Yasmine Ahmed says government actions regarding asylum seekers, climate activists and pro-Palestine protesters are starting to ‘look very much like authoritarianism’
The British government’s aggressive politicisation of human rights is a dangerous assault on democracy that must be halted before irrevocable damage is done, the UK director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Yasmine Ahmed, who has been the UK director of HRW since November 2020, said the government indicating it could “disapply” the Human Rights Act to an emergency bill that will allow it to send asylum seekers to Rwanda – despite the supreme court ruling the policy illegal – is part of an escalating attack on human rights.
Sentences risk silencing public concerns about the environment, climate change rapporteur Ian Fry says
Long sentences handed to two Just Stop Oil protesters for scaling the M25 bridge over the Thames are a potential breach of international law and risk silencing public concerns about the environment, a UN expert has said.
In a strongly worded intervention, Ian Fry, the UN’s rapporteur for climate change and human rights, said he was “particularly concerned” about the sentences, which were “significantly more severe than previous sentences imposed for this type of offending in the past”.
No 10 has discussed possibility of ‘disapplying’ key human rights law to emergency bill to head off legal challenges
Rishi Sunak is considering blocking a key human rights law to help force through plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda amid growing pressure from rightwing Conservative MPs.
No 10 has discussed the possibility of “disapplying” the Human Rights Act to an emergency bill in an effort to minimise legal challenges against the prime minister’s key immigration policy. Ministers are aware such a proposal could face rebellions in the Commons and the Lords, which could vote down the proposals.
Supreme court to consider justice ministry request to outlaw ‘international LGBT public movement’ as extremist
The Russian justice ministry on Friday said it had filed a lawsuit with the nation’s supreme court to outlaw what it called an “international LGBT public movement” as extremist, in the latest attacks against the country’s already suppressed LGBTQ+ community.
The ministry said in an online statement that authorities had determined “signs and manifestations of extremist nature” in “the activities of the LGBT movement” in Russia, including “incitement of social and religious discord”.
Israel’s attack on Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital has sparked accusations of war crimes – but Israel says it falls within the boundaries of international law
The Geneva conventions, adopted in the aftermath of the second world war, form the core of international humanitarian law and “are particularly protective of civilian hospitals”, according to Mathilde Philip-Gay, an expert in international humanitarian law at Lyon 3 University in south-east France.
Prime minister says he ‘will do whatever it takes’ as senior Tory criticises former home secretary’s hardline proposals
Downing Street has not ruled out asking MPs to spend some of what is meant to be their Christmas break dealing with the PM’s “emergency legislation” on Rwanda.
This is one proposal made by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, in her Telegraph article this morning. (See 10.01am.)
I think we are prepared to do whatever is necessary to ensure that we can get this in place and get flights off the ground.
I wouldn’t speculate on parliamentary process but I cannot impress [enough] the importance that the prime minister places on this necessary legislation to deliver for the public on the important priority of stopping the boats.
Sunak suggested he would blame Labour if the Lords refuses to pass his “emergency legislation” on Rwanda (see 11.40am) quickly. Asked if he would call an early election if the Lords block the law, he replied:
It doesn’t have to take a long time to get legislation through – and that is a question for the Labour party.
We’re determined to get this through as quickly as possible. So the real question is: is the Labour party going to stand in the way and stop this from happening, or are they going to work with us and support this bill so we can get it through as quickly as possible?
Sunak declined to say whether favoured holding an early election on the issue of Rwanda deportations if his bill got held up. Earlier today Sir Simon Clarke suggested this. (See 10.56am.) But, for obvious reasons, the prospect might not appeal.
Sunak claimed he was making “real progress” on stopping small boats. He said:
I think people just want the problem fixed. That’s what I’m here to do, and this year, we’ve already got the numbers down by a third.
That’s because I’ve got new deals with the French, a new deal with Albania. We’re working with Turkey and Bulgaria, multiple other countries. We’re tackling the criminal gangs, we’re cutting through the backlog.
