that decision is specific to me but it's based on my work promoting human rights watch as research and conducting advocacy on behalf of the organization as its israel and palestine director and country right and so human rights watch can send in another representative a will. be interrupted the work will continue look i mean israel is now joining a pack of countries like venezuela north korea that have blocked access for human rights watch staff but our work will continue we had planned to appeal this decision and the israeli supreme court we think what's at stake here is much larger than human rights watch or even the space for human rights defenders today we're talking about the space today in israel to criticize settlements you have a court today that's essentially signed off on the israeli government agenda to stamp out the sense i'm a shock here good to talk to you thank you very much and some of the areas opposition parties and former diplomats are saying they would take part in the july presidential election they're angry about the use of violence against anti-government protest

for more let's bring in the japan director of human rights watch she joins us now restored thank you so much for joining us now the technical trainee scheme has been abused in the past by employers in japan do you have reasons to believe that the new visa system introduced for foreign workers will be any better. yes i think so and i hope so i don't know whether it would improve the situation dramatically but there is a hope the reason is because in the scheme taken to taken to the interim trainees trainees were not allowed to change employers so day at tight to their employers they even if they couldn't you know speak out in the fear that if they are. fired they have to go back to their home country. however this new specific skilled would allow. workers to change to employ employers within the specific skills they are allowed to stay in japan so this is the most important change however however other conditions remain the same so we have to wait and see if there are there abuses would dramatically. i regularly we have to i mean the japanese government needs to support the workers th

laws to deliver information vital to the public's interest this is also being reiterated by human rights watch and they say that gymnast might now think twice before publishing news of public importance or government scrutiny but if we ten our thoughts now to the trumpet ministrations open hostility to mainstream media the general counsel of human rights watch say that this behavior and this outlook creates a dangerous environment and best bit of gin this all over the world some say it's a bit of a stretch to call a function a journalist why is that an issue why is that up for debate. well that's quite a bill a real line really between what constitutes as a journalist a publisher or a whistleblower but it seems that it doesn't matter whichever way you look at it in this particular case because this whole situation will be regarded as questioning the freedom of speech and verifying factual information you know if you're either a journalist or a whistleblower but from his supporters in the journalism world the former n.s.a. contractor edward snowden they say it's a dark moments for press freedom

omar shakir is the israel and palestine director for human rights watch. the israeli government revoked his work visa last year under a law that bars entry to foreigners who call for boycotts of israel or israeli settlements. in a statement, human rights watch denied that shakir or the organization have ever called for boycotts of israel, adding -- "the decision sends the chilling message that those who criticize the involvement of businesses in serious abuses in israeli settlements risk being barred from israel and the israeli-occupied west bank." human rights watch says it will appeal the deportation order to the israeli supreme court. digital freedom advocates are calling for the release of swedish programmer and data privacy activist ola bini, who has been detained in ecuador since last thursday. his arrest came hours after wikileaks founder julian assange was dragged by british police from the ecuadorian embassy in london. bini is being accused of hacking government computers in ecuador. prosecutors in ecuador said they plan to charge bini with plottin

the same day in order to save money and dress sort of salo is an indonesian consultant for human rights watch he says the new parliament has to make changes to the electoral process. my voting station open at seven am and finalize counting at two fifteen am meaning almost one thousand hours open not to say preparation we have to prepare the previous night meeting these people working like forty eight hours more straight with of course could break lunch and dinner break but again it is not adequate at the same time they have to deal with the last election presidential center not national parliament properties or parliament and local parliament and there are sixteen possible parties meaning at least for these three legace left if you like and you have sixteen parties time three elections you have forty eight pages of papers this is not the fault of the election commission they are doing

for more i'm joined now by phil robertson deputy director of human rights watch asia's division thanks for joining us this morning this new law in brunei targets homosexual acts and adultery will this country actually be seeking to enforce this law by putting people to death by stoning well that's our fear we have to believe that they will go in for us this they have said they're serious about it and you know this is a medieval kind of punishment this is something that doesn't really belong in the twenty first century it's shocking to us that. this move and we think that they should halt the implementation of this law and take it back to the drawing board and start over again ok the law also imposes harsh punishment for for other crimes as well can you fill us in on the. well certainly if you are caught. stealing things you can face amputation of a hand or if what. you are for instance selling food in. during the holy month of ramadan you could face imprisonment and lashes there are heavy penalties there are with beings. you know included throughout this law for various different crimi

