FIFA World Cup in Qatar is stained with working-class blood — Statement by the WFTU

In a statement about the FIFA World Cup 2022 that begins today, November 20, in Qatar, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) stresses out:

The designation of this Arab emirate to host the event was already tainted by corruption. Billions of resources belonging to the Qatari people -as it is theirs all wealth found in their subsoil- passed into the hands of the large capitalist corporations.  Since then, the sponsorship of these companies has been supported by speculation and business from which only the elites of the Arab country benefit.

World Cup 2022: Workers' deaths in Qatar, a massive labor sacrifice at the altar of monopolies' profitability

On Monday 14 November, the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament discussed the issue of workers' rights ahead of the 2022 World Cup which will take place in Qatar. The discussion was attended by the Qatari Labour Minister Ali Bin Samikh Al Marri.

In his intervention, the MEP of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Kostas Papadakis, pointed out the following: 

WFTU on International Day against Child Labour: "End child labour — Stop man by man exploitation"

In a statement about the International Day Against Child Labour (12 June 2022), the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) vows to fight and end all forms of exploitation of children. The full statement reads:

On this International day against child labour, World Federation of Trade Union, with all its affiliates across the globe, recommits itself to the firm resolve to fight against all forms of exploitation of children. WFTU in most vociferous terms says, “Stop child labour; Restore the right of children to a childhood!”

The farce of the debate on Cuba in the European Parliament

Brussels, 7 June 2021.  The European Parliament has scheduled for Tuesday 8 June an artificial debate on what it is pleased to call “the political and human rights situation in Cuba”. 

 

If this body indeed decides to discuss Cuba, the debate should clearly center on the massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of the entire Cuban population resulting from the genocidal, immoral and illegal economic, commercial and financial blockade maintained by Washington against our country for over 60 years.

Erdogan Vs Women: Turkish communists on the front line of the struggle for women's rights

In the early hours of March 20, Turkey's government issued a decree deciding to pull out of the Istanbul Convention to combat the violence against women. Although the AKP government was giving signs of this decision earlier and peaked the debate in August 2020, by lobbying against the Convention, the decree came as a sudden decision after midnight and sparked tension.

Hundreds of women took to the streets on Saturday afternoon, declaring the decision as an attack of the AKP government against the health and lives of the women in Turkey. Several protests were organized in different cities of the country. While Erdogan's cabinet and pro-AKP circles celebrated the decision, the progressive organizations and opposition groups condemned the decision.

Pakistan's communists condemn the violation of human and citizen rights in the country

The International Department of the Communist Party of Pakistan (کمیونسٹ پارٹی آف پاکستان) has issued a statement concerning the violation of human and citizen rights in the country. The statement is as follows:

The Communist Party of Pakistan strongly condemns the Pakistani establishment particularly the military establishment inhuman practices of suppression and violation of human and citizen rights.

The matter of missing persons, mutilated dead bodies in the province of Baluchistan, khyber  Pukhtoon Khwa and Sind provinces are the well known facts and still need answers.

Turkish lawyer Ebru Timtik dies after 238 days of death fasting

In a message posted on Twitter, the People's Law Bureau announced the death of Ebru Timtik, a lawyer from Turkey who was on the 238th day of death fasting demanding a "fair trial". 

Timtik, whose health condition had been deteriorated lately, was held at Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul's Bakırköy.

A member of the Proggerssive Lawyers' Association (ÇHD), Timtik was sentenced to 13 years 6 months in prison for "terrorism-related" offenses following a deeply flawed trial in March 2019. Her partner, also a lawyer-member of ÇHD, Aytaç Ünsal, was jailed for 10 years. 

Amnesty International's video on human rights features neo-Nazis toppling Lenin's statue! [EXCLUSIVE]

Gaffe or deliberate propaganda? This is the question that came to our mind when we watched Amnesty International's new video on "human rights". Under the title "The Thrill of Victory", the French department of Amnesty International issued a promotional video in support of human rights across the world. 

The video begins with an Asian woman released from a prison and then several scenes of joy, sadness and hope succeed each other. On the 53rd second of the video, there is the infamous scene of ukrainian neo-Nazis demolishing Vladimir Lenin's statue in Kharkiv!! 

Israeli communist lawyer and defender of palestinian prisoners Felicia Langer dies

Felicia Langer with Yasser Arafat and Arab Israeli
Communist Tawfic Toubi.

The great Israeli Communist lawyer and activist, Felicia Langer, died last week in Germany at the age of 87. Langer rejected colonialism, Israel’s endless wars, land theft, torture, apartheid, ethnocentric nationalism, chauvinism and countless violations of human rights and international law.

A communiqué released by the Communist Party of Israel (CPI) said: “Her death represents a loss to the Palestinian people’s struggle for justice, human rights, and self-determination.”

North Korea slams the United States' "government of billionaires" for human rights violations

Pyongyang, January 30 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Institute of International Studies Tuesday released the "White Paper on Human Rights Violations in U.S. in 2017".

According to the white paper, soon after being inaugurated as president, Trump filled the important posts of his administration with billionaires, who had "contributed" to his election campaign, and their mouthpieces.

Secretary of State Tillerson, Secretary of Commerce Ross and also the secretaries of Treasury and Defense are all billionaires from conglomerates. The total assets of public servants at the level of deputy secretary and above of the current administration are worth of 14 billion US$.

United States of America: The World Champion of Extreme Inequality (UN Special Report)

Source: Telesur / UNHCR Report.

"Today's United States has proved itself exceptional in ways shockingly at odds with its immense wealth and its founding commitment to human rights," the United Nations reports.

The United States – one of the world's richest and most powerful countries – is being transformed by President Donald Trump and his Republican Congress into the "world champion of inequality," according to a scathing new report by the United Nations' monitor on extreme poverty and human rights.

Stop Lecturing Cuba and Lift the Blockade

Stop Lecturing Cuba and Lift the Blockade

By Marjorie Cohn.

Republished from mrzine.monthlyreview.org.

Surrounding President Barack Obama's historic visit to Cuba on March 20, there is speculation about whether he can pressure Cuba to improve its human rights.  But a comparison of Cuba's human rights record with that of the United States shows that the US should be taking lessons from Cuba.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights contains two different categories of human rights: civil and political rights on the one hand; and economic, social and cultural rights on the other.