The trial in Bahrain of prominent rights activist Nabeel Rajab was postponed until August 2 today and a request for his release rejected, his lawyer said, hours after 26 rights groups jointly called for him to be freed. 
 
Bahrain has made no public statements on Rajab&#39;s case, but his lawyer has said charges against him relate to anti-government tweets he allegedly published last year, including one accusing the security forces of torturing detainees. 
 
Rights group term Najab&#39;s arrest &#39;escalating crackdown on opposition&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Rajab was a leading figure in a 2011 pro-democracy uprising led by Bahrain&#39;s Shi&#39;ite Muslim majority, and he has been repeatedly detained. 
 
His latest arrest comes during what rights groups say is an escalating crackdown on Bahrain&#39;s opposition. 
 
The trial was postponed until August 2 and a request for his release by the defence was turned down, his lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi wrote on Twitter without elaborating. 
 
Violence between Shi&#39;ites and security forces continues since 2011 uprising&nbsp; 
 
Shi&#39;ites in Bahrain complain of discrimination from the Sunni-led government, which denies this. 
 
In recent weeks, a court shut down a main Shi&#39;ite opposition society and the interior ministry stripped the spiritual leader of the island&#39;s Shi&#39;ites of his citizenship. 
 
Violence between Shi&#39;ites and security forces has continued on the island since the 2011 uprising was put down with the help of Saudi Arabia. 
 
Hours before Rajab&#39;s hearing was due to take place, 26 human rights groups put out a joint statement. 
 
&quot;We remind the Bahraini government of its obligation to preserve the right to free expression,&quot; the campaign groups, including Human Rights First and Physicians for Human Rights, said. 
 
&quot;We reiterate repeated calls by United Nations officials, and others in the international community, to immediately release Rajab,&quot; they added. 
 
Government officials deny human rights abuse&nbsp; 
 
Rajab was taken to hospital for a day late last month for what his supporters said was an irregular heart beat, but a spokesman for the prisons authority described his condition as &quot;normal,&quot; in a statement e-mailed to Reuters. 
 
Bahraini rights groups said authorities on Monday freed Ibrahim Sharif, former head of the secular Waad party, after he served a year in jail for what state news agency BNA said was publicising &quot;hatred of the regime&quot;. 
 
Government officials deny systematic abuses of human rights and have accused the opposition of stirring sectarian hatred in the kingdom and serving the interests of their rival, Shi&#39;ite Iran. 
 
(Reuters) 
 
&nbsp;

Rajab's lawyer has said charges against him relate to anti-government tweets he allegedly published last year

The trial in Bahrain of prominent rights activist Nabeel Rajab was postponed until August 2 today and a request for his release rejected, his lawyer said, hours after 26 rights groups jointly called for him to be freed. Bahrain has made no public statements on Rajab's case, but his lawyer has said charges against him relate to anti-government tweets he allegedly published last year, including one accusing the security forces of torturing detainees. Rights group term Najab's arrest 'escalating crackdown on opposition' Rajab was a leading figure in a 2011 pro-democracy uprising led by Bahrain's Shi'ite Muslim majority, and he has been repeatedly detained. His latest arrest comes during what rights groups say is an escalating crackdown on Bahrain's opposition. The trial was postponed until August 2 and a request for his release by the defence was turned down, his lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi wrote on Twitter without elaborating. Violence between Shi'ites and security forces continues since 2011 uprising Shi'ites in Bahrain complain of discrimination from the Sunni-led government, which denies this. In recent weeks, a court shut down a main Shi'ite opposition society and the interior ministry stripped the spiritual leader of the island's Shi'ites of his citizenship. Violence between Shi'ites and security forces has continued on the island since the 2011 uprising was put down with the help of Saudi Arabia. Hours before Rajab's hearing was due to take place, 26 human rights groups put out a joint statement. "We remind the Bahraini government of its obligation to preserve the right to free expression," the campaign groups, including Human Rights First and Physicians for Human Rights, said. "We reiterate repeated calls by United Nations officials, and others in the international community, to immediately release Rajab," they added. Government officials deny human rights abuse Rajab was taken to hospital for a day late last month for what his supporters said was an irregular heart beat, but a spokesman for the prisons authority described his condition as "normal," in a statement e-mailed to Reuters. Bahraini rights groups said authorities on Monday freed Ibrahim Sharif, former head of the secular Waad party, after he served a year in jail for what state news agency BNA said was publicising "hatred of the regime". Government officials deny systematic abuses of human rights and have accused the opposition of stirring sectarian hatred in the kingdom and serving the interests of their rival, Shi'ite Iran. (Reuters)

