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Top Human Rights Videos of 2020

Only One Relates to Covid-19

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What were your favorite Human Rights Watch videos of 2020? Although so many people worldwide suffered because of Covid-19, only one of our most-watched videos related to the pandemic. The rest of these videos span the globe, from China to the US, as well as issues, from refugee rights to abuses confronting athletes – including those headed to the Olympics.

Here are our top ten videos of the year, scroll down for number one.

10. China’s Global Threat to Human Rights

China’s government sees human rights as an existential threat. Its reaction could pose an existential threat to the rights of people worldwide.

 

9. Cambodia: Hun Sen and His Abusive Generals

Cambodia’s increasingly dictatorial, one-party rule is underpinned by generals in the security forces who are responsible for serious and systematic human rights violations. The generals and their family members also possess unexplained wealth.

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These men are the backbone of an abusive political regime

These men are the backbone of an abusive government in Cambodia headed by the Prime Minister Hun Sen

The abuses include

· Killings

· Torture

· Arbitrary arrests

· Prolonged detentions

· Land grabs and much more

Cambodian court orders arrest of opposition leader Sam Rainsy

Cambodia steps up opposition crackdown as Rainsy return nears

Cambodian court orders arrest of opposition leader Sam Rainsy.

The generals have relatively modest government salaries, yet they have each amassed massive unexplained wealth. 

Here are some of their homes

Poverty, particularly in rural areas, is widespread.

Corruption Perceptions Index 2019

Bribery Risk Matrix

Gen. Neth Savoenun, also lives in a mansion. 

 His wife, Kim Leng paid US$2.7 million for a villa in Cyprus. 

These 12 generals and their family members allegedly have overseas assets worth tens of millions of dollars. 

Their families use social media to show off their wealth and lavish lifestyles. 

Hun Sen and his generals should be investigated for the grave and systematic rights violations they have committed.

Governments should impose sanctions such as travel bans and asset freezes against serious human rights abusers.

Donors should condition trade preferences and assistance to the government on ending rights violations and reforming the country’s abusive security forces.

 

8. Children in Japan are Abused in Pursuit of Olympic Medals

Child athletes in Japan suffer physical, sexual, and verbal abuse when training for sport throughout Japanese schools, federations, and elite sports. Japan will host the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics beginning July 23, 2021.

 

7. Ethiopians Detained in Saudi Arabia After Being Expelled by Houthis in Yemen

Houthi forces in April 2020 forcibly expelled thousands of Ethiopian migrants from northern Yemen using Covid-19 as a pretext, killing dozens and forcing them to the Saudi border.

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al-Dayer detention facility – Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia

 

“Eshe”, Ethiopian Migrant

We Ethiopians are in trouble! We’re going to lose our minds! Please help us! Where are the people to save us?

 

These images show the conditions of Ethiopian women in a detention center near al-Dayer, Saudi Arabia. The mesh roof allows rainwater in, flooding the prison up to the women’s ankles. This is just one of the prisons and detention centers where Saudi Arabia has been holding the migrants for days, weeks and even months.

 

“Eshe”, Ethiopian Migrant

“In the prison there is people's feces everywhere. The toilets were overflowing. People sleep on that.”

 

Jizan detention facility – Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia

In a detention center in Jizan, images from the men’s facility depict hundreds of people being held in severely overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.

Trash and excrement at every step, they are forced to sleep in hot, unairconditioned rooms, tightly packed together, with limited access to water to wash.

They were amongst the thousands of Ethiopian migrants that Houthi forces forcibly removed from territory under their control in northern Yemen in April – accusing them of spreading coronavirus.

 

“Eshe”, Ethiopian Migrant

In the morning at 9:00 [Houthi forces] came and gave us an instruction to evacuate. They came back firing bullets.

 

Human Rights Watch got firsthand accounts from migrants in Al Ghar, a settlement in Saada governorate, who witnessed people being shot as they were being forcibly removed from their shelters at gunpoint by the Houthi forces and taken to the border with Saudi Arabia.

Saudi authorities opened fire, killing scores of migrants, before allowing hundreds of Ethiopians to enter the country. They are now arbitrarily detaining them in facilities in Jizan Province.

