Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 14 June

The polls closed in Iran with many opposition candidates forced to remain on the sidelines... In the midst of a rough week for press freedom Ecuador approved a new law that opens the door to censorship and the prosecution of journalists... Turkey pressured Twitter to divulge user data... Six months on Laos continues an obvious cover-up of the disappearance of a prominent activist who was filmed at a police check point and not seen since... Looking ahead to the weekend, HRW marks the Day of the African Child on Sunday with a Q & A about Child Marriage and the need to protect the rights of girls... And on an inspirational note the HRW Film Festival kicks off tonight bringing courageous stories from both sides of the lens to the silver screen in what the New York Times said is "as close as anything to being the social conscience of the film industry". The US promises greater involvement in the Syrian conflict. Flawed polls get underway in Iran. Illegal militias threaten Libya. And news from the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Burma, South Sudan and Eritrea. Syria is front and center everywhere today, as the implications of the US announcement expand across the media... Elections got under way in Iran... HRW has had some doubts about the process... And HRW's Faraz Sanei will be offering comment and analysis on Twitter...