United States ( Justice Department is filing a Lawsuit against Puerto Rico ) Civil Rights

SAN JUAN – The Department of Justice announced on Monday the filing of a lawsuit against the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) alleging that the PRPD discriminated against Yolanda Carrasquillo on the basis of race, color and religion in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Title VII).

Title VII is a federal statute that prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex and religion.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, alleges that the PRPD discriminated against Carrasquillo by subjecting her to daily verbal harassment about her race, color and religion over a period of approximately three years beginning in 2007 and ending in 2010. According to the complaint, Carrasquillo, a sworn police officer, was subjected to a hostile work environment because of the discriminatory actions of a civilian co-worker who regularly used racial and other offensive slurs directed towards Carrasquillo, and other black or dark-skinned employees, that disparaged her race, color and Christian faith. The United States has alleged that the co-worker’s discriminatory conduct persisted on a daily basis and over a number of years, often in the presence of Carrasquillo’s other co-workers and numerous supervisory police officers at the PRPD.

Despite numerous timely complaints about the harassment by Carrasquillo to her supervisors and other PRPD officials, the PRPD failed to take any meaningful steps to stop the harassment or discipline the harasser. The complaint alleges that the PRPD failed to follow its anti-harassment policy which provides for zero tolerance for harassment and specifically charges supervisors with preventing and immediately correcting acts of discrimination of which they become aware through either a report made to them or personal observation.

Through this lawsuit, the United States is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief requiring the PRPD to develop and implement policies that would prevent its employees from being subjected to harassment based upon race, color or religion as well as monetary damages for Carrasquillo as compensation for the PRPD’s discriminatory actions.

Carrasquillo originally filed a charge of race, color and religious discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which investigated the matter, determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that discrimination had occurred, and referred the matter to the Department of Justice.

“All workers deserve the freedom to go to work each day without fear of harassment because of their race, color or religion. Public employers should set an example for others by upholding the law and taking prompt and effective action to stop discriminatory harassment,” said Jocelyn Samuels, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will vigorously pursue such violations of Title VII.”

TEXAS ( Cop was arrested and put in jail for knocking woman's teeth out during arrest )

There are thousands of reports filed each year against officers who use excessive force. Despite strict guidelines officers are supposed to adhere to when using force, they often times injure and even kill people without a legitimate purpose.


The use of excessive force is a criminal act. In fact, it is a type of white collar crime.
Last week, a police officer for the San Marcos Police Department in Texas was jailed for knocking a woman’s teeth out during an illegal arrest he made on May 29.
James Angelo Palermo, 40, was charged with aggravated assault by a public servant.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, while Palermo was conducting a routine traffic stop and noticed a female pedestrian walking by he wanted to know what she was doing and asked for identification. Following that initial incident, he slammed the woman against a car and then into the pavement–resulting in her injuries, which included a concussion.
On May 30, San Marcos Police Chief Howard Williams ordered an internal investigation that eventually led to the officer’s arrest and administrative leave, KEYE TV reports.
The Austin American-Statesman describes the encounter:

Palermo immediately moved toward her and she stepped back as he approached, the affidavit says. He grabbed her and pushed her against the back of the car he had stopped, then quickly spun his body and slammed her onto the concrete driveway between his patrol car and the stopped car, the affidavit says. He then handcuffed her and put her in his patrol car, saying she was under arrest for obstruction.

Ouch! Reporter gets " Exclusive Judo story " !

Iran ( Human rights Blogger released from prison - Fariba Pojooh )

27 July 2013

Journalist Fariba Pojooh released from prison

Keywords : Political Prisoners

فارسى

Committee of Human Rights Reporters – Fariba Pojooh, imprisoned journalist and blogger was released from prison today Saturday July 27th.

According to news provided to CHRR, jailed journalist Fariba Pojooh was released from prison after spending 18 days behind bars. On July 10, Security agents raided the home Fariba Pojooh, arbitrarily detained her and transferred her to prison. Pojooh is a journalist who has in the past worked for media outlets including Etemad newspaper and ILNA (Iranian Labour News Agency).

Fariba Pojooh was previously arrested following the disputed presidential elections in 2009. At that time she was held behind bars in Evin prison for 124 days before being released on bail. A lower court sentenced Pojooh to one year in prison. Branch 54 of Tehran Court of Appeals later modified the ruling to a 5-year suspended prison term.

EYGPT ( Security forces kill dozens " The point of no return " )

CAIRO (Reuters) - The United States urged Arab ally Egypt to pull "back from the brink" after security forces killed dozens of supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and opened a dangerous new phase in the army's confrontation with his Muslim Brotherhood.



Thousands of Brotherhood supporters were hunkered down in a vigil at a Cairo mosque on Sunday, vowing to stand their ground despite a threat by the authorities to disperse them "soon".
Saturday's bloodshed, following huge rival rallies, plunged the Arab world's most populous country deeper into turmoil following two turbulent years of transition to democracy with the fall of veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Egypt's Health Ministry said 65 people had died. The Brotherhood said another 61 were on life support after what it described as a ferocious dawn assault by men in helmets and black police fatigues. The ambulance service put the death toll at 72.

TUCSON Az ( Missing man - Mt Lemmon - The search is on for a hiker who has been missing for more than a day )

Search for missing hiker on Mt. Lemmon

Posted: Jul 26, 2013 9:19 PM by Robby Messer
Updated: Jul 27, 2013 12:22 PM

Rating: 
 

MT. LEMMON - The search is on Friday night for a hiker who has been missing for more than a day.
Rincon District deputies received information of an overdue 54-year-old hiker. His wife had contact with him around 11:00 a.m. Thursday but had not heard from him since. The wife could not provide a specific location as to where her husband was hiking, but said he was prepared for the hike.
She said they were visiting from out of town and unfamiliar with the area. He was last seen wearing a white shirt, blue shorts, and carrying a yellow back pack.
Given that the information was very vague and no particular area was described for the deputies to search, an attempt to locate bulletin was aired.
Deputies then searched some of the more popular tourist hiking locations, but the man and his vehicle were not located at that time.
Early Friday morning, the Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit was activated and started their search for the lost hiker. They received information from the man's cell phone provider as to his possible location and had several GPS coordinates to work with.
The man's vehicle was located a few hours later and the search has been underway all day. The Sothern Arizona Rescue Association has been assisting the Sheriff's Search and Rescue deputies and the Sheriff's Department air unit has been used as well.
Search and Rescue personnel are gearing up to work into the night and through tomorrow morning.

Drone NEWS ( Colombia’s air force has announced their armed forces will be using drones )

Colombia’s air force has announced that it will implement the use of drones in the armed forces’ fight against rebel groups and drug traffickers, local media reported Wednesday.


While drones have acquired an international notoriety, the most controversial aspect of their use in Colombia is the air force’s willingness to use them in big, heavily populated, cities. It is not yet known if the “urban drones” will be used solely as a detection tool or whether they will also have combat capabilities.
General Tinto Pinilla, commander of the Colombian air force, declared that the drones will not solely be used in war “but also natural disaster response, information recovery and border monitoring.”
Up to fifty drones have already been acquired from the UK, with more powerful drones to be supplied by the Israeli government.
In the future, the Colombian government expects to lower drone costs by producing its own unmanned aircraft, that will also be more suited to the specific needs of the country.