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☆ Burkina Faso army executed over 220 villagers in February, HRW says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters —Burkina Faso’s military in February summarily executed about 223 villagers, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with jihadist militants, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday. The spokesperson for the Burkina Faso government did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on the HRW report. Retaliatory attacksRights groups have previously accused the military in junta-ruled Burkina Faso of attacking and killing civilians suspected of collaborating with militants in retaliatory operations. Burkina Faso is one of several Sahel nations that have been struggling to contain Islamist insurgencies linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that have spread from neighboring Mali since 2012, killing thousands and displacing millions. Frustrations over authorities’ failure to protect civilians have contributed to two coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso and one in Niger since 2020.

Persons: Witnesses, HRW, Tirana Hassan, Mali’s Organizations: Reuters, Burkina, jihadist, Human Rights Watch, Ouahigouya, HRW, Facebook, Burkina Faso, Authorities, Rights Watch, Burkinabe, African Union, United Nations, Islamic Locations: Burkina Faso’s, Yatenga, Burkina Faso, Komsilga, Burkina, Nodin, Soro, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Mali, Niger

CNN —Saudi border guards killed “hundreds” of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers crossing the Yemen-Saudi border between March 2022 and June 2023, Human Rights Watch alleged in a report released Monday. Several videos purportedly recorded near an informal migrant camp appear to show Saudi border guard posts, and newly constructed fences next to one. “Saudi border guards have used explosive weapons indiscriminately and shot people at close range, including women and children, in a pattern that is widespread and systematic. But despite a reduction in abuses, human rights groups say violence has continued, and some migrants HRW interviewed said they had fled because of the recent conflict. Interviewees described being attacked by Saudi border guards, describing their uniforms and describing the explosive weapons being “like a bomb.”“We were fired on repeatedly.

Persons: HRW, ” HRW, ” Organizations: CNN, Human Rights Watch, HRW, Maxar Technologies CNN, Saudi, Human Rights, Reuters, United Nations Locations: Saudi, Yemen, Al Raqw, Horn of Africa, Aden, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia’s, Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, Djibouti, Houthi, Saada, United States, Iran

The Massalit and other non-Arab communities are often targeted by Arab militias, supported by the RSF, the report said. “Many of these abuses committed in the context of the armed conflict in Sudan amount to war crimes,” HRW’s report said. Satellite imagery and fire detection data shows that six other towns and villages in West Darfur, including Molle, Murnei, and Gokor, were also burned down, according to the report. Since then, West Darfur has seen widespread violence and reports of atrocities committed by RSF fighters and their allied militias. “Since the conflict in Sudan broke out in April, some of the worst atrocities have been in West Darfur,” HRW senior crisis and conflict researcher Jean-Baptiste Gallopin said.

Persons: Massalit, ”, Misterei, Misterei’s, Witnesses, HRW’s, “, RSF, Jean, Baptiste Gallopin, Gallopin, ” Gallopin, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Chad ”, CNN geolocated, Darfur’s Murnei Organizations: CNN, Human Rights Watch, Rapid Support Forces, HRW, Sudanese Armed Forces, Criminal Court, ICC, United Nations Locations: Sudan’s West Darfur, Sudan, Misterei, West Darfur, Chad, Sudan's Darfur, Darfur, ”, Sudan’s, Darfur’s

Hong Kong CNN —Fang Bin, a retailer turned citizen journalist who documented the early outbreak of Covid-19 in Wuhan, has been released after more than three years detention in China, a family member told CNN. In one video, Fang, a Wuhan resident who sold clothing, showed hospital corridors crowded with patients and their desperate relatives. Rights groups had repeatedly called for Fang’s release and information about his case and of others who were also detained after sharing information about Wuhan outbreak. Both had reported on China’s initial Covid outbreak in Wuhan in early 2020. Authorities have never confirmed how many people had been detained or prosecuted in connection with sharing information on the pandemic.

☆ Nayib Bukele war on gangs: El Salvador has arrested 2% of its adult population. Other countries are taking note
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Tara John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —Eight months since El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced a war on gangs, an estimated 2% of the country’s adult population – or roughly 100,000 people – are now behind bars. In 2015, El Salvador surpassed Honduras as the most violent country in the world, with a murder rate of more than 100 per 100,000 inhabitants. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele speaks to around 14,000 soldiers in El Salvador. Alleged gang members at a maximum security prison in Izalco, El Salvador, on September 4, 2020. “It is not that they are interested in El Salvador (they never were), their fear is that we will succeed, because other governments will want to imitate it.

☆ Qatar 2022: ‘Sport should not be politicized,’ France’s Macron says ahead of World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Martin Goillandeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —“Sport should not be politicized,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, three days before the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. “It should be when hosting the event is decided, whether it is the World Cup or the Olympic Games, that we must honestly ask ourselves the question. “And whether the question is on the climate or human rights, it is not necessary to ask it when the event comes. The 2022 World Cup has attracted controversy ever since it was awarded to Qatar, with concerns over human rights, treatments of migrant workers and the environment. A report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) published in October documented alleged cases of beatings and sexual harassment.

☆ World Cup 2022: David Beckham's 'status as a gay icon will be shredded' if he continues as Qatar ambassador says British comedian
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Zayn Nabbi Sammy Mngqosini | Zayn Nabbi | Sammy Mngqosini | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —David Beckham’s “status as a gay icon will be shredded” if the former England captain and Manchester United star continues in his role as a Qatar World Cup ambassador said British comedian Joe Lycett on Sunday. Beckham, contacted by CNN through his representatives, declined to comment on the criticism around his ambassadorship. “You’re the first Premiership footballer to do shoots with gay magazines like Attitude, to speak openly about your gay fans,” Lycett said. Alexander Tamargo/Getty ImagesHRW has also recently highlighted “arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment” of LGBTQ people in Qatar. “There are just a few days until the World Cup kickoff, but that’s plenty of time for the Qatari government to end ill-treatment of LGBT people,” HRW said in a November press release.

☆ Qatar has detained and mistreated LGBTQ people ahead of World Cup, rights group says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Homosexuality is illegal in the conservative Muslim country, and some soccer stars have raised concerns over the rights of fans traveling for the event, especially LGBTQ individuals and women, whom rights groups say Qatari laws discriminate against. A Qatari official said in a statement that HRW’s allegations “contain information that is categorically and unequivocally false,” without specifying. “Freedom of expression and nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity should be guaranteed, permanently, for all residents of Qatar, not just spectators going to Qatar for the World Cup,” HRW said in a statement. “All six said that police forced them to sign pledges indicating that they would ‘cease immoral activity,’” it said, adding that transgender women detainees were mandated to attend conversion therapy sessions at a government-sponsored clinic. One of the transgender Qatari women interviewed by HRW told Reuters on condition of anonymity that she was arrested several times, most recently this summer when she was held for several weeks.

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