needed so dad that would -- promote human rights and protect human rights -- at this time so we've made those calls -- but i think we're all sortrt of very -- watching very closely and not much just remains v very unclear and certainly the protesters have not at their calling for a civilian government to rule -- and thatt i t think there are at of it's very complicated it's it's there a lot of reasonsns to be quite cautious s now. but she has gone i his cell number to his defense minister that says that the army will now oversee a transition period. is this just a cosmetic change is the real power. going to remain. in control of sit on for the next two years at least. well indeed that is the fear that people are expressing now is that this is simply more of the same but repackaged -- so that is precisely why -- right now would be an excellent moment for the leaders to demonstrate their respect for human rights and justice and acknowledge the legacy of the last thirty years. include so much -- crime and i'm suffering -- and for them to take concrete steps at this moment but at its a absolutely m clearr -- youou know w what whaw they will how they wil

human rights abuses and corruption. anti-government protests started last december fueled by food shortages and rising prices human rights watch says since then more than fifty people have been killed in violence four of the out of the party in february the government brought in a state of emergency but it's fails to contain these protests the biggest challenge yet to the shares thirty year rule. as sudan appears to be heading to a political breaking point protesters say they'll continue to take to the streets until their demands are met. for him mohammed al jazeera. now algeria's interim leader says free and fair elections will be held within three months. says he has no political ambitions of his own and will set up an independent committee to oversee the poll however protesters want a more immediate overhaul of the political establishment the government says he licenses for ten years political parties syria's army chief also says the military will support the transitional period but that period requires the people's patience . some countries are trying to push people to the forefront and impose them as representatives of th

let's take this story one step further to talk about it i'm joined now by graham reid from human rights watch in new york he is director of the organizations program it's good to have you on the show these new laws in brunei you know they did not come about overnight we've known about the changes coming for months do do you have any reason to believe that public pressure now will have a different result i mean so far it hasn't changed things. well the first phase of the law was actually announced in two thousand and eight and was being phased in over a period of two years but in fact because of sustained international pressure that was delayed and there was quietly introduced at the end of december last year to go into effect today so i think we see that international pressure has worked in delaying it and now we see an enormous international outcry and that is likely to have an affair it's precisely because of the sultan of brunei has extensive international investment and connections is that as well it's seems to be taking place in isolation in britain i has enormous international repercuss

conflict by selling them more weapons particularly well what we're hearing from the likes of human rights watch is this ban by germany is the right way to go in trying to help the embattled people of yemen what we have at the moment is a situation where there's thousands perhaps hundreds of thousands of people in dire need of food clean water in aid and not so much in need of billions of dollars worth of weapons being sold to those that are going to use them against them german m.p. and member of the left party and thinks pressure from france and the u.k. played a part in germany if this isn't. it's a clear breach of this extension outrageous because it. was written in the coalition treaty that there should be no arms exports to those countries who are involved in the human of or seems that there is. on the one hand that there is a lot of pressure from france and britain and there's a lot of pressure from from the arms in the three from the companies because they they gain a lot of money out of these exports and the german government is. using the idea of having a close friendship. for pushing

human rights watch have expressed outrage after a prominent palestinian activist who's a co-founder of a boycott israel movement was denied entry to the u.s. despite having a valid visa the u.s. the authorities have refused to give any comment saying all information relating to the case is confidential just another example of the trump administration soilent seeing palestinian voices and those standing up for palestinian rights. the way kant divestment and sanctions movement known as b.d.s. was formed in two thousand and five it calls for any type of boycott against israel and this tel aviv in turn accuses the movement of being anti-semitic to date more than half of all u.s. states have introduced laws to penalize boycotts against israel earlier this year the u.s. senate's passed a bill allowing states to terminate contracts with entities which the ports the boycott movement when i speak live now to that very activist who was refused entry i'm a big you see i welcome to the programs there it's good to have you with us so i want to exactly happened where were you stopped and what were y

where can courage those to ask what the most prominent political figures could be hiding the human rights watch which they say are a voice that justice has been speaking about investigation investigative journalism worldwide they say that in this now might think twice about publishing news of public importance or government scrutiny now they've also criticized the trumpet ministrations open hostility to mainstream media which the group say creates a dangerous environment now this was all say were echoed if you remember by a songes legal team they said that depending on how this all develops no chin this in the world will be safe from doing that job it sets a dangerous precedent now for fellow journalists and fellow whistle blower as they say that this is documents. images of recorders and buses invoicing the case secret police into the embassy to drug a publisher of like it's on the award winning journalist of the building are going to end up in the history books critics may cheer but this is a dark moment for president them the g.o.g. says part of what is science did to just defy his prosecuti

watching. julie in the sun faces charges both in the u.k. and in the u.s. with politicians and human rights groups expressing concern that a dangerous precedent has been set by his arrest we spoke to wiki leaks editor in chief about the possible repercussions. this is a threat to journalism journalists if we deal with the media world. meanwhile i meant allegedly linked to wiki leaks founder julian assange is arrested in ecuador that just hours after police dragged the whistleblower himself out of the south american countries embassy in london where he'd been holed up for almost seven years. and a military coup sudan's president arrested and emergency rule imposed only space of twenty four hours we look at the roots of the north east african countries conflict . you're watching our chief international bringing you live news updates from our studio here in moscow welcome to the program. from human rights organizations to politicians across the globe people have been reacting to the arrest of wiki leaks whistleblower julian a song on thursday a police officer dragged him out of his refuge in l

