ACLU THIS MONTH IN CIVIL LIBERTIES: What is Redistricting and Why Should We Care?, Safe and Healthy Schools Lead With Support, Not Police, Apple's New 'Child Safety' Plan for iPhones Isn't So Safe, Crenshaw on Teaching the Truth About Race in America, Freedom of the Press is Under Attack, Federal Court Delivers Qualified Immunity Win For Religious Freedom, Things to Know About the Revival of Trump-Era "Remain in Mexico" Policy 4SEP21

 

YOUR DISTRICT, YOUR VOTE

What is Redistricting and Why Should We Care? Every voter has a vital stake in redistricting because it determines the composition of districts that elect public officials at every level of government. With 2020 Census data now in hand, states are moving fast to redraw district lines. While all these numbers and maps might seem dull, they are fundamental to our democracy. Here's a breakdown that explains what's at stake. Read more

SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS

Safe and Healthy Schools Lead With Support, Not Police Communities across the country are pushing their schools to divest funding from police and reinvest funds in student mental health and other supportive services. But federal funding plays an important role, and Congress must do its part. That's why we're calling on Congress to pass the Counseling not Criminalization in Schools Act, critical legislation that would eliminate federal funds for police in schools and instead redirect those funds to supportive services for students. Read more

PRIVACY PITFALLS

Apple's New 'Child Safety' Plan for iPhones Isn't So Safe Apple recently announced upcoming changes in how it handles photos on iPhones. These changes are a step toward significantly worse privacy for all iPhone users, and are especially troubling for activists, dissidents, whistleblowers, members of oppressed groups like LGBTQ people, people of color, those facing religious persecution, and other vulnerable people. Read more

AT LIBERTY PODCAST

Kimberlé Crenshaw on Teaching the Truth About Race in America As of August, 27 state legislatures and 165 national and local organizations have made efforts to restrict education on racism. To help us understand what's happening, pioneering CRT scholar and Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw joins us to unpack the contemporary pushback against anti-racist education and connect it to the historical repression of civil rights movements. Listen now  |  More episodes

JUSTICE FOR JOURNALISTS

Freedom of the Press is Under Attack During Trump's presidency, our country repeatedly suffered his administration's attacks on the First Amendment, including freedom of the press. Now, the Biden administration's Department of Justice is quietly taking up the Trump mantle to fight free press, free speech, and government transparency in court. Read more

CHURCH OR JAIL

Federal Court Delivers Qualified Immunity Win For Religious Freedom Pray with us or go back to jail: That's the unfathomable choice given to Mark Janny by his parole officer after his release from prison into a Christian mission. When Janny, an atheist, refused to attend services, his parole was revoked. This month, a federal appeals court rebuked the parole officer and affirmed one of our most fundamental and enduring constitutional commands: The government cannot punish you for refusing to pray. Read more

WAITING AT THE BORDER

Things to Know About the Revival of Trump-Era "Remain in Mexico" Policy After a whirlwind of court actions this month, the Biden administration will be forced to restart a Trump-era border policy that sent tens of thousands of people seeking asylum to dangerous conditions in Mexico to await their court dates. Here's what you need to know about the past, present, and future of this harmful policy. Read more

