Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 16 July 2014

Alabama, with the eighth highest violent crime rate in the United States, has a prison system at 192 percent capacity, that is the most overcrowded in the country. Prison reform in Alabama and other overburdened states will falter unless it also addresses how long each prisoner remains in the system. That means tackling over-incarceration: excessively severe sentences and harsh sentencing enhancements.  In Afghanistan,  27-year-old local radio host Kaled Aghah Yaghubi was gunned down in front of his children in his home at 1 a.m. in the morning. His murder comes amid a continuing wave of violence against journalists.
As Burundi looks ahead to elections in 2015, it is crucial for the government to end its crackdown on political opponents and critics and make every effort to prevent tension from spiraling further. Governments and donors engaged in Burundi should raise their voices and demand an end to the repression.
Five journalists have been sentenced 10 years in prison in Burma for "disclosing state secrets". The reporters were arrested following their role in an investigative report on an alleged chemical weapons factory.