French police break up pro-Palestinian demo after ban

Police in the centre of Paris used tear gas and water cannons to break up a pro-Palestinian rally, after the French government banned such demonstrations.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said those defying it should be arrested as "they are susceptible to disrupt public order.''

Despite the ban, thousands of protesters gathered in Paris, Lille, Bordeaux and other cities on Thursday.

Russia arrests ‘more than 1,700’ over pro-Navalny protests

Russian police rounded up nearly 1,800 protesters on Wednesday, according to a monitoring group, as supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny took to the streets to participate in rallies sparked by reports of his failing health in prison.

Allies of President Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken opponent, who began a hunger strike three weeks ago over his alleged mistreatment by prison authorities, fear he could soon die and have demanded he is given proper medical care.

Russia detains scores of opposition figures at Moscow meeting

Russian police detained about 150 people at a meeting of independent and opposition politicians in Moscow on Saturday, accusing them of links to an “undesirable organisation”, a monitoring group and a TV station said.

The detentions come amid a crackdown on anti-Kremlin sentiment, following the arrest and imprisonment of opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who returned to Russia in January after recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Siberia.

Russian police detain dozens at opposition forum

Russian police have detained more than 170 participants of a forum of independent members of municipal councils, an action that comes amid the authorities’ multi-pronged crackdown on dissent.

Police showed up at the gathering in Moscow on Saturday shortly after it opened, saying that all those present will be arrested for taking part in an event organised by an “undesirable” organisation. A police officer leading the raid said the detainees will be taken down to police precincts and charged with administrative violations.

More than 260 arrests in anti-Putin protests across Russia

More than 260 people have been detained across Russia as jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s supporters staged protest rallies on Vladimir Putin’s 65th birthday.

Dozens were arrested in Putin’s hometown of St Petersburg, Russia’s second biggest city. One woman had her leg broken when riot police dispersed hundreds of protesters chanting “Putin is a thief!” in the centre of the city, according to Russian media. Blood could be seen pouring down the head of another woman detained by police in footage posted to social media.

Arizona Senate allows cops to seize assets from anyone who takes part in a protest that turns violent

The Republican-controlled Arizona Senate has passed a bill that would let law enforcement officials seize the assets of people who participate in protests that turn violent — even if those people had nothing to do with any violent incidents.

The Arizona Capital Times reports that the bill, which passed on Wednesday, “expands the state’s racketeering laws, now aimed at organized crime, to also include rioting,” while also redefining “what constitutes rioting to include actions that result in damage to the property of others.”

Indiana bill would allow police to shut down protests 'by any means necessary'

A bill that would require public officials in Indiana to dispatch law enforcement swiftly to remove any protesters blocking traffic by “any means necessary” prompted uproar on Wednesday.

Opponents of the bill, introduced by a Republican state senator, rushed to the general assembly in Indianapolis on Wednesday afternoon to attend a hearing for the legislation, arguing that it could give a green light to the police to shut down protests harshly “even to the point of costing lives”.

Paul Ryan’s idiotic power play: Just maybe, his move to squelch future protests will backfire

Last summer Democrats in the House of Representatives felt so excluded from the legislative process that they staged a Civil Rights-style sit-in on the chamber’s floor to protest Speaker Paul Ryan’s refusal to allow a vote on a gun-control bill. Ryan and his Republican majority heard their complaints and, in the spirit of magnanimity and bipartisan comity for which the GOP is so well-known, have now responded with a proposal that will punish any members of the chamber who ever go to such lengths to get their voices heard again.

Punishing birdwatching songwriter ensures 'Harperman' a place in Canadian folk canon

Tony Turner, who studies bird migrations in his day job, has been a fixture of the Ottawa folk community for years, writing and composing as a member of the songwriting collective Writer's Bloc since 1994. But recently, he's vaulted to national fame for "Harperman," a ditty that really does speak for itself. Go watch, and sing along with the chorus.

He's been suspended from his birdwatching activities (what is it with our overlords'fascination with birdwatchers, anyway?) and he's now under "investigation" by the commissars over at Environment Canada where he worked. The reason? He's been accused of breaching the public service Values and Ethics Code.

