News Clips – December 23, 2016

Posted on December 23, 2016 by IJRC

UN Security Council votes on placing an arms embargo on South Sudan
Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

This week, Human Rights Watch reported that police officers regularly mistreat prisoners in India through the use of torture and the failure to bring detainees before a judge soon after arrest. [Washington Post]
On Wednesday, a civil society organization reported escalated violence against human rights defenders in Guatemala, including 14 murders and seven attempted murders this year. [FIDH]
After reports of attacks on Cameroonian protestors who are demonstrating against the marginalization of English speakers in the country, two UN Special Rapporteurs urged the government to investigate into the use of excessive force against peaceful protestors. [OHCHR Press Release]
This week in the Democratic Republic of Congo, over 20 protestors have been killed by security forces while demonstrating against Joseph Kabila’s refusal to leave the office of the president. [BBC]
On Monday, Poland’s Law and Justice party dropped its plan to impose restrictions on media access after protestors took to the streets. [International Business Times]

Last Friday, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees pledged an increase in support for the nearly 100,000 displaced refugees fleeing conflict in Mosul. [UN News Centre]
Thousands of “smog refugees” fled the pollution in north China, after the most recent “airpolcalyse” last Friday. [Guardian]
The United Nations Peacebuilding Fund announced on Tuesday that it will give $3 million to a new peacebuilding project to relocate Somali refugees. [UN News Centre]
In a report on human trafficking, a civil society organization this week called on the Irish government to identify and protect trafficking victims. [Guardian]

On Monday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a French-led resolution to monitor and observe evacuations in Aleppo. [UN News Centre]
This week the government of Saudi Arabia confirmed for the first time its use of United Kingdom-supplied cluster munitions in Yemen. [Guardian; Al Jazeera]
On Sunday, a suicide bomber killed at least 52 soldiers and policemen in Yemen a week after a similar bombing killed more than 50 soldiers. [Washington Post]
Seven militants died due to fighting with special forces in Chechnya over the weekend. [New York Times]
On Monday, the Russian Ambassador was assassinated by a Turkish police officer at an art gallery in Ankara over fighting in Syria. [Washington Post]
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch reported that fighters with the Islamic State indiscriminately attacked civilians in eastern Mosul in the last two months. [HRW]

Amnesty International recently reported that the government of Myanmar’s conduct against the minority Rohingya Muslims possibly amounts to crimes against humanity. [Guardian]
According to a court document released earlier this week, the Extraordinary African Chambers will hear the appeal of former leader of Chad, Hissene Habre, in January relating to his conviction for war crimes and crimes against humanity. [Yahoo News]
On Wednesday, the UN General Assembly adopted a proposal to create an “international, impartial and independent mechanism,” to prepare cases relating to atrocities in Syria. [New York Times; HRW]

On Tuesday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for an investigation into the murders committed by Philippines’ President Duterte. [UN News Centre]
This week, the UN Secretary General issued a plea to the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan to prevent genocide in the country, but the Security Council voted down the resolution to do so. [Guardian; UN News and Media]
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights welcomes comments on its preliminary report, “Poverty, Extreme Poverty, and Human Rights in the Americas,” through January 31, 2017. [OAS Press Release]
On Monday, the UN General Assembly rejected an amendment that would have stopped the work of the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. [ISHR]
The Court of Justice of the European Union held on Wednesday that the “general and indiscriminate retention,” of emails and electronic communications by governments is illegal. [Jurist]

On Monday, an administrative agency in the United States adopted a rule protecting streams by requiring coal mining companies to avoid practices that pollute streams, destroy drinking water, and threaten forests. [Washington Post]
This week, environmental and indigenous rights groups protested proposed bills in Brazil that would, critics of the bill allege, harm indigenous territories and hinder the country’s ability to meet its commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris agreement. [Guardian]

On Monday, United States President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 153 federal inmates and issued 78 presidential pardons. [Guardian]
This week, Cambodia renewed an agreement to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to keep an office in the country for another two years. [ABC News]