Monday, October 19, 2020
Click to expand Image Screenshot from a video showing Ruhama Fernández. © YouTube/Ruhama Fernández Cuba’s government has a well-documented history of harassing dissidents, journalists, and opposition party members. Now it has a new target: social media influencers. On October 14, police arrived at the homes of four Cuban YouTubers about to participate in an online forum discussing Cuban politics. Two—Jancel Moreno and Maykel Castillo—were detained, Iliana Hernández and others had their internet cut. One, 21-year-old Ruhama Fernández, had to hide to participate in the discussion by phone.…
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Monday, October 19, 2020
Click to expand Image Demonstrators stopped by gendarmes and police in Bafang, West Cameroon, on September 22, 2020. © 2020 Private (Nairobi) – Cameroonian security forces fired tear gas and water cannons and arrested hundreds of people, mainly opposition party members and supporters, to disperse peaceful protests across the country on September 22, 2020. Many peaceful protesters were beaten and mistreated while being arrested and in detention. Cameroon’s authorities should immediately release all those held for their political views or for exercising their right to peacefully assemble.…
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Monday, October 19, 2020
Click to expand Image (Beirut, October 19, 2020) – Mauritania’s government should drop charges of blasphemy and insulting Islam against eight political activists and release the five held in pretrial detention since February 26, 2020, Human Rights Watch said today. The Nouakchott West Criminal Court is due to hear the case on October 20. The prosecution accused the eight defendants of “mocking God, his messenger and the Holy Book,” and “creating, recording and publishing messages using an information system that affects the values of Islam,” according to the charge sheet, which Human Rights…
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Monday, October 19, 2020
NewsOn the eve of a journalist’s trial for criticizing use of article 299 of Turkey’s criminal code, under which insulting the president is punishable by imprisonment, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its call for the article’s repeal.In a trial due to begin tomorrow before an Istanbul criminal court, BirGün newspaper columnist Erk Acarer is facing a possible sentence of four years an
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Amnesty International - Monday, October 19, 2020
Five years after woman human rights defender Josina Machel lost one of her eyes in a brutal gender-based assault, she is yet to see justice as her case continues to drag in Mozambican courts, Amnesty International said today.
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Monday, October 19, 2020
Click to expand Image Illustration of a North Korean pre-trial detention and investigation facility (kuryujang) based on former detainees’ testimonies told to Human Rights Watch and the illustrator's personal experience in detention. © 2020 Choi Seong Guk for Human Rights Watch (Seoul) – The North Korean pretrial detention and investigation system is arbitrary and lacks any semblance of due process, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Former detainees described systematic torture, dangerous and unhygienic conditions, and unpaid forced labor. The 88-page report, “‘Worth…
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Sunday, October 18, 2020
Click to expand Image Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks during a press conference at the prime minister's official residence Wednesday, September 16, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. © Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP (Tokyo) – Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, should press the governments of Vietnam and Indonesia to improve their deteriorating human rights records during his visit to the two countries, Human Rights Watch said today. Suga will visit Vietnam and Indonesia on his first foreign trip as prime minister, scheduled for October 18-21, 2020. Human Rights Watch, in an…
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Saturday, October 17, 2020
Click to expand Image Pro-democracy demonstrators face water cannons during a protest in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, October 16, 2020. © 2020 AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe (Bangkok) – Thai police unnecessarily used water cannon against peaceful pro-democracy protesters in Bangkok on October 16, 2020, in violation of international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities acted under state of emergency powers declared the previous day, which allows the security forces to commit abuses with impunity. At about 6:30 p.m., police forcibly dispersed a demonstration…
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Amnesty International - Friday, October 16, 2020
The failure of states to agree on a waiver of certain key international trade rules risks hampering global efforts to tackle COVID-19, Amnesty International said today.
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Friday, October 16, 2020
NewsRSF and 10 other international organisations express their concerns on the deterioration of judiciary independence and self regulatory bodies in Turkey. The delegation shares its findings after holding an international mission led by IPI, in Istanbul and Ankara, on 6-9 October 2020.Turkey’s press freedom crisis is worsening amid growing state capture of media, the lack of independence of regulatory institutions, and a new social media law designed to clam
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