End Hate Speech in Guinea: Daily Brief

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called on Guinea's government to ensure its security forces act with restraint and respect to preserve human life in responding to opposition protests. Since local elections on February 4, at least 15 people have been killed and scores injured in deadly clashes between security forces, opposition demonstrators, and government supporters. Brazilian soldiers deployed in public security operations in Rio de Janeiro operate under rules that allow unacceptably broad leeway for the use of lethal force. These rules might make sense if the armed forces were deployed to combat, but that’s not the case. Bahrain’s interior minister has threatened to crack down on dissidents and activists who criticize the government online. Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa said that the government was already tracking accounts that “departed from national norms, customs and traditions,” and threatened unspecified new legislation and heavy punishments against “violators.” At least 68 people died in a fire at a police station jail in the north of Venezuela on Wednesday. The United Nations and other groups have called on the government to carry out an impartial and independent investigation, provide reparations to victims' families, and ensure that the human rights of all prisoners are respected. Amnesty International has launched a satirical ad campaign telling the authorities of Saudi Arabia not to mistake public relations for human rights. A new study by the World Bank has found that laws and regulations preventing women from working or owning a business have a negative impact on global growth and economic equality. Malala Yousafzai, an activist for girls’education and Nobel Peace Prize winner, has returned to her birth country of Pakistan for the first time since being shot in the head by Taliban militants in 2012. Rohingya refugees speak about the things that they value most. Since late August 2017, more than 671,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Burma’s Rakhine State to escape the military’s large-scale campaign of ethnic cleansing.