Share this page!

Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
Twitter logo
19 Mar, 4 tweets, 4 min read
Two weeks ago, President #Erdogan announced a Human Rights Action Plan

One of the people the Ministry of Justice had consulted about the Action Plan was the president of the Human Rights Association, Öztürk Türkdoğan

This morning, Türkdoğan was arrested. #Turkey #HumanRights
“The detention of Öztürk Türkdoğan is outrageous. With ink barely dry on 128-page Human Rights Action Plan announced by Pres Erdoğan two weeks ago, his arrest reveals this document isn't worth the paper it's written on" @amnesty #ÖztürkTürkdoğan #Turkey amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
"#ÖztürkTürkdoğan must be immediately & unconditionally released" @amnesty

His arrest makes a mockery of #Turkey’s hollow attempts to improve its image on human rights

The criminalisation of human rights defenders & of the Human Rights Association must end
#FreeRightsDefenders Image
Human rights defender, #ÖztürkTürkdoğan, has been released in #Turkey on judicial conditions

Many other human rights defenders, journalists & lawyers remain behind bars as the attack on human rights - & those who try and stand up for them - continues.
#FreeRightsDefenders Image

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Stefan Simanowitz

Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @StefSimanowitz

Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
21 Mar
“If you see me - shivering & dumbed with loss - stand by me, because grief needs a witness”

Tmw - on the anniversary of the UK’s late lockdown - take a moment to grieve

Put candle in your window & observe a minute’s silence at 8pm.
#CovidMemorialDay #DayOfReflection
#COVID19 Image
It is important to remember that grief isn’t all about sorrow

You can only experience grief if you have experienced love

Indeed, grief is the collateral damage of love

The more deeply you have loved, the more painfully felt the grief #CovidMemorialDay #COVID19 #DayOfReflection
"To heal we must remember"

When @JoeBiden was elected, @CovidMemoryDay contacted his staffers

The first thing #Biden did on coming to office was hold a #COVIDMemorialDay

"I’d no idea how much I need that,” one man wrote
#DayOfReflection #COVID19 #Covid
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
Read 4 tweets
Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
19 Mar
1/. 18 years ago as the bombs rained down on #Iraq as Operation Shock & Awe began, Eric Levy was in Baghdad in a power station

He'd gone to #Iraq with hundreds of human shields to try & stop an illegal war & to protect Iraqi civilians by staying in civilian infrastructure sites.
2/. Eric - now 92 - was one of about 80 human shields who stayed throughout the #IraqWar

"The war was illegal & immoral. We may have failed to stop the invasion, but by putting ourselves in harm’s way, we sent a clear message to the world"

That's courage
vice.com/en/article/kw5…
3/. In 2003, a convoy of 3 double- decker buses left London for Baghdad

On board were 50+ human shields; the first hundreds of Western
anti-war activists to travel to #Iraq

None knew what lay ahead

All of them knew that they might not be coming back. zcomm.org/zmagazine/the-… ImageImage
Read 12 tweets
Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
18 Mar
1/. The PM claims that the govt “stuck to the science like glue”

But this is not true

At crucial times they ignored the science or concocted pseudo-scientific justifications for their actions & inaction

This thread, & the embedded threads, set them out
2/. “BEHAVIOURAL FATIGUE”

A key justification for delaying lockdown was that “if we do it too early people will get bored”

The paper-thin reasoning of this claim was apparent at the time

But it was repeated by the PM, Ministers, @uksciencechief & Whitty
3/. The concept of "lockdown fatigue" had no basis in behavioural science

On 14 March, 700 behavioural scientists published an open letter stating this

So where had the idea come from?

How had it been allowed to shape govt policy at this crucial time?
Read 10 tweets
Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
16 Mar
On @BBCNewsnight, @maitlis asked @JamesCleverly if it is British govt policy to seek trade deals with countries that violate intn’l standards on human rights, as a leaked tape with @DominicRaab seen by @HuffPost reveals.

We’ll take that as a “Yes”, James!
In the recording, @DominicRaab says: “I squarely believe we ought to be trading liberally around the world. IF we restrict it to countries with ECHR-level standards of human rights, we’re not going to do many trade deals with growth markets of the future.’
So are these the “growth markets” for #GlobalBritain?

This apparent willingness to sacrifice human rights at the altar of trade fits a depressing pattern

Any trade that arises from or contributes to human rights violations can never be truly sustainable. amnesty.org.uk/press-releases…
Read 4 tweets
Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
16 Mar
1/. #AYearAgoToday SAGE formally advised lockdown

The govt claimed “the science had changed”

On 13 March, in a meeting attended by 18 govt representatives, SAGE first recommended lockdown

On 14 March, the PM & @carriesymonds hosted a baby shower

On 24 March, UK locked down👇
2/. #AYearAgoToday, @grantshapps said the #coronavirus response of other countries - i.e. lockdown - was "populist" & unscientific

Meanwhile, after the govt promoting #Herd_Immunity,
@MattHancock claimed "We have a plan...Herd Immunity isn't part of it"
3/. #AYearAgoToday, the media reported that the govt had abandoned #HerdImmunity because "the science has changed”

"Pivoted away" was the favoured phrase

But it wasn't true

The science had stayed the same

And the #HerdImmunityScandal was far from over.
Read 9 tweets
Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
13 Mar
A year ago on 13/3/20, @Telegraph ran this headline:

"Anyone questioning the govt's #COVID strategy is not only wrong, they're a danger to us all"

The heat was being turned up on those journalists trying to do their jobs

But was @maitlis’ Cummings monologue the turning point? Image
“He made those who struggled to keep to the rules feel like fools & has allowed many more to assume they can now flout them. The PM knows all this but chosen to ignore it.” @maitlis
on Cummings

The PM was also choosing to ignore ‘the science”. #COVID19
Everything that @maitlis said in this monologue Is accurate

The next day, the BBC issued an apology

"It says a lot about the political culture in the UK that the only person who has faced any consequences for Cummings' action is a journalist who pointed them out." @AdamBienkov Image
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @StefSimanowitz has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @StefSimanowitz!

Read all threads by @StefSimanowitz