The Week in Rights

Dangerous vehicle chases by law enforcement in the US state of Texas have led to crashes that have killed at least 74 people and injured at least 189 in the last 29 months.

The findings indicate the monthly death rate is at least 45 percent higher than media and civil rights groups previously reported, and that injuries and property destruction are substantially worse.

Human Rights Watch found that in a third of these chases, vehicle speeds exceeded 100 miles per hour. The pursuits have sent cars careening into homes and also killed bystanders. Most of the pursuits documented were initiated by traffic stops for minor violations such as speeding or not obeying traffic signals.

So what is behind this uptick in reckless pursuits?

Police and other law enforcement officials in Texas are targeting migrants as part of a dangerous program, called “Operation Lone Star,” that militarizes the US-Mexico border. The program was put in place by the state’s governor, Greg Abbott.

Under the program, officials have used razor wire and buoys with circular saws in or near the Rio Grande River, which flows along the Texas-Mexico border, to keep migrants out of the United States.

Operation Lone Star vehicle pursuits result in a higher rate of death than most high-speed pursuits across the United States. Records reveal that in several Texas counties, unnecessary vehicle chases have increased by over 1,000 percent since the program began.

Some experts, including current and former law enforcement officials, have stated that these high-speed chases aren’t necessary to apprehend people suspected of transporting migrants and that alternative measures such as using license plate information could be employed to pursue suspects.

Operation Lone Star shows a careless disregard by Texas for human rights. The state government should not get a free pass to use fear and chaos to score political points.

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A human rights catastrophe rages in West Darfur, Sudan, as ethnically targeted killings and acts of sexual violence continue.

In early November, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and allied militias committed a spate of killings primarily against members of the non-Arab Massalit community.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, an estimated 800 people were killed during the early November attacks in Ardamata. Local rights monitors interviewed survivors arriving in Chad and estimated the death toll of mainly civilians at between 1,300 and 2,000.

At least 8,000 people have fled into Chad, joining around 450,000, mostly women and children, displaced by attacks in West Darfur notably between April and June.

The UN Security Council members are discussing the future of the UN's mission in Sudan, but it's past time for global leaders to protect civilians and prevent atrocities there. 

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