Human Rights | WPN World People News

The city of Sa’ada in the Sa’ada Governorate has been heavily hit by airstrikes during the conflict in Yemen (file).

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres (file).

China appears to be intensifying its crackdowns on North Korean escapees attempting to transit through China to seek protection, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 03. According to activists and North Koreans living South Korea who are in contact with people in China and North Korea, China has detained at least 41 North Korean refugees, and an undetermined number of their guides, in the past two months.

The Cambodian government should end its politically motivated threats and legal action to close the independent Cambodia Daily, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 02. The newspaper faces closure and confiscation of its assets on September 4, 2017, if it does not pay a US$6.3 million back tax bill based on false financial assumptions and rushed enforcement in violation of standard procedures.

The Thai Supreme Court’s dismissal of criminal charges against a former prime minister and his deputy for their role in the deadly crackdown on “Red Shirt” protesters in May 2010 is a serious setback for justice in Thailand, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 01. International human rights law makes clear that official status cannot justify immunity from criminal responsibility for serious human rights violations.

Map locating 700 buildings destroyed in August 2017 in the Rohingya-majority village of Chein Khar Li, Burma.

A United Nations Chinese battalion involved in the demining of the town of Hiniyah in Lebanon prepares to detonate unexploded ordnance.

Displaced children and adults in Syria are seen in a vehicle after fleeing from ISIL-controlled areas in rural Raqqa to Ain Issa, the main staging point for displaced families, some 50 kilometres north of Raqqa city.

The federal and state governments in the United States are not doing enough to ensure access to the life-saving medication naloxone to reverse opioid drug overdoses, Human Rights Watch said in a question-and-answer document released on International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug 31.

Most countries are making steady progress to eradicate cluster munitions, but stronger effort is required to deter use in countries that have not joined the international treaty to ban these weapons, Human Rights Watch said on Aug 31 during the release of the Cluster Munition Monitor 2017 report.