Category Archives: Freedom

As the crowd of thousands made its way east down Atlantic Avenue from the Barclays Arena in Brooklyn, a sign held up among the sea of heads, flags, and raised fists caught my eye. The sign the protester carried read You Watched Hong Kong Now See Us.

Many people in the United States, myself included, have been following the protests in Hong Kong since they broke out last year. Weve seen the photographs of the masses of protesters marching peacefully in the streets of Hong Kong. Weve seen the images of clouds of tear gas floating through the streets, of heavily armed police firing rubber bullets into the crowds. Weve seen the iconic photograph of the police officer drawing his gun at a protester, and photographs of the police manhandling protesters to the ground to make arrests. And weve seen the images of Hong Kong on fire.

But Ive been following the journalists covering the protests. Not just the photographs they make and stories they write, but the reports of journalists being pepper-sprayed, shot with rubber bullets, having lights shone into the camera lenses and faces, of them being arrested, harassed and every manner of attempts to stop them from doing their jobs.

I have even written a series of op-eds about the situation that the press in Hong Kong and mainland China face. We in the United States stood behind the journalists in Hong Kong. We saw what you were going through and railed against the attacks on the free press in the city.

But how a few weeks can change everything.

The death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis Minnesota has unleashed a torrent of protests. Once again, I am watching scenes of protests, tear gas, rubber bullets, and arrests. But now it is not just in Hong Kong on the other side of the world, but a short walk from where I live.

And Im not just looking at photographs and news footage. Rather, I am there myself making photographs and watching the scenes unfold in front of me. And it is not just happening in New York City, but in cities all over the United States.

And just as has happened in Hong Kong, journalists are being attacked, harassed and arrested. Since their tracking began on May 26th, the Committee to Protect Journalists has had reports of over 280 press freedom violations across the United States, including 45 arrests and detentions of journalists and dozens of reports of journalists attacked by police with pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets.

The US Press Freedom Tracker counts over 380 press freedom violations as of writing, more in just over a week than the total of 150 for all of 2019.The stories behind these numbers are not hard to find.

Omar Jimenez of CNN and his cameraman and a producer were arrested while broadcasting live in Minneapolis. Tim Myers, a cameraman for Channel 7 in Australia was also live on air when riot police hit him with a shield while clearing streets near the White House. Journalist Balin Brake lost an eye after being hit with a tear gas canister in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and journalist Linda Tirado lost an eye to a rubber bullet in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

There are many photographs to be found on Instagram and Twitter showing the wounds journalists have received at the hands of police while covering the protests. Others show journalists in handcuffs and being muscled around by police.

The assaults on the press have gotten so out of control in the US, that like in the case of Hong Kong, world leaders are calling for the US to protect reporters. The signatories include Australia, Germany and Turkey. Yes, Turkey, which has its own history of violence against journalists and repressing press freedom.

The Committee to Protect Journalists itself has sent a letter calling for the local authorities in the US to stop arrests and assaults on journalists covering the protests. And even the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong has issued a statement expressing their solidarity with journalists in the United States.

Freedom of the press is enshrined in the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution, as it is also enshrined in the Basic Law of Hong Kong. But as the last fortnight in the United States and the last year in Hong Kong have shown, words ring hollow when they are ignored.

And laws dont mean much when those tasked with upholding them break them. The US secretary of state may have strong words about press freedom in Hong Kong, but those words are undercut when the USs own stance is being called into question on the world stage.

Press freedom cant be taken for granted by anyone, no matter where you are. If the United States and Hong Kong can both be ranked as problematic places for journalists by Reporters Without Borders, what does that mean for journalism as a whole? And where is safe anymore?

Gordon Parks, the famous African-American photographer, once wrote I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera. But whether your tool in journalism is the camera or the keyboard, while we are all working to tell the stories that need to be told, we need to use the same tools to defend our right to do so.

We must hold those whose job it is to protect the free press accountable, no matter where the attacks happen.

Read the rest here:

US and Hong Kong protests: Press freedom needs protection, everywhere - Hong Kong Free Press

CINCINNATI Officials with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center announced Friday the museum would reopen to the public on July 24.

"Were working diligently to reopen our museum in a safe and responsible way so that we can welcome our community home and work together for inclusive freedom," Woodrow Keown, Jr., president of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, said.

As part of the reopening process, the Freedom Center announced it was taking extra precautions to ensure guests and staff members remained safe and healthy while visiting.

Those extra precautions include instituting timed tickets, which will help manage crowd capacity to allow for social distancing. Other precautions include extensive cleaning protocols, floor markings to help guests maintain social distancing and altered seating arrangements.

