News Clips – April 14, 2017

armed conflict, Asia, assembly and association, civil society, European System, immigration & asylum, international human rights, labor rights, migrants, News Clips, regional human rights protection, right to life, thought, expression & association, UN Security Council, UN Special Procedures, Universal system
Russia blocks the adoption of a United Nations Security Council resolution
Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Civil Society

  • This week, Thai authorities warned that the online dissemination of information from two academics and a journalist critical of the government could violate Thailand’s Computer Crime Act. [Guardian]
  • On Wednesday, an Egyptian criminal court sentenced a human rights lawyer to ten years in prison for using Facebook to “harm national unity.” [Washington Post]
  • Last week, a TV reporter in Uganda was kidnapped, threatened, and beaten in relation to her coverage of the president of Uganda’s family. [Reporters Without Borders]
  • Last week, law enforcement officials opened fire on protesters, killing six, as thousands demonstrated at polling stations near Srinagar, India. [Guardian]

Activities of International Bodies

  • On Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russian officials failed to act sufficiently in response to an impending terrorist attack in 2004, which resulted in more than 330 deaths. [New York Times]
  • On Wednesday, Russia vetoed the adoption of a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria and called for an investigation. [UN News Centre]

Violence & Humanitarian Crises

  • Four days of violence in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon resulted in six dead and 35 injured. [Al Jazeera]
  • On Sunday, Egypt declared a state of emergency in response to two attacks, claimed by ISIS, targeting Egypt’s Christian minority; the attacks caused at least 44 deaths and 100 injuries. [Washington Post]
  • On Monday, a large-scale fire broke out across the Dunkirk camp in France leaving 900 refugees and migrants displaced. [Guardian]

European Union

  • On Wednesday, the European Union warned it will take legal action if Poland and Hungary do not receive asylum seekers according to the region’s migration scheme. [Reuters]
  • This week, the European Union extended sanctions, initially applied in 2011, against Iran as a result of alleged human rights violations in the country. [Washington Post]

Trafficking in Persons