Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 12 March 2015

An appeals court ruled today that former El Salvadorian defense minister General Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova can be deported from the US to El Salvador to face charges of participating in or allowing torture and murder by his troops during El Salvador's civil war in the 1980s, including the murder of 4 churchwomen. The roof on a cement factory in Bangladesh collapsed, killing at least six people and trapping dozens more. This is not the first time Bangladesh factory workers have suffered from poor government oversight of the facilities. Student protests in Burma were violently put down this week by the police, causing many to decry their beating and arresting of protesters. But the police are not the only ones facing scrutiny over their tactics - the European Union is coming under fire for having trained them in crowd control techniques. As Syria enters its fourth year of war, most agree that the situation for the civilians left in the country has reached a horrifying low. Over 80% of the country is dark from lack of electricity, and aid groups have called the UN response to the crisis a failure. In Afghanistan, the Women's National Cycling Team is pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable for women to do in the country, competing openly in international competitions but facing harassment at home. The impunity of Afghanistan's security forces are stalling its counterinsurgency efforts. The warlords and militias put in place to fight the Taliban should now face justice for their crimes.