In the past week, protests in both Bangkok and Kiev turned a new corner, seeing their first fatalities during clashes with police. In Thailand, video taken by an eyewitness captured an attack on Sunday, including footage possibly showing the killing of activist Suthin Taratin.
In Ukraine, video leaked by officers reveals the humiliation and abuse endured by at least one detained protester.
And as peace talks got underway in Geneva, videos from Syrian cities bring an immediacy to the topics under discussion. These are just some of the issues we’re following through online video on the Human Rights Channel.
Here are highlights from recently featured videos on the Human Rights Channel:
Syria
“There is nothing harder than seeing parents in the street searching for food for their children.”
Those are the words of Father Francis, a Dutch priest based in Homs, Syria. In this video, he calls for international aid to address the humanitarian crisis the besieged city suffers.
In Aleppo, another city facing heavy regime bombardment, local filmers captured the incredible rescue of an infant buried by rubble.
Ukraine
In a week when anti-government protests in Ukraine reached a new level of violence, two online videos revealed the abusive treatment of detained activists. The following videos document a man naked in the snow and forced to pose for pictures for a group of police officers.
This week, we’re keeping our eyes on Cambodia, where civil society continues to defy the ban on protests, despite violent attacks by security forces. The latest clashes took place at a Monday rally calling for increased bandwidth for Beehive Radio, an opposition news broadcaster.
This video, uploaded by the station’s owner, shows riot police move in on the peaceful rally and deploy teargas. Another video of the event shows police strike a man repeatedly with a baton.
We will also be watching for updates from Thailand, where anti-government activist Suthin Taratin was shot and killed on Sunday as he called on others to boycott next Sunday’s elections. In this video, filmed from an apartment complex above the clashes where Taratin was killed, you can hear gunfire and see officers attacking the back of a pickup truck in the streets below.
The most recent citizen videos of human rights issues can always be found on our Citizen Watch playlist. It is updated daily. Catch the latest citizen videos by following the Human Rights Channel on Twitter (@ythumanrights).
Image: Video still from Ukraine showing officers abusing a detained protester.