Cameroon, Killings and Destruction: Daily Brief
Killings and destruction in Cameroon; Brazilian rural areas being poisoned; Hungary violates EU law on migration; will African governments implement the UN arms embargo on South Sudan?; Oregon should keep its “sanctuary” law; Macron to meet Azerbaijani President; and the ongoing trauma of family separation under Trump.
Since late 2016, Cameroon has been slipping into a protracted human rights crisis as the country’s francophone-dominated government squares off against increasingly strident Anglophone separatist activists. Our new report documents that both government forces and armed separatists have abused civilians in the western part of the country, displacing over 180,000 people since December 2017.
Rural residents are being poisoned in Brazil from pesticides sprayed near their homes, schools, and workplaces. A new HRW report documents how rural communities fear reprisals from wealthy and politically powerful farmers if they denounce such poisonings or advocate more protective laws and regulations.
Yesterday, the European Commission referred Hungary to the European Court of Justice for not complying with EU laws on migration. They also sent Orban's government a formal notice concerning the new "Stop Soros" law, which criminalises all activities in support of asylum seekers. However, Hungary seems determined to silence any critics left standing and today will pass new laws that further limit protests and impose biased taxes on NGOs...
The United Nations arms embargo on South Sudan imposed by the security council last week is a positive, if long overdue step, after 4.5 years of military and rebels committing atrocities against civilians in the country. It is now up to regional neighbors like Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda to ensure its implementation and protect South Sudan’s civilians.
Fear of the police among immigrant communities in the U.S. has led numerous states and localities to enact “sanctuary” policies. Oregon was one of its pioneers, enacting a law 30 years ago that prohibits the use of resources to enforce federal immigration law if the person’s only crime is being in the U.S. illegally. Now, an initiative to repeal this law is putting the safety of these people at risk.
President Macron will receive today Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, responsible for a severe rights crackdown at home. President Macron should stand up for France's values and call his Azerbaijani counterpart to release unjustly jailed journalists and activists.
Most of the families forcibly separated before Trump’s executive order haven’t been reunited, despite an approaching court-ordered deadline to do so. Michael Garcia Bochenek, HRW's Children’s Rights Division Senior Counsel, spoke to some parents who still don’t know where their children are...