Sunak said he would “take on” people trying to stop Rwanda flights taking over, whether it was Labour or the House of Lords. He said:
We can pass these laws in parliament that will give us the powers and the tools we need. Then we can get the flights off and whether it’s the House of Lords or the Labour party standing in our way I will take them on because I want to get this thing done and I want to stop the boats.
He said his patience was “wearing thin” with this issue. He said:
People are sick of this merry-go-round. I want to end it – my patience is wearing thin like everyone else’s.
Government accused of ‘magical thinking’ and ignoring facts on the ground that led to supreme court judgment
Lawyers have said that UK ministers’ latest plans to get their high-profile Rwanda policy off the ground are unlikely to overcome the legal obstacles that defeated them in the supreme court on Wednesday.
After the five judges unanimously rejected the government’s plans to deport people seeking asylum in the UK to the east African country, Rishi Sunak said that he would ensure the flights could go ahead by legislating that Rwanda was safe.
Downing Street says legislation will make clear ‘Rwanda is safe’ and will address court’s concerns after policy ruled unlawful. This live blog is closed
At his Institute for Government Q&A Sir Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitan police, refused to say what he felt about Lee Anderson, the Conservative party deputy chair, declaring yesterday that ministers should just ignore the supreme court judgment saying the Rwanda police was unlawful. Asked to respond, Rowley just said:
Politicians hold me to account, I don’t hold them to account.
Starmer travelled north of the border just hours after a revolt within his party over a ceasefire in Gaza resulted in the resignation of eight of his frontbenchers.
The Labour leader highlighted what he described as the “failure” of the UK government to negotiate a trade deal with India, a key exporter for Scotch whisky.
Home secretary says legally binding treaty will be drafted ‘within days’ despite policy being ruled unlawful
Ministers are “absolutely determined” to get a removal flight to Rwanda off before the next election, and will finish drafting a legally binding treaty with the country “within days”, the home secretary, James Cleverly, has said, after the policy was ruled unlawful.
Cleverly, who was made home secretary in the reshuffle earlier this week, said the controversial policy was already having “a deterrent effect” on people smugglers.
After the supreme court’s comprehensive mauling of the government’s £140m plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, leaving the policy defunct, we examine the government’s options.
A victory for the immigration and asylum policy on Wednesday will come with headaches, but a defeat could split the Conservative party
Wednesday marks a potentially pivotal moment in the government’s fortunes when the supreme court rules whether its plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful.
The decision could have significant implications not just for immigration and asylum policy, but also for the future direction of Rishi Sunak’s government, and the Conservative party more widely. Here is what could follow from a government win or loss.
Pioneering lawyer and civil liberties campaigner who paved the way for the abolition of the death penalty in Britain
When the family of Derek Bentley – hanged in 1953 for the murder of a policeman – attempted to obtain a posthumous pardon for his wrongful execution, they approached a local south London solicitor, Benedict Birnberg, for help.
It was the beginning of a more than 30-year-long, ultimately successful, legal campaign that helped pave the way for the abolition of the death penalty in Britain in 1969, and raised profound questions about miscarriages of justice.
The Albanese government will immediately begin releasing people from indefinite detention after receiving a flurry of demands from long-term detainees to be set free due to Wednesday’s landmark high court ruling.
On Thursdaythe director of Human Rights for All, Alison Battisson, said the government was wrong to claim it needed to wait for the full reasons for the court’s decision, and could be liable to pay compensation for failing to immediately release people who it is not possible to deport.
Security Force Monitor finds 64% of senior army officers led units allegedly committing killings, rapes, torture and disappearances
New research into alleged war crimes in Myanmar has concluded that the majority of senior commanders in the Myanmar military, many of whom hold powerful political positions in the country, were responsible for crimes including rape, torture, killings and forced disappearances carried out by units under their command between 2011 and 2023.
