Social Justice Watcher

IRGC Child Recruitment

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 17:59:56 -0700

International human rights organizations have blew the whistle following reports that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is actively recruiting children as young as 12 for military. The campaign, titled “Homeland Defending Combatants for Iran,” was formally initiated on March 26th, 2026, by Tehran officials. Sharp condemnations have been drawn from organizations like Human Rights Watch, which classified the recruitment of children under 15 as a war crime under established international statutes.

While IRGC officials like Rahim Nadali claim the program targets volunteers for logistical tasks—such as medical care, cooking, and damage control—the recruitment also includes security works with high risks. These tasks, being reported, involve managing security outposts and participating in intelligence and operational patrols. Official campaign advertisements depict minors and uniformed adults together in a manner tht deliberately compare children with military personnel. Officials have admitted that the minimum age was lowered to 12 specifically to accommodate the "demands" of younger teenagers. This admission highlights a systemic failure and a humanity crisis in protecting the minors, the future generation, as the state actively encourages youth to put themselves in the environment of violence and strict hierarchy.

The recruitment comes at a period of extreme danger within Iran. Over the past month, the United States and Israel have...Read More

Large protests spread across US after Alex Pretti fatally shot by federal agents

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 21:03:58 -0800

Protests erupted across major U.S. cities after Alex Pretti, a 37‑year‑old registered nurse from Minneapolis, was fatally shot by federal agents on January 24, 2026. Demonstrations took place in New York City, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Boston, and Providence, among other cities, as protesters condemned the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and broader federal immigration enforcement practices.

Federal authorities have claimed Pretti approached officers with a handgun, prompting agents to shoot in what they described as self‑defense. However, multiple bystander videos, human rights groups, and eyewitness accounts contradict the federal narrative, showing Pretti holding a phone, being pepper‑sprayed and tackled by officers, and then being shot after he appeared to be disarmed and pinned to the ground. Pretti was a lawful gun owner under Minnesota law, a fact protesters say further complicated the federal narrative. The families of Pretti and Good, as well as civil liberties groups, have accused federal officials of misleading the public about what happened.

The shooting was the second fatal incident involving federal agents in Minneapolis in January, following the death of Renee Good earlier this month. Federal authorities have since opened a civil rights investigation, led by the FBI, into Pretti’s death.

The nationwide protests followed earlier marches in Minneapolis opposing the presence of federal immigration agents in the city. Despite winter temperatures, thousands of people gathered in the streets to demand justice for Pretti and others who have died during encounters with ICE. Protesters chanted slogans calling for accountability and the abolition of ICE. Some demonstrators...Read More

US Justice Department Releases the “Epstein Files“

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 17:33:48 -0800

Last Friday, after countless campaigns from the public and politicians, the Department of Justice finally released a series of records on Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case to the public. Being a millionaire money manager known for connections with celebrities and politicians across the globe, he was first investigated in 2005 for paid underage sex in his Florida house, and was sentenced to prison in Jul. 2019 after evidence of sex trafficking in NYC and the US Virgin Islands was found. One month later, he committed suicide in his jail cell.

Many public authorities, including US President Donald Trump, sought to conceal this release. Although he has not been accused of any wrongdoing in his connection with Epstein being his ex-neighbour, Trump has explicitly argued that there is nothing to see in the files. Ultimately bowing to political pressure from fellow Republicans, Trump signed a bill on Nov. 19 to give the DOJ 30 days to release most of the Epstein Files. By Dec. 18, Congress passes the Epstein Files Transparency Act, with Trump signing it into law the next day.

The White House claims that this act shows how the Trump administration is the “most transparent in history”. However, there are doubts from the public that the files, including photos, call logs, grand jury testimony and interview transcripts, are just a thin slice of what the Department of Justice is expected to have, and even the ones published are heavily redacted. A legal expert says that there is no “teeth” behind the law to force DOJ to release all Epstein Files - only “most” of them.

