Human Rights | WPN World People News

The apparent extrajudicial executions by Philippine police of two children over a three-day period underscores the need for a United Nations inquiry into President Rodrigo Duterte’s abusive “war on drugs,” Human Rights Watch said on Aug 09. While several dozen children under 18 have died in drug war-related killings since June 2016, circumstances suggest that the Philippine National Police (PNP) deliberately targeted the two children.

New evidence has emerged that credibly implicates former President Ollanta Humala Tasso (2011-2016) in atrocities during Peru’s armed conflict in the 1990s, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Sep 07. The evidence also implicates Humala in the attempted cover-up of incriminating evidence when he ran for president in 2006.

Members of the Saudi-led coalition have sought to avoid international legal liability by refusing to provide information on their role in alleged unlawful airstrikes in Yemen, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 08. In 2017, Human Rights Watch wrote to the coalition and its current and former members urging them to release information on their investigations and findings of laws-of-war violations as required by international law. None have replied.

Singapore authorities should drop their investigation into a peaceful vigil outside Changi prison in July 2017 to support the family of Malaysian national S. Prabagaran, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 07. The government should end its harassment of activists campaigning against capital punishment and respect their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

The United Arab Emirates should stop arbitrarily arresting transgender, gay, and gender non-conforming people on the grounds of a law that criminalizes men “disguising” as women, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 07.

Indian authorities should promptly act on the announced investigation into the killing of an outspoken journalist by unidentified gunmen in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 06. Gauri Lankesh, 55, campaigned for democracy, secularism, and civil liberties and was a vocal critic of militant Hindu nationalism promoted by supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Cambodian government should end its politically motivated prosecution of the opposition party leader and release him unconditionally, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 06. Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) President Kem Sokha faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted on pending charges of treason and “colluding with foreigners” under article 443 of Cambodia’s penal code. The authorities are pursuing these baseless charges despite Sokha’s constitutionally guaranteed immunity as a member of parliament.

Chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria Paulo Pinheiro.

US President Donald Trump’s repeal on Sep 05 of a program protecting from deportation immigrants who arrived in the United States as children will harm hundreds of thousands of people with strong ties to the US, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 05. Based on media reports, Trump would support legislation protecting the “Dreamers,” those protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, in exchange for congressional support for the RAISE Act, which would drastically reduce legal immigration to the US, as well as increased funding for the border wall and detention centers.

Under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s regular police and National Security officers routinely torture political detainees with techniques including beatings, electric shocks, stress positions, and sometimes rape, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released on Sep 09.