Bulgaria
(Human Rights Watch) The Bulgarian government between 2018 and 2023 licensed exports of surveillance equipment to countries that were likely to use it for internal repression or to commit serious human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch previously reviewed data that shows that European Union governments often seem to issue such licenses. Human Rights Watch urged EU institutions to tighten enforcement of laws intended to restrict the export of surveillance technology to places where there is a credible risk it would be used in violation of international human rights and humanitarian law. “All EU governments should be clamping down on exports of tools that can be used for repression, not rubber-stamping them,” said Zach Campbell, senior surveillance researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The European Commission has evidence that EU governments have been issuing licenses seemingly without conducting serious human rights due diligence, and yet appears to have taken no action despite having the legal framework to control this.” – Bulgaria Licensed Surveillance Exports to Rights Violators | Human Rights Watch
Democratic Republic of Congo
(Amnesy International) Six million people around the world are being asked to sign a petition launched by Amnesty International today, to demand justice for the victims and survivors of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has spanned more than 30 years and claimed an estimated 6 million lives. The human rights organization’s “6 million Voices for Justice for Congo” campaign is calling for the establishment of an international judicial mechanism to investigate crimes under international law committed by Congolese and foreign security forces, armed groups and other actors between 1993 and 2003. – DRC: Amnesty International launches “6 million Voices for Justice for Congo” campaign, in renewed push for accountability for crimes under international law. – Amnesty International
Israel – Palestine
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) The Israeli military said on Sunday that they “eliminated” Hussein Qadra and Mohammed Farra, operatives in the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. – Israel says ‘eliminated’ Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives tied to major funding network
Russia/Ukraine
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Four people were killed and 28 wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian-controlled peninsula of Crimea, the Russian-installed governor said. Separately, local authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar region said a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil transport facility, confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, killed one person on a passenger ferry and set an oil terminal ablaze. The Russian Defense Ministry said 239 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight. – Ukraine attack kills five as Crimea halts public fuel sales
Syria
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) ISIS claimed responsibility on Saturday for an attack near the city of Manbij in Syria’s northeastern Aleppo province that the Syrian Defense Ministry said killed two soldiers. The militant group made the claim in a statement on its Telegram channel. Reuters could not independently verify the claim. – ISIS claims responsibility for northeastern Aleppo attack that killed two Syrian soldiers
UK
(Anna Bacciarelli – Human Rights Watch) The UK Home Office is pushing ahead with plans to use AI technology to guess the age of young people arriving at UK borders to seek asylum, starting in 2027. Yet the Home Office’s own tests found the technology performed worse on certain groups of people, notably Africans. The plans severely endanger the human rights of children seeking asylum and should be scrapped. Facial age estimation technology (FAE) is a nascent technology used to estimate a person’s age, which would contribute towards determining their asylum status. Described with much fanfare by the Home Office as a “cutting-edge AI tech,” FAE is currently used in UK shops and bars on customers seeking to buy age-restricted items. To use this for life-changing decisions in refugee processing centers is to introduce an unreliable, untested technology into an already flawed process. – The UK’s Discriminatory AI Experiment on Child Refugees | Human Rights Watch
US – Iran
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated on Sunday that Tehran was willing to provide assurances that the country was not seeking a nuclear weapon, while insisting that Iran would not relinquish its right to enrich uranium. – Iran says not seeking nuclear weapon or relinquishing enrichment rights
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Iran said on Sunday that the ongoing conflict in Lebanon between Israel and militant group Hezbollah will top the agenda in talks with the United States in Switzerland, as well as issues such as frozen Iranian funds and the sale of the country’s oil. – Iran says Lebanon conflict ‘main topic’ in US talks
