Civil Rights are in place to protect everyone regardless of their race, gender, whether they have a disability or any other protected characteristic such as age or religion. Laws regarding our rights and treating everyone equally have been developed over centuries. Whilst we have come a long way in our fight for equality, there is still some way to go and developments are happening all the time.  If you believe that your civil rights have been violated then you may need a civil rights attorney. 

Family and Medical Leave Act

The FMLA ensures that employees can take paid leave if they have to have time off for specified family or medical reasons, including having a child or becoming unwell. Recent laws in states across the country are now requiring companies to offer new dads to have paid leave. New York, New Jersey, California, and New Hampshire have all put laws in place. Washington is also in the process of putting laws in place and they should be in force this year. Men, as well as women, should get to spend time with their babies so that they can bond with them and help with the first few weeks. 

The Equality Act: 2017 update

The Equality Act was first passed in 1964, but in May 2017 is was updated to include LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) people from discrimination. This includes discrimination in housing, employment, education, credit, and public services. LGBTQ advocates have been fighting for an update in the act since the 1970s and so this was a big move forward. 

California recognizes a third gender

Many of the recent updates in civil law are to do with the LGBTQ movement, there are a growing understanding and knowledge. One issue for many people has been society’s boxes of either male or female, some people do not feel that they fit into either of these boxes. In October 2017 California becomes the first state in the US to legalize a third gender option if nonbinary on state documents and state-issued IDs. Non-binary includes a spectrum of gender identities that are not exclusively male or female. This will also make it easier for people to correct their gender on legal documents. 

Similarly, in July 2017 Oregon became the first state to allow people to have an option of “not specified” on identification. 

Kentucky restores voting rights to former felons

According to the US, constitution voting is a right. Despite this, many states’ felons cannot vote. This could be understood as when someone commits a crime, many of their rights can be taken away. Such as the right to freedom of movement. In most states, once someone has completed their sentences they are once again allowed to vote. However, in Kentucky up until December 2019, many former felons were still not allowed to vote. This meant that they were never really re-joining society, by being able to vote they can once again be a part of democracy.

The post 4 recent updates in Civil Rights Law appeared first on Green Prophet.

How can change occur if we’re not free to write about sensitive issues like human rights and the environment?

According to the 2012 census by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), there are 232 journalists in prisons worldwide, over half being held in the Middle East, the most of them surprisingly in Turkey. The online ‘zine Foreign Policy posted its “worst countries for journalism” with the Middle East grabbing three of the Top Ten slots.

As we scour the media, we already see how this fares for environmental reporting which is practically non-existent in the Middle East.

Bahrain = 1

Saudi Arabia = 4

Israel and the Palestinian Authority = 3

Iran = 45

Syria = 15

Yemen = 1

Uzbekistan = 4

Kyrgyzstan = 1

Iraq = 1

Turkey = 49

Read about this region’s biggest muzzlers of free expression, below:

Journalists in prison, Turkey

The world’s most repressive country is showcase Muslim democracy and NATO darling, Turkey.

A New Yorker article published last year stated, “According to the Journalists Union of Turkey, 94 reporters are currently imprisoned for doing their jobs. More than half are members of the Kurdish minority, which has been seeking greater freedoms since the Turkish republic was founded, in 1923.”

CPJ’s 2012 census counted 49 jailed reporters, but The Friends of Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener (named after two imprisoned writers) maintains a list of 104 journalists currently imprisoned there.  Another 800 face charges, and scores more have left their jobs because of government pressure.

“The government wants to set an example; it wants to intimidate,” investigative journalist Ertugrul Mavioglu told The Guardian. “Journalists are being told, ‘There are limits on what you are allowed to say.’”

Andrew Gardner, Turkey specialist at Amnesty International, added, “This prosecution forms a pattern where critical writing, political speeches and participation at peaceful demonstrations are used as evidence of terrorism offenses.”

Attorney Meral Danis Bektas said Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, openly threatened journalists and dictated what they wrote. Bektas said: “All of the defendants stand trial for doing their jobs. Free press and freedom of expression are cornerstones of democracy. Without them, democratic political participation becomes impossible.”

The government denies the journalists were arrested for their work as members of the press, instead citing terrorist offenses.

Journalists in Prison, Iran

Iran earns the silver medal for jailed journalists, with 45 behind bars as of December 2012.

The government controls all television and radio broadcasting, banning coverage critical of specific topics and events including national nuclear policy and the economy.

Internet access is skyrocketing, but content is restricted and censored and users risk persecution for online activity.

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) was blocked following the 2009 election and the number of disabled political sites grows exponentially. A 2010 Computer Crimes Law legalizes government internet surveillance and criminalizes online expression.

