This week we have seen citizen video reports of bombings in civilian areas in Sudan, further evidence of torture in Syria’s prisons, and a deadly factory fire in China.
Here are highlights from recently featured videos on the Human Rights Channel:
Sudan
The Sudanese army has unleashed a new bombing campaign in the South Kordofan region. According to Nuba Reports, a media collective based near the border of Sudan and South Sudan, the army has begun using parachute bombs. These weapons, which have also been used in the Syrian war, allow for greater accuracy, but according to the report, the Sudanese air force has deployed them on markets and other civilian areas. The video includes weapons analysis by Eliot Higgins, who has written about parachute retarded bombs on his Brown Moses blog.
Syria
As new evidence comes to light pointing to widespread killings and torture of Syrian prisoners, a series of videos showcases the voices and stories of Syrian detainees. The videos are based on letters leaked by prison guards, and accounts of prisoners after their release. You can see here for all of our playlists of citizen video from Syria, including a focus on the humanitarian crisis in Moadamiyeh, where residents claim that Assad used starvation as a weapon of war, and includes this dramatic rescue in Aleppo of an infant buried under rubble.
China
Investigations are still underway regarding the cause of a fire at a shoe factory in Wenling, China, that killed 16 workers. This footage of last week’s blaze shows a black plume of smoke emerging from the factory. Two owners have been detained.
The media activists we monitor report from some of the most dangerous corners of the world, but other places are too risky for even locals to film, such as Myanmar’s countryside.
There, activists, residents, and human rights monitors use what means they have to report on ethnic violence in their communities, and we do our best to amplify their reports, which call out for further investigation. This week, we’re keeping our eyes on Arakan state, where observers report an escalation of ethnic violence against communities of Rohingya Muslims.
The Rohingya Media Network reports a brutal and sustained military assault on a Rohingya village in Southern Maungdaw since January 14, including killings, rapes, and disappearances.
The most recent citizen videos of human rights issues can always be found on our Citizen Watch video playlist, updated daily. Catch the latest citizen videos by following the Human Rights Channel on Twitter (@ythumanrights).
Image: Video still from Sudan’s Parachute Bombs.