Victory for LGBT Rights in Chile: Daily Brief
- Chile becomes 31st country to adopt marriage equality.
- Artists around the world call on Cuba to protect free speech.
- A recommendation for Germany's new government.
- Syria-Russia attack hit homes and schools.
- Uzbekistan should keep promises to advance human rights.
- UK Border Bill could criminalize refugees.
- India security forces kill 14 people.
- Australia backs Beijing Olympics boycott.
After years of advocacy by activists, Chile has adopted marriage equality! The new law bans discrimination of same-sex couples who want to be parents through adoption or assisted reproductive technology. In the region, Chile joins Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Uruguay in providing access to marriage for same-sex couples.
Over 300 artists from around the globe, including Meryl Streep, Paul Auster, Yotuel, Orhan Pamuk, Elena Poniatowska, Badiucao, Isabel Allende, Zadie Smith, J. M. Coetzee, Jules Feiffer and Khaled Hosseini are calling on Cuba to respect artists’ rights. Cuba routinely censors and detains artists who critique the government, forcing many of them to flee the country.
Over 100 countries back a proposal to waive complex patent rules that prevent wider production of Covid-19 vaccines globally. As Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel stood in the way of this waiver at the World Trade Organization, making it harder for the world’s poor to swiftly get vaccines, treatments, and testing kits. The new German government under Olaf Scholz, who formally became chancellor today, should reverse that policy and lead the EU in supporting the waiver.
The Syrian-Russian military alliance fired shells into the town of Ariha in Idlib governorate in October, killing 12 civilians and injuring 24 people. This attack hit homes, stores, schools, and markets. Syria and Russia appear to have violated the laws of war with deadly consequences for civilians.
Uzbekistan’s ambassador in Geneva was this week elected as one of the vice presidents for 2022 of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). While Uzbekistan has engaged more positively with the UN in recent years, its human rights record remains dismal.
If passed, an inhumane UK border bill would criminalize asylum seekers and create offshore asylum prisons. This could leave refugees without protection, punishing them trying to escape desperate situations.
India’s security forces recently killed 14 people in Nagaland State. The Ministry of Home Affairs pledged to investigate the killings, but the law protects soldiers from prosecution. Unless this law is repealed, there can be no justice for victims.
And finally, Australia has backed a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics citing China’s human rights violations. The US announced earlier this week that it would not send diplomats to the games.