Human rights Archives

Senator Seeks Accountability for Nine Americans Killed by Israeli Settlers and Military

1Oct

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Foreign Aid, International Development, Human rights, Types of News: Brief, United States

Senator Seeks Accountability for Nine Americans Killed by Israeli Settlers and Military

Senate Rejects West Bank Human Rights Report in 51–47 Vote UNITED STATES October 1, 2026—Since 2022, nine Americans have been killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and Israeli security forces. The fallen include three teenagers, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, Mohammad Ahmad al-Khdour, Amer Rabee, and six adults, Omar Assad, journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, Sayfollah Kamel Musallet, Khamis Ayyad, and Nasrallah Abu Siyam. To date, none of the deaths has resulted in a publicly documented criminal conviction. While Israeli authorities have examined some of the cases and the FBI reportedly started an investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, the families have received no criminal accountability, according to the senators sponsoring the resolution. Senate...

Business in Occupied Territories Tests the Limits of International Law

27Sep

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Human rights, Legal Battles, International Law, Justice, Types of News: Analysis

Business in Occupied Territories Tests the Limits of International Law

More than 200 companies are doing business in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, supporting illegal settlements, according the the United Nations. Photo by Levi Meir Clancy courtesy Unsplash. Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia and other major companies appear in a UN database examining business activities connected to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, raising questions about corporate responsibility for human rights. September 28, 2026—Businesses operating in occupied Palestinian territories are not bound by international law in the same way that UN-member states are, but they are not exempt from upholding human rights either. Hundreds of companies headquartered in 11 countries conduct business in or near Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to an u...

Notable Quotable: Louis Henkin, 1917-2017

22Sep

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Human rights, Legal Battles, International Law, Justice

Notable Quotable: Louis Henkin, 1917-2017

'Almost All Nations Observe Almost All Principles of International Law Almost All the Time' Louis Henkin was diplomat, human rights advocate, and legal scholar in constitutional and international law. (born 1917-died 2010) “Almost all nations observe almost all principles of international law and almost all of their obligations almost all of the time.” – Louis Henkin, in 1968 book How Nations Behave: Law and Foreign Policy Louis Henkin argued in favor of a rules-based international system, saying it is easier and practical for nations to abide by international norms and laws because nation-states ultimately benefit from predictable relations.

Treasury Secretary Bessent Faces Scolding on U.S. Embargo on Cuba

17Sep

By No Comments

Human rights, Sanctions, Types of News: Videos

Treasury Secretary Bessent Faces Scolding on U.S. Embargo on Cuba

Rep. Waters: 'Stop Trying to Kill All the Families in Cuba' September 17, 2026—At Tuesday's House Financial Services Committee hearing, Ranking member Rep. Maxine Waters gave with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about the U.S. embargo on Cuba. https://youtu.be/fw_t0aiMd8g?si=OXwBwyEtiX9Zl5jH “And a word about Cuba. You cut off all the oil to Cuba. You’re starving the families. You are starving the children. They don’t have electricity. They can’t get food in. What are you doing, Mr. Secretary? Why are you being so cruel? I know we have a cruel president, but do you have to be a puppet? Do you have to do whatever he wants you to do? What are you doing to this country? You are making us not only look bad, but act bad, all over the world. And I want to tell you, history is not go...

Five Years After the Withdrawal of U.S. Troops, Taliban Maintain Brutal Control of Afghanistan

6Sep

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Critical Minerals, Domestic Politics, Geopolitics, Human rights, Types of News: Brief

Five Years After the Withdrawal of U.S. Troops, Taliban Maintain Brutal Control of Afghanistan

Five Years After the Withdrawal of U.S. Troops, Taliban Maintain Brutal Control of Afghanistan. Have any lessons for U.S. leaders been learned? September 6, 2026—Five years after the dramatic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the repressive Taliban regime remains in control, even as it is still unrecognized by a majority of countries. Nearly half the population is dependent on humanitarian aid. Humanitarian Action calculates that is 21.9 million. Also, more than 5 million Afghans who lived in neighboring countries have been forced to return. What's more, Afghanistan and Pakistan are at war. The Aftermath of the U.S. Withdrawal The United States spent 20 years fighting in Afghanistan, often asserting a strategy of nation-building while the underlying strategic goals went ...

