Beijing Tightens Grip on Hong Kong: Daily Brief
Beijing cements its control over Hong Kong; Syria conference on humanitarian needs; Canada fails to bring detained citizens home from Syria; hundreds held in unofficial detention centers in Yemen; Philippines' “war on drugs” killing children; freedom of speech under threat in Kyrgyzstan; victims of brutal evictions in Guinea take government to court; and Britain owes its Caribbean community more than gratitude.
Beijing has passed a sweeping national security law for Hong Kong. The law, which critics say is an assault on human rights and which will tighten the Communist Party’s grip on Hong Kong, is expected to come into effect tomorrow, July 1, the 23rd anniversary of the city’s handover to China from British rule.
Humanitarian needs in Syria are greater than ever. Donor countries which meet at the fourth Brussels Conference on “Supporting the future of Syria and the region” today should ensure that humanitarian efforts reach vulnerable communities in the war-torn country.
While Canada has repatriated 40,000 people in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, 47 of its citizens, among them 26 children, remain trapped in Syria, detained in horrific conditions for alleged Islamic State links.
The parties involved in the conflict in Yemen have detained hundreds of people at unofficial detention centers, a new report published today by Mwatana for Human Rights documents. Detainees have been disappeared, tortured, and have died in detention. Some of these acts may amount to war crimes, the report says.
At least 122 children have been killed during President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” in the Philippines, a new report by the World Organisation Against Torture documents. The country’s human rights record is being discussed at the Human Rights Council in Geneva today. Meanwhile, police in Manila have cracked down on an LGBT Pride event protesting an anti-terrorism bill.
Kyrgyzstan’s President Sooronbai Jeenbekov should veto a vague law that allows authorities to order the removal of information officials consider “false” or “inaccurate” from internet platforms without judicial oversight, and which is a serious threat to freedom of speech and the media.
A spate of demolitions in Guinea’s capital Conakry to make way for new embassies and business offices has left more than 19,000 people homeless and destroyed whole communities. The victims are seeking compensation at the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Britain owes its Caribbean community, known as Windrush generation, more than gratitude. Invited by the British government to help rebuild the country after the Second World War, hundreds of Caribbean men and women suffered severe discrimination, faced police brutality and even deportation. Most are still waiting for compensation.