New Anti-Gay Crackdown in Chechnya: Daily Brief
Police detain and torture men in Chechnya, Russia; authorities in Poland stir up homophobia, intolerance, & misogyny; Turkey’s democratic credentials pushed to the limit; US lawmakers press Israel to not deport HRW staffer Omar Shakir; new #OurVotesOurRights European election videos from Poland & The Netherlands; authorities in Myanmar use draconian laws against media; and some good news: Asia Bibi arrives in Canada after leaving Pakistan.
Police in Chechnya, Russia, have carried out a new round of unlawful detentions, beatings, and humiliation of men they presume to be gay or bisexual. The new abuses come against a backdrop of absolute impunity for the vicious large-scale anti-gay purge in spring 2017.
The arrest of a woman in Poland over a picture of a religious icon with a rainbow halo is the latest attempt by authorities to target LGBT and gender equality activists.
The dubious decision by authorities in Turkey to cancel the March 31 Istanbul mayoral election win by opposition candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, in the absence of compelling evidence that the vote was not free or fair, has interfered with the democratic right of millions of voters, says HRW.
Israel is trying to deport Omar Shakir, HRW's director for Israel & Palestine, because of his work. Here’s why you should care.
Kindly join us and remind voters across the European Union to think about human rights when voting in this month's elections for the European Parliament.
The release of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from a Myanmar prison is a joyous occasion for their families and all of those who have advocated for their release. But it should not blind anyone to the government’s ongoing repression of the media in Myanmar.
And finally: Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman who spent years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy, has left the country bound for a new life in Canada, officials have confirmed.