News Clips- August 19, 2016

Posted on August 19, 2016 by IJRC

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten

Ahead of a constitutional referendum scheduled for September, Azerbaijani authorities have arrested several activists critical of the government within the last week. [RSF]
In order to make room for civil society members arrested after the coup, Turkey announced that it will release inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses from its prisons. [NYT]
Following the recent re-election of Zambia’s president, the police arrested over 130 people demonstrating against his election. [Al Jazeera]
Guatemalan authorities broke in and ransacked the house of Ramón Cadena Rámila, a human rights attorney and the Central America director of the International Commission of Jurists. [Guardian]
Authorities in Zimbabwe broke up an anti-government protest of about 200 people earlier this week with teargas, a water cannon, and batons. [Guardian]
Amnesty International closed its offices in India this week out of concern for the safety of staff members after demonstrators accused the organization of inciting hatred. [Reuters]

Following recent violence in South Sudan, the former vice-president, Riek Machar, fled in July and is now reported to be in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [BBC]
The UN has deployed forces to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after 36 civilians were killed in Beni. [UN News Centre]

The Inter-American Commission’s former and incoming Executive Secretaries met this week. [IACHR Press Release]
The Inter-American Commission and United Nations experts jointly issued a statement this week on the danger to human rights defenders in Honduras. [IACHR Press Release]
The Inter-American Commission congratulated Costa Rica on its ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance. [IACHR Press Release]

As his term comes to a close, Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, announced that he thinks his successor should be a woman, which would be a first for the UN position. [Al Jazeera]
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities this week concluded its review of Ethiopia and will publish its concluding observations on the State’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on Monday September 5. [OHCHR Press Release]
Two UN special rapporteurs reminded the Philippines this week to protect people from extrajudicial executions after over 850 people have been killed since Rodrigo Duterte was elected president and started his campaign to crackdown on crime. [OHCHR Press Release]

The United States Department of Justice announced this week that the federal government will end its use of privately owned prisons. [Washington Post]
Cambodian plaintiffs have filed suit against United States companies that bought seafood from Thai factories at which the plaintiffs were allegedly forced to work after being trafficked. [Guardian]
The United States government announced the transfer of 15 Guantanamo detainees to the United Arab Emirates. [Al Jazeera]
A Nigerian court is trying 20 soldiers for several offenses, including murder and assault, allegedly committed while fighting Boko Haram. [World Bulletin]
Egypt’s law placing attacks on public buildings and facilities within the jurisdiction of military courts was extended this week for the next five years. [Mada Masr]
After the leak of several reports that revealed the physical and sexual abuse that occurs in offshore detention centers, Australia announced this week that it will close the Manus Island detention center where it holds refugees. [Guardian]

July 2016 was the hottest month on record, and the eight months preceding it broke records for their respective months. [Guardian]
Brazil cancelled plans to build a dam in light of the social and environmental harms that the project was likely to bring about. [Planet Experts]