At a Suffolk Superior Court hearing on Feb. 10 on allegations of abuse against incarcerated individuals at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, criminal defense lawyers and the Department of Corrections painted starkly different pictures of the conditions at the maximum security prison. Judge Beverly Cannone scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Thursday, citing additional affidavits…
Refugees sleeping rough on outskirts of EU
Usually, seeing homeless people is no reason for joy. But in Budapest it is – last year, head of state Viktor Orbán and his right-wing national government passed a law criminalising homeless people for sleeping rough. They are given three warnings and then imprisoned. Thankfully, the law is not enforced everywhere. The criminalisation of homeless…
A voice for the children of Gaza
Yousef Aljamal. According to UNICEF, Israel is the first and only country in the world to establish a juvenile military court. Each year approximately 500-700 Palestinian children, some as young as 12, are tried and imprisoned by the court. Human rights organizations report that these children are beaten, tortured and placed in solitary confinement in…
For Some in Kashmir Marriage Equates to Sexual Slavery
In Kashmir there are thousands of young women who were sold in their teens by their parents to older men, and now living lives governed by restrictions which many equate to imprisonment. Photo by Stella Paul/IPS Haseena Akhtar was only 13 when an agent told her parents that they could earn a good amount of…
The hidden costs of fast fashion
Photo by Yevgenia Belorusets In recent years, thanks to the global market, garment production has, to a great extent, moved from Asia to the post-communist countries of Eastern Europe. Liceulice discussed the realities of the working conditions in these countries, and Serbia in particular, with Bojana Tamindzija and Stefan Aleksic from the Serbian branch of…
Mass. political leaders hold roundtable on ‘medical deferred action’
Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Edward Markey hosted a roundtable discussion on immigration policies. Photo by Max Reyes Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Edward Markey on Monday questioned how the Trump administration was handling about 400 requests for medical deferred action that were reopened after the administration walked back an attempt to end the practice.…
Prison industry can’t hide from human rights violations
Roughly 500 protesters — led by 19 different organizations — gathered in downtown Boston on Sunday, August 4, to take a stand against the American Correctional Association. The ACA, an accreditation agency for prisons and detention centers in the United States, held its annual Congress of Correction at Hynes Convention Center from Thursday, August 1,…
Needle Take Back Day launches in Boston
Councilor Annissa Essaibi George (middle) at the inaugural Needle Take Back Day event. On Thursday, April 25, nearly 30 community health care organizations and centers across Boston banded together for the city’s inaugural Needle Take Back Day. The event, promoted by City Councilor At-Large, Annissa Essaibi-George, is part of her continuing objective to increase the…
Dreamers, TPS holders join Members of Congress to advocate for new Dream and Promise Act
On March 18, in front of the JFK Building at Boston City Hall Plaza, Massachusetts leaders, and immigrant advocates spoke out in support of legislation that would ensure that Dreamers and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders can obtain permanent residency. The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), which represents a number of immigrant advocates…
Modern Exodus: Honduran Refugee Caravan Moves Northwards
A line of more than five kilometres of migrants walked on Sunday, Oct 21, from Ciudad Hidalgo to Tapachula, 40 kilometers inside the state of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. There are 2,000 kilometres left to the U.S.-Mexico border, along a route that is partly controlled by organised crime groups. Credit: Javier García/IPS. A long chain…