Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 6 August

Dispatches: Uganda's tightening vice of oppression took another turn for the worse today. Its parliament passed a bill designed to further limit public critiques of the government. Under the new law, supported by President Museveni, protesting peacefully could be deemed criminal if more than three people participate. In Turkey, a court verdict in which 275 people were sentenced for involvement in 2004 coup attempts demonstrated several missed opportunities.  The trial was a milestone in civilian control over the military, but failed to investigate allegations that a core group of defendants were involved in torture, killings and thousands of enforced disappearances.  From this morning: In Egypt, the Interior Ministry is threatening to forcibly break up two Cairo sit-ins organized by supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsy. HRW's Heba Morayef visited one of the protest sites...
Diplomatic efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to the country's political crisis -- and avoid more deadly clashes and killings like those seen on July 5, July 8 and July 27 -- continue with the arrival of US senators and others to try and help broker a deal. 
In Burma, August marks the 25th anniversary of the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. This year, the government has allowed commemorative demonstrations to take place in Rangoon, but there has never been an independent investigation and fair prosecutions of officials and commanders responsible for the mass killings of demonstrators. In Cambodia, the opposition has vowed mass protests over the disputed national election. HRW earlier reported that the ruling party had orchestrated vote fraud in the July 28 poll.
And the International Criminal Court (ICC) is looking into the attacks of Boko Haram in Nigeria. HRW has said that the militant group's widespread and systematic murder and persecution likely amount to crimes against humanity. Read yesterday's Daily Brief, covering Syria, Iran, Egypt, Thailand, the US, Sierra Leone, the ICC and more...