Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 22 April 2016
No justice in Uganda; historic climate deal signing on #EarthDay; free Azimjon Askarov; Four Freedoms Award for HRW; World Cup 2022 Qatar built on abuse?
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Uganda has utterly failed to hold security forces accountable for nine killings during protests in April 2011. Families of those killed have tried – unsuccessfully – to push for justice and seek compensation. Human Rights Watch released a video today featuring interviews with families of victims.
Today is Earth Day, which coincides with the signing ceremony at the United Nations for the historic climate deal that was brokered in Paris last year. Good news, but it is just the beginning.
Kyrgyzstan shouldn’t wait another day to release Azimjon Askarov, who has been languishing in prison for six years. The human rights defender is serving a life sentence, was arbitrarily detained, held in inhumane conditions, tortured, and otherwise mistreated without redress and was not given a fair trial. The UN has joined HRW in calling for his immediate release.
Human Rights Watch is honored to be one of the recipients of the Roosevelt Four Freedoms Awards 2016, for Freedom from Fear. The other laureates are Mazen Darwish, Angela Merkel, Dennis Mukwege and three clergymen from the Central African Republic.
One of the Four Freedoms laureates, Angela Merkel, will travel to Turkey on Saturday, to discuss the heavily criticized month-old refugee deal between the EU and Ankara. The first deportations of people from Greece to Turkey were riddled with abuse. And an urgent appeal to the new FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, who is visiting Qatar. Infantino should act now to prevent a World Cup 2022 built on abuse and to tackle other rights failings in the “House of Football”.
One of the Four Freedoms laureates, Angela Merkel, will travel to Turkey on Saturday, to discuss the heavily criticized month-old refugee deal between the EU and Ankara. The first deportations of people from Greece to Turkey were riddled with abuse. And an urgent appeal to the new FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, who is visiting Qatar. Infantino should act now to prevent a World Cup 2022 built on abuse and to tackle other rights failings in the “House of Football”.