after a gunman from the hardline Islamist group shot her as she sat on a school bus. The speed of change in Afghanistan, if not the brutality, has surprised Malala…"I BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86q5yqz0q2o

Israel’s Crimes Against Humanity in #Gaza: #ForcedDisplacement of Palestinians Leaves Much of Area Uninhabitable. “Israeli authorities have caused the massive, deliberate forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza… & are responsible for #WarCrimes & #CrimesAgainstHumanity, …[HRW] said in a report…published at the time of an ongoing Israeli military campaign in northern Gaza that has most likely created a new wave of forced displacement...” | HRW report https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/14/israels-crimes-against-humanity-gaza 1/2

“An Israeli court…rejected a new request by…#Netanyahu to delay testifying at his #corruption trial... The spectacle of a sitting prime minister defending himself against graft charges is likely to further polarize Israelis... Netanyahu is battling charges of #bribery, #fraud & #breachoftrust... He has denied any wrongdoing in the cases, which center on accusations that he arranged favors for tycoons in exchange for gifts & sympathetic media coverage…” | NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/world/middleeast/israel-netanyahu-trial.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Zk4.NNDT.BUOoiTymcjSk&smid=url-share

👉Please note: I don’t respond to any gofundme or other fundraising requests from people or groups I don’t know personally and well. I don’t respond to follow requests from accounts that appear to be a set up solely to advertise products or fundraising campaigns. I block fundraisers who persist with follow requests and in some cases will report.

#China: Chinese #humanrights #lawyer’s situation worsens: #XuZhiyong must be released. In a joint statement nine lawyers' human rights organizations from Asia, Europe and North America have expressed grave concern about the situation of human rights lawyer & legal scholar, Dr Xu Zhiyong, who is currently on #hungerstrike in Lunan prison, Shandong province in China...to call attention to the #inhumane treatment he is being subjected to in #prison." Full letter: https://lawyersforlawyers.org/en/chinese-human-rights-lawyers-situation-worsens-xu-zhiyong-must-be-released/

#Gaza #polio #vaccinations to resume after #WHO reports strike on clinic. “…6 people, including 4 children, were injured following a strike on the Sheikh Radwan clinic [reportedly by an Israeli quadcopter]. …Israel said it is investigating but does not believe it was responsible… The 2nd phase of the vaccine rollout began on Saturday after being postponed in October due to intense Israeli bombardments, mass displacement & lack of access...” | BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2mnlg43k4o.amp

Peaceful anti-pipeline protesters hit with criminal & civil charges. “West Virginia is among 22 [#US] states…[with] laws that can punish people protesting against oil rigs, gas pipelines, dams & other so-called critical infrastructure with…prison terms & hefty fines… [Over the past 10-15 years] the fossil fuel industry has sued hundreds of #activists, #NGOs, #scientists & #journalists in the US, in what…strategic lawsuits against public participation (#SLAPPs). | Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/27/mountain-valley-pipeline-protest

‘Belgian authorities…have launched an investigation into possible #WarCrimes committed by #Belgian-#Israeli soldier fighting for #Israel in #Gaza. The federal prosecutor's office said the probe focuses on a Belgian member of an elite unit of the Israeli military comprising several other dual passport holders… The suspect, who has not been named, is said to be a man in his 20s... The investigation…stems from the work of Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi.’ | Justice Info https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/137242-belgium-opens-war-crimes-probe-into-soldier-fighting-for-israel-in-gaza.html