Why Are Lebanon‘s Kids Still Not in School? Daily Brief
Education system in Lebanon at risk of collapse; World Mental Health Day; Rwandan genocide kingpin dies in jail; #InternationalDayOfGirlChild; victims of North Korea’s ‘Paradise on Earth’ campaign demand justice; crack down on prominent civic association in Algeria; and how the United States can protect Indigenous peoples around the world.
The education system in Lebanon is at risk of collapse, with devastating consequences for children. The authorities’ egregious planning failures have aggravated the impact of the country’s financial and Covid-19 crises, and increased the likelihood that hundreds of thousands of children may miss out on education for the third consecutive year. “There needs to be an all-hands-on-deck response from the government, donors, and the UN to avert a disaster for children and the country," says Aya Majzoub, Human Rights Watch's Lebanon researcher.
Sunday was World Mental Health Day. “The global pandemic has had an enormous toll on people’s mental health,” says Shantha Rau Barriga, HRW's disability rights director. “Governments should make mental health a priority; not just in their rhetoric but in their actions.”
A former Rwandan army colonel convicted of masterminding the slaughter of at least half a million people during the 1994 genocide has died in custody in Mali. Théoneste Bagosora, who was 80, was serving a 35-year sentence after having been found guilty of crimes against humanity by the then International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Today we're celebrating the International Day of the Girl Child, amidst an ever-worsening crisis for rights of girls and women in Afghanistan under Taliban-rule.
An historic court hearing is set to begin this week in Tokyo as five North Korean escapees in Japan seek compensation for human rights abuses they suffered in North Korea after joining a resettlement program based on the false premise that the reclusive country was a “Paradise on Earth.” The five plaintiffs sued the North Korean government in 2018 and have been awaiting a hearing ever since.
Five international human rights organizations, among them Human Rights Watch, have called on authorities in Algeria to drop their effort to dissolve a prominent civil society group over alleged violation of the law on associations. An administrative court is set to issue a ruling on October 13 in a case brought by the Interior Ministry against the Youth Action Rally (known by its French name Rassemblement Actions Jeunesse).
And today, as the United States celebrates Indigenous Peoples' Day, here's how the country can help to protect forests around the world and the Indigenous people who defend them.