Deported from the US, Abused in Cameroon: Daily Brief

Authorities in Cameroon subjected dozens of asylum seekers deported by the United States to serious human rights violations. A new report traces what happened to the estimated 80 to 90 Cameroonians deported from the United States deported between 2019 and 2021. People returned to Cameroon faced arbitrary arrest and detention; enforced disappearances; torture, rape, and other violence; extortion; unfair prosecutions; confiscation of their national IDs; harassment; and abuses against their relatives.

Russia's Justice Ministry filed a lawsuit seeking to “liquidate” Sphere Foundation, the legal entity under which the Russian LGBT Network operates, arguing the group’s activities run contrary to “traditional values.” Among the ministry's accusations against Sphere is the spreading “LGBT views” and aspiring to “change Russian federal legislation regarding the LGBT movement” – in other words, the discriminatory “gay propaganda” law. The suit asserts that if the work of a non-profit organization is out of sync with “fundamental family values enshrined in the Russian constitution" it represents “a threat to public order and the rule of law.”

In India’s Karnataka state, several government-run educational institutions have banned female Muslim students from wearing the hijab, or headscarf. The state government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has backed the discriminatory ban, passing a directive last week saying, “clothes which disturb equality, integrity, and public law and order should not be worn.” The hijab ban is the latest example of Indian authorities increasingly seeking to marginalize Muslims, exposing them to heightened violence. A slew of laws and policies systematically discriminate against religious minorities and vulnerable communities, especially Muslims.

Over 1000 killings by police officers in the United States in 2021 marks a new record, according to data by the Washington Post, which has tracked fatal shootings since 2015. Human Rights Watch has issued recommendations for police reform to prevent killings and other violence, from dog bites and the use of “less lethal” weapons like tasers to aggressive, harassing, and unnecessary stops and searches, which are directed disproportionately at Black people.

A draft bill in the Mexican senate endangers decision-making for people with disabilities. It would allow third parties, including prosecutors and officials from the social assistance system, to ask a judge to appoint a substitute decision-maker or guardian, misleadingly calling that appointee a supporter. The bill would also allow a judge to determine how the so-called supporter should be involved in the individual’s decision-making.