Practical Progress *Special Edition*: Post-Election Agenda 6NOV14

A refreshing, non-hysterical analysis of the 2014 mid term election results and suggestions of where the progressive community goes from here, from the Agenda Project / Practical Progress.....
PRACTICAL PROGRESS: The Agenda Project Action Fund's actually brief briefing on the Most Important News from the Progressive Movement.
TIME TO FIGHT BACK -- The Nation Editors summed up the role of Progressives in the post-election climate: "Fighting bad proposals and bad compromises isn't enough. We need new thinking and new approaches" ... Republicans secured both Houses for the first time in eight years on Tuesday in an election largely shaped by restrictive voter ID laws  and a huge influx of campaign money ... WORD ON THE STREET: Demos: "We have to rethink the whole system" ... Common Cause: "See Who Spent the Most on Election 2014" ... American Constitution Society: "The Reality of Voting Rights on Election Day" ... Brennan Center: "How Much of a Difference Did New Voting Restrictions Make in Yesterday's Close Races?" and "Voter Identification, Ideology and the Voter Fraud Meme" ... AlterNet: "When Bullies Win: How Do Weary Americans Face the Post-Election Trauma?"
... SOME GOOD NEWS: Four states and two cities voted to give themselves a raise. Business for a Fair Minimum Wage CEO Holly Sklar tells PP: "Minimum wage ballot wins sent a clear message: Americans across the political spectrum want to raise the minimum wage" ... Meanwhile, Washington state scored a win for gun safety, California struck a blow to mass incarceration, Massachusetts secured its residents paid sick days, and Alaska, Oregon, and Washington DC voted to legalize marijuana. READ: "Weed Is Legal in Capital--and 10 Other Reasons the Election Wasn't a Total Bust" over at The Nation.
... THE BOTTOM LINE: Voter turnout--especially among youth, people of color, and low-income constituents--is on the decline, which is bad news for everyone. READ: "5 Ways Life in America Would Be Better If Everyone Voted" over at Rolling Stone by Demos Research Assistant Sean McElwee.
DON'T STOP BELIEVING -- Although Republicans gained control of the Senate on Tuesday, President Obama will likely still be able to appoint judges, according to a new report by Alliance for Justice (AFJ). The last three presidents to serve two terms--and who also faced an oppositional Senate--saw about 20% of their judges confirmed. AFJ President and Top Wonk Nan Aron: "... We need to redouble the fight to confirm judicial nominees who represent the full diversity of America and who are committed to upholding the rights of everyday Americans." READ: "Why No One Should Give Up On Judicial Confirmations in a Republican-Controlled Senate."
KEEP OUR WATER CLEAN -- Aging wastewater systems spill 900 billion gallons of untreated sewage and wastewater into U.S. waterways each year, according to a new Center for American Progress (CAP) report that comes on the second anniversary of Superstorm Sandy. CAP Policy Analyst Shiva Polefka: "By stepping up to make the investments we need for reliable, climate-change-ready wastewater infrastructure, policymakers can put Americans to work, protect our waterways, and avert significantly greater long-term costs." READ: "Rising Waters, Rising Threat: How Climate Change Endangers America's Neglected Wastewater Infrastructure."
OBAMACARE AND YOU -- The Urban Institute released a new report detailing the effects of the Affordable Care Act on small businesses. READ: "Monitoring the Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Employers."
APPLE STILL DODGING TAXES -- Apple CEO Tim Cook's coming-out essay has overshadowed news that despite congressional hearings, the company continues to divert its profits into tax havens overseas, according to Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ). CTJ Senior Counsel Rebecca Wilkins: "The company has paid almost no tax on the foreign income despite having substantial sales in countries where the corporate tax rate is in the mid-20s." READ more HERE.
TANF IS TANKING -- The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) published new findings that the purchasing power of 98% of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients is below 1996 levels after adjusting for inflation ... Congress has not renewed its support for researching ways to improve the program. READ CBPP's reports detailing the decrease in benefits and the shortsightedness of denying research funds HERE and HERE.
FROM THE WONK WIRE ...
... A MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Brennan Center for Justice Program Director and Top Wonk Inimai Chettiar and Brennan Center for Justice Program Assistant Abigail Finkelman explain why criminal justice policy is not a campaign issue.
... EMPLOYMENT FOR ALL: CEPR Co-Director and Top Wonk Dean Baker and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Senior Fellow Jared Bernstein suggest that the real cause of stagnant wages and rising inequality is the absence of full employment.
... RETAKE DEMOCRACY: Fordham University Associate Law Professor and Top Wonk Zephyr Teachout envisions a future in which corporations do not own democracy.
... A STORY AS OLD AS AMERICA: Advancement Project Co-Director and Top Wonk Judith Browne-Dianis and Former Ohio Governor and CAP Action Fund President Ted Strickland connect Michael Brown to Emmett Till as part of a tragic legacy.
... AND THE WINNER IS: Brennan Center for Justice Democracy Program Director and Top Wonk Wendy Weiser and Deputy Director and Top Wonk Lawrence Norden think the real winners of the 2014 elections are the five conservative Supreme Court Justices.
Find out more at www.TopWonks.org.
... ON OUR AGENDA ...
Visit our website at www.PracticalProgress.org and our twitter @PractProgress. Like what you see? JOIN the movement by sending tips, news, and reactions to Hannah Hendler at hhendler@agendaproject.org.

