In December 2016, the Dominican President rejected a regressive reform of the Criminal Code regarding abortion that had previously been adopted by the Senate.

Kiryl Kazachok was sentenced to death by the Gomel Regional Court, in southeast Belarus, on 28 December. His was the fourth death sentence to be issued in Belarus in 2016.

Ricky Gray is scheduled to be executed in Virginia on 18 January. More than 50 mental health professionals have written to the state governor in support of clemency in view of the prisoner’s childhood of severe sexual and physical abuse and its impact on him.

Hosea Yeimo and Ismael Alua, detained on 19 December for peaceful political demonstrations, have been released by the police. They are still being charged with rebellion (makar) and could face up to life imprisonment.

Liu Feiyue, founder and director of Hubei-based human rights website “Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch” (www.msguancha.com), has been formally arrested for “inciting subversion of state power”.

Hundreds of Rohingya have been detained as part of the ongoing security operation in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar.

On 26 December, the Appeal Court in Muscat reduced the three-year prison sentences of two Azamn journalists, Ibrahim al-Maamari and Youssef al-Haj, to six and 12 months respectively.

Over a thousand refugees and migrants are being exposed to disease and inhuman living conditions by the Serbian authorities who are fail to provide accommodation, food and healthcare to them.

On 9 January the Court of Cassation in Bahrain upheld death sentences against three Bahraini men. It also upheld life sentences against seven others and the revocation of the nationality of eight of them.

Prabagaran Srivijayan, a Malaysian national, was convicted and sentenced to the mandatory death penalty on 22 July 2012 in Singapore. The execution could take place as early as next week.