Palestinian activist spied on with spyware developed by Israel-based company; refugee crisis on Polish-Belarus border escalates; immediate action needed to avert further atrocities in Ethiopia; Sudan’s military resorting to old brutal tactics; Afghanistan fast becoming the world’s largest humanitarian crisis; human rights should be at the center of all engagements with Vietnam; and discussing global vaccine access inequities.

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Six Palestinian activists have been spied on with military-grade hacking tools, an investigation by the Front Line Defenders (FLD) and confirmed by the Citizen Lab and Amnesty International has uncovered. The attack, which used Pegasus, a spyware developed by Israel-based company NSO group, is part of a broader assault on Palestinian civil society, and raises serious questions about whether Israeli authorities were involved in the targeting. Three of the six people whose devices were hacked work at the Palestinian civil society groups that the Israeli government designated on October 19 as “terrorist organizations” – a decision that was met with global condemnation. Seven human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch have called for an immediate moratorium on the sale, transfer, and use of surveillance technology until adequate human rights safeguards are in place, and for UN experts to take urgent action to denounce human rights violations by states facilitated by the use of the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. 

The humanitarian crisis unfolding for months on the border between Belarus and Poland escalated on Monday, when thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan tried to push through the border. Poland and other EU countries have accused Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko of trying to provoke the crisis by facilitating visas to people from the Middle East, and making false promises that reaching the EU via Belarus was easy, in revenge for their criticism of his brutal crackdown on the opposition. With Polish border guards denying refuges the opportunity to seek asylum and Belarus border guards refusing people to return to the Belarus capital Minsk, those attempting to cross into the EU have become trapped in limbo between the two borders. At least eight people have already died of hypothermia. While Poland has sent 12.000 troops to the border and is warning of an “armed” escalation, Germany called for EU members to “take action” to deal with the deepening crisis.  

As tensions rise in Ethiopia and fighting in the north of the country spreads, a sweeping nationwide state of emergency granting the authorities unchecked powers is fuelling abuses while public statements by government authorities are inciting violence against specific ethnic groups. Meanwhile, Tigrayan forces which are affiliated with the country’s former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), have reportedly captured key towns on route toward the country's capital Addis Ababa. As atrocities committed by both sides mount, African leaders and the UN Security Council should call for all parties to refrain from hate speech and take immediate action to avert further abuses.  

Security agents in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, have detained at least 30 civilian political leaders and a prominent lawyer since the military takeover on October 25. In addition, Sudanese security forces have been using heavy-handed measures to repress peaceful protests against the coup. At least 14 people have been killed by live ammunition during protests in Khartoum since October 25, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors reports.  Internet and telecommunications have also been repeatedly disrupted. Despite regional and international calls on the military to halt the crackdown, abuses continue, undermining the small but important progress on rights and freedoms that Sudanese from all walks of life had fought for. 

Conflict, climate change and COVID-19 have pushed the number of people facing food insecurity globally to 45 million, with Afghanistan fast becoming the "world's largest humanitarian crisis," the World Food Program (WFP) reports. The number of people teetering on the edge of famine has risen sharply from 27 million only two years ago. In Afghanistan alone, almost 24 million people have been pushed into acute hunger – with millions facing starvation – as multiple droughts combined with an economic meltdown following the withdrawal of US troops and the Taliban takeover in August push families to the edge just as the harsh winter sets in. 

The 25th United States-Vietnam bilateral human rights dialogue which is scheduled to begin today, should not be the only opportunity to raise human rights concerns and press for demonstrable action. With at least 145 people imprisoned for peacefully exercising their basic rights the country’s human rights record is abysmal. Civil and political rights are severely curtailed; free and independent media is non-existent, and the formation of political parties or human rights organizations is prohibited. People who voice public criticism of the government or Communist Party leaders on social media routinely face harassment, intimidation, intrusive surveillance, restrictions on freedom of movement, physical assault, and arrest. The US should place human rights concerns at the center of all its engagements with Vietnam instead of relegating it to just one dialogue per year.

And lastly: Tune in today for a special conversation on the inequities of global Covid-19 vaccine access. You can register here.

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