Detainees are given little food. Some receive just three pieces of bread and a bottle of water a day.

Photo evidence supports their accounts that many are developing skin problems due to the unsanitary conditions.

Multiple men said their pleas for medical attention and better conditions are repeatedly denied and answered with beatings from the guards.

Hundreds of Ethiopian migrants remain arbitrarily imprisoned, their future uncertain.

 

“Eshe”, Ethiopian Migrant

I called my husband [who is still detained], their worry is how to get out of that and return home.

 

Houthi authorities and the Saudi government should impartially investigate the killing of Ethiopian migrants at al-Ghar and appropriately punish those responsible. Saudi authorities should urgently arrange for the safe return of those that remain in detention. They should investigate allegations of abuse and prosecute those responsible.

 

6. DR Congo: Gangs Kidnap, Rape in National Park

Criminal gangs have kidnapped for ransom at least 170 people near the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo between April 2017 and March 2020. Small groups armed with guns and machetes have beaten, tortured, and murdered hostages, raping women and girls, who make up more than half of them, while using threats to extort money from their families.

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Criminal gangs in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga Park have kidnapped scores of people for ransom since 2017, including many women and girls who endure sexual violence during captivity.

 

 “I felt people grabbing my shoulders… They hit me on the head with the butt of their rifle.”

 

“Irene,” 23

Kidnapped on her way home from working in the fields

 

 “We started walking into the forest. There were other hostages.” 

 

 “When we stopped along the way they whipped us badly on our backsides. We were in so much pain that we could barely sit up.”

 

“Then, they showed us human skulls and said that if our family didn’t pay our ransom, we would die.”

 

Survivors recount constant death threats, beatings, rape, and exposure to harsh weather as they were held outdoors for several days.

 

 “One of them put his gun to my head and said that if I tried to move it, he would kill me.”

 

“After that, he would do anything he wanted to me. When I dared to cry, he would hit me in the head.”

 

 “They raped us in the morning, during the day, and at night.”

 

“They’d rape us next to the male hostages who had their feet and hands firmly tied.”

 

Hostages are released only after relatives pay a ransom. Back home, they struggle with trauma and often face stigma.

 

“I dream about these scenes in my sleep. When I’m in the fields, I get scared thinking they’re still coming to get me.”

 

“My husband says he’s being laughed at everywhere because of what happened to me. He keeps saying that he’ll just go away to Uganda and leave me here.”

 

“So many women are victims of those gangs. We thought it was going to end, but it still goes on.”

 

Congolese police should protect communities and bring perpetrators to justice.

 

The government should provide survivors with all the help they need--including medical, legal, financial, and mental health--to rebuild their lives.

 

5. Greek Police Detain, Assault, Rob and Strip Asylum Seekers at Border

Greek security forces and plain-clothed men at Turkey’s land border have detained, assaulted, robbed, and stripped asylum seekers and migrants before forcing them back to Turkey without letting them seek protection in Greece.

 

4. ISIS Dumped Bodies in Gorge Near Raqqa

ISIS abducted and detained thousands of people when they held swaths of territory in Syria between 2013 and 2019. Many of these people were executed or remain missing, and the effort to identify them and to locate their remains will last many years. The effort to deliver justice for these extensive crimes is needed to promote a more stable Syria.

 

3. Kids Talk Coronavirus

Kids talk about the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on children. The crisis has a potentially far-reaching, long-term negative impact on children around the world.

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Children who get COVID-19 might not get as sick as grownups. But the virus is affecting us in many different ways. 

COVID-19 has kept more than 1.5 billion kids out of school.

(In French) I’m doing my homework online, but lots of children don’t have the internet or computers at home.  

If children can’t learn, they might not be able to get jobs when they are older or buy food to look after their families. 

I wash my hands for 20 seconds when I come inside from playing outside, but there are some children that don’t have soap or running water so they can’t wash their hands. 

A lot of children live in refugee camps or detention centers, so they can’t do things that will stop them from getting sick. 

Knock, knock! Who’s there?

I’ve been stuck in the house with my family. It’s very annoying because I’m stuck at the house with my twin.

Everyone loves their family but sometimes if you are with them a little too much, it kind of starts to drive you crazy.

