Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 30 March 2016
Transferring power in Burma; sedition charge for a plastic bowl in Thailand; "ground zero" for 2 epidemics in the US; prosecutions for same-sex conduct in Tunisia; and refugees in Europe.
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In the Gaza Strip, being able to travel is akin to achieving a miracle. Many living there feel as though they are trapped. Israeli-imposed travel restrictions limit freedom of movement, thus limiting professional and personal opportunities for many young people in Gaza.
The United States is helping Saudi Arabia wage a war in Yemen that is killing civilians. Continued arms sales to the Saudis are resulting in indiscriminate aerial strikes that hit schools, hospitals, and homes. Given how little training or equipment it takes to wreak terrorist havoc in Western capitals, Obama should be very worried about the boomerang effect of such alliances.
Letter from Bahrain prison cell #19, by noted human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja: "I look past my baby at the shining prison bars. This is a new prison, new walls, new paint and new metal bars."
Tunisia's War on Drugs means jail sentences if you're caught smoking a joint. Harsh sentences for the possession of any amount of cannabis results in high rates of incarceration for minor drug offenses. Read more about the global War on Drugs and how to change tactics in a new blog.
The Obama administration should push Azerbaijan's president to release political prisoners and reverse his country's grim backslide on human rights when he visits the United States for a summit this week. Recent pardons of political prisoners in Azerbaijan are welcome news, but many still languish in jail.
From earlier today: As Burma transfers power to a new government, outgoing President Thein Sein has ordered the lifting of the state of emergency imposed on Arakan State in 2012 during communal violence between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. It should promptly be followed by the end of abusive restrictions on ethnic Rohingya and other Muslims.