After cracking down on media outlets and independent groups relentlessly in recent months, Russia may now have set its eye on silencing Twitter as well. While world attention has understandably focused on the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the Kremlin’s vicious campaign at home has escalated largely unnoticed, and the space for independent civic activity is shrinking dramatically.
A judge in Khartoum, Sudan, has sentenced a pregnant 27 year old, Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, to death for the crime of “apostasy,” and to 100 lashings for “adultery.” These convictions and harsh sentences fly in the face of Sudanese and international law, and point to Sudan’s continuing discrimination against religious minorities and women’s rights.Amid homophobic rhetoric in and around the continent, African voices of moderation, understanding, and empathy are not being heard. As the world marks the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17, Human Rights Watch’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights program presents a compilation of affirmative statements from prominent African politicians, academics, authors, religious leaders, and activists.
Hundreds of attacks on health workers have occurred around the world since 2012, Human Rights Watch and the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition said in a joint report released today.