The research, by the Security Force Monitor (SFM), a project run by Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute, states that 64% – 51 of 79 – of all Myanmar’s senior military commanders are responsible for war crimes. It claims that the most serious perpetrator of human rights violations is Gen Mya Tun Oo, Myanmar’s deputy prime minister, former defence minister and a member of the ruling military council.
Mahsa Yazdani convicted of blasphemy and ‘insulting supreme leader’ as Iran regime targets families of those killed in protests
A mother in Iran, whose son was reportedly killed after being shot repeatedly at close range by security forces, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison by an Iranian court after she demanded justice for her child on social media.
Mahsa Yazdani, whose 20-year-old son Mohammad Javad Zahedi was killed at an anti-regime protest in September 2022, was convicted on charges of blasphemy, incitement, insulting the supreme leader, and spreading anti-regime propaganda, according to human rights groups and family members. They say she will serve the first five years with no chance of parole.
King urged to offer apology while in Kenya for UK’s ‘brutal and inhuman treatment’ during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s
The Kenya Human Rights Commission has called on King Charles to offer an “unequivocal public apology” for colonial abuses, during his visit to the country this week.
“We call upon the king, on behalf of the British government, to issue an unconditional and unequivocal public apology (as opposed to the very cautious, self-preserving and protective statements of regrets) for the brutal and inhuman treatment inflicted on Kenyan citizens,” the KHRC said.
Human rights campaigners say the Pegasus initiative wrongly criminalises people of colour, women and LGBTQ+ people
Some of Britain’s biggest retailers, including Tesco, John Lewis and Sainsbury’s, have been urged to pull out of a new policing strategy amid warnings it risks wrongly criminalising people of colour, women and LGBTQ+ people.
A coalition of 14 human rights groups has written to the main retailers – also including Marks & Spencer, the Co-op, Next, Boots and Primark – saying that their participation in a new government-backed scheme that relies heavily on facial recognition technology to combat shoplifting will “amplify existing inequalities in the criminal justice system”.
Children are particularly vulnerable to climate crisis yet have little say politically or legally in most of world
Young climate activists should be able to fully take part in legal cases that affect them, say campaigners.
As governments and organisations around the world submit formal comments on climate breakdown to the world’s top courts, experts have condemned children’s inability to fully participate in the legal process in almost all jurisdictions.
The human rights lawyer Jared Genser has helped more than 300 detainees in 20 countries. The key to his success? ‘Being relentless’
It was 8pm on a Friday night when his source texted him back. A potential deal was on the table.
He had been at a reception in Washington earlier that day where he heard that efforts were “dead in the water”. That confirmed reports he’d heard two days earlier saying the situation between Iran and the US was looking bleak. However, this text implied the opposite.
Activists deplore ‘distressing setback for equality’ as court backs law against ‘indecent acts’ between military personnel
South Korea’s constitutional court has upheld two anti-LGBTQ+ laws including the country’s notorious military “sodomy law” for the fourth time, in a ruling activists are calling a setback for equality rights.
The court, in a five-to-four vote, ruled that article 92-6 of the military criminal act, which prescribes a maximum prison term of two years for “anal intercourse” and “any other indecent acts” between military personnel, even while on leave and consensual, was constitutional in response to several petitions challenging the law.
Myanmar’s junta gave life sentences to six men, lawyers told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.
In a five-day military trial ending Monday, a tribunal sentenced the men for alleged acts of terrorism.
The punishment is especially harsh because they were sentenced in an area under martial law, one lawyer said.
“If they can hire a lawyer for cases like these in civil courts, the maximum prison sentence is just 10 years,” he told RFA.
The Northwestern Military Command tribunal found them guilty of supporting their local People’s Defense Force and related activities prohibited under the country’s notorious counter-terrorism laws.
The trial started on Thursday in Sagaing region in northwest Myanmar, where those accused include people from four townships.
