Trump "Will Build The Wall"; Free Speech in Burma; Kuwait Executions: HRW Daily Brief

Plus: Lawyer from South Sudan risks unlawful return from Kenya; still no justice for bloody attack on UN convoy in Syria; why Europe should stop deporting rejected Afghan asylum seekers; help at hand for mining communities in Malawi; and 7,000 people confirmed dead in Philippines' "war on drugs".

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US President Donald Trump today signed a number of executive orders, many of which will ring alarm bells among the human rights community. Trump has ordered construction of his long-promised wall between the US and Mexico, and is also expected to sign executive orders restricting refugee access to the US and implementing "extreme vetting" of people coming from predominantly Muslim countries. In other alarming developments, he's expected to look into reinstating the country's once-secret “black site” detention program. As policies take shape, Human Rights Watch will be monitoring Trump's first 100 days in office.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that the Trump administration might next turn its attention to the US' role in the international community, with sources saying that orders have been signed to decrease funding related to the International Criminal Court and the United Nations.
Both sides in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine have detained and abused people with complete impunity. The Ukraine government and the Russia-backed separatists should stop all arbitrary and secret detentions and ill-treatment of detainees immediately.
Burma’s government should act to end the prosecution of peaceful critics in violation of their right to free speech, HRW said in new research released today.

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