Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 12 February 2016
Ceasefire in Syria?; treating refugees as pawns; threats against LGBT people in Indonesia; Uganda elections; Kenya case at ICC; Egypt & murder of Giulio Regeni; zero tolerance for free speech in UAE; remembering Alison des Forges.
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World powers have agreed on a plan for a ceasefire and aid delivery to trapped civilians in Syria, which should take effect after a summit next week in Munich, Germany. The deal excludes Islamic State and al-Nusra front, against whom military action will continue.
The military offensive of the Assad regime and its allies has killed dozens of civilians in the past weeks. Tens of thousands of people in Aleppo, the biggest city in Syria, have tried to reach safety in nearby Turkey. That country is already hosting millions of refugees from war-torn neighboring countries and is threatening to send them on to the European Union.
President Joko Widodo of Indonesia should urgently condemn anti-LGBT remarks by officials before such rhetoric opens the door to more abuses. “The president has long championed pluralism and diversity. This is an opportunity to demonstrate his commitment,” says Graeme Reid, LGBT rights director at Human Rights Watch.
Next week, Uganda will hold presidential elections amid a troubling increase in implied and explicit threats against anyone who might intend to protest the outcome.
Today is an important day in the trial against Kenya's deputy president William Ruto at the International Criminal Court.
Want to know how the regime in Egypt is investigating the torture and murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, and how the United States is undermining its ability to promote human rights in Egypt?
A Jordanian journalist working in the United Arab Emirates has been held incommunicado for two months. “We don’t know why Al-Najjar is missing but we know that he was last seen in police headquarters of a country with zero tolerance for free speech,” says Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at HRW.