Some of the exhibits at the museum have been altered or closed completely, however, given the "high-touch nature" of those exhibits. Other exhibits have been modified to be touchless or have been outfitted with foot pedals.

For more information, you can visit the museum's website here.

Link:

Freedom Center to reopen by the end of July - WCPO

On June 2, President Trump signed the Executive Order Advancing International Religious Freedom, but few noticed amid everything else that happened that week. The day before the signing, law enforcement officers used rubber pellets and tear gas to forcefully remove peaceful protesters near the White House so that Mr. Trump could hold a Bible aloft in a photo op in front of St. Johns Episcopal Church. This sparked two more days of controversy in which the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, brandished their own Bibles; the archbishop of Washington, Wilton Gregory, denounced the managers of St. John Paul II National Shrine for allowing Mr. Trump to appear there; and thousands of citizens fanned a firestorm of tweets, denunciations and recriminations.

Has anyone read the executive order? Religious freedom advocates might well be frustrated that tear gas and controversy occluded a measure whose very purpose is to lift the cause of religious freedom out of the shadows. The second sentence of the order contains words that these advocates have been waiting for years to hear a president utter: Religious freedom for all people worldwide is a foreign policy priority of the United States, and the United States will respect and vigorously promote this freedom.

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Why are these words important? The answer lies in the previous sentence: Religious freedom, Americas first freedom, is a moral and national security imperative.

Why is religious freedom a moral imperative? While the pandemic has surged around the world and the United States agonizes over racism and police violence, several hundred Christians have been killed in Nigeria; China has escalated its brutal crackdown on churches and continues to hold a million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps in Western China; and Christians, Muslims, Jews, Bahais and people of other religious traditions suffer high or very high levels of restrictions on religion in 50 other countries, according to the widely respected Pew Research Center.

But is religious freedom also a national security imperative? This has been a hard sell for foreign policy makers in the past several administrations, which have subordinated religious freedom to fighting terrorism, securing alliances and expanding trade. Much recent research shows, though, that religious freedom mitigates terrorism and civil war, strengthens democracy, enhances economic development, fosters peace, enables reconciliation and advances opportunities for women. Religious repression has contributed to violence, terrorism and instability in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and other countries that have preoccupied U.S. foreign policy makers in the past two decades.

True, President Trump is an unlikely promoter of human rights. Beginning with his 2016 campaign, he has stoked animus against Muslims, immigrants, African nations and numerous other vulnerable groups of people, and he has trampled on many global norms. Still, if the message is crippled by the messenger, the message still merits support when it is the right one. The Trump administration, whose staff includes sincere and dedicated experts on the issue, has promoted global religious freedom through: an annual ministerial conference that has brought together hundreds of foreign policy officials, religious leaders and civil society leaders from around the world; the appointment of Sam Brownback as a committed and effective ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom; and, now, last weeks executive order.

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The order helps to lift the U.S. governments advocacy of religious freedom abroad into high-level foreign policy. It expands upon the work that Congress began in 1998 when it sought to ensconce the promotion of religious freedom into U.S. foreign policy through the International Religious Freedom Act, which established an office of religious freedom in the State Department, added an advisor on religious freedom to the National Security Council, and created the independent and nonpartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Since that time, annual reports have raised awareness and provided solid information about violations of religious freedom, helping to secure religious freedoms place in global discourse about human rights. Some nations have freed religious dissidents from prisons. And several European states and the European Union have followed the lead of the United States and taken up global religious freedom in their foreign policies.

Yet it would be difficult to argue that these policies have made any country more religiously free, and the world as a whole may well be less religiously free than it was 20 years ago. Contributing to this lack of efficacy are the lukewarm commitments of presidents, who have allowed the policy of religious freedom to languish in a corner of the State Department, and of foreign policy makers who have failed to integrate the issue into their strategic thinking.

The Trump administrations executive order aims to end this torpor, giving the cause more teeth by making religious organizations and communities partners to the government in promoting religious freedom, requiring our diplomatic missions in violator countries to develop plans of action for improving the situation on the ground, providing serious funding for programs that promote religious freedom, mandating the training in religious freedom for all civil service employees in the State Department and channeling foreign assistance toward promoting religious freedom.

The chief threat to these welcome changes would be a presidential administration that reverts to lukewarmness or even becomes hostile toward religion freedom as a priority. The executive order gives the secretary of state 180 days to develop an implementation planbut that deadline could arrive in the middle of a presidential transition.

