Hold Egypt to Account For Security Force Abuses: Daily Brief

Extrajudicial executions disguised as “shootouts” in Egypt; attacks on schools and protests against Taliban rule in Afghanistan; Syria not safe for returning refugees; relatives of downed Malaysian Airline flight MH17 demand justice; criminal prosecution of a whistleblower in Austria; rare case of accountability for a school attack in Burkina Faso; and failing to redistribute Covid-19 surplus vaccine could cost millions of lives.

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Egyptian security forces have for years carried out extrajudicial executions, claiming that those killed died in shootouts. Given the level and extent of these abuses Egypt’s international partners should impose targeted sanctions against those most responsible.

Explosive weapons were used to attack about 40 schools in Afghanistan during the first six months this year, as Taliban forces took over key territories. Most of the 185 students and teachers killed or wounded in these attacks were girls and women. 

Meanwhile, in yet another indication that Afghanistan's new rulers will not tolerate peaceful dissent, the Taliban again used force to crush a protest by hundreds of Afghan women and men calling for their rights today.

Syrian security forces have detained, disappeared and tortured  Syrians who returned home after seeking refuge abroad, a new Amnesty International report finds.

The families of 298 people killed when Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in 2014 have demanded justice from Russia as they began testifying in the Dutch trial of four suspects.

Austrian and international organisations have condemned the criminal prosecution of a security consultant whose “Ibizagate” video brought down Austria’s government, warning the trial, which is due to start on Wednesday, will deter other whistleblowers.

In a rare case of accountability, two members of an armed Islamist group in Burkina Faso have been sentenced to 20 years in prison for a 2018 attack on a primary school.

G7 countries could redistribute 500m doses of Covid-19 vaccine surplus by the end of September, and up to 1.2bn doses by the end of the year. Failing to do so could costs millions of lives, new data from Airfinity, a life-sciences data firm, shows.