Bahrain activist Nabeel Rajab's trial postponed till August while clamour for his release rises

A human rights group Wednesday demanded the release of a US businesswoman held by China for alleged espionage since last year, after a UN committee said she had been &quot;arbitrarily detained&quot;. 
 
Sandy Phan-Gillis was seized in March 2015 while crossing the border to Macau at the end of a visit to China by a trade delegation from the Texas oil capital Houston, supporters said. 
 
The American has been investigated on accusations of &quot;spying and stealing state secrets&quot;, according to the website savesandy.org, which provides information on her case. 
 
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) said Sunday that &quot;international norms relating to the right to a fair trial and to liberty and security&quot; had not been observed in her case. 
 
Violations by Chinese authorities were of &quot;such gravity as to give the deprivation of liberty of Ms. Phan-Gillis an arbitrary character,&quot; it said in a report posted online. 
 
Phan-Gillis was first held for six months in a secret location and later at a detention centre in the southern region of Guangxi, where she was initially placed in solitary confinement, WGAD said. 
 
The report marked the first time in WGAD&#39;s 25-year history that it had &quot;ruled that (Chinese) agents have arbitrarily detained an American citizen in violation of international human rights law,&rdquo; US-based rights group the Dui Hua Foundation said Wednesday. 
 
Phan-Gillis has been allowed to see a lawyer for the first time, 14 months after she had been taken into custody, the group added in a statement. 
 
The case has &quot;badly damaged US-China relations,&quot; the group&#39;s executive director John Kamm said. 
 
He added: &quot;Dui Hua joins the WGAD, the American government, and members of Congress in calling for Sandy Phan-Gillis&rsquo; immediate release&quot;. 
 
Though Phan-Gillis, who was a member of Houston&#39;s International Trade and Development Council, is currently the only American being held on suspicion of spying in China, other foreign citizens have been accused of espionage. 
 
Feng Xue, a Chinese-born US geologist who spent more than seven years in a Chinese prison after being convicted on state secrets charges, was released last year and deported. 
 
Australian national Stern Hu, an executive with the mining giant Rio Tinto, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2010 on bribery and trade secrets charges. 
 
A Canadian Christian couple who ran a coffee shop in the Chinese border city of Dandong, and had aided Christians fleeing North Korea, were detained on espionage charges in 2014. The husband was formally charged with stealing state secrets and his wife bailed. 
 
(AFP)

Phan-Gillis was first held for six months in a secret location and later at a detention centre in the southern region of Guangxi

A human rights group Wednesday demanded the release of a US businesswoman held by China for alleged espionage since last year, after a UN committee said she had been "arbitrarily detained". Sandy Phan-Gillis was seized in March 2015 while crossing the border to Macau at the end of a visit to China by a trade delegation from the Texas oil capital Houston, supporters said. The American has been investigated on accusations of "spying and stealing state secrets", according to the website savesandy.org, which provides information on her case. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) said Sunday that "international norms relating to the right to a fair trial and to liberty and security" had not been observed in her case. Violations by Chinese authorities were of "such gravity as to give the deprivation of liberty of Ms. Phan-Gillis an arbitrary character," it said in a report posted online. Phan-Gillis was first held for six months in a secret location and later at a detention centre in the southern region of Guangxi, where she was initially placed in solitary confinement, WGAD said. The report marked the first time in WGAD's 25-year history that it had "ruled that (Chinese) agents have arbitrarily detained an American citizen in violation of international human rights law,” US-based rights group the Dui Hua Foundation said Wednesday. Phan-Gillis has been allowed to see a lawyer for the first time, 14 months after she had been taken into custody, the group added in a statement. The case has "badly damaged US-China relations," the group's executive director John Kamm said. He added: "Dui Hua joins the WGAD, the American government, and members of Congress in calling for Sandy Phan-Gillis’ immediate release". Though Phan-Gillis, who was a member of Houston's International Trade and Development Council, is currently the only American being held on suspicion of spying in China, other foreign citizens have been accused of espionage. Feng Xue, a Chinese-born US geologist who spent more than seven years in a Chinese prison after being convicted on state secrets charges, was released last year and deported. Australian national Stern Hu, an executive with the mining giant Rio Tinto, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2010 on bribery and trade secrets charges. A Canadian Christian couple who ran a coffee shop in the Chinese border city of Dandong, and had aided Christians fleeing North Korea, were detained on espionage charges in 2014. The husband was formally charged with stealing state secrets and his wife bailed. (AFP)