Should there be a Biden administration, let us hope that it would live up to the candidates promise of restoring national unity by taking up a cause as American as fireworks on the Fourth of July. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed religious freedom as one of the four freedoms that defined the United States aims in the Second World War. After he died, his widow, Eleanor, secured religious freedoms place in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Let us hope that whoever wins the election in November will carry on this legacy, along with racial justice and protecting the health of our citizens, long after the tear gas over St. Johns Episcopal Church has wafted into the atmosphere.

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Ignore the optics. Trump's executive order could jump-start the cause of global religious freedom. - America Magazine

Morocco hit international headlines in 2019 with the visit of Pope Francis and loud pledges promoting interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance. But how much religious freedom does the Moroccan state really grant?

The US State Departments 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom in Morocco, a document that analyzes the constitutional rights to religious freedom and how this translates in practice, came to mixed conclusions.

The constitution

Article 3 of Moroccos 2011 constitution states: Islam is the religion of the state, which guarantees all the free exercise of beliefs. The wording of this clause is particular to Moroccos legal framework, in that the majority of Arab or Muslim states specify Islam as a foundation for legislation.

Meanwhile, the preamble to the constitution emphasizes that Moroccos unity, is forged by the convergence of its Arab-Islamist, Berber [Amazigh] and Saharan-Hassanic [Saharo-Hassanie] components, nourished and enriched by its African, Andalusian, Hebraic and Mediterranean influences.

This excerpt clearly spotlights the multi-dimensional and multi-cultural nature of the population, including, through references to Judaism, in a religious sense.

Furthermore, the constitution specifies that: The preeminence accorded to the Muslim religion in the national reference is consistent with the attachment of the Moroccan people to the values of openness, of moderation, of tolerance, and of dialogue for mutual understanding between all the cultures and the civilizations of the world.

The 2011 legislative text also specifies Moroccos adherence to internationally recognized human rights law, as well as its commitment to combatting all forms of discrimination, including religious discrimination or prejudice.

The recently-released US State Department report cites Article 25 of the Moroccan constitution, a clause that guarantees freedom of thought, expression, and opinion. The State Departments analysis interprets this clause as covering freedom of belief.

The State Department also cites King Mohammed VIs status as commander of the faithful, outlining his responsibility as a guarantor of religious freedom.

Most aspects of the constitution cited in the US State Department report, and closer inspection of all its 180 Articles, project the image of a relatively tolerant, liberal Muslim state where religious freedom is prized, despite the lack of legal recognition of faiths other than Judaism and Islam.

How does this translate into law?

The Penal Code, however, tells a slightly different story. The State Department report notes that Moroccan law prohibits any individual, including members of parliament normally immune from arrest, from criticizing Islam on public platforms, such as print or online media, or in public speeches.

Criticism of Islam can lead to imprisonment for two years and a fine of MAD 200,000 ($20,800).

The law also criminalizes proselytizing, or actively attempting to undermine the faith of a Muslim. Anyone found guilty of converting or trying to convert a Muslim to another faith risks up to three years behind bars.

The State Department report emphasized that criminalizing proselytizing is a short step from impeding freedom of speech and expression.

Citing American NGO Open Doors annual 2019 World Watch List, the report said that criminalizing shaking the faith of a Muslim put many Christians who talked to others about their faith at risk of criminal prosecution and arrest.

The NGO also noted that the article on conversion in the Penal Code not only only punish[ed] proselytization, converts to Christianity [could] be punished in other ways, such as loss of inheritance rights and custody of their children.

However, the law also criminalizes impeding or preventing one or more persons from worshipping or from attending worship services of any religion, the State Department notes.

The State Department also draws attention to family law and marriage: According to the law, a Muslim man may marry a Christian or Jewish woman; a Muslim woman may not marry a man of another religion unless he converts to Islam.

While this law is common practice in Muslim countries, the US State Department wants to encourage more flexibility in marital law, particularly in terms of recognizing marriages and legal family matters outside Islam.

Under Moroccan law, Sunni Muslims and Jews are the only religious groups recognized in the constitution as native to the country, the report explains.

The State Department urged the Moroccan government to recognize the existence of all of its religious minority communities as well as to establish a legal framework for non-Muslim or Jewish citizens to address personal legal status matters, including marriage.

So, is Morocco a religiously tolerant country or not?

In March 2019, Pope Francis II visited Morocco, sending waves of optimism about the future of interfaith dialogue and tolerance throughout Morocco and the world. Moroccos King Mohammed VI added fuel to the fire with a rousing speech about Moroccos diversity and the rich spiritual history.

The complex nature of Moroccos spiritual past, he said, is reflected by the mosques, churches, and synagogues which have coexisted in the cities of the Kingdom since time immemorial.

In his speech, King Mohammed advocated passionately for coexistence and strong interfaith dialogue and cooperation, particularly between the three Abrahamic faiths.

