Death of former Egyptian president calls for investigation; Hong Kong’s chief executive apologizes but does not back down; UN condemns own response to Myanmar’s crackdown on Rohingya; fuelling teenage pregnancies in the Dominican Republic; draconian evictions in Guinea; the dangers of environmental reporting; Saudi teenager not to be executed; and support for the rights of intersex people on the rise.

Get the Daily Brief by email.

Egypt’s first democratically elected civilian president, Mohamed Morsi, has died during a court hearing following years of prolonged solitary confinement and inadequate medical care. His death should be independently investigated. And so should other ongoing gross violations of human rights in Egypt.

As protests over a law that would make it easier for critics of Beijing to be extradited to mainland China continued over the weekend, Hong Kong’s embattled chief executive Carrie Lam is reported to have said in a closed-door meeting that her government would not try again to pass the bill. In her public address to protesters today, Lam apologized but refused to resign or publicly retract the legislation.

In a report which is due to be published this week, the UN condemns its own conduct in Myanmar as “systemic failure”, citing “serious errors” and lost opportunities as a result of  “a fragmented strategy rather than a common plan of action” in response to Myanmar’s military’s crackdown on the country’s Rohingya minority.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic have stalled the rollout of a long-awaited sexuality education programdepriving girls of much-needed information and health services to prevent unwanted pregnancy, a new Human Rights Watch report has found. The country has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Draconian forced evictions in Guinea to make room for government buildings have damaged the lives and livelihoods of more than 20,000 people.

Investigating damage to the environment and other abuses by mining companies can be almost as dangerous as war reporting, figures provided by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) show. The CPJ tally was compiled for Green Blood, a reporting project about the threats faced by environmental reporters globally that is to go live today.

Some good news: Murtaja Qureiris, an 18-year-old Saudi teenager who was facing the death penalty for offenses he allegedly committed when he was just 10 or 11 years old,  will not be executed and could be released by 2022. Although this is promising news, the fact that the Saudi government even considered the execution of Qureiris is troubling.

And more good news: There has been a significant and much-needed surge in support of the rights of intersex people. A documentary screening this week at the Human Rights Watch film festival in New York City, No Box for Me: An Intersex Story, tells two stories that show why that push is so necessary. 

Region / Country