UN experts deplore rights violations against Burundi refugees
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GENEVA (13 April 2021) UN human rights experts today called on the governments of Tanzania and Burundi to respect the rights of refugees and asylum seekers who have fled Burundi, deploring reports of enforced disappearances, torture, forced returns and repression.
Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances have allegedly been carried out by the Tanzanian police and intelligence services in cooperation with the Burundian intelligence services, the experts said. In addition to the strict encampment policy imposed on them by the Government of Tanzania, Burundian refugees and asylum-seekers now live in fear of being abducted in the middle of the night by Tanzanian security forces and taken to an unknown location or being forcefully returned to Burundi, the experts said.
Tuesday, 13 April 2021, 6:29 am
GENEVA (12 April 2021) – A UN expert called on the
Government of Lao PDR to immediately release three human
rights defenders who have been detained for more than five
years, saying their continued imprisonment was an impediment
to the advancement of human rights in the South-East Asian
nation.
A court in the capital, Vientiane, sentenced
Ms. Lodkham Thammavong, Mr. Soukane Chaithad and Mr.
Somphone Phimmasone to prison terms of up to 30 years in
2017 after they took part in a demonstration outside the Lao
Embassy in Thailand to express concerns over the
government’s human rights record. The three, who were
Lao PDR: Five years after arrest, human rights defenders still denied access to lawyers – UN expert
GENEVA (12 April 2021) – A UN expert called on the Government of Lao PDR to immediately release three human rights defenders who have been detained for more than five years, saying their continued imprisonment was an impediment to the advancement of human rights in the South-East Asian nation. A court in the capital, Vientiane, sentenced Ms. Lodkham Thammavong, Mr. Soukane Chaithad and Mr. Somphone Phimmasone to prison terms of up to 30 years in 2017 after they took part in a demonstration outside the Lao Embassy in Thailand to express concerns over the government’s human rights record. The three, who were arrested in March 2016, had also posted messages on social media criticizing the Government.
ACNUDH | Lao PDR: Five years after arrest, human rights defenders still denied access to lawyers – UN expert ohchr.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ohchr.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Belarus must end pattern of police brutality and impunity: UN experts
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GENEVA (1 April 2021) – UN human rights experts today called on Belarus to end the continued pattern of excessive use of force, arrests, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment against protesters and the repression of journalists and media personnel.
On 25 March 2021, 176 people reportedly were detained during peaceful protests commemorating Freedom Day, and two days later, seven journalists were among 247 people detained.
In the lead-up to Freedom Day the Investigative Committee of Belarus, an oversight body of the state, had warned and threatened protesters planning to participate in “unauthorised mass events” with criminal liability.