News Clips- November 25, 2016
Civil Society
- Following protests over the weekend and statements from the United Nations, Turkey withdrew a bill that would have granted amnesty to some perpetrators of child sexual assault. [Guardian]
- Thousands of protesters in Malaysia demonstrated against the prime minister, resulting in 15 arrests. [Washington Post]
- Authorities have started using tear gas and water cannons against refugee protesters in Bulgaria. [Al Jazeera]
- The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders said this week that travel bans on human rights defenders in Egypt are politically motivated. [OHCHR Press Release]
- Chinese authorities have ordered all residents of Xinjiang, the northwest province of the country that is home to millions of the Uighur minority, to turn in their passports. [Al Jazeera]
- The UN Human Rights Committee found that Sri Lanka unlawfully detained and tortured a Canadian citizen and that the State is obligated to pay him compensation. [Jurist]
- Protesters continued to demonstrate in the United States against the construction of a pipeline through land sacred to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. [Washington Post]
Freedom of Expression
- The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights showed concern this week over the prolonged, incommunicado detention of two journalists in Gambia. [OHCHR Press Release]
- The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression showed concern this week over Turkey’s use of censorship and detention to silence journalists and opposition voices. [OHCHR Press Release]
LGBTIQ Rights
- The UN General Assembly voted down a proposal to suspend the mandate of the first Independent Expert on the protection against violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity. [ILGA]
- The European Court of Human Rights published a Grand Chamber decision this week holding that Turkey violated the right to freedom of expression after a prosecutor seized copies of an LGBT magazine. [ECHR Press Release]
Women’s Rights
- The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences along with other universal and regional human rights bodies called for increased protection, prevention, and prosecution in the context of violence against women. [IACHR Press Release]
- The UN Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women published its concluding observations on Canada, Burundi, Bhutan, Belarus, Argentina, Switzerland, Honduras, Armenia, Bangladesh, Estonia, and the Netherlands. [OHCHR Press Release]
International Criminal Law
- The United States extradited Azra Basic to Bosnia where she is wanted for war crimes. [NY Times]
- Two men suspected of genocide were charged before a Rwandan court this week for genocide, among other charges. [New Times]
- Following the decisions of Gambia, South Africa, and Burundi to leave the International Criminal Court, the ICC’s prosecutor called the decisions to leave “a regression for the continent.” [Washington Post]