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Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to our coverage of human rights.

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  • Bassel_big

    Syrian Filmmaker Who Appeared on Democracy Now! Killed in Homs While Training Local Activists

    Democracy Now! is saddened to report that one of our past guests, Bassel Shahade, was killed last Monday while he worked on a documentary and trained media activists in Homs, Syria.
    Jun 04, 2012 | Web Exclusive
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    Veterans Say No to NATO

    By Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan. Veterans of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan are now challenging the occupation of Chicago. This week, NATO is holding the largest meeting in its 63-year history there. Protests and rallies will confront the two-day summit, facing off against a massive armed police and military presence.
    May 17, 2012 | Columns & Articles
  • Palestinehungerstrikers

    Noam Chomsky: Palestinian Hunger Strike a Protest Against "Violations of Elementary Human Rights"

    We begin our hour-long interview with world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky by discussing the Palestinian hunger strike. A tentative deal has reportedly been reached to end a landmark action that’s seen an estimated 2,000 jailed Palestinians go without food to pressure Israeli prison authorities to end the use of solitary confinement and ease a wide range of restrictions. "The hunger strikes are a protest...
    May 14, 2012 | Story
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    Part 2: Human Rights Watch's Kenneth Roth on Palestinian Prisoners, Saudi Arabia's Role in Bahrain

    Human Rights Watch’s Kenneth Roth examines why the U.S. has not pressured Bahrain to release pro-democracy activists. He also discusses Syria and the conditions in Israeli jails and courts that prompted 1,550 Palestinian prisoners to go on a hunger strike. [includes rush transcript]
    May 08, 2012 | Web Exclusive
  • Button-gitmo-trials

    Justice Cheated: Human Rights Watch's Kenneth Roth on Failures of Guantánamo Military Tribunals

    The military tribunal established to prosecute the five leading suspects in the September 11th attacks opened this weekend at Guantánamo Bay. During a nine-hour hearing on Saturday, the five prisoners refused to enter pleas on murder and terrorism charges, or to talk or listen to the judge, in what one of their lawyers explained was a "peaceful resistance to an unjust system." Defense attorneys say the trial for the five leading suspects...
    May 08, 2012 | Story
  • Button-egypt

    Egyptian Military Rulers Face Growing Unrest as 11 Killed in Pre-Election Clashes

    A mass protest has been called for Friday in Egypt after the killing of at least 11 demonstrators outside the Defense Ministry in Cairo. The attack came as hundreds protested the ejection of ultra-conservative Islamist candidate Hazem Abu Ismail from the pending presidential election because his mother has dual Egyptian-U.S. citizenship. The killings were the latest to fuel anger against the country’s ruling military council ahead of elections...
    May 03, 2012 | Story
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    Jailed Bahraini Activists Get Appeal, But U.S.-Backed Regime's Abuses Continue Unabated

    Bahrain has granted appeals for 21 people accused of trying to overthrow the U.S.-backed monarchy after the Arab Spring protests began last last year. The prisoners include human rights leader Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, who is on the 82nd day of his hunger strike. "We’ve seen this before, where if there’s enough international pressure, they’ll send the case back to court and then try to buy as much time as possible ... until the...
    Apr 30, 2012 | Story
  • Drone

    As Obama Expands Drone War, Activists & Victims' Advocates Join D.C. Summit on Growing Civilian Toll

    Pakistani lawyer Shahzad Akbar, who represents families of civilians killed in U.S. drone strikes, was finally granted a visa to enter the U.S. this week after a long effort by the State Department to block his visit. He has just arrived in Washington, D.C., to attend the "Drone Summit: Killing and Spying by Remote Control," organized by human rights groups to call attention to the lethal rise in the number of drone strikes under the...
    Apr 27, 2012 | Story
  • Cece mcdonald

    "CeCe" McDonald: Black, Transgender Woman Faces Murder Trial for What Supporters Call Self-Defense

    A transgender African-American woman is set to go on trial next week on charges of second-degree murder for an altercation after she was reportedly physically attacked and called racist and homophobic slurs outside a Minneapolis bar last year. Chrishaun "CeCe" McDonald received 11 stitches to her cheek and was reportedly interrogated without counsel and placed in solitary confinement following her arrest. There were reports that the...
    Apr 27, 2012 | Story
  • Anastasio_hernandez_rojas

    Death on the Border: Shocking Video Shows Mexican Immigrant Beaten and Tased by Border Patrol Agents

    A new PBS documentary exposes the tasing and beating death of a Mexican immigrant by U.S. border agents in California and has renewed scrutiny of what critics call a culture of impunity. In May 2010, 42-year-old Anastasio Hernández-Rojas was caught trying to enter the United States from Mexico near San Diego. He had previously lived in the United States for 25 years and was the father of five U.S.-born children. But instead of deportation, Hernández-Rojas’s...
    Apr 24, 2012 | Story