Stories about Human Rights from January, 2022
Jerusalem Christians: ‘We shrunk from 20% to 2% of population due to Israeli violence’
Church leaders in Jerusalem referred in a statement to "organized and systematic" physical and verbal assaults against priests, attacks on churches, and acts of desecration and vandalism on sanctities and holy sites.
COVID-19: You can’t have a recovery using the same bad medicine
A new collaborative report attempts to piece together the “missing receipts” from the IFI-supported COVID-19 response, documents several shortcomings, and raises critical questions for the ongoing pandemic response.
Azerbaijan is silent as other nations announce plans to boycott the Beijing Olympics
The country's leadership and its National Olympic Committee have remained notably silent when discussing the host country's dismal human rights record.
To flee or not to flee? That is the question in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankans are facing the bleak prospect of a full-blown economic crisis, and one in four, mainly the young and educated, say they want to leave the country.
‘Rebel’ candidates risk it all: Elections in Bangladesh
Electoral violence in fact has flared up within the ranks of the Awami League itself, as prospective candidates compete to be nominated by the party.
Tennis star Peng Shuai and Professor Gulnar Obul: From captives to actors
The fate of a tennis star and a professor who had criticized the Chinese leadership showed a similar pattern. The critique turned into a forced public support.
The issue of the Jamaican police allegedly cutting a young woman's dreadlocks remains unresolved
"Ms. King is symbolic of the ‘have nots;’ in Jamaica, who continue to be neglected and whose human rights are so often disregarded and abused."
Philippines’s new vaccine mandate decried as punitive and anti-poor
"This measure is punitive. The low vaccination rate should not be blamed on the people especially if supplies are not always available."
Why a writer is on trial for calling Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s son obese
An unapologetic critic of the Museveni government, Kakwenza rose to prominence in April 2020 when he was arrested and detained for a week by Uganda’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence.
Media crackdown continues ahead of coup anniversary in Myanmar
"He is the third journalist to be killed in Myanmar in less than a month, in a sign of the absolutely unacceptable practices increasingly employed by the junta."
Internet watchdog finds encryption flaw in mandatory Chinese Olympic app
Athletes, journalists and all other attendees of the Beijing Winter Olympics are required to use the My2022 app but data submitted through the app may be intercepted.
Police violently break up Afghan refugee protest in Indonesia
Some refugees in Indonesia have been in limbo for more than 10 years. Protesters gathered outside the UNHCR building in Medan to call for resettlement and demand better living conditions.
Twitter's deal with Nigerian government sacrifices digital rights
Considering the Nigerian government’s temperamental past, violation of citizens' online freedom of expression will be much easier because Twitter is now a registered and taxable company under Nigerian laws.
Bulli Bai, Sulli Deals cases highlight rising communal misogyny in India
More than a hundred Muslim women in India woke up to find themselves up for auction on an app on the morning of January 1, 2022. It has since been taken down.
‘I didn't ask for it!': Four women fighting against gender-based violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The spontaneous decision to host a page where women would anonymously share their experiences of sexual assault and harassment has received a response far beyond anything the activists expected.
Syrian survivors of torture rejoice over German court indicting ex-intelligence officer
Raslan was found guilty of killing over 30 people, and torturing thousands between 2011 and 2012, when he was head of investigations in a notorious prison.
In Georgia, six months after the tragic death of journalist, authorities blame drug overdose
The same day, authorities claimed Lashkarava died from drug overdose, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added Laskharava's name to its observatory of killed journalists in 2021.
Iranians demand justice on anniversary of airplane downing
Protesters in Tehran and Toronto, where many of the victims lived, called for justice against those responsible, as April's court ruling did not reveal identities, ranks or punishments of those convicted.
Erdoğan and the AKP's war with art and culture
In the years since the ascent to power, President Erdoğan's, ruling, Justice and Development Party (AKP) has slowly taken under its control much of the country's art and culture scene.
Trinidad and Tobago residents’ response to proposed amendments to fireworks legislation? Enforce existing laws
"As it stands, the draft fireworks bill is unacceptable. According to one source, the draft sounds like it was written by the sellers of fireworks themselves."
The long-lasting conundrum in Tajikistan's Pamir region
A violent clash between the police and local protesters in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region have deep roots in tense center–periphery relations in Tajikistan