(In Portuguese) But some kids don’t have a home. They might need to stay in a shelter, or on the street.  

My parents get groceries for our meals.  Many kids get their lunches from school.

Without school lunches, many kids will go hungry.  

My parents are working, but a lot of adults have lost their jobs.  

When parents lose their jobs, kids often have to get married or work too young,  

(In Portuguese) For the world’s most vulnerable children, this pandemic will change their entire futures. 

Governments should make sure when schools are closed kids have access to education and that kids stay safe, healthy, and have enough for their basic needs.  

 

2. Kenyan Police Kill Eight in Nairobi

Between December 25, 2019 and February 20, 2020, police in Kenya shot dead at least eight people in Nairobi’s Mathare, Kasarani, and Majengo settlements.

 

1. NYPD Beat and Arrest Peaceful Protesters in Planned Assault

New York City police planned the assault and mass arrests of peaceful protesters in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx on June 4, 2020. The crackdown, led by the department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, was among the most aggressive police responses to protests across the United States following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Read a text description of this video

The Trap

 

Protesters: I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.

Protests calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality swept the United States in late May following the death of George Floyd.

The police in New York City, as in other cities, responded to many of the peaceful protests with violence and abuse. In a few neighborhoods, some people looted, largely separate from the protests. In response, officials imposed an unprecedented city-wide curfew. 

Mayor deBlasio: The curfew is 8 p.m.

Governor Cuomo: The curfews are designed to help the police deal with the looters. The curfew is not about the protesters.

TITLE: THE TRAP presented by Situ/Human Rights Watch

 

TEXT ON SCREEN: This video contains violent and disturbing images and profanity. Viewer discretion is advised.

On the evening of June 4, around 300 protesters gather at what’s known as “The Hub” - the intersection of 149th Street and 3rd Avenue in Mott Haven, a predominantly Black and brown neighborhood in the South Bronx, for one of many marches happening around the city that day.

It was a peaceful protest, but this march would end with a violent police crackdown and mass arrests.

Human Rights Watch has interviewed and reviewed testimony from dozens of witnesses and analyzed over 150 videos taken by protesters and bystanders. 

We found that the New York Police Department (NYPD)used the 8 p.m. curfew to justify a plan to trap, assault and arrest the protesters.

 

The march was organized by a number of local activist groups. Mott Haven has some of New York City’s highest rates of poverty and homelessness and is one of its most heavily policed neighborhoods. Its residents have suffered the consequences of systemic racism for decades.

Protesters: FTP – Fuck the Police!

Andom: It was a FTP rally and FTP can mean a lot of different things – Free the People, Feed the People. Most people know it to mean “F” the Police.

Protesters: FTP – Fuck the Police!

Andom: There was a lot of energy, a lot of anger. But honestly, a lot of optimism.The march twisted and turned through Mott Haven – at one point reaching the Patterson Houses, home to thousands of residents, who were especially hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Andom: People were very, very excited as we were passing, and you could just feel the energy from people who were hearing us from their windows.

As the marchers headed down Willis Avenue, more than 50 police officers blocked the street.

Protesters: Yo, we gonna go around. The march redirected down 136th Street. And in the final minutes just before the 8 o'clock curfew, instead of allowing or even directing the marchers to disperse, the NYPD diverted its bicycle officers to block the marchers just as they reached the intersection of 136th and Brook Avenue.

 

 

Police: Mobile fence line one!. Move the crowd!

Police: Move back. Move back.”

Protester: Go that way. Go that way.

Protesters: Let us through Let us through!

And from behind the march, a line of officers blocked the protesters from turning back. 

It’s a tactic called “kettling.”

Protester: You’re corralling us. Where the fuck are we gonna go?

 

Protester: Where do we go?  Where do we fucking go, you’re corralling us. 

 

Tanya Fields (selfie):

The police have us fucking surrounded right now. Police got us trapped. They fucking out here right now on the bullhorn telling us that we can’t be here after 8. (I got your phone babe.) And we ain’t do nothin’ wrong. At about 7:45, they intentionally started cornering us, they have us pushed in, in a pen. We are trapped. We are trapped right now. Whatever narrative is spun to you later, do not believe it. They have helicopters overhead. Before 8:00 they was already out here trapping us.