Hey Apple: Pay your taxes! And that goes for GE, Verizon, Dell, Microsoft & Nike too! & Just the Facts: The Costs of a Repatriation Tax Holiday 8JUN13&23MAR11

I have always despised apple and don't own any of their products. I think steve jobs was a manipulative, self-centered, greedy person, and while he died way too early I have never been one of those people who was in awe of him and his company. The greed he established in the corporate structure lives strong, proven by apple's gall in asking the federal government for a special tax holiday that would allow them to bring profits into the U.S. without having to pay taxes on them. This is after their manipulation of the tax code so they pay next to nothing it taxes as it is. +Sen Bernie Sanders I VT has introduced legislation the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act, S 250, and True Majority is asking all of us to participate in their campaign to tell our Senators to support this bill. Click the link to participate...... 

American as Apple Pie Hey Apple: Pay Your Taxes! Make Apple, GE, Verizon and other multi-billion dollar corporations pay their fair share. Support the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act. The iPhone and iPad are as American as Apple pie. But one thing that isn't patriotic, is when American-made companies like Apple don't pay their fair share in taxes. Instead, they use a number of gimmicks to park their profits overseas — cheating the American tax payer of $17 million in unpaid taxes EVERY SINGLE DAY.1 Even worse, Apple is lobbying Congress to give them a tax holiday so they can repatriate profits they have been hoarding overseas without paying their fair share in taxes. Outrageous. Tell your Senators to support Senator Bernie Sanders' Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act. While the majority of Apple's executives, product designers, marketers, employees, research and development, and retail stores are in the United States, Apple uses a number of legal tax schemes and gimmicks to allocate 70 percent of its profits overseas.2 And Apple isn't alone. Citizens for Tax Justice have identified seventeen other Fortune 500 companies, including Dell, Microsoft and Nike, whose financial reports strongly suggest that they are paying little to no taxes on profits hid overseas.3 Meanwhile, these same companies are trying to convince Congress that a tax holiday would increase investment and job creation. An assertion that has been proven demonstrably false by numerous reports, including one by the Congressional Research Service which found that "there is no evidence that [the tax holiday in 2004] increased U.S. investment or jobs, and it cost taxpayers billions."4 Enough is enough. The Constitution says We the People, not We the Corporation. And it's about time that Congress was reminded of that fact. Tell your Senators to support Senator Bernie Sanders' Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act now. Sincerely, Ross Wallen USAction / TrueMajority 1 - "Apple Avoids Paying $17 Million in Taxes Every Day Through a Ballsy but Genius Tax Avoidance Scheme," Business Insider, May 21, 2013 2 - "How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Taxes," the New York Times, April 28, 2012 3 - "Apple is Not Alone," Center for Tax Justice, June 2, 2013 4 - "Just the Facts: The Costs of a Repatriation Tax Holiday," treasury.gov, March 23, 2011 Just the Facts: The Costs of a Repatriation Tax Holiday By: Michael Mundaca 3/23/2011 ​[O]ver the years, a parade of lobbyists has rigged the tax code to benefit particular companies and industries.  Those with accountants or lawyers to work the system can end up paying no taxes at all.  But all the rest are hit with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world.  It makes no sense, and it has to change. So tonight, I’m asking Democrats and Republicans to simplify the system.  Get rid of the loopholes.  Level the playing field.  And use the savings to lower the corporate tax rate for the first time in 25 years – without adding to our deficit.  It can be done. --President Barack Obama, 2011 State of the Union Address The President has called upon us all – Republicans and Democrats, his Administration and Congress, businesses and other stakeholders to come together to enact comprehensive tax reform that lowers our high statutory corporate tax rate and improves the tax system for the U.S. corporate community as a whole.  