Human Rights | WPN World People News

The European Commission is scaling up its response to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq with an additional €30 million. The money will enable the EU to continue its support for emergency relief in newly retaken areas, including for families who have recently lost their homes. It will also go towards emergency medical services providers attending to injured civilians on the frontlines.

It is with deep sadness that we have learned of the death of Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and one of the most prominent human rights defenders in China. We send our most sincere condolences and respect to his wife, Ms Liu Xia, his family and friends.

Saudi Arabia’s reversal of its longstanding ban on sports for women and girls in public schools is a vital step forward, Human Rights Watch said on July 13, 2017 . But serious hurdles, including the country’s male guardianship system, remain in place, preventing women from fully accessing the education and health benefits of sports exercise.

State security forces in Rwanda have summarily killed at least 37 suspected petty offenders and forcibly disappeared four others since April 2016, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Jul 13. Most victims were accused of stealing items such as bananas, a cow, or a motorcycle. Others were suspected of smuggling marijuana, illegally crossing the border from the Democratic Republic of Congo, or of using illegal fishing nets.

Brazil has not addressed longstanding human rights problems that allowed the Zika outbreak to escalate, leaving the population vulnerable to future outbreaks and other serious public health risks, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Jul 12. The government declared an end to the national public health emergency related to the Zika virus in May 2017, but the Zika threat in Brazil remains.

The isolation of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is precipitating serious human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said on Jul 12. It is infringing on the right to free expression, separating families, interrupting medical care – in one case forcing a child to miss a scheduled brain surgery, interrupting education, and stranding migrant workers without food or water. Travel to and from Qatar is restricted, and the land border with Saudi Arabia is closed.

European Union leaders should press Ukraine at their July 12-13, 2017 summit meeting to fulfill its human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said on Jul 11. The meeting in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, comes several weeks after Ukraine secured visa-free travel for Ukrainians to EU states, which the Ukrainian government had sought for years. At the same time, the Ukrainian government has adopted new measures that threaten freedom of expression and access to information. The summit’s agenda includes such issues as the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s occupation of Crimea, and the need for Ukraine to reform.

Talibés begging in downtown Dakar, Senegal, May 11, 2017.