The US military launched air strikes in Basra on Friday for the first time since the Iraqi authorities began their crackdown on the Mahdi Army, followers of the Shi’a cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The intensification of fighting comes as aid agencies warn that the military offensive is stopping food and medical relief efforts and putting civilians [...]

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Sixteen years after the end of El Salvador’s civil war, the whereabouts of hundreds of children who disappeared during the conflict remain unknown.
29 March has been designated as the "Day dedicated to the children who disappeared during the internal conflict" in El Salvador. Yet the country’s government has done little to reunite the missing children [...]

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Amnesty International delivered over 10,000 petitions to representatives of the Kenyan leaders President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga on Thursday.
People across the world signed up for the Reach Out for Kenya day of action on 27 February. The petitions called for an end to the post-election violence in Kenya and for the perpetrators to [...]

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Two men believed to be from Ivory Cost were shot dead by Egyptian security forces while trying to cross into Israel on Thursday. These latest killings bring the number of African migrants killed this year to 10.
On 10 March and 18 March, a Sudanese man and Eritrean woman were killed in similar circumstances. Six [...]

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Seriously Ill Fathi al-Jahmi Getting Medical Care in State Custody
The Libyan government should release without conditions ailing political prisoner Fathi al-Jahmi, who remains in state custody despite recent reports of his discharge, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights said in a joint statement today.
Link to hrw.org

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The Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa should raise the case of detained political and human rights activists in his meetings with Syrian President Bashar al-Asad during the Arab Summit in Damascus on March 29-30, Human Rights Watch said in a letter released today.
Link to hrw.org

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The editor of an Egyptian daily newspaper was sentenced to six months in prison on Wednesday for writing about the health of the President. Ibrahim Eissa, editor of the Al-Dustour newspaper, who wrote an article suggesting that the health of 79-year-old President Hosni Mubarak was deteriorating.
The authorities contended that the article damaged the economy by [...]

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Opposition Demonstrators Detained Under New Restrictions
The Armenian government should lift new restrictions on freedom of assembly and cease detaining opposition supporters participating in peaceful protests, Human Rights Watch said today.
Link to hrw.org

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Democratic Republic of Congo Needs More Expert Help, Not Less
The UN Human Rights Council’s failure to renew the mandate of the expert for the Democratic Republic of Congo is a betrayal of its responsibilities toward the Congolese people, Human Rights Watch said today.
Link to hrw.org

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Inadequate Witness Protection Key Challenge for Authorities
Kosovo’s government should fully cooperate with the European Union’s newly deployed rule-of-law mission in reforming Kosovo’s criminal justice system that remains extremely weak, despite efforts to strengthen it over the past two years, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The EU mission (known as “EULEX”) [...]

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