MandelNews.com Human Rights NEWS

On July 12, 2024, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International won a landmark case against an attempt to suppress its freedom of speech dealing with psychiatric abuse and patients’ rights in Spain. After a long judicial battle, a judgment was secured by CCHR International and CCHR Spain from the Supreme Court of Spain which resulted in a significant defeat for the Spanish Society of Psychiatry (SEP) which had claimed that CCHR’s publications, documentaries and websites in the U.S. and in Spain served to harm their “honor.” The Supreme Court of Spain rejected this and has affirmed that CCHR’s materials “deal with a matter of undoubted general interest,” are “directly connected to the public debate in a democratic society,” while also contributing to the “social debate on psychiatry.”>>>CCHR   

Amnesty International has reported people who are of reproductive age across the United States are being confronted with "ongoing, confusing changes to their ability to access abortion." In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision (2022) devastating new anti-abortion laws have emerged across the country with abortions now completely or nearly completely banned in 21 states. The US Supreme Court Dobbs decision states that the right to an abortion is not confered by the Constitution. This decision overturned Roe v. Wade (1973) which had ruled the right to an abortion was basically protected by the Constitution. Pregnant women are now being forced to give birth against their desires. International human rights law takes the position that decisions about your body should be yours alone. It is a violation of a persons human rights to force that person to continue with an unwanted pregnancy. This human rights disaster can only be confronted humanely with federal protection of the right to an abortion.>>>Amnesty International 

Human Rights Watch has reported United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has been encouraging negotiations on a new international treaty dealing with lethal autonomous weapons, or killer robots. Killer robots use sensor processing instead of human inputs to select targets to attack. 

This is a very dangerous development for mankind. Guterres wants an international treaty 

“to prohibit weapons systems that function without human control or oversight and that cannot be used in compliance with international humanitarian law.” Killer robots autonomously determine when, where or against what force is applied.  The secretary-general of the United Nations has said “time is running out for the international community to take preventative action on this issue,” and has reaffirmed “the need to act urgently to preserve human control over the use of force.”>>>Human Rights Watch

CCHR activists protested abuses of children via Child Psychiatry at the 18th International Congress of the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. A large banner was seen which said, “ADHD: Billion-dollar business for psychiatry—no psych drugs for our children.” The protesters pointed out that today at least 20 million children are being given psychiatric drugs internationally. These drugs can include “side effects” of homicidal or suicidal ideation. Placards have also made it clear that “Childhood is not a mental disorder.” >>>CCHR

Irene Khan, who is the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, says journalists worldwide are being confronted with more risks than ever. She says there have been online death threats and even rape threats against journalists. Between 2016-2021 there have been 455 journalists killed while doing their jobs. Targeted electronic surveillance is also being used to intimidate and shut down the work of investigative journalists.>>>United Nations Human Rights  

UN human rights experts have expressed serious concern over a “massive crackdown” on pro-Palestinian student protests which have occured at many universities in the United States. The UN authorities have urged the US to uphold the rights to free speech and peaceful assembly.

These experts have said  “The banning and attacks on student protests are a grave violation of the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression guaranteed by international human rights law, and must stop immediately." They have also commented that “It is inaccurate and unjustified to bluntly label all peaceful demonstrations of solidarity with the Palestinian people or calls for a ceasefire in Gaza or criticism of Israel’s policies as antisemitic.”>>>UN News