Then, in July of the same year, the UN adopted a resolution on interfaith dialogue and counter-terrorism that Morocco played a key part in drafting.

Moroccos state-owned media outlet, Maghreb Arab Press (MAP), wrote: The general consensus over this resolution and its backing by 90 countries from different regions of the world and with different cultural and religious sensibilities is a testimony to Moroccos credibility on the world scene as a promoter of [religious] dialogue and tolerance.

On the surface, at least, Morocco appears to be walking the walk when it comes to religious tolerance, despites concerns spotlighted by the US State Department regarding a lack of developments on the topic.

The report noted progress on the situation of Shia Muslims in Morocco: There were no reports from Shia citizens that security forces detained and questioned Shia citizens about their beliefs. In contrast to previous years, the MOE reported it granted the only two exemptions from mandatory Islamic education requested during the year.

The State Department also shone the spotlight on laws concerning Ramadan, commenting on treatment of people perceived to be flouting the month-long fast.

The report states that a number of youths faced arrest for smoking before sunset but were released after paying fines.

In some areas, progress is an ongoing process. Morocco is making tangible steps towards religious tolerance and equality, within the cultural and societal framework built by its own history and relationship with Islam.

As Moroccos former Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mounia Boucetta, said in October, Moroccans have made an irreversible choice to uphold and practice the values of tolerance, coexistence, and peace, a choice that honors the legacy of our past but most importantly it is the only choice we have to ensure a stable and prosperous future for our country.

The pledges have been made and the intent is clear; the next few years, however, will be key in building, and maintaining, the level of religious freedom and coexistence laid out by Moroccos leadership.

Read more:

Religious Freedom in Morocco: A Regional Paragon-in-the-Making - Morocco World News

DOWNTOWN Last weekend, as thousands of protesters gathered Downtown, the Chicago Freedom School sprung into action, working to feed and transport those stuck in the Loop but a surprise inspection by the city has the nonprofit worried about its future.

The Chicago Freedom School, 719 S. State St., provides training to primarily Black and Brown youth to learn the fundamentals of community organizing. School leaders knew their members were out on the front lines, confronted with pepper spray and potentially trapped Downtown as curfew approached, bridges were lifted and CTA service halted May 30.

The school offered a refuge. Two aldermen and other frontline organizers tweeted to let protesters know to head to the Freedom School if they needed free food, or just to charge their phones and drink some water.

The school was also organizing rides home for protesters stranded due to the curfew and CTA stoppage.

But just before 11 p.m. May 30, the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection demanded entry to the school, staffers said, and issued a cease and desist order for preparing and serving large quantities of food without the proper retail food establishment license after an investigative walkthrough accompanied by police officers.

Executive Director Keisha Farmer-Smith said the citation is bogus: The school had ordered pizzas from a place nearby and was giving it away.

They did come up to the space, and even though the space is very small, they walked through the space for at least 30 minutes taking pictures and looking through areas, Farmer-Smith said. My staff were never given a warrant, and when they asked if there was a warrant they were told this is an inspector, thats not a requirement.'

The cease and desist order doesnt carry a fine, but Farmer-Smith said, We have been threatened with arrest and immediate shutdown should they return and find food on the premises at any time.

The schools staff are consulting with attorneys to learn their rights and clear their name, she said.

Farmer-Smith said responding officers and city officials would only say they received a complaint about the school.

Over the course of May 30, 50-60 young protesters were in the building to grab a snack, charge their phones or wait for a ride out of the Loop, Farmer-Smith said. But she said there were never that many people in the building at one time and strict safety measures were taken to combat the spread of coronavirus.

Every effort was taken to be safe, including masks, hand sanitizer, gloves you had to get a glove if you were getting a piece of pizza, she said. You know, I dont know what else we could have done differently.

By the time the inspection began, Farmer-Smith said no youth were in the building after adult staff were able to coordinate rides home for everyone who needed one.

Luis Agostini, assistant director of communications for the Police Department, told Block Club an officer patrolling the area Saturday made the observation there was a large congregation of people at the school and initiated a premise check at 10:55 p.m.

CPD did not and does not target individual businesses when it comes to enforcement and safety of city residents, Agostini said.

Isaac Reichman, a spokesman for the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, said the cease and desist was given but no fine was associated with the order.

On Saturday, [Business Affairs] was notified by the Chicago Police Department of an establishment that was preparing and serving large quantities of food without the proper retail food establishment license, Reichman said in a statement. This license is required as a public health measure to ensure that any establishment that prepares or serves food does so in a safe manner, and [Business Affairs] conducts thousands of these types of investigations each year. As is standard protocol, the Department took appropriate action by issuing them a Cease and Desist Order for this activity.

