Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 1 March 2016

A total of 162 countries are party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Before he leaves office, President Obama should ensure that the United States takes part in setting an example to end the use of these indiscriminate weapons. From earlier today: It is the latest example of the European Union's failure to respond to the flow of refugees. Police in Macedonia have fired tear gas at a crowd of migrants who used a makeshift battering ram in an attempt to break through a fence on the Greek border. Some 7,000 people remain stuck on the Greek side of the Macedonian border, and have been camping in squalid conditions for more than a week waiting in vain to be allowed to cross. While refugees face an increasing struggle to enter safe countries in Europe, Canada has just announced it's reached its own target of accepting 25,000 refugees. The brutal killing of a judge who was gunned down in China last week has sparked "horror and introspection" among the country's legal community. Every year dozens and possibly hundreds of women and girls in Afghanistan are subjected to invasive, humiliating, and sometimes painful vaginal exams in the name of “science”, Human Rights Watch says. Despite major obstacles put in their way by the authorities, Iranians have again demonstrated that they prefer moderate rule under which women's rights come to the fore. One of the biggest scandals to plague the UN in recent years has been the sexual abuse of civilians by peacekeeping troops in Central African Republic. Some of the rapes have left victims with "peacekeeper babies".