Rights group demands release of US woman held for 'spying' in China

Hundreds of people marched through Kenya&#39;s capital on Monday condemning &quot;extrajudicial executions&quot; following the murder of three men, including a lawyer who criticised police abuse. 
 
Dressed in T-shirts smeared in red paint to symbolise blood, the demonstration organised by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights called for investigations into the killings. Three police officers are in custody. 
 
The bodies of lawyer, Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and driver Joseph Muiruri, who disappeared on June 23, were found on Friday by a riverbank outside Nairobi. 
 
When the authorities found his body, Kimani&#39;s wrists were bound with rope, three of his fingers had been chopped off and his eyes appeared to have been gouged out. 
 
A joint statement by 34 Kenyan and international human rights organisations condemned the killings. 
 
&quot;These extrajudicial killings are a chilling reminder that the hard-won right to seek justice for human rights violations is under renewed attack,&quot; said Muthoni Wanyeki from Amnesty International. 
 
Law Society of Kenya chairman Isaac Okero rejected police claims of an &quot;isolated case involving a few rogue officers&quot; and demanded the government take action. 
 
&quot;Many, many Kenyans have gone missing, and this is a situation that is completely intolerable,&quot; Okero said. 
 
Kenya&#39;s police force has been accused in the past of running hit squads targetting those, including human rights activists and lawyers, investigating allegations of police rights abuses. 
 
&quot;Cases of police killings are emerging from many parts of the country each year,&quot; said Otsieno Namwaya, from Human Rights Watch. 
 
&quot;The government should urgently conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable and that these killings stop.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

Human rights investigations are called for after lawyer who criticized police abuse was found dead, fingers chopped off and eyes gouged out

Hundreds of people marched through Kenya's capital on Monday condemning "extrajudicial executions" following the murder of three men, including a lawyer who criticised police abuse. Dressed in T-shirts smeared in red paint to symbolise blood, the demonstration organised by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights called for investigations into the killings. Three police officers are in custody. The bodies of lawyer, Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and driver Joseph Muiruri, who disappeared on June 23, were found on Friday by a riverbank outside Nairobi. When the authorities found his body, Kimani's wrists were bound with rope, three of his fingers had been chopped off and his eyes appeared to have been gouged out. A joint statement by 34 Kenyan and international human rights organisations condemned the killings. "These extrajudicial killings are a chilling reminder that the hard-won right to seek justice for human rights violations is under renewed attack," said Muthoni Wanyeki from Amnesty International. Law Society of Kenya chairman Isaac Okero rejected police claims of an "isolated case involving a few rogue officers" and demanded the government take action. "Many, many Kenyans have gone missing, and this is a situation that is completely intolerable," Okero said. Kenya's police force has been accused in the past of running hit squads targetting those, including human rights activists and lawyers, investigating allegations of police rights abuses. "Cases of police killings are emerging from many parts of the country each year," said Otsieno Namwaya, from Human Rights Watch. "The government should urgently conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable and that these killings stop." (AFP)

Hundreds protest over lawyer's gruesome murder in Kenya

The apex court in India refused on Wednesday to hear a petition challenging a law criminalising gay sex, a battling in the country&#39;s courts to get the ban overturned. 
 
