Troubling Scenes at US Border: Daily Brief
Dehumanizing and violent treatment of vulnerable migrants at United States-Mexico border; Apple and Google bow to Russian government; United Nations General Assembly has begun in New York; India’s spot on world stage is mired in abuses at home; repression marks Cameroon crackdown anniversary; Harare's unresolved water crisis is a ticking time bomb; and some positive news from the US.
The deployment of United States border agents on horseback against Haitian migrants stems from abusive and racially discriminatory immigration policies. Instead of continuing policies directed against a group of people who are overwhelmingly Black, "the Biden administration should unequivocally break with this history and ensure equal treatment for all,” says Human Rights Watch in a comment.
Apple and Google capitulated to Russian authorities last week when they removed access to the Navalny Smart Voting app on the eve of the weekend’s parliamentary election. The move helped undermine voters’ ability to access information about their choice. If these developments are any indication of how tech companies respond to threats, the spate of “hostage-taking” laws being adopted in several other countries that require companies appoint in-country representatives may mean a wave of corporate-assisted censorship is on the horizon.
World leaders are convening in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly. Dozens of national leaders and foreign ministers will be attending in person, in contrast to 2020, when most leaders participated by video because of Covid-19.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also speak during the UN General Assembly, to address global issues and list his government’s achievements. But unless authorities back home stop abusing laws and state institutions to target critics, the Modi administration will be hard put to achieve the global recognition it craves.
The authorities in Cameroon should ensure accountability for their security forces’ crackdown on opposition leaders, supporters, and peaceful protesters in September 2020, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should immediately and unconditionally release all those held for expressing their political views or for exercising their right to peaceful assembly, and end the campaign of repression against peaceful protesters and critics.
Three years after a deadly cholera outbreak residents of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, still face a potable water crisis. The country's central government and the Harare City Council should urgently act to ensure clean water for the millions of people affected.
And lastly, there's some positive news from the United States, as the administration has announced a major interagency initiative to respond to the impacts of extreme heat in the country. This effort, which closely follows the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, will seek to develop the first-ever federal heat standard to protect workers.