China's Hostage Diplomacy: Daily Brief
How the Xi Jinping government gets what it wants; Afghan women fleeing violence lose vital protection; Rwanda round-ups linked to Commonwealth meeting; Duterte and the International Criminal Court; good & bad LGBT news; inspiring climate change protest in Berlin; and a Syrian artist honors Merkel.
The speed with which the Chinese government released two Canadians who were held captive by the authorities in Beijing shortly after a deal was reached with the United States Justice Department that allowed the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, Meng Wanzhou, to return to China openly smacks of hostage diplomacy. The detention of the two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — known as the “two Michaels” - was widely seen as retaliation for Meng's arrest in Vancouver in 2018 at the behest of the US who sought her extradition on bank and wire fraud charges.
With the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, the future for women and girls fleeing family violence is bleak. The prosecutors, judges, and lawyers who had tried to provide them with a measure of justice are in hiding themselves, fearing reprisals by the new rulers. And as shelters, which were the only refuge, are closing, women and girls have no choice but to return to their abusive families.
Human Rights Watch published new research today documenting how authorities in Rwanda have rounded up and arbitrarily detained over a dozen gay and transgender people, sex workers, street children, and others in the months before a planned high-profile international conference.
The International Criminal Court has offered a glimmer of hope that impunity for alleged crimes against humanity in the Philippines might end by announcing the opening of an investigation into crimes against humanity during the so-called “war on drugs” that has killed thousands of mostly urban, poor people since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016.
There's very good LGBT news from Switzerland, as a large majority voted for marriage equality during a referendum held on Sunday.
Yet, bad LGBT news coming from Kenya, where the country's Film Censorship Board has slapped a ban on the acclaimed documentary “I Am Samuel,” claiming the film 'contravenes Kenyan values'. This is the second time Kenyan authorities have banned a gay-themed film.
Greta Thunberg attended a march against climate change in Berlin, and had an uplifting message for the participants.
And as voters across Germany voted in elections on Sunday, which marked the end of the era Merkel, a Syrian artist thanked outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel with a mural.