Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 26 July

The death toll in Syria's civil war has reached 100,000, the associated refugee crisis is overwhelming the region, and many civilians inside the country are trapped and prevented from getting assistance. The conflict has had multiple knock-on effects, including in Egypt, where police and the military have arrested scores of Syrians fleeing the violence and reportedly threatened them with deportation back to war-torn Syria. Between the Jackboot and the Gun, worrying signs the old police state against which Egyptians rebelled in January 2011 are now firmly running the show. In anticipation of more protests by both supporters of Morsy and his opponents following Friday prayers, HRW had researchers on the ground. In Kenya, some much needed good news as its High Court quashed a government plan to move 55,000 mostly Somali refugees to camps.  In Turkey, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports that "media owners are dismissing their sharpest, most popular journalists to appease government leaders". Today marked the 23rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Despite being a pioneer on disability rights issues, the United States has refused to ratify the UN's treaty and remains an international outlier as more than half the world has signed on. From this morning:  Egypt's own political tensions once again look set to boil over today. Both supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsy and his opponents are expected to organize mass protests today. Morsy himself remains in detention, with new charges announced.