Citizens for Justice and Peace
Myanmar government green lights case against Reuters journalists
18-Dec-2017
A government spokesman told Reuters that Myanmar’s President Htin Kyaw has permitted the police to go ahead with a case against two Reuters journalists who were arrested last week. According to Reuters, the Ministry of Information last week said they had “illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media”, and that…
40 Rohingya villages burned since October: HRW
18-Dec-2017
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that analysis of satellite images has found that Rohingya villages have been further destroyed in Myanmar’s Rakhine state during October and November. HRW said it has pinpointed 40 villages “with building destruction,” making the number of villages “that have been partially or completely destroyed” 354 since August 25, 2017.…
China collecting DNA from all residents of its Xinjiang territory
16-Dec-2017
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has revealed that Chinese authorities are collecting fingerprints, DNA samples and other biometric data from all residents aged 12 to 65 in Xinjiang, a far western region of the country, where many minorities, including over 11 million Uighurs, a Muslim minority, live, the Guardian reported. For “focus personnel”, a term used…
ILO: Systematic child labour ends in Uzbekistan
16-Dec-2017
International Labour Organisation (ILO) monitors have found that the systematic use of child labour in Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest has ended in recent years, and action is being taken to tackle the use of forced labour as well, ILO News reported. Indications of this emerged when Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev addressed the United Nations General Assembly…
UN Secretary-General urges Myanmar to free Reuters journalists
15-Dec-2017
Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, both Myanmar citizens who were working on the persecuted Rohingya minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, were arrested this week. They have been arrested under the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Reuters reported that police officers they were meeting with…
FCC eliminates net neutrality rules
15-Dec-2017
The United States’ Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to eliminate the open internet rules that were adopted during President Barack Obama’s administration in 2015, The Week reported. Scrapping these rules allows internet service providers (ISPs) to slow or block the delivery of websites and services, and create ‘fast lanes’ to deliver websites to customers who…
Report outlines crimes against humanity in North Korea’s political prisons
14-Dec-2017
A report by the International Bar Association (IBA) War Crimes Committee, authored by three international judges, and involving interviews with several North Korean defectors, outlines major crimes against humanity committed in the country’s political prisons, Vox reported. According to the IBA’s announcement of the report, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and “other regime officials should…
Number of imprisoned journalists hits record high
14-Dec-2017
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found that the number of journalists in prison globally reached a new record in 2017, exceeding the previous record in 2016. CPJ, in its annual prison census, discovered that 262 journalists are currently imprisoned, with 134 of these, or 51%, in China, Egypt, and Turkey. In 2016, the…
Indonesia’s Constitutional Court blocks bid to criminalise gay sex
14-Dec-2017
Indonesia’s Constitutional Court voted 5-4 to reject a petition to criminalise extramarital and gay sex, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Last year, Family Love Alliance, a conservative group, petitioned the court to amend the criminal code to outlaw sex outside of marriage and homosexual acts. The court rejected the petition, contending that lawmakers, not the…
UN official says 8.4 million in Yemen “a step away from famine”
13-Dec-2017
Jamie McGoldrick, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, recently issued a statement calling for “sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access” to the country, saying that “the lives of millions of people, including 8.4 million Yemenis who are a step away from famine, hinge on our ability to continue our operations and to provide health, safe…