HART Weekly News Round-Up 18/12/15

News from HART

• Yesterday, during oral questions in the House of Lords, HART CEO Baroness Cox raised the ongoing situation in Nigeria. Directly afterwards, Lord Chidgey asked a question about human rights in Sudan, to which Baroness Cox gave an insightful contribution.
• HART’s partner in India, Operation Mercy, have given an update and a Christmas greeting, informing us of their amazing work.
• Happy Christmas to all our supporters! Thank you so much for all the support you have given us over the last year.

  

Burma

• A court in Irrawaddy Division has dropped one of two defamation charges brought against Chaw Sandi Tun, an NLD supporter who remains on trial for allegedly sharing a satirical Facebook post insulting the military.
• Attendees at a media conference in Rangoon have called for revisions to recently passed media laws, arguing that the governments retains undue power over broadcasters and print publishers under the current legislative framework.
• Eighty-two individuals have been charged or are under investigation in Irrawaddy Division for violating Burma’s election laws, according to local police.

Uganda

• Uganda’s parliament has passed a bill that rights groups say could severely limit the activities of non-governmental organizations inside the country.
• Despite moving up one place in this year’s United Nations Human development Index rankings (HDI), Uganda remains at 163 out of 185 countries in the world.
• Uganda is short of imported drugs to treat HIV victims because of a weak currency and insufficient foreign exchange. The government has said it is raising funds to cover the shortfall.

Nigeria

• The Nigerian Army has said that at least 49 members of Boko Haram militia have been killed in two days of sustained battle in northeast Borno State.
• Human rights advocates, including Amnesty International, have called for an investigation following the Nigerian army’s raid on a Shai Muslim sect, in which hundreds of people were reportedly killed.
• It is now fifteen years since the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights came into force, and Nigeria is yet to adopt the framework to guide its extractive industry.
• Speaking on BBC’s HARDtalk, the secretary general of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, has said that he would be prepared to talk with Boko Haram – if their leadership could be identified.

India

• 93 Women are sexually assaulted every day in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. This week, The Telegraph published a poignant article named “Stories of courage in the face of sexual violence in India, in pictures”.
• Amnesty International India have released an eight-point article to inform those who have faced or witnessed sexual violence about the best ways to report it.

Sudan

• The UN envoy to Sudan and South Sudan has presented a proposal to Bashir in Khartoum in an attempt to break a deadlock in peace talks.
• Bashir has said that more money will be spent on security and defence in Sudan.
• At least 17 have been killed in tribal clashes in South Darfur State.
• Bashir has threatened the press with ‘decisive measures’ after damaging reports against the finance minister.

South Sudan

• The South Sudanese Council of States has approved and ratified the constitutional amendment to establish 28 states.
• The UN is to boost the number of peacekeeping troops in South Sudan.
• Human Rights Watch has said that South Sudanese commanders and officials should be investigated for recruiting child soldiers.

  

• MSF has said that the UN is not doing enough to protect civilians from violence.
• The presidency has downplayed suggestions that there is a division within the leadership of the ruling SPLM party.
• Thousands of people have been displaced in Wau County, Western Bahr el Ghazal, due to fighting.

Nagorno-Karabakh

• The NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Apathurai has said it is too early to discuss peacekeepers’ deployment in Karabakh.

Timor-Leste

• The Foreign Secretary of the Philippines, Albert del Rosario, has reaffirmed their support for Timor Leste’s application for ASEAN membership.