One of my closest friends was recently diagnosed with early stages of dementia. She is 80 years old and believed that the problems she experienced with her memory, were due to normal age-related forgetfulness. She has a science background, and after receiving her diagnosis she started to research the topic in great detail. She read several academic articles on dementia, including the book ‘A Completed Life’ by Dr Rodney Syme which was published posthumously in 2023. The book presents his views on the predicament of people with dementia and his powerful suggestion for further legislative change. The book’s title reflects his life, in which and where all that was possible had been achieved and so was, in a sense, complete. (more…)
Tag: Human Rights
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What Western mainstream media won’t tell us about China
We might not like to read this, but here are a few things Western media completely forgot to tell you about Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang… (more…)
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Mainstream media turns blind eye as UN visits Xinjiang, criticises US
Human Rights are big news again. There are murders in Gaza, there are restrictions in Ukraine, there are allegations of abuses in Iran and any other place that the US sees as an adversary but, one thing that isn’t big news is that the United Nations has recently visited Xinjiang. So far, 100% of our mainstream media have ignored this news. (more…)
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Israel’s forced starvation in Gaza has killed dozens of children
Israel’s forced starvation has caused the deaths of more children in central Gaza where conditions have been made worse by Israel’s closure of the Rafah crossing, further limiting aid and trapping sick and injured Palestinians. (more…)
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Please don’t pray for us
Next time you hear a news story on violence against women, please do not say we pray for victims of domestic violence. If you want change, here’s what to pray for instead. (more…)
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Why we must never stop exposing cant and hypocrisy
To witness repeated atrocities around the world is hard enough. To observe wilful slaughter, when it’s openly supported by nations claiming adherence to human rights and international law, is nauseating. The killing of dozens of Palestinians in a supposed safe zone in Rafah is just the latest bloody outrage on global view. (more…)
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How (not) to advance our conversation about racism in Australia
The question has been asked many times, but it has rarely led to constructive public debates: is Australia a racist country? (more…)
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The unheard voices: how society silences women
In our country and across the world, the voices of women often go unheard. Whether it is a gasping plea of ‘I can’t breathe’ or a harrowing confession of ‘He raped me,’ the voices of women are frequently dismissed, disbelieved, or outright ignored. This tragic reality stems from a deeply ingrained societal bias that views women as manipulative, deceitful, and cunning. Through this gendered lens, society perpetuates a culture of scepticism and distrust toward women, effectively demonising them and invalidating their experiences. (more…)
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UK’s legal process a form of ‘psychological torture’, as Assange battles US
John Shipton has been in London, observing his son Julian Assange’s appeal against extradition to the United States. (more…)
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US in high-risk legal gamble as court grants Assange leave to appeal extradition
The US is playing a high-risk legal game in refusing to fold its tent and walk away from the prosecution of Australian citizen Julian Assange for exposing US war crimes. (more…)
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The slow-motion execution of Julian Assange continues
The ruling by the High Court in London permitting Julian Assange to appeal his extradition order leaves him languishing in precarious health in a high-security prison. That is the point. (more…)
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Pro-human rights Jewish students facing intimidation from vigilantes linked to repressive Israeli state
Jewish students in Western countries are increasingly facing forms of transnational repression from vigilante groups linked to the repressive Israeli state. These groups are allegedly using violence and intimidation on university campuses in coordinated strategies to curtail freedom of speech. (more…)
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Don’t blame social media for violence against women
The recent horrific murders of several women have sparked widespread calls to tackle the scourge of domestic violence. Some commentators have pointed fingers at social media, and internet usage more generally. Pernicious impacts include intolerance of others, especially through ‘echo chambers’ where users reinforce existing prejudices. Suggested remedies include various forms of bans or controls, especially for younger people. (more…)
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“Burn down the United Nations” chant Israeli mob in UNRWA HQ attack
This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem. (more…)
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WikiLeaks founder’s fate will be known in just 7 days
In just 7 days, a British court will decide whether to extradite WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange to the US where he will face trial on espionage charges. (more…)
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The 1984 anti-Sikh genocide
It’s almost 40 years since Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards. A year earlier she’d ordered the Indian army to storm Sikhism’s holiest site, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, after extremist separatist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had taken refuge there. (more…)
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The hospital at the bottom of the DV cliff
A sense of crisis now pervades discussion of what to do about violence against women, made obvious by recent marches demanding action, statistics suggesting that the rate of fatal attacks is increasing, and general unease after several knife attacks in Sydney, in one of which women represented five of the six victims. (more…)
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The State Department report on human rights
Blinken knew exactly what he was doing, he could have delayed the release but he chose, instead to release the State Department’s “2023 Country Report” on the eve of his arrival in China. (more…)
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Israeli Finance Minister denounced for calling for ‘Total Annihilation’ of Gaza
“But… did he say it on a college campus? Otherwise, it’s just not news. Sorry, them’s the rules,” said one journalist sardonically. (more…)
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Domestic violence and I
If we don’t recognise and understand the history of the struggle to end violence against women it will undermine efforts to eliminate it. (more…)
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Do as I say, not as I do
Antony Blinken megaphoned the United States’ complaints about China in advance of his visit this week. They included Beijing’s unfair economic and trade practices, ‘industrial over-capacity’, and ‘genocide and crimes against humanity’ against Uyghurs. (more…)
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Why is violence against Australian women not rated as terrorism?
Weekend rallies highlighted the anger and fear of thousands of women and men about the ongoing violence against Australian women. It is a crisis, and it is occurring day and night in homes and suburbs across the country where police are struggling to keep up with reporting of male violence and too many offenders avoid detection, because our leaders do not rate violence against women as the extreme terrorism it has become. (more…)
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ACTU statement on Gaza
The Australian Union movement is a movement of peace and respect for all races and nationalities. We oppose war, racism, and oppression. We act in solidarity. (more…)
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The learned solution: Fix problems with violence
Are you well-armed, fired up, pitchfork to hand? The quarry is elusive, his background suspect but we know his name – DV. Are we getting closer? (more…)
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UN rights chief demands international probe of mass graves near Gaza hospitals
“Hospitals are entitled to very special protection under international humanitarian law,” said Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights. (more…)
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Intervention to stop genocide: From investigative reporting to freedom flotillas
The leader of South Africa’s Palestine Solidarity Alliance insists that the ruling of the International Court of Justice ‘requires the whole world to play their part to stop genocide unfolding in Gaza.’ (more…)
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The forgotten Palestinians in Syria
The Syrian Civil War was the longest and most complex geopolitical conflict to emerge out of the Arab Spring, thus creating a complicated legacy for leftist analysts to interrogate. In this interview, exclusive for Counterpunch, former United Nations special rapporteur, and international relations scholar Richard Falk, breaks down Palestine and Syria and the history and politics of that refugee crisis from the left.
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Extradition looms for Julian Assange
The UK High Court has delayed the extradition of Julian Assange to the US for a further three weeks, requesting the United States give assurances that Assange will be protected by First Amendment free speech rights, that he won’t be discriminated against as an Australian citizen, and that he will not face the death penalty. The High Court judgment said that if those assurances were not given by the United States, leave to appeal will be given to Assange, and there will then be an appeal hearing. (more…)
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Anatomy of a Genocide
After five months of military operations, Israel has destroyed Gaza. By analysing the patterns of violence and Israel’s policies in its onslaught on Gaza, this report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israel’s commission of genocide is met. More broadly, they also indicate that Israel’s actions have been driven by a genocidal logic integral to its settler-colonial project in Palestine, signalling a tragedy foretold. (more…)
