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Anti-Militarism: News & Updates

RRN Case Update
RRN Case Update: 2019 Year End Update- urgent human rights cases
February 13, 2020
RRN case summaries at a glance
On behalf of our 190 Rapid Response Network members, IRTF volunteers write and send six letters each month to government officials in southern Mexico, Colombia, and Central America (with copies to officials in the US). Who is being targeted? indigenous and Afro-descendant leaders, labor organizers, LGBTI rights defenders, women’s rights defenders, journalists, environmental defenders, and others. By signing our names to these crucial letters, human rights crimes are brought to light, perpetrators are brought to justice and lives are spared. Our solidarity is more important than ever. Together, our voices do make a difference.
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Event
Peace Activism in a Digital World
February 11, 2020
Dr. Shelley Rose, Associate Professor of History at Cleveland State University, will discuss the physical and online spaces of activism and protest events in the 20th and 21st century, including the use of social media as a tool for organizing in cases like Standing Rock. As a historian, she examines the changing modes of protest events as well as common practices between activist communities.
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News Article
Organizations Condemn Military Presence in El Salvador's Congress
February 9, 2020

The president of El Salvador tries to intimidate the members of parliament by marching up with soldiers. This was due to the call of the Council of Ministers, over which the President presides, for an extraordinary session designed to approve a loan of USD 109 million to finance the so-called Territorial Control Plan Phase III. This Plan consists of strengthening the equipment of public and military security apparatus in the country.

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Event
20th annual IRTF Social Justice Teach-In
February 8, 2020
The InterReligious Task Force on Central America and Colombia, in conjunction with Case Western University, presents this day of workshops and speakers as an opportunity for people of all ages to learn about critical local, domestic, and global justice issues. Workshops: some will mostly present empirical data, others will do that as well but also engage attendees through art and storytelling. In recent years, students from 30-35 area schools have attended, but this event is open to people of all ages.
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News Article
Private Messages Further Link Honduras Elites to Berta Cáceres Murder
February 7, 2020

Berta Cáceres, who was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015, had long protested the construction of the dam, which threatened the livelihood of the Indigenous Lenca community living along the Gualcarque River. The activist was later shot dead in March of 2016 at her home in La Esperanza, in southwest Honduras. Private call logs, SMS, and WhatsApp messages unearthed by the Honduran Public Prosecutor’s Office revealed that the hit squad “communicated through a compartmentalized chain that reached the highest ranks of leadership” of Desarrollos Energéticos SA (DESA), the company building the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam, the Intercept reported on December 21. Seven of the eight men accused of carrying out Caceres’ killing — among them US-trained former military officials and DESA employees — were found guilty in November of 2018 and later sentenced to serve between 30 and 50 years in jail.

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News Article
Human Rights Watch: More than 200 people deported to El Salvador have been harmed or killed
February 6, 2020

The 117-page report, “Deported to Danger: United States Deportation Policies Expose Salvadorans to Death and Abuse,” identifies cases of 138 Salvadorans who, since 2013, were killed after deportation from the United States, and more than 70 others who were beaten, sexually assaulted, extorted, or tortured. Perpetrators of these abuses include gangs, former intimate partners, and Salvadoran police or security personnel.

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Event
Immigrant Defense Vigil
February 6, 2020
We stand together to name the reality of families being separated by immigration practices. We name the reality of families being separated by immigration practices. We gather to raise visibility to the intense difficulty faced by thousands of families, not only on the US-Mexico border but in Ohio as well. We pray that the grace and healing power of God will comfort our sisters and brothers in these situations of suffering and despair.
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News Article
IMMIGRANT DEFENSE AND SUPPORT: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
February 5, 2020

The Cleveland Immigration Working Group is engaged in a number of immigrant defense and support activities. We need more volunteer help. Please read below and consider helping with some of these needs: A. Safe Hotels Campaign B. Rapid Response Team C. Bond Packets for Release from Detention D. Court Monitoring E. Bus Reception F. Public Actions G. Sponsor Families H. Help for ICE Raid Victims and those in detention I. Prayer Support . If you would like to learn more about any of these initiatives, please email irtf@irtfcleveland.org or call (216) 961 0003.

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Event
Seeking co-sponsors for IRTF Social Justice Teach-In on Feb 8
February 4, 2020
We expect hundreds of people of all ages to attend our Social Justice Teach-In on February 8 and engage in a variety of workshops covering issues such as environmentalism, food justice, peacemaking, racial justice, refugees, state-sponsored violence, creative nonviolence, and worker justice. Most of the attendees will be high school and college students from 30-35 schools, who can attend for free because of the generosity of dozens of co-sponsors. Please support this important event that empowers young people to become leaders for positive social change.
PDF icon teach-in_co-sponsor_form.pdf
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News Article
Burkina Faso men released from Youngstown prison
February 3, 2020

3 men from Burkina Faso have been released from detention. The people in immigration detention centers are not seen as victims of violence and persecution, but as criminals who should be locked up. These immigrants from all over the globe—unjustly detained--need spiritual support to process all the extreme events of their escape from their home countries and subsequent internment.

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