Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Expand Growing opposition to fully autonomous weapons from various quarters shows how the public conscience supports banning weapons systems that lack meaningful human control. © 2018 Russell Christian/Human Rights Watch (Geneva) – Basic humanity and the public conscience support a ban on fully autonomous weapons, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Countries participating in an upcoming international meeting on such “killer robots” should agree to negotiate a prohibition on the weapons systems’ development, production, and use. August 21, 2018 Report Heed the Call…
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Summary In cases not covered by this Protocol or by other international agreements, civilians and combatants remain under the protection and authority of the principles of international law derived from established custom, from the principles of humanity and from the dictates of public conscience. — Martens Clause, as stated in Additional Protocol I of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions Fully autonomous weapons are one of the most alarming military technologies under development today. As such there is an urgent need for states, experts, and the general public to examine these weapons closely under…
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Syrian refugees and aid groups, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, are concerned about a plan proposed by Russia to repatriate Syrians from Lebanon and Jordan to Syria, calling the move premature and risky, as the country is still not prepared and safe enough for the return of refugees. “Returnees receive counseling by UNHCR prior to their departure. UNHCR so far does not facilitate returns because we believe that conditions are not yet ready. But we provide...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
A lawyer for an Iranian journalist sentenced in Iran to 10 years in prison for allegedly insulting a historic religious figure says the ruling will be appealed because it was not handled by the appropriate court. In a Monday phone interview with VOA Persian from Tehran, lawyer Hossein Ahmadinejad said Iran’s media court should have handled the case against journalist Amir Hossein Miresmaili, but did not do so. Suggesting the media court may have treated the journalist more leniently, he...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Iran says it has arrested more suspects in a crackdown against profiteering from an economic crisis triggered by the recent re-imposition of U.S. sanctions against the country. Iranian state news agency ISNA said Iran’s judiciary spokesman told reporters on Monday that authorities have arrested 100 people in recent cases of fraud involving currency, gold, imported vehicles and imported mobile phones. ISNA quoted Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei as saying 32 of those arrested have been...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Expand Rohingya refugees gather behind a barbed-wire fence in the “no-man’s land” border zone between Myanmar and Bangladesh, April 25, 2018. © 2018 Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images (Bangkok) – Myanmar authorities have tortured and imprisoned Rohingya refugees who returned to Rakhine State from Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said today. The mistreatment reinforces the need for international protection, including United Nations monitors on the ground, before Rohingya will be able to return safely to Myanmar. “The torture of Rohingya returnees puts the lie to Myanmar government promises that refugees…
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Expand Cambodia's opposition leader and President of the National Rescue Party (CNRP) Kem Sokha talks during an interview with Reuters in Prey Veng province, Cambodia May 28, 2017. © 2017 Samrang Pring/Reuters (Bangkok) – Cambodian authorities should drop all charges and immediately release the opposition leader Kem Sokha, Human Rights Watch said today. On August 22, 2018, Cambodia’s Supreme Court will consider the latest bail request from Sokha, head of the since-dissolved main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). He has been held on fabricated charges for 11 months…
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Monday, August 20, 2018
There has been a huge public outcry since reports surfaced that the Tokyo Medical University has been systematically altering the entrance exam scores of women applicants. The practice, which dates back as early as 2006, was intended to disqualify women and boost the number of male students admitted. University officials involved in the policy admitted to a third-party investigation committee that they instituted this discriminatory practice to suppress the number of qualifying female applicants, based on the argument that without it the institution’s affiliated hospitals would be unsustainable…
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Monday, August 20, 2018
A prominent leader of Cambodia's land rights movement and three female activists imprisoned with her were freed Monday under a royal pardon. The pardon from King Norodom Sihamoni at the request of Prime Minister Hun Sen came less than a week after the second anniversary of Tep Vanny's imprisonment on a charge of aggravated intentional violence in connection with a March 2013 protest outside Hun Sen's residence. Tep Vanny led protests against evictions from the...
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