African Migrants Tortured & Raped in Yemen: Daily Brief

Maria Alyokhina of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot has been sentenced to community service. Her crime? Throwing paper airplanes as part of a protest after the Russian government blocked the messaging app Telegram. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has apologized for Britain’s role in creating laws criminalizing same-sex conduct in its former colonies. Her apology is a welcome symbolic step towards justice for LGBT people affected by colonial-era “sodomy laws,” which still exist in 36 of the 53 Commonwealth countries. Now she should urge Commonwealth leaders to abandon these harmful laws once and for all. The United States Senate should vote 'no' on President Trump's nominee for Secretary of State, CIA director Mike Pompeo. His record regarding the rights of Muslims, LGBT people, and other minority groups in the US makes him unfit for the role of the country's leading diplomat. Help us call on Senators to stop his confirmation. Meanwhile, Gina Haspel has officially been nominated by President Trump to be the United States CIA director. There are many reasons she should not be considered, including a history of overseeing CIA black sites linked to torture. From earlier today: Yemeni government officials have tortured, raped, and executed African migrants in a detention center in the southern port city of Aden, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. Guards at the detention center "brutally beat men, raped women and boys, and sent hundreds out to sea in overloaded boats”, HRW researchers found. The UN Security Council met to discuss Syria again yesterday - for the sixth time in just over a week. While the world’s attention is rightly focused on identifying those responsible for the recent chemical weapons attack in Douma, the devastation in cities like Raqqa - recently freed from ISIS control - are being overlooked.