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Peru recently enacted a law eliminating an explicit requirement that the use of force by police must be proportionate and granting police special protections against criminal prosecution, Human Rights Watch said on May 12, 2020. This creates a real risk that police abuse will increase and can contribute to impunity for the most serious human rights violations.

The attack by unidentified assailants on a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 12, 2020 shows blatant disregard for civilian life and is an apparent war crime, Human Rights Watch said on May 12, 2020. A suicide bombing attack and ensuing gun battles killed at least 13 civilians, including 2 infants, and wounded at least 15. More than 80 patients, including children, were evacuated from the hospital.

School-age children in Lebanon.Top photos, bottom left photo: © 2017 Amanda Bailly for Human Rights Watch. Bottom center and right photos: © 2017 Sam Koplewicz for Human Rights Watch.

Uganda should drop the charges against 19 people arrested while seeking refuge in a shelter for homeless youth, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the director of public prosecutions on May 11, 2020. They were charged with committing “a negligent act likely to spread infection of disease,” as well as “disobedience of lawful orders.”

Saudi authorities detained Prince Faisal bin Abdullah Al Saud, a son of the late King Abdullah and former head of the Saudi Red Crescent Society, on March 27, 2020 and have since apparently held him incommunicado, Human Rights Watch said on May 09, 2020. The authorities have refused to reveal his whereabouts or status, a source with ties to the family told Human Rights Watch, which suggests that authorities may have forcibly “disappeared” him.

Pakistan’s government has excluded the long-persecuted Ahmadiyya community from a new government commission aimed at safeguarding the rights of the country’s minorities, Human Rights Watch said on May 07, 2020.

Bangladesh authorities have arrested four people and charged seven others for “spreading rumors and misinformation on Facebook,” because they criticized the government’s response to Covid-19, Human Rights Watch said on May 07, 2020. The authorities should immediately drop all charges, which appear to violate freedom of expression, release the four people in custody, and repeal the draconian Digital Security Act (DSA).

United Nations independent experts demanded on Wednesday that the Venezuelan Government take concrete actions to tackle the devastating impact on basic human rights of the country’s economic crisis.

The Egyptian Parliament on April 22, 2020 swiftly approved government-proposed amendments to the 1958 Emergency Law which will give additional sweeping powers to President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi and security agencies, Human Rights Watch said on May 07, 2020. President al-Sisi should return the amendments unsigned to Parliament, which should revise the many abusive articles in the law.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte should rescind an order to shut down ABS-CBN, the country’s largest broadcast television and radio network, Human Rights Watch said on May 06, 2020. The House of Representatives, whose inaction on bills to renew the broadcaster’s license led to the closure, should promptly renew the franchise.