Saudi Arabia Rethinks Male Guardianship; Philippines Denies Killings: HRW Daily Brief

The Philippine government of President Rodrigo Duterte has a new tactic to deflect mounting foreign criticism of its murderous “war on drugs” that has killed thousands: deny those deaths are anything out of the ordinary. South Korea has elected Moon Jae-in as its next President. The country faces a number of human rights challenges around LGBT rights, freedom of expression, and rising tensions with North Korea. President-elect Moon should place rights at the heart of his policies at home and abroad. Authorities in Indonesia have invoked a discriminatory blasphemy law to convict Jakarta's Christian governor, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama. A court today sentenced Ahok to two years in prison for violating the blasphemy law in connection with a reference he made to a Quranic verse last year. His case is a glaring example of why the law should be repealed. Staying with Indonesia, a state university has come under fire for outrageously requiring prospective students to declare that they are not lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) before applying. Over the last year, Indonesia's LGBT community has been "besieged by a government-driven campaign of bigoted and discriminatory vitriol," says HRW researcher Kyle Knight. More than 600,000 children with disabilities are out of school in South Africa. Although the country claims to have attained universal basic education, children with disabilities face discrimination in access to education on a daily basis. The bail system in the United States punishes mothers when their children get held in jail. Mothers borrow money to pay bail bond fees. Mothers cut food budgets and scrape together rent, while making payments on those fees. But what happens when mom gets held in jail? From earlier today: An order issued by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman could, if adequately enforced, end arbitrary guardian consent requirements imposed on women by government officials. The order provides a tremendous opportunity to root out the guardianship system, says Human Right Watch. However, it appears to keep in place regulations for activities that explicitly require male approval, such as for women to travel abroad, obtain a passport, or get married.