andrew emett

Stop the Torture of Political Prisoners

Originally published on August 13, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, King of Saudi Arabia

Goal: End the heinous practice of torture and human rights abuses in Saudi prisons

Although the law prohibits the use of torture, many prisoners in Saudi Arabia are regularly beaten and humiliated by their jailors. Imposing degrading punishments on their prisoners, government officials in Saudi Arabia consistently break both Sharia law and statutory law by continuing these practices well into the 21st century. Instead of falsely claiming that inflicting torture prevents terrorist attacks, government officials simply torture prisoners to flaunt their abusive power.

According to the U.S. State Department, the Saudi Arabian government is guilty of kidnapping, torture, human trafficking, illegally detaining citizens without charges, and murder. By regularly committing human rights abuses against its own people, the Saudi Arabian government exerts its power through absolute fear and intimidation. Human rights activists are often secretly arrested without committing a crime, and then are imprisoned and tortured.

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FBI Investigates Rioting After Cop Kills Unarmed Teen

Originally published on August 12, 2014, at NationofChange.org

The FBI has joined the investigation into the police shooting of an unarmed teenager that incited rioting and looting this weekend in Ferguson, Missouri. As incidents of police brutality continue to escalate in violence, the residents of Ferguson retaliated by vandalizing stores and police cars while pelting officers with rocks, bricks, and bottles.

On the afternoon of August 9, Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson were walking in the street when a police car pulled up alongside them. According to the Ferguson Police Department, Brown shoved the officer as he was exiting the vehicle. A struggle ensued inside the car over the officer’s firearm. The officer fired a single shot, and Brown fled from the vehicle. Brown was roughly 35-feet from the police car when the officer fired multiple shots killing Brown, who was unarmed.

But Dorian Johnson and multiple witnesses disagree with the official version of events. According to Johnson, the officer pulled up next to them and ordered, “Get the eff onto the sidewalk.”

After exchanging a few words, the officer extended his arm out of the window and grabbed Brown’s neck. The officer allegedly choked Brown while pulling the 18-year-old into the car. As Brown managed to escape, the cop exited the vehicle and fired.

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Stop Fur Farming

Originally published on August 12, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Prime Minister of Denmark

Goal: Ban the brutal industry of fur farming in Denmark

Denmark continues to practice fur farming in its country even though it has been banned in many other countries for being too cruel to animals. In Denmark, 14 million minks are killed each year for their fur. This animal cruelty is no longer necessary for our survival and must come to an end.

The Netherlands, Croatia, Austria, and the U.K. have all banned fur farming in their countries. Norway and Sweden are also in the process of banning fur farms because of their cruelty to innocent animals. We are beyond the point where we need to slaughter animals and skin them for our survival.

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Don’t Weaken Protections for Indigenous People and the Environment

Originally published on August 12, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank

Goal: Reverse the World Bank’s decision to provide less protection to indigenous people and our ecosystems

The World Bank is weakening regulations that protect the environment and indigenous people in developing countries. By deregulating mining and logging corporations, the World Bank is endangering the lives of the residents and the ecosystems in which they inhabit. Do not allow corporate greed to trample the lives of innocent people.

A leaked draft of the World Bank’s new policies revealed that mining and logging corporations no longer have to consult with the indigenous people before taking over their land. The residents who are not violently removed will be subject to high levels of pollution in their air, water, and food. By stepping away and allowing the governments and corporations to make up their own rules, the World Bank has opened the door to historical human rights and environmental abuse.

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7th Suspect Indicted for Border Patrol Agent’s Murder

Originally published on August 10, 2014, at NationofChange.org

The seventh man charged with the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was indicted by a federal grand jury in Tucson. Rosario Rafael Burboa-Alvarez has been accused of assembling the crew responsible for robbing drug smugglers and killing a federal agent. Two of the guns found at the crime scene were identified as weapons involved in the ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious.

Already incarcerated in Tucson for immigration-related crimes and conducting surveillance on a target for drug robbers, Burboa-Alvarez now faces federal charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery, and attempted robbery in connection with Agent Terry’s death. Although Burboa-Alvarez was not present during the shootout, he allegedly assembled the crew of armed thieves preying on marijuana smugglers along the border.

