Women and girls in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu live in constant fear of rape, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Nearly 800 attacks on women were reported in Mogadishu alone for the first six months of last year - although the real number is likely to be far higher.
Many of the victims our researchers spoke lived in Mogadishu’s camps for the displaced, having fled famine and fighting in the countryside. Many of the women came with their children, but not their husbands, and many live in shelters made from wood, cardboard and cloth.
Fighting in the Central African Republic is ongoing, where violence and the exodus of Muslims has sparked fears of ethnic cleansing. A comprehensive UN mission is urgently needed to help contain the violence.
A Russian court yesterday upheld a 3-year sentence given to an environmental activist Evgenii Vitishko researching environmental damaged caused by the preparations for the Sochi Winter Games.
A top Saudi cleric said it is forbidden for women to see a male doctor without their male “guardian.” Under this discriminatory system, certain decisions in a woman’s life are made by her male guardian, which could be her father, husband or even her son.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov has "postponed" his visit to Prague, scheduled to start on February 20. It was surprising that Czech President Milos Zeman had invited Karimov, given Tashkent's atrocious human rights record.