Pale township’s Zayar Myo and Than Zaw Linn, Shwebo township’s Min Khant Kyaw, Banmauk township’s Than Naing Oo and Indaw township’s Hein Min Thu and Zaw Myint Tun all live in areas under harsh military law.
Heavy punishments have often been imposed by the military just on suspicion after martial law was declared in Sagaing region, an official of the Yinmabin township’s People’s Defense Force said.
“If anyone is even suspected of supporting the revolution without participating, severe punishments are handed down. They [the junta] are above the law,” he said.
Given the large presence of anti-junta groups in the area, some resistance soldiers say the military has begun arresting people without any due cause.
In early September, seven people in Sagaing region were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, including life in prison. One People’s Defence Force officer said the accused had no connection to any local resistance group.
In the seven months following the implementation of martial law, the Myanmar military arrested and imprisoned 30 Ayadaw township residents and sentenced 10 Indaw residents to death and life in prison.
Calls to Sagaing region’s junta spokesperson Sai Naing Naing Kyaw seeking comment on the sentences went unanswered.
Fourteen townships in Sagaing region, including Pale, Shwebo, Banmauk and Indaw have been under martial law since February 2023, shortly after the military extended its emergency rule nationwide.
Since then, military courts have sentenced 285 civilians to prison terms, according to pro-junta broadcast groups on the messaging app Telegram.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.
British Jews came together to condemn Hamas, but concerns over Israel’s actions are being voiced
Two days after Hamas unleashed a terrorist attack on Israeli civilians in southern Israel, hundreds of British Jews waved Israeli flags and sang the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, at a vigil outside Downing Street.
The event, organised by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council, and attended by the chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, was a powerful show of communal solidarity as the enormity of Hamas’s atrocities was still becoming clear.
Chinese officials claimed that Hong Kong citizens have enjoyed increased fundamental rights and liberties, including freedom of the press, in the three years since the implementation of the 2020 Hong Kong’s National Security Law, or NSL.
However, the claim is misleading. Evidence provided by several independent organizations shows that Hong Kong’s civil society and press freedom have deteriorated significantly since the implementation of the NSL.
On Sept. 25, West Kowloon Magistrates Courts of Hong Kong ruled that Ronson Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, was guilty of obstructing a public officer and sentenced to five days in jail. Chan was originally arrested in September 2022 after refusing to show his identity card to a plainclothes police officer.
The day before Chan’s sentencing, Chinese diplomats at the country’s permanent mission to the U.N. in Geneva sent a letter pressuring all countries to refrain from interfering in China’s internal affairs and prevent the U.K. from organizing an event showing solidarity with freedom of the press in Hong Kong during a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The event was also intended to express support for Jimmy Lai, the convicted publisher of the now defunct anti-Beijing news outlet Apple Daily who recently observed the thousandth day of his imprisonment.
China claimed in the letter that all fundamental rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents, including freedom of the press, have been better protected since the adoption of the National Security Law.
The law, which came into effect in 2020, criminalizes several broadly defined offenses including secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist activities.
Chinese diplomats to the UN sent a letter asking other countries not to interfere in Chinese domestic affairs and claiming that Hong Kong residents enjoy greater press freedom under the NSL. (Screenshot/China’s Permanent Mission to the UN)
However, the claim is misleading.
Hong Kong’s press freedom ‘in decline’
Hong Kong has witnessed a significant drop in ranking in the World Press Freedom Index since the adoption of the NSL.
The index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, based upon the organization’s own assessment of the countries’ press freedom records in the previous year. It aims to reflect the level of freedom journalists, news organizations, and netizens enjoy in each country, as well as the efforts made by authorities to uphold this freedom.
The former British colony’s ranking on the index dropped from 80 in 2021 to 140 in 2023.
RFS noted that the Hong Kong government has prosecuted 28 journalists and media workers since the law was implemented, of which 12 are still in jail, including Jimmy Lai and eight employees affiliated with Apple Daily.
