Corrections

An earlier version of this publication:

• Incorrectly said that posts by Yuri Pavlovets, Dmitri Alimkin, and Sergei Shiptenko speculated that Belarus faced a threat from Russia similar to the Russian intervention in Ukraine. 
• Incorrectly stated that it was while they were giving their lecture that Pavel Nikulin and Jan Potarsky were arrested.
• Stated that Kanstantin Zhukouski’s attackers had stopped his car. This detail has now been omitted.
• Incorrectly identified Anatol Bukas as chief editor of Naviny.by. 
• Did not note in response to the fake bomb message falsely attributed to Andrei Pavuk, staff were evacuated from a local government building. This detail has been added.

In the initial publication of this report on May 2, 2019, Human Rights Watch stated that the IJOP app used a “facial recognition functionality by Face++” to “check whether the photo on the ID matches the person’s face or for cross-checking pictures on two different documents.”  Megvii, the owner of Face++, told Human Rights Watch on May 1, 2019 that it had no relationship with IJOP, a statement we included in our report. Megvii contacted Human Rights Watch again on May 27, telling us that the Face++ account contained in the IJOP application code was never actively used, based on their own analysis of their access logs.  Human Rights Watch has since confirmed that the Face++ code in the IJOP app, which was in the log-in function, was inoperable. We are grateful to Brunswick Group, which speaks for Megvii, for calling this to our attention. As Face++ seems not to have collaborated in the version of the IJOP app Human Rights Watch examined, we have decided not to highlight its name in our recommendation section, although we believe our recommendations are pertinent to any company providing public security technology operating in Xinjiang.

On April 15, 2019, a woman was stabbed and killed as she resisted a rape attempt in Chattogram district. The date was misstated in an earlier version of this news release.

An earlier version of this press release incorrectly stated that the punishment imposed for lesbian sex was 100 lashes with a whip. The actual punishment is 40 lashes.

An earlier version of this press release incorrectly reported abortion as a crime punishable by death by stoning. Abortion is punishable by fine and imprisonment. 

University officials gave the 18 students who publish Suara USU (USU News) just 48 hours to shut down and vacate the newsroom. The number of students who write for Suara USU was misstated in an earlier version of this article. 

Update: In July 2019, the Suara USU publisher Yael Stefany Sinaga and chief editor Widiya Hastuti filed a lawsuit against USU university president, Runtung Sitempu, challenging the closure of Suara USU. On November 14, the Medan administrative court rejected the lawsuit, ruling that the university president has authority over education, research and public services on the campus.

The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5) has removed “gender identity disorder” as a diagnosis. The organization’s name was misstated in an earlier version of this article. 

The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders removed “gender identity disorder” as a diagnosis in 2012. The organization’s name was misstated in an earlier version of this article. 

PLAN OF ACTION: TWENTY STEPS FOR A FAIR AND PREDICTABLE RESCUE SYSTEM IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

We have corrected the online version of this advocacy document to reflect that recommendations on temporary arrangements for disembarking and relocating in Europe people rescued at sea reflect and endorse recommendations previously made by the European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE).

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Letter to Minister Carmen Daniela Dan

We have corrected the online version of this letter to reflect that recommendations on temporary arrangements for disembarking and relocating in Europe people rescued at sea reflect and endorse recommendations previously made by the European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE).

A previous version of this dispatch incorrectly stated that under the UAE’s penal code, husbands had a legal right to beat or use other forms of punishment or coercion against their wives.  However, following amendments in 2016, the UAE’s penal code no longer explicitly allows for it.

“Contrary to what Human Rights Watch reported,  the authorities arrested and prosecuted the alleged assailants along with A.F., the complainant. The court sentenced all three on February 11 to six months in prison for “sodomy” under article 230 of the penal code. It also sentenced the alleged assailants to an additional two months for robbery and violence. According to one defense lawyer, A.F. retracted his allegation of rape, both during his interrogation at the police station and during his appearance before the judge. He also denied having any sexual intercourse with the two men. The defense lawyer told Human Rights Watch that A.F. said prosecutors forced him to undergo an anal examination to determine whether he had been raped. A.F. is appealing his conviction.”