David Mepham
Human Rights Watch
United Kingdom
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Past articles by David:
Britain Should use Erdogan Visit to Speak out on Human Rights
Despite the sharp deterioration in human rights under his leadership, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is being accorded a state visit to Britain next week, including a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May. She should use the moment to urge an end to the Turkish government’s brutal crackdown on opponents and critics. → Read More
Britain Formally Pledges to Protect Schools in Wartime
Britain’s announcement today that it is backing the Safe Schools Declaration is as important as it is timely. The Declaration, in which governments pledge to not use schools for military purposes and to protect them during military operations, has now been signed by 74 countries, including the majority of NATO and EU member states. → Read More
UK’s ‘Black Cab Rapist’ Ruling Shows Importance of Human Rights Act
This week’s landmark judgment by the UK Supreme Court against the London Metropolitan Police for failing adequately to investigate the John Worboys case may bring some belated relief to women he drugged and raped. → Read More
UK’s May Needs to Get Tough with China on Rights
In a recent foreign policy speech, Prime Minister Theresa May said that Britain is defined by the, “fundamental values of fairness, justice, and human rights,” and vowed to use Britain’s “influence in the world for good.” But, with her political future uncertain and questions increasingly raised about Britain’s international influence as it heads towards Brexit, May’s trip to China this week… → Read More
UK Political Leaders Still Defending the Indefensible in Venezuela
Events in Latin America rarely generate much political attention or debate in Britain. But new evidence of deepening repression in Venezuela should force Theresa May, the Conservative Prime Minister, and the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, to examine their different, but misguided policies towards Venezuela. → Read More
May's belated hand-wringing won't help the Rohingya
We need firm, urgent action from Britain - not deference to Aung San Suu Kyi. → Read More
Will Britain Challenge Torture in Turkey?
[[nid:294253 field_ne_alignment=center]] A decade ago, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party declared “zero tolerance” for torture and deepened reforms aimed at eradicating torture by state agents. There were reasons for cautious optimism that this indefensible practice might be on the way out. No longer. → Read More
Why Britain Should Back the Safe Schools Declaration
[[nid:309214 field_ne_alignment=center]] Among the thousands of excited students across Britain starting university soon will be the remarkable Malala Yousafzai, who will read politics, philosophy, and economics at Oxford. Five years ago, Malala was shot on her way home from school, viciously attacked by the Pakistani Taliban for promoting girls’ education. → Read More
Helping war-torn Yemen is Boris Johnson's chance to step up UK foreign policy
Yemen has been the site of a brutal civil war and a deep humanitarian crisis since conflict erupted in 2015. → Read More
How Human Rights Secured Victory for the Hillsborough 96
The basic facts about Hillsborough are now widely known. The crushing to death of 96 men, women, and children at a football match on April 15, 1989, a disaster which the police falsely blamed on the behavior of the Liverpool fans. It then took more than a quarter of a century and dogged campaigning by the victims’ families to establish the truth – that the fans were “unlawfully killed,” a result… → Read More
France: Macron Should Prioritize Rights as President
(Paris, May 7, 2017) – French President-elect Emmanuel Macron should place human rights at the heart of his domestic and foreign policy, Human Rights Watch said today. Macron defeated the far-right National Front candidate, Marine Le Pen, during a run-off election on May 7, 2017. → Read More
Malaysia: Longtime Turkish Residents Detained
Malaysian authorities on May 2, 2017, detained without charge two Turkish nationals who are longtime Kuala Lumpur residents. The authorities should provide the basis for holding the men and allow them full access to legal counsel and contact with their families. → Read More
Will the Next UK Government Curb Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia?
[[nid:295148 field_ne_alignment=center]] The influential International Relations Committee of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords issued a highly critical report this week on UK policy towards the Middle East. Whoever forms the next UK government should look closely at the report’s recommendations, especially on arms sales to the Gulf. → Read More
Joint Letter to Governments on the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Burma
[[nid:302926 field_ne_alignment_limited=right]] Dear Your Excellency, → Read More
There is a violent repression in Ethiopia
Global coverage is limited by reporting restrictions and journalists having trouble accessing the region. → Read More
We need an immediate suspension of British military sales to Saudi Arabia
Explosive evidence should prompt investigation and overhaul of British policy towards Yemen. → Read More
Too many Bangladeshis are left with no choice but to drink poisonous water and work in danger
Water supplies in rural areas are widely contaminated with arsenic, affecting some 20 million people. → Read More
Dispatches: New Evidence Demolishes UK Claims on Saudi’s Yemen War
For months now, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has denied that violations of the laws of war are being committed by the UK’s ally, Saudi Arabia, through the Saudi-led coalition’s bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen. And he’s repeated these claims despite documentation from international human rights organizations - shared with the UK Foreign Office – detailing multiple… → Read More
Morocco: Declining Tolerance for Dissent
(Tunis) – Tolerance for dissident voices in Morocco and Western Sahara diminished during 2015, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2016. → Read More
UAE: Torture and Forced Disappearances
(Beirut) – United Arab Emirates authorities in 2015 arbitrarily detained and in some cases forcibly disappeared people who criticized official policies, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2016. There were credible allegations that security forces tortured people held in pretrial detention. → Read More