Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 20 October 2014

Security forces in Ecuador used excessive force in dispersing protesters during largely peaceful demonstrations last month, Human Rights Watch says. Based on interviews and written testimony, dozens of detainees suffered serious physical abuse, including severe beatings, kicks, and electric shocks during arrest and in detention. Ecuadorian authorities should investigate the security forces’ violent crackdown, as well as stop harassing media outlets that report on abuses. Today more than 650 representatives from Burmese civil society produced a scathing report on the country's stalled reform process. The report touches on a worsening atmosphere for freedom of expression and the exclusion of minorities and civil society from the country's transition process. It also addresses the worrying fact that the constitution ensures the military’s capacity to veto amendments. Kuwait has the power to strip people and their dependents of Kuwaiti citizenship - a law the country sometimes seems to use as a back-door way to target critics. A total of 33 people have lost their citizenship during 2014, of which three are thought to be for political reasons. This could signal a larger problem in Kuwait. Refugees from the Western Sahara conflict who have been living in camps in the Algerian desert for four decades seem to be generally able to leave the camps if they wish, but face curbs on some rights. The refugees endure harsh desert conditions, depend on international aid, have limited employment opportunity, and face restrictions on resettlement outside the camps if they choose to leave. There have been a number of recent acid attacks on women in Iran's Esfahan province. There are fears - denied by Iran's authorities - that the women are targeted because their clothes didn't conform to specific Islamic standard. Men riding motorbikes are the reported perpetrators. Finally, Human Rights Watch Advocacy Director for Africa, Anneke VanWoudnberg, spoke with UN Dispatch on how a drunken dare got her to the DemoDRC and why she hasnt wanted to leave.