A number of well-known lesbian, gay and bisexual Indians had argued that Section 377 of India&#39;s penal code, which prohibits &quot;carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal&quot;, undermined their fundamental rights by failing to protect their sexual preferences. 
 
&quot;The Supreme Court refused to hear the matter and asked the petitioners to approach the Chief Justice of India,&quot; Arvind Dattar, a lawyer for one of the petitioners, told Reuters. 
 
India&#39;s Chief Justice is already hearing a separate case to strike down the ban, and the top court has previously argued that only parliament has the power to change Section 377. 
 
The decision is the latest setback India&#39;s gay community has faced in its fight to get a prohibition on homosexual sex overturned ever since the Supreme Court reinstated a colonial-era ban in late 2013.&nbsp;That ban ended a four-year period of decriminalisation that had helped bring homosexuality increasingly out into the open in a deeply conservative society. 
 
Discrimination faced by homosexual communities across the world was thrown into sharp relief again this month after a gunman slaughtered 49 people at a gay nightclub in Florida. 
 
Some western countries have pressured India to overturn its ban on gay sex and respect human rights regardless of sexual orientation. 
 
This month, US Ambassador Richard Verma&#39;s residence in New Delhi&#39;s leafy diplomatic quarter was lit in the colours of the rainbow in a gesture of solidarity towards victims of the Orlando massacre. 
 
Pertinently, violation of the Indian law on gay sex can result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years. 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp;

Some Western countries have pressured India to overturn its ban on gay sex and respect human rights regardless of sexual orientation

The apex court in India refused on Wednesday to hear a petition challenging a law criminalising gay sex, a battling in the country's courts to get the ban overturned. A number of well-known lesbian, gay and bisexual Indians had argued that Section 377 of India's penal code, which prohibits "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal", undermined their fundamental rights by failing to protect their sexual preferences. "The Supreme Court refused to hear the matter and asked the petitioners to approach the Chief Justice of India," Arvind Dattar, a lawyer for one of the petitioners, told Reuters. India's Chief Justice is already hearing a separate case to strike down the ban, and the top court has previously argued that only parliament has the power to change Section 377. The decision is the latest setback India's gay community has faced in its fight to get a prohibition on homosexual sex overturned ever since the Supreme Court reinstated a colonial-era ban in late 2013. That ban ended a four-year period of decriminalisation that had helped bring homosexuality increasingly out into the open in a deeply conservative society. Discrimination faced by homosexual communities across the world was thrown into sharp relief again this month after a gunman slaughtered 49 people at a gay nightclub in Florida. Some western countries have pressured India to overturn its ban on gay sex and respect human rights regardless of sexual orientation. This month, US Ambassador Richard Verma's residence in New Delhi's leafy diplomatic quarter was lit in the colours of the rainbow in a gesture of solidarity towards victims of the Orlando massacre. Pertinently, violation of the Indian law on gay sex can result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years. (Reuters)

India's Supreme Court refuses to hear plea on Sec 377, setback for gay rights movement

Mexico&#39;s police and armed forces routinely torture and mistreat women, sometimes resorting to sexual violence during arrest and interrogation, Amnesty International wrote in a damning report released on Tuesday. 
 
The rights group interviewed 100 women who reported violence during arrest, all of whom described having been the victim of some form of sexual harassment or psychological abuse. Seven in ten of the women reported sexual violence during arrest or in the hours that followed. 
 
The types of mistreatment the women were subjected to included blows to the stomach and head, threats of rape directed either at them or their families, near-asphyxiation, electric shocks to the genitals, groping and rape. &nbsp; 
 
&quot;Police appear to be using them as easy targets for arrest to boost figures and show society that the government&rsquo;s security efforts are yielding results,&quot; said an Amnesty International statement. 
 
&quot;The women subjected to such violence are mostly young and from low income backgrounds. The multiple and intersecting discrimination these women face because of their gender, age and socio-economic situation increases their risk of being arbitrarily arrested and tortured or ill-treated,&quot; the statement said. 
 