Comprehensive, long-term reform has the potential to benefit businesses across the United States, and make our economy more competitive. That is why a broad range of businesses have expressed a willingness to answer the President’s challenge and come together to make our principal focus an overhaul our corporate tax code.  A narrow group of businesses has suggested that instead, our primary focus should be a temporary repatriation tax holiday – an idea tried a few years ago that gave a select group of U.S. multinational corporations a temporary, substantial tax break on their overseas profits. However, letting our eye off the ball of comprehensive tax reform in favor of a temporary measure of this kind would be a mistake.  In 2004, when the U.S. enacted a repatriation tax holiday, the goal was to encourage U.S. multinationals to pay bigger cash dividends from their overseas subsidiaries and use the cash to make investments in the United States.  Unfortunately, there is no evidence that it increased U.S. investment or jobs, and it cost taxpayers billions.  Although advocates argue that a repatriation holiday could be costless or even raise tax revenue, the official Congressional scorekeeper, the Joint Committee on Taxation, estimated before enactment that the 2004 repatriation holiday would actually cost billions of dollars.  In 2009, when this idea was being pushed once again, Senator Baucus indicated during Floor debates that the cost of a new holiday had increased to $30 billion, presumably because a second holiday would encourage further erosion of the U.S. tax base through shifting of profits overseas.  Moreover, according to outside estimates, just five firms got over one-quarter of the tax benefits of the repatriation holiday, and just 15 firms got more than 50 percent of the benefits.  To pay for giving this large tax cut once again to a small group of U.S. companies without increasing the deficit, we would have to raise taxes on other U.S. businesses.  In assessing the 2004 tax holiday, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service reports that most of the largest beneficiaries of the holiday actually cut jobs in 2005-06 – despite overall economy-wide job growth in those years – and many used the repatriated funds simply to repurchase stock or pay dividends.  Today, when U.S. corporations have ready access to cash they have accumulated and are holding here in the United States, it is even harder to make the case that a repatriation holiday will unlock new investment and job creation. As part of the tax package agreed to last December, we are already allowing companies to deduct the full amount of eligible capital investments made here in the United States in 2011 and 50 percent of such investments made in 2012.  These expensing provisions benefit both large and small businesses, not just those with operations overseas. They could put more than $110 billion dollars in the hands of business over the next two years for investments guaranteed to be made here in the United States, at an overall cost over time of about $20 billion.    In addition, the December tax cut compromise included a 2 percentage point employee-side payroll tax cut as well as a 2 percentage point reduction in the self-employment tax rate, providing more than $110 billion of tax relief to more than 150 million workers and further spurring jobs and investment.  And the December compromise came on top of the significant package of business tax incentives the President signed into law in September as part of the Small Business Jobs Act.  Building on these broad tax breaks that are helping American businesses prosper, we have an opportunity now to come together around a comprehensive effort to simplify the corporate tax system, get rid of loopholes, level the playing field, and use the savings to lower the corporate tax rate without adding to the deficit.  We are in the process of trying to build consensus among lawmakers, the public, and the private sector, including a broad section of the business community to do just that. The tax treatment of overseas earnings could be considered as a part of broader corporate tax reform, but as Secretary Geithner has said, it would not be sensible to consider a repatriation holiday outside of that context.  Comprehensive reform can be done.  We should not allow ourselves to be distracted from that goal. Michael Mundaca is the Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy. http://www.treasury.gov/connect/blog/Pages/Just-the-Facts-The-Costs-of-a-Repatriation-Tax-Holiday.aspx

iPhone 5, APPLE, FOXCONN & WORKER ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION 12SEP12

