News Clips- September 2, 2016

September 02, 2016

United Nations human rights experts showed concern for the harassment, detention, and torture of six human rights activists in Sudan who now may also face the death penalty. [OHCHR Press Release]
With tens of millions of workers on strike in India, 150 million people were involved in protests on Friday. [Guardian]
Girls at a high school in Pretoria, South Africa are protesting racist hair policies at their school. [BBC]
Two Muslim prisoners in Uzbekistan died this week with one of the bodies showing signs of torture according to witnesses. [HRW]
Opposition activists were arrested in Venezuela this week ahead of a rally scheduled for later in the week. [Al Jazeera]
Excrement and explosives were thrown at the offices of a Venezuelan newspaper on Tuesday continuing a trend of vandalism at the offices of newspapers in the country. [CPJ]

A former Iraqi soldier has been charged with war crimes in Germany based on a photo of him holding severed heads of Islamic State fighters. [Washington Times]
In an effort to expedite the trial, the prosecution in Bosco Ntaganda’s case before the International Criminal Court plans to reduce the amount of time allotted for examining witnesses and has asked the court to allow prior testimony to be considered instead of asking those witnesses to testify again. [International Justice Monitor]

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recently issued general comments on both the right to education for persons with disabilities and on the need to empower women and girls with disabilities to participate in all aspects of life equally with others. [UN News Centre: Education; UN News Centre: Women and girls]
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights created a joint working group this week in order to address the financial crisis affecting the regional human rights system. [IACHR Press Release]
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights stated this week that while China has made huge strides in alleviating extreme poverty, the country lacks effective accountability mechanisms. [OHCHR Press Release]
The European Court of Human Rights held that Germany violated the right to prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment because, the Court found, the authorities did not adequately assess the state of health and appropriate treatment needed for a prisoner who claimed he needed drug substitution therapy. [ECtHR Press Release]

Gabon’s president, Ali Bongo, was re-elected this week, prompting Jean Ping, an opposition leader, to request a recount. [Al Jazeera]
Israel proposes providing over five million dollars in funding to schools in East Jerusalem but only on the condition that they drop the Palestinian curriculum in favor of the Israeli one. [Al Jazeera]
Uzbekistan’s president, Islam Karimov, died this week without an official successor. [Guardian]
South Korea has reported that North Korea executed the North Korean vice premier for education. [Al Jazeera]

A federal court in the United States voided a judgment this week against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority for the death of the plaintiffs’ family members. [Jurist]
Twelve women have sued the South Korean government claiming that by accepting a settlement with the Japanese government, South Korea is not adequately holding Japan responsible for forcing the women into sexual slavery during World War II. [Al Jazeera]

France announced this week that it would find accommodations for thousands of migrants currently living in Calais, a refugee camp that came into existence after French authorities evicted migrants from other areas. [Guardian]
On Monday, the Italian coastguard conducted 40 different rescue missions, saving approximately 6,500 refugees and migrants. [Al Jazeera]

Pope Francis called for action to fight climate change and emphasized that it affects refugees and the poor the most. [Guardian]
The Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced that the UNEP is willing to partner with companies to address pollution and that the body plans to examine the intersection of environment, conflict, and migration. [UN News Centre]

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, 68 percent of Iraqis who died in August were civilians. [UN News Centre]
The Chinese Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan was bombed on Tuesday, prompting statements from the UN Security Council on protecting diplomatic and consular premises. [UN News Centre]
The United Nations announced this week that over 10 thousand people have died as a result of the ongoing civil war in Yemen. [Reuters]
Fifty-four people died from a car bomb in Aden, Yemen this week. [Al Jazeera]
Myanmar’s ethnic minorities are engaged in peace talks with the government to end ongoing fighting. [Al Jazeera]