Human Rights Watch

Hundreds of people in Türkiye, mainly students, are going on trial for protesting the detention of Istanbul’s mayor. The rushed trials show Türkiye’s restrictions on the right to assembly are arbitrary and incompatible with a democratic society based on the rule of law. 

Hong Kong’s largest and oldest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party, is being forced to disband after some members were threatened by Chinese government officials. Since the Chinese government imposed the draconian National Security Law on Hong Kong in 2020, thousands of democratic institutions have shuttered.

Iranian authorities are preparing to carry out finger amputation sentences against three men imprisoned for theft. We need to halt acts of torture — before it’s too late.

What does it cost you to share a social media video or call a loved one abroad? For Tibetans in China, the price can be arrest, detention and torture. Learn more ⤵️

NEW: The Tunisian government has turned arbitrary detention into a cornerstone of its repressive policy, aimed at depriving people of their civil and political rights. Following President Kais Saied’s takeover of Tunisia’s state institutions on July 25, 2021, the authorities have dramatically intensified their repression of dissent. Tunisian authorities should immediately release all those arbitrarily detained and stop prosecuting people for exercising their human rights.

Last week, authorities in Tanzania arrested opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu on fabricated charges, then used his party’s calls for electoral reform to disqualify it from participating in upcoming elections.

After the tragic Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow in 2024, xenophobic sentiment in Russia has intensified, as highlighted in a recent Human Rights Watch report. Central Asian migrants have been facing a wave of ethnic profiling, arbitrary arrests and harassment by police. Far-right nationalist groups have intensified their targeting, spreading fear and violence. The numbers are staggering: 85,800 deportations in the first half of 2024—double that of the previous year. Migrants are being swept up in raids, detained for extended periods and in many cases, pressured into signing military contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry. According to Human Rights Watch, "as of June 2024, nearly 30,000 new Russian citizens of Central Asian descent have been registered for military service, with 10,000 deployed to occupied territories, according to Russian media. Non-citizen migrants have reported being duped into recruitment for the war effort under the guise of regular construction jobs or service contracts." Read the full Human Rights Watch report “Living in Fear and Humiliation: Rising Xenophobia, Harassment, and Violence Towards Central Asian Migrants in Russia” (https://lnkd.in/dxpXAJV9).

Today, April 15, marks two years since the war began in Sudan. The warring parties have plunged the country into the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. How bad is it? The numbers speak for themselves. Learn more ⤵️

Global communications are expanding in most parts of the world. But in China, things are headed in the opposite direction. Andrew Stroehlein discusses Chinese authorities' attacks on Tibetans' free expression and access to information in the Daily Brief.

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