Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 17 April 2015

Uzbekistan has transferred an imprisoned human rights defender to a "punishment cell," a move Uzbek authorities often make before arbitrarily extending political prisoners' sentences. Azam Farmonov, who advocated for farmers' rights, has already been behind bars since 2006. In Thailand, two journalists are facing criminal defamation charges for reporting on the trafficking of Rohingya "boat people" fleeing neighboring Burma. Their story cited a Reuters report alleging that some Thai naval officials worked together with the smugglers. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has a pressing task this week: to clarify what governments must do to guarantee the right to inclusive education. Children and young adults with disabilities in many countries must overcome multiple barriers to access education. There is good news from Malawi - a new law sets the legal marriage age to 18, an important step as Malawi has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. Because the new law can't override Malawi’s constitution, it is important that the constitution be amended to raise the minimum age to 18 as well. If you've missed the top trending human rights issues of the week, catch up with Human Rights Watch's most-read Dispatches and top Tweets. From earlier today: The UN Security Council has watched dramatic video evidence of a chemical attack in Syria. While participants seemed moved by the footage, Russia is reluctant to lay blame on the Syrian government, though guilt seems reasonably clear in many such attacks there. The international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has slammed Kenyan officials' threat to close the Dadaab refugee camp, home to hundreds of thousands on Somali refugees.