The report found that many women arrested and imprisoned are single parents and face discrimination simply for not conforming to widely accepted gender expectations, such as having a male partner. 
 
Sex workers in Mexico also often find themselves at risk of torture and ill-treatment during arrest or in detention, the report said, as do women who are bisexual or lesbian. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
 
 
 
&nbsp;

Seven in ten of the women reported sexual violence during arrest or in the hours that followed, says an Amnesty International report

Mexico's police and armed forces routinely torture and mistreat women, sometimes resorting to sexual violence during arrest and interrogation, Amnesty International wrote in a damning report released on Tuesday. The rights group interviewed 100 women who reported violence during arrest, all of whom described having been the victim of some form of sexual harassment or psychological abuse. Seven in ten of the women reported sexual violence during arrest or in the hours that followed. The types of mistreatment the women were subjected to included blows to the stomach and head, threats of rape directed either at them or their families, near-asphyxiation, electric shocks to the genitals, groping and rape. "Police appear to be using them as easy targets for arrest to boost figures and show society that the government’s security efforts are yielding results," said an Amnesty International statement. "The women subjected to such violence are mostly young and from low income backgrounds. The multiple and intersecting discrimination these women face because of their gender, age and socio-economic situation increases their risk of being arbitrarily arrested and tortured or ill-treated," the statement said. The report found that many women arrested and imprisoned are single parents and face discrimination simply for not conforming to widely accepted gender expectations, such as having a male partner. Sex workers in Mexico also often find themselves at risk of torture and ill-treatment during arrest or in detention, the report said, as do women who are bisexual or lesbian. (AFP)

'Mexico's police, armed forces routinely torture women during arrest, interrogation'

The United States has decided to place Myanmar on its global list of worst offenders in human trafficking, officials said, a move aimed at prodding the country&rsquo;s new democratically elected government and its still-powerful military to do more to curb the use of child soldiers and forced labour. 
 
The reprimand of Myanmar comes despite US efforts to court the strategically important country to help counteract China&rsquo;s rise in the region and build a Southeast Asian bulwark against Beijing&rsquo;s territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea. 
 
Myanmar&rsquo;s demotion, part of the State Department&rsquo;s closely watched annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report due to be released on Thursday, also appears intended to send a message of US concern about continued widespread persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority in the Buddhist-majority nation. 
 
The country&rsquo;s new leader, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, has been criticised internationally for neglecting the Rohingya issue since her administration took office this year. 
 
Washington has faced a complex balancing act over Myanmar, a former military dictatorship that has emerged from decades of international isolation since launching sweeping political changes in 2011. 
 
President Barack Obama&rsquo;s diplomatic opening to Myanmar is widely seen as a key foreign policy achievement as he enters his final seven months in office, but even as he has eased some sanctions he has kept others in place to maintain leverage for further reforms. 
 
At the same time, Washington wants to keep Myanmar from slipping back into China&rsquo;s orbit at a time when US officials are trying to forge a unified regional front. 
 
The US decision to drop Myanmar to &ldquo;Tier 3,&rdquo; the lowest grade, putting it alongside countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria, was confirmed by a US official in Washington and a Bangkok-based official from an international organisation informed of the move. Another person familiar with the matter said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to turn you away from this conclusion.&rdquo; All spoke on condition of anonymity. 
 
A Tier 3 rating can trigger sanctions limiting access to US and international aid. But US presidents frequently waive such action. 
 
The decision on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was one of the most hotly contested in this year&rsquo;s report, and followed concerns that some assessments in last year&rsquo;s human trafficking report were watered down for political reasons. 
 
There was intense internal debate between senior US diplomats who wanted to reward Myanmar for progress on political reforms and US human rights experts who argued that not enough was being done to curb human trafficking, the US official said. 
 
A Reuters investigation published last August found that senior diplomats repeatedly overruled the State Department&rsquo;s anti-trafficking unit and inflated the grades of 14 strategically important countries. The State Department denied any political considerations but US lawmakers called for reforms in the decision-making process. 
 
