Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 7 April 2016
US bombs used in deadly market strike in Yemen; starving under siege in Iraq; soaring refugee flow in Central America; acquittal of homosexuality charges in Tunisia; another blogger killed in Bangladesh; Chinese censorship hits back at its creator; and need for human rights in EU Global Strategy.
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After years of deliberation, marriage equality has come to Colombia. Today, the Constitutional Court voted 6-3 in favor of allowing same-sex couple to marry. The decision makes Colombia the fourth country in Latin America to say yes to marriage equality and is a significant victory for advocates of LGBT rights in the region.
A VICE documentary airing on Friday April 8 explores the battle for women's rights in Afghanistan. As the Afghan government moves forward in the country's peace process, women remain largely excluded from the discussions. Facing violence and exclusion from essential parts of society, women must play a meaningful role in moving Afghanistan forward.
In July 2009, Imammemet Ali was one of an unknown number of ethnic Uyghur men disappeared by Chinese security forces following protests in Urumqi. Now his mother is being tried in secret for discussing it.
From earlier today: Saudi Arabia-led airstrikes that killed 97 civilians in Yemen, including 25 children, used United States-supplied bombs. The two strikes hit a crowded market in the village of Mastaba, in northwestern Yemen on March 15, 2016. The United States, United Kingdom, France, and other countries should suspend all weapon sales to Saudi Arabia until it curtails its unlawful airstrikes in Yemen and credibly investigates alleged violations.
For more on the armed conflict in Yemen, see this Human Rights Watch question-and-answer document about the international legal issues it raises.
In Iraq, residents of Fallujah are starving. The people of the city are besieged by the government and trapped by the extremist group Islamic State, which captured the city in early 2014. Iraqi government forces should urgently allow aid to enter the city, and ISIS should allow civilians to leave, Human Rights Watch said today.