UN Inquiry Needed for Khashoggi Case: Daily Brief
UN inquiry needed for Khashoggi case; Southern Afghanistan's strongman killed before elections; crackdown on social media in Bangladesh; unconstitutional life imprisonment for juveniles in Washington; unlawful arrests of journalists in Myanmar; political pressures on Iran's environmentalists; and gender neutral passports in the Netherlands.
Turkey should urgently ask UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish a UN investigation into the possible extrajudicial execution of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Only the UN has the credibility and independence required to expose the masterminds behind Khashoggi’s enforced disappearance and to hold them to account.
As the Khashoggi case reinforces a darkening international atmosphere for journalists, it certainly doesn't help when a major world leader praises the violent assault of a reporter...
Abdul Raziq, Afghan National Police chief for the southern city of Kandahar, was killed yesterday in a shooting claimed by the Taliban in the city of Kandahar. Raziq was a powerful and controversial figure. He had great support from the US intelligence and security officials, who considered him an ally in the fight against the Taliban, and had also become synonymous with systematic torture, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances.
Raziq's death comes just two days before the upcoming parliamentary elections of October 20, when Afghans will go to the polls for elections that were meant to be held in 2015.
The Bangladesh government has embarked upon intensive and intrusive surveillance and monitoring of social media ahead of national elections. Draconian new laws and policies are being used to target political opponents, journalists, internet commentators, and broadcasters.
Good news from the state of Washington, where sentencing juveniles to life imprisonment without parole will now be unconstitutional.
In Myanmar, three more journalists have gone to court for publishing stories that the government didn't like.
In Iran, environmentalists are caught up in a political power struggle. The attack on NGOs that are trying to help Iran tackle major problems will have long-lasting consequences for millions of Iranians...
And the Netherlands has issued its first gender neutral passport.