IF you are one of those apple fans that doesn't give a damn about the abuse and exploitation of foxconn employees (they make the iphone and other apple products) in the prc don't ready any further. If you have a conscience read on...
Apple says it makes its products ethically. It says that even the new iPhone that will be unveiled today will meet it's commitment to the "highest standards of social responsibility".
But then how does Apple explain this report we got just last month from a worker in a factory in its Chinese supply chain? Share this image on Facebook so everyone knows the truth about the new iPhone:

Today there's going to be a lot of buzz about Apple's shiny new gadget. But if we can create a different kind of buzz -- about the terrible working conditions faced by factory workers in Apple's Chinese factories -- then Apple will feel the pressure to finally keep its pledge to treat its workers ethically and pay them fairly.
So today we need your help to get the word out about the real cost of the newly announced iPhone 5.

If you're on Facebook, click here to share to share this graphic with friends.

If you’re not on Facebook, simply forward this email to your friends and ask them to go to  http://sumofus.org/post/iphone-5/?t=6&akid=802.216835.mWsHW2

Back in January, in response to reports of repeated worker suicides, toxic working conditions and rampant illegal overtime, SumOfUs.org launched a campaign to push Apple to address reports of horrendous working conditions in its Chinese supply chain. Over 200,000 of us raised our voices to demand that Apple make the iPhone 5 ethically. That phone is being released today. In a few weeks, it will be on the shelves. But the iPhone 5 is not an ethical iPhone -- not even close.
In response to the massive public outcry, Apple promised to improve working conditions, raise wages, and put an end to involuntary labor. The Fair Labor Association -- which is paid by Apple to investigate Apple -- quickly announced that there was rapid progress at Apple’s suppliers. But independent reports from as recently as last month tell a very different story.
Apple claims that it’s ending forced illegal overtime, but workers are simply required to meet the same quotas within a regular shift -- meaning many have to work extra hours without any pay at all. “Apple claims wages are rising, but deductions for room and board have also increased, as has unpaid overtime, so take-home pay has actually declined.” Meanwhile bosses are still abusive, unions are still overwhelmingly populated by management, students are still forced to work in factories as part of phony “internship” programs, and workers still lack any collective bargaining rights.
Suppliers like Foxconn abuse their workers because Apple demands that iPhones and other gadgets be produced as cheaply as possible. But Apple makes huge profits, and it can easily afford to treat its workers ethically. And as the world’s largest company, Apple has the cash, the centralized supply chain, and organizational heft to drive improvements throughout the Chinese manufacturing sector by raising its own standards.
Together, SumOfUs.org members have already driven Apple to respond to reports on working conditions in its supply chains. Apple clearly wants to look like an ethical company, even though it isn’t acting like one yet. So we need to keep up the pressure until Apple finally follows through on its promises.

If you're on Facebook, click here to share to share the worker's quote with friends.

If you’re not on Facebook, simply forward this email to your friends and ask them to go to  http://sumofus.org/post/iphone-5/?t=10&akid=802.216835.mWsHW2

Thanks,
Kaytee, Rob, Paul and the rest of us

********************************
Further reading:
Sweatshops are good for Apple and Foxconn, but not for workers. Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, May 2012
Beyond Foxconn: Deplorable Working Conditions Characterize Apple's Entire Suplly Chain. China Labor Watch, June 2012
China Contractor Again Faces Labor Issues on iPhones. The New York Times, September 2012.
SumOfUs is a world-wide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy. You can follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.

