At the end of May, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced the launch of the revised Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016) – an update to the original Minnesota Protocol, which was launched in 1991. [OHCHR Press Release] While the Minnesota Protocol is not a binding legal document, it seeks
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Civil Society On Wednesday, after eight weeks of protests, the death toll in Venezuela rose to 56 people. [LA Times] On Wednesday, anti-government protesters in Brazil set fire to a ministry building, and in response, President Michel Temer gave the army policing power to restore order. [Reuters] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Wednesday, a bombing in Somalia, claimed by al-Shabaab,
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Civil Society On Friday, an estimated 11 activists were detained in Moscow while reading aloud Russia’s constitution. [Guardian] On Wednesday, the government in Venezuela announced it will deploy 2,000 soldiers in response to the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators that have been protesting the government since April. [Guardian] Freedom of Expression & Access to Information On Thursday, independent experts from
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Civil Society On Thursday, five LGBT activists in Russia were detained while trying to submit a petition, requesting an investigation into the crackdown against gay men in Chechnya. [Guardian] On Monday, Xie Yang, a human rights lawyer in China, was tried for inciting state subversion. [Guardian] This week, the President of Tunisia deployed the army to protect businesses from sit-ins,
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Due to “serious concerns” about Turkey’s compliance with its human rights obligations and the erosion of democratic institutions and functions, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decided in a resolution issued last week to reinstate Turkey into its monitoring procedure, a process by which PACE ensures Council of Europe Member States are in compliance with their human
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Civil Society On Thursday, Palestinians organized a strike, which closed down schools, institutions, and transportation, to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strikes in Israeli jails. [Al Jazeera] On Thursday, 30 people in Turkey were detained and charged with membership in an armed terror organization as a result of their ties to a newspaper that was run by a
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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
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Recently, Venezuela’s Supreme Court made strides towards consolidating authority by claiming legislative power, prompting Venezuelans to protest and regional and universal stakeholders to condemn the actions of the Venezuelan government and offer their visions for response efforts. The Chief Justice later announced that the Supreme Court’s initial March 29, 2017 decision does not strip the legislature – which is seen as
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Civil Society This week, authorities in Chechnya, Russia initiated an anti-gay campaign that resulted in more than 100 detentions and three deaths. [Guardian] On Friday, two women’s rights activists in China, who were originally detained in 2014 for supporting pro-democracy protests, were convicted of inciting subversion of state power. [Washington Post] Thousands participated in protests in Serbia this week to
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Civil Society This week, hundreds of people in Johannesburg, South Africa protested recent xenophobic attacks. [Al Jazeera] On Tuesday, 17 anti-deportation protesters locked themselves to an aircraft due to remove asylum seekers from the United Kingdom to Nigeria and Ghana. [Guardian] Lawyers and activists allege Russian authorities in Crimea are detaining and abusing human rights activists in psychiatric hospitals. [Guardian]
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