Why is Saudi Arabia heading top UN women’s rights forum?
2/4/2024: Saudi Arabia has been chosen to chair the UN's leading gender equality forum, the Commission on the Status of Women. International rights organizations are concerned about the country's oppressive track record and the potential impact on women's rights globally.
Source: DW
EU migration deal with Egypt rewards authoritarianism
15/3/2024: EU negotiations seem likely to award a package of between four and eight billion euros to support Egypt’s border control in preventing migrants embarking for Europe. Human Rights Watch opposes the agreement, having previously documented arbitrary arrests and mistreatment of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees by Egyptian authorities, as well as deportations constituting refoulement.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Senegal’s top opposition leaders released from prison
15/3/2024: Senegal’s top opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, has been freed along with key ally Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Their release comes after a crisis triggered by President Macky Sall’s decision to postpone the February 25 presidential vote.
Source: Al Jazeera
Citizenship Amendment Act is a blow to Indian constitutional values
14/3/2024: The widely criticized Citizenship Amendment Act, enacted in 2019, has finally been operationalized by India's Ministry of Home Affairs. The Act fast-tracks Indian citizenship pathways for undocumented migrants of some religions but not for others. Amnesty International says this is a blow to Indian values of equality and religious non-discrimination.
Source: Amnesty International
Why Kenya has not abolished the death penalty
14/3/2024: 22 member countries of the African Union have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, and a further 17 have not carried out an execution in 10 years. Kenya is amongst the latter, retaining the death penalty out of simple inertia rather than any evidence-based consideration of its effectiveness or popularity.
Source: The East African
Hong Kong: Article 23 legislation takes repression to ‘next level’
8/3/2024: Amnesty International argues that Hong Kong’s proposed national security law would import Chinese legal concepts in a way that is deeply disturbing. Such laws have been used in mainland China to violate the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
Source: Amnesty International
Disturbing global increase in female genital mutilation
8/3/2024: Over 230 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to female genital mutilation, an increase of 15% since 2016. This data casts serious doubt on meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal to eliminate the practice by 2030.
Source: UNICEF
UN chief launches Gender Equality Acceleration plan
8/3/2024: Marking International Women's Day, the UN Secretary-General announced new support for governments around the world to implement policies that respond to the needs of women and girls. The new plan responds to a global backlash against women’s rights that is threatening and sometimes reversing progress.
Source: UN News
Why legal equality is key to women’s economic rights
7/3/2024: Women’s economic opportunities, rights, and well-being are being denied worldwide by sex-discriminatory laws and policies that curtail access to employment, equal pay, property ownership, and inheritance. A policy brief by Equality Now offers examples from a range of countries.
Source: Inter Press Service
Navalny dies in Russian prison
16/2/2024: The Kremlin bears responsibility for the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, according to Human Rights Watch. Under international law, states have obligations to exercise a “duty of care” to anyone in custody, and all deaths in custody must be effectively investigated.
Source: Human Rights Watch