By Eric Walberg - Dissident Voice

The world is taking note of the ruling Conservatives’ shameful betrayal of Canada’s once admirable reputation as a fair country, sincerely working on the world stage to improve the lot of the disadvantaged and suffering. In the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review, Canada was criticized to such an extent that the Council decided to send the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and representatives of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to investigate.

By Michael Harris - April 25, 2013

There is more than a whiff of political opportunism in the air...When a prime minister’s favorite part of the justice system is the police, it is a proclivity that bears watching.

April 24, 2013 - BC Civil Liberties Association

The BCCLA argued that Bill C-309 threatens the constitutionally-protected freedoms of expression and association by placing a chill on those who may wish to wear masks at popular protests and demonstrations...“Costumes and masks are lawful and they can be a powerful aid to unpopular speech...They can help foster the uninhibited expression of political views. The anonymity of a mask can protect people who are voicing their political opinions from punishment or reprisal by government, employers, family and others.”

Israel's gulag is one of the world's worst. Palestinian political prisoners fill it. Their crime is wanting to live free from occupation. It's longstanding. It's ruthless. It's illegal.

By Tom Carter - 25 April 2013

What history will remember as most significant about the events in Boston will not be the bombing near the marathon’s finish line or the perpetrators or their motives. What will be remembered instead will be the unprecedented military lock-down of an entire major American city, with military vehicles in the streets and heavily armed soldiers going house to house — tromping through living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens, staring down their assault rifles at terrified, barefoot families in their pajamas.

By Keith Jones - 24 April 2013

Canadian authorities boasted Monday afternoon that, working in concert with the FBI and other US national security agencies, they had broken up a terrorist conspiracy involving an Iranian-based al-Qaeda cell. The announcement, made at a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) press conference, came just as the House of Commons was set to debate new anti-terrorism legislation that would give the state draconian new powers.

This month, a 30-day action campaign was launched demanding the release of Russell ‘Maroon’ Shoatz from solitary confinement, where he has been held for over 23 consecutive years, and 28 of the last 30 years, in Pennsylvania prisons. On April 8, when the campaign began, Maroon’s legal team sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC), demanding his release from solitary confinement and promising litigation against the PA DOC if he is not transferred to general population by May 8.

By Ilan Pappe - April 24, 2013

History shows that the human consequences are horrific and catastrophic when powerful people, heading powerful outfits such as a modern state, denied the existence of a people who are very much present...This denial was there at the beginning of Zionism and led to the ethnic cleansing in 1948. And it is there today, which may lead to similar disasters in the future — unless stopped immediately.

By Dave Zirin - April 20, 2013

I in no way doubt that next year will be a celebration of [Boston's] stouthearted fortitude. I have no doubt that people will arrive in droves to witness “the spirit of freedom prevail.” But I do think we need to separate the bravery of those who will gather in 2014, and what the security imperatives will undoubtedly be. We need to critically examine what’s proposed and, if necessary, raise our voices in protest.

Waging war at home or abroad requires enemies. America creates them when none exist. Imperial strategy demands them.

By DAVE LINDORFF - April 22, 2013

Now when police have a “situation” anywhere in the country, it’s a good bet they’ll adopt the new Boston model as the option of choice, “locking down”...whole towns or cities to give police a free hand...What we are seeing in Boston is a preview of [a] police state...The mindless post-capture applause for the army of police who implemented the “lock-down” of the city after the marathon bombing was part and parcel of that police state.

On April 17, Palestinians commemorate Prisoners Day. They do so annually. They've done it since 1979. It marks Mahmoud Hijazi's release. Israel freed him in its first ever prisoner swap.

By Sandy English - 18 April 2013

Plaintiffs in an ongoing trial in federal court in New York City have alleged that the city’s Police Department (NYPD) has violated the constitutional and civil rights of millions of people in its decade-long stop-and-frisk program...The NYPD stops hundreds of thousands of people a year on the streets and sidewalks of New York City’s poorest neighborhoods. Most are young and working class, and 88 percent are African American or Latino.

By Nathan Crompton - April 18, 2013

After nine steady weeks of nightly protests by anti-poverty activists in front of the PiDGiN restaurant in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, police have stated that they plan to arrest picketers. In a press conference delivered yesterday, Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Brian Montague stated that his department is “anticipating an arrest soon.”

By Bill Van Auken - WSWS

If ever there was a case of the pot calling the kettle black, the Obama administration’s indicting of Moscow for human rights violations is it.