US Bombs Used On Yemen Civilians; The Philippines' HIV Epidemic: HRW Daily Brief
Plus: Fleeing Syrians face death at Turkey border; US schools hostile place for LGBT students; US lawmaker receives anti-Muslim threats; African journalists give US colleagues tips on Trump; small victory for trans women in Pakistan; Sudan climate change warning; & violence against women in the UK.
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Ohio legislatures passed a bill that would ban abortion after about 6 weeks. Known as the "heartbeat ban", it would forbid abortion once the fetus' heartbeat is detectable regardless of cases of rape or incest.
Egypt’s drive to criminalize independent human rights work keeps picking up speed, police arrested a leading Egyptian women’s rights defender at her home, a serious escalation in the authorities’ ongoing crackdown.
Political satire does not go unpunished in Azerbaijan. In another mockery of justice, a Baku court sentenced 21-year-old activist Bayram Mammadov to ten years in jail for nothing more than spraying graffiti making fun of the lavish expenditures for the former president’s annual birthday celebration.
The Philippine government is fueling a rising HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men through its own policies, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. HIV rates in this group have soared tenfold in the last 5 years, largely due to lack of education, laws which prohibit condom access, and the lack of HIV testing for teenagers without parental consent.
Saudi coalition-led forces in Yemen are "bombing civilians with newly-supplied US weapons", HRW has warned. Several dozen civilians were killed in three apparently unlawful airstrikes in September and October 2016, HRW said, and the use of US-supplied weapons in two of them - including a bomb sold well into the conflict - puts the US at "risk of complicity in unlawful attacks".
War in Syria has left thousands of civilians trying to flee the country to safety. But under pressure from Europe, Turkey has sealed off its border to Syria, and those who try to cross often don't survive.
Many schools across the US remain hostile environments for LGBT students despite significant progress on LGBT rights in recent years. Measures to improve student safety and inclusion are urgently needed at all levels of government.