News Clips- July 29, 2016

Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society

• UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, recently stated that the rights to freedom of association and of assembly are hindered by racial inequality in the United States. [OHCHR Press Release]
• Experts on freedom of expression from both the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe warned that the recent crackdown on journalists and media outlets in Turkey does not meet international standards. [OHCHR Press Release]
• Demonstrators in Zimbabwe protested the vice president’s decision to live in a luxury hotel since December 2014 despite the ongoing economic crisis in the country. [NYTimes]

Detention and Abuse

• Turkish government has denied allegations that detainees arrested after the attempted coup have been verbally and physically abused. [Washington Post]
• The prime minister of Australia started a public inquiry following the release of footage of children being abused in Australian detention facilities. [The Guardian]

Conflict and Humanitarian Crises

• The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan recently released a report on civilian casualties in Afghanistan, finding that there were 5,166 civilian casualties within the first six months of this calendar year. [Al Jazeera]
• Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called for peace talks and an end to the violence that were a result of the recent communist revolution. [Al Jazeera]
• A newly created three-person commission created by the UN Human Rights Council to report on the human rights situation in South Sudan started their work this week and plan to visit South Sudan in September 2016. [OHCHR Press Release]
• Al-Shabaab suicide bombings near both the African Union building and the Mogadishu airport targeted UN offices and a Somali army checkpoint and killed 13 people. [The Guardian]
• Venezuelan citizens continue to flood into Colombia to purchase as many basic goods as they can during limited border openings. [Washington Post]

International Bodies’ Activities

• The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released a statement on the recently created LGBTI Core Group, which will help implement OAS mandates on issues of human rights in the context of sexual orientation and gender identity. [IACHR Press Release]
• The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights referred a case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that involves the killing of three family members in Colombia due to the coordination between Colombian security forces and an armed group. [IACHR Press Release]
• UN Generally Assembly passed a resolution to make the International Organization for Migration a UN related body. [UN News Centre]
• The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights appointed Paulo Abrão, law professor from Brazil, as the new Executive Secretary. [IACHR Press Release]

International Criminal Law

• Following his recent conviction for crimes against humanity, Hissene Habre, the former leader of Chad, must pay millions of dollars to the victims according to a recent court order. [BBC]
• The UN Special Representative to Afghanistan stated that two recent ISIS suicide bombings at peaceful demonstrations are war crimes. [The Jurist]