Police Violence in Belarus & Beirut: Daily Brief
Excessive police violence in Belarus and Beirut; blow to media freedom in Hong Kong; China announces sanctions against Human Rights Watch's director; the importance of saving humanity from fully autonomous weapons; crackdown on LGBT activists in Poland; and killings in Brazilian Amazon police operation.
Police have used violence against protesters in Belarus that took to the streets on Sunday, after election results showed the victory of longtime President Alexander Lukashenko. Reporting shows that the police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters.
Lebanon’s security forces also used excessive levels of violence against tens of thousands of protesters who had gathered in downtown Beirut last Saturday to express their rage and frustration over the government and political elites’ incompetence and corruption.
Pro-democracy media publisher Jimmy Lai has been arrested in Hong Kong under the National Security Law imposed by Beijing. He runs Apple Daily, the largerst pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong.
Also today, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has announced it will impose unspecified “sanctions” on 11 Americans, including Human Rights Watch’s Executive Director Kenneth Roth.
A growing number of countries recognize a duty to save humanity from fully autonomous weapons. An international ban treaty is the only effective way to deal with the serious challenges raised by fully autonomous weapons.
Polish authorities should stop trying to silence activists who support LGBT rights, and instead promote and protect the right to equality.
Indigenous people have allegedly been killed by Amazonas state military police in the context of the policing operation in Nova Olinda do Norte, in Brazil’s Amazon region, which began on August 4.