Growing Resistance to Autocrats: Daily Brief
Don't be fooled by autocrats who keep capturing the headlines, focus on the resistance they spawned; hundreds of protesters arrested, dozens killed in Sudan; Morocco should abandon attempts to dissolve cultural group; vigilantes raid an Indonesian HIV group; and kindly help #SaveHakeem!
"In some ways this is a dark time for human rights. Yet while the autocrats and rights abusers may capture the headlines, the defenders of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law are also gaining strength. The same populists who are spreading hatred and intolerance are spawning a resistance that keeps winning its share of battles."
The launch of HRW's World Report 2019 in Berlin on Thursday has not gone unnoticed. Make sure you check out the essays, country chapters, and the easy-to-read version. And if you have a bit more time, watch the full press conference.
Security officials in Sudan have killed dozens of protesters and rounded up hundreds since widespread anti-austerity protests began in December. Sudanese authorities should immediately release or charge those detained in relation to the ongoing protests
The authorities in Morocco should immediately abandon attempts to dissolve the cultural group Racines, over critical comments made by guests on an online talk show it hosted, say HRW and Amnesty International.
Militant Islamists in Indonesia have raided the offices of an HIV prevention organization this week, on suspicion that the group had been conducting “LGBT activities.”
And kindly join the campaign to save Hakeem AlAraibi, a professional football player and refugee from Bahrain, who's behind bars in Thailand and at risk of being deported and tortured.