iPhones and the Poison Apple 11AUG12

I was never a steve jobs fan. I am sorry he suffered and died from a terrible disease, and I know he died too soon. But I think the business empire he created and ran is not good, and is a reflection of the callousness, greed, materialism and lust for power that are major problems in our country and around the world today. apple and the i products are not good for the world, but they could be with a change starting right at the top. apple needs to be a responsible employer and be fully committed to ending child labor and slave labor conditions at their suppliers factories. apple needs to accept responsibility for guaranteeing their suppliers pay a fair and living wage and that workers are not abused and that they have a safe working environment. So I am asking that you join the campaign by SumOfUs and Demand Progress calling on apple to step up and address the issues of worker abuse, slave labor, child labor, inadequate wages and worker's human rights in all the Third Would countries they outsource their production to. Click the link to participate and please pass this on...(And by the by, I don't own anything made by apple because of their current corporate irresponsibility)

Please read on: We're partnering with our friends at SumOfUs.org in an effort to hold Apple -- the world's most profitable corporation -- accountable for extraordinary abuses.  If you've already signed this petition, please forward this email to your friends or click here to share on Facebook

Every day, tens of millions of people will swipe the screens of their iPhones to unlock them.

On the other side of the world, a young girl is also swiping those screens.

Six days a week, twelve-plus hours a day, she repetitively swipes tens of thousands of them. She spends those hours inhaling chemicals that are never disclosed to her. For her labor, she makes less than $17 a day[13], is forced to work unpaid overtime, and, when her supervisors want to punish her, she is humiliated and forced to clean toilets.

Sound like a horror story? According to recent reports, scenarios like this are a waking nightmare for many workers in Apple’s Chinese supply chain.[1]

Tell Apple: You’re the most profitable company in the world.[2] It’s time to treat your workers ethically.

Right now we’re partnering with corporate accountability group SumOfUs.org because we have a huge opportunity as citizen-consumers: 

Apple is under enormous, sustained pressure to reform its supply chain in the run-up to its new iPhone. 

It even hired the Fair Labor Association (FLA), to inspect its factories, and publicly vowed to reform.[3] But an independent investigation by Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior found that, for many workers things are actually getting worse.[1]

That’s right, after vowing to fix its problems, Apple is turning a blind eye as many workers now report lower wages and forced overtime, along with continued, humiliating punishments by management.

In extreme cases, people have literally been dying while making Apple products. 

Reporters have documented cases of deadly, preventable, explosions at iPad factories, and repeated instances of employees dying of exhaustion after long shifts.[4,5,6]

Tell Apple that it’s time to start treating workers like human beings, with safe, legal hours and a living wage.

Can Apple truly reform? Absolutely. Apple is the richest company in the world, posting a record-breaking gross profit margin for the last quarter of 45.7%[7]. 

It’s sitting on $110 billion in cash.[8] And while Apple makes hundreds of dollars of profit on each iPhone or iPad it sells, only $8 and $10 (respectively) goes to the workers that make it.[9,10,11] Simply put, Apple could double or even triple the amount it pays to laborers without a serious impact on its bottom line. 

But instead Apple has been paying out its shareholders, and set aside a record-shattering $378 million for its CEO Tim Cook last year. 

That’s over $1,000,000 a day, or nearly 60,000 times the salary of the people who make the products that make Tim Cook rich. [12,13]

Why are we targeting Apple specifically? This is a bigger problem than Apple, but no company is in a better position to improve things than Apple: Its record profits and eye-popping cash-on-hand have come off the backs of workers pushed to the brink -- and sometimes beyond -- by its tight deadlines and impossible demands.

In addition, Apple, as the largest customer of Foxconn, is in a unique position to improve the lives of literally hundreds of thousands of human beings. And if Apple actually did mandate changes at Foxconn, it would ripple across the sector to raise wages and improve working conditions for everyone making our electronics in China.

