Human Rights | WPN World People News

Kenyan market vendors practice social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The North Korean pretrial detention and investigation system is arbitrary and lacks any semblance of due process, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on October 19, 2020. Former detainees described systematic torture, dangerous and unhygienic conditions, and unpaid forced labor.

Mauritania’s government should drop charges of blasphemy and insulting Islam against eight political activists and release the five held in pretrial detention since February 26, 2020, Human Rights Watch said on October 19, 2020. The Nouakchott West Criminal Court is due to hear the case on October 20.

Liberian men march with anti-rape posters.

Nigerian security forces have responded to overwhelmingly peaceful protests against police brutality with more violence and abuse.

The Thai government’s declaration of a state of emergency in Bangkok is a pretext for a crackdown on peaceful demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said on October 15, 2020. Since the declaration of a state of emergency on October 15, 2020, the police have arrested at least 22 activists, including several protest leaders, in front of Bangkok’s Government House.

Indonesia’s government should revise a new jobs law to meet international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said on October 15, 2020. The omnibus bill on job creation, which the House of Representatives passed on October 5, 2020, restricts labor rights and dismantles environmental protections, including by threatening Indigenous people’s access to land and the country’s declining rainforests.

An Algerian court on September 3, 2020 sentenced 2 men to prison terms and 42 others to suspended terms after mass arrests at what the police alleged was a “gay wedding,” Human Rights Watch said on October 15, 2020. The authorities should void the charges and release them immediately.

UN human rights investigators accompanied by peacekeepers from the UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA, meet villagers in central Mali after their homes were attacked in February 2019.

The Indian government’s failure to properly enforce its sexual harassment law leaves millions of women in the workplace exposed to abuse without remedy, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on October 14, 2020. The government should urgently ensure compliance with its 2013 Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, or POSH Act as it is popularly known.