Tag: slavery

Greater Middle East
MBS

Trump dismisses Saudi human rights concerns

President Donald Trump praised Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as “incredible in terms of human rights” during an Oval Office meeting, preemptively deflecting questions about the kingdom’s extensive record of abuses as the crown prince pledged $1 trillion in US investments. The comments came despite weeks of pressure from human rights advocates urging Trump to confront the crown prince over Saudi Arabia’s recent grave abuses, an incomplete list of which is said to include record numbers of executions, torture of dissidents, systematic repression of women, and the killing of hundreds of Ethiopian migrants at the Yemen border. Human Rights Watch pointed out that Trump’s meeting with bin Salman came just five months after Saudi authorities executed journalist Turki al-Jasser, who had been arrested for social media posts critical of the regime in 2018 and charged with “high treason.” Executions in Saudi Arabia are carried out by beheading with a sword. (Photo of Mohammed bin Salman’s 2017 White House visit via Wikimedia Commons)

North Africa
libya

Italy urged to revoke migration pact with Libya

Human Rights Watch called on Italy to end its migration cooperation agreement with Libya, saying the arrangement “has proven to be a framework for violence and suffering, and should be revoked, not renewed.” The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the countries, first signed in February 2017, was part of Italy’s strategy to tighten border control. Under the agreement, Italy has provided technical, logistical and financial support the Libyan Coast Guard, enabling the force to intercept tens of thousands of people at sea and return them to Libya. However, NGOs have documented how intercepted refugees and asylum seekers are routinely detained in inhumane conditions, where they face torture and other degrading treatment. The MoU is up for renewal next month. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

Syria
Alawite protest

Syria: investigate abductions of Alawite women and girls

Amnesty International called on Syria to investigate abductions of Alawite women and girls, and bring perpetrators to justice. Amnesty reported that at least 36 Alawite women and girls, some underage, have been abducted in Latakia, Tartous, Homs and Hama governorates since March, when a wave of violence against the Alawite community began. In some of these cases, the women were abducted “in broad daylight.” Some are believed to have been subject to forced marriages; others have been held for ransom, and in some cases married to their captives despite ransom payments. Amnesty charged that the Syrian authorities have failed to adequately investigate these abductions. (Photo: Protest against the massacre of Syrian Alawites in Washington DC. Credit: VOA via Wikimedia Commons)

Europe
Russian tank

ECHR: a decade of Russian war crimes in Ukraine

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that Russia has committed grave violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) in Ukraine—not just since the massive invasion of 2022, but since the conflict began in 2014. Judges at the ECHR rendered a series of decisions related to consolidated complaints brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands. Among the named violations of IHL are the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, multiple violations of the Geneva Conventions and other human rights treaties, application of “extremism laws” against religious communities, and interference with freedom of speech and the press. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Iraq

Recognition grows for Yazidi genocide

The Swiss parliament officially recognized the atrocities committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) against Iraq’s Yazidi community as constituting genocide. The motion condemns the systematic expulsion, rape and murder of Yazidis, and the destruction of their cultural sites. The majority of the Swiss National Council voted in favor of the bill, with 105 lawmakers supporting recognition of the genocide and 61 opposing it. The parliament’s statement emphasized the need for reparations and justice for survivors. Switzerland joins several other countries and bodies, including the European Parliament and a UN Commission of Inquiry, in recognizing the ISIS crimes against Yazidis as genocide. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Africa
Africa mining

Appeals court dismisses child labor case against Big Tech

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dismissed a child labor case against technology companies and refused to hold them accountable for complicity in the use of children in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Former cobalt miners and their representatives filed a lawsuit against Alphabet (Google), Apple, Dell Technologies, Tesla and Microsoft under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA). The TVPRA penalizes anyone who “knowingly benefits financially from participating in a venture that engaged in trafficking crimes.” They claimed that the companies were involved in a “venture” with their suppliers that engaged in forced labor of children to obtain the metal. The court rejected these claims and dismissed the lawsuit, upholding a lower court’s decision. (Photo via Africa Up Close)

The Andes
Ecuador

UN: poverty, oppression at root of Ecuador crisis

UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty & Human Rights Olivier De Schutter issued a report citing impoverishment and exploitation as the “root cause” of the fast-mounting violence and instability in Ecuador. Criminal groups exploit the desperate while gang wars deepen desperation, in a “vicious cycle linking insecurity and poverty.” Following a 12-day visit to the country, De Schutter warned against a purely militarized response to the crisis that ignores social and economic factors. (Image: Nicolas Raymond via Flickr)

Africa
eritrea

Harsh abuses in Eritrea ‘national service’ program

A report from a UN independent investigator is putting a fresh spotlight on allegations of torture, sexual violence, forced labor, and abusive conditions in Eritrea’s system of compulsory, indefinite national service. The investigator noted that Eritrea has ignored repeated calls to ensure legal limits for national service. Since winning independence from Ethiopia three decades ago, Eritrea has been led by President Isaias Afwerki, who has never held an election. (Map: PCL)

Inner Asia
China prison

Probe corporate profit from Uyghur forced labor

Canada’s Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise has launched an inquiry into accusations over use of Uyghur forced labor in the People’s Republic of China by Western corporations Nike and Dynasty Gold. While the initial evaluation stipulates that Nike has not engaged in the direct use of such labor, the company’s association with Chinese third-party entities does not absolve it of accountability. Vancouver-based Dynasty Gold faces allegations of directly employing coerced labor of Uyghurs at a mining site in China. The initial evaluation finds that the company’s denial of operational control over the mine at Hatu, Xinjiang region, “should not be taken at its face value,” as Dynasty still possess a controlling interest in the operation. (Photo via Bitter Winter)

Africa
South Sudan divisions

UN panel: prosecute South Sudan officers

A panel of UN rights experts named senior officials and military leaders in South Sudan who they say warrant criminal prosecution for their part in grave atrocities against civilians. A year-long investigation by the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan details the involvement of both government and rebel leaders in widespread murder, rape, and sexual slavery. Both military officers and a state governor are identified in the report in relation to state-sanctioned killings and other abuses. (Map: Wikipedia)

North Africa
libya

Libya: ‘crimes against humanity’ —and European complicity

The UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya released a report finding grounds to believe Libyan authorities and armed groups have been responsible for “a wide array” of war crimes and crimes against humanity in recent years. The report further charged that European Union states have been complicit in crimes against humanity by Libyan forces targeting migrants trying to reach Europe. Legally barred from deporting migrants to Libya, EU governments instead give funding and technical aid to the Libyan Coast Guard, which has been accused of widespread “arbitrary detention, murder, torture, rape, enslavement and enforced disappearance” against migrants since 2016. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)