All told, at least 264 people – including non-journalists – have been arrested and 148 prosecuted under the law as of July 1, 2013, unofficial statistics show.
The trend is evident in comparable indicators. The city’s overall ranking also dropped from 67 to 42 in the annual Global Freedom Index published by the U.S. non-profit organization Freedom House, in which higher number indicates a greater press freedom, with the sub-index on the right to free expression and belief falling from 14 to 7 over the past decade.
A separate report published by the U.K.-based All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong in April 2023 states that eight independent news organizations in Hong Kong have closed since the NSL came into effect, either due to the arrests of their journalists or for the protection of their staff. This has in turn left over a thousand news personnel unemployed, two hundred of whom have already left the city.
P2
AFCL compiled a non-exhaustive list of incidents in which Hong Kong journalists and media workers were arrested and jailed before and after the NSL came into effect. (Photo/AFCL)
“The demise of critical media in Hong Kong can be understood as being part of a quickened process of democratic backsliding or autocratization,” said Francis L.F. Lee, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, in his 2022 study analyzed the NSL’s impact on journalism in the city.
Lee emphasizes that during such retrogression, the state can utilize a nominally independent judicial system as a tool to control media narratives and restrict press freedom, in effect legalizing press control.
Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) is a branch of RFA established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. Our journalists publish both daily and special reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of public issues.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Rita Cheng for Asia Fact Check Lab.
UK has led the way, with countries across the continent making mass arrests, passing draconian new laws and labelling activists as eco-terrorists
Human rights experts and campaigners have warned against an intensifying crackdown on climate protests across Europe, as Guardian research found countries across the continent using repressive measures to silence activists.
In Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK, authorities have responded to climate protests with mass arrests, the passing of draconian new laws, the imposing of severe sentences for non-violent protests and the labelling of activists as hooligans, saboteurs or eco-terrorists.
Guardian investigation finds growing number of countries passing anti-protest laws as part of playbook of tactics to intimidate people peacefully raising the alarm
As wildfires and extreme temperatures rage across the planet, sea temperature records tumble and polar glaciers disappear, the scale and speed of the climate crisis is impossible to ignore. Scientific experts are unanimous that there needs to be an urgent clampdown on fossil fuel production, a major boost in renewable energy and support for communities to rapidly move towards a fairer, healthier and sustainable low-carbon future.
Many governments, however, seem to have different priorities. According to climate experts, senior figures at the UN and grassroots advocates contacted by the Guardian, some political leaders and law enforcement agencies around the world are instead launching a fierce crackdown on people trying to peacefully raise the alarm.
Luisa Neubauer, of Fridays for Future, cites language used by the chancellor amid protest crackdown
Severe policing and “scary” political rhetoric is fuelling abuse against climate activists, Germany’s best-known environmentalist has said.
“It’s not a shift any more, it’s a slide,” said Luisa Neubauer, from the German branch of Fridays for Future, the protest movement that grew out of Greta Thunberg’s school strikes. “There’s an increase in hate language, there’s an increase in threats, and the threats are getting more concrete. So they’re not saying any more ‘I hate you’ but they’re saying ‘We should come to your place, we should go get you.’”
International court of justice asked to make urgent ruling against regime for ‘abhorrent treatment’ of its people
Syria has tortured tens of thousands of its people and maintains a “widespread and pervasive” system of “abhorrent treatment”, world court judges have heard at the first international case related to the civil war in the country.
Canada and the Netherlands have brought Syria before the international court of justice (ICJ), seeking urgent measures to stop the mistreatment of thousands of people still in detention.
Before he began the interviews, Ahmed swept the room for cameras and recording devices. He then invited the workers in, one by one, spending about 10 minutes talking with each.
They were employed at a factory in the Middle East that supplied goods for a major American company – and it was Ahmed’s job, as an outside auditor, to uncover any labor abuses. Often, before he could even ask a question, the staff members hastened to assure him that they were happy with their jobs.
