Will Google Do China's Dirty Work? Daily Brief

Google should cancel plan to launch censored version of search engine in China; great news from California on rights of intersex people; warrantless surveillance harms Americans; 200+ Dervishes convicted in Iran; families beg for answers on International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances; we have 2 months to save Israa al-Ghomgham's life in Saudi Arabia; and what would you do if you learned that your friend was starving someone locked up in his cellar?

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Google should not offer censored search services in China and should protect employee whistleblowers who raise ethical concerns, say Human Rights Watch and other organizations and advocates in an open letter to the company.

China has an awful human rights record with crackdowns against any dissent, real or perceived, for instance in Xinjiang and Tibet. The regime in Beijing is also hostile to independent reporting.

There's great news from California, where legislators have passed a resolution that supports the autonomy of intersex people and their right to decide about cosmetic surgical alteration.

The myths, knowledge gaps, and abuses of power that let the United States government get away with massive warrantless surveillance were on display this week in federal court – and showed why courts should find this monitoring violates rights. Read this dispatch by HRW's Sarah St.Vincent.

Revolutionary courts in Iran have sentenced at least 208 members of the religious Dervish minority to prison terms and other punishments in trials that violate their basic rights, says HRW. The authorities detained more than 300 community members in the notorious Fashafuyeh and Qarchack prisons after protests in February, that included violent clashes between protesters and security forces in Tehran.

Tomorrow, on August 30, families and activists around the world will commemorate the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, and call upon governments to resolve these cases, provide answers and accountability.

Despite widespread rumors, the Saudi Shia activist Israa al-Ghomgham has neither been executed nor sentenced to death. After more than three years in pretrial detention, she is now on trial alongside her husband and four other activists on protest-related charges at Saudi Arabia’s notorious terrorism court. But if the Public Prosecution—an entity that reports directly to the king—has its way, al-Ghomgham, 29, may become one of the first women sentenced to death for her peaceful activism.

And finally, a thought experiment: what would you do if you found out a friend had locked someone in his cellar and was starving that person? Read on...