According to an anonymous Apple executive quoted in a major exposé in the New York Times, all Apple has to do is demand change, and it’ll happen:

“Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice.”[4] As a company that prides itself on being an industry leader in the tech world, Apple needs to take the lead in ethical treatment of its workers.

Tell Apple to improve conditions in the factories that make its products in time for the next iPhone to be made ethically.

Thanks.

-Demand Progress

[1]http://act.demandprogress.

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[2]http://act.demandprogress.

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[11]http://www.isuppli.com/

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20Releases/2011-03-12_iPad2_BOM.png

[12]http://act.demandprogress.

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Atrocities in Syria, Human Rights in China, and a Holiday in Detention from HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST 4MAI12

HRF's e mail newsletter with commentary on Chen Guangcheng and condemnation of the American govt's hypocrisy on Egypt, Bahrain and Syria (especially of continuing dealing with rosoboronexport), an update on the Apple / Foxconn in the prc and immigration. Click the links for the full articles and more information.

HRF'S E-NEWSLETTER

May 4th, 2012

EMAIL TO A FRIEND»

DONATE»

Breaking News» Letter from the President and CEO» Leading Bahrain Activist Visits the United States» A Groundbreaking Agreement with Apple's China Supplier» "Holiday on ICE?" House Committee's Sarcasm on the Wrong Track» U.S. to Fund Egyptian Military Despite Ongoing Abuses» HRF In The News» BREAKING NEWS: Chen Guangcheng's daring defiance of a brutal regime is giving courage to those in China and beyond who struggle for human rights. We commend the American diplomats who helped Mr. Chen get to the American embassy, sheltered him there, and negotiated on his behalf with Chinese authorities. It is a credit to the United States that Mr. Chen looked to American diplomats for help and protection. We now owe him our best efforts to ensure his safety. Letter from the President and CEO When mass atrocities are committed, the world community tends to focus attention on the perpetrators.  But genocide and other crimes against humanity are complex, organized crimes.  They require infrastructure, planning, and resources.  A few years ago, we developed an innovative strategy to focus on "enablers"—the countries, companies, and individuals that provide money and weapons that make mass atrocities possible. Our idea is to disrupt the supply chain for slaughter. The crisis in Syria has highlighted the importance of this approach. The Assad regime is getting weapons from Rosoboronexport, Russia's state arms dealer. Unfortunately, instead of cracking down on Rosoboronexport, the United States government is doing business with it. Thanks to our efforts, a bipartisan group of group of 17 senators led by John Cornyn (R-TX), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) is pressing the Department of Defense to cancel its contract with Rosoboronexport. We think the U.S. government should go even further. We're urging the Obama administration to level sanctions on Rosoboronexport and the other companies providing material support to Syria. The crisis in Syria is complex, and targeting enablers alone will not stop the violence. But going after companies like Rosoboronexport will increase pressure on the Assad regime and signal to the world that the United States is serious about protecting Syrian civilians. Sincerely, Elisa Massimino President and CEO Human Rights First Leading Bahrain Activist Visits the United States Dr. Nada Dhaif is an accidental activist. When democracy protests broke out in her home country of Bahrain last year, she was more of an interested observer than a revolutionary. But as part of its brutal crackdown on the democratic uprising, the Bahraini monarchy is persecuting medics—including Dr. Dhaif—who treated injured protestors. It arrested, tortured, and convicted in sham military trials a group of 20 doctors and nurses. In April, we brought Dr. Dhaif, the only one of the medics allowed to travel, to the United States to tell her story directly to policymakers in the U.S. government. Brian Dooley, who leads our work with human rights activists abroad, has reported on the human rights situation in Bahrain and, in particular, the regime's persecution of the medics. When he met Dr. Dhaif, he knew how important it would be to ensure that American officials hear directly from this articulate champion of democracy. During her visit to Washington, Dr. Dhaif urged members of Congress and the Obama administration to speak out against the monarchy's abuses and to quash a proposed $53 million U.S arms sale to Bahrain. She also appeared on WNYC's Brian Lehrer show, where she criticized the double standard in the U.S. response to the Arab Spring. "They're going really soft with the [Bahraini] government, unlike the way they're responding to Syria and Libya," she said. "Bahrain is the forgotten part in the Arab Spring."  