On the evening of December 14, 2010, Border Patrol Agents William Castano, Gabriel Fragoza, Timothy Keller, and Brian Terry encountered a group of five suspected illegal immigrants in a rural area north of Nogales, Arizona. According to an FBI report, a gunfight ensued in which the federal agents switched from nonlethal to lethal rounds after the suspects opened fire with assault weapons. Agent Terry was killed in the shootout.

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Release Peaceful Activists from Wrongful Imprisonment

Originally published on August 9, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India

Goal: Free peaceful activists who were trying to protect forest from coal mining

Two Greenpeace activists have been arrested in India while protecting the Mahan forest from coal mining. Government officials detained two of the peaceful activists while confiscating several pieces of communication and power equipment. The activists have not been charged with an official crime, yet remain in detention.

In collusion with the coal mining industry, local government sent police officers into the forest of Mahan to arrest two Greenpeace activists working with local communities. Without a search warrant, the police entered their house at midnight and arrested the activists. The arresting officers accused them of being a general nuisance and disrupting the Mahan villagers.

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US General Killed in Afghan Insider Attack

Originally published on August 8, 2014, at NationofChange.org

During a routine inspection at the Marshal Fahim National Defense University in Kabul, a lone gunman killed an American two-star general and wounded at least 15 other coalition troops. Hiding in the bathroom with his NATO-issued assault rifle, Mohammad Rafiqullah waited until the delegation came into sight before indiscriminately firing through a window.

Deputy commanding general of the Combined Security Transition Command—Afghanistan (CSTC-A), Maj. Gen. Harold Greene was responsible for advising and training the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). While routinely visiting the Afghanistan National Military Academy, Greene had been shot three times in the back and one to the back of the head. A German one-star general named Brig. Gen. Michael Bartscher and Gen. Ghulam Sakhi, the Afghan officer running the university, were among the wounded in the attack.

Assigned to the military police, 27-year-old Mohammad Rafiqullah had joined the academy over two years ago. After returning from a patrol on Tuesday, Rafiqullah went to the bathroom instead of returning his NATO-issued assault rifle. With no known motivation, Rafiqullah hid inside the bathroom until the coalition forces came into view. He emptied two clips into the delegation before International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops returned fire, shooting him twice in the face.

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Stop Cruel Primate Testing and Experiments

Originally published on August 6, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

Goal: Ban the horrific methods used to test chimpanzees and other primates

Because chimpanzees are 99% genetically compatible to humans, scientists in the United States use them as experiments in traumatic and extremely invasive tests. Many of the chimps are mistreated physically and psychologically in order to compare their reactions to ours, but the majority of tested primates end up traumatized, debilitated, or dead. Do not allow brutal lab tests to continue against innocent chimps in America.

Since scientists are not allowed to perform experiments on living human brains, they capture primates in the wild and conduct invasive procedures on their brains. By cutting open the skull and applying electric currents to different parts of the brain, scientists have induced various physical reactions and emotional responses from primates. Unnecessary brain surgery on chimps is equivalent to animal cruelty and must be stopped immediately.

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LinkedIn Pays Nearly $6 Million in Labor Violations and Damages

Originally published on August 6, 2014, at NationofChange.org

In violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, LinkedIn Corp. has paid $3,346,195 in back wages and $2,509,646 in damages to 359 former and current employees. An investigation led by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division exposed LinkedIn’s failure to record, account, and pay all hours worked including overtime wages. LinkedIn agreed to pay the back wages and liquidated damages in order to prevent repeat violations.

“Off-the-clock hours are all too common for the American worker. This practice harms workers, denies them the wages they have rightfully earned, and takes away time with families,” said Susana Blanco, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in San Francisco. “The department is committed to protecting the rights of workers and leveling the playing field for all law-abiding employers.”

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Stop the Poaching of Critically Endangered Pangolins

Originally published on August 4, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Xi Jinping, President of China, and Truong Tan Sang, President of Vietnam

Goal: End the illegal poaching of critically endangered pangolins for their scales and meat

Poachers continue to illegally hunt pangolins even though they have been listed as a critically endangered species. As the world’s only mammal with scales, the pangolin’s meat and scales can be found on the black market. In Vietnam and China, pangolin meat is sold as an expensive delicacy in restaurants and as an ingredient in Asian medicine.

Placed on the International Union of Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, pangolins could face extinction if this rampant poaching continues. As pangolin populations steadily decrease throughout Southeast Asia, illegal poaching has spread to Africa to meet China and Vietnam’s demand for the rare animal.

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