Human Rights | WPN World People News

Wide view of the General Assembly High-level Forum on the Culture of Peace.

Local authorities are trying to silence even the mildest critics in advance of the September 18, 2016 election for the head, or governor, of Chechnya, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Aug 31.

Afghan authorities should urgently investigate allegations that security forces physically assaulted and detained journalists after violence broke out during a protest in central Bamiyan province on August 29, 2016, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 1. The demonstrators had been organizing a protest about a major power transmission line during a visit to the area by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Iraqi government-backed militias have recruited children from at least one displaced persons camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to fight against Islamic State forces. All security forces and armed groups should abide by international law and demobilize any fighters under age 18.

Participant of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities takes photos of participants attending a special event organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Thailand’s government has failed to abide by its pledge to make enforced disappearance a crime under Thai laws, Human Rights Watch said on Aug 29. August 30 is the United Nations International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

Marine litter affects communities and seas in every region of the world, and negatively impacts biodiversity, fisheries and coastal economies.

New information has corroborated allegations of enforced disappearances and secret detention by Ukraine’s security services, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint letter to Ukraine’s military prosecutor. The new information indicates that at least five victims of enforced disappearances remain in secret detention at Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in Kharkiv, one of the secret detention sites the groups documented in a July 21, 2016 joint report.

Save the Children is concerned about the fate of civilians being evacuated from the besieged town of Daraya, Syria. The movement of people to other areas of Damascus and to Idlib is ongoing on August 27, with six buses apparently leaving this afternoon.