Rwanda Officials Threaten Victims' Families: Daily Brief
Rwanda officials threaten victims' families; New York truck attack; gaps in FBI report on crime; impunity for journalist killings; hope for Scorpion Prison inmates; LGBT witchhunt in Egypt; twist to Peru beauty pageant; burying Derna's dead in Libya; Bangladesh blocks Rohingyas; secrecy of social media giants.
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President Trump is responding to yesterday's despicable terror attack in New York City by calling for immigration reforms, some of which could do more harm than good. He also suggested the attacker should be sent to Guantanamo Bay. Trump has long promised to keep Guantanamo's detention facilities open, so this statement is hardly shocking. But it remains a very bad idea.
Staying with the US, Congress today held a hearing on the "Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017," a bill that would ban abortion after six weeks. This bill is extreme and dangerous, and even if it never passes, it's simple existence is a worrying sign for women's reproductive rights in the US.
Two months into one of the most vicious ethnic cleansing campaigns in recent history, the United Nations Security Council is still missing in action. More than half a million of Burma's Rohingya Muslims have fled for their lives as hundreds of their villages were burned to ashes. Rather than remaining passive bystanders, the UN Security Council should step in now.
New policies by the Trump administration on targeting terrorism suspects increases the likelihood of drone strikes killing civilians. The US should be increasing civilian protections off the battlefield, not dismantling them.
South Africa has made great strides in fighting discrimination and protecting LGBT rights. So when Egypt, currently engaged in a crackdown on LGBT people, claimed to speak for Africa at a recent Summit when refusing to discuss sexual orientation-based discrimination, South African diplomats were right to reject that notion. And so should other African countries.
From earlier today: A report published by Rwanda’s National Commission for Human Rights which tries to discredit a recent HRW expose on extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the country is "full of falsehoods". Rwandan officials have also been threatenting victims' family members.