detention

Central America

Honduras implements ‘Crime Solution Plan’

The National Defense & Security Council of Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced a sweeping plan to crack down on crime and safeguard public security. The Crime Solution Plan calls on the Defense and Security secretaries to immediately execute interventions in municipalities with the highest incidence of major gang-related crimes, such as assassination, extortion, kidnapping, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and money laundering. The plan additionally calls for construction of an Emergency Detention Center with a capacity for 20,000 prisoners. Finally, the plan directs the National Congress to reform the Penal Code to classify those who commit major gang-related crimes as “terrorists,” and mandate pretrial detention for those who commit such crimes. (Photo via OHCHR)

Syria

Syrian refugees face illegal ‘push-backs’

The Cyprus spokesperson for the United Nations Refugee Agency, Emilia Strovolidou, has urged the country to stop forcibly pushing away Syrian refugee boats arriving from Lebanon, a practice that violates international human rights law and the principle of non-refoulement. Strovolidou accused Cyprus authorities of using “violent” tactics to “destabilize” boats in order to thwart refugees from arriving on the island’s shores. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch says Lebanese authorities have “arbitrarily detained, tortured, and forcibly returned Syrians to Syria in recent months.” (Photo: Syrian refugees arriving in Lesvos, Greece. Greek authorities have also been accused of push-backs. Via Wikimedia Commons)

Palestine

Netanyahu orders ‘evacuation’ of southern Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to draw up plans for the “evacuation” of Palestinians from Rafah in southern Gaza as it prepares to launch a full-scale assault on the area. Where people would be evacuated to—and how—remains unclear. Over one million Palestinians forcibly displaced by Israel’s military campaign—now entering its fifth month—have been pushed into Rafah. Aid groups warn that there is nowhere left for people to flee to. People in Rafah are already experiencing disease and starvation, and aid operations are struggling to meet even basic needs. A ground invasion would “exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. (Photo: Yousef Hammash/NRC)

Palestine

UN experts call for Gaza war crimes investigation

UN experts called for prompt, transparent and independent investigations into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the Gaza Strip, since Israel’s new military offensive began last month. “Independent investigators must be given the necessary resources, support and access required to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into crimes allegedly committed by all parties to the conflict,” the experts said, calling on Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the de facto authorities in Gaza to cooperate fully with investigations. (Photo: Maan News Agency)

East Asia

China expands mosque closure campaign

The Chinese government has increased mosque closures in northern Ningxia region and Gansu province, home to significant populations of Hui Muslims, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. The campaign of closures marks an expansion of the policy beyond the Uyghur people of Xinjiang region. Officially termed “consolidation,” the campaign calls for shutting down mosques or modifying their architectural features to align with more typically Chinese aesthetics. The Hui, a distinctive ethno-religious group in China numbering over 10 million, are now at the forefront of concerns regarding the government’s broader campaign to “consolidate” mosques. (Photo: Zhuxian mosque, Henan province, by Sarkis Pogossian)

Syria

World Court censures Syria for torture

The International Court of Justice at The Hague issued an interim order directing the Syrian government to “take all measures within its powers” to prevent torture. This development stems from a case brought by the Netherlands and Canada, accusing Syria of engaging in a prolonged campaign of torture of its own citizens. The court’s order seeks to safeguard potential victims as the case proceeds. Syria is accused of breaching the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. (Photo: ICJ)

Europe

Italy in deal to hold asylum-seekers in Albania

Italy and Albania announced an agreement that would see asylum-seekers intercepted at sea by Italian forces taken to Albania while their claims are processed. Italy is to pay for construction of two centers in Albania with the capacity to hold up to 3,000 migrants at a time. If Italy rejects the asylum bids, Albania would deport the migrants. Albania is also to provide external security for the two centers, which would be under Italian jurisdiction. Some experts question whether the plan is legal, and say it follows a worrying trend of European countries seeking to “externalize” migrant processing to third countries. (Photo: US Navy via Wikimedia Commons)

Iraq

‘ISIS-linked’ families repatriated to Iraq from Syria

Iraq has taken in 192 families from Syria’s al-Hol camp that houses persons accused of having links to the Islamic State (ISIS). A total of 780 individuals were returned to Iraq and will be placed in al-Jadaa Center for Community Rehabilitation in Nineveh province. The families are to remain at al-Jadaa camp until they are given clearance from the Interior Ministry to return to their homes and issued identification documents. Al-Hol camp, overseen by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is located in northeast Syria’s Hasaka province and houses over 50,000 supposedly ISIS-linked persons. (Photo: SOHR)

North America

US to settle class-action suit on family separation

The US government announced that it will settle a 2018 class-action lawsuit that challenged the Trump administration’s family separation practice at the US-Mexico border. The proposed settlement would create a process to reunify families who were separated. Additionally, the government is to provide health services and housing support for affected families, and arrange legal services through the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Another provision of the deal bars the federal government from immigration policies that separate parents from children for eight years. The settlement does not provide any monetary relief for affected people. (Photo: BBC World Service via Flickr)

Central Asia

PRC officials sanctioned over Tibet assimilation policy

The US Department of State has announced visa restrictions on Chinese officials linked to the systematic “forced assimilation” of over a million Tibetan children in state-operated boarding schools. In 2021, a policy pivot in Beijing’s approach to educating children from minority peoples became evident with the release of the National Program for Child Development (2021-2030). The earlier policy document on the question emphasized the need to “respect and protect the rights of children of ethnic minorities to be educated in their own language.” However, this phrase was omitted in the updated version, with the emphasis instead on “promoting the common national language.” This alteration suggests a shift toward a more centralized program of Mandarin-language instruction for ethnic minority students. (Photo: GerdEichmann/Wikimedia Commons)

Afghanistan

UN human rights office: Taliban not ‘reformed’

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a statement condemning the idea that the Taliban are “reformed” since the last time they were in power in Afghanistan. The statement, written by multiple human rights experts, drew attention to the gap between the promises made by the Taliban upon its return to power in August 2021 and the reality of “gender apartheid” in Afghanistan. (Photo: Milad Hamadi/Tasnim News Agency via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa

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)

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