Cybercafes are obliged to record customers’ personal data and browsing histories. Last year, a national intranet was finalized, aimed at cutting Iranians’ connection to the worldwide web.

In 2012, Iran banned 250 ”subversive” books and closed the professional association “House of Cinema” that supported 5,000 Iranian filmmakers and artists. Don’t count on reading Lolita in Tehran, and forget about seeing the movie.

Journalists in Prison, Syria

Journalists receive reporting licenses at the pleasure of the prime minister. According to the CPJ, 28 licensed writers were killed in 2012 and 15 more were incarcerated by the end of that year.

Syria’s 2001 Press Law gives the state full control over all print media.  It forbids reporting on issues of national security and allows the state to determine whether information is factual or not.  Violate the law and face up to three years in prison with fines reaching $20,000.

The 2011 Media Law guarantees the “right to access information about public affairs” and bans “the arrest, questioning, or searching of journalists”, yet ironically bars publication of content that affects national unity and security, and incites public unrest.  Guess who makes the determination?

Bonus: Journalists in Prison, Saudi Arabia

Not so many. They are just killed instead.

The post Turkey, Iran, Syria Top List for Worst Journalism Countries appeared first on Green Prophet.

Last month, a woman wearing a Muslim hijab headscarf presented the headlines on an Egyptian television news program, becoming headline news herself. So why the alarm when anchor Fatma Nabil appeared on Channel 1 (one of several state-run TV stations) wearing an off-white hijab that covered her hair and neck? And why is this issue connected to the environment?

Fatma Nabil became the first anchor to wear a hijab on Egyptian State television since the 1960s, breaking with a code of secular dress that had barred the on-TV wearing of Islamic head coverings. Most Egyptian women choose to wear some form of Islamic headscarf.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/zAL6dDj_2s4[/youtube]

Immediate online debate erupted over whether Nabil’s appearance might be part of a strategy by President Mohamed Morsi, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, to push increased Islamic sensibility on Egyptian society.

According to the official state news agency MENA, newly appointed information minister and Brotherhood member Salah Abdel-Maqsoud said that at least three other veiled women will also be appearing, a radical change from the standards established when state TV was founded fifty years ago.  Network policy didn’t explicitly disallow head scarves, but in practice they were tolerated for off-screen employees only.

“Why is the veil denounced in Egypt while 70% of Egypt’s ladies are veiled?” Abdel-Maqsoud asked, according to Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm. “It’s a shame that veiled women appear on Arab and international channels while they don’t in Egypt.”

In the following video clip,  Al Jazeera’s Rawya Rageh explains the significance of the lifting of the ban on the veil:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/1aiuIIbhsMc[/youtube]

For years, veiled women have presented the news on private Egyptian satellite TV.  Nabil previously worked for the Brotherhood’s satellite station, Misr 25, where her appearances were always in hijab. She isn’t affiliated with the Brotherhood, and feels that only qualifications and not appearances should be a determining factor in who appears on TV.

There’s no difference between forcing women to wear hijab and forcing them to not wear. The ultimate decision must be that of the individual.  The specific ban for newscasters could be viewed as years of discrimination. Isn’t ending inequity always progress?

Environmental rights are increasingly being adopted as a subset to human rights, featuring large in demands made since the beginning of the Egyptian revolution. Basic human freedoms intertwine with environmental rights because both aim to protect the quality and continuity of life.

Allowing women the freedom to make their own choice isn’t something to incite bogeyman fears, rather, it can be viewed as a sign of an opening society: one that is opening enough to also embrace green policy and practices.

The post Hijab Moves From Sports, to a News Room, to a Green Debate appeared first on Green Prophet.

Case Study: A stable security state or a nation eager for reform? We look at Jordan and the strengths and weaknesses of its civil society

Whilst Jordan may not have seen the flurry of protests that lots of other Arab countries witnessed during the Arab Spring, that doesn’t mean Jordanians are not desperate for reform. In fact, they are and to a certain extent the government has been eager to show they are happy to make changes. In the last two years alone there have been amendments to over 42 articles of the Jordanian Constitution. But, for many, these reforms aren’t having a real impact and there are growing concerns that the authorities are becoming more draconian.

First, there were efforts to censor the internet and last month, protestors gathered to demand the release of activists charged with opposing the regime and slandering the royal family. It seems that becoming a campaigner and a genuine member of Jordan’s civil society just got a little more difficult.

“Although Jordan is a security state – if a less extreme, less openly repressive version of one than Egypt was – it continues to be held up as an example of one of the more progressive and democratic Arab states. Jordan’s path to reform has been a carefully managed top-down process which has all the trappings of democracy while lacking substance. Despite its failure to take meaningful steps towards democracy, donors continue to laud Jordan as a democratizer.” 

