Nobel Recognizes Fighters against Sexual Violence: Daily Brief
Nobel Peace Prize recognizes fighters against sexual violence; HRW opposes Kavanaugh's nomination; unfair processes for migrant kids in Paris; missing Saudi journalist; India deports ethnic Rohingya; Pakistan expels 18 NGOs; Oleg Sentsov reportedly ends his hunger strike; and Tokyo passes a law against LGBT discrimination.
The Nobel Peace Prize 2018 has this morning been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad in recognition of their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Dr. Mukwege has been working for years with victims of sexual violence in DR Congo. Nadia Murad, a Yazidi rights activist, was herself one of the Yazidi women who were victims of rape and abuses by ISIS.
HRW stands against the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. As an organization dedicated to protecting human rights, we cannot remain silent in the face of the extraordinary factors present in the case of Judge Kavanaugh’s possible appointment to this lifelong position.
Migrant children who arrive in Paris alone are living in the streets because of unfair procedures. The child protection authorities are employing arbitrary procedures to determine kids' eligibility for services, in violation of international standards and French regulations. As a result, migrant adolescents are deprived of access to essential services they are entitled to, including housing, education, and health services.
“To sleep, you look for a corner, you lay down a piece of cardboard. If you find an older gentleman, he might give you a blanket. Because at night it can be very cold”. Michael Garcia Bochenek, HRW senior counsel to the Children’s Rights Division, spoke to some of the affected kids in Paris.
Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist, has not been seen or heard from since he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. If Saudi Arabia has detained Khashoggi without acknowledging it, his detention would constitute an enforced disappearance...
The Indian government has deported seven ethnic Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar, where they are at grave risk of abuse. The Indian government should fairly evaluate Rohingya's asylum claims instead of deporting them.
Pakistan has forced 18 international aid agencies to leave the country. The Interior Minister has ordered the NGOs, most of them foreign-funded and dealing with human rights, to immediately stop their activity.
According to Russian authorities, Oleg Sentsov, the Ukrainian filmmaker on hunger strike in a Russian prison since May, has ended his hunger strike after 145 days. Sentsov started his hunger strike one month before the 2018 Russia World Cup, to call on the Russian authorities to release over 60 Ukrainians held in Russia and Crimea on politically motivated charges.
Good news from Tokyo, where a new law that bars LGBT discrimination has just been passed. The act has been enacted in advance of the city hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics and also ensures that the city government will conduct public education about LGBT rights.