Farmer-Smith said the citation doesnt match reality.

We do not serve food commercially. We never have, she said. The closest thing we come to cooking food is giving out fruits and vegetables.

As the hours-long protest gave way to confrontations between protesters and police, the Freedom School offered a safe respite to youth protesters and funds were raised to provide trips home via ride-share. Many on social-media, including aldermen, encouraged protesters to retreat to the building.

The group is worried because they were not given a chance to challenge the citation, their landlord was given notice and they fear another inspection.

I just want the Freedom Schools good name, Farmer-Smith said. We have worked hard to build a positive track record in our community. We stand with Black and Brown youth and we want to remain in good [standing]. We dont want any problems with our 501(c)(3) status.

Since the incident, donations have flowed in to the school to coordinate ride shares and support protesters. Farmer-Smith said shes thankful to everyone who donated.

Once we filled up with our supplies, we started sharing them with some other organizations, including Brave Space Alliance and Assatas Daughters, she said.

As they consult with attorneys to learn their legal options, the school will continue to work with youth activists.

Unless the state or municipal government tells us otherwise, the Freedom School is open and we will serve young people during the hours that are allowed by law. If its 9 [p.m.], if its 8 [p.m.], whatever the curfew is, we will be serving young people, Farmer-Smith said. Thats what we do. Weve done it since 2007.

The citys 9 p.m. curfew was lifted Sunday.

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The Chicago Freedom School Offered Food, Water And Rest To Weary Protesters Trapped Downtown And The City Cited Them For It - Block Club Chicago

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When its said that you can hear the history of freedom movements in John Coltranes 1963 Alabama, its more than metaphor: Coltrane patterned his horn lines after Martin Luther King Jr.s vocal inflections. He reworked Kings speech after the church bombing by the Ku Klux Klan, which killed four Black girls, into the song. Kings cadence is remade in Coltranes rising saxophone solo, Elvin Jones crashing cymbals and percussive shots, McCoy Tyners rolling block chords, and Jimmy Garrisons low-register groundswell. This is music thats purposeful, principled, and timeless.

And its especially relevant now.Coltranes Alabama of 1963 is an America of 2020, and powerful music:

Its far from the only entry in a necessary realm of politically engaged expression. Ive been returning to a few recordings that, beyond their musical greatness, address this countrys open wounds and long history of racism directly. There are many songs for moments like thisit is never not a moment like thiswhen you dont want to read between lines; you want to, or need to, or should hear chants grow and voices rise.

There is Dred Scott, the riveting first track on 10 Freedom Summers, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smiths 2013 recording. The summers he chose are those between 1954s Brown v. Board of Education and 1964s Civil Rights Act, and each track points to a civil rights theme or event. The music is elegiac, mournful, and mountainous, summiting the heights in sound that this country hasnt in society. Which might sound like an overly tight frame for the entire jazz canon, but this music hits multiple registers. Smith grew up less than 30 miles away from where Emmett Till was murdered, in Mississippi, in 1955, and sees the signposts. Give it a listen.

Next: Smith again, here with the phenomenally talented, historically informed, and mesmerizing Vijay Iyer. The pianista MacArthur grant winnerhas Amiri Barakas consciousness in his mind and spiritual veins, and Cecil Taylors stature and clout to his name, but Iyer is a force unto himself. Smith and Iyer are joined by bassist Reggie Workman, tabla player Nitin Mitta, and vibraphonist Patricia Brennan:

As a bonus, catch the heavier, sharper thunder of Iyer with saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, a recording Ive been spinning, and spinning, and spinning, as the days blur:

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The Pulse of Jazz Grounded in Freedom Movements Mother Jones - Mother Jones

People living alone will be permitted to visit each others households in Northern Ireland from this Saturday, June 13th, First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill said on Thursday.

Ms Foster said that adults living on their own could spend the night at another specified house by forming a small support unit or support bubble.

We want to minimise the impact of loneliness and isolation on people by enabling people to meet in a controlled and straightforward way, she said.

With the R number rate of infection now between 0.5 and 0.9, Ms Foster and Ms ONeill announced further relaxations of the Northern Ireland lockdown.

These also include the opening of all non-essential retail outlets, including shopping centres, from June 12th while groups of six to 10 people who do not live together can meet outdoors. Elite athletes also can train outdoors from Monday.

Church halls and community centres can provide day childcare from this Friday.

Ms Foster said the Northern Ireland housing market was the worst-hit in the UK and that from Monday house moves and sale of homes will be allowed.

After four consecutive days of zero deaths recorded, the Norths Department of Health on Thursday reported one more death in Northern Ireland from coronavirus, taking the death toll to 538.