The unsealed documents also provided hope for someone else - Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and long-term...Read More

2 people were killed and 9 others injured in shooting at Brown University

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 03:06:09 -0800

The last few weeks of review turned fatal when a shooter went on a rampage, killing two University students, injuring nine, and escaping

at Brown University. The suspect has since been identified as Benjamin Erickson, a 24-year-old former U.S. Army serviceman from Wisconsin. Erickson, who had sniper training and firearms instruction experience, allegedly traveled nearly 1,850 kilometers to commit the attack and fired over 40 rounds from a 9mm handgun during the incident.

The incident occurred around 4:05 p.m. EST inside the Barus and Holley Building on the university's School of Engineering campus. Students who participated in a review session for a basic economics class were present during the incident.

Identity of the victims:

Ella Cook, age 19---a sophomore at the university and the vice president of the College Republicans at Brown University

Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, age 18---a first-year student at Brown University

Nine other people suffered injuries, with several being listed in critical condition at local...Read More

Could prioritizing inclusivity harm the most vulnerable?

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 05:41:08 -0800

The New York Times article, “Should the Autism Spectrum Be Split Apart?” by Azeen Ghorayshi, discusses this dilemma within the neurodiversity community: when autism is scaled on a spectrum, the most profound patients get neglected.

The idea of having a spectrum was first proposed when the diagnostic manual first came out for clinics around the world. Doctors realized that the manual, which only had one clear criterion for autism, did not fit every patient who had a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, or speech difficulties. After decades of reclassifying types of autism with many controversies included, in 2013, psychiatrists decided to come up with a unified benchmark-- “autism spectrum disorder”.

However, the autism spectrum has a critical disadvantage. By including more less profound autism patients, the majority of research is devoted to these people and not to patients with more serious autism. It’s much more convenient to do so—people with less profound autism are more comfortable talking with researchers, doing brain scans, and other activities needed for research. Unintentionally, the spectrum is marginalizing people with profound autism. Jackie Kancir, the executive director of the National Council, says, “They have usurped this population to the point of exclusion.”

The dilemma with neurodiversity categorization and definition will be a continued effort. There might not be a one-size-fits-all solution that benefits all patients equally, but with a collective attempt, society can help those who are the most vulnerable.

What A Night in the Mental Health Facility Taught me

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 06:52:34 -0700

My own experience of being sent to a hospital began with what, in hindsight, was a relatively simple breakdown. Being a 17-year-old living alone in a foreign country, I was overwhelmed, struggling to keep up, and needed emotional support. At my school, the policy was clear: any concern, big or small, can be discussed with the counselor. At the very beginning of the school year, students are encouraged to treat counselors as the catch-all solution.

It was a September afternoon, a fine day with a crisp chill in the air and still touched by the warmth of sunlight. Yet, my spirits had plummeted to a low ebb. Emotionally overwhelmed, I decided to reach out to the school counselor for help. Upon arrival at her office, I started talking about how I was not getting along with my roommate and how I was struggling with a lot of AP courses, among other challenging yet common high school kid’s concerns. Without even trying to comfort me in any way, I was handed an evaluation form to fill out. With no instructions about why it mattered, what options existed, or what would happen next from my counselor, I filled out the form to my best guess. After submitting it, I heard nothing until I was told I would be sent to a hospital for “treatment.”

On the way to the hospital, I was told that the “treatment” and evaluation would be more thorough and targeted. Trusting school and my counselor, I left my guard down and believed that going to the hospital was necessary. However, I asked the houseparent if I could talk to my parents and explain that I was being sent to the facility. “No, we will call your parents and explain the situation to them.” I was told. Until then, things seemed to go as planned, and I was on the way to...Read More

Healthcare Should Be a Fundamental Right: Arguments Based on the Precondition of Rights and Distributive Justice

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 06:49:36 -0700

1. Introduction

Fire insurance wouldn’t work if people paid for it only when their house was on fire”, said Mark, a small-business owner whose near-death experience shifted his previously unfavorable view on the Affordable Care Act (Gawande, 2017).