That was the damning conclusion that researchers Ana Echagüe and Hélène Michou at the Foundation for the Future came to in a report released in May 2011 exploring Jordan’s civil society.

Over a year on has anything changed for the better? It’s hard to tell. A recent report launched by the same organisation points out the real challenges facing civil society organisations in the country. Firstly, donors tend to fund projects more than the infrastructure of the organization, leaving the organisations structurally weak and with sustainability issues. Secondly, there are legislative and government obstacles to the free execution of civil society activities in Jordan.

For example, the Foundation for the Future explains in a press release that foreign funding is subject to government approval and societies must “not intend to achieve any ‘political’ gains covered by the Political Parties Law in the course of their work”, though the term ‘political’ is undefined.

Why is all this relevant? Well, I have been thinking a lot about the environmental movement in the region and the importance of a strong civil society for it to flourish. If people are able to organise freely, feel that their voice matters and are unified then they are likely to take action on issues that concern them. If not, they will wait for the government to not only realise the severity of the problem but also come up with a solution. This is particularly worrying if the issue is climate change.

Climate change is not a problem that can be solved by governments and authorities – it’s far too wide reaching for that. It needs local solutions and local actions to go hand in hand with government support and policy. The problem can’t wait for governments to wake up and smell the carbon-dioxide coffee. So, if we are serious about building up an environmental movement in the Middle East, then we need to be serious about building up a strong and independent civil society first.

For more on Jordan see: 

Websites Go Black to Protest Internet Censorship in Jordan

King Abdullah: Israel is Disrupting Jordan’s Nuclear Ambitions

Recycling Yourself When Green Projects Go Bust

Image of Jordanian forced holding flowers distributed by protesters calling for release of political prisoners in Amman last month. Muhammad Hamed/Reuters.

The post Without A Strong Civil Society, Middle East Environment Has No Chance (Op-Ed) appeared first on Green Prophet.

New amendments to the Press and Publications Law would require online news sites to register with the government, obtain costly operating licenses from the Ministry of Information, become members of the press association, appoint a chief editor and pay annual membership fees.

According to Avaaz,  a global web movement dedicated to bringing  “people-powered politics to decision-making everywhere”,  the expanded ministerial powers could gag Jordanian bloggers, restrict or block public access to international sites and allow governmental monitoring and potential restriction of individual blog comments.

Activists conducted SOPA-inspired website blackouts last week and they’re staging sit-ins today and tomorrow to halt the censorship.  Participating websites include Jeeran, Jo24, Wamda, and BeAmman, and a few hundred others. The goal of #BlackoutJo is to attract sufficient attention from mainstream media outside of Jordan to convince the government to withdraw its draft bill.

The activists have support from high profile Jordanians, including Queen Noor Al Hussein, who tweeted, “Hypocrisy, lies, intolerance, hate, violence – all unhealthy evils. Where does it start and end. #censorship #BlackOutJO

They contend that the bill would allow government to block any international website deemed to be in violation of the law.  It will allow the state to censor and monitor viewer comments and hold website owners responsible for the comments posted on their sites (effectively demanding self-censorship of user content). Websites will also be required to archive all comments for at least 6 months.

The scope of the law is ambiguous, covering “online media”, which, at the government’s discretion, include social networks, photo and video sharing sites, blogs and news sites.

Avaaz commenced an internet blitz to “strengthen the call on MPs not to gag the net”.  Within 24 hours of their email campaign, they attracted over 2,000 new signatures to their online petition.  Their website states that Parliament has already passed the amendments, but “if we turn up the pressure on the Senate and His Majesty King Abdullah, we can stop it from becoming law”.

Activists are working to galvanize public pressure to influence the vote,  keeping the Kingdom’s internet free.

Jordan’s emergent IT&T sector has the kingdom frequently tagged as the “Silicon Valley of the Middle East”.  Almost half of Jordanian households have personal computers, a figure expected to double if government promises to cut sales tax on PCs and internet service are realized.  Mobile phone penetration exceeds 120% of the population. Jordanians are fully plugged in.

Failing to halt these restrictive internet policies puts Jordan in line with Iran, Bahrain, and Tunisia (three of the seven worst nations for internet freedom, according to annual findings from Reporters without Borders and Freedom House (pdf) in association with the United Nations Democracy Fund).  This is an important week for Jordan civil rights.

Sample of a blacked-out website screen shot via TechCrunch

The post Jordan Websites Go Black to Protest Pending Censorship appeared first on Green Prophet.