Trying to Crush Dissent in Belarus: Daily Brief
Highjacked Belarus dissident paraded on television; growing calls to revise Japan’s anachronistic transgender recognition law; Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas company expands business ties with Myanmar junta; US lawmakers call for independent investigation into Beirut port blast; new study finds explosive weapons used in cities kill mostly civilians; deepening political chaos in Mali; Gambian government should ensure former president is held to account; and Africans celebrate Africa Day.
By forcing down a passenger flight to detain Belarus activist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend, Sofya Sapega, Belarusian authorities are sending a message to civil society that they will stop at nothing to try to crush dissent. Shortly after his arrest, Pratasevich was paraded on the country’s television news, apparently forced into confessing to crimes against the state. Meanwhile, EU leaders have imposed new sanctions against those involved in the hijacking.
Transgender people in Japan face a harmful and discriminatory procedure for changing their legally recognized gender. Activists and experts increasingly demand that the government revise the abusive and outdated transgender recognition law.
Thailand’s majority state-owned oil and gas company, PTT, is expanding business ties with the Myanmar military showing little regard for the lives and freedom of Myanmar’s people.
An investigation by Lebanese authorities into the causes of the blast at Beirut’s port, which killed more than 200 people in August last year, has been marked by obstruction, evasion, and delay. The Biden administration should endorse the calls of 25 US lawmakers to support an impartial UN-led investigation into the catastrophe.
Civilians accounted for 91 per cent of those killed or injured by explosive weapons used in populated areas worldwide over the last 10 years, a new study finds.
Military officers in Mali have arrested the president, prime minister and defence minister of the country's interim government, deepening political chaos just months after a military coup ousted the previous president.
Testimony before a Gambian truth commission linking former president Yahya Jammeh to murder, torture, rape and other grave crimes during his 22 years in office is scheduled to conclude this week. It is now up to the Gambian government to ensure that Jammeh and his accomplices are held to account.
And lastly: Today, on May 25, Africans around the globe celebrate Africa Day. The day commemorates the founding of the first union of African countries in 1963. But it is also an opportunity to reflect on the progress made by the African Union with regard to protecting human rights and freedoms of Africans.