Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 20 August

Across Indonesia, religious minorities, including several Protestant groups, Shia, and the Ahmadiyah, are targets of harassment, intimidation, threats and, increasingly, acts of mob violence. The Indonesian government is failing to protect these groups from growing religious violence. Human Rights Watch documented a steady increase in such attacks in February: There are signs that the Indonesian government may finally be recognizing the seriousness of these abuses, but Yudhoyono needs to translate these concerns into action. Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip should halt the planned execution of a prisoner who was a child at the time of a capital offense and institute a moratorium on the death penalty. Abu Aliyan was 14 at the time of one of the crimes, and his lawyer told Human Rights Watch that he had confessed under torture. Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) described their decision to leave Somalia as "one of the most painful decisions in MSF history". Throughout Somalia’s decades-long conflict, Human Rights Watch has documented serious abuses such as murder, rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, and looting by all sides. In Cambodia,  Hun Sen intends to remain in power, and after 28 years, he is now the world’s fifth longest serving leader, hardly a strong advertisement for pluralism and democracy. In Kenya, the childbirth 'disease of poverty', obstetric fistula, can lead to disability and despair. But if the causes are properly addressed, it is preventable. This morning's brief referenced media reports that the US is temporarily halting military aid to Egypt pending a review. White House spokesperson Josh Earnest subsequently stated that these reports were inaccurate and that the administration was still reviewing its options.