Rights Groups

• Families staan onder druk om te zwijgen te midden van een internetblack-out, terwijl het aantal executies naar verluidt sterk stijgt, met 24 doden in maart. • Iran voert bijna dagelijks geheime executies van gevangenen uit en weigert in sommige gevallen de lichamen van de overledenen aan hun families te overhandigen, aldus mensenrechtenorganisaties en bronnen dicht bij de familieleden. • Veel families vernemen pas van de executies nadat deze hebben plaatsgevonden; sommigen worden lastiggevallen en onder druk gezet om niet publiekelijk te spreken over de persoonlijke impact van de staatseffectueringen, zo melden de bronnen.

Without offering details or evidence, US Southern Command described the people killed as ‘narco-terrorists’The US military said on Tuesday it struck a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing three people, in the latest such attack that rights groups label as “extrajudicial killings” and Washington describes as targeting “narco-terrorists”.US Southern Command posted about the strike on social media Tuesday evening, alleging that the vessel struck on Tuesday was operated by “Designated Terrorist Organizations” that it did not identify. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Dozens of organizations write to Congress after general announced plan to ‘deal with’ those fleeing any humanitarian crisis on the islandDozens of US and international human rights organizations are decrying the Trump administration’s plans to establish a migrant “camp” for fleeing Cubans at the Guantánamo Bay military base if the island nation’s crisis worsens under pressure from the US, according to a letter to members of Congress on Friday.The 85 groups plan to submit the joint letter, exclusively shared with the Guardian, to US senators and House representatives, expressing their “profound concern” with comments made last month by a top Department of Defense commander, and describing any prospect of further migrant detention at the base as “deeply troubling and unacceptable”. Continue reading...

The coalition of organizations says Trump’s executive order restricting who can receive mail ballots is unconstitutional Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA coalition of civil rights groups sued the Trump administration on Thursday, saying that a new executive order to limit mail-in voting is unconstitutional.The order, which Trump signed on Tuesday, instructs the federal government to come up with a list of eligible citizens who can vote in each state. It also instructs the US Postal Service to only transmit mail-in ballots to people on that list. Continue reading...