The department also reported that four more people had tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 4,822. So far 62,703 people in the North have been tested for the virus.

Meanwhile, the Norths Minister for the Economy Diane Dodds spoke on Thursday of how coronavirus has been damaging for jobs in Northern Ireland.

She offered her sympathy to the 600 workers set to lose their jobs at the Bombardier aerospace plant in Belfast. These include 400 core staff and more than 200 contractors.

These redundancies follow Thompson Aero Seating in Portadown, Co Armagh, announcing it was due to cut up to 500 jobs.

Ms Dodds said there was an urgent need to devise a UK national strategy to support the aviation industry.

I fear this will not be the last day we have bad news on the economy, she told the Northern Assemblys ad-hoc Covid-19 committee.

The Minister referred to how, prior to the virus, unemployment was at a low rate in Northern Ireland. Each month of lockdown has been akin to a large recession, she said.

She added, The claimants count rose by almost 90 per cent in April and unemployment increased by over 26,000 to 56,200. Six years of labour market progress was lost in one single month.

She said it was important a debate was held on relaxing the two-metre social distancing rule to a one-metre rule as recommended by the World Health Organisation. Ms Dodds also urged people to consider taking their holidays in Northern Ireland this year when the time is right.

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More freedom for those living alone in North as restrictions lift - The Irish Times

Chiles overall economic freedom score of 76.8 made the South American nations economy the 15th-freest in the world in The Heritage Foundations 2020 Index of Economic Freedom.

Although economic freedom in Chile declined under the last socialist government from 2013 through 2017, by 2018 the center-right administration of President Sebastian Pinera had put the economy back on an upward trajectory.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, growth in gross domestic product generally had been accelerating.

>>> Whats the best way for America to reopen and return to business? The National Coronavirus Recovery Commission, a project of The Heritage Foundation, assembled Americas top thinkers to figure that out. So far, it has made more than 260 recommendations. Learn more here.

Now, with demand for commodities falling due to the global impact of the coronavirus, Yahoo Finance reports the global copper market will see a supply glut of 200,000 tons. As the worlds leading producer of copper, that drop will hit Chiles economy hard.

There is good news, however.Chiles steady and sustained implementation of policies to expand economic freedom over many decades helped it to become South Americas wealthiest nation by far, according to the World Bank.Chile also has been a leader in the pivot from socialism to market democracy in Latin America.

That means that the Pinera government has had the resources to respond to the public health crisis more quickly and effectively than Chiles neighbors have.

As Bloomberg reports, Chile has tested a higher percentage of its residents than any other Latin American nation. That, in turn, has enabled the government to design a system of rolling obligatory quarantines based on a formula combining an areas new cases per capita that will be used to issue immunity passes to reopen the economy more quickly.

Ironically, the Pinera governments push for legislative approval of additional business-friendly tax, pension, and regulatory reforms may get a second chance due to the crisis.So could legislative efforts to scale back changes enacted to the labor code under the prior government that contained dozens of new rules intended to give unions more power, according to Reuters.

The pandemic has quietedat least for nowthe social unrest and violent protests by the hard left that had stymied further liberalization in 2019.The riots and accompanying political instability had caused a serious deterioration of the rule of law that could have a negative impact on Chiles economic freedom in the future.

The rule of law in Chile has stemmed, in large part, from robust protection of property rights, a genuinely independent judiciary, and low levels of corruption.

Given its deep reserves of not just copper butmore importantlyof economic freedom, Chile will be set to emerge from the pandemic with greater capacity to recover quickly and improve living standards for its people.

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Chile's Deep Reserves of Economic Freedom Will Aid COVID-19 Recovery - Daily Signal

The group is taking its 'defund the police' message to city leaders.

WASHINGTON On the heels of the largest crowds yet flooding D.C. for the George Floyd protests, one local group is looking ahead to its next steps.

Freedom Fighters DC was formed amidst the protests and pandemic by a group of seven young people -- 90% "beautiful, amazing, talented strong black women" -- according to co-founder Jacqueline LaBayne.

After taking to the streets for two weeks, now they're demanding action from government leaders.

"We going to be out here boots on the ground every day," Zeus X, another co-founder, said Saturday. "By any means necessary, we going to get what we want."

The group plans to take their list of demands to decision makers.

Its not only the protests -- its board rooms, its city council meetings, its school board meetings," LaBayne said. "Its making sure that people are in positions to be treated equally and equitably."

Their major push now is to defund the police -- a rally cry multiple other organizations have been echoing the last few days.

To them, that means dismantling the department entirely and reinvesting that money in community policing and other programs.

