Turkey crackdown; Refugee children in Greece; Syrian kids out of school in Lebanon: HRW Daily Brief

250,000 Syrian children in Lebanon out of school; Turkey's president mulls death penalty in post-coup purge; brazen brutality of Uganda's police; ridiculous reality for Saudi women; police in Kenya charged with triple-murder; HIV infections on the rise again; & Nigeria frees Boko Haram 'suspects'.

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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he's ready to bring back the death penalty "if the people demand it", following the recent coup attempt in Turkey. It comes as Amnesty International warned that "human rights are in peril" in the country and Human Rights Watch said the speed and scale of arrests in Turkey suggests "a purge" is underway. And that "purge" has now worryingly spread to the country's education system.
Unaccompanied refugee and asylum-seeking children are being regularly detained by Greek authorities and placed in small, crowded and unsanitary cells until space opens at one of the country's shelters. Most of these children came to Greece fleeing violence and seeking protection, and are instead subjected to physical and psychological stress. If Greece intends to protect these children by holding them, it should do so safely.
Refugees numbers from fighting in South Sudan could soon hit one million, warns the United Nations. Armed forces should allow those fleeing safe passage, and the government and regional actors should begin holding those responsible for atrocities to account.
From earlier today: More than half of all school-age Syrian refugee children in Lebanon are not enrolled in formal education, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. The fact that some 250,000 children are out of school is an "immediate crisis requiring bold reforms", the group says.
Uganda’s efforts to contain opposition leader and former presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye have reached cartoon-like absurdity, which would be comical if it wasn't accompanied by brazen brutality.

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