Class Action Lawsuit Challenges State Department, U.S. Weapons Makers Over ‘Israeli Exceptionalism’

6Sep

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Human rights, Legal Battles, International Law, Justice, Middle East, Types of News: Brief

Class Action Lawsuit Challenges State Department, U.S. Weapons Makers Over ‘Israeli Exceptionalism’

Plaintiffs Charge Illegal Support for ‘Gross Violations of Human Rights’ in Lebanon September 6, 2026—Lebanese Americans in Michigan are suing Secretary of State Marco Rubio along with weapons-makers Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Caterpillar, asserting corporate negligence and violations by the government of the U.S. Leahy Laws, which bars military sales to a country committing human rights violations. The lawsuit accuses the State Department of defying U.S. laws by creating “special mechanisms” in its review of the Israeli military, in effect creating “a far more lenient, bureaucratic, and convoluted review process” to avoid enforcing the Leahy Laws. The impact is policies and procedures that provide an “Israeli exceptionalism” for human rights violations. It further charges the comp...

ICE Detentions Hit Record Levels as Deaths and Medical Failures Mount

2Sep

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Human rights, Immigration, Migration, Types of News: Analysis, United States

ICE Detentions Hit Record Levels as Deaths and Medical Failures Mount

Private Firms Profit, Prisoners Beg for Medical Help, and DHS Investigates Deaths Aug. 26, 2026 ICE announced its agents detained 1,328 people in Virginia and Maryland over a two-week period. September 2, 2026—As the number of people taken and held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement soared this Summer amid reports of “abysmal” conditions at the detention centers. Since President Donald Trump started his second term in office in January 2025, 57 people have died in ICE custody. Last week, a Chinese national by the name of Lianyong Wei died hours after ICE arrested him in Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific. Meanwhile, thousands of others have suffered medical emergencies, such as head injuries, dehydration, strokes, and malnutrition, while in ICE custody, ac...

The Human Rights Case Against Nicolás Maduro

2Jun

By Ernesto RodriguezNo Comments

Domestic Politics, Human rights, Immigration, Migration, Types of News: Analysis

The Human Rights Case Against Nicolás Maduro

A Venezuelan Expat Makes A Case for Justice That Can Bring About Real Democratic Change Editor’s Note: Venezuelan expat Ernesto Rodriguez reflects on the U.S. military’s Jan. 3, 2026 capture of Nicolás Maduro, recounts the authoritarian leader’s grip on power from 2013-2026, makes a case against the years of torture and political corruption, and calls for justice. Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are facing U.S. federal charges in New York for narco-terrorism, drug trafficking, and weapons offenses. Let's picture the scene. I'm sleeping back home in Madrid, and I get woken up by a call from Caracas, where the time is around 3 o'clock in the morning. As anyone knows, calls at those hours are usually some form of bad—or at the very least urgent—news. This wasn't an except...

A Guide to Economic Empowerment: Policy, Anti-Corruption, and Inclusive Capitalism

24Apr

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Capitalism, Finance, Banks, Cryptocurrency, Metals, Global Economics, Human rights

A Guide to Economic Empowerment: Policy, Anti-Corruption, and Inclusive Capitalism

How Consumers, Savers, and Citizens Have the Power to Transform Society for the Better Economic power of the consumer. Economic empowerment is the idea that individuals are free to make decisions over their own lives and equipped to influence the world around them through everyday decisions. Everyone engages in the economy. Citizens with economic power assert influence through spending, savings, and charitable decisions. Every act itself is a means of asserting individual impact—or at least it has the potential to do so. This recognizes that democracy is not only about elections and governance. It is built on a foundation of empowering society. An empowered citizenry is better able to hold government accountable and serve the interests of the population. Economics factors into...

Democratic World Order is ‘Crushed,’ Human Rights Watch Reports

4Feb

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Communism, Dictatorship, authoritarian, Democracy, Human rights, Types of News: Brief

Democratic World Order is ‘Crushed,’ Human Rights Watch Reports

February 4, 2026—Democracy is in retreat around the world, driven in large part by a “downward spiral” in the United States, according to the 2026 report by the Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit organization based in New York City. “Under relentless pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, and persistently undermined by China and Russia, the rules-based international order is being crushed, threatening to take with it the architecture human rights defenders have come to rely on to advance norms and protect freedoms,” Philippe Bolopion, HRW executive director. Democratic rights are at risk in the United States and around the world. Photo from Human Rights Watch video. Democratic Retreat While once viewed as a champion of democratic freedoms, the United States now leads the world...