In the coming weeks, they plan to share their ideas with council members and are requesting a meeting with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

"We really believe that redistributing that funding and putting it toward education, healthcare, mental health serviceswe really wont even need the police presence we have today at all," LaBayne said.

In the meantime, she said they plan to give back to the community for whom they've been standing up, with outreach initiatives like voter registration.

We want to really make sure those underserved communities have those resources available," LaBayne said.

In the near future, they're working on an event to celebrate Juneteenth, the day Americans commemorate the end of slavery, which she said will involve black-owned businesses.

The work is just starting, so get ready," she said.

Freedom Fighters DC issued a list of the following demands:

We demand that the appropriate capable officials in D.C. immediately vote to defund and demilitarize the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

We demand food and housing security for all persons in the DMV area.

We demand that no new jails are built in D.C.

We demand an immediate end to the use of Stop and Frisk, a violent policing tactic that is disproportionately targeted against Black people here in D.C.

We demand the immediate abolition of Metro Transit Police (MTP).

We demand the immediate end to the criminalization of protestors. This calls for an end to curfew here in DC

We demand investment by D.C. government into non-police, non-punitive violence prevention services and mental health care in our communities.

We demand all police presence to be out of D.C. public schools and for all D.C. universities to cut their ties with MPD.

We demand that a full and independent investigation be conducted into law enforcement actions on Swann Street NW on the night of June 1, 2020, with full public transparency.

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'The work is just starting' | Here's Freedom Fighters DC's plan for action beyond the protests - WUSA9.com

Caught in the middle of a scrum covering protests in Minneapolis on Saturday, photojournalist Ed Ou could feel his hands and face were wet. For a long time, he didnt know if it was teargas, pepper spray, or blood in the end, it turned out to be a combination of all three.

Sheltered behind a wall in a pack of journalists, Ou had not seen the attack coming. He has documented civil unrest in the Middle East, Ukraine and Iraq, where he learned a few things: never get in the polices way, find cover, stick together, always know your exit and make sure you are clearly identifiable as press. So when the curfew hit and police fired teargas into the crowd of protesters, Ou stood steady, out of the way, documenting. And then the unexpected happened.

They literally started throwing concussive grenades in our direction, in the middle of the journalists, he says. The police approached Ou directly and maced him in the face, spraying his camera, too. What ensued was a prolonged attack that involved being hit at with batons, being teargassed, dodging concussive grenades and begging for help.

The account has been corroborated by several other journalists on the ground, including the Los Angeles Times Carolyn Cole, who incurred an eye injury, and Molly Hennesy-Fiske, who was shot with rubber bullets several times in the leg. They describe the journalists as having been completely against the wall, in an alcove, at least 15ft off the road to allow the police line to pass.

Having covered conflict nationally and internationally for years, each express that while they understand the dangers of covering civil unrest, they never expected to be directly attacked by police forces in America. I have never been shot at by police even when covering protests overseas and war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq, says Hennessy-Fiske.

This is what freedom of the press in America has looked like over the past week. As of 9pm Thursday, the US Press Freedom Tracker had received 192 reports of journalists being attacked by police while covering the protests across the US.

Among them, some have sustained serious injuries. Linda Tirado, a photojournalist, was hit in the face with a tracer round, resulting in loss of sight in one eye. The Chicago Tribunes Ryan Fairclough was left with stitches after being shot through the window of his moving car while trying to retreat away from a police blockade. In Detroit, Nicole Hester was hit by pellets fired by Detroit police, leaving welts on her body. Others have been beaten up, arrested, their equipment damaged and they have been threatened for taking photos and filming on public streets.

These are not one-off incidents: this is a picture of widespread attacks on the profession. Whether it is constitutional is already under question this week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed what is thought to be the first lawsuitaccusing a US city of breaking the constitutionally mandated freedom of the press.

Ou has gone back to the incident in Minneapolis several times since Saturday, analysing what he could have done wrong, or what he might do differently next time. But he is left with one conclusion: The biggest mistake I made was trusting that the police would recognize the fact that we are there to document and remain impartial in that situation.

When the people start looting, we start shooting, Donald Trump tweeted as mass unrest unfolded in America following the death of George Floyd.

From that point on, the world knew how Americas political leadership wanted to handle the protests. Since then, the president has called protesters thugs, terrorists and hoodlums. He has deployed the national guard, berated governors for being weak while urging them to dominate protesters and suggested 10-year prison sentences for them.