Nominally, healthcare is acknowledged as a basic right worldwide, as affirmed by the World Health Organization: “The right to health and other health-related human rights are legally binding commitments enshrined in international human rights instruments. WHO’s Constitution also recognizes the right to health,” (2023). However, in reality, healthcare is far from universally accessible, with a considerable proportion of the global population having limited or no access to healthcare due to reasons such as unequal distribution of resources and economic underdevelopment.

There has long been a debate over whether healthcare should be regarded as a right or a specialized privilege. The proponents argue that healthcare is a universal right that applies to all individuals regardless of their social status or personal identity because every human life holds equal value. In contrast, opponents view healthcare as a “privilege” and place great emphasis on the idea of “deservingness,” asserting that healthcare constitutes “legitimate aspirations” rather than a universal right.

In this essay, I will argue that healthcare should be taken as a right based the grounds that health is a precondition for other inalienable rights and on the grounds of the Rawlsian theory of distributive justice....Read More

rename my body, call it a ledger

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 06:47:49 -0700

I. The Diagnosis

bleeding: wallets are lightly perfumed with aching stench first before

stringy red rivers race through veins. watch as we

learn to give it a name-- “irreparable isolation,

inaccessibility or outrage”. “swaying lines of hands and

half-uttered goodbyes.” press your face into the crying

mounds of people and my shuddering belief in something better. do you

see what I see?

II. The Plea

this world owes us the pulse that laces through his

gasping heart, the weight of crisscrossed sutures upon skin,

and hospitals that open their doors to her family. I want his

breath to keep rising in blossoms of pink clouds, not slump down

heavily into piles of taxes and despair. but they know better than us,

don't they? that no god promised healthcare as birthright for them, not

when little children’s fevers foam over white sheets and graves are

In 2021, decades after Martin Luther King Jr’s (MLK) March on Washington, Black women in the United States faced a mortality rate 2.6 times higher than that of white women. This is not just a tragic statistic; it represents a crisis of autonomy and dignity within the world’s wealthiest nation. This emphasises a profound dilemma; while medicine has advanced enough to save lives and reduce suffering, access to those benefits remains deeply unequal. King’s explanation, hence, encapsulates how health outcomes are symptomatic of much deeper inequalities: racial, socio-economic, gender, and political. Health inequality, then, is not an isolated problem but the visible tip of a much larger scheme of injustice.

King, however, was not alone in discussing the impact of inequality, which has been the subject of sustained scholarly attention. First, as John Locke outlined, freedom is a natural right, yet health inequality robs people of autonomy, limiting their ability to work, learn, and participate in society. Second, drawing on Aristotle’s idea of human flourishing, inequality strips individuals of dignity and human rights, reducing their worth to society’s margins. Hence, this essay will assess whether health inequality - or a different type of inequality - is the ‘most shocking and inhuman’ in terms of its impact on the loss of human autonomy and the loss of dignity. In doing so, this essay will build on MLK’s claim that ‘injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman’ by demonstrating that healthcare disparities most significantly...Read More

The Anatomy of Exploitation: Poverty, Commodification, and the Ethical Failure of a For-Profit Organ Trade

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 06:43:12 -0700

Markets routinely misprice goods and services when people are in highly emotional states. In such states, people either overpay, or sell too cheaply, a situation that especially happens when people are desperate. Behavioral research clearly shows how intense emotions and the presence of scarcity (whether real or imagined) narrow individuals’ cognition and skew choices. So, in “hot” states, we can easily be manipulated into taking deals we’d reject when calm (Lerner, Li, Valdesolo, & Kassam, 2015; Loewenstein, 2005; Mani, Shah, Mullainathan, & Shafir, 2013) (Lerner et al., 2015) (Loewenstein, 2005) (Mani et al., 2013).

But, fortunately, spending too much or selling for too little, while painful, won’t kill us. Unless, for some reason, one could sell organs.

A for-profit organ market would take the dynamic of emotional manipulation to its cruel extreme. Nobody in a calm, serene state just wants to go and sell their organs. The seller isRead More