FEATURE-Native Americans get voice in how to handle cases of missing, murdered Reuters 1/25/2021
By Kristi Eaton
TULSA, Oklahoma, Jan 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - For nearly two years, Aubrey Dameron, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, has been missing. Last seen in March 2019, Dameron disappeared while leaving her mother s rural home early in the morning.
Her family has been following various leads, including draining a pond near her home, but is no closer to discovering what happened to Dameron, who was 25 when she disappeared, her aunt, Pam Smith, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Now, as two Oklahoma attorneys partner with the Cherokee Nation and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation on a new pilot project to raise awareness, resources and protocols for cases of missing and murdered indigenous people, Smith finally feels some hope.
4 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The attack on the U.S. Capitol earlier this month was traumatic for people across the country who watched the events unfold on TV and social media.
But for homeless communities in Washington D.C., it played out where they live - and raised concerns about what was to come with Wednesday’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
On the sidelines of the Jan. 6 riot, some among the city’s homeless reported being harassed and verbally abused by the mob.
“Some clients had demonstrators literally walking through their living rooms,” said Ceymone Dyce, director of homeless services at Pathways to Housing DC, a nonprofit.
15 Jan 2021 / 09:03 H.
By Athar Parvaiz
SRINAGAR, India, Jan 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - F orest dwellers in Kashmir are pinning their hopes on the implementation of a 14-year-old law to save their land and homes, as the government announces plans to evict tens of thousands of people it says are encroaching on protected land.
Last month, the forest department of the Indian-administered territory published a list of about 63,000 people it says are living and farming illegally on a total of 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of forest land.
Now the tribal communities living in the region s forests are looking for protection under India s Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006, which is coming into effect in the region more than a decade after it was enacted elsewhere in India.
3 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Increased use of surveillance technologies by landlords across the United States could worsen a looming eviction crisis amid the coronavirus pandemic, researchers and renters warned on Monday.
Speaking on a webinar, tenants and tech experts detailed the use of cameras, facial-recognition scanners and license plate readers, which they said were routinely deployed without residents’ consent or any explanation as to how their data is used.
Few laws govern the use of these systems, mandate disclosure of their deployment or offer tenants much legal recourse, said Erin McElroy, a postdoctoral researcher at New York University’s AI Now Institute.