I think the police see journalists as attacking their tribe they feel they are getting a lot of bad press because of what happened to Floyd

And at several points, he has made clear that the press is to be viewed as part of the problem. Trump has directly accused journalists of being complicit in the destruction taking place during the protests, suggesting they were in cahoots with looters. If you watch Fake News CNN or MSNDC [sic], you would think that killers, terrorists, arsonists would be the nicest, kindest most wonderful people in the world, he said in one tweet. And then, shortly after: It is almost like they are all working together?

For journalists working on the ground, a direct line can be traced between the presidents comments about members of the press and the violence inflicted on them.

When the president declares you an enemy of the state Well the police, their job is to protect the state, right? So if they view us as the enemy they will treat you any way they choose, says Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist Barbara Davidson. I think the police see journalists as attacking their tribe they feel they are getting a lot of bad press because of what happened to Floyd and so I think they are retaliating against us, she adds.

Davidson was attacked on Saturday evening in Los Angeles. After a confrontation with a police officer telling her to move out of the way, she did then, he came at her from behind and pushed her. She fell to the ground and whacked her head on the curb. As her neck whipped back and she tried to get up, she felt grateful: she had come to the protest wearing protective headgear and goggles.

That cop may have been a bad egg just as there are looters amongst the mostly peaceful protesters so too there will be rogue cops who use and abuse their power, she says. But when she is out working, Davidson is not worried about the looters, she is worried about police.

Now, the worst part of Davidsons day while out covering the protests is finding her car. She runs through highly policed neighborhoods with her head down, waving her press pass and shouting to identify herself.

That is something you do in war zones it is such a mindfuck. I am in the streets of Los Angeles, she says.

Davidson is not the only one arguing that covering those protests, on American soil, has thrown reporters in extremely dangerous circumstances.

When Christopher Mathias was pushed by a cop in New York while covering the protests on Saturday, he made the mistake of telling the officer to fuck off. Within seconds, cops had their legs on Mathias head; twisting his arm and putting pressure on him until he thought his arm might break.

Mathias has covered far-right rallies, the Baltimore uprisings and the first Black Lives Matter protests in Ferguson in 2014, and he calls the current protests some of the most intense he has seen. In part, he puts that down to the nature of the protests.

In Charlottesville, Virginia, he watched as armed, white far-right protesters pushed back the police with little resistance. In Georgia, he watched as militarized officers policing a neo-Nazi rally targeted anti-racist protesters, threatening them with semi-automatic rifles while white supremacists were left alone.

You have that badge around your neck, and more often than not its going to protect you rather than harm you

There are a lot of Trump supporters in police departments, says Mathias. He points out the speech made by Trump in Long Island in 2017, when a crowd of officers clapped as he encouraged them to rough people up.

We are in this fascist moment and it stands to reason that the [police] probably dont like the press and think that being law enforcement gives them the right to rough up whomever they please, says Mathias. In other words, while not all officers act this way, now is an opportune moment to hide in plain sight.

Mathias thinks the police probably dealt with him so heavy handedly because he was disrespectful to them, not because he is a journalist. For him, thats a reminder of what can happen to any person at a protest in the current climate.

Journalists have privileges that a lot of people dont. You have that badge around your neck, and more often than not its going to protect you rather than harm you. A lot of cops at least have an understanding that if they mess up a journalist it could backfire, says Mathias.

Alzo Slade, a Vice journalist who was detained for 45 minutes and fingerprinted for being out after curfew even after officers reviewed his press credentials, points out that if you are a black man, being a journalist makes no difference. When cops cornered he and his film crew and made them lie on the ground, it didnt matter that they immediately identified themselves as press.

[Of] four people in our crew, three are black men. Growing up in America, we know if we are to reach for anything besides the sky theres a signifiant chance we get beat up or shot at. That, he says, should give pause for thought. The way we were being treated is nothing In terms of what people are in the streets angry about, that pales in comparison.

The reason why we are where we are today is because visual [footage] captured what happened to Floyd

If journalists and citizens cant even attend a protest and safely record from their phones, what happens to truth? The reason why we are where we are today is because visual [footage] captured what happened to Floyd, says Davidson. The police understand the power of visuals right now, and they dont want the visuals at least not ones that show them acting abusively.

For her, the frightening part is that she thinks twice now about reporting on a sticky situation; she has to weigh whether staying out past curfew is worth a rubber bullet to the head. Nevertheless, the case for continuing their work is clear. If you have nothing to hide, you would not be afraid of journalists or people with cellphones standing and recording you, says Ou.

In this moment, being able to do their work freely is proving harder than ever.

Right now, I dont know how to act, when the very act of bearing truth and just being a witness is now interpreted as a political statement or seen as taking a side, says Ou. Thats difficult because the only side we should take is truth.

Link:

Teargassed, beaten up, arrested: what freedom of the press looks like in the US right now - The Guardian