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| North Korean soldiers patrolling on a riverside along fortified fences in the border county of Uiju, North Pyongan province, December 22, 2022. © 2022 Kyodo News/Getty Images |
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North Korea’s Sealed Border Worsens a Deep CrisisSince the Covid-19 pandemic, North Korea’s government has largely sealed its border with China, imposing broad and unnecessary quarantines and restrictions on freedom of movement and trade. By exacerbating an already grave humanitarian and human rights situation, these policies have made a bad situation for North Koreans – already living in one of the world’s most repressive countries – even worse. A new 148-page report, which includes accounts from people who fled North Korea, documents how the government’s measures that were put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic have severely affected food security. These measures – which include ordering border guards to “shoot on sight” anyone approaching the border without permission – also affected the availability of products needed by North Koreans to survive, which previously entered the country via trade routes from China. Meanwhile, UN sanctions from 2016 and 2017 had already limited most exports and some imports, harming the country’s economy as well as people’s ability to make a living and access food and essential goods. The unintended consequences of these sanctions have caused even more suffering for people in North Korea. Apart from reviewing the costs of its sanctions, the UN Security Council and concerned governments should press Kim Jong Un to end the country’s systematic human rights abuses and begin a dialogue to reopen the country to the outside world. Read More |
| A new report documents the challenges, including harassment and sometimes violence, trans people experience in one Mexican state due to a mismatch between their gender and their identity documents. Read More |
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| Authorities in Yemen are barring women from traveling between governorates, and in some cases from travel abroad, without a male guardian’s permission or being accompanied by an immediate male relative. Read More |
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| Abdulrahman al-Khalidi has been a human rights activist for more than a decade. If Bulgarian authorities deport him back to Saudi Arabia, he would be at serious risk of arbitrary detention, torture, and an unfair trial. Read More |
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| A message reading "My body my choice" is projected onto the Eiffel Tower on March 4, 2024. © Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images |
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In this section, we aim to highlight positive human rights stories. Here’s what we’re looking at this week. France Protects Abortion in Its Constitution This week, France’s parliament voted by an overwhelming majority to add the freedom to have an abortion to the country’s constitution. Though abortion has been legal in France since 1975, the historic move aims to establish a safeguard in the face of global attacks on abortion access and sexual and reproductive health rights. ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Russian Military Officers The ICC has issued arrest warrants against two Russian officers, implicating them in targeted strikes against Ukrainian electric infrastructure that deprived civilians of access to water, heat, and health services. The warrants signal that no one can evade justice for these and other grave crimes in Ukraine, regardless of their rank or position. |
Happy International Women's Day
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| Activists sing during a rally to support women's rights on International Women's Day in Buenos Aires, March 8, 2023. © 2023 Mariana Nedelcu/SOPA Images/Sipa USA via AP Images |
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Every March 8, International Women’s Day, women flood the streets in countries around the world to commemorate hard-won victories for women’s rights and to fight for more. Time and again, we’ve seen how women’s voices have the power to drive change. This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating advances while acknowledging work to be done. How did the last year in women’s rights go? Read Here |
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