Corrections

University officials gave the 18 students who publish Suara USU (USU News) just 48 hours to shut down and vacate the newsroom. The number of students who write for Suara USU was misstated in an earlier version of this article. 

Update: In July 2019, the Suara USU publisher Yael Stefany Sinaga and chief editor Widiya Hastuti filed a lawsuit against USU university president, Runtung Sitempu, challenging the closure of Suara USU. On November 14, the Medan administrative court rejected the lawsuit, ruling that the university president has authority over education, research and public services on the campus.

The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5) has removed “gender identity disorder” as a diagnosis. The organization’s name was misstated in an earlier version of this article. 

The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders removed “gender identity disorder” as a diagnosis in 2012. The organization’s name was misstated in an earlier version of this article. 

PLAN OF ACTION: TWENTY STEPS FOR A FAIR AND PREDICTABLE RESCUE SYSTEM IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

We have corrected the online version of this advocacy document to reflect that recommendations on temporary arrangements for disembarking and relocating in Europe people rescued at sea reflect and endorse recommendations previously made by the European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE).

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Letter to Minister Carmen Daniela Dan

We have corrected the online version of this letter to reflect that recommendations on temporary arrangements for disembarking and relocating in Europe people rescued at sea reflect and endorse recommendations previously made by the European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE).

A previous version of this dispatch incorrectly stated that under the UAE’s penal code, husbands had a legal right to beat or use other forms of punishment or coercion against their wives.  However, following amendments in 2016, the UAE’s penal code no longer explicitly allows for it.

“Contrary to what Human Rights Watch reported,  the authorities arrested and prosecuted the alleged assailants along with A.F., the complainant. The court sentenced all three on February 11 to six months in prison for “sodomy” under article 230 of the penal code. It also sentenced the alleged assailants to an additional two months for robbery and violence. According to one defense lawyer, A.F. retracted his allegation of rape, both during his interrogation at the police station and during his appearance before the judge. He also denied having any sexual intercourse with the two men. The defense lawyer told Human Rights Watch that A.F. said prosecutors forced him to undergo an anal examination to determine whether he had been raped. A.F. is appealing his conviction.”  

CORRECTION: Although Angola’s parliament voted in January 2019 for a new penal code that no longer criminalizes consensual same-sex conduct, the president of Angola did not sign the new penal code into law until November 2020. It will come into effect in February 2021.

We have corrected  the online version of this report to indicate that UNHCR evacuates asylum seekers out of Libya to Niamey, Niger.

The following corrections were made on January 22, 2019: 

Mannan was identified as the "ex-president, co-founder and publisher of Roopban," replacing "editor of Roopban". 

It was indicated that Mahbub and Mannan were murdered in Mannan's apartment, not Mahbub's apartment. 

The original version of this dispatch stated that “Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, has not responded to Human Rights Watch’s letters raising these two cases.” Human Rights Watch only wrote one letter to Lam mentioning these two cases, to which her office did not reply. The corrected version now states that “Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam has not responded  to Human Rights Watch concerns about the two cases.”