World : Human Rights Watch : THE WEEK IN RIGHTS - August 28, 2014

THE WEEK IN RIGHTS August 28, 2014 Witness: Freeing Women From Cleaning Human Waste Photo © 2013 Digvijay Singh  A decade ago, Lalibai, then a mother of four, took a stand and refused to remove and dispose of excrement from her village’s dry toilets, work she inherited at age 12. She had been approached by grassroots activists who said it was illegal for anyone to compel her to do this work, and that she had a choice to leave. She decided to claim her dignity and quit.  It’s hard to imagine that powerfully outspoken Lalibai, with her henna-red hair and upright posture, had once accepted cleaning human waste as her life’s duty. Each day she would carry her cane basket from house to house, lift the waste from latrines, and carry it outside the village. She hated carrying waste, found it disgusting, and it was making her physically sick. She was “paid” with stale roti, a flat bread. This job was customarily designated to her community, considered a low-ranking caste. She could not fathom any other life.  Read Lalibai's story >> share on:   Burundi’s Crackdown on Dissent Must not go Unnoticed By Carina Tertsakian  The Guardian (UK)  Several years have passed since the end of Burundi’s 12-year civil war, which cost tens of thousands of lives. The period following the end of the conflict in 2005 was marked by a huge sense of relief as peace gradually returned to the country.  See the Latest News in Africa >> share on:   Azerbaijan Should Investigate Brutal Attack on Journalist  A brutal attack on Azerbaijani journalist Ilgar Nasibov left him seriously injured, with a concussion, broken cheekbones, nose, and ribs, and loss of vision in one eye. This violent attack coincides with a new wave of government repression against civil society and takes place during Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.  See the Latest News in Europe/Central Asia >> share on:   Executions in Gaza Should be Halted News reports said unidentified gunmen believed to be acting on instructions from Hamas executed 25 people accused of providing the Israeli military with information between August 21 and August 23. Amid all the carnage in Gaza, it’s abhorrent that Hamas officials are adding to it by permitting, if not ordering, the summary execution of Palestinians.  See the Latest News in the Middle East/North Africa >> share on:   VIDEO/PHOTOS Forced to Clean Human Waste in India.View Now >> VIDEO Burundian activist Pierre Claver Mbonimpa was unjustly detained.  Watch Now >> TWEET of the WEEK #Indonesia new Prez #Jokowi faces "toxic legacy" of religious extremism @hrw @thejakartaglobe http://bit.ly/1BWhi3T  Follow Phelim Kine >> Thank you for supporting Human Rights Watch