Loudspeaker: Beginning at 8 pm, the city-wide curfew…

With most of the protesters trapped on 136th Street, one of the march’s organizers, Shannon Jones, had gotten cut off from the crowd.

Shannon Jones: Can y’all hear me on the other side?

Protesters:  No justice. No peace.

She becomes the focus of Chief Terrence Monahan, the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the NYPD.

 

Police: Do you want her locked up? OK.

Police: I’m not fucking with you. Get the fuck back.

Loudsepeaker: Thank you for your cooperation.

Soon after the 8 o’clock curfew arrives, the police moved in on the crowd trapped in the kettle.

He’s a legal observer… Why is he being arrested??

On the north side of the block, without provocation, an NYPD Legal department official directs officers to arrest the legal observers, who were clearly identified and had permission to be out after curfew.

NYPD LEGAL Officer: “Legal Observers can be arrested…They’re good to go!”

Conrad Blackburn, Legal Observer: The young lady that was in the middle of the kettle tried to show documentation to the police officers that, you know, we were essential workers and we were allowed to be out past the curfew. They body-slammed the young lady to the ground and arrested her. 

Protester: Do that shit to your mother man.Around the same time, is when they started rounding up all the medical workers.

Loudspeaker:  Other than essential workers.

Protesters: These are essential workers.

Conrad Blackburn, Legal Observer
So once the legal observers and medical workers were out of the way, the police really started cracking down on the protesters with impunity.

Protesters: We are peaceful, what the fuck are you? We are peaceful, what the fuck are you?

The protesters had already been forced to break the curfew. And the police keep ratcheting up the pressure.

Protesters: You guys are on the other fucking side. You guys are on the other side, where do we go?

Police: You’re getting locked up.

Protesters: Where are we gonna go, we’re corralled.

Police: To jail.TANYA FIELDS: We are currently trapped at 136th and Brook Avenue since 7:45. They are pushing us. They are pushing us. They are pushing us.  They are pushing us.  Stay calm. Stay calm.

Police: Move. Move. Move.

Observer watching from window: What are they doing? Why are they doing this? The police officers are like grabbing people. Oh my goodness!

Protesters: You guys are pushing us from the other side.

Police: Move back. Move back. Move back.

TANYA FIELDS: It’s OK. It’s OK. It’s alright Taylor. It’s alright Taylor. It’s alright Taylor.

Police: Move back. Back off.

Woman being arrested: It’s a curfew. It’s a curfew. You’re going to kill someone.

Conrad Blackburn, Legal Observer

What I observed and what I witnessed was just a complete suppression of the protesters’ rights to peacefully assemble and the protesters’ First Amendment rights. It was a moment where the American Constitution was thrown out the window and you had, we had what seemed like vigilante justice by the police officers in the moment. It was a very tragic thing to witness.

 

Over the next few hours, police arrested over 250 people.

Instead of being given summonses and released, those arrested are brought to jails all over the city and held for hours, overnight and into the next day, with no food and little or no water. 

Many are injured and get no medical help.

The next day, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea attempt to justify the crackdown. 

Bill deBlasio: In terms of what happened in Mott Haven, this is something that the NYPD saw coming, an organization that  literally was  encouraging violence…

They respond to questions with an admission that the crackdown was pre-planned.

Dermot Shea, Police Commissioner:  We had a plan which was executed nearly flawlessly in the Bronx. This wasn’t again about protests, this was about tearing down society. They had firearms.

NYPD told Human Rights Watch that “the intent of this assembly was to engage in violence and inflict harm.” But Human Rights Watch found no evidence of protesters using violence.

The police’s actions in Mott Haven could come with a heavy price. Human Rights Watch estimates that the crackdown may cost New York City taxpayers several million dollars. In addition to the cost of the large-scale police presence, around 100 protesters, observers and medical workers have filed notice of their intent to sue the city.Instead of cracking down on peaceful protesters and stifling their calls for change, local governments should finally do what it takes to end the structural racism and systemic police abuse that people in Mott Haven and communities like it have experienced for far too long.

 

 

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