of indiscriminate attacks on civilians summary executions of captured find is and detention human rights watch also warns that militias affiliated with the un backed government of national court also have a record of abuses against civilians whenever rival on forces clash in libyan cities it's civilians who suffer the most let's not speak to. the director of the institute a think tank that studies and analyzes libya he's live from beirut thank you again for being with us and asked first of all i want to ask you how highly for have tom has been able to make such sweeping gains in libya and is there anything or anyone that can stop him from reaching tripoli now. well i mean again it's not a conventional force in the truest sense of the word and again the term loyalty to the far off there again is not really the true it's the best way to represent what these forces are doing and how their relationship is with have to have to have a strategy of co-option so every city that isn't effectively proximity to tripoli you know has a ray of different competing forces some that may have fought for the revo

military was implicated human rights watch says the court's decision to reject a proper investigation does set a bad precedent. the i.c.c. judges rejection of an afghanistan investigation is a devastating blow for victims who have suffered grievous crimes without red dress the judges logic effectively in the house member countries to opt out of copulating with a quote human rights watch has slammed the court's decision that saying it is a devastating blow for the victims of atrocities in afghanistan and he war activists church again says the i.c.c. has no power against the us. i don't think that an entity like an i.c.c. would be able to bring those charges to the front and i think if we look back i mean you take on yugoslavia you take on small countries in africa maybe countries in latin america or maybe countries in south asia but taking on the united states i mean i i mean you i guess the president too that would be the case with the sign right now this is this is not only a janet stand but we have to look at did they did they do anything about iraq no that was illegal occupation wi

according to human rights groups who claim as many as one million we get as could be being held in detention in an article for the washington post the executive director of human rights watch kenneth roth detects a pattern he writes could terrorists should show that he can fulfill the full scope of his responsibilities as un secretary general he's excessively quark diplomacy is selling short his position and the promise of the united nations the secretary general has only once publicly spoken about the we get issue this year and that was to decline to answer a question i know that there is a dialogue between the office of their commission human rights and the people's republic of china in that regard i am not in a position to give any details at the present moment probably if a would be talking about it i would make it more difficult for it to succeed china has considerable clout at the un as one of the five permanent members of the un security council is that why the secretary general is pulling his punches the secretary general has been anything but quiet on his defense of human rights globally i would refer you to a number of speeches he's delivered of the human rights.

human rights watch has criticized the u.n. secretary general for neglecting to highlight the plight of muslim weakness in western china on a trip to beijing he accused antonio ten ish of letting china off the hook on diplomatic and to change plays reports the un secretary general in beijing for a summit marking china's belt and road initiative an ambitious global network of infrastructure and trading projects all linked to china something that in itself is far from uncontroversial and tonio good terrorists did make a public speech in china but there was no mention of the we go community inching zhang a glaring omission according to human rights groups who claim as many as one million we get as could be being held in detention in an article for the washington post the executive director of human rights watch kenneth roth detects a pattern he writes could terrorists should show that he can fulfill the full scope of his responsibilities as un secretary general he's excessively quark diplomacy is selling short his position and the

he used to hated lou police forces set up to our arrest and then torture the inmates human rights watch says rape and murder. her former inmates showed us that tiny rooms where they were held and where most of the torture took place. they were forced to sit they say in roll c. which sometimes for days in these underground bunkers. twenty five year old junaid muhammed was held at the prison for eighty years. doctors have told him he will never walk again because of a severe spinal injury. and he later. and the line were both times article i was arrested while holding camels and within days was sentenced to life imprisonment then the torture began they would hang me from the ceiling and beat the soles of my feet and bang with sticks and plastic pipes and they broke my spine but that didn't stop them from continuing to torture me. the jail also had a woman swing well former inmates a great pause an intrinsic tool of torture there was no saddam had given them a very muddy amal limp was held here for ten years later that they will call for some of the girls in the middle of the not only for

human rights watch documented eight hundred and seventeen victims but the number may be as high as a thousand. united states strongly condemns the steps that have been taken by egypt's interim government and security forces. we deplore violence against civilians president obama cancelled a joint military exercise and froze part of the one point three billion dollars in military aid to egypt receives from the u.s. every year. but l.c.c. continued his crackdown undeterred. prison. this my face. i have been of this you've got to flee you've got to you've got to think shifts keeping what people there's one bathroom for fifty plus that of course yours you're forced to strip naked except john know where you're been and your head shaved is totally you really. have to go on a hunger strike because it was the only means of resistance. no hard food for four hundred eighty nine days. they would bring my dad to the next ward have let me hear his screams and. come tell me listen this is what's happening here that you know we can and there's just break your strike. there's no love for these guys.

