Global Day for Climate Action: Daily Brief
Global Day for Climate Action; electoral and intercommunal violence in Guinea; stop prosecuting pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong; Turkmenistan's denial and inaction worsen food crisis; Qatar's new labor reforms; Cameroon manages Covid-19 aid funds in secrecy; Cuban restrictions on media and journalists; celebrating Indigenous Australian art; and HRW staff make it to top EU influencer list.
On the Global Day of Climate Action, people around the world are striking to fight climate injustice.
Guinea’s security forces failed to protect people from election-related and intercommunal violence and committed human rights abuses in Nzérékoré, southeastern Guinea, during legislative elections and a constitutional referendum in March 2020.
Hong Kong authorities should stop prosecuting pro-democracy activists. "Hong Kong and Chinese authorities should realize that people in Hong Kong have responded to attacks on pro-democracy voices with ever greater resolve in calling for human rights,” writes our China director, Sophie Richardson.
Turkmenistan’s government has prioritized the country’s image over people’s well-being: government inaction in response to the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic has drastically exacerbated Turkmenistan’s pre-existing food crisis.
Qatar introduced significant labor reform measures that will allow migrant workers to change jobs without employer permission and set a higher minimum wage for all workers, regardless of nationality. Its success will depend on how well the government enforces and monitors them.
The Cuban government’s brutal restrictions on free speech fall particularly hard on journalists. Camila Acosta, independent journalist for the news website CubaNet, has learned this from experience.
For the first time in 99 years, an Indigenous Australian artist wins the $100,000 Archibald Art Prize.
And congratulations to HRW's Andrew Stroehlein and Lotte Leicht, who have made it to ZN's top EU influencers list.