Nada Dhaif is now back in Bahrain, where she is appealing her 15 year prison sentence. A Groundbreaking Agreement with Apple's China Supplier The Fair Labor Association (FLA), an organization Human Rights First helped to create, recently issued an important report on conditions at Foxconn, a group of Chinese factories that make products for Apple and other companies. The report and the related agreement with Foxconn could change the lives of its 1.2 million employees; implementation is the key. "Talk is cheap," said Meg Roggensack, as quoted in Time Magazine. "The steps needed to protect workers in Apple's supply chain may not be." Under the agreement, Foxconn employees will work no more than 49 hours a week, and their take pay will remain the same; that is, they'll work many fewer hours for the same amount. They'll also work in improved conditions—conditions that will be monitored by FLA's team of independent inspectors. Apple has announced that it fully supports the FLA's recommendations. But other major companies, including Hewlett, Dell, Amazon, and Microsoft—also contract with Foxconn.  They should follow Apple's lead. "Holiday on ICE?" House Committee's Sarcasm on the Wrong Track At the end of March, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing dubbed "Holiday on ICE: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's New Immigration Detention Standards" designed to put the brakes on plans by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to implement much-needed reforms to the immigration detention system. Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) aimed to depict as cushy the conditions in immigration detention centers. In other words, he sought to obscure the truth. As we explained in our testimony, asylum seekers and other non-criminal immigrants—the vast majority held in jails and jail-like facilities—often face harsh, even brutal, treatment in detention. Our 2011 report, Jails and Jumpsuits, documented the costs—in dollars and in human dignity—of this unjust system, and urged the Department of Homeland Security to switch from a penal model to one appropriate for civil detainees. In an op-ed for the D.C. newspaper The Hill, Human Rights First's Annie Sovcik took Chairman Smith to task for playing politics with this important issue. "The House Judiciary Committee should spend less time trying to sensationalize and belittle what is a difficult problem, and get down to the real business of figuring out how to implement the changes that can make immigration detention facilities safer and more humane," she wrote. U.S. to Fund Egyptian Military Despite Ongoing Abuses The Obama administration's decision to waive human rights conditions and release some $1.5 billion to Egypt is damaging both to the democratic transition there and to the United States. "This decision will undermine the United States' credibility as an advocate for human rights and democracy in the Middle East and around the world for years to come," says Neil Hicks of Human Rights First. In December, Congress made funding contingent on progress in the democratic transition, as certified by the State Department.  But the Obama administration, citing national security, decided to bypass the restrictions. Egypt's transitional military government has largely resisted democratic reform and continues to crack down on activists. The unconditional financial aid from the United States recalls the many years of American support for the brutal Mubarak regime. Instead, the Obama administration should have released a portion of the funds, in recognition of limited but genuine progress in Egypt, and pegged further funding to specific benchmarks: passage of a new constitution that protects the rights of all Egyptians, handover of power to elected civilian rulers, and reform of other repressive laws.  We are continuing to work with our colleagues in Egypt to support their efforts to advance human rights and democracy, despite this unhelpful signal from the U.S. government.  HRF in the News If US loses the faith of people like me, it loses the Mideast Nada Dhaif, Christian Science Monitor, May 1, 2012 Free the torture report Editorial, LA Times, April 27, 2012 Labor Audit on Foxconn Is Thorough, Experts Say Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, March 31, 2012 Obama unveils Syria, Iran technology sanctions AFP, April 24, 2012 Click here to unsubscribe Human Rights First, 333 Seventh Avenue, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10001-5004 www.humanrightsfirst.org Join us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter