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We’re about to take an end-of-year break for a couple weeks. The Daily Brief will be back on January 8.
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading and sharing this newsletter every day over the course of 2023. You’ve helped us grow our audience significantly – I’m happy to see it and grateful for your support.
I’d like to close out the year with a selection of stories from 2023. This is a mix of topics and articles most clicked on by readers, as well as some staff picks. It was a tough year for human rights, but there were some positives too.
Russia’s Mass Child Abductions in Ukraine: In its atrocity-ridden invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been abducting large numbers of children from occupied areas. The silver lining is the International Criminal Court indicted Putin for it, and that indictment is having some impact already.
Horror for Horror in Gaza: I’ve written about Gaza in this Daily Brief some 20 times over the past two and a half months, but it all really comes down to this, a lesson for all sides in all conflicts everywhere, from my October 9 edition: their atrocities do not justify your atrocities.
Stop Tiptoeing around Terror in Darfur: We’ve seen months of horrific crimes, including ethnically targeted mass killings, sexual violence, and even the destruction of entire towns by the Rapid Support Forces and its allied militias. But the world is still doing very little to stop Darfur’s downward spiral.
Where Peace Is Not Peace and Justice Is Not Justice: The two main warring parties in the Tigray region of Ethiopia agreed on a “cessation of hostilities” deal last year, but atrocities continue.
The World Lets Saudi Arabia Get Away with Murder: Five years ago, Saudi agents brutally murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate. The killing has become a symbol of a Saudi state that is rampantly abusive at home and abroad – and a symbol of how other governments look away from Saudi crimes.
Europe’s “Let Them Die” Policy: Mass drownings of asylum seekers at sea are to the EU what mass shootings are to the US. It keeps happening. And every time it happens, politicians pretend to be concerned, yet keep in place the government policies at the root of the problem. So, people keep dying.
The Most Serious Women’s Rights Crisis in the World: Since taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have crushed the rights of Afghan women and girls. The list of Taliban abuses against them is long and grim.
Beijing’s Abuses in Xinjiang: China’s repression in the western region, including mass surveillance, continue. Governments like those in the EU could do more but prefer pointless box-ticking exercises on human rights instead.
China’s Social Media Threat: The ruling Chinese Communist Party controls all Chinese social media companies. And you’re not safe even outside China.
We Are All Gardi Sugdub: We took on the climate crisis many times in this newsletter in 2023, but no story was as front-line as this one. The people on a low-lying island off the coast of Panama are face-to-face with rising sea levels.
Scorecard on Children’s Rights in the US: Of the 50 states in the US, how many meet international children’s rights standards? None. Still, we saw some improvements in some states compared with last year’s scorecard.
Lessons from a Toxic Train: A rail disaster in the US state of Ohio was yet another warning about humanity’s poisonous addiction to both fossil fuels and plastics.
No Safe Place for Your Face? There is no safe-use case for facial recognition surveillance technology on our streets or at our borders. Some authorities may finally be getting the message.
Let’s Talk about Torture: Everyone agrees torture is wrong – not to mention illegal and ineffective. So, why do some governments still use torture?
What Unites Humanity? On the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I was asked whether the landmark document still matters. My answer: it matters when we make it matter.
Want more? This is only a small sample. See our Daily Brief archive for all our past editions.