This year&rsquo;s decision on Myanmar marked a win for the State Department&rsquo;s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was set up to independently grade countries&rsquo; efforts to prevent modern slavery, such as the illegal trade in humans for forced labour or prostitution. 
 
Because Myanmar had been on the so-called &ldquo;Tier 2 Watch List&rdquo; for the maximum four years permitted by law, the State Department either had to justify an upgrade or else automatically downgrade it. A Tier 3 ranking means that anti-trafficking efforts do not meet &ldquo;minimum standards&rdquo; and it is &ldquo;not making significant efforts to do so.&rdquo; 
 
State Department spokesman John Kirby said: &ldquo;We will not comment on the contents of this year&rsquo;s report until after the report is released.&rdquo; 
 
 
Child soldiers 
 
Deliberations on Myanmar&rsquo;s record focused heavily on efforts to halt the military&#39;s recruitment and use of child soldiers as well as forced labour, especially the coercion of local villagers to perform some work. Such practices have been documented by international human rights groups and are also outlined in last year&#39;s State Department report. 
 
A key issue that the U.S. administration considered before Myanmar&rsquo;s downgrade was alleged government complicity in human trafficking, including its failure to prosecute any civilian officials for their involvement in it, according to the person familiar with the situation. While the Myanmar military is credited with significant progress toward curbing the use of child soldiers, such as allowing international inspections of military bases, there was no indication the problem had been completely eradicated as the U.S. anti-trafficking office had urged, the source said.Human rights groups had lobbied U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry against upgrading Myanmar, saying it would be unearned. 
 
The diplomatic blow to Myanmar&rsquo;s government could be softened by the fact that the TIP report covered efforts during the year ending in March, under the previous administration of former junta general Thein Sein. 
 
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, assumed her government role in April, after her party won the country&rsquo;s first democratic elections in five decades. 
 
But with the generals still controlling three security ministries and holding a lock on 25 percent of seats in parliament, U.S. officials grappled with whether a downgrade could undermine cooperation from the military against human trafficking. 
 
For her part, Suu Kyi has recently unsettled U.S. officials by calling on them not to use the term &ldquo;Rohingya&rdquo; to refer to the Muslim minority in the country&rsquo;s north. Many in Myanmar refer to them as &quot;Bengalis,&quot; insinuating that they are stateless illegal immigrants. 
 
The United States has urged Myanmar to treat them as citizens. 
 
The 2015 TIP report highlighted that the government&#39;s denial of citizenship to an estimated 800,000 men, women and children in Burma -- the majority of them ethnic Rohingya -- &quot;significantly increased this population&#39;s vulnerability to trafficking&quot;. 
 
&ldquo;The chronic, chronic abuse of the Rohingya has not been dealt with at all,&rdquo; a U.S. congressional aide said, suggesting support on Capitol Hill for a downgrade this year. 
 
(Reuters)

The move is intended to send a message of US concern about continued widespread persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority

The United States has decided to place Myanmar on its global list of worst offenders in human trafficking, officials said, a move aimed at prodding the country’s new democratically elected government and its still-powerful military to do more to curb the use of child soldiers and forced labour. The reprimand of Myanmar comes despite US efforts to court the strategically important country to help counteract China’s rise in the region and build a Southeast Asian bulwark against Beijing’s territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea. Myanmar’s demotion, part of the State Department’s closely watched annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report due to be released on Thursday, also appears intended to send a message of US concern about continued widespread persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority in the Buddhist-majority nation. The country’s new leader, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, has been criticised internationally for neglecting the Rohingya issue since her administration took office this year. Washington has faced a complex balancing act over Myanmar, a former military dictatorship that has emerged from decades of international isolation since launching sweeping political changes in 2011. President Barack Obama’s diplomatic opening to Myanmar is widely seen as a key foreign policy achievement as he enters his final seven months in office, but even as he has eased some sanctions he has kept others in place to maintain leverage for further reforms. At the same time, Washington wants to keep Myanmar from slipping back into China’s orbit at a time when US officials are trying to forge a unified regional front. The US decision to drop Myanmar to “Tier 3,” the lowest grade, putting it alongside countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria, was confirmed by a US official in Washington and a Bangkok-based official from an international organisation informed of the move. Another person familiar with the matter said: “I’m not going to turn you away from this conclusion.” All spoke on condition of anonymity. A Tier 3 rating can trigger sanctions limiting access to US and international aid. But US presidents frequently waive such action. The decision on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was one of the most hotly contested in this year’s report, and followed concerns that some assessments in last year’s human trafficking report were watered down for political reasons. There was intense internal debate between senior US diplomats who wanted to reward Myanmar for progress on political reforms and US human rights experts who argued that not enough was being done to curb human trafficking, the US official said. A Reuters investigation published last August found that senior diplomats repeatedly overruled the State Department’s anti-trafficking unit and inflated the grades of 14 strategically important countries. The State Department denied any political considerations but US lawmakers called for reforms in the decision-making process. This year’s decision on Myanmar marked a win for the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was set up to independently grade countries’ efforts to prevent modern slavery, such as the illegal trade in humans for forced labour or prostitution. Because Myanmar had been on the so-called “Tier 2 Watch List” for the maximum four years permitted by law, the State Department either had to justify an upgrade or else automatically downgrade it. A Tier 3 ranking means that anti-trafficking efforts do not meet “minimum standards” and it is “not making significant efforts to do so.” State Department spokesman John Kirby said: “We will not comment on the contents of this year’s report until after the report is released.” Child soldiers Deliberations on Myanmar’s record focused heavily on efforts to halt the military's recruitment and use of child soldiers as well as forced labour, especially the coercion of local villagers to perform some work. Such practices have been documented by international human rights groups and are also outlined in last year's State Department report. A key issue that the U.S. administration considered before Myanmar’s downgrade was alleged government complicity in human trafficking, including its failure to prosecute any civilian officials for their involvement in it, according to the person familiar with the situation. While the Myanmar military is credited with significant progress toward curbing the use of child soldiers, such as allowing international inspections of military bases, there was no indication the problem had been completely eradicated as the U.S. anti-trafficking office had urged, the source said.Human rights groups had lobbied U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry against upgrading Myanmar, saying it would be unearned. The diplomatic blow to Myanmar’s government could be softened by the fact that the TIP report covered efforts during the year ending in March, under the previous administration of former junta general Thein Sein. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, assumed her government role in April, after her party won the country’s first democratic elections in five decades. But with the generals still controlling three security ministries and holding a lock on 25 percent of seats in parliament, U.S. officials grappled with whether a downgrade could undermine cooperation from the military against human trafficking. For her part, Suu Kyi has recently unsettled U.S. officials by calling on them not to use the term “Rohingya” to refer to the Muslim minority in the country’s north. Many in Myanmar refer to them as "Bengalis," insinuating that they are stateless illegal immigrants. The United States has urged Myanmar to treat them as citizens. The 2015 TIP report highlighted that the government's denial of citizenship to an estimated 800,000 men, women and children in Burma -- the majority of them ethnic Rohingya -- "significantly increased this population's vulnerability to trafficking". “The chronic, chronic abuse of the Rohingya has not been dealt with at all,” a U.S. congressional aide said, suggesting support on Capitol Hill for a downgrade this year. (Reuters)

US to place Myanmar on global list of worst offenders in human trafficking

The new Sri Lankan government acknowledged on Wednesday for the first time that about 65,000 went missing during its 26-year war with the separatist Tamil Tigers. This is being seen as a further step towards reconciliation.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;&nbsp; 
President Maithripala Sirisena has agreed to address past human rights violations through independent probes and to implement a resolution by the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The UN and rights groups have long urged justice for the families of the missing, including the ones allegedly abducted by state-backed groups and paramilitary outfits.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Before losing the 2015 elections, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa had firmly opposed any international interference in what he believed was an internal issue.&nbsp; 
A specific office will be in charge to independently investigate each case of the thousands of missing cases, mostly belonging to the Tamil ethnic minority.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
The government will issue a certificate of absence which will help relatives, allowing them to temporarily manage properties and assets of missing people, to obtain provisional guardianship of their children and apply for government welfare schemes.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Many relatives have been critic, accusing the government of doing almost nothing to find the missing people as promised in the UN resolution.&nbsp; 
The government will make an oral representation in Geneva later this month to show its progresses in implementing the resolution.&nbsp; 
(Reuters)

