Human Rights | WPN World People News

Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism Mutuma Ruteere.

Religious leaders.

The prosecution of writers and journalists charged with terrorism and separatism for their association with a newspaper raises serious concerns for freedom of expression in Turkey, Human Rights Watch said on Dec 28. The first trial hearing begins on December 29, 2016, for four defendants detained since August and five others who are also being tried.

UAE authorities have detained a Jordanian journalist without trial or access to a lawyer for over a year, Human Rights Watch said on Dec 28. Tayseer al-Najjar was apparently detained over three Facebook posts in which he criticized Egypt, Israel, and gulf countries.

The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, summarily executed at least 13 people including two boys following a village uprising in October 2016, Human Rights Watch said on Dec 27. The executions, which are war crimes, took place in the neighboring villages of al-Hud and al-Lazzagah, 50 kilometers south of Mosul, following local attempts to expel ISIS fighters who controlled the villages.

The United Nations Security Council’s failure to approve a 23 December, 2016, resolution that would have imposed an arms embargo on South Sudan and placed a travel ban and asset freeze on three senior South Sudanese leaders was deeply disappointing, seven non-governmental groups said on 23 December.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says that during 2016, funding from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) has been critical to WFP’s support for hundreds of thousands of people affected by conflict in South Sudan.

Libyan authorities should ensure the safety of and urgently provide medical care for more than 120 women and children being held in a Misrata prison after recently fleeing fighting in Sirte, Human Rights Watch said on December 24. The authorities should work with the United Nations and humanitarian agencies to find safe destinations for those detained and treat them for injuries, illness, and malnourishment.

Egyptian Interior Ministry security forces stormed into prison cells attacking and injuring hundreds of political prisoners at Borg al-Arab Prison in Alexandria during the week of November 13, 2016, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks came after prisoners protested poor conditions and humiliating treatment. Egypt’s prosecutor general should order a prompt and transparent investigation into the events and hold those officers responsible for abuse to account.

Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has so far refused to grant journalist Mahmudur Rahman, recently released from 1,322 days in arbitrary detention, the right to travel abroad for urgent surgery, despite the serious risk of irreversible neurological damage he faces. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) call on the Chief Justice to authorise Mr. Rahman’s travel without further delay.