Could the Toronto G20 happen again?

It was the largest collective soul-searching in recent Toronto history.

In the bruised and battered aftermath of the G20 Summit, civil liberties advocates, former judges and watchdogs of all stripes dug into what went wrong during that fateful weekend in June 2010.

The dozens of recommendations contained in the pile of reports they produced strove toward a singular goal: to prevent a similar curtailment of civil liberties from ever happening again.

Wearing a mask at a riot is now a crime

A bill that bans the wearing of masks during a riot or unlawful assembly and carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence with a conviction of the offence became law today.

Bill C-309, a private member's bill introduced by Conservative MP Blake Richards in 2011, passed third reading in the Senate on May 23 and was proclaimed law during a royal assent ceremony in the Senate this afternoon.

Ontario Teachers Back-To-Work Legislation On Its Way

TORONTO - It will be several days before 70,000 Ontario high school students can return to class after the New Democrats delayed Monday the passage of new legislation that would force striking teachers back to work.

The Liberal government tabled back-to-work legislation after an arm of the Ontario Labour Relations Board advised the province that the school year was in jeopardy for students in three boards where teachers have been on strike for up to five weeks.

Ferguson Police Committed Human Rights Abuses During Michael Brown Protests, Amnesty International Claims

Oct 24 (Reuters) - Police in Ferguson, Missouri, committed human rights abuses as they sought to quell mostly peaceful protests that erupted after an officer killed an unarmed black teenager, an international human rights organization said in a report released on Friday.

The Amnesty International report said law enforcement officers should be investigated by U.S. authorities for the abuses, which occurred during weeks of racially charged protests that erupted after white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown, 18, on Aug. 9.

Ferguson police continued crackdown on protesters after federal, state interventions

Despite federal and state attempts to intervene during the two months since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed, the Ferguson Police Department continued — and even accelerated — efforts to suppress peaceful protests using arbitrary and inconsistently applied arrest policies, according to Justice Department officials who are investigating the department and county police officials who have since taken over for the city.

A Washington Post review of city, county and state arrest records, and interviews with Justice Department officials, Ferguson and St. Louis County police chiefs, dozens of protesters and several civil rights officials reveal numerous questionable practices.

‘The Right To Protest Is Under Attack’: Why This 83-Year-Old Woman Was Kicked Out Of Federal Court

Eve Tetaz was arrested while wearing a plain white tee shirt at a U.S. District Court on Tuesday.

She had been wearing a bright orange tee-shirt with the words “Close down Guantanamo, Stop Torture” stamped across the front in big, bold letters when she first entered the courthouse. Tetaz said that a guard told her to turn the shirt inside-out and cover it with a jacket. When she asked why, he said, “I know your intent.” In an interview at the courthouse Tetaz said, “[It was] interesting, because what is my intent? Is it to blow up the courthouse? Of course not.”

'Come Down Or Starve': University Of Ulster 'Denies Protesting Students Their Human Rights'

Protesting students have accused their university of "stripping" them of basic human rights, cutting off electricity, toilet facilities and barring food supplies from being delivered.

Students at the University of Ulster are in the third week of a sit-in protest over privatising a communal space at their Coleraine campus. They told The Huffington Post UK locks had been changed and protesters were told to "come down or starve". One disabled student is dependent on others to carry her down the stairs if she wishes to leave as the lifts have been shut down and the wide exit barricaded.

Snooping Idle No More

When Native protesters were talking last year, CSIS was paying close attention

Sitting in her teepee on Ottawa’s Victoria Island in December 2012, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence was officially starting her hunger strike, breathing fire into the Idle No More movement and setting off a chain reaction that would eventually force Ottawa into talks on the nature of Canada’s relationship with First Nations. Meanwhile, five blocks away as the crow flies, the federal government’s security and emergency nervous system was ramping up its efforts to keep tabs on the movement. Just how extensive, and often ham-handed, the surveillance was is only now coming to light with the release of thousands of new documents.