World Human Rights Watch THE WEEK IN RIGHTS June 18, 2015

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here.
Human Rights WatchTHE WEEK IN RIGHTS
June 18, 2015
Donate Today
Follow us on:
 
Dispatches: Dominican Citizens at Risk of Expulsion to Haiti

WIR.2015.June18.main.jpg
Photo © 2014 Human Rights Watch
By Celso Perez

I interviewed Rosanna, a bright 17-year-old born in the Dominican Republic, a couple of weeks ago during my investigation into Dominican nationality law for Human Rights Watch. Rosanna’s parents migrated from Haiti over 20 years ago; for two years, she has been involuntarily enmeshed in an increasingly contested national struggle over who is, and who is not, a Dominican national.
Beginning today, Rosanna also faces the risk of expulsion to Haiti under a government deadline – though it’s not clear how many people are affected.

In 2013, the Dominican Constitutional Tribunal retroactively removed citizenship from tens of thousands of Dominicans. Most of them, like Rosanna, are of Haitian descent – a historically marginalized community. This has left them unable to carry out basic civil tasks such as register children at birth, enroll in school and university, participate in the formal economy, or move around the country without risk of detention and expulsion. Forced to quit public school, Rosanna now picks and sells fruit in the countryside making less than US$3 a day. 
Read more » 
share on: Facebook Twitter
Asia
In Kenya, Botched Response to Deadly Attacks

The heinous attacks on civilians in Lamu and Tana River area of Kenya’s coast in mid-2014 were followed by abusive security force operations. One year later, no one has been held responsible for the attacks. Hundreds of people have been beaten and detained without charge while communities remain vulnerable to further attacks. 
See the Latest News in Africa » 
share on: Facebook Twitter
Asia
Russia’s Abusive Counterinsurgency Tactics in Dagestan

Many Salafi Muslims in Dagestan experience persistent, invasive harassment by law enforcement and security officials. This abusive treatment alienates and marginalizes Salafi communities, and their resulting mistrust of the government plays into the hands of Islamist insurgents. 
See the Latest News in Europe/Central Asia >> 
share on: Facebook Twitter
Middle East
In Libya, Widespread Torture in Detention 

In January and April, Human Rights Watch received rare access to visit detention facilities in al-Bayda and Benghazi controlled by the Libyan Army and the Justice and Interior Ministries, and interviewed 73 detainees individually without guards present. Many detainees said that interrogators had forced them under torture to “confess” to serious crimes. 
See the Latest News in the Middle East/North Africa » 
share on: Facebook Twitter
Asia
US Drug Deportations Tearing Families Apart

Even as many US states are legalizing and decriminalizing some drugs, or reducing sentences for drug offenses, federal immigration policy too often imposes exile for the same offenses. Americans believe the punishment should fit the crime, but that is not what is happening to immigrants convicted of what are often relatively minor drug offenses. 
See the Latest News in the United States >> 
share on: Facebook Twitter
VIDEOVideo 
WIR.2015.June18.dagestan.jpg 

Russia’s invisible war: Crackdown on Salafi Muslims in Dagestan.View Now »
VIDEOVideo 
WIR.2015.June18.burundiprotests.jpg 
Police abuse exposed during Burundi protests.  
View Now »
TWEET of the WEEK
WIR.2015.June18.TotW.jpg
War & persecution have now displaced more people - 60 million - than any other time in history http://bit.ly/1CeFpcg . 
Follow Gerry Simpson »