Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 22 October 2014

LGBT people in Jamaica face "intolerable" levels of violence against them and cannot rely on their own police force for protection, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. LGBT Jamaicans live in a constant state of fear, the report found. Many are taunted, threatened, and thrown out of their homes and jobs, while some are beaten, raped, stoned or even killed. Spanish authorities should investigate the beating and pushback of a man by Guardia Civil officers in Melilla earlier this month. The migrant rights group Prodein captured the violence on video. "The images could not be clearer or more appalling," said Human Rights Watch. Several rights groups have documented the unlawful summary returns of migrants to Morocco from Spanish enclaves in the far north of the country, including Melilla. The trial of a 26-year-old British-Iranian national accused of peacefully protesting after being refused entry to an international volleyball match shows the "shifting goalposts" of Iran's hardliners, writes Human Rights Watch's Iran researcher, Faraz Sanei. The US Defense Department is probing an Islamic State (ISIS) video which appears to show militants in possession of US weapons intended for Syrian Kurdish fighters. Some 27 bundles containing small arms, ammunition and other weaponry were dropped earlier this week to militias who are defending the Syrian-Turkey border town of Kobane from ISIS militants. A Pentagon spokesman said "the vast majority" ended up in the right hands. Poland is one of the few countries in Europe where access to abortion remains extremely limited: it’s a crime to terminate a pregnancy except in cases of risk to the mother’s life or health, severe fetal abnormality, or rape. In Europe, only Ireland and Malta have more restrictive laws. Saudi's top Muslim cleric has said Twitter is nothing more than "a source of lies and evil". "If it were used correctly, it could be of real benefit, but unfortunately it's exploited for trivial matters," complained Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh. The Sheikh's comments promptly caused a huge Twitter storm in the Kingdom, and there are unconfirmed reports that Saudis immediately began uploading cat videos and over-sharing lunch photos. Rwanda's president Paul Kagame is in London this week to attend a global African investment summit. Many in the West see Kagame as the man who saved the nation - bringing stability and development to a country devastated by genocide. But his many admirers seem to willfully ignore the darker side of his rule. One of the proudest moments of President Barack Obama's presidency took place on his second day in office, when he signed an executive order banning torture in the interrogation of terror suspects. But, it seems, some of his subordinates didn't get the message.