How Singapore Tries to Silence Critics: Daily Brief

Rights-abusing bill threatens freedom of expression even further in Singapore if signed into law; Uzbekistan silences media, blocks opposition candidates ahead of upcoming elections; Poland's Constitutional Court threatens EU's legal framework; UN members should make human rights a central topic during COP26; remembering Philippine activist Jose Luis Martin Gascon; Japan's outdated law harms trans people; and join HRW’s Covid-19 in Africa discussion tomorrow!

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The Singapore government should withdraw a proposed law that undermines the rights of activists, academics, journalists, and others to freedom of expression, association, and participation in public affairs and to privacy. The law would grant sweeping powers to the Minister for Home Affairs to "prevent, detect, and disrupt foreign interference in... domestic politics", and would threaten those not frightened into self-censoring.

Ahead of October 24 presidential elections, Uzbek authorities are cracking down on critics and media freedoms, while keeping opposition leaders off the ballot - developments which are likely to compromise the fairness and integrity of the first presidential elections since President Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power in 2016.

The ruling by Poland's Constitutional Tribunal that two core articles of the European Union’s founding treaties are incompatible with the Polish Constitution threatens not only the rule of law in Poland, but also the legal framework of the EU, as it paves the way for Poland’s courts to ignore rulings by the EU Court of Justice (CJEU). If left unchecked, it creates a precedent that wrongfully suggests EU states can pick and choose what binding EU law they apply.

A ruling by the UN Children’s Rights Committee and two landmark resolutions by the UN Human Rights Council have sent a clear signal that governments need to take more ambitious action to protect human rights from the toll of the climate crisis. UN member states should make human rights obligations a central issue during the upcoming COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow.

The Philippines have lost a beloved human rights defender. Jose Luis Martin Gascon, known to all as “Chito,” died last weekend from complications due to Covid-19. Gascon had chaired the governmental Commission on Human Rights since 2015.

The case of Gen Suzuki, a trans Japanese man who filed a court request to be legally recognized as transgender, highlights why Japan needs to revise its outdated transgender laws.

And finally, tomorrow, October 14, Human Rights Watch will host an event to discuss how to build stronger social protection systems in Africa in the wake of the pandemic, and what global support is needed to overcome widening global inequalities. Register here!