torture/ill-treatment
Monday 12.10.2020 Indonesia - Latest Developments -
Arbitrary arrests, excessive force, attacks on media in mass protests in Indonesia against jobs law
As workers and students rallied across Indonesia against a controversial job creation law, civil society groups have documented arbitrary arrests, excessive use force against protesters and journalists and inhuman and degrading treatment against protesters while detained Read more
Tuesday 6.10.2020 China - Latest Developments -
China deploys security law against Hong Kong activists as persecution of critics and Uighurs persist
Since June 2020, the authorities have passed a draconian security law in Hong Kong that they have started to use to prosecute activists and critics. Twelve Hong Kong activists who attempted to flee Hong Kong were arrested in August 2020 and are being held incommunicado in mainland China. Critics of President Xi are being arrested and prosecuted while two Australian foreign correspondents have been forced to leave China. In September 2020, Hong Kong authorities arrested high profile activist Joshua Wong for taking part in protests while a new report said that China has built nearly 400 internment camps in the Xinjiang region. Read more
Saturday 3.10.2020 Nigeria - Latest Developments -
Journalists attacked while covering protests
On 1 October, Nigeria celebrated 60 years of independence. On the day of the country's anniversary, the Coalition for Revolution (CORE) organised protests across the country under the campaign #RevolutionNow. Demonstrators gathered to express discontent over issues of poor governance and increases in electricity and fuel prices. During the protests, police assaulted a photojournalist with Punch newspaper and arrested up to 60 demonstrators. Read more
Monday 28.9.2020 Nicaragua - Latest Developments -
Proposed Foreign Agents Law would expand government control over civil society in Nicaragua
On 22nd September 2020, legislators of Nicaragua’s governing party presented a bill that would require individuals, businesses and civil society organisations that receive funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents”. Read more | Read in Spanish
Wednesday 23.9.2020 Colombia - Latest Developments -
Colombia on alert with increasing massacres, social leaders killed and repression of protests
In the span of two weeks in August 2020, there were at least seven massacres in Colombia. The violence left at least 39 people dead, among them many young people and children. Read more | Read in Spanish
Monday 21.9.2020 North Korea - Latest Developments -
UN condemns North Korea for denial of freedoms through ‘absolute monopoly on information’
Over the last few months, new surveillance cameras were installed on the border with China while the UN reported that scores of North Korean women who had travelled abroad for work were abused by security officials and police. Defectors also continued to face systematic harassment through calls and texts Read more
Thursday 17.9.2020 Cuba - Latest Developments -
Protest against police killing suppressed in Cuba and Sunflower Uprising proceeds despite repression
Several political dissidents and protesters were detained for supporting and participating in activities of a peaceful day of protest, the “Revolución de los Girasoles” (“Sunflower Uprising”) convened on 8th September 2020 by Unión Patriótica de Cuba (UNPACU). Read more | Read in Spanish
Wednesday 16.9.2020 India - Latest Developments -
Activists, academics and journalists in India face judicial harassment despite pandemic
The Narendra Modi government has continued its persecution of human rights defenders, activists, student leaders and journalists. Political activists and student leaders continue to be the government’s prime targets, with some detained under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and for sedition. A raging pandemic and national lockdown has not stopped the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from making more arrests in the controversial Bhima Koregaon case of 2018. Human rights groups have continued to remain concerned about violations in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
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Monday 14.9.2020 Argentina - Latest Developments -
Argentina’s former government accused of spying on journalists, civil society leaders and others
In early June 2020, a federal prosecutor conducting an audit of Argentina’s Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) presented evidence to the Eleventh Federal Criminal and Correctional Court, which indicated that the agency had conducted illegal espionage during the administration of former president Mauricio Macri. Read more | Read in Spanish
Wednesday 2.9.2020 Laos - Latest Developments -
Lao activist Muay in jail for nearly a year while still no justice for 2018 dam collapse
Activist Houayheuang Xayabouly has spent nearly a year in prison. Two years after the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy dam collapsed, victims are still waiting for truth, justice and reparations. Civil society groups have continued to raise concerns about new dams being built and their impact on the environment and communities. A protester detained from Xiengda village in Vientiane’s Saysettha district in March 2020 remains in jail. Read more