Agrees to implement a UN resolution which will help families to manage assets of those missing and obtain guardianship for their children

The new Sri Lankan government acknowledged on Wednesday for the first time that about 65,000 went missing during its 26-year war with the separatist Tamil Tigers. This is being seen as a further step towards reconciliation. President Maithripala Sirisena has agreed to address past human rights violations through independent probes and to implement a resolution by the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The UN and rights groups have long urged justice for the families of the missing, including the ones allegedly abducted by state-backed groups and paramilitary outfits. Before losing the 2015 elections, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa had firmly opposed any international interference in what he believed was an internal issue. A specific office will be in charge to independently investigate each case of the thousands of missing cases, mostly belonging to the Tamil ethnic minority. The government will issue a certificate of absence which will help relatives, allowing them to temporarily manage properties and assets of missing people, to obtain provisional guardianship of their children and apply for government welfare schemes. Many relatives have been critic, accusing the government of doing almost nothing to find the missing people as promised in the UN resolution. The government will make an oral representation in Geneva later this month to show its progresses in implementing the resolution. (Reuters)

Sri Lanka declares 65,000 missing during civil war

New migrant centres set up to house migrants transferred from the Greek border camp of Idomeni do not meet international standards, a human rights monitor said today. 
 
Tineke Strik of the Council of Europe gave her assessment after visiting three new reception and registration centres in the northern city of Thessaloniki. 
 
&quot;I am impressed by what the Greek authorities have done in such a short space of time to create new facilities for the people from Idomeni,&quot; said Strik, migration rapporteur for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Strasbourg-based Council. 
 
&quot;However, this has been a missed opportunity to create decent facilities that meet international standards. In the places that I visited, there was no privacy, no fire safety, no light and no ventilation and people have no information on their situation or their prospects,&quot; she added. 
 
Strik, a Dutch deputy, visited the new centres on former industrial sites on Sunday and remains in Greece with a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly visiting several refugee camps in Athens and on the island of Lesbos today and on Tuesday. 
 
Up to 12,000 migrants found themselves blocked in the Idomeni camp, on the Greece-Macedonia border, after the migrant route north through the Balkans was closed down at the start of March. 
 
Many of those transferred to Thessaloniki &quot;are hoping to be reunited with family members already in other European countries,&quot; said Strik. 
 
&quot;Their psychological well-being will depend on the rapid completion of the pre-registration process and the ability to exercise their right to apply for asylum,&quot; she added.

Greek migrant centers not up to International standards

New migrant centres set up to house migrants transferred from the Greek border camp of Idomeni do not meet international standards, a human rights monitor said today. Tineke Strik of the Council of Europe gave her assessment after visiting three new reception and registration centres in the northern city of Thessaloniki. "I am impressed by what the Greek authorities have done in such a short space of time to create new facilities for the people from Idomeni," said Strik, migration rapporteur for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Strasbourg-based Council. "However, this has been a missed opportunity to create decent facilities that meet international standards. In the places that I visited, there was no privacy, no fire safety, no light and no ventilation and people have no information on their situation or their prospects," she added. Strik, a Dutch deputy, visited the new centres on former industrial sites on Sunday and remains in Greece with a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly visiting several refugee camps in Athens and on the island of Lesbos today and on Tuesday. Up to 12,000 migrants found themselves blocked in the Idomeni camp, on the Greece-Macedonia border, after the migrant route north through the Balkans was closed down at the start of March. Many of those transferred to Thessaloniki "are hoping to be reunited with family members already in other European countries," said Strik. "Their psychological well-being will depend on the rapid completion of the pre-registration process and the ability to exercise their right to apply for asylum," she added.

Human rights monitor blasts new Greek migrant centres

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