Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 13 March 2015

There have been serious delays in the delivery of humanitarian aid, particularly medicines and medical equipment, to civilians in rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, according to a new report. In the wake of violent police crackdowns on protesting students in Burma this week, much local anger over the beatings and arrests of protesters has been directed not just at the Myanmar Police Force, but at the European Union, which began training Burma’s police in crowd-control tactics in 2013. The Swedish prosecutor's office has offered to question Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in London, apparently marking a change of strategy in the long-running case involving allegations of sexual assault. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in the British capital for nearly 1000 days, fearing that answering questions in Sweden would lead to extradition to the US, where he's sought in connection to the release of a massive trove of secret diplomatic documents. Staying with Sweden... The diplomatic dust-up between Sweden and Saudi Arabia has exposed Riyadh’s thin-skinned response to anyone calling them out over their atrocious human rights record. Good to see Sweden’s resolve not to roll over, as so many other countries have done. The Afghan government and its allies need to take decisive steps against those in the security forces who kill, rape and kidnap without consequence if it wants to tackle insecurity, says Human Rights Watch. The South African cabinet has approved a progressive and far-reaching strategy designed to lower its exceptionally high rates of teen pregnancy and provide access to comprehensive reproductive health care to adolescents. This positive development is, however, undermined by bizarre comments made by President Jacob Zuma that teen mothers should be separated from their children and sent away to a “faraway” place until they complete their education. In the US, the Justice Department report on Ferguson has triggered a new wave of public shock and revulsion, and prompted a raft of resignations by local officials. But Ferguson is not unique – not in the racism and abuse its police and courts have become synonymous with, nor in the crushing financial burdens imposed on some of its poorest residents. As Syria enters its fourth year of war, 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. A new UN campaign is asking #WhatDoesItTake to get an international response to halt the bloodshed and abuses.