New York: More than 9,000 students, teachers, and academics were harmed, injured, or killed in attacks on education during armed conflict over the past two years, according to Education under Attack 2022, a report published by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA). More than 5,000 separate attacks on education facilities, students, and educators, or incidents of military use, took place in 2020 and 2021, a significant increase over the previous two years. “It is crucial for governments and armed groups to end attacks on education, and stop using schools and universities for military purposes,” said Diya Nijhowne, GCPEA executive director.
LGBT people and other asylum seekers fleeing persecution in their home countries experience abusive and dangerous conditions in Mexico when not allowed to cross the US border to seek asylum. Harmful policies block access to asylum for most people trying to cross into the US seeking safety. LGBT asylum seekers told HRW they had been expelled even after expressing their fear of returning and telling border agents they identified as LGBT, had HIV, or had experienced abuse related to their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
Wagner Group, a private Russian private military group with ties to the Russian government, has been linked to the use of banned anti-personnel landmines and booby traps in Libya in 2019-2020. These mines killed at least three Libyan deminers before the mines’ locations were identified. Antipersonnel landmines, which are designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity, or contact of a person, violate international humanitarian law because they cannot discriminate between civilians and combatants. These victim-activated weapons kill and maim long after conflicts end.
At the end of May, soldiers from South Sudan’s army shot and killed 3 people in the country’s Central Equatoria state and still hold 2 people in detention in a military facility. South Sudan’s army routinely carries out and conceals heinous criminal violations, such as summary executions and torture. Efforts to address this have been fledgling and often focus on low-ranking officers. Civilians should never be held in military facilities. Authorities should release the remaining two people and ensure all army officers implicated in these criminal violations are held to account in civilian courts.
And finally, Sudan’s military leaders have announced an end to a 7-month long state of emergency and released at least 1,000 people who were detained because of their connection to pro-democracy protests. The state of emergency has been used as a cover by the military to attack civilians who called for justice. Ahead of the visit by the UN human rights expert on Sudan, the world should step up pressure for scrutiny and real change in Sudan. HRW.org