joining us now is phil robertson of human rights watch phil is there anybody any government or any organization that would be able to stop brunei from carrying out these punishments the reality is no there is nobody can do that i mean i think that route i is susceptible to international pressure i think that the boycott brunei effort will have some efficacy i do believe also that you know more hue and cry from the united nations and from other governments are going to certainly impact realize thinking about how to go forward with actually implementing this horrific law but if they decide to do it tomorrow if they line someone up they could certainly follow through and we would then face headlines across the world about someone being stoned to death and tell us a little bit more about this country put it in context put the penal code in context. well the sultan is an absolute monarchy is a dictator really i mean his family has run the country for more than five decades . no one can really quite figure out why now he's decided to move forward with this this criminal shari'a code. but you know it'

human rights watch accused him of letting china off the hook.lomatic editor reports. >> the u.n. secretary-general for a summit -- at a summit marking china's belt and road initiative, an ambitious infrastructure project linking to china. speech ine a public china but there was no mention of the community in she and jane, a glaring omission groupsng to human rights who claim more than one million people could be held in detention. the director of human rights watch detects a pattern. he writes, iteris trade show that he can fulfill the full scope of his responsibility as you and secretary-general. his diplomacy is selling short position. the secretary-general has only once spoken about the issue this year and that was too declined to answer a question. .> i know there is a dialogue i am not in a position to give any details. talking about it will probably make it more difficult for it to succeed. >> china has considerable clout at the u.n. is one of the five permanent members of the security council. is that why the secretary-general is pulling

tone of the secretary general statement when he left libya at the end of the day meanwhile human rights watch says any fighting in tripoli is likely to result in atrocities it's put out a statement part of which says fight is led by general highly for have to have a well documented record of indiscriminate attacks on civilians summary executions of captured fighters an arbitrary detentions human rights watch also warns that militias affiliated with the united nations backed government of national accord also have a record of their pieces against civilians. whenever rival armed forces clash in libyan cities it's civilians who suffer the most or let's not speak to. the director of the tripoli based sadek institute a think tank that studies and analyzes libya he joins us from be able to lebanon thank you so much for being with us on al-jazeera and ask what is your view of the developments of the last few days can a full blown battle in tripoli be effected is there still room for deescalation you think well the escalation that window for dialogue and diplomacy is really forced the closing and it

human rights committee. united nations human rights office of the high commissioner. european parliament. and global alliance of national human rights institutions. you're watching al-jazeera quick reminder of the top stories this hour. six people have been killed and fifty five wounded since clashes broke out on the outskirts of libya's capital on thursday or largely for have those forces had seize control of tripoli is former international airports but were later pushed back by pro-government fighters. photos of protests are defying a curfew called by the army in the capital khartoum to continue their demonstrations against president omar bashir at least six people have been killed since saturday. commemorations are underway in rwanda twenty five years after the start of a genocide that killed some eight hundred thousand people it marks the beginning of one hundred days of national mourning. now israel heads to the polls on she states election you government's israeli palestinian conflict has been at the heart of foreign and domestic policies of israeli politicians prime minister benjamin netanyahu benefited greatly when his close sound like donald trump decla

of raping a refugee students since the beginning of the year that's according to a report by human rights watch they were born in bangladesh after their parents fled me in mars far back as the ninety's but they don't have citizenship and with their children from receiving a proper education classes in refugee camps are limited to a certain age and students are excluded from national exams parents often by birth certificates just to get the children into the system and the child has more now from the bangladeshi capital dhaka. the directive to investigate and expel rowing of children came from the prime minister's office directly in november two thousand and eighteen bangladesh is not a signature e to the international refugee convention however it is a signatory to that convention of child's right as well as to the covenant of economic social and cultural rights which obligated to provide education primary secondary and higher education based on the capacity available now the bangladesh haven't been fulfilling its obligation under this times now they're close to fifty five percent of the rowing

human rights committee. united nations human rights office of the high commissioner. european parliament. and global alliance of national human rights institutions. hello again you're watching are just in our mind of our top stories this u.k. prime minister to resign may is holding a marathon meeting with senior ministers in a bid to try and break the brig's that deadlock u.k. is due to leave the e.u. in ten days but so far no breaks that deal has been agreed by parliament the e.u. chief breaks in the goetia to michel barnier says the block is ready for a no deal scenario. the family of murdered saudi journalist a man has showed he has reportedly received millions of dollars worth of compensation from the kingdom washington post says his relatives have been given expensive homes as well as launch of monthly payments she was killed six months ago . algeria's president will step down by the end of the month it's unclear though if the move will calm weeks of protests demonstrators have been calling for the removal of the whole political establishment. venezuela's opposition leader has denounced the move to have him stripped of his parliamentary immunity supremes court wants on