"There Is No Justice For Syria": HRW Daily Brief

Former war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte is quitting a United Nations commission that investigates well-documented war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria because it "does absolutely nothing". "I have no power as long as the Security Council does nothing," Del Ponte said. "We are powerless, there is no justice for Syria." The regime in Saudi Arabia is planning to build a beach resort where women will be allowed to wear bikinis instead of having to fully cover their bodies. People in Kenya are taking no chances ahead of high-stakes Presidential and local elections on Tuesday. With opioid overdose deaths hitting record highs throughout the United States, many are looking for new solutions to addiction and overdose. One proposal, the expanded use of so-called 'drug courts', is a very bad idea. Until the government in Indonesia abolishes the abusive blasphemy law and ensures that the police protect the rights of Indonesians rather than pander to the prejudices of those who deny those rights, blasphemy prosecutions and intolerant acts of harassment and intimidation by militant Islamists will continue, writes Andreas Harsono, HRW's Indonesia-researcher. Check out this critical comment on the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), by Dewa Mavhinga, HRW's Southern Africa director. And the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should do more to promote better government regulations and transparency to fight corruption. It could start with improving its reporting.