Haitians Remember Victims on 7th Anniversary of Quake
On Thursday Haitians lit candles for those who died in a huge earthquake that hit the country’s capital on January 12, 2010. Following the earthquake ActionAid provided 200,000 people with food, hygiene kits to stop cholera, and safe spaces for women and girls. Some of these women are now leading ActionAid’s Hurricane Matthew response.
Rex Tillerson Shows Lack of Urgency on Climate Change, Human Rights
This week President-elect Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Dodging questions on climate change, the former CEO of ExxonMobil acknowledged the “risk of climate change” but said he did not consider it an “imminent security threat that perhaps others do.”
In a tense dialogue with Senator Marco Rubio, Tillerson declined to call Vladmir Putin a war criminal or comment on the war on drugs in the Philippines, which has spurred international outcry for human rights abuses.
Given Tillerson’s history of funding climate science denial and collusion with governments that show little regard for human rights, ActionAid finds him ill-suited for the post of Secretary of State.
Protestors in Cambodia Demand Release of Political Prisoners
After a two-week hiatus, Cambodia’s Black Monday activists returned to the streets to demand the government release four rights workers, an election official, and a land activist.
They delivered petitions to the National Assembly on Tuesday and plan to continue their Monday demonstrations until the prisoners are released. The campaign, which began 36 weeks ago, resists a government known for restricting peaceful protests.