London Attack; Occupation Abuses in Palestine: HRW Daily Brief
Four Arab States cut ties with Qatar; Iraqi government forces suspected of extrajudicial killings in Mosul; arbitrary detentions in Iraqi Kurdistan; Muslim prayers prosecuted in Myanmar; arrested for peaceful protest in Congo; most of world's refugees hosted by developing world.
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In response to last weekend's horrid attacks in London, United States President Donald Trump is doubling down on his proposed 'travel ban,' which would bar access to the US for people traveling from six Muslim-majority countries. But responding to tragedy with intolerance does little more than fan the flames of extremism. Two iterations of Trump's travel ban have been rejected by US courts, and its future remains uncertain ahead of the US Supreme Court potentially weighing in.
From earlier today: After three attacks in as many months in the UK, security is dominating the agenda ahead of Thursday’s general election. In the aftermath of Sunday's London Bridge attack, which killed 7 people and injured dozens more, Prime Minister Theresa May said that there was “too much tolerance of extremism”, and called for international agreements to regulate the internet. Others, among them the Mayor of London, called for calm, unity and the safeguarding of democratic values.
For fifty years, Israel has occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It controls these areas through repression, institutionalized discrimination, and systematic abuses of the Palestinian population’s rights, Human Rights Watch said today. While Palestinian armed groups have carried out scores of lethal attacks on civilians, Israeli repression far exceeds any security rationale. As the occupation enters its second half-century, the focus should be on increasing the protection of the rights of the population of the occupied territory.
In the most serious diplomatic crisis in the Gulf in years, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar. The move follows a dispute over Qatar's support of the Muslim Brotherhood and accusations that Doha supports Iran-backed groups who some say are destabilizing the region. It comes two weeks after US President Donald Trump sealed major arms deals with Saudi Arabia and urged the Gulf states to build an alliance against Iran.
At least 26 bodies of bound and blindfolded men have been found in government held areas in and around the Iraqi city of Mosul since the operation to retake the city from Islamic State (also known as ISIS) began in October 2016. The discoveries raise serious concerns about extrajudicial killings by government forces. Meanwhile, new cases have emerged of Kurdish authorities detaining men and boys fleeing Mosul on suspicion of affiliation with the Islamic State.