Citizens for Justice and Peace
Reuters publishes investigation that resulted in reporters’ arrest in Myanmar
13-Feb-2018
The New York Times reported that Reuters has published a 4,500-word investigation into the killing of ten Rohingya men by soldiers and villagers in Myanmar; the dead were buried in one grave. Reuters said that while reporting on the issue, two of its reporters were arrested by Myanmar police. The report, based on eyewitness accounts and numerous…
War imperilling Yemen’s heritage
13-Feb-2018
The years-long Saudi Arabia-led war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen has impacted the country’s culture and historical landmarks, according to Al Jazeera. Experts are concerned that the Awwam Temple, as well as other historic and cultural landmarks in the country that have not been singled out by international authorities are under threat. The temple is…
Hundreds of workers rescued at least twice from slavery in last 15 years in Brazil
09-Feb-2018
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more than 35,000 workers in Brazil have been saved from slavery in the last 15 years. However, more than 600 of these workers found themselves in slavery-like conditions for at least one more time. 35,341 workers were rescued from slavery between 2003 and 2017, but 1.73% of these…
UN human rights chief calls on the Maldives to lift state of emergency
09-Feb-2018
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has said that the Maldives’ President Abdulla Yameen’s declaration of a state of emergency, and ensuing suspension of constitutional guarantees has eliminated checks and balances and the separation of powers that are vital for any functioning democracy. This could result in increased human rights violations for…
American diplomat resigns from Rohingya panel, criticises Aung San Suu Kyi
27-Jan-2018
Longtime US diplomat Bill Richardson, who was previously the governor of New Mexico, has resigned from an international advisory panel on the ongoing Rohingya crisis. Richardson told Reuters that his “main reason” for resigning was that “…this advisory board is a whitewash,” saying that he did not want to be on “a cheerleading squad for the government”.…
4,000 internally displaced people homeless after forces destroy camps in Somalia
16-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that Somali security forces “destroyed” 23 camps that were home to more than 4,000 internally displaced Somalis in late December 2017, according to the United Nations. Two weeks following this, these families “are still living rough in the outskirts of Mogadishu,” the Guardian said. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)…
UN human rights chief condemns rise in civilian casualties in Syria’s eastern Ghouta, Idlib
12-Jan-2018
According to an announcement from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has “condemned” the rise in civilian casualties in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta (near Damascus) “amid the recent escalation in airstrikes and ground-based attacks by Government forces and their allies”. Zeid said Eastern Ghouta…
Myanmar army admits killing of Rohingya for the first time
12-Jan-2018
The BBC reported that Myanmar’s army has for the first time acknowledged that its personnel “were involved in the killing of Rohingya Muslims” in its Rakhine state. Myanmar’s army said that an enquiry had revealed that four members of Myanmar’s security forces “were involved in the killing of 10 people in Inn Din village near Maungdaw,” the…
Sharp increase in civilians killed by explosive weapons in 2017
11-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that, according to a global survey it was able to access, explosive weapons killed more than 15,000 civilians in 2017, indicating a 42% spike in a year. According to the Guardian, the increase was spurred by airstrikes, “which killed almost double the number of civilians in 2017 compared with the previous year,” and corresponded…
10,000 killed in Chinese suppression of Tiananmen Square protests
26-Dec-2017
The BBC reported that the Chinese army’s violent suppressing of the Tiananmen Square protests of June 1989 resulted in at least 10,000 deaths, according to British documents that have just been made public. This number was supplied by then British ambassador to China Alan Donald, in a secret diplomatic cable. Donald said his source was…
UN Special Rapporteur denied access to Myanmar
22-Dec-2017
Myanmar’s government has notified United Nations Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee that she has been denied access to the country, and cooperation has been rescinded for the length of her term. Lee, who was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar in 2014, said, “This declaration of non-cooperation with my mandate can only be viewed as a…
Amnesty International release report on attacks on Human Rights Defenders
08-Dec-2017
Amnesty’s report, titled ‘Deadly but Preventable Attacks: Killings and Enforced Disappearances of Those who Defend Human Rights’ notes that since the Declaration on HRDs was adopted two decades ago, “human rights defenders across the globe have faced an onslaught of harassment, intimidation, ill-treatment, restrictions, unjust prosecution and detention – which continues to this day.” The report says…
HRW reports on shoddy prosecution of ISIS suspects
05-Dec-2017
According to a new Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, Iraq’s government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), in their efforts to prosecute several thousand ISIS suspects, lack a “national strategy” to ensure that prosecutions of those who have committed the “worst abuses” take priority, or to levy charges that apply to the “broad range of crimes”…
UN warns of “imminent catastrophe” in Yemen
04-Dec-2017
Several heads of UN agencies as well as other senior humanitarian officials issued a statement this weekend saying that Yemen’s cities are facing a major water shortage, with seven cities’ water networks lacking fuel and being dependent “on humanitarian organizations to fill in the gap,” ABC News reported. The statement noted that if the Saudi-led…
You can Help Save Scientist Sentenced to Death in Iran
31-Oct-2017
Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian born Swedish resident and expert in disaster medicine has been sentenced to death by Iranian authorities on charges of espionage. Dr. Djalai is a medical doctor and university lecturer. He has studied and taught in Sweden, Italy and Belgium. He was arrested in April last year when he was visiting…